Chapter 8 - The Leap of Faith
"No!" Victor screamed, his eyes wide with horror as he watched three million dollars plunge toward the ice.
Without thinking, Victor lunged toward the railing, reaching out as if he could catch the falling case. His greed was his undoing. The momentary distraction was all Julian needed.
Julian sprinted across the fifty yards of ice, his boots digging into the frozen snow. He reached Victor just as the older man realized his mistake. Julian tackled him, his fist connecting with Victor’s jaw with a force that sent the detonator flying from his hand.
The detonator hit the concrete and slid toward the edge of the bridge, falling through the metal grate into the dark water below.
The winch didn't release. The sedan remained secured to the railing.
But Victor was not done. He scrambled to his feet, pulling a knife from his pocket, his face wild with rage. "You ruined me, Julian! You and that trash-collecting brat!"
Victor lunged, but Julian stepped aside, grabbing Victor’s wrist and using his own momentum to throw him over the low railing of the bridge.
Victor let out a long, terrified shriek as he fell, disappearing into the dark, frozen depths of the Detroit River.
Julian didn't look down. He ran to the sedan, pulling the driver’s side door open. He checked Evelyn’s pulse; it was steady. The sedatives Victor’s men had used were wearing off.
He reached into the back seat, pulling Laya into his arms. She was shivering, her small body shaking with cold and terror, but she was alive.
"Julian," she sobbed, burying her face in his shoulder. "You came."
"I told you I would, Laya," Julian whispered, holding her close as the distant sirens of the police patrol cars began to echo through the night. Marcus Vance and his team had recovered, and they were coming to reclaim their city.
May you like
Julian looked out over the river. The suitcase was gone, lost beneath the shifting ice of the Detroit River. Three million dollars, the wealth that had caused so much pain, was buried forever.
But as he held the little girl in his arms and looked at her mother recovering in the front seat, Julian knew he had never been richer.
