Rebel With A Cause

by Ashleigh Neame

  “We can outsmart him,” T-Man said. “Six heads are better than one. We can set a trap. Trick him into hurting someone, and then call the cops. The cops will find him doing it, and he’ll be arrested.”

  Bekah bit her lip. “But the cops will wonder how we knew, and when they find out what we did, how we framed him, he’ll still go free.”

  “The only way is to murder the piece of scum,” Carter spat bitterly. “And we’re gonna have to be smart about it.”

  Kaitlyn shook her head. “No. No, I won’t let anyone kill him. He’s not worth going to prison for. I think we should stick with T-Man’s idea, except instead of calling the cops, we let De hurt someone, and they can go to the cops afterwards.”

  She looked at Carter meaningfully, and she saw his eyes widen.

  “No! No way, Kaitlyn! You are not getting hurt again. I won’t let you.”

  “Carter,” she pleaded, wanting him to understand. “It’s the only way. If I do this, De could be off the streets in no time. And when Aria comes forward, he’ll be locked away for life. Please, Carter, it’s the only way to stop him.”

  “NO!”

  She sat back and closed her eyes. Truth be told, she didn’t want to repeat her past experience with De, but she had resigned herself to the fact that she had to. Aria was in no state to go through it again, and she refused to let Bekah go through the same thing, so that only left herself.

  She opened her eyes to see Carter glaring at her. She scooted back from the table and walked into her and Carter’s bedroom. She closed the door behind her and slumped down against it. She buried her face in her hands and let out a huge breath.

  She didn’t know how long she sat there for, but she must have fallen asleep, because a soft knock on the door woke her up.

  “Katie,” she heard Carter say quietly. “Come on, it’s time for dinner.”

  She wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks, and looked in the mirror. There wasn’t much she could do for her puffy red eyes.

  Carter opened the door and entered their bedroom. He shut the door behind him and walked towards Katie. He grabbed her neck and pulled her face towards his. Their lips met, and it was the sweetest kiss they’d ever shared.

  “I love you,” he said, resting his forehead against hers and staring into her eyes. “I love you so much, Katie, and I want to protect you. I don’t want anyone besides me ever touching you in that way. I can’t let you go through with that ridiculous plan of yours.”

  She sighed and closed her eyes. “I have to, Carter. I don’t want to, but if I don’t, he’s going to keep hurting other girls. He hurt Aria, and she won’t be able to go through with that again.”

  “I don’t think you’ll be able to either.”

  “I have to.” She opened her eyes and looked at him. “I don’t want Bekah or anyone else going through what I went through.”

  “There has to be another way,” he insisted stubbornly. “We can kill him, making it look like an accident. We can make it look like he did it himself.”

  She shook her head. “No. No way, Carter.”

  He closed his eyes, as if he was in pain. “Look,” he said finally. “Can we just forget about this? I went out and got takeaways for dinner, and it’s just us. Bekah went over to Marcus’ for the night, and Aria’s asleep.”

  She pulled away. “I don’t know, Carter. I’m not that hungry to be honest.”

  He grabbed her hands and pulled her close to him. He let go of her hands and pulled her into his arms. He rested his chin on the top of her head.

  “Come on, Katie,” he said. “You have to eat sometime.”

  She closed her eyes. She just wanted to be alone, but Carter wasn’t taking no for an answer.

  “Ok,” she groaned, giving in. “What’s for dinner?”

  He grinned. “I got us some burgers.”

  She raised her eyebrow at him. “Burgers? What happened to eating healthy?”

  He shrugged. “After the day we’ve had, I think greasy, easy food is just what we need.”

  She groaned. “Only if you go to bed early tonight. No races.”

  He grinned. “Deal. I’ll be in bed by ten ‘o’clock. Promise.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Sure you will.”

  He faked hurt. “I will! We’ll have dinner and dessert, and then we’ll get ready for bed. It’s eight-thirty now, so we have an hour and a half.”

  She shook her head. “It is way too late for dinner.”

  He chuckled. “No, it’s not. People who work the nightshift are eating breakfast, so it’s never too late for dinner.”

