The Wild One

'We're just doing a science project for school together,' Liz answered. 'It's an astronomy thing.'

'We're driving out to the desert so we can look at the stars without interference from any of the town lights,' Max added quickly.

Max and Liz were always totally in sync. It was moronic that they weren't together. A total waste. Alex could understand Max wanting to keep Liz safe. But all of them would always be there to handle Valenti or anything else together. Max needed to give up this idea that he had to protect everyone all by himself.

'You're heading the wrong way,' Valenti said.

He was right. To get to the desert, they should be heading either north or south. But they'd been driving east. 'We were going to my house first,' Alex said. 'I forgot to bring the graph paper.'

'Graph paper,' Valenti repeated.

Alex felt little tremors running through Maria. He slid his arm around her. 'Uh-huh. It's easier to map out the stars with graph paper.'

'Well, as you've been driving all over town, have you noticed anything unusual?' the sheriff asked.

'No, nothing,' Max said. 'It's been totally quiet.'

Valenti's beeper went off. He checked the number. 'All right. You can go.' He strode back to his cruiser.

'He's looking for Nikolas and Isabel, too,' Liz said when Valenti was out of earshot.

'Yeah, but at least he doesn't know that's who he's looking for,' Michael said. 'And he won't if we find them first.'

'But we don't know where they are,' Maria protested.

Alex watched Valenti's cruiser speed past them. 'I have a feeling Valenti might have just found that out. Let's follow him.'

Max and Michael could both see a little better at night than they could during the day, so it wasn't hard for them to keep Valenti in sight without him knowing it. When he pulled into the mall's parking lot, Max drove around to the other side of the mall and parked on the street. They all climbed out of the Jeep and ran across the parking lot.

'We should have thought of the mall,' Maria said. 'What cooler place could there be to have all to yourself?'

Michael tried one of the side doors. 'Locked,' he announced.

'We moved a truck with our power. I guess we can move a door,' Max said.

Michael shrugged. 'Nikolas can certainly do it, so that means we can, too. We just have to figure out how.' Michael got quiet, just sort of staring at the door. Max too. He looked like he was in a trance or something.

The door's hinges squealed, and a moment later the door slammed to the ground. I hope Valenti didn't hear that, Alex thought.

'I guess we can assume Nikolas has taken care of the security guards,' Liz said softly as they stepped inside.

'Yeah-I've been feeling bursts of power all night. Let's split up so we can find Isabel and Nikolas faster,' Max answered. 'I'll take one group. Michael, you take the other. I don't want anyone to be without power if they need it.'

'Okay, I'll go upstairs with Alex and Maria, you stay downstairs with Liz,' Michael agreed. He took off without another word. Alex and Maria fell in behind him.

They climbed up the escalator and started down the walkway. Alex tried to put his feet down gently. Valenti was out there somewhere, listening.

Michael pointed to the food court. It was obvious Nikolas and Isabel had been there. Half the little stands were lit up, and the smells were too strong to have come from food cooked when the mall was still open.

'Over there,' Maria whispered. She trotted toward a drugstore with the security gate up. Alex and Michael followed her inside.

Without discussing it, they split up, each taking an aisle. They're not here, Alex thought. It's way too quiet. Unless they figured out that Valenti was in the mall and were hiding.

He noticed a pair of shoes lying at the end of his aisle. No, not shoes. Feet. He ran forward. A sharp acid taste hit the back of his throat when he saw a security guard lying on the floor.

A few seconds later Michael and Maria reached the end of their rows. Michael rushed over and laid his hand on the guard's forehead.

'No, no, no,' Maria whispered.

'He's okay,' Michael said. 'I'm going to let him wake up on his own, though, or we'd have to tie him up or something.'

Maria swayed on her feet as she stared at the guard. 'Come here. Come sit down a minute,' Alex said. He grabbed her by the arm and led her over to the photo booth. He sat her down on the little stool. The last thing they needed was for Maria to faint now.

He backed up to give her some air-and bumped into the photo machine. There was a strip of photos in the slot. Someone forgot their pictures. Alex picked them up and saw Nikolas and Isabel. Nikolas and Isabel practically eating each other's faces off.

Suddenly Alex felt like he needed to sit down, too. He looked at the pictures again and noticed that Nikolas was holding a sign in some of them.

It said, Hi, Alex.

*** 13 ***

'Let's try Victoria's Secret,' Liz whispered. 'That seems like an Isabel kind of place.' She could practically see Isabel going crazy on a one-girl lingerie shopping spree.

Max nodded. They hurried over to the store. The gate was open, and the door was unlocked. But when they stepped inside, the place was empty.

'I want to check the dressing rooms,' Liz said. 'Maybe they figured out Valenti's after them and they're hiding.' She made her way to the back of the store, the silky fabrics brushing against her as she squeezed between the rows of nightgowns and robes and teddies.

Suddenly Max grabbed Liz by the hand and dove behind the counter where the registers were lined up. 'I hear something.'

A second later she heard it, too. The sound of footsteps, coming closer. Valenti. Liz was sure it was Valenti. Nikolas would have knocked out the security guards. Alex, Michael, and Maria were upstairs. And there was no way Nikolas and Isabel would be moving through the mall so slowly, so deliberately.

Max wedged himself under the counter. He rolled onto his back and pulled Liz on top of him. She buried her head in his chest and squeezed her eyes closed. She could hear the hangers clicking together as Valenti moved through the store.

Do the periodic chart, Liz told herself. Whenever she wanted to calm herself down, she would recite all the elements and their atomic weights. It's like it reminded her the world was a sane, orderly place. But right now she couldn't remember anything. Not one fact.

Liz could feel Max's heart beating against her cheek. She focused on the rhythm and felt her muscles relax the tiniest bit. No matter what happened, Max was with her. That helped. That helped a lot more than the periodic chart ever did.

Valenti's footsteps moved closer. Liz heard a soft hiss as he ran his fingers across the top of the counter. He was practically on top of them.

Max tightened his arms around her. She felt the connection start up between them, and she was flooded with a wave of love from Max. She felt her own love for Max pouring out to him.

He could say they were just friends as much as he wanted. He could refuse to ever go to the movies with her, or dance with her, or do anything remotely couplelike. But none of that mattered. Because people who were just friends didn't feel this way about each other.

Liz heard hangers clicking again. Then silence. Valenti was gone.

She lifted her head and stared down into Max's blue eyes. 'I-' she began.

He pressed his fingers against her lips. He was right. It was too soon to talk. They needed to wait until Valenti