Rifter (The Survival Project Duology Book 1) Read Free Page A

going to see who had come through. Every second lost was a chance wasted.
    As they ran, he scanned the face of every person they passed, hoping for some form of clue. He wasn’t looking for signs of guilt so much as simple recognition of their features. Or their recognition of his. Eight years wasn’t long enough for people to change so much that you wouldn’t recognise them, or to forget they ever existed.
    But none of them registered with him and no one gave him a second glance.
    Good. He didn’t need Atwood getting suspicious.
    They entered the park and slowed down a little. If they moved too fast they might miss something vitally important, a piece of evidence, the sight of someone running away. Atwood pointed to where the disruption should be, although he already knew, and they approached cautiously. Neither drew their gun. Open use of guns was something that needed another layer of permission and much more planning.
    Leo saw the ripples, like a heat haze in the sun, distorting his view of the trees up ahead. He saw the yellow tape, so whoever it was had a conscience. A lump came unexpectedly to his throat. He pushed it back down. Emotion won’t help you, he thought. Keep a professional detachment. But he’d waited so long.
    They stopped close to the disruption. There was no one looking suspicious. Atwood stared at the tape, raised his eyebrows, but he didn’t say anything. No one was running, apart from a jogger in full kit and headphones — that was unlikely to be a disguise. He could feel the rush of static from the electrical forces make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He imagined the hair on his head would be looking pretty wild, as well. He wanted to reach out his hand and touch the disruption. He wanted ….
    Atwood glimpsed something and pointed. There was a slight indentation, a footprint, in the mud, softened by rain the night before. Small. Most likely a woman’s.
    A woman’s.
    He closed his eyes for a moment and heard her voice.
    He couldn’t let himself think that way. It was a footprint. It could be anybody’s footprint. There was more than one woman on The Survival Project.
    “So, that’s one? That’s an anomaly?” said Atwood, breaking into Leo’s thoughts.
    “What? Yes.” He felt a sob leave his throat. He almost couldn’t breathe. He didn’t trust himself to act wisely yet. “But that’s not what we need to worry about. It’s whoever came through. Someone definitely came through.”
    “I’ll go and ask some of these people if they saw anything.”
    “Okay.” Leo watched as Atwood walked away. “You do that, Atwood, because everyone will have seen.”
    Leo made a cursory glance around the area and thought he saw someone in the bushes. It was the merest flash. He said nothing. He kept his gaze moving as if he hadn’t noticed.
    Please, he thought. Please.
    If it was her, maybe she would seek him out. If it were him in the same situation, that’s what he would do, if only out of curiosity. He’d be dying to know if both worlds created the same person with the same personality. Wouldn’t anyone? He was the one who had the advantage, because she didn’t know the full truth, and he needed to keep it that way, for now.
    His best option was to let things play out naturally for the first few hours. Pursuit wouldn’t get him what he wanted, and Atwood would undoubtedly get involved, but waiting might.
    He knew her. He knew she wouldn’t be able to resist.
    He turned away. He needed a plan. He pulled out his phone and pretended to try dialling a number.
    He knew the support team would already be on their way. He’d let Atwood do the necessary. He waved at him as he walked past and Atwood nodded back.
    “Lunch date,” he said, “She must already have left.”
    Atwood shook his head.
    “Debra will have your guts.”
    Leo shrugged. Atwood smiled.
    “Some people have lives outside of work,” he said.

Three
     
    To attempt to find your counterpart in a different