The drive back was quiet. Maria asked Liz if she would cover for her so she could stay at Michael's. Liz agreed but warned her that she wasn't going to be there. After stopping by Maria's to get her stuff, they dropped Liz off. When Liz pushed open the door to the back of the cafe, she came face to face with a very angry Zack.
"It's about time."
"Bite me." Liz snapped. "Don't start with me this morning."
"Hey, I am still your Commanding Officer and I've been trying to get a hold of you."
"I know Zack. Sorry, but I was kind of busy. What happened?" Liz asked. She could tell things had not gone well.
"Wait until Ky gets here and I'll debrief you both. Neither one of you were answering your phones this morning. What were you out doing? We are leaving this morning or did you forget?"
"No, we didn't forget Zack. We know that. We do have lives here and we had to take care of a couple things." She didn't feel like explaining. "Besides we're not leaving for Seattle until nine so we still have plenty of time. I'm already packed so I'm going to go take a quick shower. Ky should be here soon." Liz said as she headed up the stairs.
Zack watched her go then reached for his phone and dialed. "Hey, it’s me. Everything's on schedule. I'm with Liz now and Ky is on the way. We'll meet you and Syl at the warehouse at 10th and Walbash at the scheduled time. A friend of Max's will meet us there." Zack shut his phone and headed for the back door. Before heading out he yelled, "I'm going out back and wait."
Neither one had noticed that they were being watched.
Part 6:
After watching Liz walk through the doors of the closed cafe, Maria put the car in reverse and started to back out when she noticed something in the back seat. She threw the car back into drive and eased the car back into its space.
"What are you doing?" Michael asked.
"Lizzie left her jacket and she'll probably need it tonight. I'm going to take it in to her. Come on."
"Why do I have to go?"
"Because I don't have my keys and you need to let me in." Michael shrugged but got out and followed Maria to the door. Once Michael undid the lock, Maria headed to the back. She stopped when she heard a strange male voice, "What were you out doing? We're leaving this morning. Or did you forget?" Maria looked over and noticed that Michael had heard it too.
Before either of them could do anything Maria heard another voice that she recognized as Liz's answer, "No, we didn't forget, Zack. We know that. We do have lives here and we had to take care of a couple things. Besides we're not leaving for Seattle until nine so we still have plenty of time. I'm already packed so I'm going to go take a quick shower. Ky should be here soon." Maria heard Liz head up the stairs to her apartment. Michael motioned to creep up to the window in the door. When they looked through they saw a twenty-something-blond guy wit blue eyes standing in the back room. He pulled out a cell phone and dialed. They could hear his end of the conversation. "Hey, it’s me. Everything's on schedule. I'm with Liz now and Ky is on the way. We'll meet you and Syl at the warehouse at 10th and Walbash at the scheduled time. A friend of Max's will meet us there." He shut the phone and headed for the door but before leaving he yelled, "I'm going out back to wait."
Neither one spoke until they heard the door close. Maria looked at Michael and asked, "What was all that about?"
"I don't know but it seems Liz is sneaking out of town and heading for Seattle. Did you recognize that guy Zack?"
"He looked kind of familiar. Maybe a customer but Liz sure seemed to know him."
Michael nodded, "She seemed very close to him especially if she is leaving town with him and someone else without even telling anyone."
"Someone named Ky."
"Do you think it could be Kyle?"
Maria shrugged, "It could be. She told me earlier that they were going camping. I should have known it was a cover story. What are we going to do?"
"I've got an idea. Give me your cell phone."
Michael dialed quickly and was glad when the other end picked up. "Iz, its Michael. Let me talk to Max." He switched ears and waited a moment before talking again, "Maxwell, something's weird going on. I'm at the Crashdown with Maria and we just overheard Liz making plans to leaving for Seattle. She was talking to some guy named Zack that neither one of us recognize. They're waiting for someone else to join them."
Maria watched as Michael listened to something Max said, "Then we should follow them." Another moment of silence and he continued, "They're not leaving until nine so you've got time. Can you grab some extra stuff for me? Okay. Meet you at the UFO Center." He ended the call and handed it back to Maria. "She gave Max the same excuse. He agreed that we need to follow her. He and Isabel are going to pack a bag and meet me at the UFO Center in fifteen minutes. I'll call you as soon as we find out anything."
At his last statement Maria realized that he meant for her to stay, "No way, spaceboy. I'm going with you. No arguing. Liz is my best friend and I want to know what going on. Besides I already got my stuff." Reminding him of the bag she packed to stay at his apartment.
Michael could see the look in her eyes and knew he wasn't going to win. "Fine, but if it's something dangerous stay behind me. Now come on. Let's go meet Max."
