Niki still didn’t agree, so Lila put it as bluntly as she could. “If we don’t do this, he’ll walk, and then he’ll kill me, and there’ll be nothing you can do to stop him.”

It never occurred to Lila that Gavin might hang on. His eyes remained pinched closed, blinded by the pepper spray, but it was the shot he took to the mouth that was putting the hurt to him. He gaped, trying to pull in a breath.

“Who was with you?” Lila yelled.

“Fuck you.” His throat had closed up so that she could barely make out the words. He wrapped his legs around hers, let go of her waist with one of his hands, and grabbed her lapel. He was heavy, and his weight caused the leg straps of the harness to dig into her thighs.

He let go with his other hand and grabbed the collar of her coat. He could barely breathe, yet he was climbing up her body. She kicked and flailed, boxing the sides of his head with her palms, and still the snake continued to climb. She grabbed his ear and twisted it. She stabbed at his eyes with her thumb. It’s him or me.

He thrust a hand up to her throat, digging his fingers into the sides of her neck, cutting off her air.

Above her Niki yelled something, but the words got lost as pain clotted Lila’s ears. Gavin kept squeezing, his face red and wet with spit, his tears streaking down his cheeks.

Lila punched him in the face as hard as she could, the crack of her knuckles against his nose sending a jolt up her arm. He reacted by jerking his head back, exposing his throat. She punched a second time, landing her fist on his Adam’s apple. She heard a crunch.

Gavin let go of Lila’s throat and grabbed her coat again, his reddened eyes searching Lila’s face for something. His mouth opened and closed, but his lungs didn’t fill. His eyes grew large, and she heard a gurgle as his body began to jerk.

He announced no surrender as he let go of Lila and fell into the dark, cold embrace of the Mississippi River.

Chapter 61

Matty Lopez and a uniformed officer hoisted Lila onto the bridge, her eyes still fixed on the body of Gavin Spencer bobbing and twisting in the frothy river below, facedown—dead.

On the bridge, Niki helped Lila out of her harness, and another officer brought a blanket from her squad car to wrap around Lila’s shoulders. They were treating her like a victim, like someone they had pulled out of a burning house, but she didn’t feel like a victim. She could still see his face as he fought to breathe. The elation of watching him fall to the river still pulsed in her veins. She felt nothing like a victim.

A third detective joined them on the bridge, a man named Voss whom Lila had met when they were working out the details of the plan. He handed a green folder to Niki.