The Survivor

‘You were just standing there, in a daze.’

‘I was . . . thinking.’ He moved down the bridge, then turned about and retraced his steps, going over the soundness of his tactics – how he’d approached the van, his stance towards the gunman, the way he’d improvised when Courtney fell forward and Shen Sun ran for Raine. He went over it again and again and again until his head hurt and he could feel the blood hammering behind his temples.

Drained, he approached the railing where Shen Sun had pulled Raine to her death. On all the other days he’d come here, he’d bent down and propped her flowers against the steel railing. Today he walked right up to the railing, looked down and stared at the turbulent green waters below. The flowers slipped from his fingers, and Striker watched them fall, counting the horrible seconds it took for them to hit the water.

Four and a half.

Striker frowned. The terror Raine must have felt before slamming into the cold, hard waters and being sucked down by the unforgiving currents. He counted the seconds in his head, over and over again. And another dreaded duty was yet to come. Patricia Kwan had been stabilised, and Dr Adler said he would be taking her from her induced coma soon.

Then Striker would have to inform her of Raine’s death. He could get someone from Patrol to do it, but knew he wouldn’t. Raine’s death had occurred because of his failure.

He would tell Patricia so.

Felicia came up to his side, and rubbed her hand on his back. Striker shook it off, not because he resented her touch, but because his ribs were still sore – broken from the bullets that had tagged him on the bulletproof vest that night.

‘It’s over,’ Felicia said. ‘And neither Raine nor Shen Sun Soone are coming back. You have to accept that, Jacob.’

Striker said nothing. He simply looked across the water to a small sandy inlet, just south-east of the native reserve. That was where the frogmen had finally found Raine’s body some six hours after her fall.

Shen Sun’s body had never been found.

Striker doubted if it ever would. The gunman had manifested into Striker’s life like a ghost from another realm, and he had gone out in much the same ma

The thought made Striker shiver, and he recalled the gunman’s last words:

‘History is circle. Past is also future.’

Striker understood the hidden message in those words: that their paths would cross again one day, in this life or the next. The saying was old. A Chinese superstition. And Striker hoped it wasn’t true. God knows, he’d already suffered enough pain for this life and the next.

But if it did happen, he would be ready.

Felicia gave him a nudge. ‘You okay?’

He nodded. ‘I’m more than okay, I’m alive.’ He pulled her close and gave her a long, passionate kiss. When he pulled away, her cheeks were rosy and her lips stretched into a smirk.

‘Does this mean we’re on again?’ she asked.

Striker raised an eyebrow and smiled at her. ‘Let’s just say, you won’t be needing chocolate again for a long, long time.’

Table of Contents

Cover

Half-title page

Title page

Copyright page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Wednesday

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-One

Twenty-Two

Twenty-Three

Twenty-Four

Twenty-Five

Twenty-Six

Thursday

Twenty-Seven

Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Nine

Thirty

Thirty-One

Thirty-Two

Thirty-Three

Thirty-Four

Thirty-Five

Thirty-Six

Thirty-Seven

Thirty-Eight

Thirty-Nine

Forty

Forty-One

Forty-Two

Forty-Three

Forty-Four

Forty-Five

Forty-Six

Forty-Seven

Forty-Eight

Forty-Nine

Fifty

Fifty-One

Fifty-Two

Fifty-Three

Fifty-Four

Fifty-Five

Friday

Fifty-Six

Fifty-Seven

Fifty-Eight

Fifty-Nine

Sixty

Sixty-One

Sixty-Two

Sixty-Three

Sixty-Four

Sixty-Five

Sixty-Six

Sixty-Seven

Sixty-Eight

Sixty-Nine

Seventy

Seventy-One

Seventy-Two

Seventy-Three

Seventy-Four

Seventy-Five

Seventy-Six

Seventy-Seven

Seventy-Eight

Seventy-Nine

Eighty

Eighty-One

Eighty-Two

Eighty-Three

Eighty-Four

Eighty-Five

Eighty-Six

Eighty-Seven

Eighty-Eight

Finale

Eighty-Nine

Ninety

Ninety-One

Ninety-Two

Ninety-Three

Ninety-Four

Ninety-Five

Ninety-Six

Ninety-Seven

Ninety-Eight

Ninety-Nine

One Hundred

Epilogue

One Hundred and One

One Hundred and Two

One Hundred and Three