Max glanced down at Isabel and Michael. They were
working steadily. Maybe the work would take Isabel's
mind off things.
Reminding himself to ask Bell if they could borrow a
radio, Max got back to work.
* * *
16
Hey time to take a break, mister," Liz said from down
below, a smile on her face.
Max climbed down as the others put down their tools.
Shaking off the dust and paint chips, Michael said, "You
know, we'd be done already if we used out powers."
"That would be low profile," Isabel said.
"Just a thought," Michael said, raising his hands and
smiling.
Max quickly scanned the wall. They had almost fin-
ished scraping it smooth. As a result, they had made many
patches that were bare brick or half a dozen different col-
ors. It was already after the lunch rush now. With a break
to eat, Max figured they would finish scraping the side and
maybe the front by the end of the day.
"How's it going?" Liz said.
"We'll be at it a few days," Max said.
"I think it's nice. Bell really appreciates it," Liz said.
"Well, we appreciate the food," Max said.
"And you want to keep an eye on me," Liz said seriously.
* * *
Max shrugged as Michael said, "I would really appreci-
ate some food about now."
Inside, Max saw Jimmy sitting by the window of the
nearly empty diner. The boy looked like he hadn't moved
since that morning, when Max had seen him last. Jimmy
was still looking out with the same forlorn stare. Max felt a
stab of guilt at how much he had enjoyed working outside
with his friends while Jimmy was inside thinking about his
sister and worrying—with very good reason, Max knew.
Suddenly, he knew he had to help Jimmy, and the name-
less others in town who were lost or who had lost loved ones.
Just two days ago, he had said to Liz that he thought his path
in life might be to use his powers to make a difference—to try
to help people. Well, in front of Max was a person who
needed help as badly as anyone he had ever seen. Helping
him might be dangerous—that much, he had learned from
Liz's visions and Isabel's dreamwalk. But since he had come
out of the pod, his entire life had been dangerous.
Max didn't know if he really could help, but he knew
he would try.
As soon as he finished eating with the group at the diner,
Kyle headed back for the garage. He didn't want to do any-
thing to tick off Dan. He had clearly upset his boss and he
didn't want to add to the trouble. Unless he kept this job,
they might never get out of Stonewall.
Outside Johnny's, Kyle saw Gomer for the first time
that day. The bigger man glanced at Kyle and looked away
quickly. Kyle hoped that meant his trouble with Gomer
was over. He relaxed a little when Gomer climbed into the
garage pickup truck and pulled away.
* * *
When Kyle stepped into the garage, he saw Dan at
work on an old station wagon. Dan had disappeared after
Kyle had given him the photo, and Kyle was relieved to
see him back at work. Kyle approached his next repair
job—another tune-up—and Dan didn't even look up.
Apparently, things were back to normal.
About an hour later, before he was finished with the
tune-up, Kyle heard footsteps behind him. Immediately
sure that Gomer was looking for trouble, Kyle spun
around to find Dan standing behind him.
Relieved, Kyle let out a sigh that was louder than he
had anticipated. Dan didn't seem to notice. Then Kyle saw
that the older man was holding out something. For a sec-
ond, Kyle's brain wouldn't register what it was. Then, it
finally did. . . .
Dan was holding out a timing chain.
For a second, Kyle found that his mouth wouldn't
work. Fortunately, his hands still did, and he took the
heavy chain from Dan.
"I pulled it from the van out back. You can put it in
tonight after hours if you want," Dan said, his face as
unreadable as ever.
"Thanks, I mean . . . this is great," Kyle replied.
"It's not free. It'll come out of your pay," Dan said.
"Of course," Kyle said.
"And here's a key for the padlock on the big garage
door. Lock up when you're done. Dawn will lock up the
office," he said.
"Thanks," Kyle said.
Dan grunted and turned back to head for the office.
Kyle carefully put the chain down. It was a very lucky
* * *
break for them. He would probably be working late into
the night to get it into the engine of their van. Once that
was done, he would be able to get it started and really get
it running right. If they had to, they could probably be out
of Stonewall in a few days or a week at most, depending
on how much Dan charged him for the parts he needed.
Kyle used to dread full shifts at the garage in Roswell.
Then, he had seen his future ticking away every hour that
he worked. Now, his future and the future of his friends
depended on his ability with cars. Kyle found himself look-
ing forward to the next job. If he finished his cars early, he
might be able to pull the engine of the van before dinner.
That meant he would have no trouble getting the timing
chain in and getting the engine back in the van before bed.
