The car began to fishtail.
Tessa frantically buckled her seat belt just before Basque lost control of the vehicle and it careened across the median toward the Potomac River.
I saw their car swerve off the road.
It looked like there was a fire in the front seat.
A fire?
The car bounced across the curb, crossed the Mount Vernon bike trail, shot through an opening in the trees along the Potomac, and launched off the bank and into the river.
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When they hit the water, the impact jarred Tessa violently forward. Even with the seat belt on she still felt whipped around like a rag doll.
Basque managed to get his door open and dive into the river.
She had no idea how deep the river would be here, but five feet would be deep enough to fill the car with water and she would drown.
Out! You have to get out!
I flew toward the spot where they’d left the road, screeched to a stop, leapt out, and bolted across the road toward the river.
The current grabbed the car and began to carry it downstream, a very bad sign, because if it was this strong here it meant the water was probably deep enough to take her under.
She doubted it would work, but she tried kicking at the window.
It did absolutely nothing.
She yanked at the metal mesh, but it wasn’t going anywhere.
Chilled water was pouring in from the open door in the front.
The trunk.
Maybe if she could pull the seat forward and get to the trunk she could get out. Or if there was a spare tire she could maybe unscrew the valve, get some air.
The words that’d been rattling around in her head all week came back to her: Meaningless, meaningless, all is—
No, no, it’s not!
This moment matters.
Every second does!
She didn’t have anything with her to try to rip open the fabric of the seat back, but even if she did, she realized she’d never be able to get through it in time — if it even accessed the trunk at all. There was almost certainly some sort of barrier there.
The car tilted farther forward and the cold dark water engulfed her legs.
I sprinted toward the shore, past a cluster of trees, frantically scanning the water with my flashlight.
Nothing.
Then I saw the taillights of the car about fifteen meters downstream, its trunk angled up through the water. It looked like there was still air in the backseat, but there wasn’t going to be for long.
Then the electrical system shorted out and the lights blacked out.
Everything went dark.
Water to her chest.
The clutch purse wasn’t big, but it was leather. It might hold a pocket of air, at least for a little bit before the water seeped through it. Holding the phone above her head she texted, I love you, Dad, then tipped the purse upside down to capture as much air as she could as the water rose to her neck.
Then Tessa Bernice Ellis tilted her head up to the roof of the car and filled her lungs one last time before the rest of the air escaped from inside the vehicle and the water enveloped her completely.
I was at the shoreline when a shadowy figure burst out from behind a grove of trees just to my left.
Basque.
I could see him in the faint light from the city. With his sliced cheek, broken teeth, and burned scalp spotted with stringy, wet clumps of hair and covered with gruesome red blisters, he looked bestial, barely human, like something that had crawled from a nightmare.
I whipped out Ralph’s Glock. “Hands up!”
Basque complied and stood watching me. He held a handgun, probably from one of the FBI Police officers he’d killed.
To my right, in the river, only the back bumper of the car was visible.
He spoke calmly. “Looks like you lose, Patrick.”
I had the Glock directed at his chest.
“Drop the gun, Richard!”
Fire, Patrick. You need to get to Tessa!
Do it!
“Now!”
He complied, tossing it three meters away from him.
The car disappeared underwater.
“I want you to remember this moment,” he said. “Remember when you were so close but you couldn’t do it, couldn’t get to her. You have to take me in, Patrick. That’s how you and I are different.”
Criminals don’t play by the rules. We have to.
I aimed at him.
He held his hands up. “You were too slow, Pat.”
Center mass.
I said, “Remember when I told you I was going to do what I could to get you the death penalty?”
“Yes, I—”
I eyed down the barrel. “I meant it.”
It would have been perfect if he would’ve pulled a weapon or made a move at me but he didn’t. He just stood there knowing that if I took the time to arrest him Tessa would die.
If I did my duty, I would lose my daughter.
Protocol.
Justice.
The greater good.
Life isn’t always perfect.
I fired three quick shots, all center mass, and the impact sent him lurching backward into the river.
I took a running start, grabbed a deep breath, and, flashlight in hand, dove into the Potomac to save my daughter.
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The cold water shocked me, made me surface almost immediately and gasp for breath.
Tessa, hold on!
The current was swift and I had to fight it to stay on track toward the car. I stroked desperately through the water. Then went under.
Everything was inky black and murky. Even with my Maglite, I could only see a few feet in front of me. The current wanted to take me downstream, but I struggled against it and swept the light back and forth to try to find the car.
But I didn’t find it. Though I’m a pretty good swimmer, holding my breath has never been my strength and I felt myself losing air.
Don’t surface, Pat! Get to her!
I still didn’t see the car and I had to get air or I wasn’t going to be able to stay under long enough to locate the squad, let along get Tessa out of it.
But no, I fought the urge to surface and after two more strokes the car appeared, almost out of nowhere. I swam to the backseat door on the driver’s side.
Flashlight scanning the backseat, I saw Tessa’s body floating in the car. She wasn’t moving.
No!
Cranking on the handle, I swung the door open, but it jammed against a rock on the river bottom before it could open wide enough for me to get Tessa out. I yanked at it but it wouldn’t budge and I couldn’t get to her.
Come on!
I needed more air but I wasn’t going to chance waiting any longer to get her out.
She’d been under at least half a minute by now, maybe longer. Every second mattered for eternity and I kicked urgently through the water to the other side of the car.
I swung the door open, dropped the flashlight and took hold of Tessa’s ankles with both hands and drew her out of the car.
Her body was limp and passed easily out the door.
No, please don’t let this happen. Please!
The discussion I’d had with Lien-hua about the brevity of life raced through my head and I tried to still it, quiet it, deny it as I tucked an arm around Tessa’s shoulder and chest and kicked desperately toward the surface.