Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 89892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
“There’s only one way you’re getting off this bridge, and it isn’t this one,” an evil version of a familiar voice says.
My memory comes back to me. The tote bag. The plane tickets. I slowly look up to face my best friend.
Yuli.
It starts to rain. Water drips into my eyes, mixing with the dried blood, and I’m practically blinded, but I can’t wipe it away, or I’ll lose my grip on the wires, which are becoming more slippery by the second.
“I thought you were in Africa,” I finally manage to say. Still holding onto the wires as carefully as I can, I slowly turn to face the woman I thought was my best friend.
Yuli is standing in the rain, wearing a black hoodie and matching pants, but it isn’t her clothes that I find the most surprising. It’s the gun in her hand aimed at my head.
She scoffs. “I was never leaving for Africa. I was leaving with Jared and our money.”
The admission of her betrayal slices so deep within me that I can feel every stab of the knife she’s shoving into my fucking heart. “So then, why come back? You and Jared get bored of each other already and decide to torture me instead?” Playing it off like I don’t know that Jared’s dead.
“You can cut the crap, Lenny. Jared is dead, so don’t play dumb and innocent with me!” she spits. Her right eyebrow ticks with rage. She smiles wickedly, and my stomach lurches.
I think I’m about to be sick.
“Why do you think I took you to that party?” she asks, like the answer is obvious when none of this makes any sense at all. “Because part of the money we stole came from the MC and from your buddy Nine and his crew. When Jared never showed at the plane, I knew he was dead. He wouldn’t just abandon me like he did you. I knew Nine would be at that party and that he’d been looking for you. Don’t you see, Len? I wasn’t trying to show you a good time on my last night, I was delivering you to him on a silver fucking platter!”
I shake my head in disbelief. “That’s why you forged my signature on those documents? To point the cartel and the MC in my direction instead of looking at you and Jared?”
She slaps her leg with her free hand. “Of course. You were the perfect scapegoat until you fell for Nine and he started doubting all of my hard work because of his feelings for you. Ricci didn’t fall for it either, so I had to send them back the money so they’d stop looking for who took it. Of course, I sent it to them courtesy of you, and they didn’t fall for that either. And now, here we are, and I’ve got to take care of shit myself like always.” Her twisted smile doesn’t fit on her face, at least not the face of the Yuli I know. This person is someone else entirely. Someone evil. Demented. “Now, you’re going to die. Just like Jared did.”
I need to stall, to buy myself some time, but for what, I’m not sure. No one knows I’m here. No one is coming to save me this time. Right now, words are my only weapon, the hard part and the thing I’ve never been good at, will be choosing them wisely.
“How long, Yuli? How long has this been going on? You and Jared?” The rain is beating down harder and harder. The wind is picking up. The oil from the wires is making it more and more difficult to hold on. My feet are sliding left and right. It’s a balancing act just to stay upright.
She sighs and smiles as if remembering better backstabbing times. “Before you and Jared ever met. We made big plans for our future. It took us years to put it together, and we had it all figured out. How and when we were going to take the money. The offshore encrypted account. A nice two-story bungalow on the water in Fiji. I mean, taking all of your shit from you was my idea. The house. The car. Actually, Jared didn’t even know about that part, but I planned on telling him once we were on the beach as a running away together present.” Her gaze hardens once again. “Now, that’s never going to happen, and it’s all your fault!”
My foot slips, and I’m barely able to correct myself. The wires slice into my palms. “Yuli, don’t do this. You’ll regret this for the rest of your life!” I yell.
She rolls her eyes. “You were going to do this once, Lenny, and now, you’re going to do it again. The beauty of it is that nobody is going to question your motives for killing yourself. Your parents are dead. Jared left you. You lost the house and everything you own. The water’s a lot shallower now, so there’s no chance of you surviving the second time around.”