For the first time in ... maybe the first time ever, Kyle
found himself eager to get back to work.
Just after four thirty, Kyle went to get Max and Michael
to help him push the van into a repair bay. Though they
have been pleased by Kyle's news, they had left the diner
reluctantly and then hurried back.
Kyle understood. There was something odd in the air at
Stonewall. And lately, that air seemed to be getting thicker.
He was glad the guys were staying close to Isabel, Liz, and
Maria. That thought moved his hands even faster. He
grabbed the engine lift and wheeled it over to the van. Yes,
if he hurried, he could get it out before Liz called to tell
him to come down for dinner.
Two hours later, when the shop phone rang, Kyle
picked it up and knew it was Liz.
"Dinner bell, Kyle," she said.
Kyle smiled as he said, "I'll be right there."
* * *
Before he headed out, he took a quick inventory of his
work. The engine was out of the van, and he'd even pulled
the old timing chain—which hadn't broken so much as
disintegrated in a number of places.
He nearly trotted out the door. If he ate quickly, he would
be able to get the new one in no problem and, if he was
lucky, get the engine back in the van before it got too late.
Kyle was the last to arrive. He came in excited and told
them about the van.
"I'll need a few days to get the van running well, but I
should be able to get it started at least tonight," Kyle said.
Max was pleased that it looked like they would be ab
le
to leave town in a week of less.
"I want to thank you kids," Bell said as she brought out
the first plates of food. "The place looks great."
Max smiled and said, "Actually, it looks much worse."
It did; they had scraped almost the whole outside of the
building smooth, but there were now oddly colored
patches everywhere. The diner now looked like a mottled
mess.
"Well. . . you'll get there," she said.
"We will prime and paint the front tomorrow first
thing, then we'll move on to the rest," he said.
"Fine, fine," she said as she headed back to get more
plates.
When the food was all out, Bell came out and said,
"Would you girls mind locking up? I have to go see my sister."
She shook her head and muttered, "My good-for-nothing
brother-in-law..."
"Sure," Liz said.
* * *
"Whatever you do, girls, don't marry a good-for-nothing
lazy bum named Rex," Bell said.
"We'll remember that," Maria said.
Less than a minute later, Bell was leaving with Sam in
tow. She stopped by Jimmy's table and said, "Come on,
Jimmy. We'll take you home."
Jimmy looked up, his eyes rimmed in red, and said,
"What if she comes?"
"She'll know how late it is and know to go home. Come
on. You need some sleep so you can come in tomorrow,"
Bell said.
"Okay," Jimmy said. And he headed for the door.
Then he turned and walked over to Liz. "I'm sorry
about your friend," he said, quickly glancing over at the
table. Was he looking at Max?
"My what?" Liz said.
"Sorry," he said, and turned to leave.
Liz stopped him with a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Which friend?" she asked.
Jimmy shrugged. Then he turned to go.
Bell came over and took him by the arm. "Don't mind
Jimmy. He says the strangest things."
An odd look crossed Bell's face. Liz wondered how
much Bell knew about Jimmy's ability. Then Bell was all
business again as she led Jimmy out the door with Sam
in tow.
As soon as the door closed, Liz turned to Max and said,
"Oh, my God!"
Max knew what she was thinking, but he shook his
head. "It'll be okay."
"No it won't," Liz said, raising her voice.
* * *
"Nothing is going to happen to me, or to any of us,"
Max said with more certainty than he felt.
"Jimmy has never been wrong. He has some version of
what I have. He sees things before they happen," Liz said.
"Liz," Maria said, putting her hand on Liz's, "you pre-
dicted the assassination attempt on yourself and our alien
friends here twelve days in advance. Jimmy predicted
spills in a diner. If you predicted one every day, you'd be
right one hundred percent of the time."
"No, he has the same gift. Or something like it," Liz
said.
"I'll be careful," Max said.
"Maybe we should talk about getting out of here," Liz
said. Then she turned to Kyle. "If we had to go, could the
van get us to the next town tomorrow?"
Kyle was silent for a moment, and Max spoke before he
could respond. "No," Max said. "We're going to stay and
help these people."
"But Max, you are in danger," Liz said. He knew how
badly Liz wanted to help out here. But she was also con-
cerned for him and the two desires were now at war
inside her.
"We're going to help Jimmy. And we don't know any-
thing about what Jimmy saw. Maybe he saw me get ...
hurt leaving town," Max said.
"But most likely, he saw you facing whoever it is that is
hurting people in this town. The monster from Isabel's
dream," Liz said.
