Accused (Ganzfield) (29 page)

Dale was sincere in his plans. No experimentation. No detention. He had a security problem and he thought we could fix it. I stood up a little straighter and took a deep breath. A rogue thought sliced through me—
what if the spy is a G-positive?
Maybe he or she was another telepath and that was the reason no one could find the leak. Maybe he actually needed us—our country needed us. The phrase sounded a little corny in my head—all Uncle Sam and apple pie—but it felt… sincere. And Seth was right; I was the one who’d trained with the team. I was the best choice.

That kinda sucked.

One side of Dale’s mouth quirked at my exasperated sigh. “You must be Madeline Dunn.”

Crap.

It was like he’d memorized my permanent record. He knew I was a telepath from Isaiah’s files and he knew about the federal charges against me—the ones that’d been dismissed.

“Did you actually kill those people? What’s the real story there?”

Trevor’s hands tightened on my arms.

Show me I can trust you and I might tell you… someday.

I threw a mental shield up as I turned.
Trevor?

I think it’d make everyone safer. We’d actually be able to do some good with our abilities. Sitting around under guard in the woods of New Hampshire doesn’t benefit anyone.

I met his eyes as a smile began to warm my cheeks. It wouldn’t be so bad—not if Trevor and I did it together.
You just want to go to Paris.
Maybe General Dale hadn’t expected more than one person would be part of his new program, but there was no way I’d go anywhere without Trevor.

Trevor’s fingers found the ring on my hand.
Actually, if this works, we could even honeymoon in Paris.

Would the mental pressure of a city be as bad if the people were all thinking in French? Maybe finding out would be fun. I dropped the shield and faced Williamson.
If we do this—if the team goes to Europe and hunts spies—then everyone here is safe?

Relief painted him in mint green as he nodded.
Yes. And we can send an entire team. You’re right. A larger group would be less vulnerable. And Dale will do the right thing.

Williamson had made a hard choice, but that was what he’d had to do as a leader.

Sorry about the “screw you” thing.

He shrugged.
I’ve heard worse.

Haven’t we all?

He faced the General. “Aaron, I think we may be able to work with you on this. We can… um… subcontract a ‘specialist.’”

“Excellent.” General Dale smiled.
Is Jon telling me the truth? Or is he trying to lull me into dropping my guard?

I tipped up my chin.
You play it straight with us and we’ll play it straight with you.
I gave him a half-smile.
Of course, we have a slight advantage there.

“We’d need to get started immediately. Every day we delay puts additional lives at risk. Ms. Dunn, are you going to be the one working with us?”

I nodded, but the phrase “deal with the devil” floated around my head.
Not the only one. We’ll send a team.
Suddenly I was speaking for Ganzfield.

I glanced at Williamson and he gave me a nod.
Pick your people. The General and I will work out the details and the paperwork.

Sleeping spaces? Fire-proofing?

And sub-contractor status. Salaries. Security clearances.

See if he can get my accounts unfrozen. At least Coleman will be able to come out of hiding, now that—

Dale’s intruding thought brought the conversation to a halt.
I don’t see Colonel Hunter with the others.

I swallowed hard and Trevor took a step closer to me so his chest pressed up against my back. Williamson’s voice became cold. “Zack?”

Zack gave me a quick glance as he took off into the night in the direction of Blake House. My head swam with everyone’s colliding thoughts and my own twisting emotions.

—have to get security clearances for everyone—

—Drew will want to go. We’ll need an RV since Rachel can’t—

—hate having Maddie here when Hunter comes—

—so glad I don’t have to go. I wish Zack wasn’t so—

Williamson looked at me with concern. “Would you like to go and get your team together now?”
It might be better if you didn’t have to be face to face with Colonel Hunter again.

Should I just leave? Part of me wanted to run away and hide, but I bit my lip and shook my head. I dreaded seeing Hunter again, but I needed some kind of… of closure. I needed to know that Hunter had been stopped—and that he’d be punished.

Trevor pulled me back against him, resting his cheek against my hair. The chaos in his thoughts felt like a thunderstorm—primal and powerful.