  She followed him into the kitchen, where dinner was laid out on plates. He’d unwrapped the burgers and emptied the fries onto the plate.

  Carter grabbed their dinners and carried them over to the coffee table in the lounge. She grabbed their drinks, and they settled in front of the TV with their dinner, watching a cheesy crime-solving show.

  It was an easy way to end the day.

  Chapter 19

  The next day, everyone came around again, to discuss strategies. Kaitlyn felt this was a bit ridiculous. What were they, spies?

  Secretly, she was also planning to go through with T-Man’s idea. She would go and attract De’s attention, leading him straight into a trap, and afterwards, she wasn’t going to waste any time crying about it. She was going to go straight to the cops, and that would be that. She wasn’t going to let anyone else get hurt.

  She would do it tonight, before De had the chance to hurt anyone else.

  “I say we do some recon,” Brady said.

  Just like yesterday, everybody was around the dining room table, enjoying a fanciful notion that they were crime solvers. It was ridiculous, and she scoffed at them.

  “Come on, what are we? The Spy Kids? Newsflash guys, that movie franchise ended decades ago.”

  Everyone stared at her.

  “What is wrong with you, Katie?” Bekah asked incredulously. “We’re working here, trying to stop Deangelo from attacking other girls, and all you can do is laugh?”

  Kaitlyn stood up and walked away from the table. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t stop him. I’m just saying that for us to do a seriously good job, we’re gonna need to be serious. You guys are like little kids with the way you’re acting! Get a grip! Real life is not all about planning and executing, it’s about using your gut instinct to do what you can!”

  Bekah walked over to Kaitlyn and got in her face.

  “What would you know, Kaitlyn?” she snapped. “You’re just a baby compared to everyone else here! We have more experience, so you need to go away, and grow up!”

  Kaitlyn screamed. “What would I know? Hello! I was attacked by De! I made it away by myself! I didn’t need anyone to rescue me! I used my gut instincts, and I got away. So stop with all the planning and strategizing! It won’t work.”

  Bekah sneered. “Brat!”

  Kaitlyn just stared right back at her. “Look who’s talking.”

  Carter had to do something. His cousin and his girlfriend were supposed to get along! Bekah shouldn’t be bullying Kaitlyn!

  “Girls, come on,” he begged. “Can’t you just get along? What happened to all of that ‘united by a common enemy’ kind of thing you girls are supposed to have?”

  Bekah scowled. “Not when she’s an attention seeking cow.”

  Kaitlyn rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m out.”

  She walked into the bedroom and changed into a sexy but safe outfit. She had to look the part if she was going to spy and seduce.

  She laughed at herself. Only moments ago, she had accused the group of thinking of themselves as spies, and yet here she was, planning to go out and spy. She felt like an idiot, but at least she didn’t consider herself an amateur crime solver. She knew she was just a seventeen year old girl, and didn’t know if she could pull this off. But she did know that she had to try.

  She changed out of her ‘fat pants’ for some black and gold patterned tights, an old Rolli
ng Stones t-shirt, and a grey denim jacket. She pulled on some black, flat boots and picked up her small school backpack. She pulled all her old schoolbooks out and replaced them with a canister of pepper spray, some deodorant, a digital camera, and some binoculars. She jammed a baseball cap onto her head and slipped some sunglasses on. She also added a notepad and a pen as an afterthought.

  Climbing out of the window, she marvelled at how idiotic her friends were. They hadn’t even noticed that she’d gone.

  She got into Carter’s car and drove to her mum’s house. She was lucky that her mum was out, so she could switch the cars over.

  Once she was back in her car, she drove to De’s house. His car was still parked outside, but the house was shut up. She cut her engine, and sat back to watch.

  As she got out her binoculars, she felt like a fool. She’d just given everyone else crap for wanting to do this, and she did it anyway.

  Groaning to herself, she saw a flutter of movement at one of the windows. It looked like a shadow of a person. She grabbed her notepad and pen, and jotted it down.

