Page 120 of Silent Bones
Dale's grip on Avery had loosened considerably, though he still held her near the platform's edge. Behind the duct tape, she was crying silently, her body shaking with exhaustion and terror.
"Dale," Noah said softly. "Please. Look at me."
Slowly, Dale turned his attention from the wilderness to Noah's face.
"I understand your anger," Noah continued. "I understand why you did what you did. Those kids caused a tragedy, and the system that should have held them accountable failed completely. You were right to be furious about that.”
"Then why should I stop now?—"
"Because you're better than this," Noah interrupted. "The eighteen-year-old who first climbed this tower was better than this. He became a ranger because he wanted to protect people, not hurt them."
Dale's eyes filled with tears again. "That kid died when they buried the truth about Wallface."
"No, he didn't," Noah said. "He's still in there. He's the part of you that's hesitating right now, the part that doesn't really want to hurt an innocent girl."
"She's not innocent!"
"She was seventeen when it happened," Noah said. "A stupid, reckless seventeen-year-old who made a catastrophic mistake. But she didn't set out to kill anyone, and she doesn't deserve to die for it."
Dale stared at Avery, really seeing her as something other than a symbol of his destroyed life. She was so young, so terrified, so desperate to live.
"What happens to me?" Dale asked. "If I let her go, what happens to me?"
Noah could have lied, could have promised things he couldn't deliver. Instead, he chose honesty.
"You'll be arrested for murder. You'll probably spend the rest of your life in prison. But you'll be able to live with yourself, knowing you chose mercy in the end."
Dale nodded slowly, as if he'd expected that answer. "And the truth about Wallface?"
"Will come out," Noah promised. "Stephen's confession, your investigation, all of it. People will know what really happened. You might be hated by many, but you will be hailed as a hero by others. It’s the nature of this world."
For a moment, it seemed like Dale was going to step back from the edge, going to release Avery and surrender peacefully. His grip loosened further, and he took a half-step away from the platform railing.
Then something shifted in his expression. Some last flicker of rage or despair or simple exhaustion with the weight of carrying his grief for so long.
"No," he said quietly. "It's too late for that."
Before Noah could react, Dale grabbed Avery with both arms and lunged toward the platform edge.
Noah dove forward, his hands closing around Avery's shoulders just as Dale tried to pull her over the railing. The three of them crashed against the steel barrier, thirty-five feet above the rocky ground below.
"Let go of her!" Noah shouted, trying to pull Avery away from Dale's grip.
But Dale held on with desperate strength, his feet scrabbling for purchase on the platform as he tried to drag both himself and Avery over the side. For a terrifying moment, all three of them teetered on the edge of the drop, gravity pulling them toward the rocks below.
Noah managed to wrap one arm around a steel support post, anchoring himself while maintaining his grip on Avery with his other hand. Dale's weight was pulling them all over, his fingers clawing at Avery's jacket as she hung suspended between them.
"Dale, stop!" Noah gasped. "This won't bring them back!"
But Dale was beyond reason now, consumed by the need to complete his final act of revenge. He released his grip on the platform and let his full weight hang from his hold on Avery, trying to drag her down with him.
The sudden shift in weight nearly pulled Noah over the edge as well. His shoulder screamed in pain as it took the strain of supporting both Avery and Dale's struggling form. The steel post cut into his arm, but he held on.
Below them, McKenzie and Callie were shouting, but there was nothing they could do from ground level except watch the struggle play out thirty-five feet above them. It would have taken them too long to climb the staircase up.
Noah felt his grip starting to slip. Dale's weight was too much, and Avery was being torn between them like a rag doll. In seconds, all three of them would fall.
"Dale, please!" Noah made one last desperate appeal. "The boy who worked in this tower wouldn't want this!"
