Chapter 19 - THE COLONEL AIMED AT REX AND TOLD JACK TO CHOOSE
“Put the gun down,” I said.
Mercer’s pistol stayed on Rex.
Eli stood behind me.
The bridge thundered beneath the wheels.
One hundred feet below, the river cut through black rock.
Mercer smiled.
“You always were predictable.”
“Funny. People keep saying that right before their plans fall apart.”
“Did my plan fall apart?”
He nodded toward the gray railcar.
“You saved a box of hardware. Congratulations.”
“That was the objective.”
“One objective.”
Eli stiffened.
Mercer saw it.
“There it is,” he said. “The smart one finally understands.”
“What else?” I asked.
“While every honest badge in Ash Creek chased me to the tracks, my people emptied the evidence bunker beneath the sheriff’s office.”
Cole.
Mia.
Lauren.
Sarah.
My stomach tightened.
Mercer kept talking.
“Names. Accounts. recordings. Enough material to expose people far above my pay grade.”
“So this isn’t just you.”
“No, Jack.”
His expression turned almost sad.
“It was never just me.”
The dangerous question opened wider.
Who had protected him?
Who had faked two deaths?
Who had kept this network alive for almost a decade?
Rex’s growl deepened.
Mercer moved the muzzle an inch.
“Call him off.”
“Rex. Down.”
Rex lowered himself.
Mercer relaxed.
That was his mistake.
The engineer slammed the emergency brake.
Mercer staggered.
Eli hit his gun arm.
I drove forward.
The pistol fired.
Rex yelped.
Everything inside me went white.
I hit Mercer hard enough to send us both into the cab wall.
Eli kicked the pistol away.
Mercer grabbed a steel wrench.
I caught his wrist.
We struggled as the train screamed across the bridge.
Then Rex barked.
Alive.
I looked down.
Blood marked his shoulder, but he was standing.
The round had grazed him.
That one second nearly cost me.
Mercer shoved me toward the open cab door.
My heel slipped onto the outer step.
River below.
His face was inches from mine.
“You should have died eight years ago.”
Eli grabbed Mercer from behind.
“No,” he said. “That was your mistake.”
Together we pulled him inside.
The train finally stopped beyond the bridge.
Cole’s cruisers arrived minutes later.
This time, the cuffs went on Mercer.
Sarah reached Rex before she reached me.
I approved.
A state police helicopter circled overhead.
Then two black federal SUVs came down the access road.
Men in plain clothes stepped out.
One of them walked straight to Mercer.
Mercer laughed.
Not nervous laughter.
Relieved laughter.
The federal agent unlocked his handcuffs.
Cole raised his weapon.
“What the hell are you doing?”
The agent turned toward us.
“Sheriff, lower your gun.”
Mercer rubbed his wrists and smiled at me.
“I told you, Jack.”
He stepped beside the agent.
“It was never just me.”
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