Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 120230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
The tires scythed through the water, the Land Cruiser living up to my uncle’s love for it. It was as solid as a block of steel.
It was also heavy.
I thought I heard a crack, forced myself not to panic. There was nothing I could do if the bridge was collapsing under us. I had to outrun the damage—yet not go so fast that I spun us out of control.
Water smashed onto the driver’s side and over the windscreen, blinding me a second time over. The bridge’s sway took on a new twisting motion at the same instant.
And I realized I hadn’t outrun the oncoming ripple.
Teeth gritted, I bent over the steering wheel and squinted. The barest blur of light glancing off metal, and my own sense of direction. That was all I had.
“You’re too far to the left!” Grace cried. “We’re about to hit a girder on this side!”
No peripheral vision.
“Now?” I said after correcting.
“Yes, good.”
“Tell me if it happens again. I’m not exactly a four-wheel-drive champion.”
“You’ve got this,” she said, her tone warm. “I couldn’t drive in this.”
My mind pounded with the thunder of the water, the howl of the wind, the groans and cracks of the bridge. Sweat pooled under my armpits and in between my breasts. I should’ve taken off my outdoor jacket before attempting this.
I’d do it after we reached the end. It had to be soon.
This bridge wasn’t infinite.
Though it felt exactly that on this dark and stormy night straight out of a horror flick.
You’ve got this, Nae-nae.
How appropriate that Grace had unknowingly said exactly the same thing Bea had said to me so many times over the years. Because this all came back to her. I knew that in my gut. Somehow, it all began and ended with Beatrice.
“Go right,” Grace said. “Just a bit.”
“Now?”
“Yes, that’s good.”
Something bumped under the tires and I had the sudden thought that we’d hit the girder . . . but no, we were rising up and away from the bridge. “We made it.”
Lungs tight with the breaths I hadn’t taken, I brought the car to a standstill, wasn’t sure my hands weren’t actually claws by now I’d gripped the steering wheel with such force.
My desperate gasps of air filled the silence.
“I’ve always hated theme park rides.” Grace’s laughter was all nerves and relief. “Good driving there.”
Shrugging off my jacket but leaving it trapped between me and the seat, I said, “Thanks for the help.”
“Team effort.”
“We should be able to follow the line of the trees and stay on the road,” I said and began to creep forward . . . and felt the uneven bite of gravel under the left tires. The right continued to plow through snow.
“Tree canopy must’ve protected the left side of the road from the snow,” I said aloud. “Tell me if I start to float too much from the left.” That was the safe side, the side with the trees.
On the right was a ravine. We wouldn’t survive the fall.
“I will.” I could tell from the sounds in the back and the faint, shadowy shape of her in the rearview mirror that Grace had twisted in her seat to better watch that side of the road.
Guilt nipped at me. “Sorry about the tape. It won’t be for long.” Now that we’d navigated the bridge, I felt more hopeful of making it out. I’d still have to climb the muddy, rocky bulk of the slip, but Grace and Darcie and . . . Bea would be safe inside a warm car in the interim. I’d leave the windows down enough for ventilation, but not enough that they’d be in any danger from the cold.
And I’d try not to think about her. About Bea.
Because it was Bea.
My mind might be gibbering chaos, but I knew her too well to make a mistake on that front.
“You have to believe me,” Grace pleaded. “Darcie lost it. She gave Vansi a cup of coffee and Vansi got real drowsy. I figured it was shock, you know? She’s been so strong all day, worried about Kaea, and I was sort of waiting for reality to hit her.”
My throat thick at the memory of Phoenix’s body so alone in the cellar, I nodded. “Nix and V, they were each other’s first and only love.”
“Aaron told me,” Grace said softly, even as I thought I heard Darcie’s breathing alter. “He said Nix told him on his wedding day that he couldn’t imagine going through life with anyone else.”
“You should tell V that once she’s had more time to grieve.” It’d matter to her, especially given the problems she and Phoenix had been having of late. “Why did Darcie attack you?” I shot Darcie a quick look, didn’t spot any visible change.
“It was weird. I talk nonsense when I’m nervous, and I was worried about everything, so I started babbling about that TV drama that was on recently. You know, with the twin sisters? Where one turns out to have murdered the other one?”