The Line by Teri Hall Read Free Book Online Page A

the end of their sanctuary there, had unnerved her. But Rachel had been so calm; she saw what needed to be done, and she did it. It made Vivian feel proud. Proud and relieved—relieved that isolating Rachel here, sheltering her from so much, hadn’t stopped her from growing into a good person.
    It hadn’t been easy since they lost Daniel. Not that it was exactly easy before that, always looking over their shoulders, always worried that the Ganivar Council would catch on to them. Wondering if a neighbor, or a vendor, or perhaps Julie, Rachel’s babysitter, would suspect them and make a report. To look at Julie’s sweet teenage face when she came to watch Rachel—she was the same age then that Rachel was now—and wonder if it concealed treachery. To know that Julie, an innocent child, had the power to have them all taken away, if she ever put two and two together. And most horrible of all, to know without a doubt that Julie would think she was doing the right thing, that she would feel good about turning them in to the Council.
    When Daniel got the Call to Serve notice, Vivian knew from the look on his face as he read it that he would go. She wanted to run, try for Unifolle, try to start over. But Daniel said they would be caught. She remembered their arguments about it.
    “We’d be safe in Unifolle, Daniel. The Council has no power there. They couldn’t touch us.”
    “If we made it there, Viv. And how would we Cross?”
    “We could go to Peter, ask him to let us use the key. You know he would.” Vivian knew no such thing; the key wasn’t much more than a rumor, a slip of the tongue one night during a dinner they’d had with their friends Peter and Jolie Hill. Their only friends really, and fellow collaborators. If it existed, the key would be protected the same way Daniel and Vivian would protect the maps they had been entrusted with; if Peter actually had it, he wouldn’t admit it, even to friends.
    “That’s not something we should even be talking about.” Daniel’s eyes, his beautiful brown eyes, had met Vivian’s, and she knew the look. He was serious. No matter what she said, he would not be moved. “Our other options are nonexistent. It’s not just the Council we’re dealing with; it’s the whole government. You know as well as I do that they monitor the borders. And how would we even get permission to go on a trip? If they hadn’t flagged our profiles before, you know they have now. Barry may not have made a report, but he certainly said something to someone. Why else would they have turned down my travel request?”
    Daniel had filed a request for a day trip two weeks before, ostensibly to meet with Peter Hill about a project. Daniel often made travel requests as part of his job at Riser and Associates, an architectural firm in Ganivar. Peter, who was also an architect, lived in nearby Bensen, and they sometimes used the subterfuge of work to meet about collaboration matters. This latest request, however, had been denied by the Council, the first time that had happened. Daniel was certain that his boss, Barry Riser, was suspicious of him and had tipped off someone on the Council. They knew no formal report had been made, because if it had, they would have already been picked up. Barry had the kind of connections that would allow him to drop a comment at a cocktail party instead of making a formal report. That way, if his suspicions were unfounded, Daniel would never know Riser had doubted him, and if they were correct, Riser could avoid the negative publicity of having his business associated with a collaborator. Daniel and Vivian could be dealt with quietly, without the streamer coverage many exposures received. That was how it worked.
    While the Council covertly investigated a suspected individual, travel requests and any other unusual activities—large cred transfers or withdrawals, vacation requests, or personal leave requests—would be prohibited. Daniel and Vivian had been waiting for