The Vanished

'There are a million places like that in New Mexico.' Michael groaned. 'Max and I have been searching the desert for years, and we've only hit the smallest fraction of the caves out there.'

'It doesn't even have to be in New Mexico,' Liz added glumly. 'DuPris can teleport, remember? He followed us back to the museum from the ranch house. And he took the bounty hunters along with him that time, so he could have transported Isabel and Adam, too.'

'I remembered being in the back of a car,' Isabel argued.

'He could have done that just to trick you,' Michael pointed out. 'So it would be harder for us to follow him… which it is.'

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch period.

Biology, Liz thought as she stood up. At least it was her favorite class of the day, and Max was in it with her. Maybe he wouldn't be so out of it if they were sitting next to each other, doing experiments together.

Liz said her good-byes, and she and Max headed out of the cafeteria toward the biology lab. When they were halfway down the hall, Liz nudged Max with her arm.

'You ready for today?' she asked. 'We're playing matchmaker to a bunch of mutant fruit flies.'

Max stopped short. 'You know what?' he said. 'I left my book in my locker. I'll catch up with you, okay?'

'Yeah… okay,' Liz replied, but Max had already headed down the corridor.

With a sigh, Liz continued to the lab. He's just preoccupied, she told herself.

She made a detour for the drinking fountain by the trophy case. As she bent down, a strong hand grabbed her shoulder. Her first thought was that Max had come back for her. But no way would Max grab her so hard it hurt.

She spun around quickly. Kyle Valenti stood there, glaring at her. Sweat was trickling down his forehead from his hairline, and his pupils were like tiny black pinholes.

'What are you doing?' Liz asked, trying to keep her voice as light as possible. She shrugged her shoulder free. 'Is there a problem?'

'Problem?' Kyle repeated. He laughed, but it came out more like a choked gasp. 'Yeah, there's a problem! Why don't you tell me where my father is?'

His father. Suddenly Liz was overwhelmed by a rush of fear, pity and confusion, and she had to fight to keep it all from showing on her face. Liz felt bad for Kyle-he had lost his dad. Sheriff Valenti was a horrible person, but Liz didn't even like to consider how she'd feel if her papa disappeared.

But how did he know she'd had anything to do with Sheriff Valenti's disappearance? How much did he know?

'Your dad?' Liz asked, carefully maintaining a calm exterior. 'What are you talking about?'

Kyle narrowed his eyes, half covering his shrunken pupils.

'I know you had something to do with it!' Kyle snapped. 'You were snooping around my house that day-right before I saw him for the last time. You expect me to believe that's just a coincidence? '

'Kyle, I'm so sorry,' Liz said as sincerely as she could manage. 'But I honestly don't know where he is.' She tried to push past him before he saw in her eyes that she was lying.

Kyle held on to her arm. 'So then why were you in my house?' he demanded.

'Kyle, I already told you,' Liz began with a nervous laugh, trying frantically to remember the explanation she and Maria had come up with when he'd found them there a week ago. 'Maria… and I… were decorating all the football players' houses, just for a laugh-'

'Don't feed me that bull again!' Kyle yelled. 'Is he dead? Did you kill him? Either tell me what you know, or-'

'Or what?' Liz asked, taking a step back.

'Or I'll-,' Kyle began. He looked around the hallway. 'I'll-'

Kyle suddenly turned and smashed his fist through the plate glass of the trophy case beside them.

Liz jumped as shards of glass crashed to the floor. God, Kyle was out of his mind! He'd always been an idiot, but the sheriff's disappearance had sent him right over the edge. Liz winced as she saw blood oozing out of the cuts on Kyle's hand. For a moment she was so stunned, she couldn't even move.

'Security!' somebody called from down the corridor. Liz looked over to see Ms. Shaffer rushing toward them with the two burly security guys following close behind.

'What the hell's going on over here?' Ms. Shaffer took one look at the blood running down Kyle's wrist and the smashed trophy case and realized what had happened. 'Kyle? Are you all right?'

'It's her!' Kyle shouted. 'She did something to my father! She's in on it! She's in on it!'

Liz watched, stunned, as the security guards quickly led Kyle away. He kept shouting as they half pulled him out of sight around a corner. Liz's stomach clenched with a mixture of guilt, sympathy, and fear.

'Liz, what happened here?' Ms. Shaffer asked.

'Well… Kyle wanted to date me a few months ago, and I turned him down. He hasn't been too happy with me since then.' She figured it was good to mix some truth into her story. 'And just now? I don't really know what the deal was. Kyle started yelling something about his father. Some kind of family problem. I had no idea what he was talking about. And then he just snapped.'

'Huh,' Ms. Shaffer replied. 'Strange. Very strange.'

'You can say that again,' Liz said. She scanned the principal's face for any sign of disbelief, but she seemed to buy Liz's story.

Ms. Shaffer touched Liz's arm lightly. 'Are you all right?'

'Oh, I'm fine,' Liz said. Only after the principal asked did she realize how fast her heart was beating. 'Just a little shaken up.' She took a deep breath. 'Well, I guess I should get to class.'

She took off down the hall, ordering herself not to break into a run. As soon as she turned the corner, Liz slumped against the wall.

Kyle knows, she thought. Kyle knows! Liz and her friends weren't responsible for Sheriff Valenti's death, but they were there when it happened. And DuPris had used Adam's body to do the dirty work. If Kyle suspected them and kept digging, Adam-and the rest of her friends-could be in a lot of trouble.

Liz pushed herself off the wall and walked to the water fountain on the other side of the hall. Kyle'd grabbed her before she got her drink. As she sipped, she forced herself to look at the situation rationally.

What, exactly, did Kyle know?

Enough to accuse her, but not anything more than that, she decided as she straightened up and continued down the hall and up the stairs. He had no proof of any kind. And his accusations were based on circumstantial evidence at best.

But did he know more than he was letting on?

Did he know about Project Clean Slate? Did the sheriff tell his son he was on Max, Isabel, and Michael's trail? Had Kyle ever hung out at the compound?

Maybe Kyle is the one who chased us through the desert, Liz thought, taking a deep breath. He was obviously off at the moment. It definitely could have been him.

Liz headed toward the lab, her mind reeling. If Kyle was the one who'd chased them, did that mean he'd somehow managed to move the ship, too?

Pausing outside the biology lab door, Liz took one more deep breath to steady herself. Kyle couldn't have moved the ship.

Not without a lot of help.

Somehow that wasn't a very comforting thought.

***

Isabel drove the Jeep through the suburban back streets of Roswell, heading for Alex's house. Max and Michael might have decided to leave Mr. Manes alone for the time being, but that didn't mean Isabel had to do the same.

Since Valenti died, Isabel had felt safe. Or at least safer than she'd ever felt before. The man who had haunted her nightmares for years was no more.

But apparently the maniac had friends right here in Roswell.