Chapter 18 - The Edge
Benjamin moved before he had time to be afraid.
He threw himself forward, caught the back of Grace's chair, and slammed onto his knees. Concrete tore through his coveralls. Grace cried out as the chair jerked sideways, one wheel hanging in empty air.
“Hold on!” he shouted.
Ethan froze. It was one thing to threaten somebody. It was another to watch the life begin leaving their face.
“Help me!” Benjamin roared at him.
For one strange second, Ethan obeyed. He grabbed the chair's armrest and pulled. Together they dragged Grace back from the edge.
The instant she was safe, Ethan staggered away. Victor raised the gun again, but two officers reached the floor from the stairwell and ordered him to drop it. After a tense pause, he let it fall. Another team detained Ethan, who kept shouting that Benjamin had ruined his life.
“No,” Benjamin said, breathing hard. “You made choices. Today you get to answer for them.”
Grace pressed her forehead against his shoulder while paramedics checked her injuries. “I thought I'd never see you again.”
“You're stuck with me,” he whispered. “I still have to complain about how you never call.”
She laughed through tears. It was the first ordinary sound Benjamin had heard from her in years.
At the police station, Ethan requested an attorney. Victor did too. Investigators preserved the parking structure evidence, recovered records, and recorded witness accounts. Charges would have to be proved in court. Benjamin wasn't interested in pretending otherwise.
Near dawn, Grace sat with him in a hospital waiting room. His hands were bandaged; hers were wrapped around a paper cup of tea.
“I didn't betray you,” she said.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He looked at her. “I was so sure my friends would never hurt me that I didn't notice when you were trying to warn me.”
May you like
She squeezed his hand.
Then Ruth arrived carrying a sealed envelope. “Ben, the property records office has finished its review. There's something about the tower you still don't know.”
