Accused (Ganzfield) (16 page)

The line trickled from the top of the escalator leading to the platform. A bored-looking woman in a too-tight blue vest checked the tickets of the passengers. In front of us, a man in a power-suit shouted into his cell phone. “No! I don’t care what the supplier said, I placed the order months ago and I expect delivery on schedule!”

The line inched forward. The board over the escalator changed to, “Final call for boarding.” A guy with dirty blond dreadlocks got into line behind us, lost in the music from his earphones.

Trevor’s grip tightened on my hand.
Do you have a plan?

I nodded. I had one, but I didn’t like it. I snaked an arm around his waist and hoped he realized he needed to brace himself.

Loud cell phone guy gave vest-woman his ticket. She handed it back and turned to look at us. Borrowing Trevor’s ability, I shot an invisible hand between the woman and the escalator, dropped my shield, focused into her motor cortex, and zapped control of her legs from under her.

She crumpled with a gasp and I eased her to the floor. I belatedly plastered a look of what I hoped was surprise and concern onto my face. It was only temporary damage—a seizure to the area that controlled her muscles—but I suspected she’d have anxiety and a bunch of medical procedures as a result of this. Had I just messed up this innocent person’s life?
Ah, hell.
I pulled Trevor around the woman and down the escalator as I popped my shield back up.

Dreadlocks guy looked at the woman, looked at his ticket, shrugged, and then stepped over her and followed us.

We ran down the platform next to the train. Something dinged and lights flashed. “All aboard!”

I felt the burst of recognition as a ping of mental sonar. I skidded to a halt, feeling Trevor’s mind whirl as he processed the situation. Belinda sneered at me through the train window.
Set one foot on this train, Little Minder Girl, and all these people will jump off when it’s going full-speed.

I felt the minds of the passengers around her. She wasn’t bluffing—she’d charmed them into thinking it was an exciting new virtual reality game. They’d all jump unless she uncharmed them. And she had no intention of doing that if we didn’t stand down.

Trevor reached through the glass and gripped Belinda’s throat with an invisible hand. Her eyes widened and my heart froze in my chest.
If he squeezes, everyone here will die.

The breath whooshed from my lungs. I had her in range, but I couldn’t fry her Broca’s—not when she had all these hostages who’d die if she couldn’t uncharm them. The train was leaving now; Zack wouldn’t be able to get here in time. I reached out and put an invisible hand onto Trevor’s.

He met my eyes questioningly.
What? I shouldn’t?

I shook my head and he released his grip. The doors whooshed shut and the train started to slide out of the station. Belinda flashed me an evil smile.

Don’t come after me again, Minder-Girl.

My hands balled into impotent fists as the lights of the train disappeared into the darkness underneath the City.

CHAPTER 10

We didn’t even stop for pizza before heading out—we were too upset to eat. Zack drove us out of the City. Once the worst of the urban mental intensity had faded, I expanded my shield around Trevor as we curled together in the backseat.

You okay?
His thoughts jangled with the remembered crush of thousands of minds.

Mustard-tinted guilt scratched at my soul with dirty fingernails—
my fault.
I’d hurt Trevor today when I’d lowered my shield. I’d hurt Ann. I shook my head and groaned.

She got away.

She’d killed people in the street and she’d gotten away. We could’ve followed her down the corridor to D.C., but we were too shaken up and discouraged.

We let her go.

At least the people on the train would live—having them jump would stop the train and delay her getaway so I was pretty sure she wouldn’t do it if she didn’t have to.

I bet the lives of innocent people.
A shudder passed through me with the realization.

I knew Belinda liked the power she got from her ability, and I knew she didn’t mind using people—even destroying them—to get what she wanted. Why hadn’t Williamson seen this side of her before she’d turned against Ganzfield? Had he simply assumed that because she needed dodecamine from us she could be trusted? I’d hated her from the start, but being proven right still left me feeling empty.

We turned off the highway in Connecticut and drove along the Long Island Sound until we located a suitably isolated beach house. Trevor reached through, unlocked the door, and we all cleaned up before he and I took camping gear down to the beach, leaving the house for Zack and Ann.

