Rebel With A Cause (28 page)

They were all silent for a moment, and Kaitlyn’s eyes went wide as what she just said sank in. She clamped her hands over her mouth.

“How…how did I…?” she stuttered.

T-Man frowned at her. “How do you know
you
were the intended target?”

She looked at T-Man and lowered her trembling hands. “I don’t…I don’t know.”

She felt like she was about to faint. Just being here, back in this house, was giving her a migraine. It took all of her effort
just to stay standing.

“Hold on to me,” she whispered to T-Man. He grabbed one arm and roped it around his neck, and he used his other arm to hold her around the waist.

They carefully made their way inside, making sure not to disturb anything. This was a crime scene, after all.

The lounge was stuffy. It was hot, humid, and it was making her dizzy. She felt like she couldn’t breathe.

Neither of the cops noticed – they were too busy leading the way down the hallway.

T-Man, however, did notice.

“We can always run,” he promised her. “Carter wouldn’t want you putting yourself through all this stress.”

She shook her head, wincing in pain as the movement jarred her head.

“No,” she gasped. “I have to.”

T-Man nodded, thinking to himself that if she showed another sign of weakness, he was getting her out of there, no matter what. He couldn’t leave his best mate’s girlfriend to suffer.

She closed her eyes and mouthed something, too quiet for him to hear. When she opened her eyes, there was a new fire in them.

“Let’s go,” she said determinedly.

T-Man nodded and helped her down the hallway after the cops. They soon reached the bare room where it all happened, only it wasn’t so bare anymore.

The walls, usually a pale, faded yellow, were now splattered with blood. In some places, it was smeared on the wall. She closed her eyes and looked away.

It took a few minutes, but she was able to look back at the walls
. She pretended that it was just an interesting paint job, red and yellow.

“He blacked out the windows,” she murmured. “He didn’t want anybody seeing in.”

The police noted the layers of cardboard and newspaper at the windows, underneath the black, thermal curtains.

“He didn’t really plan on doing it,” she mused. “I had the gun in the first place. I remember packing it in my ba
g.
But why?
Why did I do that?”
She spun around to T-Man. “Why did I come here?” she demanded. “And why did I come here alone?”

One of the cops eyed her suspiciously. “How do you know you came here alone?”

Katie shrugged.
“I don’t know, I just do.
I can feel it. Everything is here, in my head, but I can’t access it.
”

She felt very frustrated. Why couldn’t she access her own memories?

Dammit,
she thought angrily,
those are
my
memories! Give them to me!

The tang of blood hit her nostrils. It infected her brain, like a virus. Her head felt like it was going to explode from the pressure.

She let out a bloodcurdling scream. “Make it stop!”

She couldn’t breathe. She gasped for air, but nothing came in. She was beginning to get dizzy, from lack of oxygen.

She closed her eyes, her face contorted in pain.

“No,” she whimpered. “Please, no.”

Nothing helped. The pressure on her brain was too intense. She couldn’t make it go away.

For the second time in that room, she passed out.

Kaitlyn woke up in her own bed, back at Carter’s house. She stretched and smiled. That was the best sleep she’d had in a while.

She got up and opened up the curtains. The sun was shining, birds singing; it was a very picturesque day.

She felt like all the drama over the past few days was just a dream. The weather seemed to be saying that everything was going to be ok. Kaitlyn certainly thought so, until realization dawned on her.

It was like a black hole had suddenly come along and consumed all of her happiness. She remembered
everything
. Carter was in hospital, in a coma no less, because Deangelo shot him.

Aria was dead, because Deangelo shot her.

Kaitlyn was traumatized, because Deangelo had held her hostage, in an insane episode of madness.

She lifted her hands up in front of her, to notice that she was shaking.

Tears burning her eyes, but not yet revealing themselves, she walked into the living area. Her sinuses felt blocked up with unshed tears.

She found T-Man sitting on the sofa with a bowl of cornflakes, his spoon clinking against the ceramic in intervals with his crunching.

“Hey,” she said emotionally. “I remembered it all.”

T-man looked behind him and choked. “Sorry,” he spat, coughing into the crook of his elbow. “You remember it
all?
”

She nodded sadly.
“Yeah.
I remember it all.
Everything.
I guess going back to De’s
did
help.”

He looked at her, caution clear in the way he moved. “I guess. But you fainted yesterday. The cops were all for taking you back to hospital, but I told them that I was your next-of-kin, and I made them bring you home.”

She sighed. “I’m glad you did. I don’t think I could have put up with those fake nurses any longer.”

T-Man got up from the sofa and went to rinse his dishes in the sink. He then grabbed another bowl and filled it with cornflakes.

“Another helping?”
Kaitlyn asked dubiously. “Dude, you could have used the same bowl.”

He looked at her and grinned. “Not for me, for you.”

She scowled. “I don’t need breakfast. I need to go to the police station and tell them everything.”

T-Man set the bowl on the table then grabbed Kaitlyn, and made her sit down in front of it.

“Eat,” he commanded. “And by the way, you can’t go anywhere without some fuel in you.”

She shot him a nasty look. “What are you, my father?”

It was his turn to scowl. “Dream on. You are way too much of a handful. I don’t know how Carter puts up with you.”

The mention of Carter
made her lose her appetite. T-Man noticed and frowned.

