Chapter 15 - The Empty Chair
At 11:47 p.m., Elena returned to the bar.
Alone.
Three months had passed since Ryan poured beer over her head.
The bartender recognized her immediately.
His face tightened.
"Commander."
"Coffee."
He nodded.
Elena sat at the same table.
The wood had been repaired.
No beer.
No fries.
No laughter.
She placed the anonymous photograph beside her coffee.
The circled table was unquestionably this one.
But something in the photograph bothered her.
Then she saw it.
The photograph had been taken from inside the bar.
From the chair directly opposite hers.
Someone had been sitting there.
Waiting.
The front door opened.
Ryan entered.
Elena looked up sharply.
"I told you not to come."
"Yeah."
He sat opposite her.
"I'm getting better at following orders."
"Apparently not."
"Price called me."
Elena's expression changed.
"Price?"
Ryan nodded.
"Said you might need somebody irritating."
Elena almost smiled.
Then the bartender approached.
He placed a second coffee on the table.
Neither Elena nor Ryan had ordered it.
"Who's that for?" Ryan asked.
The bartender frowned.
"The gentleman."
"What gentleman?"
"The one who was sitting with Commander Graves."
Elena slowly stood.
"I came alone."
The bartender went pale.
"No, ma'am."
Ryan looked around the bar.
Empty corners.
Restroom corridor.
Back entrance.
Nobody.
The bartender pointed toward the chair Ryan was occupying.
"He was sitting right there."
"When?"
"Two minutes before you walked in."
Elena reached for her phone.
"Describe him."
"Older guy. Maybe sixty."
"What was he wearing?"
"Dark suit."
"Anything else?"
The bartender thought.
Then nodded.
"He had a scar."
Elena froze.
"Where?"
"Across his left hand."
Ryan noticed her reaction.
"You know him?"
Elena didn't answer.
She pulled out the photograph of the original Sentinel team.
Kessler.
Michael.
Andrew Cole.
Margaret.
Susan Vale.
Nathaniel Graves.
She placed it in front of the bartender.
"Was it one of these people?"
He studied the photograph.
His finger moved slowly across the faces.
Then stopped.
Elena felt the room become cold.
"That man."
Ryan looked.
The bartender's finger rested on Andrew Cole.
Ryan's dead father.
"Impossible," Ryan whispered.
The bartender shook his head.
"I'm telling you, that's him."
Ryan grabbed the photograph.
"My father died twenty-eight years ago."
The bartender backed away.
"I don't know anything about that."
Elena noticed something beneath the second coffee cup.
A folded piece of paper.
She lifted the cup.
Ryan opened the note.
His hands began trembling.
Elena read over his shoulder.
RYAN,
IF YOU'RE READING THIS, ELENA DID EXACTLY WHAT I HOPED SHE WOULD.
DO NOT TRUST MICHAEL.
Ryan stared at the handwriting.
"No."
Elena looked at him.
"What?"
Ryan's voice cracked.
"I know this handwriting."
He pulled his wallet out.
Behind an old photograph was a birthday card he had carried since childhood.
He placed it beside the note.
The handwriting matched.
Perfectly.
Elena immediately called Michael.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Major Price called.
Elena answered.
"Price."
There was heavy breathing on the other end.
"Commander, where are you?"
"The bar."
A pause.
"Get out."
Elena stood.
"What happened?"
"We searched Michael's quarters."
Ryan was already moving toward the door.
Elena followed.
"What did you find?"
Price didn't answer immediately.
When she finally spoke, her voice sounded unlike anything Elena had heard from her before.
Fear.
"Michael isn't Michael."
Elena stopped walking.
"What?"
"We ran DNA from his room against your family records."
The bar seemed to disappear around her.
"Whose DNA is it?"
Price whispered the answer.
"We don't know."
The lights went out.
Someone locked the front door.
Ryan reached for Elena in the darkness.
Then a familiar male voice came from the chair they had just abandoned.
Calm.
Older.
Very close.
"Ryan."
Ryan froze.
The voice continued.
"Son."
Elena slowly turned toward the darkness.
A match ignited.
For less than a second, it illuminated a man's scarred hand.
Then the flame disappeared.
May you like
And someone whispered:
"Sentinel was never the real program."
