EPILOGUE
Landon Lane
One Week Later
I WOKE UP AS AN ocean breeze swept through the window of the hotel room. The paranoia still hit me in the chest every morning and persisted until I went to sleep. Even if they thought I was dead, would they look for Joe? That was the question that had plagued me every day since the fight. Waves broke on the beach just on the other side of the white billowing curtains. Salt spray landed in my nose. I took in a deep breath and looked over. Cora nuzzled into my shoulder. I stroked her hair a few times.
She’d never be a morning person, but I loved that about her. Nobody wants someone who’s exactly like them. And it gave me an opportunity to watch her sleep. Something I thoroughly enjoyed.
I watched her for a few minutes and then walked down the stairs. Everything had gone as planned since Phoenix.
Logan watched cartoons on the TV—Ninja Turtles.
I marched in front of him and turned it off.
“Dad.” He glared up at me.
“You’re not going to watch TV all day. Go play on the beach.”
I narrowed my brows at him. I knew the day would come when he’d start talking back. It was still few and far between and he’d been through a lot, so I’d been pretty lenient the past week. Things were going to change, though. We had to get back to normal. Whatever that was.
He ran outside.
“Make some friends.”
I walked over to the coffee pot. Parenting was hard work.
Janet walked out of her room. She’d been sleeping a lot. It wasn’t a good sign.
We were on St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. I figured it’d be the safest place. If they looked for us anywhere it’d be in a far-away remote location. Definitely not a U.S. territory.
Less paperwork with the traveling too. No customs on the way in.
We needed to stay for a few months until the news played out or something big happened to take everyone’s mind off the fight. I’d have to disguise myself or lay low when we got back. I was good at that. It was where I was most comfortable. The spotlight hadn’t been fun for me.
Janet plopped down on the couch and opened up a book.
I glared. “No.”
“Excuse me?”
“You need sun too. Get out there and go play with Logan.”
She shook her head.
I glared at her.
“Fine. But I’m taking my book with me.”
She stood and walked outside. I watched for a bit. Janet sat down to read, and Logan kicked a coconut around like it was a soccer ball.
I heard Cora’s feet pound overhead on the ceiling. I glanced to the clock. It was a quarter after nine, early for her. She’d usually sleep until eleven if I’d let her.
I took a few sips of coffee and let the steam curl up into my nose. Had to keep these guys moving. Keep their minds off things.
About the time she walked around the corner a deafening roar shook the walls of the townhouse. The whole place vibrated and the palm trees out front began to whip back and forth violently.
“Is there a storm coming in?” Cora glanced to me.
“Not that kind.”
I knew the sound. Heard the two rotors. A Chinook.
They found us.
How?
My soldier senses kicked in all at once.
I stared at Cora. “Pack up anything you can carry that’s light. Travel documents first. Go! Now!”
She looked like she might vomit, but took off back toward the room. I ran right through the front door. It exploded against my shoulder and splintered off the hinges.
“In here, now!” I looked up and saw it circling around to land on the beach out front.
Janet and Logan sprinted for the front door. I waved them in as they flew through the sand and up the sidewalk.
They made it past me just as a gust kicked up and pelted me in the face and arms.
I stepped back inside and yelled for Cora just as she ran down the stairs.
I heard the chopper land. Right in a clearing where Logan had been kicking the coconut around. The rotor blades slowed.
“We all here?”
“Yeah.” They all hollered in unison.
“Out the back.”
I led the way to the back door. I peeked through the window shades and everything looked clear. I stuck my head out and looked left and right.
The rotors came to a stop and the engine shut off behind us. It was eerily quiet and all I heard were waves crashing.
I scooped Logan up. “Let’s go.”
I took off through the door and they followed.
As soon as we were halfway to the next building, about ten guys in black suits stepped out of the shadows and drew their guns on us.
“Don’t do anything crazy. There’s nowhere to go, anyway.”
The voice came from the side of the house.
I whipped my head to the right.
It was the guy in the suit from the hotel. The guy watching from the bar when we saw Edmon in the lobby by the elevators. I knew something was off about him the second I saw him.
I sat Logan down and stepped between the man in the suit and my family.
He strode forward. Right at me. There wasn’t an ounce of fear in his face.
My heart crept up into my throat. I swallowed, hard. How did they find us? What were they doing here? I’d let them take me, but they couldn’t have my family. No way. We’d come too far. I’d kill every one of them if I had to.
