The Cheater

  “Okay,” she said. “It’s a deal.”

  Mr. Corelli gave her the money. She stuffed it into the paper bag and left.

  She took the rest of the jewelry to the other antique shops on the block, but nobody wanted to buy the things Corelli had rejected.

  Carter was near tears. What could she do? It was already five o’clock. She had no idea where she could scrape up eight hundred dollars on such short notice.

  What would Adam do when she offered him only two hundred? Would he take it? Or would he be insulted, or angry that she couldn’t give him all he’d asked for?

  She didn’t know how he’d react and was shaking with fear and fury as she made her way through the narrow streets of the Old Village to Adam’s house. Easing the car down Fear Street, she pulled up at the curb. Then she climbed out of the car, clutching her paper bag. She took a deep breath and walked up to Adam’s front door.

  It was dark by the time she turned onto her street. After leaving Adam’s house, she had driven around in a daze, not seeing where she was going, and not caring.

  One thought floated through her mind as she drove: Is the nightmare over now? Could it really be over?

  Pulling into her drive, she saw that her parents were still out.

  But someone was there, leaning against the front door.

  Carter’s heart pounded. She climbed out of the car and walked up to the front door. “Dan!” she cried.

  “Where have you been?” he demanded.

  She didn’t answer him, avoided his eyes, and wondered why he’d come back. She opened the front door and went into the house. Dan followed her in.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Did you see Adam?”

  She didn’t want to tell him. She tried to come up with another lie, something he’d believe.

  She didn’t get a chance. The doorbell rang.

  With a cry of surprise, Carter went to answer it, Dan behind her.

  She opened the door to two grim-faced police officers.

  “Are you Carter Phillips?” asked one.

  Carter stared at them, her mouth open. She nodded.

  “We’d like to ask you a few questions.”

  “What about, Officer?” asked Dan.

  The other police officer cleared his throat. “Someone shot Adam Messner,” he said. “He’s dead.”

  Chapter 15

  Carter froze. The police officers strode into the house, shutting the door behind them.

  “Can we talk in there?” asked one, indicating the study. “We just have a few questions.”

  “Of course,” said Dan. He led Carter into the room. The two officers followed. They all sat down.

  Carter was glad Dan was there, handling this for her. He was so calm and collected. If only she could be that way. But she couldn’t. She shook as she waited to hear what the officers had to say.

  “Miss Phillips,” said the first man, “this won’t take long. Did you know Adam Messner?” He flipped open a notepad and sat with a pen poised above it, waiting for Carter’s answer.

  Carter nodded. “He went to Shadyside High. He was in my math class,”

  The other officer said, “Did you see Adam today, Miss Phillips?”

  “No,” Carter lied. Her mind was racing from thought to thought. “I know Adam, but we’re not friends. I don’t see him outside of school.”

  “One of his neighbors said she saw your car parked outside his house this afternoon,” said the officer.

  “No, she must have been mistaken,” said Carter, shaking her head. “I haven’t seen Adam today. In fact, Dan and I have been here all day, studying. Right, Dan?”

  Dan looked at her, startled at first, and then suspicious. Then he backed up her story.

  “That’s right,” he told the man. “We’ve been here all day.”

  “And where are your parents, Miss Phillips?”

  “They’re out of town at a wedding. They won’t be back until late.”

  The officers glanced at each other, then stood up. The first one snapped his notepad shut.

  “All right,” he said. “Thank you, Miss Phillips. I hope we haven’t upset you. We may have to come back later to ask more questions. But that’ll do for now.”

  Carter showed them out. She shut the door after them, leaning against it with a sigh.

  “You did go to Adam’s house today, didn’t you,” said Dan, following her into the hall. “Why did you lie about it?”

  Carter hesitated.

  “I didn’t want the police to get involved with my troubles with Adam,” she replied finally. “They might have found out why he was blackmailing me! But I didn’t kill him, Dan, I swear it!”

  Dan just stared at her.

  Carter thought, I’ve never seen Dan like this before. So cold. What does it mean?

  She strode up to him and grabbed his shoulders, pleading with him. “I didn’t do it, Dan! You’ve got to believe me!”

  But she could see that he didn’t believe her. And Carter couldn’t blame him.

  After all, why should he believe anything she said? Lately, she’d done nothing but cheat and tell lies.

  “I’m going home, Carter,” Dan said, his voice strangely distant.

  “Dan,” she said, “will you call me later? I’ll be here all alone for a couple more hours. I-I’m kind of scared.”

  He stared at her without smiling. “Sure, Carter. I’ll call you later. Don’t be frightened.” But his words lacked any warmth.

  He walked out without kissing her goodbye.

  Alone in the house, there was nothing for her to do but pace from room to room. She walked upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs, thinking wild, frantic thoughts, her mind racing through the events of the past couple weeks.

  As she paced, squeezing her hands into tight fists at her sides, one thought kept popping into her mind. She tried to push it out, but it wouldn’t go away.

  Adam is gone, she thought.

  He’s finally out of my life—forever.

