Page 53 of Rebel

Noah pressed his lips tight together and shook his head. The answer was there ready to burst out. He did his best to put up a solid fight.

When I continued to repeat the question, he finally blurted, “River. It was River’s idea.”

I nodded, having suspected as much. “How did you get him to go with you? I assume he left the party willingly.”

“He said the molly you gave him was total shit. We said we could hook him up with something better. He didn’t think twice about leaving with us. It couldn’t have been easier.” Noah’s answers flowed freely now that he was talking.

Behind me, I heard Storm muffle a small cry. Noah’s confession couldn’t have been easy for her to hear.

“And then what happened?” I continued to press him for more details.

“Then we took him out of town. River handled most of it. He said it was personal. He killed Chase by slashing his throat.” Noah spoke almost robotically, eyes glazed over. He seemed to stare off beyond me at nothing.

Even though I didn’t want to hurt Storm by forcing her to hear this, I needed to ask one final question. “What about the organ removal?”

Noah’s gaze swung back to me. He frowned and squinted, seemingly confused. “Oh, that was River too. He knew it would look like you guys had done it. He wanted you to take the fall.”

I took a step back, having gotten everything I needed. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I thought. Thanks for telling me everything we needed to hear. I’m sure River isn’t going to be too thrilled to hear about this though.”

Casper nudged my arm to get my attention. His fingers flew too quickly as he signed. Both Stray and I stared at him like the idiots we were right then.

Letting out an annoyed huff of air, Casper pulled out his phone and quickly typed, “Should we videotape his confession? It might be worth having, especially if the cops come looking for us. I’m not doing prison time for these Venom fucks.”

He made a good point. However, River was the one who’d done the dirty work. A confession from Noah would no doubt be helpful, but it wasn’t really what we needed.

“We’ll get what we need from River himself. None of us will be seeing the inside of a prison cell.” Nodding to where Noah slumped awkwardly on the pew, I said, “Rough him up a little. Nothing too serious. Then we’re out of here.”

I moved to join Storm near the door, letting Casper and Stray take over. They took turns throwing punches, doing enough damage to show that we meant business. Sending Noah home with a shiner or two would serve as a constant reminder that we were coming for Venom.

“Are you all right, pet? I’m sorry you had to hear that.” I gently pushed the hair back from her face, studying her crestfallen expression. I wasn’t sure I would ever get used to caring this much about someone.

She nodded, her lower lip quivering as she tried to hold back tears. “I’ll be okay. I already knew what they did. Hearing him say it so casually is what hurts the most. Chase was nothing to them. It’s like they didn’t even see him as a person. How can someone be so…?”

She trailed off, like she didn’t have the words to finish. Wrapping her in my arms, I rested my cheek against her head, breathing in the fresh scent of her shampoo. She held tight to me, making me feel more needed than I had ever felt.

“They’ll all be sorry,” I promised. “I swear to you, Storm, River won’t get away with this.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

STORM

Helping my mom plan my brother’s funeral was high on my list of things I never thought I would have to do. I took a day off school to help her pick out a casket and decide what to dress him in for the service. Trying to be there for her was draining me dry.

As hard as this was for me, it was so much harder for my mom. I would never abandon her in such a time of need. I hadn’t been able to bring myself to go and view his body. When Mom got back, she’d completely fallen apart. Now we were making plans for one of the worst days of our lives.

“I’m not sure about the black suit,” she said, pointing at a picture on her iPad. “Maybe gray would be better. More neutral and less somber. Chase wouldn’t want us to be all dark and gloomy.”

We’d gone back-and-forth on the suit color for at least twenty minutes. Stifling a yawn, I nodded. “I’m sure he’d be fine with anything you choose, Mom. It’s your call. I’m good with whatever you think is best.”

She scrolled through a few more photos before pointing at another. “What about blue? Would that be too colorful? Does that seem inappropriate?”

I got up from the kitchen table, clearing away the dishes that had gathered in front of us. I’d lost count of how much coffee we’d drank during the last few hours. “All that matters is that you’re happy with your choices.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I wish this wasn’t so hard. I wish I didn’t have to do this at all. God, I’m so tired, and I don’t think I have a single tear left.” Mom ran a hand through her disheveled hair and sighed. Jabbing a finger at the iPad screen, she said, “Screw it. We’ll go with the gray.”

I needed a break. It was almost suppertime, and I would no doubt have to cook something, otherwise Mom wouldn’t eat. She hadn’t been doing the greatest job at taking care of herself lately, which was totally understandable. Poor Larry had been working double time between his job and being there for Mom. I had to give the guy credit, he was doing his best to be what she needed right now.

“I’m going to take a walk. I need to get some air and decompress a little. When I get back, I’ll take care of dinner. You should probably take a few minutes for yourself as well.” I grabbed my phone off the table and went in search of my earbuds, which I found on the coffee table in the living room.

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