The man held up a hand as a peace offering. Held it up in a way that said, calm down and listen. “We’re not here to take you away.”
“I promised Landon I’d protect his family.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
He laughed and shook his head at me.
What the hell?
He stopped about five feet away. Just out of striking range. “Chris Titan.” He held a hand out. “You can cut the act. I know it’s you.”
My eyes vaulted wide open. I stared in disbelief and canted my head slightly to the side. “Did I hear that right?”
He nodded. “You did.”
I stared down at his hand for a second then back up to his face. What choice did I have? I shook it.
“We thought you were a computer or a machine on the island. Didn’t know you made public appearances.”
“Not many people know I exist. Count yourselves lucky. Can we talk? Civilly?”
“How do I know it’s not some kind of ambush?”
“Because I wouldn’t be here if it was. You’d all be shot down by a drone.” He grinned. “Maybe there’s another way I can convince you.” He glanced back at the corner of the building.
“How?”
“Let me show you.”
I didn’t know what the hell was going on. The ten security guys formed a cordon that stretched all the way around us. There was nowhere we could run. If it was just me, maybe I’d have a chance. But there was no way to get Cora, Logan, and Janet out of there against armed security forces.
I shrugged. “Okay.”
Titan nodded to a security guard standing next to the townhouse. The guard said something I couldn’t hear to someone hidden from view, then he stepped out of the way.
Joe and Gus walked around the corner with huge smiles on their faces.
Janet’s mouth dropped open and she fell to her knees. She clutched her palms to her face and then rubbed her eyes. Then she broke down on all fours and sobbed uncontrollably. Gus sprinted to her. Dropped to his knees and wrapped her up in his arms. “I’m so sorry.”
Logan took off toward Joe and jumped. Joe still had his shades on. He caught Logan mid-air and swung him around then planted him on his hip and messed up his hair. “Hey, Nephew.” Joe stared at me. “You owe me a movie. At the theater, asshole.”
“What? How?” I stood there in shock.
Cora gripped my hand. She squeezed so hard it cut off my circulation and my fingers started to tingle.
I turned and stared at her. She had the same blank expression of disbelief on her face that I was sure was on mine. She still looked like she might puke and her face paled.
“Are you okay?”
She squeezed my hand tighter and smiled wide. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Janet’s sobs kicked into overdrive. I wondered how long they’d last before she beat Gus’s ass right there in the yard.
“Can we talk? I don’t have much time and there’s a lot to discuss.” Titan stared at me.
I dropped Cora’s hand and nodded to the door. I definitely wanted answers. “Let’s go inside.”
TITAN, CORA, AND I SAT down at the table in the middle of the kitchen. Janet offered Titan coffee. He declined. All but one of the guards went back to the helicopter once they were convinced we weren’t going to run. The lone remaining security guard stood by the door and never took his eyes off Titan.
I didn’t wait for him to begin. My head was in a thousand different places simultaneously. “So, what happened? What was all this about?”
Titan glanced at Joe. “Your brother made me at the hotel bar. Well, I don’t know if he knew exactly who I was, but he knew I was in charge of Edmon. It was reckless of me to get that close to a situation, but I had to. It wasn’t a routine, umm, engagement, I guess you could say. I’m a huge fan of MMA and boxing. Love to attend events, and this time it was men I was responsible for. Your brother came to me a little while later. Created a very clever diversion to throw my men off guard.”
“You trained us, asshole,” Joe called out from across the kitchen with a smile on his face. Logan hadn’t left his side, and I wondered if he ever would.
Titan nodded in his direction. “I suppose my resources weren’t wasted.”
“Wait, so that’s where you went when you disappeared before the fight?” I looked at Joe.
He didn’t say anything.
“I thought you were pissed at me.”
“Well, you were acting like an idiot.”
Titan laughed. “Joe told me what he found out on the island. Edmon was experimenting and playing God, which is sort of fine. The man is brilliant, but I think we can all agree that he needed to be punished for not sticking to protocols. He has no place out in the world, but Project Leonidas was his baby and we thought he could handle things. I didn’t realize it was all so personal for him, because I didn’t know he had an intimate connection. The fact he didn’t provide me with all the information necessary, means he will be met with discipline.”
“So why the fight? What’s up with WMMA? I can’t wrap my head around that.”
