'What?' The word came out of Isabel almost as a shriek.
'I got a future flash,' Liz said, turning toward Isabel and addressing her directly. 'The MiBs had caught you. They had doctors operating on you. “
'When? Where?' Max felt fear course through his system. If he lived to be a thousand, he would never forget the dissection to which he had nearly been subjected in the White Room at the hands of Agent Pierce. He would do anything to protect his sister from a fate like that.
'I don't know,' Liz said. 'There wasn't anything I could reference to figure out the date or the time. All I saw was one of those big scary operating rooms like they have in the movies. “
'So you're saying I'm gonna be killed by a mad scientist?' Isabel asked.
'Hey, Isabel, it's going to be okay,' Kyle said, trying to reach out and hold her. 'Calm down. “
'Calm down? You aren't the one who's going to be the star of Alien Autopsy, Kyle.' Isabel shook off his touch and put her hands up to her face, breathing through her steepled fingers. Max had rarely seen Isabel so upset.
Then it occurred to him that he shouldn't be seeing her at all… at least, not away from their temporary sanctuary of the abandoned church. And not next to a pay phone.
'What were you doing out here, anyhow?' Max asked her, fearing he already knew the answer.
'I called Jesse, okay?' Isabel admitted, her anguished voice rising almost to a shout. 'I just wanted to talk to my husband. Is that so wrong? “
Max knew that now wasn't the time to lecture her about how she might have endangered Jesse. Not with what Liz had just revealed about Isabel's future. Isabel's possible future, he thought, correcting himself. The whole point of our being out here on the road is to carve out our own destinies. We left Roswell to prove that we can make whatever future we want for ourselves. And yet all they seemed to be doing was running and hiding.
Max knew he had to get Isabel calmed down so that they could face the problem of Liz's premonition rationally.
He looked past his sister for a moment and noticed that the pay phone's receiver was dangling from the end of its cord.
'Is Jesse still on the line?' Max asked.
Isabel picked up the phone and put it to her ear. 'Hello? Jesse?' She turned back toward Max. 'No. He's gone. When Liz's vision made her cry out, I guess I dropped the phone right in the middle of things. “
Max approached her and kept his voice low and… he hoped… soothing. 'Isabel, call him back and let him know you're all right. “
'Are you sure that's such a good idea, Max?' Kyle asked. 'The Feds might trace the call. “
'If they can, then they probably already did,' Max said. 'There's no point in leaving Jesse hanging.' He turned to face Isabel. 'He's probably worried, Iz. Tell him you'll find a way to reach him later. And don't mention anything about what Liz said. We've changed the course of events she's seen in her premonitions before. We can do it again. “
Isabel nodded, then reached out and hugged him. He squeezed her in return. The contact renewed his determination to keep her safe.
They disengaged after a moment, and Max turned to crouch beside Liz again. Now she seemed more clearheaded than she had a few moments before. Kyle had placed a hand on her forehead. Max felt a twinge of jealousy, but cleared it out of his mind as quickly as it had come. Kyle and Liz had dated in the past, but Kyle was still her friend. And as a friend, he was entitled to care about her.
'How are you feeling now?' Max asked Liz.
She sighed. 'I'm doing all right, Max. The vision just knocked the wind out of me. “
'Well, let's all get back to the van and eat,' Max said. 'I think food will do us some good. Then we can figure out what to do next.' As long as the bad guys don't suddenly show up and make that decision jor us, he thought.
'Good idea,' Kyle said. 'Let's get you up,' he said to Liz, reaching for one of her arms. Max took the other one, and they helped her get to her feet.
Max turned back toward the phone booth and caught Isabel's gaze. She was talking on the phone, so apparently she'd managed to reconnect with Jesse.
He turned back to Liz and Kyle. 'Let her finish up. “
A few moments or so later, Isabel hung up the phone and rejoined the group.
'Everything smoothed over?' Max asked.
'Yeah, I think so,' Isabel said. She still sounded stunned by Liz's dire forewarning.
'Let's get back to the VW, then,' Max said, offering her a smile that he could only hope would reassure her. 'Dinner awaits. “
Boston Jesse was glad that Isabel had called him back. He wasn't sure what was worse: not having heard from her at all, hearing the news from her about Cheyenne, or hearing the phone cut off in mid-conversation. At least her callback had told him that she and Liz were all right, even if she hadn't gone into specifics about what actually had happened.
She'd sounded tired, but he hadn't wanted to tell her that. He couldn't deny that she no longer sounded like the confident young woman he had married. Life on the road was apparently wearing them all down more than she had wanted to admit.
After ringing off with Isabel, Jesse decided to get some coffee at the Java Joint a few blocks away, near Harvard Square. He didn't anticipate being able to sleep for a while tonight, so he decided he might as well add some caffeine to his system. Sometimes it actually had the effect of calming his nerves rather than exciting them.
As he waited on the street corner for the walk signal, he felt the phone vibrate again in his pocket. Is Isabel calling a third time? He clicked it on. 'Hello? “
'I need to speak to a lawyer,' the male voice on the other end of the line said.
Jesse's blood ran cold. 'How did you get this number? “
'A friend of mine gave it to me. He said it was the number of a good attorney. “
Jesse stared at his phone in horror. The only person who knew he had this phone was a client who was currently in jail, and therefore not likely to be sending Jesse any referrals. Which meant that the person on the other end of the line must have heard him give the cell phone number to Isabel earlier.
Which meant his home phone was bugged.
'You've got the wrong number, buddy. I'm a pizza delivery guy,' Jesse said, then clicked the phone off.
Looking into the street, he saw a delivery truck and several cars heading toward the intersection. Timing it to their speed, he tossed the cell phone into their path.
A second after it clattered to the street, he heard a satisfying crunch as the delivery truck smashed the phone into a pile of wire and broken components. The truck's driver honked at Jesse and flipped him the bird.
Needing coffee now more than ever, Jesse continued down the street.
If they are still tapping me, do they know that was Isabel who called? Am I about to be dragged into the alien nightmare again? Jesse knew he couldn't answer those questions. Nor was there anyone in Boston with whom he could even discuss them.
