And then she saw it—a bend in the river giving her a glimpse of dark water off to her right. “I wonder if we’ll see any crocodiles when we cross.”
“There’s the bridge.”
She looked ahead of them and saw it. “Oh, shit.”
“Yeah.”
The bridge appeared to be intact, resting on concrete piles and stretching fifteen hundred feet to the other side of the Niger. But it was barely wide enough for the SUV, and it was a good hundred feet above the water.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“No, but I don’t see many other options, unless you want to leave the SUV, take a boat, and steal something on the other side.”
Right now, that seemed like a completely reasonable alternative to Kristi.
He drew to a stop, parked. “I’ll walk across, see if I think it’s safe. Stay here and keep the doors locked.”
“Be careful. If you fall in…”
“I won’t.” He grabbed the pistol, tucked it into his jeans, and was gone.
* * *
Malik walkedup to the bridge and bent down to examine the concrete piles that supported it. He couldn’t see all of them, but the ones he could see looked stable and secure. Still, it was obvious that the bridge hadn’t been maintained properly in a long time. Birds had built nests beneath it, and foliage had begun to grow in the concrete.
He walked out onto the structure, checking the individual ties for rot or cracks and looking for loose spikes and bolts. He wasn’t afraid of heights, but walking along, the rushing water visible between each tie, made him a little dizzy. He willed himself to get over that, to focus on the ties and not the water below.
It took him ten minutes to inspect the length of it. Walking back, he noticed logs floating beneath it from somewhere upstream. Then one of the logs slashed its tail through the water, raised its head, and snapped at another.
Geezus!
Not logs. Crocodiles. Big ones.
As long as they stayed on the bridge, the crocs wouldn’t be a problem. But staying on the bridge wouldn’t be easy. It had been built for a relatively narrow gauge train with the rails about three and a half feet apart with the ties sticking out about a foot on either side—barely wide enough for the SUV. He would have only a few inches of wiggle room on either side before a tire went off the edge and sent them plummeting into the water below.
Great idea this was, man.
It was their only option apart from ditching the vehicle and paying someone to ferry them across. Then they’d have to walk, or he’d have to hotwire a vehicle—or risk renting one again.
No, this was their best chance of getting over unseen. All he had to do was drive in averystraight line.
He reached the vehicle, climbed into the driver’s seat. “The bridge is in good shape. Just don’t look down.”
“Don’t look down.” Her eyes were hidden behind her sunglasses, but he could tell by her voice that she was afraid.
“If you want to climb out and walk across—”
She grabbed his hand, shook her head. “If you fall in, I’m going with you.”
“No one is going to fall into the river.”Sweet Jesus, don’t let us fall into the river.“I am going to need my hand back.”
“Oh. Right.” She let go, clasped her hands in her lap.
He started the engine, headed toward the railroad tracks. “I’m going to try to get a tire on either side of the rails.”
It was a bumpy process, but he managed it.
He climbed out to double check the tire placement, then climbed in again. “Close your eyes if you need to.”