Titan sighed and looked around. Seemed to mull things over. “I’m going to make a deal with you. Something I don’t do very often. Ever, really. But your fight impressed me. Your resolve. I mean, I still don’t know how you did what you did. Science says it’s impossible.” He stared at Joe and then at me. “You and your brother are soldiers. You’ve more than proven your worth. You disappeared from the island and not one secret has been traced back to you. It’s why we never came until we needed something, despite Edmon’s persistence that we hunt you down from day one. That and the fact we wanted to see how you would assimilate and study your progress.”
“You haven’t answered the questions.”
“I’m getting there.” He sighed again. “There was a shitstorm in the U.S. government a few years ago. Espionage on its own people. These assholes like Snowden and Assange make classifying information nearly worthless sometimes.”
“Yeah, I saw it. The government using cell phones and companies to spy on citizens. PRISM?”
“Exactly. The leaks posed a huge problem.”
“Why?”
He snickered. “Because we had to stop spying on people.”
Joe shook his head from across the room.
I shrugged. Politics wasn’t my strong suit. “I’m still not making a connection.”
“That’s a good thing. Because while you and Sid were dominating every news channel and social media platform across the world, Congress and the governments of many other prominent nations slipped legislation through with new programs, that do essentially the same thing. It’s buried deep in the fine print of all of them. A few fringe groups might pick up on it, but no major coverage. We can mitigate their reach.”
“Jesus.” I shook my head. Tried to keep my cool. He was only the most powerful man on the planet that nobody knew about. “So, it was all just a diversion?”
“I know what you’re thinking. Liberty, freedom, whatever. Landon, the world is about power. Information is power. Everything is tracked and always will be so that we can control outcomes. There’s no such thing as freedom. It’s just an illusion. But you can still be happy and as free as anyone else is. And that’s what I want to offer you.”
“Fine, I’m all ears. But why the fake deaths? Why have us run? All that stuff?” I glared at Joe and Gus. “Janet’s been depressed for a week. I had to haul my son out of school over all this. Cora may lose her job. They asked her to resign.”
Titan waved my concerns away with a flippant hand. “She can still teach. That was us. Just a psychological tactic. I’ll get her a recommendation from the Secretary of Education if she needs it.”
My face heated up. “You guys play with people’s lives like we’re pawns on a chess board.”
“It’s necessary.”
I gritted my teeth. Then I moved my gaze around the room, at all the people I cared about. It wasn’t worth the argument, because this was a fight I definitely would not win. “If you say so.”
“Ideological discussions aren’t really why I’m here. If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead. Let’s be honest. I’ll always know where you are, and I can take any of this away any time I want. But when I shake someone’s hand, I mean it. We won’t stop watching you. We have to. We watch everyone. But I will guarantee that we won’t interfere with your life any more than any other free citizen out there.” He looked away and then back at me. “And if we do need your services in the future, it’ll be your choice to accept. I don’t foresee that happening. We do everything with remote technology these days. As far as I’m concerned, you’re about as useful militarily as a musket. I don’t mean that to be disrespectful, but we have drones that can snipe a terrorist in Afghanistan, or a political leader in the United Kingdom. We have techs who can make a neck tie with a molecular level wifi chip installed. I can use an app on my phone and strangle a world leader with a Windsor knot from the other side of the planet.”
“Okay, so why fake the deaths? Why Gus in particular?”
“For Edmon. I needed him to see two bodies—yours and Joe’s. We only unzipped Joe, who of course was dressed and looked like you. His face was battered and bruised. We gave Gus and Joe a drug to knock them out and slow their hearts down, essentially put them in a coma for an hour. He never even asked to see the other body, and I would’ve refused him anyway if he’d tried. But we needed two bodies in the room and had limited time to organize the whole charade. Edmon is back on the island now. The man is persistent and had a personal connection to you and your son and your brother. I needed him convinced you were both gone. I told him we were tracking down Logan and erasing him also because of his insubordination. He became distraught. He’s not the only one who plays psychological games. I needed his head clear, and it was the fastest way to get it done. He’s grieving in some sick, perverse way, but I’m certain he’ll get back to normal. He’ll be monitored more heavily now. He won’t be coming off the island again. His days of civilian interaction are finished, so you don’t need to worry about ever seeing him again. But, his genius in the lab is unparalleled, so I’m going to keep him working. Otherwise, I’d have him buried beneath the ocean.”
