The Complete Makanza Series: Books 0-4

by Krista Street

  In the chaos of the afternoon, I’d managed to forget that Dorothy, Garrett, and Bethany were dead. But now, it all came rushing back.

  Tears again filled my eyes. It was such a horrible way to die. And all of them had been so hopeful at their futures to come.

  A future that no longer exists.

  The tears fell down my cheeks like hot steady raindrops. My throat tightened as a sob wracked my chest. It all felt so helpless. So unbelievable.

  How could this have possibly happened?

  AN HOUR LATER, I finally opened up to Sara and was talking telepathically to her as a guard brought me supper. Sara had tried to keep me calm, but it was no use.

  The twin sounded just as tormented as me. Garrett, Dorothy, and Bethany had been her friends too.

  I picked at the food, unable to eat. Sara? You better talk to Davin. I’m sure Cate’s talked to him by now, but I don’t know if she’d have told him about the deaths.

  She sniffed in her mind. I knew she was crying. Do you want me to channel him to you later?

  Yes. I breathed a sigh of relief at the thought of hearing his voice. Please.

  Just then, the guard returned. “Someone’s here to see you.”

  Um, Sara, I gotta go. Someone’s here. Tell Davin I’ll talk to him soon.

  We shut down our connection just as the guard cuffed me and pulled me into the hall. From there, I followed her to a small room.

  The room was filled with small tables and chairs. I figured it was some kind of visiting area, but at this late hour, it was empty except for a man in a business suit.

  He sat at one of the tables and appeared to be middle-aged but fit. Short, brown hair covered his head. With precise movements, he wrote on a small tablet. A briefcase sat at his side.

  The guard pushed me toward him. The hem on my too-big pants continued to drag on the concrete floor.

  When I reached him, he glanced up and eyed me coolly. “Dr. Meghan Forester?”

  I nodded.

  “Have a seat.” The female guard pulled out a chair.

  I did as she said, but when she shoved the chair under the table with me on it, the chair leg caught the hem of my pants.

  I gave the guard an annoyed look and rearranged myself. That was difficult considering my hands were cuffed in front of me.

  The guard merely retreated to the corner and stood watch.

  Once it was only me and the businessman at the table, he held out his hand. “My name’s Kevin Pratchett. I was contacted by a friend of yours. She said you needed legal counsel.”

  I nodded emphatically. “Yes, I do. I’m being accused of a crime I didn’t commit.”

  “I see.” He pulled something out of his pocket and set it on the table. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to record our conversation.”

  I eyed the small recording device and shrugged. “Sure.”

  The attorney proceeded to ask me everything and anything that had happened during the past twenty-four hours. I divulged every detail, including my suspicions about Monica. He listened tirelessly and took meticulous notes along the way.

  “So you believe that the person in the Production Room yesterday, possibly this Monica Brown woman, is the true criminal? Whoever pushed you over may have also planted those bombs?”

  “Yes. I know I certainly never planted any explosives. It had to be her or someone else.”

  Kevin turned off his device and put his papers back in his briefcase. “I’ll obtain a copy of the video from the Compound. You’ll see the judge tomorrow. From there, we can post bail so you can go home.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. The charges being pressed against you are incredibly serious. You’re potentially facing a lifelong prison sentence.”

  Kevin left shortly after delivering that blow. When he departed from the room, it was just me and the guard. I waited for her to tell me what to do. When she did nothing, I glanced over my shoulder.

  “Will I be staying here?”

  Her eyes didn’t meet mine when she replied, “You have another visitor. He’s on his way in.”

  My eyebrows knit together as I tried to figure out who else could be visiting me. A smile lifted my lips at the thought of Davin coming to see me when the door burst open.

  My smile vanished.

  Senator Douglas strode in. With the flick of a hand, he dismissed the guards who’d accompanied him. When the female officer stationed in the corner made no attempt to leave, he addressed her too.

  “You may step out. I’ll only be a few minutes.”

