Accused (Ganzfield) (30 page)

Zack paled. “I didn’t know Hunter still had a gun. I just thought he’d try to punch the General or something. I figured he’d get court-martialed for assaulting a superior officer.”

I should blast your brain to ash for hurting Trevor like that.

Ann stepped between us. She quivered with a mix of fearful indignation. “Do NOT threaten Zack, Maddie!” A minder-loud
“NO!”
surged through my temples.

A warning shot.

I winced, feeling the lethal blast growing stronger within my skull. I trembled as I forced myself to hold it back.
You’re protecting him? He set Trevor up! Back. The. Hell. OFF!

Ann cried out, gripping her head as my
“OFF”
gonged through her mind.

Zack glared at me as he pulled her into his arms. “Don’t you EVER hurt Ann!” The fog of his minder-charm floated through my mind. Pain spiked through my head as I fought it off.

“Everybody STOP
!”
Williamson’s voice cut through to us. “Shields up now!”

We glared at each other in sullen compliance as the pain receded.

“Calm down!”

Tear tracks lined Ann’s cheeks as she gave me a wary stare. Zack looked defiant and a little smug, and I suppressed the urge to slap him… or fry him.

Williamson looked at Zack. “Explain.”

“Hunter wasn’t going to face charges.” He spoke aloud, keeping us out of his head. “He was going to get away with… with everything. When Hunter—when he thought those things about Ann, I just—I just saw a way for everything to fit together.”

“So you silently charmed him into attacking General Dale.”

“It was justice! How is it different from us setting the trap for Isaiah?” He looked at me. “I actually thought you’d be grateful, Maddie.”

I winced as another wave of pain slammed through my soul. “You… dawt… wong.”

My feet felt like they were made of sod as I trekked down to the spark houses. The sky overflowed with stars—rhinestones on blue velvet.

“Hey.” A yellow flame flared up and hung above Drew’s hand.

Hey.

“Rachel said you were headed this way. Trevor came through a while ago. Rach says he’s over on the far side of the lake right now.”

I nodded and stared out over the water.
“I can’t be around you”
punched me in the gut yet again. I forced my attention back to Drew
.

“Rachel gave us the play by play of your meeting on the porch.” He tapped his temple with the hand that wasn’t cupped under the fire. “No sound, though, so we missed a bunch of the details.”
She saw some guy shoot at the General guy, said that Trevor stopped the bullets, and that the shooter then dropped dead and everyone freaked out.

Which “us?”

“Harrison, Ellen, and me. Ellen’s still in with Rachel. The baby’s sleeping, and Rach needs to rest, too. I thought we could talk out here.”

I sat down on the cold ground with a thud.

I would’ve gone for a couple of chairs, but…
The flame died as Drew sat next to me on the ground. Faint starlight threw everything into deep blue shadows. “So what happened?”

I rubbed my face with my hands and took a deep breath.
The short version? Williamson cut a deal with the General and tomorrow morning I’m taking the team over to Europe to hunt spies.

Drew snorted. “No, seriously. What happened?”

Break out your cape and tights, Drew. You can be Captain America now.
I wrapped my arms around my waist.
If you want to, that is. I’m the only one who actually HAS to go.

“You’re not joking?” Drew let out a low whistle. “Hey, you know I’m in.” I could hear the grin in his voice.
Drew McFee: Spy-hunter.

A reluctant smile twisted my mouth.
You are such a guy.

“Yeah, I know. That’s why it’s so hard for me to find tights in my size.”

The mental image that
inspired sent me into a fit of laughter, but it morphed into sobs.

“Hey.”
Gah! Not tears!
“Hey, Maddie. It’s okay.”

I shook my head, but then stopped when I realized he couldn’t see me doing that in the dark. I sniffed my tears into submission.
It’s NOT okay. Trevor’s completely freaked out. He doesn’t… he doesn’t want to be around me anymore.

“Huh? That can’t be right. He’s seen you kill bad guys with your ability before. He was right there when you took out Isaiah.”

My brow furrowed.
But I didn’t kill Hunter. Trevor did.

