The Set Up

by Kim Karr

  As Klein argues why I don’t deserve bail and Todd counters, not for the first time since arriving in this hellhole do I start to feel like I might just be found guilty of crimes I didn’t commit. Yet, this is the first time I believe it. That there’s a real chance I might not get out of this unscathed.

  And with that harsh reality becoming more and more realistic with every passing second, I decide it’s best to shut everyone who cares about me out of my life. If I don’t, they might get even more hurt and tarnished because of their connection to me than they already have been.

  I need to go this one alone.

  My best friends, Will Fleming, Jake Crown, and Drew Kates, don’t need me to be successful. They have what it takes to bring the Storm to the production line on their own. And at this point, keeping their distance is the only way that is going to happen.

  And as for Charlotte Lane, the little girl who lived next door to me, the one who grew into a woman I can’t get out of my head—she was fine without me in her life before and she’ll be fine without me once again.

  She’s all bright light, and I’m all darkness.

  She’s an angel, and I’m the devil she doesn’t need to get into bed with.

  My heart feels like it’s shrinking into a withering ball. But right now there’s a big, fat scarlet letter on my chest and I can’t allow those closest to me to go through the torment all of this is going to bring.

  It isn’t fair to them.

  Voices rising snaps my attention back to the courtroom. There’s shouting. Cursing. The argument between Todd and the ADA is taking an aggressive turn.

  “Order in the court,” the judge demands.

  With a lump the size of the state of Michigan in my throat, my gaze darts to him.

  The judge takes a hard look at me, and I know what he is about to say isn’t going to be good.

  Just as he is about to speak, a man in plain clothes comes flying through the door. I know him. The cleaner. He’s one of Alex Harper’s entourage. Alex is the mayor, my friend, my foe. The guy is shouting, “Your Honor, I need to talk to you right away. It’s an emergency.”

  With a hard glance in his direction, the judge raises his hand and with a finger he summons him forward. “This better be good, Mr. Goodman.”

  Goodman, that’s the twat’s name.

  A ‘yes’ man. Does whatever Alex needs done. I call him the cleaner because he’s always cleaning up the rumors of the mayor’s infidelity. What is he doing here?

  I glance toward Todd in question.

  Both brows rise and he shrugs.

  Finally, after what seems like hours, but in reality is only minutes, Goodman walks away and the judge states, “Will the defendant please stand.”

  I do.

  “Mr. Storm, it is hereby ordered and adjudged by this court that this hearing be continued to Monday.”

  “You can’t do that!” Todd calls out curtly.

  Everyone gasps.

  With an aggravated shake of his head, the judge glares at him. “All federal buildings in the city of Detroit are under mandatory lockdown, Mr. Carrington, and I don’t think clearing the courthouse is something I need to get your approval on. Talk to me like that again and I’ll be holding you in contempt.”

  Lockdown?

  Why?

  It has to be over me.

  Street horrors fly through my mind.

  The last time this happened was four years ago when Detroit was already falling apart and the lockdown went citywide.

  It happened so fast there was no controlling it. The police arrested a man who was subsequently beaten into a coma after he allegedly tried to escape. When he died from the beat down, a riot ensued. Chaos overtook much of the area of Detroit just south of 8 Mile Road. Many stores within a five-mile radius were looted. Cars were loaded with stolen goods. More than a dozen police officers were injured trying to stop the thefts. Abandoned buildings and vehicles were set on fire. So many so, that over ten fire crews battled three-alarm fires throughout the area as police stood guard with rifles. Gunfire was heard all around. Cops or protestors, no one knew.

  All anyone knew was that it was no peaceful protest against what had happened.

  Anger was being taken out on the streets.

  The protestors were intent on destroying what was left of Detroit. It was then that the governor was forced to bring in over five hundred state troopers to help control the chaos. He also requested as many as five thousand officers from neighboring states to assist in putting an end to the rioting. In the end, it took more than three days to regain control of the city; and although Martial Law was not declared, it had come pretty close.

  Fuck!

