[ THE EXCITING STUFF BEGINS IN CHAP 4 ]


     For some reason, as I rolled and  
started running back down towards the  
river, I remembered that old joke about
the fall not being what killed ya, but 
that sudden stop at the end. That’s    
what really gets ya.                   
     It’s true, and I laughed then, but
I wasn’t laughing now.                 
     Thirty-nine seconds, forty        
seconds, forty-one seconds.            
     While I was jumping, or rather,   
falling to the ground, the cop had     
found his bullhorn and was trying to   
get the attention of some people nearer
the riverbank.                         
     Two of them ran down closer, but  
the bag had already disappeared.       
     At least he was trying, and that’s
when I remembered seeing him somewhere 
before. I just couldn’t remember where,
but that thought left me instantly.    
     Forty-five seconds, forty-six     
seconds, forty-seven seconds.          
     I should be getting tired, but    
something was pushing me to go even    
* faster. Of course, it did help that the  
whole run and fall was mostly downhill.
     As I got closer to the river, I   
looked up to see where my car was and  
saw that the cop had turned on his     
flashing lights.                       
     Just ahead of that, I could see my
car, and calculated from that where the
bag had probably fallen. If my calcu-  
lations were correct, it not only made 
it into the river, but also wasn’t too 
far out to swim, and maybe I wasn’t too
late, maybe.                           
     If, my calculations were once     
again correct. I was fucking with Lady 
Luck big time on this one.             
     Fifty-eight seconds, fifty-nine   
seconds, one minute.                   
     There was only one way to find    
out, and on a dead run, dived in and   
swam as fast as I could to where I     
hoped the bag would be.                
     One minute and ten seconds, one   
minute and eleven seconds, one minute  
and twelve seconds.                    
     I was almost ready to give up,    
when I spotted it and dived down, pray-
ing to any God that would listen, and  
Lady Luck too.                         
     Please, please, don’t let me be   
too late.                              



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