Rifter (The Survival Project Duology Book 1) (25 page)

“No disobedience,” he said, “Or you’ll regret it.”

She already regretted it, but she complied. This wasn’t the right moment to try something. She was too vulnerable.

They were dragged down the stairs, barely able to reach to the next step with their legs so tightly tied together, stumbling constantly. When they emerged from the building, he pushed her up against the side of a vehicle. It sounded like one of the black taxi cabs he’d used before, the engine thrumming loudly.

She wondered who was driving it and if that might be to her advantage, but she remembered the screen between driver and passenger. Leo would have insisted that be closed. The Department would be doing what he wanted because they needed her to live, so there would be no detours, nothing to spook him. It would all be by the book. Debra had warned her that they might not be able to stop him, but she tried to push that from her mind. She had to believe they could.

She could imagine all the eyes that must be watching them. More than before, when they’d entered the block. She hoped Kerry was there. She could draw strength from that, knowing that he was rooting for her. Her one friend on this world.

It had been a long afternoon. A lot of time for her to cycle through all her doubts multiple times. To think of all the things that could go wrong, rather than the things that could go right. She was pretty sure that Leo hadn’t left the room the whole time, no doubt in case they managed to free themselves again. There had been negotiations with Debra, of course, but he didn’t need to move for that. She’d almost laughed when she’d discovered he’d been watched the whole time, but then she’d wondered if the same would happen to her. Another thing to deal with later. Another thing that might not happen.

She hadn’t tried to talk him out of anything, like they’d been trained to do, because she didn’t want there to be any chance of giving away what she intended. Although he couldn’t see her face, there were so many nuances to body language, and even the slightest tick might be enough to tip him off. She’d nearly died when he’d seen the monitor she still had around her body. He could so easily have realised.

But he hadn’t.

And it was her only chance of sending her wordless message to Gordon.

The lack of vision and the general disorientation that having a t-shirt over your head caused, meant that she bumped her head on the cab’s door frame and tripped over as she tried to sit. He didn’t help her, just pushed her so that he could get Mayra in as well.

If they had thought he’d only take one hostage with him, they were wrong, but she imagined that Debra was clever enough to have worked that out beforehand. Two shields instead of one. Although, how he thought he could control them both if they decided to bring him down, she wasn’t sure.

Not that they’d been able to communicate since he’d tied them up for the second time.

She hoped Mayra wouldn’t try to make a move on her own. That could be a disaster.

She could see his arms and his lower body by looking down out of the t-shirt, but bound at the wrists and the ankles, there was little she could do. She wondered if he still knew which one of them was which, or if he even cared.

The wrist where he’d placed her brac was the one next to her. It was so tantalisingly close it made her eyes tear up. She didn’t want to think about the fact that she wasn’t going back, but she needed to get as much information as possible. She could see the monitor. It was on amber, but she couldn’t see how many hours were left.

This was his last chance to get through the rift. Any mistakes now and he wasn’t going back, either.

It was all about fear. Her fear. His. Mayra’s. Debra’s even. Each would be different and each would play a part.

Her fear was partly about his shooting her. She couldn’t deny that. No one wanted to be injured, or to die. She didn’t want to think about what that would feel like. She’d pushed it to the back of her mind. But it wasn’t her main fear. The far greater one was that he managed to get through the rift and back to wreak havoc on all the people she loved. The people she’d worked with for three years. They were like a family to her, and she didn’t want anything bad to happen to them.

Mayra, she imagined, would be consumed by a different kind of fear. The fear of being shot might be her main concern, but she would have another fear, fear of the unknown. She had no idea why this was happening. She had no concept of a rift or what might happen if she got too close. She didn’t even know they existed. Was she strong enough to deal with the unknown? Only Leo would have any handle on that.

Debra’s fear would probably have two different angles. First, that both of them got through the rift and she was left with no one held captive on her world. Second, that both of them were killed. Either way, she would lose her link to the other world. That would, indeed, be a disaster for this world, because after this there might never be another traveller come through the rift.

And then there was Leo’s fear. The fear that his plan might fail. How long had he been planning this, waiting for a rifter to come through whom he could abduct? How long had he dreamed of this despicable revenge plot? Any tiny error in his judgement and he might fail. He might think they wouldn’t try to shoot him with hostages, but he had no guarantee. He also didn’t know what she might do, or what his girlfriend might do. Leo’s fear was probably the greatest and the most likely to spill out.

He still had the gun with him. That was certain. The thing she didn’t know was whether he had the guts to use it. She had no evidence on that yet. Had he ever shot anyone in anger or self-defence? The hours they’d spent on the firing range on The Project didn’t count. Stuffed dummies and targets weren’t anything like real people. They didn’t scream in pain, or spill blood, involuntarily spattering it across your clothes as you watched them die.

Could a man whose only real interest had been computers, kill someone?

She wasn’t sure she could, not to save her own life, but she might be able to do it to save the lives of others.

And what would Gordon’s reaction be to Leo returning instead of her?

Shocked, of course. Leo had been gone for six months, presumed dead. They had no idea where he’d landed, or if his location was hostile. For all they knew he could’ve landed on that world where the dinosaurs never died and survival wasn’t your choice.

Happy, maybe. Certainly, initially, there would be joy at seeing someone you thought was dead standing before you, but that could change very quickly when you analysed the other side of the coin — the person you’d lost in exchange.

