by Kevin Ryan
"Too much traffic on this road for us to do much of anything. For now, I'll just slow down," Max said.
Max reduced his speed to fifty. Immediately cars started passing them. But not all the cars, Liz saw. The black SUV didn't pass them. It slowed down as well, falling farther back until Liz couldn't see it anymore out of her mirror.
"Can you see him, Michael?" Max asked.
"No," Michael replied.
"He might have pulled over somewhere," Liz said.
"Maybe," Max said, his voice even. Then he sped up, taking the van to sixty-five. At that speed, he passed five or six cars.
"Careful, Max," Michael said. "We can't afford to get stopped for speeding."
"Better the cops than… them," Maria said.
"It's all the same, Maria," Michael said. Then, before she could say anything else, he said, "Look, we don't
technically own this van. We don't even know where Jesse got it, but I guarantee you that it's on a list somewhere in every state. I bet the Special Unit's seen to that," Michael said.
"And even if the government doesn't know about the van and Jesse owned it legally, we can't produce a registration and we can't register the van using any of our real names," Max said.
"So even though we escaped the graduation night assassination and the aliens back in Stonewall, a simple traffic stop will put an end to this little adventure?" Maria said.
"Pretty much," Michael said.
"What do we do?" Maria asked.
"We think of something. In the meantime, Max and I have been changing the license plate number every day," Michael said.
Max reduced his speed to just a few miles an hour over the speed limit of sixty "Isabel, wait for my signal, then we'll need some camouflage," he said.
"I'm ready, Max," his sister said.
A few minutes later, the traffic cleared a bit and the van went over a hill. Even as Liz saw that there were no cars in sight on the other side, she heard Max say, "Now."
Isabel's hand reached up and touched the side of the van. There was a slight glow where her hand touched the metal and then nothing. "Blue," Isabel said simply.
Liz leaned out her open window and took a look at the side of the van. The nondescript faded gray color of the van had been replaced with a bright new blue. The van looked almost new, at least from the outside.
Max inched up the speed, putting even more distance between their van and whoever was following them. "Any sign?" he asked, scanning his own mirrors.
"No," Michael said.
"Maybe it wasn't the Special Unit. It could have been just a coincidence. A second SUV like the one from this morning," Kyle said.
Liz allowed herself to relax a notch. Maybe Kyle was right: There seemed to be no way that the Special Unit or anyone else could have tracked them… was there?
"Liz, do you see that?" Max said.
"What?" Liz said, leaning forward and scanning the road. She had twenty-twenty vision, but Max's was better thanks to the genetic engineering that had created him.
A few seconds later she saw what Max meant: It was another black, late-model SUV
"What is it?" Michael asked.
"There's a black SUV in front of us, up ahead," Max said calmly.
It didn't make any sense to Liz. "How did they get in front of us without us seeing them?"
"They didn't. It's another black SUV," Max said.
"Anywhere to turn off?" Michael asked.
"No," Max said, shaking his head.
Liz looked around. There was nothing but road and trees ahead of them. That, and some hills in the distance. "We could wait until dark to try to lose them," Max said. "We'll have a better chance at night."
"If they're willing to wait," Michael said.
"For now, they don't seem to be in a rush," Max said.
Liz couldn't believe it. This was no coincidence. Somehow,
the Special Unit had found them. Less than two weeks into their trip, less than two weeks after they had barely escaped from Roswell with their lives.
"Our friend is back, behind us," Michael said.
That's it, Liz thought. They're boxing us in.
2
"Don't worry," Max whispered to Liz. He could tell she was scared. He was, too, but he tried not to show it.
"I won't let anything happen," he said. He kept his voice firm.
Max had given up leadership over this group back in Roswell, but he had also made a promise to himself that he would keep Liz safe and do his best to make her happy. He had nearly failed back in Stonewall. He would not fail again.
Whatever happened, he would make sure that the Special Unit never got its hands on her. She looked at him and nodded. She believed that he knew what to do. She believed in him. She still believed. And he was determined not to disappoint her again.
"They're keeping their distance in the back," Michael said.
Liz saw that the other SUV was staying far ahead of them.
"They're waiting to make their move," Max said.
Liz felt a hand on her shoulder. She knew it was Maria's. She put her own hand on top of her best friend's, then turned around and smiled. Maria was scared, but holding herself together.
"Liz…," Maria began, but Liz didn't hear what her friend said next because, suddenly, she wasn't in the car anymore. She was outside. It was dark and raining heavily. In front of her was a huge house. No, not a house: a mansion. It was very old and falling apart on the outside. Then the scene shifted, and Liz was watching as Maria screamed, terrified. Then her friend was running down a long hallway.
Liz had a bad feeling as she watched Maria approach the top of the staircase. There was a balcony, and Maria was headed straight for it. Liz wanted to call out to her friend to warn her to stop, but Liz realized she wasn't there, not really. Still, Liz couldn't help screaming out, anyway. Of course, Maria didn't respond. But even if Liz had been there, Liz didn't think Maria would have heard her over her own frightened screams. In the last split second, Maria tried to stop, but all she was able to do was twist her body to the side. Then she hit the railing and her momentum carried her forward. And she was flying into space…
Then a hand was on her shoulder, shaking her.