“What?” The flash of yellow surprise lit him from within—like a mental firefly. “Wait. From what Rachel said… what she saw… you didn’t blast that guy?”

Trevor reached in and crushed his heart inside his chest.
I shut my eyes, but it didn’t shut out the memory.
And that guy… he didn’t just shoot at the General, although there’s a lot more that went into that. He’s the one—he was the one who tortured me.

Drew lacked words.
She was tortured? Damn! No wonder Trevor killed the guy. He really went off the deep end when Maddie was gone.

Maybe it would be better for Trevor if I were elsewhere. I brought out the worst in him. I struggled back to my feet, hearing Drew do the same.

“Okay. What can I do?”

I just—
I had no idea what to do. Find Trevor? He’d gone off alone before.
“I can’t be around you.”
Sometimes, he just needed time alone to work things through, like he had after his grandfather had died.
“I can’t be around you.”
The acid words etched deeper into my brain.

I sighed.
Drew, can you… can you get the team together? Let them know they don’t have to go, but…

“I’ll ask ‘em to volunteer.”

Yeah. The General’s sending a transport for us at eight a.m.

“I’ll make sure everyone’s ready.”

I looked through Ellen’s eyes from just outside the little cinderblock house. Rachel’s face was curtained under her own blonde hair as it spilled across the pillow. The baby looked like a doll. She wore a pink fleece thing that was like a vest on the top and a tiny sleeping bag around her legs. She lay on her back with her open hands on either side of her head, like she was surrendering.

But she wouldn’t have to surrender to anyone. If I did my new job right, she’d stay safe.

Hey, Ellen.

She inhaled sharply before she recognized the voice in her head.
Maddie?

Tell them I said goodbye.

Goodbye? What do you mean? What’s going…

I ghosted back into the night without answering her questions.

END OF BOOK FOUR

Keep reading for a sneak preview of:

Coming in March 2012 from Spencer Hill Press

CHAPTER 1

Trevor’s gone.

Seth’s words hit like a splash of ice water. I’d barely slept last night, but I forced my eyes to focus in the pre-dawn dark of the old church.

Gone?
I looked over the railing of my loft. Trevor’s bed was untouched. I drew a shuddering breath as the events of yesterday found me awake again and pounced back into my consciousness. Government forces had attacked us. Trevor had killed Colonel Hunter. Williamson had cut a deal with the General so now I was off to Europe, where I was supposed to use telepathy to ferret out security leaks for the U.S. Government. Trevor had been horrified at what he’d become—what I’d turned him into, and...
Wait. You mean GONE gone?

He took the car and left a few minutes ago. He asked me not to wake you, but… screw that.

Hurray for minder solidarity. I scrambled to find something to wear. I’d tossed everything into the big bag last night, forgetting to leave something out for the morning. I’d just have to go AWOL—or whatever it was called—and find him.

My jaw quivered as I remembered the last thing Trevor had said to me.
“I can’t be around you.”

I squeezed my eyes shut as the pain of that rippled through me yet again, and the clothes dropped back into the bag as my hands went slack. Trevor didn’t want to be around me. And everyone at Ganzfield needed me to go with the General today. They wouldn’t be safe if I didn’t.

Ah, hell.

I can’t go after Trevor.

* * *

Acknowledgements

This book would never have seen the tasteful light of a coffee-scented bookstore if it weren’t for the efforts of a whole bunch of folks. First, thanks to Deborah Britt-Hay, my wonderful editor, as well as to Kendra McCormick and all the other folks at Spencer Hill Press who worked on
Accused
. Thanks also to Carol White, who provided her magnificent marketing maven-ness.

Olin and Laura Jennings were early readers; one encouraged me with praise, and the other with criticism.  Rich Storrs and Jessica Porteous caught typos, gave wonderful insights, and made me laugh: “Hulk SMASH!” Kathy Mihachik and Rosa Burtt kept everything else in my life on-track. Taner, Aliya, and Logan did their best to distract me, but they were worth it.

And Osman, none of this would be possible without you. Seni seviyorum, canım.