Zack’s face was pale and tight as he rejoined Ann. His voice resonated as he spoke into the darkness. “Stand by General Dale.” Behind him, Hunter stepped into the pool of light around the porch. Resentment simmered within him as he saluted the General.

Dale returned it with the bare minimum of respect.
This has been so badly mishandled. Lives could have been lost!

Hunter sneered at me and I swallowed hard against the roiling nausea.

Trevor’s arms tightened around me as he tried to get them to stop shaking.
It’ll be okay.

I wasn’t sure which one of us was trying to soothe the other.

Dale will take care of Hunter.

Except he didn’t.

“If the men and women here won’t have any clear memories of the attack on Ganzfield, I’ll have nothing I can use to court-martial Colonel Hunter.”

“He tortured one of us.” Williamson’s protective-father vibe was strong. “Days of excruciating pain, of… simulated rape, and—”

“Nothing that a human would have noticed.” Hunter looked at me with blank eyes and thoughts full of loathing.

“I’ve reviewed his actions during Ms. Dunn’s confinement.” Dale looked at me with an apology in his eyes. “Colonel Hunter didn’t do anything that violated the code of conduct regarding the treatment of prisoners.”

The Geneva Convention didn’t have a section for telepathic torture, I guess.
My eyes welled up and I blinked hard, refusing to let tears fall and make me look weak.

So much for closure.

Realization spiked pain through Trevor.
No! He’s… he’s not going to get away with it, is he?
Anger spiraled blood-red through him
. It’s wrong. It’s so WRONG! He hurt Maddie. There have to be consequences for that!

“Zack.” Williamson’s mind had gone opaque. “You’ll need to have a few words with Colonel Hunter before he goes.”

Before I go?
Victory glowed in Hunter’s mind. His eyes narrowed at Zack.
He may be able to control my actions like that lawyer did, but he can’t change my thoughts. I’ll find a way to stop them, even if it takes a while.

Dale gave Zack an appraising look. “He’s like Elise?”
Useful skill. How could we use that in military intelligence? Interrogations, sleeper agents, hostage negotiations…

“Pretty much.” Williamson didn’t elaborate.

Hunter’s lip curled as his eyes flicked to Ann.
Now that one—the pretty one—I’d really enjoy interrogating her.
Obscene thoughts filled his head, vivid and cruel.

Ann gasped and took a step back.

Zack’s shield dropped and his anger was a furnace-blast.
Trevor, you want Hunter to face some consequences? Watch this.
He clasped Ann’s hand more tightly as he stared at Hunter.

I want the General dead for dealing with these monsters. I’m going to kill him!
Charm resonance made his silent words vibrate in Hunter’s head.

Hunter filled with the surety that he knew the right thing to do. “You can’t make deals with them, General. They’re… they’re not even human! I can’t let you do it!” He reached for the holster at his side, but found it empty. In a flash, he bent to his ankle.

Concealed weapon.

Everything went into slow-motion. Trevor gasped and flung an invisible arm wide in front of General Dale as Hunter opened fire. Gunshots cracked the quiet evening.
Shots fired!
The heads of the agents sitting in the driveway turned in unison toward the confrontation in front of the porch. Bullets lodged in mid-air in front of the General. His shocked eyes recognized them for what they were.

Hunter frowned as he registered that Dale hadn’t been hit.
How the hell— ?
He swung the barrel toward Trevor and me.

Lethal energy flared behind my eyes as I took aim right back at him. Behind me, something seemed to explode in Trevor’s soul and I gasped and bent double, losing my grip on his hand as the force of his emotions broke my concentration. The floating bullets fell to the ground as an unseen hand reached into Hunter’s chest. The strong muscle tissue of his heart fought against the pressure of Trevor’s invisible grasp for a moment before it was squeezed into a lifeless pulp.

The crushing pain flashed to us. Ann cried out. I curled forward as my muscles clenched. Williamson staggered back and fell against the front door. The gun dropped from Hunter’s hand and seemed to fall through syrup to the ground. His eyes went wide as he crumpled without a sound.

Dead.

