Loose ends

23.

Yeah, Mom, we're having a little car trouble, so we might be getting home a bit later than planned." Max held the cell phone to his ear. "No, nothing serious. Thanks for the offer, but you don't have to send Dad down to pick us up. Don't worry, we'll definitely be back in time for school tomorrow."I hope, Max thought/Until they found Liz, nothing else mattered, but he could hardly tell his foster parents that. They didn't know anything about his alien origins, let alone the dangers he and Isabel often faced because of those origins. Max saw the miserable look on his sister's face as he wrapped up the call home; he knew she hated lying to their mom and dad.

Isabel and the others kept their voices down until he hung up the phone. They were all seated around a circular table at a roadside pizza parlor on the outskirts of Carlsbad. An obvious tourist trap, Caverns of Cheese was decorated with a subterranean motif, complete with sparkly, aluminum foil stalactites, plus rubber bats hanging on strings from the ceiling. Sort of the Carlsbad Caverns version of the Crashdown Cafe, in other words.

Max was in no mood to appreciate the campy decor. "Well, that's taken care of," he announced glumly, "but that doesn't get us any closer to rinding Liz." He blamed himself for Liz's abduction; it had been his plan, after all, that had gone so badly astray. "I can't believe everything fell apart like that."Yeah," Maria agreed. A whiff of rosemary oil mingled with the aroma of the pizza between them. "I don't get it. Why did Morton unplug the phone in his motel room?"Sitting next to Maria, melted cheese dripping from the pizza slice in his hand, Michael offered a possible explanation. "When I talked to Morton on the phone, he got all freaked-out and paranoid about the line not being secure. Guess he was worried about wiretaps or something. He must have unplugged the phone to keep me from calling that number again."That makes too much sense, Max thought. Not that it really mattered anymore; Liz was still missing and they had no idea where Morton had taken her, or if she was even alive. No! She can't be dead, he thought passionately. I'd feel it if she wasn't still out there somewhere! Alex wandered back to the table, cell phone in hand, having briefly stepped outside to make an important call in a slightly more private environment. "Okay, I finally got hold of Valenti," he told his friends, lowering his voice so it wouldn't carry to any of the other tables. "There's an all-points bulletin out for the unnamed suspect who shot up the Denny's, but the local police haven't caught up with him yet. The worst part is that they found Morton's Chevy abandoned on a back road near the northern end of the park. They also found the body of Morton's partner, who turns out to be a Dr. Wilson Okada of Las Cruces University, lying in a ditch next to the road."Maria gasped, shocked by this confirmation of Morton's murderous nature. Isabel looked noticeably less surprised, having already witnessed firsthand the gunman's brutal execution of his previous partner.

"The only silver lining is," Alex continued, "they haven't found Liz's body. In fact, the cops aren't even aware yet that any girl has been abducted; I'm not sure if that last part's a good thing or not." He sat down at the table next to Isabel and helped himself to a slice of pizza. "There's not much Valenti can do right now, but he's going to keep his ears open. He'll let us know if the local cops turn up anything new."Thanks," Max said sincerely, appreciating Alex's efforts even if the news was less than encouraging. If the State Patrol can't find Morton or Liz, what chance do we have? As if on cue, a bell rang as the front door swung open and two uniformed police officers strolled into the pizza place. A hush fell over the table as the five teenagers looked at each other nervously. None of them was looking forward to being interrogated regarding the events at the Denny's and Motel 6. How did they find us? Max worried, trying to look relaxed and unconcerned by the cops' presence. Our cars and license plates look completely different.

So did Michael and Isabel, whose fake air force uniforms had been transmuted back into ordinary street clothes during the chase through the desert.

He forced himself to munch casually on a piece of pizza, like any other hungry teenage boy, all the while watching the police officers out of the corner of his eye. At the same time he took a rapid inventory of the parlors available exits, just in case they needed to make a break for it. His free hand wrapped around the car keys in his pocket, making sure he could get to them right away.

