Chapter 8 - The Falling Edge
Before Vance could finish squeezing the trigger, Sophie stomped down with all her weight on the arch of his foot with her heavy leather boot.
Vance shrieked in pain, his aim shifting by an inch. BANG! The shot shattered the air, but the bullet whipped harmlessly past Sophie's ear.
Simultaneously, Marcus dropped the Pelican case, pulled a secondary weapon hidden behind his small of the back, and fired four rapid rounds with surgical precision.
The two guards holding Leo and Eleanor dropped instantly.
"Leo! Get your grandmother under the van!" Marcus roared, sprinting full speed down the bridge.
Vance stumbled back, grabbing Sophie around the neck in a desperate chokehold, dragging her backward toward the edge of the low railing. "You're coming with me, bitch!"
"Sophie!" Marcus screamed, closing the distance.
Sophie didn't wait to be rescued. Utilizing every bit of restraint training she had learned handling panicked 100-pound pit bulls at the clinic, she threw her head backward, slamming the sharp bone of her skull directly into Vance's nose.
A sickening crunch echoed, and Vance groaned, his grip slipping. Sophie spun around, grabbing Vance's gun arm with both hands and driving her knee viciously into his groin.
Vance reeled back, losing his balance against the rusted pedestrian rail. The ancient metal gave way under his weight with a screech of tearing iron. Vance grabbed Sophie’s jacket as he fell backward into empty air.
"Sophie!"
Marcus lunged over the shattered rail, his arm shooting out like a striking lance.
He caught Sophie’s wrist just as her feet left the concrete deck.
Below them, Vance screamed as he plummeted through the fog, plunging into the roaring, rocky waters of the Blackwood River below, disappearing beneath the churning foam forever.
Sophie hung in the abyss, the icy wind howling around her, her fingers slipping against Marcus’s hand. Her weight was tearing at her unhealed chest wounds; sharp, agony flared through her torso.
"I've got you!" Marcus grunted, his face contorted in agony as he used every ounce of muscle to pull her up. His fingers were locked around her wrist, his ring digging hard into her skin. "I've got you, Sophie! Hold on!"
"You said... I was just a tool," she sobbed, the tears freezing on her cheeks.
"I lied to keep his finger off the trigger!" Marcus yelled, tears mixing with the blood on his face as he hoisted her higher. "I would burn the universe before I let him hurt you! Give me your other hand!"
With a final, desperate heave, Marcus pulled her over the edge. They slammed onto the cold asphalt of the bridge together, tangled in a desperate embrace.
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Marcus held her face in both of his hands, kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her lips, his body shaking violently with deep, ragged sobs. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I had to make him believe it... I love you, Sophie. God help me, I love you."
Sophie clung to his torn shirt, burying her face into his neck, the agonizing pain in her chest entirely swallowed by the deafening, beautiful roar of his heartbeat.