"We're out here to make a difference. You said it your-
self," Max said, and before Liz spoke, he added, "If the
danger was to you, what would you do?"
* * *
Liz nodded. Then she turned to Michael. "You'll keep
him out of trouble?"
Michael didn't smile or joke; he just nodded and
said, "Yes."
"I thought you were the one who didn't want to take
any chances in this town," Liz said.
Max nodded. He thought about his own sister and his
friends. "I changed my mind," he said finally.
"We still don't know if there is anything we can do,"
Michael said.
Isabel shook her head, "I haven't been able to contact her
again. She may be awake or drugged, or out of it, or . . ."
"I don't think so. I saw Jimmy go to her funeral and she
hasn't. . . turned up yet. But I think we're running out of
time," Liz said.
"Another vision?" Max said.
"A feeling," Liz said.
"I don't know what else we can do, besides keeping our
eyes open," Michael said.
"Then I guess we keep our eyes open," Max said.
"Are we even going to consider the possibility that . . .
well, what Gomer said," Maria said.
"That the girls were taken by aliens?" Michael said.
"Isabel did see a monster in the dream," Maria said.
"And you said that monsters were metaphors," Michael
replied.
"I know, I'm just saying that we should consider the
possibility," she said.
"I don't think so," Liz said. "What are the odds of us
running into aliens out here?"
* * *
Isabel shook her head and said, "I don't know. The
dream was awful, but that monster was like no alien we've
ever seen. It just doesn't seem likely."
"I agree," Max said. "We're dealing with a psycho or
maybe a small group, but we have no reason to think any-
thing else. Either way, we do the only thing we can and
keep our eyes open."
"I read a thriller about a kidnapping in Texas," Liz said.
"The kidnappers are caught something like ninety-five
percent of the time."
That got Max's attention. "That's good," he said.
Liz nodded. "The problem is that eight-five percent of
the time, the victims don't make it."
Another spell of silence descended on the table.
"If I stay up late, I might be able to patch the van up
so that we can make a quick getaway tomorrow," Kyle
said.
"No," Max said. "We're in this for the long haul and
we're going to need the van in good shape. Do it right and
take the time you need. We'll leave when we're ready and
can get far away from here. Besides . . ."
Max turned to Michael, smiled, and said, "When it
starts to go down in the street..."
"We don't leave until it's finished," Michael replied.
Max heard a sharp intake of breath and then, Smack!
"Ow," Michael said, rubbing his shoulder where Maria
had struck him.
"This is not a gangster movie!" Maria said. "And it's just
as well. They tend to end badly, Mr. Sonny Corleone."
"It was just a joke," Michael said.
"Not a very funny one," Maria said.
* * *
Kyle rose, explaining, "I'd better get back. I want to at
least get the engine back into the van."
"Be careful," Max said.
"Always," Kyle said as he left the diner.
Everyone remained silent. Kyle wondered if they were
all thinking the same thing he was: that there wasn't much
time left before . . .
He wasn't sure what was coming, but he was certain
that it was coming quickly. Like Liz said, it was a feeling.
* * *
17
When Kyle approached the garage he was glad to see that
there was no sign of Gomer's pickup. He was also sur-
prised to see movement through the office window. He
caught a flash of blond hair. Dawn.
He entered the garage quietly through the large door.
Kyle hadn't seen her enter the shop area since he had
started at Johnny's. With any luck she would just go
whenever she was done.
Back at the van, he was glad he had already rigged up
the engine on the lift. He was getting tired after the long
day. And he was slowing down after eating, as well. Max
had said they were in this for the long haul. There was no
point in staying up all night to work on the van.
He would have a long enough day tomorrow.
Well, if he pushed a little, he could wrap up the work
in maybe an hour. He would have the engine set and
bolted into place by then. He could take care of the finish-
ing work tomorrow.
About an hour later, he tightened the last bolt on the
* * *
last engine mount. Then he decided to clean up and join
the others.
As he closed up the engine compartment, he realized
there was something different about the air. It smelled . . .
Cool hands reached around and touched his face, then
covered his eyes.
The air smelled nice.
It was Dawn. "Guess who?" she asked, laughing.
He placed his hands on hers and held them there for a
long moment. Then he gently pulled them away. Without
thinking, he realized that he was smiling. "I don't know—
Dan," he teased as he turned around.
Her eyes flared in mock anger for a second, then she
smiled.
"Oh, it's you," he said.
"Yes, it's me," she said. Then she just looked at him silently.