Legend (Arizona Vengeance #3)(70)

“What is it?” I ask him.

“Lida took Old US 80 south of Arlington,” he says.

This is not familiar to me at all. “I’m new to the area. What does that mean?”

“It means there’s a steel truss bridge there that spans the Gila River. The highway patrol waited until she was on the bridge and put a moving roadblock on the other end. Phoenix PD are behind her. She’s stopped on the bridge right now, effectively trapped.”

Trapped.

That should give me room to celebrate but instead I feel bad about this. If Lida was crazy enough to shoot Pepper and beat Lucy to unconsciousness, there is no telling what she would do knowing that she is facing a long time in prison for her crimes.

Nordstrom’s phone rings again and he barks his last name when it’s connected. I know it’s about Lida and I watch him expectantly.

    “We’re twenty minutes out,” he says and hangs up.

“What is it?” I ask him, panic starting to well up within me. What I wouldn’t give to have Pepper by my side right now, but I’ll just have to hold on to that feeling that coursed through me when she told me she loved me.

“She’s out of the car and has Charlie in her arms,” he says gruffly and shoots me a glance that is way too grim in my opinion. “She’s standing at the railing and threatening to jump.”

“Fuck,” I yell as I slam my hand down onto his dashboard. It doesn’t faze Nordstrom. “Can they grab her or something? Shoot her without hitting Charlie? How do they stop her from jumping?”

“She’s asked to speak to you,” he tells me and my entire body goes rigid with shock. “They’ve obviously told her you’re on the way so she won’t do anything until you get there.”

“You don’t know that,” I say hysterically.

“No, I don’t,” he admits in a low voice. “But she asked for you for a reason, so there’s an important conversation she clearly needs to have with you. Any idea what it is?”

I shake my head because there’s nothing inside of me that can fathom why Lida is doing this shit. Then an idea strikes. I grab my phone and dial Pepper’s mother. When she answers I ask to speak to her daughter.

“What’s happening?” Pepper asks.

“We’ve found her and we’re on the way there. She says she wants to talk to me.” I don’t dare tell Pepper she’s threatened to jump off a bridge as I don’t want her to worry.

    “Oh,” Pepper murmurs and I can tell she’s digesting that.

“What did she say to you when she came into your house, Pepper? Anything that can help me get an idea of what the hell she wants besides Charlie?”

There’s no hesitation. Pepper merely says, “She wants you. She told me she was going to kill me to get me out of the way so she could have you and you could be a family with Charlie.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I growl, because that’s even more twisted than I thought. I just assumed that Pepper got caught in the crossfire of a botched kidnapping but to know she was specifically targeted makes me want to vomit.

“She was dead serious too,” Pepper tells me. “So that’s your angle with her. Promise her exactly what she wants. Make her believe it, Legend.”

“Yeah…okay,” I murmur. “Okay…thanks, baby. I’ll call when this is over. It will be fine, I promise.”

“I love you,” she says. “And I have faith in you that you’ll bring your daughter home safely.”

God, I hope she’s right.

As we travel to the bridge, I tell Nordstrom what Pepper said. He uses the time to give me some advice on how to negotiate with her. Promise a serious conversation with her if she just comes away from the railing. Tell her I can’t concentrate when Charlie’s that close.

Use words of affirmation and make her feel valued.

Let her know that I understand where she’s coming from and now that I know how serious she is about us being a family, it’s something we really need to discuss.

    Keep her talking.

Make her promises.

Get her away from the railing.

Try to talk her into letting me hold Charlie while we talk.

Fuck, I’m going to puke. I’ve never been more nervous in my life because I’ve never had someone’s life hanging in the balance like this. And not just anyone’s life.

Charlie’s.

Sweet, angelic, innocent, and helpless Charlie.



* * *



—

The sun is hanging low in the late afternoon sky as Nordstrom parks his car among the other police vehicles at the east end of the bridge. We’re met by a highway patrol officer who gives us an assessment of the situation. I can see a silver crossover SUV parked at an angle and Lida in front of it. There’s no pedestrian walkway but only a small concrete step up to the brown rusted railing that looks to be about four feet high with two rungs. It would be no easy feat for Lida to climb it with Charlie in her arms but they’re not going to take the risk of her doing something stupid like tossing Charlie over the edge and then climbing over to follow. So everyone is keeping their distance.

“You okay?” Nordstrom asks me as he claps hands on my shoulders.