Sandra Robbins - Yuletide Jeopardy

“Help me pull him up,” Alex yelled as he tightened his grip on Mr. Mitchell’s coat. The officers reached down to assist.

Before they could pull him to safety, Mr. Mitchell threw back his head, released a bone-chilling laugh, and wriggled out of the coat. Grace had a split-second glance of the surprised look that flashed across his face before he plummeted toward the murky waters below. With them free of Mr. Mitchell’s weight, she and Alex tumbled backward and landed on the walkway pavement with his arms wrapped around her.

She only had a moment to realize she was safe before Alex was on his feet and rushing back to the railing. She sat up and watched him lean over the railing and scan the river below. He turned to the officer next to him. “I don’t see him. Notify harbor patrol where he went into the water. If we’re lucky, we may be able to recover his body before the current carries it downstream.”

Alex’s shoulders sagged as he continued to look down at the water. After a moment, he turned and glared at her. Grace tried to rise, but her shaking legs wouldn’t cooperate. Alex strode back to her, grabbed her uninjured arm and lifted her to stand next to him. She pushed a lock of hair out of her face and struggled to keep from bursting into tears. “Thank you, Alex. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead right now.”

The muscle in his jaw twitched, and his eyebrows drew down across his nose. He released a long breath and shook his head. “I’ve seen you do a lot of crazy things, but nothing can top what you did today.”

She started to answer, but she noticed Derek still held the camera. “Derek, you can stop now. Go on back to the van and wait for me.”

He lowered the camera and glanced from her to Alex. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I’m fine. I’ll be with you in a few minutes.” Her wrist throbbed, and she massaged it as she watched Derek walk away. Then she turned back to Alex. Anger boiled up in her, and she took a step closer to Alex and stared up into his angry eyes. “May I ask what your problem is, Detective Crowne?” she hissed.

He didn’t back away from her. Instead, he leaned toward her until they were face-to-face. “My problem? It was your problem. You almost got yourself killed. Why didn’t you wait for me to get here? I might have been able to talk him down off that railing.”

Grace straightened her back and stared at him. “I had no idea when you’d get here, and I wanted to get Mr. Mitchell down as quickly as possible.”

“And you wanted to be the main rescuer in the story, didn’t you? You forget I know you too well, Grace. Your story on the noon news would sure look a lot better if you’d saved a man from a watery grave without the help of the police.”

Her face grew warm, and she shook her head. “I think he was determined to end his life no matter who was here.”

“Maybe,” Alex said. “But we might have avoided the attempt on your life. I told you not to go any closer, and you didn’t pay any attention to me. That shouldn’t surprise me since you’ve never listened to me about anything.”

His words cut deep, and she struggled to keep from bursting into tears. “What do you mean? Have you forgotten I’m the girl who followed you everywhere from the time we were ten years old? And that I’m also the girl who loved you and you threw my love away as if it was nothing? I’d say you’re the one who never listened.”

He shook his head and gave a sarcastic chuckle. “I guess it’s true. Two people can see a situation and interpret it in an entirely different way. If I remember correctly, it was you who walked away from me without caring how I felt.”

She took a step back from Alex and tried to stem the tears welling in her eyes. She’d never been able to make him understand her side of their breakup, and she probably never would. It saddened her to think their once close friendship had come to this.

She lifted her chin and took a deep breath. “Who are you to talk about caring? You haven’t even asked me how I’m feeling after almost taking a hundred-foot dive into the river. For your information I didn’t ask to come here today, and I sure didn’t ask to almost get killed. I was trying to save a man’s life.” Her battle to stop her tears failed, and she wiped at one that slipped down her cheek. “It turns out I didn’t help, and your attitude has turned a bad day into an even worse one. I’d like to say it was nice seeing you again, but it wasn’t.”

Alex raked his fingers through his hair. “Grace, don’t you understand—”

She held up her hand. “I think you’ve made your feelings very clear, Alex. Now I need to get back to work.”

Clutching her fists at her side, she whirled and stormed down the walkway in the direction of the station’s van. She’d failed to get the story of stopping a man from committing suicide that she’d first visualized when she set foot on the bridge. Instead of a piece to add to her résumé, she’d ended up with the last tragic moments of a man’s life.

She didn’t think she would ever forget the look on Mr. Mitchell’s face right before he plunged to the river. She needed to get back to the station and decide how she would use the footage on the noon newscast, but at the moment she couldn’t bear to think about the sad events on the bridge this morning. Maybe when she had calmed down, she could reflect on all that happened on the bridge today, but right now she needed to get as far away from it as possible.

* * *

Alex watched Grace stride away from him. Her blond hair glistened in the sunlight that had chased off the early-morning fog. She held her back erect, and anger oozed from every pore in her body. That was his doing. He should never have attacked her like that. After all she’d just had the scare of a lifetime, and he hadn’t helped any with his harsh words.

He’d spoken before he had time to think. But he’d been so scared when he saw Mitchell grab her arm and go over the side of the bridge. At first he couldn’t move, and then instinct kicked in. He had his arm around her and was pulling her backward before he realized what was happening.

He raised a shaking hand and brushed it across his eyes. Regret that he hadn’t been able to save Timothy Mitchell hit him like a kick in the stomach, and he knew it would be a long time before he could forget the look on the man’s face when he’d truly realized at that last moment he was about to die. But he had to keep reminding himself Grace had lived. If he’d been a second later, she would be at the bottom of the Mississippi River with Mr. Mitchell right now. He almost groaned aloud at the thought. As usual, their meeting today had ended like many others in the past, but this one was his fault.

His eyes followed Grace, who had stopped to talk with Captain Wilson, and he wished he could take back the harsh words he’d spoken earlier. He couldn’t, though, just like he couldn’t undo the past.

He’d had many tense moments since he’d joined the force, but today had to be the worst he’d ever experienced. At the moment he’d thought she was going over the bridge, he didn’t think of her as the woman who had broken his heart. He remembered her as the little girl who had shared his childhood with him. He had to make her understand how scared he’d been.

Alex turned to the officers who’d gathered at the railing and now watched the rolling water. “Do you need me for anything else?”

One of the officers who had tried to reach Mitchell shook his head. “There’s not much more to do here. Thanks for the help.”

Grace turned away from Captain Wilson and headed toward her van. Alex took a deep breath and jogged to catch up with her. She’d opened the door and was about to climb into the van when he called out to her. “Grace, wait. I want to talk with you.”