The Rebel

She hurried into the kitchen, Michael right behind her. She spotted a bright orange sheet of paper under one of the magnets. "Color me amazed," she said. She dropped her backpack on one of the kitchen chairs and grabbed the note.

She sank down on the kitchen floor as she read it. She didn't even think about the chair a few feet away from her.

"What?" Michael demanded.

The note fluttered like a hummingbird's wing as she handed it to him. She couldn't make her fingers stop shaking even when she knotted her hands together.

Michael read it out loud. "You give me what I want. I give you what you want." He sat down on the floor next to Maria. "I don't get it."

Maria swallowed hard. "It's not from Kevin. I think it's from…" She stared down at her hands, not even able to look at Michael. How could she look at him when she was thinking what she was thinking? But what she was thinking was the only thing that made any sense.

"Michael, I think the note's from Trevor," she finally said.

"What are you talking about?" Michael flipped the note over, then flipped it back. "I don't see anything that-"

"Kevin?" Maria yelled sharply. "Kevin!" The house was empty. "Don't you get it?" Maria cried, what little self-control she had snapping. "It's a ransom note! Don't you get it? Trevor kidnapped Kevin. He's not going to give Kevin back until we hand over the Stone!"

"I think Michael's right. We shouldn't necessarily trust the consciousness, at least not blindly," Liz declared from the backseat of his car.

Thank God for Liz, Michael thought. And Adam. At least they were adding some sanity to the group. And Isabel was still doing her Switzerland impersonation-totally neutral so far. But Max, Maria, and Alex were in full-throttle Trevor-is-evil-incarnate mode.

"Can't you go any faster?" Maria cried, clearly a breath away from all-out hysteria.

Michael pressed the accelerator down a little harder. "This car isn't exactly designed for desert driving," he told her. "But we're almost to the cave."

"Kevin is going to be fine," Max said from the shotgun seat.

"Yeah," Alex agreed. "Trevor's smart enough to know that he has to keep Kevin safe or he won't have any value as a bargaining chip."

Maria let out a little moan. Alex winced. "Sorry," he told her. "I was trying to be encouraging. I forgot to give you the nonstupid translation."

"We should have taken the Jeep, too. I hate getting all squished," Isabel complained. Then she looked over her shoulder at Maria. "Sorry. I forgot to give you the non-self-centered translation."

"It's better that we only took one car," Michael said. "I don't think it's a good idea to convoy to the cave. It could get noticed."

It wasn't the real reason he'd wanted them all in one car. He didn't want anyone getting to Trevor without him. The only reason he'd even told them Trevor's whereabouts was so that Trevor could prove he was i

"I don't know why you say that we shouldn't trust the consciousness," Max said to Liz, although he said it without turning around to look at her. "I mean, just because it interferes with us kissing-"

"That's not why," Liz snapped. "Have you forgotten what the consciousness did to you, Max? It used you as a killing machine. Don't try to pretend you weren't sickened when it made you attack DuPris because I know you were."

"The consciousness also almost killed you," Isabel added. "It sucked out so much of your strength to open the wormhole that you almost died."

Is she coming around to my side? Michael wondered.

"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 a

"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.