“So. Where do we go from here?” I asked.
“I’ll make arrangements for you to stay on this island for now. We’ll have your face reconstructed and altered with plastic surgery in the process. We’ll arrange the same for Joe. My people will check the status and report back to me. You two can’t be recognized in the states right now. It’d be a cause for concern because you’re, well, dead. We’ll make a new identity for you. We can alter Logan’s last name if we need to. Neither you nor Joe exist in any military or civilian databases so there will be no digital cleanup required. Once we’re all set, you can move back home. To your old home if you wish. Live however you want. My people will come see you if we need you. Deal?” He held out his hand.
“What do we have to do in return? Anything?”
“Just silence. Once I leave, none of this ever happened. We’ll clean everything up and we are very thorough.”
I glanced around and got nods from everyone in the room before I approved. “Deal.” I shook his hand once more.
Titan stood up from the chair. His eyes were the color of the clear ocean outside and his hair short and dark. He adjusted his tie and walked a few steps away. He didn’t turn around. “How did you get off the island, anyway? Just curious?”
I glanced around the room for a second. “I made promises to people not to divulge that information. I’m sure you understand.”
“Fair enough.” He chuckled. “You were supposed to run after the second round. I’m glad you didn’t. Made for one hell of an ending.”
I moved my stare around to everyone and back to him. “This family doesn’t run.”
He walked out the door and his security guard followed him.
The six of us trailed out behind them. Titan climbed in the chopper along with the other guards who’d trapped us behind the building. I counted all of them. He hadn’t left anyone to cover the front earlier. He’d known exactly what I’d do.
We walked out about twenty feet from the chopper. The pilot waved at Logan.
I picked him up and put him on my shoulders. The sand swept up and formed a rippling band of circles. The wind picked up and beat against our faces as the blades sped up with a whup whup whup.
The Chinook slowly rose from the beach, then dipped and swerved around in a half-circle. The nose angled down, and it shot out over the water.
The six of us stood there, watching as it turned into a tiny black dot on the horizon.
I glanced around at everyone and then back to Joe. “Thanks. For everything.”
He glanced to Logan. “I like him.”
Cora looked up at me. She’d been eerily quiet since Titan had started telling us everything. I could see in her face and eyes that she was trying to work out every little detail. She loved puzzles.
She took a few steps out in front of everyone and stared at the ocean. Her head swept back and forth, watching the waves breaking over and over down the coastline.
“It makes so much sense.” Her words were a mumble like she was talking to herself. She whipped around and stared right at Gus. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
“Huh?” Gus asked.
“You helped him escape the island.”
“I-I-I don’t—” Gus stammered.
She turned to me. “It’s why you owed him.” She nodded back at Gus. “He helped you escape the island. He was the guard you told me about, that was kind to you. He was the only father figure you knew. That’s why you sit outside Logan’s door in the chair. It was a learned behavior. You watched Gus up on the platform, guarding you on the island.”
Gus glanced at Cora and then back at me and shrugged. He didn’t deny anything.
Cora smiled. It looked like she was happy to know one more thing that made me tick. I strode over to her and took both of her hands in mine. All the people I loved were with me, and all of us free and happy. It was perfect.
“I love you so much.”
I snaked my hands through her hair and kissed her soft lips. Waves pounded the shoreline the same way my heart pounded every time I was in the same room as her. And I’d never stop loving Cora just like the waves would never stop crashing onto the beach.
Our lips finally parted, and she smiled that lovestruck smile only she was capable of. The one reserved only for me. Her hand covered her mouth again and her face paled.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
She nodded against her palm, and then waved Logan over to us. “Go stand over there for a second, I need to talk to Logan.”
“Huh?”
What the hell was going on?
“Just do it.”
“Okay.” I turned and walked about ten feet away.
Logan walked up, and Cora kneeled in the sand and gave him a huge hug. Then she stared at me the whole time while she whispered into Logan’s ear.
His eyes shot open wide and the kid grinned from ear-to-ear. She told him something else and he nodded. His whole body was practically shaking, and his face was pink.
He walked toward me and kept glancing back at Cora.
“What’s up, buddy?”
He stopped a few feet away from me and motioned for me to lean down. I dropped to a knee. His face was dead serious like he was on a mission. Logan looked over at Janet, Gus, and Joe who were all leaning in like they were on the edge of their seats, waiting to know what was going on.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Ms. Chapman says you need to stop worrying so much.”