Part 7:
Kyle pulled up in the alley behind the Crashdown and saw Zack waiting for him. "Hey. Where's Liz?"
Zack opened the back door and motioned Kyle to follow him. "She went up to take a shower twenty minutes ago. She should be down soon. Did you bring all your stuff?"
Kyle nodded, "Yeah, I got my gear plus both of our trunks. Liz only keeps small stuff here because it's so public. Plus certain people tend to pop up into her room."
"Well certain people haven't popped into my room in quite awhile, thank you." Liz said at the top of the stairs. "Plus he wasn't the only one. I can remember a couple of times that you both have snuck up there without calling first." She made her way down the stairs and dumped her duffel and pack on the ground. "Zack, could you be a sweet brother and put it in the car?" Zack nodded and started to gather the two bags. "I'm going to pack up a cooler for the road since we don't have time to stop. Ky, will you help?"
Kyle nodded and went into the kitchen with Liz. He watched her getting sandwich fixings out of the refrigerator before asking,"Did you grab both harnesses?"
"Yes, Kyle. I'm wearing the ankle one and the thigh one is packed. Not that I really need it. I only wear that one when I'm wearing a skirt." Liz said as she rolled her eyes.
Kyle smiled and said,"I still don't know how Evans never found it. The look on his face when his hand hit a four-inch knife strapped to your thigh would have been priceless. Especially last spring during the whole orb thing you told me about."
"Well after the first close call I just wore pants. I forgot to tell you that I let it slip last night about us not sleeping together."
"Well that's a relief. Although I must admit I preferred the dirty looks he gave me over those rumors at school. I still don't know who started them."
"It was probably Tess since only the four of us knew about it. Sorry if it caused any problems."
"No, just weird. It was bad enough when we were pretending to date but when the guys started trying to get the details about sleeping with my sister; it just kind of grossed me out. Not to mention how many fights I almost got in. What all did you let slip?"
"Not much. He just asked me again if I did and I shook my head no. I'm just sick of all the secrets."
"Are you going to tell him about Future Max now? Or the truth about us?" Kyle asked. He knew it was hard on Liz to keep their secret.
"I don't know. I might just say I pretended to sleep with you to push him to Tess. It's almost the truth without braking my promise. It's bad enough that you and Maria know. As for the other stuff I don't know. I hate lying but they'll all be so mad. He doesn't even know about us being adopted."
"Well we have a long drive ahead and we can figure it out then. It depends on if you want to get back with him." Kyle cringed. He didn't like what Max had put his youngest sister through.
"I don't know. When I thought that Max and Tess were together, I couldn't take it. When I found out about all the baby stuff and them leaving, I decided to leave for good with Zack. Now that I know all the hurt I was feeling wasn't true, I don't know what to think but I am staying in Roswell at least for a little while." She shook her head to clear it and said, "But right now I'm going to concentrate on our mission. Our sister needs us."
"Don't worry we'll get her. If you have everything, we better move out."
Liz looked at the clock. "Got done right on time. I told Zack we had plenty of time." Liz picked up the cooler and headed to the back room where Zack was waiting. "Okay, let's go before." Liz trailed off when she thought she heard the front door. She set the cooler down motioned to her brothers that she thought she heard something. Zack used hand commands to order them into position. Liz went through the swinging door only to find nothing. "Nothing guys. Must just be paranoid."
They made their way back and got ready to leave. Liz looked at Zack and said, "Since I'm riding with Kyle and you have your bike, you better go ahead and debrief us."
Zack faced both of his siblings before starting, "They were holding her in a small research facility and not in the main complex. Once we got in Max and I got separated to look Tinga. Max was the one who found her."
"But something went wrong or you wouldn't be here. Was Max not able to get her out?"
Zack looked at his baby sister and thought of the best way to break it to her. "No, she didn't. Tinga's dead. Max found her body and when she wouldn't leave her she was captured. I was surrounded outside but managed to escape. It's all my fault, we should have waited." Zack shook his head.
Liz felt her world turn upside down. Even with everything that had happened that morning, she had been in a pretty good mood. Finding out about Tess mindwarping Max and the thought of being reunited with Tinga made Liz happy for the first time in weeks but now she fell right back into the depression she'd been in before. One of her sisters was dead while another was captured. Once she processed that Zack blamed himself for Tinga's death, she walked over and put a hand on his arm and said, "It's not your fault. If we waited Tinga would still be dead. As for Max, we'll get her back."
Zack snapped out of his haze and back into leader mode. "Krit and Syl are going to meet us in Seattle. We'll regroup and plan the mission. I have a friend of Max's getting the blueprints so we'll know the best way to infiltrate."
Kyle picked up the cooler and said, "Well let's go get her."