  And it is happening again just when things are starting to look so much better for Detroit.

  Fuck!

  Fuck!

  Fuck!

  “Yes, Your Honor, I apologize for the outburst,” Todd says humbling himself to get back in the judge’s good graces.

  Not sure it will work.

  Directing his attention back to me, the judge continues, “Mr. Storm, you will return to this courtroom Monday morning. Until then, you will be held in custody.”

  I swallow hard, trying not to feel the twisting in my gut or the heat pricking my skin. I’m being burned at the stake—alive.

  “But, Your Honor,” Todd starts to argue.

  The judge bangs the gavel with his eyes still on me and ignores Todd’s plea. “This hearing is hereby concluded.”

  “I’ll do what I can,” Todd tells me. “And if nothing else, you can bet I’ll have you out on appealable legalities before Monday.”

  Todd is a lot like me—hot tempered. Right now I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Before I can say so much as a word to him, the two transport guards are at my side.

  “I need a moment with my client,” Todd tells them.

  They both shake their heads no. “We’re under strict orders to make the transport quick.”

  “Five fucking minutes,” Todd snarls.

  “We can’t. There’s rioting at the station, and we are ordered to return all prisoners to their cells now.”

  A wave of dread rolls through me.

  Todd heaves a sigh and gives them a nod. Then he turns to me, looking grim. “Until the lockdown is lifted, I won’t be able to talk to you, but I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.”

  I want to ask him about Charlotte, but swallow the words down.

  You’re going this alone—remember, asshole.

  With that, I twist my wrists and get back to focusing on them. Come on—bring on the physical pain, because the emotional one is too much to bear.

  UNDER THE HOOD

  Charlotte

  THE RIDE TO the top always takes the longest. The slow climb. The sun on your face. The nerves that are aflutter. The anticipation of the fall.

  Once at the top there’s no backing out. Hands raised, you wait for the downward swoop. As soon as it happens you start to soar. You scream with laughter. Twist and turn. Breathless, your stomach sinks, but it’s okay because just like that you get a jolt of an adrenaline rush that keeps you wanting more.

  Dizzy. Trembling. Unsteady and so unsure. You’re full of fear. And then it ends and the exhilaration you’re feeling validates what you already know—that the ride is always worth it. In fact, despite your apprehension, you want to do it again and again.

  Beep. Beep. Beep . . . Beep. Beep. Beep.

  Deep in my dream-like state, it’s a steady rhythmic sound that nonetheless wakes me.

  Beep. Beep. Beep . . . Beep. Beep. Beep.

  On the brink of consciousness, the quiet, unfamiliar noise alarms me. Is something wrong? My eyes fly open. I’m still on that rollercoaster but this time it’s going way too fast. It won’t stop. Up. Down. Twist. Turn. Everything around me is spinning. I grab hold with the only hand I can and will the world to steady.

  It doesn’t.

  Instead it continues to reel and whirl so fast I f
eel like I’m on a never-ending ride. I want so desperately to get off. Wishing. Hoping. Even praying it will end does nothing. It just won’t stop. I have to squeeze my eyes closed to shut out the blurring colors.

  Slowly, very slowly, I become aware of my body. My head pounds, my limbs ache, and I feel confused. I pull in a deep breath and let it out, forcing all the air from my lungs before I draw another. Breath by breath, the ride seems to be slowing and the spinning sensation starts to fade.

  It’s then I notice the air around me smells like rain in the morning.

  No, sweeter than that. More like candy or strawberries. There’s also a hint of honey and warm citrus in the air. The scent is unique. I know what it is.

  Where I am.

  I’m not at an amusement park. I’m on Mackinac Island in the middle of summer, and I’m walking through the wildflowers in the meadow on the bluff with a breeze ruffling my dress, blowing my hair, and whispering across the soft grass beneath my feet. That so-familiar scented breeze carries the lovely aroma of lilacs, honeysuckle, and freesia with it, and it wafts through the air as it wraps itself around me like a warm blanket.

  Beep. Beep. Beep . . . Beep. Beep. Beep.

