The Titan_The Luke Titan Chronicles Read online

  “You are correct,” Christian said.

  “Then why didn’t you follow through?”

  “I decided that I didn’t want to live anymore, Senator. I decided that I would rather die than keeping fighting Luke.”

  The sounds behind him were no longer whispers, but a roar.

  “Please, please,” Franklin said. “We need quiet in here. Please, everyone, give us silence.”

  It took a minute or so, but the press corps quieted themselves, and the Senator focused on Christian again.

  “Someone died because of that decision. Do you have any remorse, at least for that?”

  “My remorse lies in that I did not die with him,” Christian said.

  The senator shook his head and looked down at his papers for a few seconds. “I’d like to change the topic for a bit. Who was it that kidnapped you? Who was it that took you to the house in the mountains?”

  Christian knew what was wanted of him: to help crucify Waverly just as Welcs was doing. Because of course the animal had arrived and taken Christian. Luke had been trapped himself, back in that huge house desperately trying to think his way out of the situation.

  Christian wasn’t going to help this senator, though.

  You are free to do whatever you want.

  “Luke Titan took me,” Christian said.

  “I’ve heard that you told investigators that as well. However, I find it hard to believe, given that there were no signs of struggle at all in your home. Let’s assume that you’re telling the truth, though. What I really want to know, Mr. Windsor, is did you know that your boss had hired a contract killer?”

  Christian saw the other walk into the room. He came in through the door on the far side, letting it close softly behind him, as if anyone besides Christian could hear it. The mouth turned slightly to see his fellow apparition join the hearing, then looked back to Christian.

  “We’re all here,” the mouth said. “Do you want to tell the truth or lie, Christian? Because this is a big one. Isn’t that what Luke wanted with the choice he gave you? That all the rest of your choices would be influenced by that one?”

  Christian didn’t look at the talking apparition. “No. There was no contract killer. The only people at that house were myself, Tommy Phillips, Veronica Lopez, and Luke Titan. If there was anyone else, then he was working with Luke. I saw no one else the whole time I was there. I’ve been completely amazed at the accusations, false accusations, that both this committee and the press have been throwing out. The years that I served next to Alan Waverly have shown me that he is an upstanding man without the capability of doing what you’ve claimed.”

  The mouth started laughing, it’s loud and deep voice drowning out the roar of the press corps behind Christian.

  Chapter 2

  Waverly looked to his left and right before knocking on the hotel room’s door. It was late and there was no one in the hallway, yet he still didn’t want to be seen here.

  A minute passed with no one answering, but he didn’t move. He didn’t knock again either. Windsor was inside and Waverly held no doubt that he was up.

  He would stand here until the door opened.

  It finally did.

  Windsor stood in front of him wearing a robe. There were no lights on behind him.

  “What?” Windsor said.

  “Can I come in?”

  Windsor didn’t immediately move, but after a moment, he relented, stepping aside. “We have company,” he said as he walked into the room. He flipped a switch on the wall and the room lit up.

  Veronica Lopez was lying in bed with her eyes open.

  “I’m … I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were here, Veronica.”

  “It’s fine,” Christian said, sitting down on the foot of the bed. “She rarely sleeps. Doesn’t speak much either. I keep her with me because … I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. What do you want?”

  Waverly still stood at the open door. Veronica was staring forward, not looking at him or Windsor, just watching the far side of the wall. Tommy had been right about her. Luke hypnotized her, and apparently—a year later—she still wasn’t back to normal.

  Waverly turned around, closed the door, and steadied himself before looking back to Windsor. The man was changed, and in ways Waverly didn’t understand … maybe never could understand.

  “I wanted to say thank you for today.”

  “Did you think I’d do anything differently?”

  “We didn’t know, my lawyers and I. I guess I thought you would tell the truth.” Waverly paused and looked down at his shoes. “My lawyers said if you keep telling people that, there’s no chance the investigation will go much further … What about her?”

  Windsor didn’t look to Veronica. “She’s still mostly under Luke’s hypnosis.”

  “What’s that mean, really?”

  “Much of her personality was destroyed, or at least buried. Some of it’s returned, though not a lot. I don’t really know to be honest.” Christian stood, breaking eye contact for the first time. He walked to the wall’s large window. He was quiet for a few moments and Waverly remained quiet, too, unsure what to say or when to say it. He thought Christian was searching for something, trying to describe something just out of his grasp. “Luke programmed her, somehow. First to bring me back to civilization after everything happened. She did that, and now, she’s programmed for something else, but I can’t get it out of her.”

  “Does she scare you?” Waverly asked.

  “Yes and no. I don’t think Luke programmed her to kill me or anything like that. It wouldn’t make sense. But, I’m scared of her mind. I don’t know if there’s a bomb inside her head, waiting on me to set it off.”

  Waverly thought the two were together because they’d returned to being lovers, but that apparently wasn’t the case. “Why did you bring her, then? Can she hear me right now?”

