Long Way Down

A siren roared below. Stephen dropped the picture and stood at the window. Two police cars and a fire engine slowed to a stop below. Down the block, cars were being rerouted. Stephen didn't see any auto accident on the street. He hadn't heard any gunshots. What the hell...

Then he saw an officer point up. He looked to his left.

She was no more than fifteen, his daughter's age. Her blonde hair was oily and knotted from neglect. She wore a soiled and ripped white dress. She crossed her arms tightly in front of her. What did she do, fly up here? Stephen looked around the office, trying to figure out how the girl got out on the ledge. It finally occurred to him that it didn't matter HOW she got out there. She was there. She was going to jump. And there wasn't a damn thing anybody could do about it. Unless ...

"Hey, sweetie. Better watch that first step. It's a dosey," he said.

Her head jerked toward him. "Don't touch me! I'll jump!"

"Either you're planning to do that anyway, or you're trying to catch a pigeon."

"Leave me alone."

O.K., he thought. My natural charm isn't working. Maybe it was time for Plan B. Problem was that there was no Plan B. Stephen pushed the window the rest of the way open. He looked at the photo again---Anna and Stevie. Well, he thought, I'd want someone to do it for my kid. He started clumsily out on the ledge. He heard a secretary yell for him to stop.