Suspicious, most definitely. Of all the people she’d ever known, Gordon was the most suspicious. He didn’t take anything anyone said at face value, which often made interaction with him difficult. He might act the father figure, but he wasn’t the kind of father you’d want to cuddle. He made notes on everything and used them to catch you out. He’d tell Caroline things that he wanted her to investigate and you knew it was based on some throw-away comment you’d made when you thought he wasn’t listening. His suspicious nature was the thing most likely to defeat Leo, no matter what he did.

But none of that would make any difference if all Leo did was go through the rift and straightaway take a pot shot at the first person he saw. Gordon would always be the first person he saw. No. He wouldn’t risk taking the gun, would he? Revenge was no good if you died whilst achieving it.

When the cab stopped, she assumed at the park, they didn’t get out straightaway. Leo took out a belt from a small carrier on the floor and snapped it around his waist. As far as she could tell, it was some kind of utility belt, the kind you could hang things off so that they were in easy reach. Then he pulled out something else. A set of short chains. She realised then that he was going to attach them to him in a way that he could keep his hands free. It was clever, but possibly foolish as well. If one of them tripped, then they all went down. If that happened, his plan was lost. How was he going to make sure they didn’t do that deliberately? She could try.

He pushed Mayra out of the cab first, no doubt shielding his own body, and she heard the snap of her being attached to the belt, it sounded like twice. Then he roughly grabbed her own arm and pulled her out, holding her tight to his front. She was attached in a similar manner. The closeness of his body to hers made her shiver in disgust.

She imagined how they looked. A human cage shielding him from a clean shot. She wondered if the marksmen would risk it. They’d have to be sure of hitting a part of his body that would disable him badly or kill him, and if he kept his arms in tight to his body, the only possibility would be his head.

“Rest your head on my shoulders. Both of you. Now.”

No possibility of hitting his head, then. She did as instructed. She could only just reach. They’d each naturally gone to the left. Lucky. She had no idea how they were going to manage to walk.

Flashing lights were visible through the t-shirt. Emergency lights, she thought. The kind they had on emergency vehicles here. And there were other lights, almost like daylight, that cast a feeling of intense warmth on her body and imparted a yellowish glow. It felt like the place was full of people, watching, but they made little sound.

He thrust the gun into her stomach.

“Either of you cause any problems, you get shot,” he said, “Now, start walking.”

The gun felt cold through the fabric. A shot to the stomach would cause a lot of damage. Point blank, it could easily be fatal. She tried not to sob. She swallowed deeply. She didn’t want to die. If she tried to trip them up, she would be shot. He couldn’t miss. And then, they’d be left with him. He wouldn’t destroy The Facility, but he also wouldn’t help this world.

She only had one option.

The walk toward the disruption was tortuous. Tiny steps, backwards for her, him making sure they were always close to his body.

She was going to have to do what she’d planned.

But not yet.

She hoped she had the guts, and the opportunity.

Only time would tell.

And time was fast running out.

Thirty-three

Leo gritted his teeth in an attempt to stop his body from shaking. The reality of the situation had finally hit him and he felt a strange detachment between his body and his brain, as if they were working independently. His brain was calm, logical, considered, and was following the plan to the letter. His body was a wreck. His feet and legs were refusing to work smoothly. He felt cold even with the warmth of the two bodies held close around him and the intensely bright spotlights that followed his every move. He felt sick. He had no energy.

It took every ounce of it to make his feet move as they walked toward the disruption.

The power of mind over matter was the only thing keeping him going. His brain was strong. It alone had the courage of his convictions and it would carry him through this. He had to succeed. He wanted revenge, and this was the only way to get it.

But he didn’t want to die trying. Where would be the sense in that?

Golden Park had been completely cordoned off from the public, even though they wouldn’t have been allowed in at that time of night. He wondered at the sense of it, because making it so obvious that something was going on was bound to attract attention. From what he could see, it had already attracted the press. At least one TV camera was held aloft, behind the row of police cars. One social media post about the commotion and there’d be an influx of people to deal with.

There were also two ambulances in attendance. That meant they expected someone to get injured. Him, no doubt. It highlighted the fact that any mistake he made might mean he ended up needing the services of the paramedics, or a ferry service to the morgue.

That couldn’t happen.

He needed to keep thinking clearly and he needed to force his body to comply.

He breathed in deeply.

Get to the disruption. Travel through the rift. Seek revenge. This is what you’ve been planning for years. You can’t give up now because your legs won’t work.

He could see Debra. She stood near the front of the watching pack, shielded by police officers, some armed with rifles. She was wearing a bulky bulletproof vest. She wasn’t taking any chances. And she was holding something. He saw her lips curl up. She thought she’d won. He turned his gaze away from her, but moments later there was an otherworldly screech as she brought a megaphone to her lips.

Her words filled his consciousness.

“Don’t do this, McNaught,” she said. “We won’t let you go through. Give up now and nobody will get hurt.”

He wanted to answer, to tell her how she’d been part of what had ruined his life. He wanted to rage and scream and … He didn’t answer.

He had to believe that she was bluffing. She wouldn’t shoot, there was too much at risk.

He heard the chup-chup-chup of a helicopter’s rotor overhead. He forced himself not to look. It was only there to unsettle him. A shot from above would be even more risky for them, especially from a moving vehicle.

He knew the only thing that kept the two women moving was the gun in the stomach of the woman in front. He wasn’t sure which was which, whether Mara was in front, or behind. It had been a good decision, because his emotional attachment to each of them was different. He felt some guilt about Mayra. She’d had no control over what happened to her. He had deceived her for years. But Mara? She had betrayed him. He no longer felt guilt over her. Yes, there was still the memory of loving her hidden in a compartment in his brain, ready to be used as needed, but her contacting Debra had crushed any smidgen of attachment he had to those feelings.