  She saw the door begin to open, and she wanted to slide down in her seat, but her gut told her that De had seen her, and that she had to play the seductress.

  She pulled off her cap, fluffed up her hair, and climbed out of the car. She knew if she took any weapons in with her, she’d be in heaps of trouble, but she did it anyway.

  She slipped her bag onto her back and grinned at De, who was standing in the doorway of his house, looking worse for wear.

  “Hey,” she called, waving at him.

  He eyed her suspiciously, and as she got closer, he glared.

  “What do you want?” he growled.

  As she got closer, she noticed how beat up he looked. He had bruises visible on his face.

  “You look like shit,” she commented.

  He clenched his fists. “You can thank your boyfriend for that. By the way, what’s he done with Aria?”

  She shrugged. “No idea. I’ve left him. He’s a giant pain in my ass. He’s always trying to control me, and I’m sick of it,” she lied.

  He pursed his lips, but held the door open for her to enter. She walked inside, her heart beating like mad. She was terrified of being alone in his house with him, but she didn’t show it on her face. She was scared that he could hear her heartbeat though.

  “Do you want me to put some cream or something on your bruises?” she asked softly. “Or an ice-pack?”

  De shrugged and shut the door. He flipped the lock and sighed. “What are you doing here, Kaitlyn?”

  She sat down on his sofa and looked at him.

  “I came to see you,” she replied. It wasn’t a lie. She wanted to see De. She just didn’t anticipate seeing De in person.

  He flopped down on the smaller two-seater. “Yeah, but why?”

  She bit her lip. She couldn’t tell him the truth – which was that she wanted him dead – so she had to think on her feet.

  “Last time I was here…you were rough,” she said cryptically.

  He groaned. “So what? You want an apology?”

  She shook her head. Even though it would be nice, it wouldn’t make up for what he had done. It also wouldn’t help her now.

  “I was actually wanting to know…” she couldn’t believe she was about to say this, “can we do it again?”

  His brows shot up. “Seriously? You were desperate to get away. Why would you want to do it again?”

  She went red. She couldn’t believe she was embarrassing herself like this. “I didn’t like it at first, but then I started having these fantasies…”

  He laughed, wincing as the muscles he used hurt his bruises.

  “My god, Katie,” he chortled. “You are hilarious.”

  She frowned. What was going on? “Excuse me?”

  He laughed at her confused face. “Katie, I know girls don’t like me. You know it, I know it, hell, everybody knows it! So come on, what’s the real reason that you’re here?”

  She scowled. “Ok, you got me!” she yelled. “I want an apology!”

  He smirked. “I’m not sorry that I did it Katie, I’m only sorry that you didn’t enjoy it.”

  She growled. “You’re an ass!”

  He laughed. “Yeah? So what if I am?”

  This was not going how she planned it. She planned on seducing him, tricking him into hurting her. But, as she’d suspected, De was smarter than that. He knew what she was up to – at least she thought so.

  She launched herself at him, desperate, and as a last resort. She didn’t want to hurt him; he was supposed to hurt her.

  He grabbed her by her shoulders and knocked her to the ground. She fell on her back and was winded. She had trouble catching her breath, and De just stood over her, smirking.

  “You shouldn’t mess with me, little Katie,” he said cockily. “I’m too smart for you.”

  He helped her up, only to knock her to the ground again, but she hit her head on the corner of the coffee table.

  The last thing she saw was De’s arrogant grin, before everything went black.

  Carter was freaking out. After Kaitlyn’s little outburst, she’d locked herself in their bedroom, and everyone else just kept on going with the planning.

  But it was now after lunchtime, and she hadn’t come out.

  He walked into the hallway and knocked on the bedroom door. “Katie?”

  No answer.

  “Katie?” he tried again. “Come on baby, it’s lunchtime.”

  Again, no answer. Was she asleep? His gut told him that something was wrong, and after Kaitlyn’s logical outburst, he decided to follow his instincts.

  He expected the door to be locked, but when he attempted to twist the doorknob, the door opened.

  He pushed it open wider and looked around, but there was no sign of Kaitlyn.