"Hey, Parker," Maria's voice said.
Liz realized she was back in the van. No, she had always been there. The other place was just another… vision.
"What did you see, Liz?" Max asked, concern in his voice. He didn't even have to ask anymore if she had had a vision. He knew.
Taking a deep breath, Liz said, "An old house… a mansion, I think. It was dark and raining. We went inside." Liz turned to Maria. "Then I saw the inside. You were screaming, and something was chasing you."
Maria read something in Liz's face. "What else?" she asked.
Liz hesitated for just a moment before she said, "You were running down a hallway and fell off a balcony. That's all I saw."
"See, I think this is good. I think your power may finally be coming in handy," Michael said.
Maria's head shot back around, and she said, "Because saving all of your lives from the Special Unit on graduation wasn't helpful?" Michael started to respond, but Maria cut him off: "Like helping save those girls back in Stonewall… to say nothing of your own ass… wasn't helpful?"
Liz expected to witness another round in the perpetual battle of the sexes that was Michael and Maria's relationship. But, to Liz's surprise, Michael didn't reply immediately. He waited a few seconds, then he smiled.
"No, those were good too," he said. That got a chuckle out of Kyle in the back, and Liz found herself smiling as well. "What I was going to say," Michael continued, "is that we now have a specific warning that we can do something about. We'll just stay away from creepy mansions in the rain."
"What if it's fate?" Maria asked.
"Like you pointed out, Liz has helped us change our fate before," Max said.
"Personally, I'll take haunted mansions over aliens or our friends in the Special Unit," Michae
l said.
That one got laughter from Liz as well as the others. Liz couldn't believe they were laughing now, with the Special Unit boxing them in. She was just as surprised that it was Michael who was making them laugh.
Something had happened to him when they left Roswell. Maybe it had happened to all of them. Liz felt like she was more in control than she had been in years. She also felt more relaxed, even though they had already faced terrible danger on the road.
"It should be dark in just over an hour," Max said.
"Maybe we'll lose them after all," Michael added. Then, just a second later, he added, "Police car coming up behind you."
Liz saw Max check his speed. He was going the speed limit.
"He's going pretty fast, he'll probably just blow past us," Michael said.
Checking her own mirror, Liz saw the police car closing the distance behind them. In the far distance she saw the black SUV pacing them. Then the police cars lights came on. She immediately heard the siren.
The car was now directly behind them. It was crazy. They were being tailed by some of the most dangerous people in the F.B.I. and they were about to be pulled over by a local policeman in a squad car.
"Oh, Max," Isabel said.
For a second, Max considered flooring the accelerator and taking his chances on the road. But the VW van was more than three decades old and though Kyle had done a great job of repairing and upgrading it, Max had no illusions about whether it could outrun a late model police car.
And even if it could, it could never outrun the police radio. There would be a car from the next town or the state police waiting for them up ahead. Still, if there was a turnoff… even a dirt road… Max might have tried it. But this road was a long, straight stretch of nothing much.
Up until now, Max had made a point of sticking to small roads and avoiding highways and interstates. In this case, that seemed to have backfired. There wasn't even any traffic to try to get lost in.
Max didn't want to be in charge, and he had made that clear to his friends. His track record in the past had not been great, and Liz's vision of their future had confirmed his worst fears. Nevertheless, he was driving, there were flashing lights in his rearview mirror, and there was no time for a conference. Max made the only decision he could and pulled over, feeling the van shake as it hit the gravel on the side of the road.
Max was glad no one asked about his plans. It wouldn't make the others feel any better to hear he didn't have any.
"I got your back," Michael said. His tone suggested the faith he had in Max, his belief that Max would get them through this… despite all evidence to the contrary. Nevertheless, Max felt himself straighten up, buoyed by Michael's belief, no matter how misplaced that belief might be.
He rolled down the window as he watched the policeman get out of the car. There was only one of them, Max noted. And he was a sheriff, not a state policeman. Better, Max thought. Less chance of him mobilizing the whole state against us.
The sheriff, who was somewhere in his forties, had a deadly serious expression on his face. When he approached the van, Max nodded and said, "Officer." Max, fighting the urge to say anything else, waited for the sheriff to do something.
"Do you know why I stopped you?" the sheriff asked.
"No sir," Max said. "I don't think I was speeding."
The sheriff shook his head. "No, this is a safety stop. You have a broken taillight."
Max felt a rush of relief. "Thank you, I will get that fixed right away," he said.
"Good, I'll write you a summons for it, but you won't have to pay if you get it repaired in forty-eight hours," the sheriff said.
Max knew what was coming next, and his stomach tightened.
"Could I see your license and registration, please," the sheriff said.
Instinctively, Max reached for his wallet. Then he hesitated. He couldn't show the man his license. God only knew what kind of criminal lists the Special Unit had put his and his friends' names on. And he didn't have a registration for the van.