  “She hears everything. She hasn’t spoken to anyone besides me since we got back. Luke really tangled her mind, man … Why is she here? Because Luke created her for me.” Christian laughed, the high pitched one that Waverly remembered being so frightened of. The laugh that came from Charles Twaller, creeping into Christian’s consciousness the way a worm burrows into dirt. It ended as abruptly as it started. “I mean that. He created this woman for me, like God created Eve for Adam. I don’t know what she’s supposed to do yet, but I’ve got to keep her near me.”

  “I don’t want to sound crude, but what about me? You know she’ll be subpoenaed, if she hasn’t already.”

  Christian chuckled, sounding infinitely better than the shrill laugh from a moment before. “You’ll be okay. I don’t know how much she remembers or how much she’s even allowed to talk about it. She won’t give away anything. So, basically, if they really do find hard evidence on the killer, the story is he was working with Luke. That’s why we were at the house. Luke used him for it, and he ended up dead just like everyone else who works with Luke. ”

  The two were silent, Christian staring out the window and Waverly staring at him.

  “Did you want anything else?”

  “No … Thank you, again.” Something flashed in Waverly’s mind. “Wait. Why are you keeping her with you, Christian? She needs help. She needs doctors. I mean, if Luke messed her up this badly, why would you not get her help?”

  Christian turned around and leaned against the window. “I don’t want her fixed, Waverly. That won’t help me find Luke.”

  “What?” He was stunned. He shook his head slightly, trying to clear some of the confusion. “You’re going after him? Didn’t you just finish physical therapy from the stomach wound?”

  “Six weeks ago. And yes, of course I am.”

  “You’ll end up in jail. You’re not an agent anymore. You’re not anything.”

  “That’s fine, but it changes nothing,” Christian said.

  Waverly opened his mouth but no words came to it.

  “This is what he wanted. This is why he did everything. So t
hat I’d come, and now I am. I’m going to give him what he wants.”

  Waverly stared, a dull comprehension settling over him. He didn’t know the man in this room, no more than he knew the reprogrammed woman. This was a stranger’s hotel and he shouldn’t be here, because the people inside weren’t … normal? Sane? Waverly didn’t know, but what Christian said was certainly insane.

  “He’s gone,” Waverly managed to say. “No one has seen or heard from him in a year. Let him stay gone, Christian. Don’t go looking for him.”

  “He’s not gone. He’s only waiting.”

  Senator Robert Franklin couldn’t sleep. He paced around his D.C. house, though his wife had gone to bed hours earlier. He knew the freak was lying, the one with the scar dotting his face like a fucking Dalmatian or something. They had the contract killer’s name—had been able to trace it back through the house they were imprisoned in. Robert didn’t believe for a single second that Titan had kidnapped the freak.

  The person Waverly hired did it, and now they were all trying to cover it up. The story was believable, but not true. Sure, a contract killer could have worked with Titan, but that didn’t explain the smoke billowing from the whole mess. Robert knew that where smoke existed, fire wasn’t far off. The rumors were the truth. A contract killer had been hired, but something went wrong—Robert didn’t know what. The contract killer disappeared. Titan disappeared. Phillips died. And then the freak and his girlfriend came wandering down off the mountain.

  Robert wasn’t any white knight, though he might have thought himself one three decades ago, when he first joined congress. He learned quickly though that none of that bullshit worked. He wasn’t even really concerned that Waverly had done something dirty—everyone did it from time to time (though, in all honesty, Robert could say he had never hired a person to kill someone).

  No, what really bothered the Senator—what kept him pacing around the house at 1:00 in the morning—was that he would look like a fool if this committee came up empty. A lot of resources, a lot of money, were being consumed to look into Waverly’s actions. If they only produced a goose egg from the whole escapade, any primary challenger could use it against him.

  The fact was, for Robert Franklin, that the freak had lied. He’d lied under oath. He’d lied to members of congress. He’d lied to the whole world and now Robert could practically see the papers’ headlines tomorrow.

  Senator accused of witch hunt in Waverly probe!

  Special Agent says there was no contract killer!

  FBI Director wrongly accused by congress!

  There would be more, of course, but those summed it up—and in contrasting images, their readers would see Waverly and Robert’s picture.

  The Senator laid on his couch and stared out across the living room.

  The damned freak couldn’t be allowed to simply lie to congress. That was the problem. If he told the truth, all of this would go so much easier.

  This wasn’t Robert’s first dance, though. You didn’t stay in congress as long as he had without some brains. The freak was lying, of that Robert was sure—hell, everyone on the committee was sure. And if he lied once, it meant he’d probably lied again. If Robert knew anything, it was that lies bred lies. One led to another … and another.

  Robert would unravel the lies, then.

  When he finished, the freak would be nothing but a disgraced former FBI agent. Waverly behind bars.

  And Robert would win reelection for his next four terms.

  Letters from a Killer

  Christian,

  I saw your performance yesterday, though when you get this letter, a week will have passed. I loved seeing you lie for Waverly. Was it loyalty that made you do it? Was it love for the former Director? Or was it something else?

  I think the latter.

  You’re free and that was the first sign. I must say, well done.

  That Senator, the one persecuting you and Waverly, I would watch out for him. He doesn’t seem well, exactly. It is hard to say without personally interviewing him, but I’m not sure he’s mentally stable. A bit power hungry, perhaps—but then again, he is in congress.