  “Katie?” he called. “Kaitlyn!”

  He scanned the room in desperation, and that was when he noticed the open window.

  “Crap!” he yelled angrily. He ran towards the open window and looked out. His car was gone.

  “FUCK!” he screamed.

  He ran back out into the living area.

  “Marcus, give me your keys,” he ordered. He held out his hand.

  Marcus looked at him, wondering what the hell had gotten into Carter.

  “Keys, dammit!” Carter yelled. “I need your keys!”

  Marcus frowned. “Why?”

  Carter screamed wordlessly. He dropped his hand, not expecting Marcus to give the keys to him, and stormed around the room in circles.

  “Kaitlyn’s missing, dammit!” he screamed. “She’s gone! And she’s taken my car!”

  Bekah grabbed her cousin and sat him down at the table.

  “Don’t stress, Carter,” she said calmly. “She’ll have gone to De’s and ignored the plan. It’s her own fault she’s gone. No one took her. She’ll come back when she’s ready.”

  Aria piped up for the first time that day. “I wouldn’t count on it. If she really has gone to De’s, he’ll have figured out why she’s there, and he’ll hurt her worse than any of you can imagine. We need to go after her.”

  The guys prepared for a fight, and it was like pandemonium at the dining room table.

  Bekah waved her arms around in a stop motion. “Stop, stop, stop!” she screamed. Everybody paused so she took a deep breath “We need to calm down and be rational about this. Kaitlyn got herself into this mess, and as she preached this morning, she can get herself out. I say, we need to stick to the plan.”

  Carter wanted to hit his cousin. It was the first time he’d wanted to hit a girl in his life, and it was only because of Bekah’s insane selfishness. She wanted to gamble with Katie’s life. It just wasn’t on.

  “No,” he growled furiously. “NO! We are NOT gambling with Katie's life. De could kill her, Bekah. What about that don’t you understand?”

  Bekah frowned stubbornly at him. “She screwed up the plan, Carter. Besides, if we sa
ve Kaitlyn, De could get away, he could hurt more girls. It’s either Kaitlyn, or tons of other girls that are possible victims.”

  Aria pushed Carter out of the way and backhanded Bekah.

  “You’re so selfish!” Aria screamed. “You don’t know what it’s like!”

  Everyone stared at her, dumbfounded. This was the most she’d said since they’d met her.

  “You just don’t get it! You don’t know what it’s like to be wondering if you’ll still be alive the next day! You don’t know what it’s like to be alone, hurt, scared and wanting to die, but unable to give up hoping! I was lucky, Carter saved me. But you,” Aria looked disgusted. “You want to leave Kaitlyn there! She could be dead!”

  Marcus looked at Bekah, who was puffing up her chest, getting ready to yell at Aria. He suddenly realised that Bekah wasn’t a nice girl. She didn’t care about anyone but herself.

  “You disgust me,” he spat. “I can’t be with you anymore. We’re done.”

  T-Man scowled. “You’re no longer welcome in the circuit. As of today, you are no longer a street racer. You’re just a nuisance.”

  Bekah burst into hot, angry tears. “I can’t believe you guys!” she screamed. “You want to doom heaps of other girls, just for one! How crazy are you?!”

  Carter picked up his cousin and locked her in her room. He then snatched her keys out of the bowl by the table and ran down to her car. He started the engine, reversed out of the driveway, and headed for De’s house.

  T-Man, Marcus, Brady and Aria followed suit.

  He sped to De’s, and arrived in no time. Kaitlyn’s car was parked out front and he ran towards it, panicking when he saw her stuff still on the passenger seat. He tried the door, and found the car unlocked.

  “No!” he yelled.

  He couldn’t breathe. His girlfriend, the love of his life, was inside, possibly dead, and certainly hurt. He turned his head to the side and vomited in the gutter.

  “Hey,” T-Man called. “Are they in there?”

  Carter stood up and wiped the vomit off his face. He looked around and noticed that De’s car was still in the carport.

  “Yeah,” Carter said quietly. “They’re still here.”