'Miss, is there something wrong?' the man asked.
'Uh, no,' Maria replied. 'Sorry, I was just spacing out. Are you ready to order your food?'
'Ten minutes ago,' the woman piped up.
But Maria barely heard her.
Carlsbad Caverns. Stalactites? Check. Stalagmites? Check. Bats? Check. A possible hideout or whatever for DuPris, down deep in the cavern where no tourists or explorers ever went?
Check.
'Miss?' the man at her table asked. 'Can we just forget about the food and get a check for the beer?
Check.
SEVEN
Liz grabbed the dashboard for support as Max drove over a pothole and her knee slammed into the center console. 'That was pleasant,' she grumbled, trying in vain to get comfortable. 'We have to get ourselves a bigger car.'
She was mashed in the shotgun seat of Max's Jeep with Maria, and she felt like her legs were going to be eternally cramped. Max was driving-somehow managing to hit every bump-and Adam, Isabel, and Michael were in the backseat.
Just be thankful that Papa let you come on this trip at all, Liz told herself. She loved her father, but the strain of constantly proving herself stable, responsible, completely Liz-not-Rosa was almost too much sometimes. She was hoping that the fact that he'd approved this weekend trip to Carlsbad Caverns meant he had actually developed some kind of trust in her.
Of course, Liz thought with a pang of guilt, he thinks Maria's mother is coming along with us. But still.
It hadn't hurt that Carlsbad Caverns was less than a hundred miles from Roswell. It was a major tourist destination and a favorite campsite for lots of families in town. The grounds around and above the vast network of caves were a national park, and her father had been relieved to hear that the park was policed by rangers. Liz had known to come to that discussion armed with ammunition in the form of information off the Internet.
'I am so psyched for this trip!' Maria called out suddenly, turning to grin right in Liz's face. 'I haven't been camping since forever.'
'This is not a pleasure trip,' Isabel said grumpily. 'We're going there to find the guy who killed our parents.'
'And hopefully find a way to get Alex back,' Max added.
For a long moment they were all silent, all thinking about Alex.
'Still,' Michael finally said, 'I brought marshmallows.'
Everyone cracked up, including Isabel, releasing the heavy tension. Liz caught Max's eye and smiled. Marshmallows, campfire, dark starry sky. It could be a pretty romantic night. If Max could stay focused on her long enough to enjoy it with her.
Liz glanced in the rearview mirror to see if Adam was staring at her. She had that hot back-of-the-neck feeling that made her think he was. Just as Max changed lanes, she caught sight of a small blue clunker a few cars back abruptly swerving to follow them. Liz's heart gave a hard double thump.
She craned her neck to look out the back, but Adam was blocking her view. And yes, he was staring. 'Duck for a sec,' Liz told him.
Sure enough, a blue Nissan Sentra was keeping pace with the Jeep. 'Speed up a little,' Liz said to Max. 'I want to see something.'
'Your wish is my command,' Max said.
'Oh, please,' Isabel said with obvious disgust.
Liz ignored her. 'Maybe pass somebody, too,' she suggested.
Michael sat up straight. 'Is somebody following us?' he asked.
'That's what I'm trying to figure out,' Liz replied.
Max accelerated, and the blue Nissan sped up, too. And as Max passed a slow truck in the right lane, the Nissan zoomed closer.
Liz's stomach dropped. 'Oh yeah. We're being followed,' she declared. 'What do we do?'
'Is it the Major?' Isabel asked.
'I don't know. Can you see from back there?' Liz asked. 'I can't make him out. Slow down a little, Max.'
Max pressed his lips together and did as she asked. Caught off guard by Max's sudden deceleration, the Nissan caught up to the Jeep. And Liz could see that it wasn't Mr. Manes at the wheel.
It was Kyle Valenti.
'What does he want?' Isabel muttered, tension putting a sharp edge on her voice.
'After the way he freaked out on me, who knows?' Liz replied. 'I told him I didn't know anything about his father, but he didn't come close to believing me.'
'Like he would have believed the truth,' Michael put in. ''Yeah, I know what happened. An evil alien turned your dad into a one-man Hiroshima'?'
'You're right,' Liz agreed.
'He saw us!' Adam called out. 'I mean, he saw us seeing him.' Adam cleared his throat. 'He knows he's been spotted.'
Liz kept her eyes locked on the rearview mirror. Kyle accelerated until the Nissan was practically kissing the Jeep's bumper. His eyebrows knitted together, and his eyes grew squinty.
'Ohmigod!' Isabel cried. Her startled shout was still lingering in the air when Kyle rammed them from behind. The crunch of metal and the screeching of tires rang out as Max fought to keep the Jeep steady
'Is he crazy?' Max shouted.
'Very possibly,' Liz shot back, her heart going into high gear. She braced both hands against the dashboard.
Kyle bumped the Jeep again, shoving them to the left. He was playing for keeps, trying to force them into oncoming traffic.
'Do something!' Maria screamed. 'Can't you blow out his tire?'
'I think he's close enough for us to aim, even though we're going so fast,' Adam answered.
'Let's try it before he turns us into roadkill,' Michael yelled, grabbing hands with Adam and Isabel.
A second later Liz heard a sharp report, like a gunshot, echo behind the Jeep. Liz watched through the rearview as Kyle's car started wobbling and then went careening off the highway into the shrubs and cacti of the desert. In moments they'd left him far behind.
'Good work,' Max said.
'My friends, the superheroes,' Maria added proudly
'Do you think he had any idea where we were headed?' Michael asked, still staring out the back window.
'I didn't tell him,' Liz replied, 'although he could pretty easily find out by asking my father, if he thought of it.'
'I wouldn't worry about it,' Max said. 'The park is huge. He'll never find us in there.'
'Yeah, he's history,' Isabel said.
Liz hoped Isabel was right. But Kyle could be persistent. And if Sheriff Valenti had told him anything about alien powers, a blown-out tire wouldn't make him give up.
It would just make him more suspicious.
'Hey, Max,' Adam said, pulling a small gray laptop out from under his feet. 'Why did you bring your computer?'
'I thought I might work at decoding some of those files Isabel found at the Major's,' Max answered. 'I don't
