The Outsider

He doesn't know that Max is the one who healed Liz, Isabel reminded herself. And if he doesn't know about Max, he doesn't know about me. Nothing bad has happened. Valenti doesn't know anything.

But she didn't quite believe it. She'd always had the feeling that Valenti was moving closer and closer to finding out the truth, to finding her. When she was a little girl, she used to dream about him every night. Except in the dream he was a wolf, a wolf and Sheriff Valenti at the same time. In the dream he was always hunting her, sniffing and growling, and getting closer and closer to her hiding place.

Isabel sat down and leaned against the cool limestone wall. Maybe she could move in here. The cave was about three times as big as her bedroom. A portable CD player, a few pillows, her makeup drawer-it wouldn't be so bad. She gave a choked laugh. Stacey would love that. Isabel Evans living in a cave.

She wasn't going to let Valenti do that to her. She wasn't going to hide from him for the rest of her life-just for tonight. Isabel wished she could close her eyes and go to sleep for hours, the way humans did. She just wanted to blank out for a while. But she couldn't. It wasn't time for her to sleep yet, and her body simply wouldn't shut down until the right time.

Isabel sighed, then she reached over and pulled the treasure chest from the hollowed-out spot in the wall. It had been a long time since she'd looked at the objects she and Max and Michael had found in the desert. Maybe they would help keep her mind off Valenti.

She opened the lid of the battered wooden chest and pulled out the little square of plasticlike material. She ran her fingers over the purple markings. She'd spent hours trying to decode them. She'd never told Max and Michael, but she'd secretly hoped they were a message from her mother.

Isabel didn't think much about her real mother anymore, or at least she tried not to. A few years ago she had rented the Roswell Incident alien autopsy tape. She had only been able to watch a few minutes. The sight of the small body lying on the metal tables sickened her-even before the doctors made the first incision.

Max and Michael kept telling her the whole tape could be a fake. They didn't know what their real parents looked like. They weren't even sure what they looked like themselves. Maybe their human bodies were just a kind of practical adaptation to living on earth. Maybe on their own planet they would look completely different.

It didn't matter to Isabel if the tape was fake or not. From that night on, every time she thought about her real mother, that image had filled her mind, blocking out everything else.

Isabel's shoulders started to shake, and a hiccuping sob escaped her. That's what's going to happen to me when Valenti finds us. She could almost feel the cold metal underneath her, the cut of the knife.

She shoved herself as deep into the corner of the cave as she could. She pulled her knees to her chest and gathered the sleeping bag tight around her. "You're safe here," she whispered. But she couldn't stop another sob from ripping through her.

She heard a scrabbling sound. She jerked up her head and saw a pair of long, jean-clad legs sliding through the entrance to the cave. A moment later Michael jumped down onto the cave floor.

"Hey, Izzy Lizard," he said.

Michael crossed the cave with long strides and wrapped his arms around her. He rocked her back and forth, holding her tight against his chest.

Isabel clung to him. She finally felt safe. Safe… and kind of embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry," she stammered. "I c-can't stop crying."

"I've seen you cry before," he told her. He rubbed his hands up and down her back, soothing her with his touch. "You cried more than this that time I flushed your doll down the toilet."

"I'm getting your shirt all wet."

"You hate this shirt." Michael used the corner of his worn fla

"No thanks." Isabel grabbed a Kleenex from her purse and wiped her nose. Then she pulled out her compact and studied her face. Her skin looked red and blotchy. She brushed on a little powder.

"Feel better?" Michael asked.

"Feel stupid."

"Don't worry about it." He smoothed her hair away from her face, his big hands gentle. "You've done much stupider things."

Isabel slapped his shoulder. "Thanks."

Michael nodded. "Let's get out of here. Max must be flipping out."

"He deserves it. Can't we just stay here tonight?" Isabel didn't think she was ready to leave the cave, even with Michael.

"There's only one sleeping bag-and it's mine. Come on. I'll stay at your house tonight if you want."

"Will you sleep in front of the door of my room-like a big watchdog?" She smiled at Michael. It felt good to do something so normal. She'd been practicing her flirting skills on him since she was a little girl.

"I was thinking more like the couch," Michael said. "But maybe we can work something out. Would you be willing to mow my backyard?" He pushed himself to his feet and stretched his hand down to Isabel.

She let him pull her up and guide her across the cave floor. She climbed up on the rock she used to reach the mouth of the cave. Then she hesitated. "He's out there somewhere."

"He's not going to hurt you. If he tries, he's going to have to get through me," Michael promised.

Isabel knew she had to leave the cave sometime, and she'd much rather do it with Michael by her side. "Let's go."

Isabel hauled herself out of the cave. Michael scrambled up a second later. They began the long walk back to the Jeep, and Isabel pulled off the tarp they used for camouflage. They always parked it some distance away from their cave as a precaution. She handed Michael the keys and jumped into the passenger seat. "You drive, okay?" she asked. She just couldn't handle it right now.

"Sure." Michael climbed behind the wheel and backed the Jeep out of the rocky overhang where they hid it. Isabel could hear the mesquite bushes crunching under the tires as they drove back toward the highway.

"How did you get out here, anyway?" she asked.

"Hitched."

"Are we leaving tracks?" she asked. She'd never thought of that before. Were they leaving a trail that could lead Valenti to their cave?

"Too dry out here," Michael answered. "Valenti's just a man, you know. You act like he has superhuman powers or something. If he gets too close, we'll take him out."

She glanced over at Michael. He wasn't kidding.

"What about Liz and Maria?"

Michael didn't answer for a moment. "I think Max is right about Liz. If she was going to talk, she would have done it when Valenti showed her the handprints on that guy's body. But Maria… I don't think she wants to hurt anyone, but she's scared. And that makes her unpredictable."

"She practically said she was going to go to Valenti," Isabel reminded him.

"I bet Liz can handle Maria," Michael said as he swung the Jeep onto the highway. "But if she can't-"

The long wail of a siren cut him off. Isabel's eyes jerked to the rearview mirror. She saw the flashing blue lights of the sheriff's car, and her heart slammed into her ribs. "It's Valenti." She knew he was out here. She knew he would track her down.

Michael pulled over to the side of the road.

"Don't stop. Are you crazy?" Isabel cried.

Michael reached over and grabbed her hand. He squeezed it hard. "I was probably speeding or something. You've got to get a grip. Don't let him see how scared you are."

Isabel tensed as the sound of Valenti's boot heels grew louder. She couldn't bring herself to look over at him when she heard him stop by Michael's side of the Jeep.

"I need you to step out of the car, please," Valenti said, his voice low and even. "Both of you."