For several eternal seconds, no one seemed to breathe. We stared at the limp heap on the grass as his pain faded.

Something ripped through Trevor and the world tilted around us.
Oh, my God!
His eyes impaled mine and his mouth hung slack.
I… I KILLED him! I just reached into his chest and… and I’m a… a killer!
Dark-yellow guilt stained his mind.

Oh, no.
My eyes flashed to General Dale. What would he do to Trevor? Would he try to lock him up? Isolate him? Protectiveness surged through me.
We could run away. We could get away tonight and just—

That… that was… telekinesis. Actual telekinesis! That young man just saved my life.
Dale looked at Trevor as though trying to figure out where to pin the medal. The near-panic that gripped my heart eased. The General wasn’t a threat to Trevor.

Trevor took a step back. His eyes never left my face as some-thing seemed to tear between us. Horror. Revulsion. Dismay. Guilt. Pain.

Oh, God. He wasn’t just pulling away; he was repulsed. His thoughts were a whitewater river filled with jumbling rapids and sharp rocks. Most twisted by too fast for my understanding.
I could have stopped him without killing him. I know I could have. But I didn’t. I killed him. I’m a—a murderer.
Daggers of pain shot through him.

I reached out, but Trevor recoiled from me. My jaw trembled and my throat closed up.
What—?

Shock flashed through him and his breathing sounded too loud. He shook his head. “I—I can’t be around you.”

Only my extended hand followed him as he threw himself off the side of the porch and disappeared into the dark, pushing off with his ability. I bit back a sob, feeling everyone’s eyes on me as I tried to remember how to breathe. I pulled up a shaky mental shield.

Oh, my God. It’s my fault.
I’d brought this ugliness into Trevor’s life. My sweet, wonderful man had never felt this kind of rage before he’d met me. Tears began to streak down my face, but I was beyond caring. I’d… I’d corrupted Trevor’s gentle soul. I’d brought all this ugliness into him.

“I can’t be around you.”
He recognized it, too. I’d messed him up—broken him and wounded his spirit. Being with me had turned him into something he couldn’t stand—
and he knows it’s my fault.
A keening whine came from somewhere and I suddenly realized I was making it.

“I can’t be around you.”
His words burned into my soul. I’d reveled in his protective feelings, not knowing what I’d been doing to him.
I’ve turned him into a monster, like me. Maybe Trevor would’ve been better off if I’d never met him.

A hand dug into my upper arm. “Maddie.”

I sagged, realizing my legs were unreliable.

Maddie. Give Trevor a few minutes alone. We need to finish up here.

I looked back at the pale, anxious faces surrounding me. The General watched our silent interactions with confusion and curiosity.
Where did the tall one go? He seemed upset. It must be the shock of a first kill. I knew Hunter had been in a mental hospital recently, but I had no idea he was so unstable. I’ve never seen someone drop like that. What an amazing skill that would be in close-quarters combat.

What did any of it matter? I didn’t care. I didn’t care about any of it.

Williamson tightened his grip on my arm.
Everyone stay quiet! Wait until Dale’s gone. Right now, put up some shields so I can hear myself think!
He slid his own turbulent thoughts behind a block of silence.

Everything passed in a meaningless blur around me. Agents filed back down the driveway to the front gate. Black helicopters lifted up and disappeared into the night sky. The General’s car rolled across the gravel behind the last of the assault vehicles.

They’re gone.
Seth’s weary mental voice pinged into us.

I flinched as Williamson’s minder-loud thoughts slammed into my head, red with rage. He still had a hand on my arm.
Everyone in my office. NOW!

The staircase to the third floor seemed to have grown steeper—only Jon’s bruising grip kept me upright. He dropped me into a chair and the door clacked shut behind us.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Williamson turned his fury toward Zack.

Zack.

My vision blurred around the edges, leaving him vividly outlined in the center.
He set Trevor up as—as an executioner!
Killing energy pulsed up within me. I might be partly responsible for this happening to Trevor, but Zack carried most of the blame. My eyes narrowed at him. “You… “
You had no right—no RIGHT to do that to Trevor!