"Doug, listen to me." I strained to look down at him. "Give me your other hand."
"I can't."
"Drop the damn jewels and grab my hand."
His eyes were wild, bouncing between his clenched fist and the churning water below. "No! I need them! I need?—"
"You need to live!" The root shifted, pulling loose from the rock another inch. "Shit! Give me your hand. Now!"
"Pull me up." He yanked on my leg, nearly dislodging my grip on the root. "Just pull me up."
"I can't. Not with one hand. You have to help me."
My fingers were slipping. The root was coming loose. We were both going to fall.
"Doug!" I screamed. "Drop the jewels and grab my hand!"
For a moment, our eyes met.
I saw the choice playing out across his face. The damn bastard had lost his mind.
His grip on the jewels tightened.
"Please," I said, quieter now. "Please, mate. Just let them go or we both die."
His mouth opened. Closed. He blinked at me as if he'd suddenly found complete clarity.
"What are you doing, Doug?"
His fingers loosened on my ankle. Not to reach for my hand. Just... loosened.
"Doug, no. Don't?—"
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"No!" I pleaded. "Stop!"
"Tell my daughter I love her." He let go.
Jewels flew from his hand, flashing red and green and blue, spinning through the air as he dropped. Ten feet. Twelve.
He hit the water with a splash that seemed impossibly small for a grown man.
The current caught him immediately. His head surfaced once, mouth open in a silent scream, then he went under.
He surfaced again farther down, arms flailing.
Then the river swept him around a bend.
And he was gone.
Chapter 18
Charlie
* * *
"Mitch!" The scream tore out of me as I threw myself flat at the cliff's edge.