Isabel Got out a U.S. map and Alex dug a compass out of his pants. They spread the map out on a car that was parked exactly where Max had parked his jeep earlier. Alex looked nervously around, “I keep getting the feeling that someone is going to come out and demand to know why we aren’t in class.”

“You worry about the strangest things. Now, that is the way Max pointed when he said Liz is that way. Stand here and point the compass at that tall branch on that tree over there.” Isabel knew it would be hard trailing Max unless they had a good idea of where he would end up.

Alex took his reading and lined the map up north/south. “O-kay, give me the ruler. We set it from Roswell… “ He said ignoring Isabel’s eye roll. “And line it up in this direction…”

“Look intrepid explorer, could you cut out the verbal guided tour and just do it!?” She said looking over his shoulder.

“There, there’s our line of attack!” Alex displayed the red line on the map. “Now could we get out of here before someone comes out?”

First they had to argue over where, on that line, Liz could be. It went south of Albuquerque, north of Flagstaff (just south of the Grand Canyon), through Lake Mead, and Las Vegas. Then it didn’t go near anyplace until it passed Fresno and ended up in Monterey Bay, near Salinas.

Neither one of them thought she would be as close as Albuquerque, or as far as Fresno. But Isabel was sure she had headed for Las Vegas, and Alex was just as sure that she wouldn’t go that far.

She studied the map a minute more. “Well, wherever she is, it’s a sure bet, she’s somewhere along Route 40. If she did go to Vegas, we can cut up the 93 from there. We’ll head north on 285 until we hit the 40. Max is bound to end up on it sooner or later. Now let’s get out of here before he gets any farther ahead of us!”

Actually, at that moment he was just turning onto Hwy 380, and heading west. Max already had his things in the jeep, and Michael took all of two minutes to gather his stuff and throw it into a bag, but Maria…

Alex sat back in contentment and let Isabel drive. He hadn’t counted on being alone with her. But Kyle had called and told him that he and Tess got caught sneaking out of the house by the Sheriff and would be explaining for some time.

Izzy was amazing! When her mom caught her packing, she just told her! It didn’t matter that she was shaking in her shoes, “Max thinks he has a lead on where Liz Parker might be. He’s going after her and so am I, Alex, Maria, and Michael.” When her mom told her she wasn’t going anywhere, Iz just picked up her bag and gave her mom a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll call you later. Don’t worry, we’ll be alright.” And just like that, they were out the door, into the car and gone.

Alex knew if he had been caught, that Izzy would be driving alone right now.

By the time Max got below Albuquerque, he realized that Liz felt more north west than west. They stopped off the road and looked at a map, then decided to head north to Route 40.