Despite all his hasty preparations, however, the two policemen simply marched up to the counter and ordered a couple of slices to go, paying no attention whatsoever to the tense teenagers. False alarm, Max realized, trying not to let his massive relief show. He saw the same realization dawning in the eyes of his partners in crime, but everyone around the table remained a bit on edge until the uniformed duo left Caverns of Cheese with their hot slices.

"Whew!" Maria exclaimed, speaking for all of them. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I was definitely feeling like America's Most Wanted there."Tell me about it!" Alex agreed readily. "I was already reviewing my Miranda rights, with special emphasis on the right to remain silent."Michael and Isabel were markedly less vocal about whatever trepidations they might have just experienced, as was Max. Perhaps that's because, he speculated, we've lived like fugitives every day ofour lives.

His own sense of relief was short-lived, driven out by his persistent fear and guilt regarding Liz. "I should have killed Morton when I had the chance," he accused himself pitilessly. His mind kept replaying that moment in room #19, when he'd hesitated before striking out at Morton with his powers. "I should have blasted him to ashes."Don't say that, Max," Michael said, giving his best friend and leader a worried look from across the table. "That's not like you. That's not who you are."Anger flared inside Max, tempting him to lash out at his friend. If Michael hadn't planted all those doubts in my mind, he thought bitterly, maybe I wouldn't have hesitated when it mattered most! He swallowed the surging resentment, though, refusing to blame Michael or anyone else for his own fatal error. "It's all my fault," he insisted. "If I had struck first, if there had been no second thoughts, Liz might be safe now!"Maybe so," Michael conceded, "but it's not that simple." He fixed his friend and leader with a probing look. "What's worse, Maxwell, thinking twice before killing someone, or doing it without thinking?"Max didn't have a ready answer.

Isabel broke the silence around the table. "We still have one more lead," she reminded them, fishing around in her handbag until she retrieved a crumpled slip of paper. "Lieutenant Ramirez's phone number."Max's eyes lit up. "What are you thinking, Iz?"Maybe if I call Ramirez, I can convince him to help us," she suggested. "We know there's no love lost between him and Morton. Maybe if he knows that an innocent girl's life is in danger, he'll do the right thing."It's a long shot, she thought, but they were running out of options. The trick will be not telling Ramirez any more than he absolutely needs to know.

Max nodded, considering Isabel's proposal from every angle. He looked more hopeful than he had before, something that made Isabel herself feel more confident. "It could work," he decided. "Judging from what Michael and I saw in Slaughter Canyon, we know that he's an unwilling partner in this whole enterprise. Morton is blackmailing him." He handed the cell phone to his sister. "Let's hope that, no matter what Morton has on him, Ramirez draws the line at kidnapping."She accepted the phone, then took a deep breath, working up her nerve. Her slender fingers hovered about the push-button dial.

"You go, girl!" Maria cheered her on. "If this works, I will never mock your Pod-given talent for flirtation again, I promise!"Like I really care," Isabel shot back tartly, the brief exchange of repartee providing a boost to her confidence. She dialed Ramirez's number and tossed her hair back before lifting the phone to her ear. "Watch and learn."The lieutenant picked up on the second ring. "Hello?" he answered, and Isabel thought his voice sounded more strained than it had at the Caverns. Bet he had a sleepless night, she guessed, especially after Max and Michael crashed his midnight rendezvous with Morton. "Who is this?" he asked worriedly.