  I’m blind to your life now, Christian, and that saddens me some. I imagine that you’re blind to mine as well, given your resignation at the FBI. I have no doubt that you think about me, though, as I do you. I would ask what you think about, but I have a pretty good idea.

  How is our lady? Ms. Lopez? Have you started working on her, trying to roll back the mental blocks I created? Has she released any of her secrets to you? So many questions, and only one way for you to answer me. Come see me, Christian. Your wounds are healed and there is only one villain left to vanquish.

  Yours,

  Luke Titan

  Chapter 3

  Christian placed the letter down.

  Luke was clever; no one could ever say differently.

  An invitation, nothing more. Nothing of interest. Just a few slight jabs at Christian.

  Except for one thing, though it hadn’t been necessary to mention it. Veronica. She was the key and Luke had just told him the same. Waverly thought him crazy a week ago in the hotel room. He couldn’t believe Christian was considering chasing Luke, couldn’t understand why he kept Veronica with him.

  Christian had wanted to ask him a few questions.

  Like, what else is there to do? What would you do, Waverly? Would you sit here and talk to the two phantoms that follow you around like dogs? Would you kill yourself? Would you check Veronica into a mental hospital so she could end up dying there? Because that’s surely what would happen. Would you let Tommy’s, and not to mention everyone else’s, deaths go unavenged?

  He had wanted to say a lot, but instead he kept his mouth shut.

  Perhaps for the first time in his life, Christian hadn’t spoken his thoughts aloud.

  Now, he looked down at the letter in front of him, Luke’s perfect handwriting staring back.

  Christian believed Veronica knew where Luke was at.

  “Ready to finally start using her? We always knew it would come.” The mouth floated behind Christian, a black cloud of jagged teeth.

  It spoke the truth. Christian turned around and looked at the apparition. It smiled wide, looking like the dark smoke aftermath of a fire. What had burned? Christian’s mind, of course.

  “You’re a user and an abuser, Christian. But you know that, don’t you?”

  Christian said nothing and walked to the left, leaving the kitchen and heading to the living room. Veronica was in her bed in the back but Christian wasn’t ready to go there yet. He knew that he was using her, but what other choice did he have? Follow Waverly’s advice and put her in an asylum?

  That wasn’t a choice.

  Christian listened to the other walk out from the back hallway, coming into the living room with him.

  His two friends, all here. Never leaving. What would Dr. Hanson say now? Christian hadn’t heard from Hanson in a year, not since the doctor tried convincing him that he needed professional help—to be checked in somewhere himself. There were no more doctors in Christian’s life now, and there would be no more in the future, either. He was what he was, and he wouldn’t try to change it any longer.

  He was a creation of Luke, the same as Veronica.

  Christian pulled out his phone and found Simone Goodfriend’s number. She was the only person he still spoke with from his days at the bureau. He didn’t call often and she didn’t either, but he knew he could if he needed.

  He looked at the number, trying to decide whether to dial it or not. Finally, his finger touched the screen and he put the phone to his ear.

  “Christian?” Simone asked.

  “Hey,” he paused for a second, and then said, “how are you?”

  “I’m okay. I saw you on TV. You did good.”

  “You watched that?”

  “Yeah, of course,” she said.

  “Have they contacted you? Subpoenaed you yet?”

  “Well, I wouldn�
��t be allowed to talk about it if they had.”

  “True.”

  “Were you telling the truth?” Simone asked. “Titan came and got you? There wasn’t any killer?”

  “I …,” Christian paused, feeling awkward. Simone hadn’t been there since the beginning, but she’d been there ever since Titan became public enemy number one. She’d come to the hospital to see Christian—when even his own mother hadn’t. She wasn’t Tommy, but she was the closest thing Christian had to him. He didn’t want to lie to her. Those other people, all of the congresspeople and press, sure. Who gave a damn? But not her. “Don’t make me talk about it. I … it’s the best thing for everyone.”

  “That’s fine,” she said. “How are you doing?”

  “Been worse, I suppose. I, um … Luke wrote me.”

  “Don’t tell me that. I’m supposed to report it up the chain.”

  Simone still worked at the FBI and had protocols to follow. Christian was asking for a lot by even mentioning it.

  He heard her sigh. “I don’t care, I guess,” Simone said. “I’m not saying a word to anyone about Titan. I don’t know what would happen around here, but it wouldn’t be good. He’s the boogeyman now and I’d just be creating more work for everyone. Tell me this, is he going to bomb any more buildings?”

  “No. The letter was just about me.”

  “Alright.”

  Silence hung over the phone for a second, Christian unsure if it was an invitation to talk.

  “Well?” Simone asked.

  Christian chuckled, his eyes focusing on the coffee table in front of him. “I don’t know why I called. It’s either I talk to you or these two damned ghosts that hang around me all day.”

  “You’re still seeing them?”

  “Always,” Christian said.

  “What did Luke want?”

  “For me to come to him.”

  “And you still think Veronica knows where he is?” Simone asked.

  “Yes.”

  “But you don’t want to force her to talk about it?”