  My mind was still trying to process him being here when she departed. It was only then I wondered how he did it. Aren’t the guards supposed to stay in here with me?

  Fear coiled in my belly. My hands began to shake so I clasped them tightly together as Senator Douglas pulled out the chair across from me. It squeaked on the concrete.

  The senator wore a crisp suit and tie. His heavy jowls jiggled when he grinned.

  “Wha . . . what the hell? How are you here?” I whispered.

  “I warned you to not mess with me.”

  His words washed over me. Mess with him? Never mind that. I was still trying to process him here. In the jail. Gloating.

  He leaned back and crossed his arms. His paunch belly pushed against the table. “If only you had listened and stopped fighting for those Kazzie scums, things could have turned out differently.”

  My eyes widened. “You framed me in the bombings?”

  “Framed?” He chuckled. “Oh, no. Of course not. I would never do anything illegal.” Sarcasm dripped from his words, like venom beading from a snake’s fang.

  And then it hit me.

  He was behind this.

  He was behind all of this. Including Monica’s involvement?

  “But . . .” I shook my head as the implication of what he said sank it. “You murdered them! You murdered innocent people! And for what?”

  “People?” he scoffed. “They don’t look like people to me. More like virus-infected filth. The world is better off without them.”

  My entire body began to shake. Rage like I’d never felt before coated my skin, like a hot film scorching me in its intensity. “You bastard! They were my friends! They were innocent people!”

  The jovial glee left his expression. Nothing but cold hate glimmered from his irises. “Enjoy the rest of your life, Dr. Forester. I wish I could say it was a pleasure meeting you, but it wasn’t.”

  He abruptly stood and walked away, his jowls jiggling with the movement.

  “You won’t get away with this!” I screamed after him. But my empty words fell on deaf ears.

  He didn’t even look back.

  When the door closed behind him, I sat frozen. Only my harsh breaths filled the room. Everything else around me was eerily silent.

  I dropped my head into my hands and hissed in pain when my palms grazed the burn on my cheek.

  This could be the end.

  The door opened again when the female guard returned. “Let’s go, Forester.”

  I numbly stood. My chair caught on the pant hems again, and I almost fell. But not even that penetrated the fog in my mind. The reality that lay ahead of me suddenly seemed even more daunting.

  If the senator had it out for me, it may not matter that I was innocent.

  No one would believe me.

  23 – UNLIKELY ALLY

  The numbness wore off more and more with every step back to my cell. In its place, sheer panic began to build. I was shaking by the time the guard sealed the jail cell door behind me.

  From there, I collapsed to the floor. A sudden rush of terror clawed at my nerves, like electric jolts shooting down my arms.

  No words formed in my mind. Only emotions. The urge to run was strong. It became an inhuman need that was almost impossible to ignore. Gripping my arms tightly around my knees, I clung to my shins, burying my head between my thighs.

  A mewling sound fille
d my cell. It took a second before I realized that sound came from me.

  Frantic knocking came from the back of my mind.

  I barely had the wherewithal to open the telepathic connection to Sara. Words refused to form in my mind to enter hers.

  I’ll get Davin. Her clipped tone disappeared. A moment later, I felt him.

  The deep, comforting presence of the man I loved more than life itself entered my mind.

  Meghan? Babe?

  It took a full minute before the shaking stopped. During that time, Davin’s increasing fear and furious protectiveness surged into me at regular intervals, like waves pounding the shore.

  Just take your time. Talk to me when you can. While his words were calm, his emotions betrayed him. The rage building inside of him was barely kept in check. It transferred to me. A hot, pulsing, fire that seemed to take on a life of its own.

  Did someone hurt you? His words came through clenched teeth.

  In that question, I knew he assumed the worst. Shaking my head, I managed to get one word to him. No.

  He waited quietly for me to continue. Despite his rage, his never-ending patience and love pulled me back to the surface. I clung to the life raft his connection threw. Using that, I finally felt like I broke through the drowning void.