  My problems are solved.

  Carter felt a brief moment of relief. But she couldn’t enjoy it for long.

  Because another thought intruded. Adam was dead, and the police knew there was a connection between them.

  “What’s happened to me?” she wailed out loud to the empty rooms. “I used to have a perfect life. How did it get so messed up?”

  For an hour she paced the house this way. Finally the ringing of the telephone broke through her tortured thoughts.

  It’s Dan, she thought happily. It’s Dan, calling to tell me he’s sorry he doubted me, to make sure I’m all right….

  She answered the phone. “Dan?”

  Another voice whispered, “Carter. I know what you did.”

  Chapter 16

  “Who is this?”

  Carter gripped the receiver with both hands. “Who is this?”

  She heard a click, then dead air and a series of clicks. Finally a dial tone buzzed in her ear.

  Carter dropped the phone with shaking hands. She was terrified.

  Who could that have been? There was only one person she could think of—Sheila.

  Carter started to pace again. What does Sheila know? she wondered, shuddering. Did Adam tell her anything—or everything?

  Carter felt the panic rise within her. Sheila had been watching her, snooping around, hassling her since the day of the test. Was there something Sheila found out on her own?

  Just then her parents’ Mercedes pulled into the driveway. She ran upstairs and climbed quickly into bed. She couldn’t face them now. Her father would be sure to see the guilt….

  A few minutes later Judge Phillips came into her room to check on her. Carter pretended to be asleep.

  She spent Sunday in her room, telling her parents she wasn’t feeling well. She had hardly slept the night before and couldn’t sleep that day. She spent the day walking, pacing back and forth in her room, as if it were a prison cell.

  She was exhausted when she got up f
or school on Monday morning. But she dragged herself out of bed and made herself go.

  The best thing to do, she had decided, was to go on with her life as usual. Pretend there was nothing bothering her. Pretend everything was normal.

  As soon as she got to school she realized how futile that was.

  It was obvious that everyone in Shadyside had heard about Adam’s murder. Carter stepped into the school building, smiling at her friends and saying hello to people, but that didn’t last long.

  No one smiled back at her. Her friends turned away—and the others just stared.

  People stopped talking as she neared them. After she passed them, she heard whispering. She caught only a few of their words, but those few were enough:

  “Police.”

  “Adam.”

  “Murdered.”

  Carter started walking faster down the hall, trying not to look into anyone’s face.

  Then she saw Jill. Her best friend. Carter ran up to her. But when Jill saw her coming, she became frightened and backed up a few steps. Then she turned and started to run.

  Carter called after her. “Jill! Wait!”

  Jill kept running. Carter started to chase her, then stopped.

  She couldn’t blame Jill for being scared of her, after all Carter had put her through. But they were best friends….

  She seemed to have become a freak, overnight. No one was on her side, not even Jill. She had no one—no one but Dan.

  She had to find Dan. She had to find someone who believed in her. Someone who would help her.

  He’d be upstairs, hanging out by his locker. She ran up the steps and down the hall. She saw him. He was alone.

  She ran to him. “Dan!” she called.

  He turned to her. One glance at his face stopped her cold.

  He didn’t smile. His eyes were ringed with dark circles. “Hi, Carter,” he murmured softly.

  He shifted his weight. He seemed uncomfortable with her.

  Carter tried to ignore his coolness. She was desperate for someone to talk to. “Dan,” she said. “Why didn’t you call me yesterday?”

  He avoided her eyes. “I couldn’t, Carter. I’m sorry.”

  Carter couldn’t believe it. He’s suspicious of me too, she thought. He’s nervous around me, just like everybody else!

  Dan was her last hope, and she grabbed him by the arm. “Please,” she uttered in an urgent whisper, “not you too!”

  She tugged at his arm, trying to get him to look her in the eye.

  But he lowered his gaze to the floor. “I don’t know what to say, Carter.”

  How can this be happening? Carter thought.

  Dan is against me too.

  Chapter 17

  Carter made it through the rest of the day. She had no idea how. When she walked away from Dan, she just shut herself off. Turned her thoughts inward, away from everyone else. She avoided their eyes, didn’t listen to their gossip.

  She moved through the day like a zombie.

  After a couple of days the kids at school stopped staring at her so much. No one talked to her, but at least they sat next to her in class now.

  At home she jumped every time the phone rang, thinking it would be another threat. But the calls were never for her. Jill didn’t call, and Dan didn’t call. Sheila didn’t call, either.

  Maybe everything will be okay now, Carter thought. Slowly, my life will get back to normal. The kids will forget about Adam. Dan will relax and come back to me.

  Maybe, Carter thought, the worst is over.

  * * *

  Then one evening Mrs. Phillips dragged the judge out to a charity benefit. Dressed in a sequined, silver evening gown, she came downstairs to the living room, where Carter was watching TV. Diamond earrings dangled almost onto her shoulders.

  “Will you be all right tonight, Carter?” Mrs. Phillips asked her daughter.