  But wait. I’m not warm.

  In fact, I feel cold.

  I toss.

  I turn.

  The bright sunshine feels more like the glow of the moon in the winter.

  It’s dark.

  I toss.

  I turn.

  I’m wrong. I’m not in a meadow. I’m in a closet.

  My mother told me I was too needy.

  That’s why I’m here.

  It’s dark.

  It’s cold.

  I’m scared.

  And alone.

  I’m always alone.

  Beep. Beep. Beep . . . Beep. Beep. Beep.

  Pain sears the fringes of my consciousness, but it is eased by the smell of a berry-like fragrance and its delightful lemony undertones.

  Where am I?

  Beep. Beep. Beep . . . Beep. Beep. Beep.

  Flashes scamper through my thoughts. The memory of a dark figure. Of a mask that hid the monster’s face. The eyes that stared down at me. The hands that slapped me and punched me until I could no longer see without the fuzziness of unconsciousness threatening to take over.

  Trying to push the dark thoughts away, I keep focusing on the smell of fresh-cut flowers.

  Warm and inviting.

  Beep. Beep. Beep . . . Beep. Beep. Beep.

  That noise. What is it?

  I breathe in the comforting scent as I force myself to once again open my eyes. Red blinking lights. A pole with a machine attached to it. It’s a heart rate monitor. Glancing around, I finally understand that I’m in a hospital room surrounded by a rainbow of color.

  Purple.

  Yellow.

  Red.

  Pink.

  And green.

  Honeysuckle. Geraniums. Lilacs. Wildflowers—they’re everywhere.

  It’s hard to keep my eyes open, but this time I force myself to do so. The flowers are real and they help me find focus in the middle of my uncertainty. I’m having trouble thinking. My head is pounding. My lips feel swollen and so do my eyes. I feel battered. Bruised. A mess.

  There’s another noise in the room. People talking—the television is turned on.

  Slowly, I prop myself up on my forearms and try to study the screen to see if I can glimpse what day it is. As I do, agonizing pain rips through me from my head to my toes. Bringing my hands to my face, I discover my left hand is bound. I stare at it. No, it’s not bound, it is covered in plaster from my knuckles to just above my wrist.

  Uncertain if I should move it, with my right hand I touch my face and gently feel my bruised, swollen features. All of a sudden, flashes of terror speed through my mind—the break in, the key, the attack, the monster.

  Trembling with fear, I look around. There’s a figure in the corner hunched in the chair watching the television in deep concentration.

  My throat is so dry. “Jasper?” I manage.

  Jasper.

  Long, lean, with a touch that sends me to another level.

  Jasper.

  Hard.

  Soft.

  Fast.

  Slow.

  With a heart that closed long ago, but opened for me.

  “Jasper,” I say again longing to see him, touch him, feel his body against mine, smell his skin, hear the grit in his voice when he says my name.

  Yet as the body unfolds, I know right away, even in the dark, that it isn’t Jasper. The figure points the remote toward the television in order to turn it down and then slowly opens the blinds. I can tell as soon as the light shines in through the window that the pretty face looking at me isn’t Jasper. “Jake?” I rasp in surprise.

  Jake. Jasper’s friend. Jake.

  Jake’s voice outside my door. He was there when I was being attacked.

  Almost gravely, he steps forward.

  “Did you . . . save me?”

  “I’m not sure you could call it that.”

  “I am. You did, didn’t you?”

  Sorrowful eyes blink and he gives me a slight nod. “I made sure you got the medical attention you needed.”

  I look around but see no one else. My heart sinks. “Where’s Jasper?”

  The carefully plastered look on his face gives me cause for concern.

  His silence is alarming.

  My mind is spinning.

  And then, just like that, the small flashes of memory are gone and everything comes rushing back. Jake’s plea from my nightmare hits me like a sledgehammer. “Charlotte, open up. Tory Worth’s body was found and Jasper’s been arrested,” he’d called out from the other side of the door.

