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“So, if you’re not leaving town for business, why are you leaving?”
It annoyed him that she was nosey, but he wouldn’t let it deter him or ruin his plans. He considered that perhaps it was to his advantage. She might be far more pliable if he got her excited about his proposal before suggesting it. “I thought I’d go to my lake house and spend the night there. Head back to the city tomorrow.”
“You have a lake house?” she drank her second shot, and he poured her another as he responded.
“Nothing fancy. Five bedrooms, an infinity pool, theatre, and boat house.”
“You have a boat?” She set her now empty glass on the bar.
“I do.” He poured her another shot.
Crystal sloshed the liquor a bit as she lifted the glass to her lips. “Is it a big boat?”
“Why don’t you come with me and see for yourself?”
“Seriously?”
He could tell she was interested in how she sat up a little straighter, and her voice raised an octave.
“Absolutely. Shall we?”
“What the hell.” She grabbed the bottle, poured, drank one more shot, and slid off the bar stool.
Josh caught her as her legs gave way under her. “Here, let me help.”
He put his arm around her waist and guided her out to the car. Once again, he’d done his homework. There was no way he’d drive his own car. He’d made up a story about needing to get his brakes fixed and rented this one from an online app where people list their personal vehicles for rent.
Josh used the credit card and identification of a man who worked in his office. He found that last week, when he was looking for a file in the man’s office, a co-worker named Sam.
Sam was currently in the hospital getting chemotherapy. It would be weeks before he was back at work.
Josh smiled as Crystal wobbled her way into the car. This was too easy. How great was that?
*****
It was difficult pushing away from the bridge. Riggs hopped more than jumped, using his arms to help, swinging them forward in the jump to imitate an up-and-out jump from the bridge. He then forced his body into a completely vertical position, often called a pencil dive.
First came that feeling. Falling. Riggs knew as soon as he jumped that he’d hit the water within seconds. The bridge had to be less than a hundred feet above water. He had no clue how deep the river was, but since he was jumping into a channel, he hoped it was deep enough to keep him from being killed or breaking both legs.
His legs were squeezed tightly together with the toes on his remaining foot pointed. With a ramrod straight back, elbows locked in tight, and hands covering his crotch, he fell.
The water seemed to rush up at him suddenly. A breath later, he hit the water. The impact was harder than he’d hoped, but so far, he could handle it. As soon as his head was beneath the water, he exhaled through his nose. That kept the water from rushing up into his nostrils.
At the same time, he spread his arms and legs wide and started moving them back and forth to generate resistance and slow his descent. He had no clue about the depth but would do all he could to prevent hitting the bottom if it turned out to be shallow.
Around him was only darkness and cold water. He couldn’t see two feet in front of him. Riggs was shocked at how hard it was to swim normally with one foot. He relied far more on his arms than normal but broke the surface with air to spare.
He spotted the car and, for a couple of seconds, watched. Typically, a vehicle will start to sink after about a hundred and twenty seconds. Riggs wasn’t sure how much time had passed since the car hit the water, but it had to be close to a minute.
And that meant he didn’t have much time. He needed to get the people out before it started to sink. Once it did, a suction vortex would be created as the air in the car was replaced with water. If he got stuck in the vortex, he’d go down with it.
“Help!”
Riggs swam toward the car. By the time he reached it, the woman in the passenger seat had her window, and the one behind her rolled down. It would be only minutes before water poured in. He had to act fast.
“Oh, thank God,” she grabbed for him when he got nearby. “You have to get my baby. He’s in the back seat. Please.”
“I will. But let’s get you out. What’s your name?”