  Carter didn’t take her eyes from the television set. “I’ll be fine.”

  Mrs. Phillips sighed and cast a glance up the staircase. “What is taking your father so long?” she murmured. Then she shouted up the stairs. “John! We’re going to be late!”

  A few minutes later Judge Phillips appeared, adjusting the bow tie to his tuxedo.

  “Why do we always have to be the first to arrive at these functions?” he grumbled.

  “We have no choice, dear,” his wife replied. “I’m the chairperson. I’ve got to be there first to greet all the guests.”

  “Next time you can go without me,” said the judge.

  “Oh, John …”

  The judge paused in the doorway of the living room to say goodbye to Carter.

  “We won’t be late,” he told her. “No matter what your mother says, I’ll make sure we’re back at a decent hour. I’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow.”

  “Okay, Daddy,” said Carter.

  “Are you going to be all right here, all alone?” he asked.

  “I already asked her that, dear,” said Mrs. Phillips. “She says she’ll be fine. Now let’s go.”

  “Maybe you could ask Jill to come over and keep you company for a while,” the judge suggested. “And remember, don’t open the door to anyone.”

  Carter said nothing. She couldn’t ask Jill, or Dan, or anyone else to come over and keep her company. They wouldn’t do it.

  “She can take care of herself, John,” said Carter’s mother. “Good night, dear. Don’t stay up too late.”

  “’Bye,” said Carter.

  She breathed a sigh of relief when the door finally closed behind them. Lately, she felt completely comfortable only when she was alone.

  She microwaved a frozen pizza and sat in front of the TV to eat it. She had never watched as much TV as she had the last few days. There was nothing else to do.

  After a couple hours Carter started to feel bored and sleepy. But it was only a little after nine. Too early to go to bed. She settled into the couch and clicked the remote control to see if she could find something better to watch.

  Suddenly the television went off, and the lights flickered out.

  “Hey—what’s going on?” Carter wondered out loud.

  She was sitting in complete darkness.

  Carter sat up, alert. She thought she heard a noise.

  Bump.

  What was that?

  Her heart jumped.

  She listened again.

  Another bump, followed by a scraping sound.

  Someone was walking around in the house!

  In the basement.

  Call for help, she thought, panic rising in her throat.

  She got off the couch and made her way into the kitchen.

  Her hand hit the phone and knocked it off the hook.

  She grabbed the wire and pulled the receiver up from the floor. Then she raised it to her ear.

  The line was dead.

  Frantically, she pushed the buttons.

  Silence.

  Dead.

  She dropped the receiver when she heard a creak on the basement stairs. A footstep. Another. Coming up the stairs.

  Terrified, Carter backed into the hall leading back to the living room. The footsteps slowly continued up the stairs.

  Carter bumped into a small table. It fell over with a clatter. With a cry of panic, she kicked it aside and kept backing up.

  The basement door opened.

  “Who’s there?” Carter whispered.

  Now she heard someone walking toward her. Down the hall. Closer. Closer.

  “Who’s there?” she called out in a trembly voice she didn’t recognize.

  No answer. Just footsteps moving in on her, closer, closer.

  Carter’s back hit a wall. She stopped, pressing against the wall as if she could break through it.

  The footsteps moved closer.

  Now someone spoke.

  “Careful—or you’ll break Daddy’s heart.”

  Chapter 18

  Adam?

  No! No way. Adam was dead. But who else cou
ld it be?

  “Adam?” she called.

  No response. Another footstep. Another.

  She struggled to see through the darkness of the windowless hall.

  Adam? No. No. It couldn’t be. Was it Sheila? Carter slid along the wall until she came to the door to the study. She backed inside.

  The footsteps moved closer. The intruder was at the study door. She could make out a ski mask.

  I’m trapped, Carter thought, trembling. I’m trapped. I’m—dead!

  Her knees started to buckle as she backed up against her father’s desk.

  Then she remembered. The gun.

  She stumbled around the desk as the footsteps moved into the room.

  The intruder was almost upon her.

  She felt for the top drawer and yanked it open.

  With trembling hands she felt around for the gun. Where was it?

  It was gone.

  Chapter 19

  The intruder leaped at her.

  Carter fell back, and the stalker lurched forward with a low grunt and pinned her against the wall.

  She tried to scream, but he grabbed her by the throat, clamping his other hand over her mouth.

  Carter knew this wasn’t Sheila. He was too big, too strong.

  It was a man.

  A man with huge hands.

  As she frantically struggled to free herself, he gripped her neck with both hands and squeezed her throat.

  Carter gasped. All that came out was a squeak. I—I can’t breathe, she realized.

  She choked.

  “You were a lucky girl,” the man said in a low voice. “I tried to run you off the road, but you slipped away. Not this time. This time the message will get through….”

  He gripped her throat even harder.

  Her lungs ached for air.

  Stars began to dance before her eyes. He was choking her to death.

  The stars grew brighter, brighter, until she couldn’t see.

  Then Carter was swallowed up by a blinding white light.

  A faint wailing sound cut through the silence.