Page 153 of The Wrong Heart

“You’re distracting me. I can’t concentrate with you here, rambling about goddamn hamsters.”

Deciding I need a new approach, I coil my fingers around the guardrail and take an unsteady step up onto the elevated cement block. The railing is level with my stomach as I cling tight, careful not to bend over too far. “You know, you probably wouldn’t die from the fall,” I tell him.

Maybe I’m just trying to convince myself in case there’s another roof incident, but the math seems to check out. I’m no expert on diving off of bridges, but a fifty foot drop into deep, non-turbulent water sounds like it would fucking suck, while still being survivable.

The man beside me shivers from only a foot away, his Adam’s apple bobbing with conflict. “I can’t swim.”

Well, fuck.

My mind spins, trying to locate a plan C—except, I didn’t even have a decent plan A or B when I got myself into this mess. The only question that springs to my lips is, “What’s your name?”

There’s always a chance I can build a rapport with this guy, and maybe he’ll like me enough to stick around.

Then I recognize my faulty reasoning…

I’m really not all that likable.

A few beats of thickening silence lingers between us, the growing background noise muted by the intensity of this moment. The man finally licks his lips as his troubled eyes lift to me, and he replies in a ragged voice, “Milo.”

“Milo.” I repeat his name through a nod, hoping I look more confident than I feel right now. “Good name. I bet someone out there would really miss saying that name.”

Well, shit, that wasn’t awful. I mentally high-five myself.

Milo grumbles, his gaze dancing out across the murky waters. Streetlight and moonglow illuminate his haggard frame, chalky complexion, and the dark circles beneath his eyes that almost match the shade of his irises. In a swift breath, he confesses, “I killed someone.”

My insides pitch, and I freeze.

Awesome.

I’m trying to uplift a goddamn murderer.

“It wasn’t…” Milo’s head swings back and forth, his inner turmoil palpitating off of him in waves. He fists the rail with gritted teeth. “It wasn’t on purpose. I didn’t mean to.”

My throat closes up, lost for words, and I simply nod my head as I process his admission.

Milo continues, his legs quaking beneath him. “I thought I could live with it, but I can’t. I can’t do it anymore.”

I swallow. “What happened?”

“It was stupid. It was so… fuckin’ stupid.” His clammy palms squeeze the metal bar, while his chest puffs out with a tattered breath. “I lost my job last spring, and it was hell—I’ve got a kid, you know? So, my brother, he’s always getting himself into trouble, always coming up with these schemes. He said he’d help me get some cash, just a temporary thing, until I got back on my feet. I didn’t know he wanted to rob people.” Milo stops to regroup, closing his eyes tight. “But he convinced me it would be fine, easy, because he just has that way about him. Nothing is ever serious—it’s all fun and fuckin’ games.

“Until you ram your truck into some poor, innocent guy, and find out the next day that you killed him. Ikilledhim.”

My eyebrows pinch together as I stare at Milo, an icy chill sweeping through me that even the hot August night can’t touch.Fuck.

Ominous water ripples below us, and I acknowledge the real gravity of this situation. Choices need to be made. Milo needs to decide if he’s going to hurl himself off this bridge, and I need to decide if I’m going to stop him.

This guy killed someone—accident or not, he killed a man as a consequence of doing bad, illegal shit. Maybe he deserves to meet a grisly end. Maybe the world would be a better place.

But… maybe that’s not the point.

Letting out a frazzled sigh, I tap my thumbs along the rail, trying to figure out what I’m supposed to do with this knowledge, with this impasse.

What would Melody do?

Her porcelain face and emerald eyes seize me for a wistful moment—her goodness, her heart, herempathy. She sees life through a lens made of hope and decency. She smiles through adversity. She shines in the dark. She chooses compassion over… everything.

Melody talks people off of bridges.

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