  Breathe.

  Inhale.

  Exist.

  Words finally came to me after I took a shuddering breath.

  Senator Douglas came to see me. He’s framed me. He’s the reason I’m in here.

  Davin’s reaction was swift and absolute. I imagined if he and I were in the same room, he’d be punching a hole through the wall.

  He framed you? He admitted that?

  My shaky response took a moment to get out. More or less. He told me this is what happens from defying him. I don’t know how he framed me, but I’m certain he did.

  Where is he?

  No. Davin, just no. You can’t go after him. That will only make it worse.

  With each word that left my mouth, I felt more in control. More like myself. I pushed to standing from the cold, concrete floor and moved to the bed. My legs still shook, but I was standing and walking. And my heart no longer felt like it would beat out of my chest.

  The mattress sagged when I sat. Hard springs poked into my butt. I ignored them.

  Slowly, bit by bit of myself began to return. I was stronger than this. I wouldn’t let the Senator beat me. Anxiety and panic attacks . . . They were essentially who I was. But they didn’t define me.

  They never would.

  He can’t get away with this. Davin’s teeth grated, as if he were grinding his teeth in my mind.

  And he won’t. I met with an attorney tonight too. He’s coming back for my hearing tomorrow. I’ll tell him about Senator Douglas’ involvement then.

  Sara abruptly interrupted. Apparently, the emotions raging off Davin were making her head spin. We closed our connection with promises to talk soon. And once they were gone, I was completely alone. In my cell. In the dark. While coldness seeped into the walls behind me.

  I DIDN’T SLEEP well that night. Everything warred within me. The death of my friends. The incident in the Production Room. The explosions. Me being held accountable. And Davin’s rage.

  The worries refused to leave me and did little to quell the anxiety strumming inside me like disjointed music chords.

  Everything my attorney and the senator had said kept turning over in my mind like a thousand tiny sand particles sifting back and forth through an hourglass. I was innocent. Even if the senator had set me up, that fact didn’t change.

  I just had to find a way to prove it.

  I knew there had to be more clues to the explosions—clues that would solidify it wasn’t me who planted the bomb.

  Now, it was a matter of finding them.

  By the time morning came, my eyes felt gritty and bloodshot. I spent most of the day pacing in the small cell until they came and took me to court. Kevin’s professional demeanor and no-nonsense attitude helped put me at ease, but when I told him about my visit from Senator Douglas after he’d left yesterday, his gaze turned pensive.

  “I don’t recall seeing any visitors on the roster yesterday other than myself.”

  My mouth parted. “But he was here! You can ask the guards. He was here and he practically admitted to framing me.”

  Kevin frowned. “He admitted that?”

  “More or less.” I summed up my conversation with the senator.

  Kevin tapped his chin. “I’ll look into it, but right now, we need to concentrate on getting you out of jail.”

  He ushered me into the courtroom while I followed his lead. Sitting on the hard wooden chairs before the judge, my nails dug into my palms. It was all surreal, like something out of a movie, but when the judge set my bail for one hundred thousand dollars all hope crumbled within me.

  I hung my head. “I don’t know how I can possibly raise that kind of money.”

  Kevin merely leaned over and said quietly, “You don’t need to. It’s been taken care of.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Cate Hutchinson began a fund for you last night. It’s already raised $150,000.”

  “A fund?”

  Kevin smiled. It was the first time I’d seen him as anything but stoic. “It appears you have quite the fan base in this country.”

  While I didn’t fully comprehend what he was telling me, it soon became apparent that I wouldn’t be spending another night in jail. I was given back my clothes and belongings, and before I knew it, I was ushered out the door while Kevin promised to look into Senator Douglas.

  As soon as I walked through the exit doors of the courthouse, a dozen cameras and reporters rushed toward me. Luckily, the guards from the jail stepped forward. They formed a circle around me, but it did little to help.