Part 8:
Max was still trying to process what he had heard as he and Michael made their way over to the jeep. When he and Isabel met up with Michael and Maria, they had quickly replayed the conversation between Liz and the guy Zack as well as the phone call Zack made. They were all confused about Zack saying that they were meeting a friend of Max's. Max didn't have any idea who they were talking about since he didn't know anyone in Seattle. They were still trying to figure everything out when they saw Kyle Valenti turning into the alley of the Crashdown in the Sheriff's SUV. Deciding Michael was right and Kyle was the Ky that Liz had mentioned, they told the girls to wait and made their way over to sneak back into the cafe. Michael undid the lock while Max quieted the bell. They moved as quietly as possible and took up the same position that Michael and Maria had used. They could hear everything and see Kyle and Zack talking but Liz was out of their range of sight. From their spot they were also able to hear the later conversation between Liz and Kyle in the kitchen. When they heard Kyle ask if Liz was ready, they got up and left. They didn't even know how close they had came to being discovered.
Michael could see that Max was as confused as him. "What do you make of all of that?"
"It seems Liz has been keeping quite a few secrets from all of us. Let's get back to the jeep and be ready. We won't have to follow too close but I want to see if they are going straight there." Max said. When they reached the jeep, he noticed the top was up and the girls waiting inside. He opened the door and climbed in after Michael hopped in the back with Maria.
Isabel looked at Max's confused face and said, "I thought if we were going to follow them, it might be harder for them to recognize us if we had the top up."
"Good idea. We're still following them. Something weird is going on." Before he could say more he saw the SUV pull out of the alley as well as a black motorcycle. After allowing a safe distance he pulled out to follow. Maria finally broke the silence when they reached the highway.
"Okay, you guys look like someone pulled the rug out from under you. Didn't you find out anymore when you went back?"
Max caught Michael's eyes in the rearview mirror before Michael answered her. "More like got more questions. We heard a lot of things that don't make much sense. Maria, did you know that Liz was adopted?"
Maria's eyes went wide as she screeched, "WHAT?!"
Max flinched at her volume. "I guess that answers that question. We heard Liz say that her and Kyle were both adopted. They're siblings and Zack is their brother."
"NO WAY, Max. I've known her since she was young and she never said anything."
"How and when did you two meet?" Michael asked.
"Um, we met when we were eight. It was early in the summer before third grade. The Parkers had just moved back here and were just about to open the Crashdown and I went with Mom to sell them supplies. They wanted some alien stuff for the grand opening. She was sitting on one of the stools being very quiet. I had to talk to her for like ten minutes before she would say anything. I took me another month to get her to really open up."
Max thought about what Maria said for a minute, "That was probably around the same time she came to live with the Parkers. Jim probably took in Kyle at the same time."
"So Liz is sneaking off to Seattle with her brothers that no one knew she had. Why now?" Isabel asked.
"From what they said, they have a sister who is in some kind of trouble and they went to get her."
Maria looked at Michael and Max before asking, "But why not ask for help from you guys? I mean you’re more prepared to do something."
Michael chuckled before saying, "From what we heard Liz isn't exactly defenseless."
Before Maria could ask what he meant, Isabel spoke up, "Wait a minute. If they're brother and sister, why did they used to date?"
"They didn't." Max answered. "We heard them talking about it being all fake. I don't know why." Thinking back on what he had heard, he remembered something else. "Maria, I wanted to ask you something about something else Liz said."
Having an idea what he was talking about, but not ready to give up yet Maria feigned innocence. "What Max?"
"Future Max."
Maria sat for a minute trying to decide what to do. She had promised not to tell Max but he already knew a little.
Seeing that his girlfriend was trying to figure out what to do Michael said, "Maria, if it has something to do with us we need to know."
Maria swallowed the lump in her throat and silently prayed that Liz would forgive her. "Liz faked sleeping with Kyle so she could push Max to Tess. But she had good reason, she was trying to save all of us. It all started back in October when Liz got a visitor." Maria then proceeded to tell the whole story about Future Max's visit to Liz and all the things they had done. "It seems all the heartache she has gone through since was for nothing now that we know the bleach blonde bimbo was a traitor and left."
The other three sat there in stunned silence. All Max could think about was how much Liz had done for him just because she loved him. She had given up a lifetime of happiness and love just because he asked her to. He didn't know how but he was determined to make it up to her.
"We owe her so much and I've been so nasty to her. We have to let her know how much we appreciate what she did." Isabel stated.
Michael stopped her before she could go on, "Before we do that we need to figure out what she's hiding. She knows our secret and we have a right to know hers."
"Whatever her secret is, I have this feeling it involved in whatever she going to Seattle for and I think it's dangerous. I want to make sure she's safe and get some answers." And with that the subject was dropped and they sat back for the drive ahead.
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