"Hi, David!" she said cheerily, not wanting to lower the boom right away. "This is Isabel." It took her a second to recall what alias she had used before. "Isabel DeLuca. From the Bottomless Pit, remember?"Maria shot daggers at Isabel, but the name rang a bell with Ramirez. "Oh yeah, right." A bit of enthusiasm crept into his voice, but he still sounded worn-out and distracted. "Thanks for calling, doll, but, umm, now is not really good for me. Maybe some other time…"Isabel spoke quickly, before he could even think of hanging up. "That's what I'm calling about, David." Her fingers nervously shredded a paper napkin as she trapped the phone between her head and shoulder. "I'm afraid I wasn't entirely honest with you yesterday." She winced and chewed on her lip. "You see, I know all about your… arrangement…with Joe Morton."Dead silence greeted her unexpected declaration. "David? Are you still there?" At first, she thought maybe he had dropped the phone and run away, but then she realized she could still hear breathing coming over the line. Fast, erratic breathing, like someone in a state of shock. "David? Talk to me."Who are you?" he whispered hoarsely, in a broken, wretched parody of the deep, masculine voice he had used with her in the caverns. He didn't even sound like the same person anymore. Instead of a cocky air force test pilot, confident in his appeal, Ramirez now sounded like a man whose nerves had been stretched to the breaking point, if not beyond. "For God's sake, who are you really?"Isabel felt like the straw that broke a once-proud soldier's back. "That's not important now," she told him bluntly. She would have time enough to feel bad for Ramirez later. "What you need to know is that Morton has kidnapped a friend of mine, an innocent young woman, and we believe her life is in danger."A woman?" Ramirez couldn't believe his ears. "What are you talking about? I spoke with Morton five minutes ago, and he didn't say anything about a woman!"Isabel's breath caught in her throat. Ramirez was in touch with Morton, and maybe even knew where the gun- man was right now. "Listen to me, David," she said urgently. "You have to believe me. Morton abducted our friend at gunpoint only a few hours ago. If you know where he is, you have to tell us."But the distraught lieutenant sounded more obsessed with his own swiftly unraveling future than with Liz's safety. "I don't understand," he pleaded. "Who are you? How do you know all this? Who told you?" His voice went from a whisper to a tortured wail. "Are you FBI? CIA? Majestic?" He grew more panicked by the moment, until she could practically see the blood draining from his face. "Oh, good Lord, you're with the Special Unit!"Hardly, Isabel thought. "I'm not out to get you, David. That's not what this is about. We just want to save our friend."We?" Ramirez echoed. "Who is 'we'?" He started shouting into the phone, so loudly that Isabel had to pull the receiver farther away from her ear. "Leave me alone, why don't you? For God's sake, leave me alone!"He hung up abruptly. "David?" Isabel asked, but he was already gone. She redialed hastily, only to listen to the phone ring repeatedly, going unanswered. Don't do this, David, she thought despairingly. Talk to me.

But the futile ringing went on and on. Isabel finally gave up and put the phone down. "It's no good," she informed the others, all of whom had been hanging on her side of the dialogue with Ramirez. "I think he knows where Morton is, but he won't pick up the phone anymore." She looked at Max apologetically. "I think I scared him off."You did your best," Max assured her. "He's trafficking in top secret materials, remember. At this point, the slightest hint of exposure probably causes him to wig out." He regarded Isabel thoughtfully, and she recognized the pensive expression on her brothers face; he was thinking strategically, like a general. Or a king.

"There may be another way," he stated after a few minutes. "Isabel, I know this is asking a lot of you, but do you think maybe you can contact the lieutenant more directly, mind to mind?"I don't know, Max," she said, shaking her head dubiously. She wanted to help, but… "You know that I usually can't enter anyone's thoughts unless they're sleeping, and Ramirez didn't sound like he was planning to take a nap anytime soon. In fact, he sounded like he hasn't been sleeping much at all."And who could blame him? she thought. She wouldn't want to have her life and liberty in the hands of a hot-tempered sociopath like Joe Morton. Should I have told Ramirez about Okada's murder, she wondered, or would that have just panicked him more? "I understand," Max said, entreating her with his eyes. Even if she didn't entirely approve of their risky relationship, Isabel knew how much Liz Parker meant to him. "I'm not asking for any guarantees-I realize the odds are against this working-but please, Iz, for Liz's sake, try."Feeling the weight of her brothers hopes and fears settling heavily upon her unsteady shoulders, Isabel picked up the scrap of paper bearing the lieutenant's phone number. Generally, she preferred to have an actual photo to focus upon, but perhaps she could use this improvised 237 RDSWELL calling card, personally inscribed by Ramirez to her, as a stepping-stone to his unconscious mind? "No promises," she reminded everyone, as she held the scribbled phone number before her eyes. Paging David Ramirez, she thought.

Ready or not, here 1 come.