The Rebel

'That was necessary,' Max insisted.

'Besides, it's not just information from the consciousness we're going on, remember?' Alex asked. 'I felt-'

'We're here,' Michael interrupted.

He jumped out of the car and sprinted to the crack in the desert that opened into the cave. He wanted to give Trevor a few seconds warning before he was descended upon.

'You've got company,' he called. 'Lots of company.' He swung himself down onto the big rock and jumped onto the cave floor from there.

He did a quick check of the cave. Trevor was alone.

Of course he is, Michael thought. You knew he would be. But Michael still felt relieved.

'I wasn't expecting you this early,' Trevor said. He stood up from Michael's sleeping bag and headed toward him.

'Look, we think someone kidnapped Maria's brother and-' Michael began, speaking as rapidly as he could.

Before he could get out the explanation, Maria half leaped, half fell into the cave.

'Where's Kevin?' she shouted. She lunged at Trevor, but Michael caught her before she could reach him. He wrapped one arm across her shoulders and held her against him.

'We're going to find out everything,' Michael told her. 'We're going to get Kevin back, I promise.'

The tension in Maria's body didn't ease at all. Michael wished there was something he could say to her, something to make her believe. But he didn't think she trusted him enough right now to have faith in him. The thought was like a boulder in Michael's chest.

Max scrambled into the cave, with Alex right behind him.

'See? No Kevin,' Michael announced.

'Just because he's not here doesn't mean Trevor didn't take him,' Max shot back.

'It doesn't mean he did, either,' Liz said as she hopped down onto the rock and then moved over so Isabel could climb down.

Trevor turned to Michael. 'Would you please tell me what the hell is going on?'

'I'll tell you what the hell is going on,' Maria cried. She wrenched herself away from Michael and went toe to toe with Trevor. 'You kidnapped my brother so we'd give you the Stone. Now where is he?'

Trevor shook his head and stared up at the roof of the cave. 'Unbelievable. First I was a killer, and now I'm a kidnapper.'

At least Trevor's trying to stay cool, Michael thought. He gave his brother a nod of encouragement.

'Why don't you come back tomorrow?' Trevor smiled at Maria, or at least he twisted his lips in an attempt at a smile. It came out more like a grimace. 'By then I'll probably only be a bank robber or something.'

'You knew Kevin was important to the group!' Maria yelled. She lurched forward and pounded on Trevor's chest with both fists. He didn't even try to defend himself. 'That's why you asked all those questions about him at the party!'

Michael hauled Maria away from Trevor again. She fought violently in his arms.

'That's why you took him!' she screamed at Trevor. 'Because you know we all care about him, and because he's small and weak and can't defend himself.'

'Shhh, Maria,' Michael murmured in her ear. 'Shhh. Kevin is okay. He's okay.'

Maria twisted around to face him, her face so twisted with fear and fury that it was almost unrecognizable. 'You don't know that!' she screamed. 'You're just refusing to accept that you're wrong about Trevor. And Kevin could be out there somewhere dying! Don't you even care?'

Alex rushed up to them. He put his hand on Maria's shoulder, and she flung herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, ragged sobs making her body heave.

The weight in Michael's chest doubled in size as he watched Liz and Isabel join Alex, surrounding Maria in a protective circle. A circle that kept Michael on the outside. He turned a helpless look on Trevor.

Trevor gave a low growl of frustration. 'If I was the kidnapper, right now I'd be telling you that I'd give you a map to your brother's location as soon as you handed over the Stone,' he said impatiently. 'But I'm not doing that. Why?' He glanced from person to person.

'Because you're not the kidnapper,' Adam finally said from his spot under the cave's entrance.

'Are the rest of you listening?' Michael demanded.

'What Trevor said makes some sense,' Liz said, her arm still locked around Maria's waist.

'It's also what an intelligent kidnapper would say right now,' Alex protested. He stared at Trevor over the top of Maria's head, his eyes narrow. 'And no one is doubting Trevor's intelligence.'

'And there's no one else who has a reason to take Kevin,' Max added.

'Don't you have any real enemies?' Trevor asked.

'There's DuPris,' Michael answered quickly. 'DuPris would love to have another one of the Stones.' He shot Max and Alex challenging looks, daring them to deny the truth.

'How would DuPris have gotten behind me in the wormhole?' Alex asked.

Michael shoved his hands into his pockets, fighting the urge to slam his fist into the cave wall. Alex was right. DuPris couldn't have been in the wormhole. 'Who else?' he muttered. 'There has to be somebody else.'

'There is,' Isabel said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at her. Her eyes hardened as she spoke. 'Kyle Valenti.'

ELEVEN

'Michael, Liz, Trevor, Adam-you circle around back in case Kyle tries to bolt,' Max instructed. 'The rest of us will go straight to the front door.'

He was almost surprised when the group split into the teams he'd specified with no argument. At least we finally found something we can agree on, he thought as Michael's team headed out.

For now. Max still had a bad feeling about Michael's brother. But it wouldn't hurt to check out the Kyle situation. He was praying that Kyle did have Kevin. If not, Max didn't know what was going to go down between him and Michael. And of course, Trevor himself.

He dug the heel of his hand into his forehead and twisted it back and forth, trying to get some relief from the headache that had kicked in during the drive to the cave.

'Max, let's go,' Maria urged. 'The others should be around back by now.'

'Okay, let's do it.' He led the way up to Kyle's front door and knocked. The door swung open immediately. Kyle smirked at them, appearing obscenely self-satisfied.

'Where is he, Valenti?' Max demanded.

'Kevin?' Maria shouted, trying to peer around Kyle. 'Are you in there?'

'I'm glad you decided to tell me what I want to know,' Kyle said.

Max charged forward, knocking Kyle back into the house. He slammed him against the wall of the front hall and jammed his forearm across Kyle's throat. 'No, you're telling us what we want to know. Where's Kevin?'

He raised his fist and aimed it at Kyle's face. He was going to have to do this the old-fashioned way. It wasn't safe to use his power. 'Talk,' he ordered.

Before Kyle could say anything, Max heard the rest of the group burst into the back of the house. 'You got him?' Michael shouted.

'Got him,' Max called back. Not using my power isn't going to be any kind of problem, he thought. He could feel Alex crowding him, and a second later Michael, Trevor, Adam, and Liz burst into the hall, the fury coming off them like heat waves.

No, dividing Kyle into small enough pieces so everyone could get a shot at him-that was the problem. But Kyle, for some reason, didn't look worried.

'I'm not asking you again,' Max warned him.

'You hit me, you never get Kevin back,' Kyle said calmly.

Stalemate.

Max glanced at Michael. It was automatic. No matter what had been going on between them lately, when Max thought of backup, he thought of Michael.