The sheriff shook his head. 'No, this is a safety stop. You have a broken taillight.'
Max felt a rush of relief. 'Thank you, I will get that fixed right away,' he said.
'Good, I'll write you a summons for it, but you won't have to pay if you get it repaired in forty-eight hours,' the sheriff said.
Max knew what was coming next, and his stomach tightened.
'Could I see your license and registration, please,' the sheriff said.
Instinctively, Max reached for his wallet. Then he hesitated. He couldn't show the man his license. God only knew what kind of criminal lists the Special Unit had put his and his friends' names on. And he didn't have a registration for the van.
'Is there a problem?' the sheriff asked.
'I'm sorry, I don't have my wallet,' Max said.
The sheriff immediately looked suspicious. He looked hard at Max and then scanned the inside of the van with his eyes. 'You kids are a long way from New Mexico,' he said. 'What brings you to Washington?'
Max realized that it wasn't enough to change the plate number. In the future, he and Michael would have to
change the license plate from New Mexico to another state.
'Son?' the sheriff said.
'We just graduated high school and we wanted to travel the country for a few weeks.'
'Kind of inconvenient that you lost your wallet, then,' the sheriff said.
Looking into the sheriffs intelligent eyes, Max felt his chances of getting himself and his friends out of this slipping away.
'Step out of the car, please,' the sheriff said, putting one hand on his holstered gun. Max could feel the tension in the car. Without looking back, he knew that Michael probably looked ready to explode.
Max couldn't let the sheriff run the plates. He and Michael had picked random numbers and letters. As soon as the sheriff ran them, he would see that they didn't match the van. Max opened the door and started to step out. The sheriff took a step back and said, 'The rest of you stay put.'
Max's brain went into overdrive, trying to come up with a way to make this turn out right for everyone without attracting any attention. He came up with a handful of options… none of them good.
As the sheriff looked him over, Max realized why he had made the mistake of thinking for a moment that this would turn out okay. The man was a sheriff and wore a uniform like the one Kyle's dad had worn. Sheriff Valenti was the first adult Max and the others had trusted with their secret. If not for Valenti, Max might still be in the White Room.
'Turn around and put your hands on the van,' the sheriff said. Max immediately complied.
Then the sheriff made a clicking sound and said, 'Well, look at that, I found your wallet.'
Max felt his heart sink yet again as he felt the man pull the wallet out of his back pocket. They were in trouble now. Deep trouble. If Max allowed this to play out naturally, he had no doubt that he and the others would shortly find themselves in the care of the Special Unit. But he didn't know how to stop it without hurting this man who was only doing his job. He didn't have much time; the Special Unit was close by. He had to get out of here, and fast.
Watching the sheriff carefully, Max noted that the tag on his uniform shirt said Sheriff Taylor.
'Max?' Michael called out from inside the van.
'It's okay,' Max said, nodding his head. It was far from okay, but Max didn't want Michael charging the sheriff.
'You quiet down in there,' the sheriff said to Max's friends. Then he leaned closer to Max and said, 'You all wait right here while I make a call.'
Realizing he had just a few seconds to act, Max seized on something. It was more of an act of desperation than a plan. It didn't feel right exactly, but it felt like the only thing he could do. 'We need your help,' Max said to the sheriff before the man could walk away.
'What?' Sheriff Taylor said, suspicion in his voice.
'We're in trouble. Someone's been following us for about ten miles now,' Max said. Right on cue, a black SUV came from the direction Max had been driving. Max was sure it was the Special Unit SUV that had been in front of them.
'Really?' the sheriff said. Max could hear the smile in his voice.
'I'm serious, that SUV has been following us,' Max said, nodding in the direction of the car. 'They are watching us now.' Then Max turned around and took a look at the sheriff, who was watching the SUV pull over with the same sharp-eyed intelligence he had eyed Max.
He's smart, and a decent person, Max thought. It wasn't an intellectual analysis, and Max thought it might be because he reminded Max of Sheriff Valenti. Still, he was sure he was right. Max didn't know how this could all turn out okay for everybody involved, but he felt a surge of hope.
'Don't go away, son. Let me talk to your friends,' Sheriff Taylor said.
Then Max saw the doors to the SUV open and two men in dark suits get out. They were in their late twenties or early thirties and had a look that was both bland and dangerous. Any doubt that Max might have had disappeared. He was absolutely certain that he was looking at two agents of the Special Unit.
Max felt the small seed of hope die inside him.
3
The agent who came out of the driver's side was dark-haired, while the one who came out of the passenger side was blond.
'Who…?' Max heard the sheriff say.
'They're dangerous,' Max said.
Apparently the sheriff believed him, because his hand went immediately to his holstered gun. Max felt his heart hammering in his chest, warning him of the danger he and the others were in.
The Special Unit agents were almost directly across the road from them.
'Get back in the van, son,' Sheriff Taylor said.
Surprised, Max quickly opened the driver's side door and got in. Then he watched and listened through the open window.
'Federal law enforcement,' the blond agent said. The agents waited for a few seconds while a car drove past them, then they crossed the street.
Max noted that the sheriff never took his hand from the butt of his still-holstered gun.
'FBI, Special Unit. We'll take over from here,' the blond agent said when he reached their side of the street. The other agent was watching Max and the van closely.
'Thank you, sir, but we local law enforcement officers usually can handle these broken taillight situations just fine,' Sheriff Taylor said.
The blond officer smiled, but the expression looked more like a sneer than it did a smile. The sheriff's hand tightened its grip on his gun. For a moment, Max had the almost irrational thought that the sheriff was on their side.
'Just relax, Sheriff,' the blond agent said, reaching inside his suit jacket.
Before his hand got where it was going, the sheriff had his gun in his hand. 'Freeze!' Sheriff Taylor said in a commanding voice.
Immediately, the agent stopped. Then something unpleasant crossed his face. It took the agent a few seconds to get himself under control, then he said, 'I'm Agent Spellman of the FBI, Special Unit. I'm going to get my identification.'
The sheriff nodded, keeping a steady gaze on both men. 'Okay, Agent Spellman, do it very slowly and we won't have a problem.'
The smile that appeared on Spellman's face seemed forced, but he nodded and slowly reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a wallet that he flipped open. Max couldn't see the inside of the wallet, but the sheriff leaned
