Chapter 16
The mother screamed, her body dangling over the empty space, her legs kicking desperately as the rope groaned under her weight. The chair she had been bound to was caught on the railing, acting as a fragile anchor that was slowly slipping inch by inch.
"Help me! Please!" she shrieked, her voice echoing with raw panic.
Vincent didn't look back. With the police distracted by the falling hostage, he sprinted across the remaining section of the catwalk, disappearing through a heavy steel emergency exit door that led out onto the roof structure.
"Harlan! She’s falling!" Laura screamed, scrambling to her feet. She didn't look at the gunfire or the police; her eyes were locked entirely on the dangling woman.
Detective Harlan ran toward the base of the catwalk tower, but he was too far away. The tactical officers were forced to maintain their positions, expecting Vincent's men to ambush them from the dark corners of the vast depot.
Laura didn't wait. She ran toward the mechanics' service pit, realizing that the dangling woman was positioned directly above the deep concrete trench. If the rope snapped, she would fall straight into the deep, debris-filled pit, and the impact would be fatal.
Laura grabbed a heavy, long wooden wooden plank that mechanics used to cross the pit. With a strength she didn't know she possessed, fueled by pure adrenaline, she dragged the heavy piece of lumber across the width of the concrete trench, creating a crude platform directly beneath the swinging woman.
"Hold on!" Laura shouted, standing on the edge of the pit, her arms outstretched. "I'm right below you!"
Above, the metal chair gave way with a loud, sickening snap.
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The rope slipped from the railing. Caleb’s mother plummeted downward through the air, a scream tearing from her throat.
Laura lunged forward onto the wooden plank, throwing her entire body weight into a desperate catch, aiming to break the woman's fall before she could hit the jagged concrete floor of the pit.