"Is there a problem?" the sheriff asked.
"I'm sorry, I don't have my wallet," Max said.
The sheriff immediately looked suspicious. He looked hard at Max and then scanned the inside of the van with his eyes. "You kids are a long way from New Mexico," he said. "What brings you to Washington?"
Max realized that it wasn't enough to change the plate number. In the future, he and Michael would have to
change the license plate from New Mexico to another state.
"Son?" the sheriff said.
"We just graduated high school and we wanted to travel the country for a few weeks."
"Kind of inconvenient that you lost your wallet, then," the sheriff said.
Looking into the sheriffs intelligent eyes, Max felt his chances of getting himself and his friends out of this slipping away.
"Step out of the car, please," the sheriff said, putting one hand on his holstered gun. Max could feel the tension in the car. Without looking back, he knew that Michael probably looked ready to explode.
Max couldn't let the sheriff run the plates. He and Michael had picked random numbers and letters. As soon as the sheriff ran them, he would see that they didn't match the van. Max opened the door and started to step out. The sheriff took a step back and said, "The rest of you stay put."
Max's brain went into overdrive, trying to come up with a way to make this turn out right for everyone without attracting any attention. He came up with a handful of options… none of them good.
As the sheriff looked him over, Max realized why he had made the mistake of thinking for a moment that this would turn out okay. The man was a sheriff and wore a uniform like the one Kyle's dad had worn. Sheriff Valenti was the first adult Max and the others had trusted with their secret. If not for Valenti, Max might still be in the White Room.
"Turn around and put your hands on the van," the sheriff said. Max immediately complied.
Then the sheriff made a clicking sound and said, "Well, look at that, I found your wallet."
Max felt his heart sink yet again as he felt the man pull the wallet out of his back pocket. They were in trouble now. Deep trouble. If Max allowed this to play out naturally, he had no doubt that he and the others would shortly find themselves in the care of the Special Unit. But he didn't know how to stop it without hurting this man who was only doing his job. He didn't have much time; the Special Unit was close by. He had to get out of here, and fast.
Watching the sheriff carefully, Max noted that the tag on his uniform shirt said Sheriff Taylor.
"Max?" Michael called out from inside the van.
"It's okay," Max said, nodding his head. It was far from okay, but Max didn't want Michael charging the sheriff.
"You quiet down in there," the sheriff said to Max's friends. Then he leaned closer to Max and said, "You all wait right here while I make a call."
Realizing he had just a few seconds to act, Max seized on something. It was more of an act of desperation than a plan. It didn't feel right exactly, but it felt like the only thing he could do. "We need your help," Max said to the sheriff before the man could walk away.
"What?" Sheriff Taylor said, suspicion in his voice.
"We're in trouble. Someone's been following us for about ten miles now," Max said. Right on cue, a black SUV came from the direction Max had been driving. Max was sure it was the Special Unit SUV that had been in front of them.
"Really?" the sheriff said. Max could hear the smile in his voice.
"I'm serious, that SUV has been following us," Max said, nodding in the direction of the car. "They are watching us now." Then Max turned around and took a look at the sheriff, who was watching the SUV pull over with the same sharp-eyed intelligence he had eyed Max.
He's smart, and a decent person, Max thought. It wasn't an intellectual analysis, and Max thought it might be because he reminded Max of Sheriff Valenti. Still, he was sure he was right. Max didn't know how this could all turn out okay f
or everybody involved, but he felt a surge of hope.
"Don't go away, son. Let me talk to your friends," Sheriff Taylor said.
Then Max saw the doors to the SUV open and two men in dark suits get out. They were in their late twenties or early thirties and had a look that was both bland and dangerous. Any doubt that Max might have had disappeared. He was absolutely certain that he was looking at two agents of the Special Unit.
Max felt the small seed of hope die inside him.
3
The agent who came out of the driver's side was dark-haired, while the one who came out of the passenger side was blond.
"Who…?" Max heard the sheriff say.
"They're dangerous," Max said.
Apparently the sheriff believed him, because his hand went immediately to his holstered gun. Max felt his heart hammering in his chest, warning him of the danger he and the others were in.
The Special Unit agents were almost directly across the road from them.
"Get back in the van, son," Sheriff Taylor said.
Surprised, Max quickly opened the driver's side door and got in. Then he watched and listened through the open window.
"Federal law enforcement," the blond agent said. The agents waited for a few seconds while a car drove past them, then they crossed the street.
Max noted that the sheriff never took his hand from the butt of his still-holstered gun.
"FBI, Special Unit. We'll take over from here," the blond agent said when he reached their side of the street. The other agent was watching Max and the van closely.
"Thank you, sir, but we local law enforcement officers usually can handle these broken taillight situations just fine," Sheriff Taylor said.
The blond officer smiled, but the expression looked more like a sneer than it did a smile. The sheriff's hand tightened its grip on his gun. For a moment, Max had the almost irrational thought that the sheriff was on their side.