  Flashes from cameras, and reporters yelling questions, came from every which way. It was only when the guards pushed past them that my eyes alighted on the figure running up the stairs.

  Davin.

  His midnight hair fluttered in the breeze. He wore jeans and a short sleeved t-shirt as the warm sun beat down. His intense blue eyes immediately zeroed in on me as he strode through the reporters, pushing them back as if they were inconsequential flies.

  He did it all so deftly, so easily. Even though he could have knocked all of them over like bowling pins, he took care to not use excessive force. Still, they didn’t stand a chance pushing him out of their way. A few tried, but it was like trying to move a concrete pillar.

  “Meghan.” His single word was my undoing.

  The guards parted, allowing him in. He rushed to my side and put a protective arm around me. I used his strength and unbending will to get me down the stairs. I knew he could have scooped me up and whizzed us out of sight, but that would have caused more of a spectacle. I was glad he didn’t.

  He rushed me to the car. It felt like hours before we were safely inside, buckled, and driving away. The reporters continued to chase us, but Davin didn’t look back.

  It was only when we rounded the corner and were alone on the street that fresh tears filled my eyes. A sob came next.

  “Oh, babe . . .” Davin gripped my hand tightly as he accelerated down the road. “I’m so sorry, Meghan. I’m so sorry about what happened.”

  “Senator Douglas has framed me. I may never get out of this, and not just that . . .” Another sob wracked my body. “I can’t believe so many of the Kazzies that were staying in Compound 3 are dead. Not just Dorothy, Bethany and Garrett . . . Half of them died in the explosion.”

  His face tightened as tears filled his own eyes. “I know.”

  Twenty minutes later, we pulled up to the curb outside of our rental home. My gaze widened as I wiped the tears from my cheeks. Three additional vehicles sat in our driveway.

  “Are other people here?”

  He nodded. “We’ve had a few visitors since you were arrested.”

  I DIDN’T KNOW what to
expect when I stepped into the house, but when I saw Ian and Cate sitting in the living room, relief billowed through me. Cate stood and rushed forward. Before I knew it, her arms were around me.

  “This is absolutely ridiculous. I’m livid that you’re being accused of anything like this. And Davin tells me Senator Douglas is involved again. That lying, conniving, son-of-a-bitch!”

  Ian placed a hand on her shoulder.

  Cate took a deep, unsteady breath. It took her a full minute to compose herself.

  When she finally pulled back, her cool blue eyes traveled up and down my frame. She looked exactly as I remembered her—lean and fit, with short blond hair that swayed on her shoulders.

  Ian shoved his hands in his pockets as I dried more tears from my eyes. “I’m so sorry about yesterday, Meghan.” His expression fell. “I don’t for a moment think that you’re guilty of what they’re saying.”

  I smiled gratefully. It was good to know I had people on my side.

  I felt Davin’s presence just behind me. It was the first time he’d met either of my Washington friends. And while a tense air hung between Davin and Ian, they seemed to be getting along.

  “What time did you arrive?” I asked Cate.

  “This morning. I took the first flight that I could find.”

  A shuffle sounded in the hallway and my eyes widened when I saw who stood there.

  Amy, Sharon, the twins, and my parents.

  Amy flew into the living room. “You’re back!”

  She barreled into me, practically knocking me off my feet. “Hi, Amy.”

  “Jesus Christ, Meghan. One minute I’m in the parking lot with everybody else, the next second you’re hauled off, and then they’re shuffling us onto buses and sending us home. And it’s only when I showed back up here and was told by Davin that you’d been arrested and sent to jail that I knew what was going on. Are they seriously blaming you for those explosions?”

  I nodded. “It seems so. Senator Douglas has it out for me.”

  Amy’s mouth set into a grim line. “I heard. That bastard.”

  The twins, Sharon, and my parents came forward next. One-by-one, they hugged me as tears poured down everyone’s faces.

  “I can’t believe it, kiddo.” My dad patted my shoulder. “Those conniving cons. How dare they say that about my little girl.”