  Tightness around my legs prevents me from moving anything but my upper body. “Jake, where’s Jasper?” I ask again, this time in alarm, as the full magnitude of what he’d said hits me.

  Jake comes a little closer. “Charlotte, I think I should call for the nurse,” he remarks with a shaky voice, ignoring my question.

  Clarity sets upon me as the fog in my brain lifts. I look around again—at all the flowers. At a room without Jasper. “How long have I been in here?”

  It feels like forever.

  “Since last night.”

  Okay. Not forever.

  Feeling too warm, I struggle to kick the tight white sheet off one of my legs. “Jake, where’s Jasper?” I ask for a third time, this time trying to sound steadier so that maybe he’ll answer me without worry of my possible ill reaction. Even though I already know in my heart where Jasper is, I need to hear him say it—to hear the awful truth before I can truly believe it.

  Jake’s eyes shift toward the television and I allow my gaze to follow. Now able to see more clearly, I scan the bottom of the screen and read it out loud. “Breaking news. While Jasper Storm is still being held in custody for the murders of both Eve Hepburn and Tory Worth, an all-out manhunt is underway for an unidentified man believed to be his accomplice. Details to come as the story unfolds.”

  “No!” I scream as the stark-cold reality hits me. He’s in jail. Still in jail. Suddenly, I’m back on that roller coaster, but this time the drop is endless and I’m plummeting into the unknown darkness where blue and green coat my vision.

  Beep. Beep. Beep . . . Beep. Beep. Beep . . . Beep. Beep. Beep . . . Beep. Beep. Beep.

  “Charlotte!” Jake gasps while jabbing at the call button beside my bed.

  I try to stop him, but the room is spinning again and I can’t reach my hand out to push him away.

  Within seconds a nurse comes rushing in.

  Jake takes a hurried step back.

  The nurse says something to him, but I’m not sure what.

  Once the initial shock subsides, I sit up as if a bolt of lightning has struck. “Jake!” I call out needing to know who the police think is Jasper’s accomplice.

  “Lie back, Charlotte, the doctor is on his way,” the nurse in
sists.

  “But I need to tell Jake something.”

  “You can talk to him once you’ve been examined.”

  I can’t see Jake and I’m pretty certain she’s made him leave the room.

  A moment later, the doctor is hovering over me with a light shining in my eyes. “Charlotte, it’s Dr. Nelson, can you hear me?”

  Unable to speak with the knot of concern wedged in my throat about Jasper, I nod.

  “You’re one lucky girl.”

  I blink.

  “Your friend’s quick response to get you medical attention prevented you from going into shock. As it was, your blood pressure was extremely low and your heartbeat very shallow when the EMT’s arrived.”

  I gulp. Swallow. Try to wet my lips. Anything to stop from thinking about the fact that he is telling me I could have died. What he doesn’t know is I think I would have been strangled if it weren’t for Jake.

  “Let me take a look at you. See how you’re doing. Do you think you’re up to that?”

  I give him another nod.

  I.

  Almost.

  Died.

  And Jake saved me.

  Jake saved me. His knock. His voice. His words. They all saved me.

  The doctor moves the light to the right and then to the left. “How many fingers am I holding up?” he asks.

  “Two.”

  “And now?”

  “Three.” I’m feeling agitated. I want him to leave so I can talk to Jake. Thank him and find out what is going on with Jasper.

  “Good. Very good.”

  With a blunt instrument, he draws a line down my calf.

  My leg twitches.

  “Can you feel this?”

  I nod again while licking my dry lips.

  The nurse notices and offers me water. I drink it with a ravaged thirst and then set my attention back to the doctor letting him know it’s okay to continue. I want to ask him to hurry, but I know that medicine doesn’t work that way.

  Torn between my own health and Jasper’s well being, I draw in a breath and focus on getting this over with.

  I need to get out of here.

  I need to go see Jasper.

  To make certain he’s okay, tell him he will get out of this, and to be honest, to make certain I’m okay too. I feel lost without him. A feeling I don’t understand. I’ve been alone my whole life, but right now I’ve never felt so isolated.