I burrowed into my sleeping bag and braced for the nightmares I knew were coming.

Morning light tinted my eyelids red. I rolled over with a groan, feeling the salt-tinted breeze coming off the water and freezing me bone-deep. Memories of the previous day tightened something across my chest.

At least the beach house was nice. The shower had a fancy array of nozzles that sprayed from the side as well as overhead—soothing out the morning chill—and the coffee machine was top of the line. We cleaned up before we left. With luck, no one would realize we’d been here.

Driving back felt like going to a funeral. We’d screwed up and had lost Belinda. Innocent people had been killed. We grabbed some lunch once we crossed into New Hampshire, but nobody felt like eating.

Trevor drove the last leg. We made the turnoff to Ganzfield and I started bracing myself for the meeting Williamson would be sure to have as soon as we arrived.
He’s going to be so disappointed with us—with me. I let him down.
My jaw started to quiver.

BAM! THUD!

Two sudden impacts jarred us. The car swerved left and skidded across the pavement. Trevor flung an invisible arm across me as we tilted off the road. A wall of trees rushed toward us. Trevor put out his other invisible arm to brace against them. We jolted to a rough stop.

What the—?
I felt a delayed splash of cold fear.
Trevor? Are you okay?

“Maddie?” I could feel his mind searching mine, making sure I wasn’t hurt—mirroring my own frantic mental assessment of him.

I’m fine.
His invisible arm still restrained me and, without even thinking about it, I ducked into his mind and slid that arm over. His eyebrows shot up in surprise. He’d been able to do stuff with our shared mental shield for months; it was about time I’d been able to do something like that in return.
What’d we hit?

No clue.
“Ann? Zack? You all right?”

They didn’t answer. I unbuckled my seatbelt and twisted to look around my seat. Zack’s chalk-white face stared at me. He cradled Ann’s head in his hands. An ugly bruise welted the side of her face above her temple.
Oh, God.
I couldn’t hear anything from her.

“Ann?” Zack’s voice sounded like that of a small child lost in the dark. His mental shielding seemed to tear from the pressure, and his fear suddenly punched into my thoughts.  I threw defensive hands up as I half-fell out of the car. He brushed a tender hand across the uninjured side of her face, and then pressed it against her neck. “Oh, God. Ann.” Something unclenched within him as her pulse tapped strongly against his fingers.

I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

Trevor climbed out slowly, checking each muscle for injuries before he moved it. We looked at the car. Both front tires were dead-flat, shredded by several four-pointed spikes that’d been scattered across the road. Each was nearly the size of my fist.
Someone had thrown—

“Aah!” The dart slammed into my back just as I felt the touch of the approaching minds.
I’m hit!
I flashed to Trevor. He threw invisible arms around us both and they caught the second dart, the one that’d been intended for him. It floated about two inches from his shoulder.

“Maddie!”

The world around me begin to shimmer as a wave of dizziness hit me. Trevor gathered me up as the trees tilted around us.
Someone’s shooting at us!
He scanned the woods frantically and ducked behind the car.
Stay with me, Maddie.
I heard his thoughts distantly, as though they were fading.

I felt the four men coming for us—their thoughts also sounded… blurry. I recognized one of the minds—Paul Hunter.
We can capture both of them!

I thought Sunday was his day of rest?
For some reason, that seemed important.

I’ve got to get Maddie out of here!
Trevor pulled me even more tightly in his arms.

Hunter’s just after the two of us. We can draw him away from Ann and Zack. He doesn’t know they’re here.

The song “All By Myself” rang through my head. I groaned, and then snorted. What the hell had they dosed me with?

Trevor cradled me against his chest as he took off running toward the front gate. Two more darts thudded into his invisible shield. All the jostling made me dizzier.

Maddie? What’s going on?
Seth’s mind sounded far away.

Incoming!
I thought to him. I then started laughing, although I had no idea what might be funny.

I heard him yelling into a walkie-talkie. “Hunter’s group is shooting at Maddie and Trevor!”

Surprised faces flashed in the windows of the van by the gate.