I glanced past Logan, to Cora. “And why is that?”
“Eyes right here, Dad.” He put his palms on my cheeks and turned me back to face him.
I smiled. “Okay, you have my attention.”
“You need to stop worrying, because—” He paused. Turned back to Cora and grinned.
I started to grow impatient. “Because why?”
“Because she’s not sick.” His face went from serious to a wide smile. “It’s because my dream that I told you about before the fight came true. She’s growing me a brother or sister inside of her belly.”
Couldn’t breathe.
Gasping.
My face went pink, and all I could do was stare. I sat there, looking at Logan for a brief moment, even though time seemed to stand still. I reached out for him, the first thing I could think to do, and hugged him. Yanked him into me. My whole body trembled against him and tears rolled down my cheeks. I kissed him on the forehead. “Congratulations, big brother.”
He grinned. We shook hands. He was a man now.
Janet squealed somewhere in the mix and I looked over and Gus and Joe were shaking hands and smiling and looking over at us. I walked slowly over to Cora and tried to look as serious as Logan had looked with me. He was clearly a better actor. I sniffled a couple times and wiped a tear or two out of my eye.
Cora smiled at my attempt as I made my way to her. I looked down at her and tried to keep a straight face. Each time I went to say something my voice damn near cracked and the words wouldn’t come out. I didn’t realize news like this would affect me so profoundly. I’d reacted like a robot when Miranda had told me about Logan, but I didn’t know what kind of joy and happiness Logan was going to bring me. How he would change me. Everything about me.
They say your kids shouldn’t define who you are, but to that I say bullshit. My son changed my life. I evolved because of him. He is a part of me—a key component of who I am. And it will be the same with the new baby growing inside the woman I love.
Finally, I just dropped to my knees in front of her. I ran my hands up the sides of her thighs, and up over her hips. I stared up at the love of my life and pushed her shirt up just enough to expose a thin section of her stomach.
“Our baby is in here?”
Tears ran down her smiling face too, and she nodded. “I found out when I woke up this morning. I was coming down to tell you when the helicopter showed up.”
I gripped her lightly around both hips and pressed my lips to her stomach. I whispered, “I love you” against her skin. I hooked an arm around the back of Cora’s knees and scooped her—careful not to aggravate her injury—so that I had her cradled. “I love you so damn much.”
She put her good hand on my cheek. “I love you too, babe.”
“Wooo! Better than a book!” Janet came running up and everyone else followed. She stopped a few feet away. “No, no, wait.”
I couldn’t help but smile even more because of how happy Janet was. Watching her in the depths of depression the past week had really taken a toll. I hated watching the people I love suffer.
“What is it?” Cora asked.
“Now, we need a shotgun wedding. And you two will be the perfect book plot.” Janet folded her arms and stared at me.
Cora snorted.
“Sounds like my kind of wedding.” Joe grinned.
Janet face-palmed.
I looked at Joe. “It doesn’t mean an actual shotgun.”
Joe didn’t even look like he’d registered what I’d said.
Cora stared at me, shaking her head. “He’s going to bring a shotgun to our wedding one day. Isn’t he?”
I moved my stare from Joe back to Cora and nodded. “Oh yeah. Look at him.”
We both looked at Joe and he was staring off in the distance, gears spinning in his head.
“He’s deciding which kind he’ll bring.”
Joe whipped his head over to me. “Don’t be ridiculous. Winchester 1887, of course.”
I stared at Cora. She had the same look as Joe on her face. The look of deep contemplation.
“You’re as ridiculous as him.”
“What?” She snapped out of her little daydream.
“You’re already planning a wedding in your head, aren’t you?”
“No.” She looked away and bit her lip.
I squeezed her tighter to me. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“I’m going to marry you. And that special moment, when I ask you, it’ll be a moment you’ll never forget.”
Her eyelashes fluttered, and I felt her thighs squeeze together. The same way they always did when I let her know the way things would be. I leaned down and kissed her forehead. Logan walked up between us. Soon Gus, Janet, and Joe stood side by side with us too, until we were all staring out at the crystal-blue water.
I inhaled a huge breath of the air at the same time as Cora. We both looked at each other and smiled. It wasn’t Montana, but it smelled like freedom and a new beginning.