“What’s wrong?” 
he
asked.

She pushed the bowl away from her. She looked up at T-Man with sad eyes. “T,” she said morosely. “What if Carter has memory loss, too? What if he doesn’t remember me?”

He instantly regretted his harsh words. “I doubt it, Katie,” he said confidently. “Carter’s injury was only physical. Besides, he loves you too much. Anyone who’s known him for as long as I have can tell.”

She shrugged.
“Maybe.
But I didn’t have any injury, and yet I ended up with memory loss.”

T-Man sat down next to her and grabbed her hands in his. “Katie, you were held hostage, alone, and threatened with a gun. Not to mention De hurt you long before this mess happened. Your body was probably still traumatised from that experience, and going through the madness of the past few days…it was probably just too much.”

She shook her head, breaking down in tears, as she’d constantly done these past few days. “I just…I won’t be able to cope if he doesn’t remember me,” she blubbered. “My family is in ruins, and Carter is the only constant I have left. Without him…”

T-Man wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. “Tell you what,” he proposed. “You eat a few bites of your cereal and then we’ll go to the cops, tell them everything, and then after that we’ll go and see Carter.”

She looked at him with watery eyes and gave him a flat smile. “Ok.”

He let go, but sat there, coaxing her to eat
just a few more bites
until she’d eaten the whole bowl. When she was finished, he grinned at her and told her to get read
y, while he cleaned her dishes.

She groaned
but did as he commanded. She got up from her seat and went and had a shower. The hot water was bliss. As she stood under it, she closed her eyes
and imagined herself in an alternate reality, where Carter was by her side, they had never broken up, and now they were planning a wedding.

But when T-Man knocked loudly on the door, she was forced to
stop daydreaming.

“Katie, you’ve been in there for forty minutes. Come on, it’s time to
get dressed and get a move on.
”

She sighed and switched the water off. “Yeah, I’ll be ready in a few.”

She heard his heavy footsteps move away
and looked despairingly at her reflection in the mirror. Dark bags were under
her eyes, and her skin looked sallow. She rubbed and pinched her cheeks, trying to bring some colour into them.

After a moment, she gave up trying to look human and grabbed a clean towel from the cupboard to the right of the vanity. She dried herself off then changed into her clothes.

She put on some dark wash skinny jeans
and a white, button-down shirt. She looked so innocent, not like her usual devilish self.

She went through the motions of tidying up the bathroom and getting ready for the day, but her heart just wasn’t in it
. She didn’t really care what her surroundings were like, especially as the love of her life was in hospital with a – hopefully – healing
gunshot
wound.

Back in her bedroom, she did her make-up, put a pair of socks on, and grabbed some
biker chic
style boots. She laced those up and pulled her favourite leather jacket out of the wardrobe. She slipped it on and decided she needed some jewellery.

She walked over to her jewellery box, and marvelled at how much of a selfish idiot she was being.
Here she was, fretting over her appearance, when Carter was in hospital, and Aria was dead.

She was about to slam shut her jewellery box shut when something sparkly
caught her eye. She picked it up, and turned it over in her hand.

It was her engagement ring. It was ostentatious, designer, and way too flashy. It was not who she really was, not at all. It was something that she’d chosen, just for show.

She put it on anyway, on her ring finger. She was going to see Carter today, and she wanted to show him how much he meant to her.

“I love you,” she whispered, pretending that she was with Carter.

T-Man chose that time to walk into her room. “Come on,” he said.
“Time to go.”

She nodded and followed him out of the house. She locked up and got into his car.

“There was no need to lock up,” T-Man said casually. “Bekah is still living there.”

Kaitlyn scowled. “Not for much longer. I bet she was all for sticking to the plan, right? She wanted you guys to wait a few days
, while De held me hostage? Give him a chance to kill me?”

T-Man shrugged. “Yeah, she was all for sticking to the plan, but I doubt it was for the reasons you’re thinking. I mean, why would Bekah want you dead?
Come on, be serious.”

He pulled out of the driveway and drove towards the local police station. Kaitlyn wanted to tell them everything. She wanted to put Deangelo
Carboni
away for good.

“I bet that’s why Bekah was all about plans, and waiting.
She wanted to give De time to finish me off.”

T-Man rolled his eyes. “Cut it out,” he replied, annoyed. “It’s not funny, Katie. Bekah is like Carter’s sister, why would she want anything to happen to the girl who makes him happy?”

Kaitlyn scowled and
sat back in her seat. She didn’t like Bekah anymore, not after what she’d said
to
her
a few days ago.

They pulled up to the Police Station
. T-Man cut the engine and looked at Kaitlyn.

“You sure you can do this?” he asked. “You don’t have to, you know.” His words were meant to comfort, but both he and Kaitlyn knew they were a lie. She had to do this, for Aria’s sake, for Carter’s sake, for her sake, and for De’s dead baby.

“I have to, T,” she said quietly. “He needs to be locked away. He needs to stop hurting everyone.”

T-Man nodded and got out of the car. He did the chivalrous thing and came around to her side of the car and helped her out.

“Thanks,” she said, taking his hand.

He nodded at her and didn’t let go
once as they walked into the police station. As usual
, the place was mostly empty, except for a few cops that always seemed too busy to stop and ask them why they were there.