“—two subjects on foot. Four armed men in pursuit. Wait, are they with us?”

“This operation’s not supposed to go hot. Who authorized this?”

The four chasers closed in. While Trevor was capable of using his ability to move with ridiculous speed, he was slowed by my weight and the need to shield us both. The gate came into view—still closed.

Seth started to key in the code.
Numbers.
I bit my lip.
Numbers are funny.

Behind us, the chasers shot three more darts. They caught in Trevor’s shield and floated like wicked-looking hummingbirds, swishing to either side of us as Trevor vaulted the eight-foot-high gate telekinetically. We sailed over and landed on the far side. The men stopped, shocked at Trevor’s jump. I snickered at their surprise—it felt all tickly in my mind.

Trevor slowed and started to laugh. It was then I realized he had a dart in his butt. He staggered a few steps, and then put me down on my own wobbly legs.

They got you, too?
He must’ve been hit as he’d vaulted the gate.

“Another experience we can share.” He started giggling. I’d heard Trevor laugh in many different ways—I was a connoisseur of Trevor’s laughs—but this was the first time I’d heard him giggle. It started me off, and then I couldn’t stop. We leaned against each other, laughing until tears fell from our eyes.

“What the heck was in those darts?” Trevor’s words sent me into another wave of hysterics.

Several sparks rushed toward the front gate.
Hey, Drew! Zack and Ann are still out there!

Drew’s steps faltered as he recognized us. “You two all right?”

Trevor slid a hand down his face and forced himself to stop laughing. “Ann’s injured. She and Zack are still with the car.”

Drew nodded. “We’ll get them.” He put on a burst of speed to catch up with the others.

Infirmary,
I thought to Trevor.

“What? I can barely hear you.” He pulled the dart out of my back then reached around with an invisible arm and grabbed the one in his butt. He had the other darts in hand already—I hadn’t noticed them getting there. Everything spun around us as we staggered back toward the main buildings.

Trevor frowned. “Wait, if I can’t hear you… “

I had his arm around me, but he sounded far away. I met his eyes as an icicle of fear sliced through me. Okay, feeling my ability going away did not make me feel like laughing. I slipped on the stairs to Blake House and felt Trevor’s invisible hands try to catch me. They glided off me like water and I gashed open my knee on the granite step.

The pain touched me, delayed and distant. “Ow.”

“Hey, Maddie! You said ‘ow.’” Trevor and I looked at each other for a second, and then started giggling again.

Morris frowned sternly as we stumbled into the infirmary. “It’s not a good idea for G-positives to get drunk, you two.”

That set off another giggle fit. Trevor dumped the handful of darts onto the counter. “Not drunk.” He slurred the words. “We were attacked. Drugged.”

“Luff? Nop saybah toon.” I think I was trying to say something about losing my ability.

Trevor met my eyes and snorted. I tried to pantomime telepathy, and then shook my head.

“Now is not the time for a game of charades.” His mock seriousness cracked us both up.

Morris examined the darts solemnly. “The drug is interfering with your abilities?”

I nodded as I tried to get myself under control.

“Then it may be some sort of dodecamine-blocker, an antagonist that interferes with the drug. I’ll need to do some tests.”

“Oh, wait.” Trevor still slurred his words. “Could you… like… um… make a call first and see if they got Ann and Zack from the car? We might be under attack right now, and Maddie and I like to know these things.”

I nodded then started chuckling again, which started Trevor off, too.

Morris grabbed the phone and called Williamson. “Both Trevor and Maddie have been drugged. We need to test the darts, but whatever it is, it’s interfering with their abilities… and making them act like drunken idiots.”

Hey! What kind of bedside manner is that?
Trevor and I both cracked up. Morris rolled his eyes with a sigh and hung up the phone.

“Ann and Zack are in. They’re coming to the infirmary now. No one’s trying to get past the front gate. Seth’s watching everything at the front and he has a bunch of sparks with him who can suppress firearms. He said the people chasing you weren’t with the federal officers watching the gate. The two groups are trying to sort stuff out on their side, but we’re safe in here, right now.”