Ghost River, Jon Coon [ebooks online reader TXT] 📗

of the old bridge, what was left of Charlie Evans stared back at Gabe through the frigid water. A misty white radiance emanated from Charlie’s body, taking luminescent human form. As Gabe watched, horror and shock overwhelmed Charlie’s ghost as he realized his own demise.

Gabe moved in, closing the distance between them.

“Oh no. This can’t be real, can it?” Charlie’s spirit asked.

“I’m afraid so. Can you tell me what happened?”

“Looking for the girl. Couldn’t find her. Beams and boulders, wires and snags. Got tangled. There was a flash, then . . . but how did you . . . how can you?”

“It’s a long story, man. I’m just glad I found you.”

“I’m dead, right? That sucks. There’s so much I need to do. Carol and the kids—” Gabe’s heart ached as he grasped for the right words.

“They’ll be okay. I promise.”

“Not just okay. Loved and protected. Just like if I’m still there.” Charlie’s face twisted in agony. “Promise me.”

The last thing Carol needs is a guy like me, Gabe thought. But what he said was, “I promise. I’ll look out for them. Don’t worry.”

An intense glow flared in Charlie’s eyes. “Not good enough. They love you. You have to be the one. Give me your word.”

Gabe saw two blinding white lights coming down river behind Charlie. “We’re running out of time. They’re here.”

“This is so wrong, Gabe. I’m counting on you.” He glared into Gabe’s eyes waiting for an answer. The right answer.

“Whatever I can. I promise.” Gabe felt an ache as though he were the one stabbed by the steel beam. How could he—

“You’ve got another problem,” Charlie said. “Look behind me at the new bridge. There’s nothing holding up that pier.”

The pier was hanging off the bridge with its base fifteen-feet above the river bottom. As they watched, it bounced as trucks went over the unsupported span. Before Gabe could comment, Charlie pointed toward the two bright lights coming toward them. “What’s that?”

Gabe saw the panic in Charlie’s eyes and tried to assure him, “It’s your time, Charlie. It’s okay. They’re here to take you home.”

“No! Not yet. Stop them. I’m not ready!”

In the brilliant light, two six-winged angels appeared, now on either side of Charlie, who again tried to speak, to protest. Their light grew brighter. Gabe covered his eyes until the painful intensity passed. When he reopened his eyes, Charlie and his angels were gone.

Now the oppressive, heavy blanket of dread returned, leaving him with only Charlie’s silent, mutilated corpse. Heartbroken at the loss of his best friend, alone and freezing cold, in water black as the inside of a coffin, Gabe sank to his knees and moaned like a wounded animal.

When Gabe reconnected the com-wire, Jim was frantically trying to reach him. “Gabe, are you all right? Talk to me!”

“Jim, pick me up. I’m done.” He was exhausted and stumbled back to the buoy line as Jim pulled in the umbilical.

On the surface, Jim looked distinctly unhappy. “I tried to tell you we’ve got company,” Jim said quietly and nodded toward a big, unhappy man standing in the rain.

Rain pounded them. Captain Brady, his uniform soaked, stood on the bank. He began to yell even before Jim could get Gabe to the bench. The rain stung as it hit Gabe’s face. He covered his eyes and squinted to focus on the captain. How did he find out we were here?

“Are you out of your mind?” Brady yelled as rain dripped from his nose. “What are you two doing back out here after I specifically ordered you not to go back in the water? Get this gear back to the dive locker, and I want you both in my office at oh seven hundred. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Gabe answered. “Jim is not . . .”

“If he was stupid enough to come out here with you he most certainly is. Both of you. Oh-seven hundred.”

“Captain, there’s something you need to know,” Gabe attempted.

“Oh-seven-hundred and not one minute later. Understood?” Brady snorted. It could have been fire.

0730

State Police Barracks

“I take full responsibility,” Gabe said after listening to the captain yell for a full thirty minutes. He and Jim were standing at attention in the captain’s office. Beyond the glass office walls, staff tried to look busy and avoid staring, but Brady’s shouting carried beyond the glass door and windows. They had rarely heard or seen the old man this angry.

“That’s it? You take full responsibility for disregarding a direct order? And would it be too much effort for you to tell me why?”

The room was cluttered, dimly lit, and in need of a good cleaning. A package of nicotine gum lay open on the desk, and by the way the captain was fidgeting, he was obviously a man in need of a smoke. He picked up two of the tabs and chewed vigorously. The pause in his shouting gave Gabe a chance to plead his case.

“Captain, I’ve been trying to tell you . . . there’s another issue. I made the second dive to confirm what I discovered on the first one.”

“Okay, I’m listening.”

“At least one of the piers has scoured out. It’s hanging off the new bridge, fifteen feet above the bottom. You could drive a truck under it. That bridge could collapse any minute.”

“What?”

“There’s nothing left holding up that bridge span, just big holes in the mud where the footing should be. That kind of damage takes years, Captain. I told you about the shaped charges. I wanted a better look, and there’s a web of wires and charges down there.”

“You said the charges had electric blasting caps. How can they be set off without an electric current?” Brady asked.

“I’ve been thinking about that. Maybe there are some kind of tripwire detonators that work underwater. The only way to find out is to keep diving. If Charlie was murdered, don’t you want to know who and why?”

The Captain pulled the nicotine gum out of his mouth and smashed into a piece of