sick sense of revenge? If Lisa did something now, she could stop her before anyone else got hurt. She already knew Swanson planned to kill her as soon as she got what she wanted. It was only a matter of time for her at this point.
Lisa’s adrenaline surged. Traffic was sparse this time of night. They’d only seen a handful of cars since they’d left Key Biscayne. Her best chance for surprise was now, not after they got into the city.
Before she could change her mind, she wrenched the wheel hard into the right-hand lane and rammed the vehicle against the security barrier. The Mercedes skidded against concrete, shooting sparks into the darkness. Swanson’s body jerked to the side and bounced off the car door. She screamed. The gun slipped from her fingers and landed on the floorboards. Cursing, she tried to push herself upright.
Lisa slammed on the brakes. Swanson fell forward then back. Lisa thrust her elbow into Swanson’s face, and the woman screeched. Arm aching, Lisa jerked the driver’s door open and bent for the gun that had fallen and slipped under her feet.
“You bitch!” Swanson lunged across the center console, ramming her body into Lisa. They tumbled out of the car. Lisa’s back and shoulders took the brunt of the fall as she hit unforgiving pavement. A car whizzed by on the left, the blare of its horn jolting through her whole body.
Swanson grabbed Lisa by the T-shirt, lifting her an inch off the ground. She jerked one hand back and landed a right hook across Lisa’s cheek. Pain exploded in Lisa’s face. Her head smacked the pavement with a loud crack.
Stars crept into the edge of her vision, but she fought back with everything she had. She was smaller than Swanson by several inches, but stronger.
She jabbed her fingers into Swanson’s eyes. When the woman howled and pulled back, Lisa wriggled out from under her weight.
Frantic, Lisa glanced around for the gun. It had fallen out when they’d tumbled from the car, been kicked across the pavement in their struggle. She spotted it by the front tire.
She moved quickly around Swanson, who was still kneeling on the ground, moaning in pain. Chest heaving, Lisa leaned down and lifted the gun.
Swanson plowed into her from behind. The weapon flew from her fingers and disappeared over the side of the bridge. The air whooshed out of Lisa’s lungs. For a frightening moment, her body sailed over the security barricade into the darkness below.
Her hands grasped the edge of the concrete. She dug bleeding fingers into the hard stone as she was jerked over the side by the force of gravity, and tried to hang on. It was at least a fifty-foot drop. If there was water beneath her, she knew she could swim to safety. If there was land below, she’d be dead.
Oh, God. She swallowed the fear and gripped the concrete tighter.
“This is so much better than I planned,” Swanson growled from above. Her shadowed face, highlighted by dim lights on the bridge, came into Lisa’s view. Blood ran down her cheeks. Dirt was smeared across her forehead. “Beg. Beg for me to save you, Dr. Maxwell.” She wrapped one hand around Lisa’s wrist and pushed slightly. “I want to hear the words.”
Terror clawed at Lisa’s chest. She wasn’t going to die like this. Not on a bridge in downtown Miami only a mile away from the man she loved. Not when she finally had something real to believe in.
Lisa’s blood ran hot as she looked up into ice-cold eyes. A memory flashed, one of the rare instances Doug had talked about his family, about his sister who was afraid of the water. She quickly twisted her wrist and wrapped her hand around Swanson’s forearm. “Still hate the water, bitch?”
Swanson’s eyes went wide with fear and realization. “Wh-What?”
Lisa yanked hard. Swanson’s body shot off the bridge. Lisa let go so she wouldn’t be pulled down. Swanson kicked frantic arms and legs as she plunged into the darkness below with a bloodcurdling scream.
Lisa reached up to grip the barricade. Her hands were sweating, her fingers slipped, and she dropped a fraction of an inch. Her muscles screamed from the weight of her body. She couldn’t hold on much longer.
Oh, God, she was going to fall.
Voices echoed from the bridge. Below she thought she heard the rumble of a boat’s engine and another voice. For a moment, a spotlight swept over her, highlighting the concrete barricade that had become