"He might have come back this way," Christopher said.
They made their way back through the woods, picking their way carefully through the thicket. Paige still had the feeling that Riker was out there, but where?
She started looking around, determined to find some sign of him. She tried to think. Where would he have gone? Would he be trying to put distance between himself and them?
One thing occurred to her: there were no sounds of someone running. She and Christopher had made plenty of noise passing through the woodland in their pursuit of Adam, but now everything was still.
That meant that he couldn’t still be fleeing. Instead, Paige guessed that he would be hiding somewhere, probably watching. He would know that running now would draw too much attention, and only serve to give away his position. He would pick a hiding spot and wait, then try to double back and get clear once he was sure that he wouldn't be spotted.
"I think he's hiding somewhere," Paige said.
Christopher nodded. "You check over there. Stay in sight and call out immediately if you see anything."
Paige didn’t like the idea of splitting up like that, but she knew that it was their best chance of actually finding Adam, so she moved off, looking around as she went. She glanced back, saw Christopher moving through the trees and she turned back to her task.
He had to be in the area, she knew. He had to be, but where was he? She walked around, trying to find a spot where he might be hiding. She glanced around, and then she saw it.
"Christopher!" she called.
He came running over, and she pointed to the figure, sitting in the shadow of a tree, in a hollow that hid him from sight from every other angle.
"Come out with your hands where I can see them!" Christopher called out, his gun out and aimed.
The figure got to his feet and started to run again.
Christopher fired off a warning shot, which struck a nearby tree, sending fragments of wood flying in every direction. It didn't slow their suspect down at all. If anything, it spurred him on to greater efforts, weaving in and out of the trees.
They were gaining ground on him now, though. Christopher was pulling ahead of Paige, closing the gap between him and the suspect.
He got close enough to tackle him, and he dived, throwing the man to the ground.
The moment Christopher had tackled him to the ground, the man let out a high-pitched cry.The two men fell, Christopher on top of their suspect Paige heard the sound of scuffling, and saw the man trying to fight back, but Christopher was on top, trapping his arms and wrenching one of them to force him to turn over to his stomach.
"Shit!" Paige heard the man yell. "Ouch! That hurt! You can't do this!"
"You can't run from us!" Christopher called. "You’re under arrest!"
Even as he did so, though, Paige was realizing something that made her heart sink:
This wasn't Adam Riker. It wasn't his voice, and as he tried to fight back, it had none of the violence that Paige knew Adam was capable of. That would have been a hard fight for Christopher, against a man prepared to do anything to maintain his freedom. Instead, he was handling this man easily, pinning him in place and handcuffing him.
"It's not him, Christopher," Paige said, not able to contain the disappointment in her voice. She felt empty in that moment. She'd found a clue that she'd hoped would lead to Adam, but instead, it had led to someone else.
Christopher hauled the man up to his feet, pulling his hood from his head, to reveal a bearded, dirt-streaked face surrounded by lank hair. Paige could see the fear in the man's eyes.
It wasn’t Adam. This man didn’t look anything like him.
"Who are you?" she asked. Paige needed to understand why this man was here, in the spot where she’d been so sure she would find Adam.
"I'm no one," he said.
Christopher shook him slightly. "What's your name?"
"I'm Bert. I'm nobody. I didn't mean any trouble."
"What are you doing here, Bert?" Paige asked.
"It was empty! No one was using it, and I wanted to get out of the rain for a while. Then I stayed, because... well, why not? If there's been a complaint, I'll go. I don't want any trouble."