"What did you just say?", Maria said with an annoyed look on her face.

"I was just thinking that maybe we should stop seeing each other so often. I hate being close with anyone because....", He paused for a second.

"Because you can't rely on anyone else but yourself! You hate it that I know about you don't you?! I just don't see why you can't trust me!", she yelled without hesitation.

"God, this always happens when I'm with you! I shouldn't have to tell you everything and spend every waking moment with you! You're not even my girlfriend!", he shouted in return.

"Is that all you think of me as? Not even your girlfriend? Just some chick you met in an unfortunate accident that involved our best friends! I could just walk into the sheriff's office and tell him everything! [Even though I despise the son of a bitch]," Maria was very angry at the comment Michael had made.

"You can't do that! You promised you would never tell anyone! Besides, Max trusts you." Michael pleaded with her.

"Maybe Max chose the wrong person to trust," she said turning and heading for the sheriff's office.

"Maria, wait! You can't tell him, he's already been following us around enough. Hey, we risked everything for Liz!" he was yelling after her.

(Maria stopped and turned around.)

"You didn't even want Max to save her! You wouldn't have if it was your own mother, Michael. I'm sick of you and Max and your whole existence. And I plan to get rid of you once and for all!"

Maria turned and ran for the doors with Michael chasing after her. He caught up to her and grabbed her by the wrist.

"Let go, Michael! I mean it, let me go!" Maria screamed.

Michael wrapped his arm around her tightly and covered her mouth with his free hand. Maria struggled to break free of his grip, but he held on tightly. As he dragged her toward the woods, he thought about what to do with her. He had to find some way to keep her from telling; he would have to convince her that she could be trusted after all..........

MEANWHILE AT THE CRASHDOWN

Liz checked the clock and looked at the shift sheet. "Maria should have been here twenty minutes ago," she said to herself. As Liz walked over to the telephone, she tripped on a bar stool and landed on her stomach. Max walked over and helped her to her feet. "Thanks. Ow!" she said lifting her elbow so she could see it.

"Let me get that." Max touched her arm and the sore disappeared.

She looked into his eyes and felt her stomach flutter. That's the way she always felt when she looked at him. Ever since he had saved her that day at the Crashdown. And no matter what she did, she couldn't escape her feelings for him. Of course, she couldn't admit this to Max because he just wanted to be friends. "Maria is twenty minutes late for work," Liz said, looking for any signs of infatuation within Max.

"I was just going to ask if you had seen Michael. We were supposed to meet at my house to go see that new Mission Impossible movie. And we were going to hang out together today." He smiled at her and thought about how pretty Liz looked today. He had always liked Liz, even before he had really gotten to know her. "Do you think they are together? I mean, they did have some stuff to sort out, didn't they?" she asked.

"Could be, but he really wanted to see that movie. I'm going to go over to his place and see if he's there. I'll call you if I see Maria." He smiled once more.

"Okay, thanks. You're a great friend", she winced at that word, ‘Friend' seemed so casual. Liz wanted nothing else but to be more than just friends.

Max walked out of the Café and paused to look back at Liz. She was occupying herself with the phone. He walked to his car and drove to Michael's apartment. He reached the building and walked in easily. Everyone there new him and he had a key for the front door. As he walked up the stairs, he sensed that Michael was in trouble. He quickened his pace and raced for the manual elevator. Once inside, he pushed the button for the third floor. He had a throbbing headache and could feel nothing but terror. [God damn elevator. Hurry up!] Max thought to himself. It seemed to him like hours ago when he had entered that cruel machine, when the doors started to open. He raced down the hallway and burst through the door just as Michael was finishing tying Maria to a chair.

"What are you doing here?", Michael asked in surprise.

"I was looking for you. What are you doing that for?" he nodded toward poor Maria.

"She threatened to tell Valenti about us. I couldn't let her, so I grabbed her and brought her here." Michael looked at Maria and felt his stomach drop. How could he do this to her?

"She wouldn't tell anyone about us, she swore to me that she wouldn't. Let her go, Michael, you're being stupid. " Max knelt down and reached for the ropes that held Maria in place.

"No! She really was going to tell, she even made a move to run for the sheriff. I had to chase after her before she reached the doors. I wouldn't do this if I didn't have to." Michael was upset that he had to do this in the first place.

"Well, we have to figure out how to keep her from telling.", Max said while rising to his feet. He reached to pull the duct tape off of her mouth. "Don't scream," he warned her.

Maria looked at Max and winced when he pulled off the tape. "You two are going to be in a lot of trouble when someone finds me! Could you untie me, because I do believe I am being cut by these ropes." she looked annoyed, not scared.

"No." Max and Michael both answered at the same time. Max knelt down and put his hand over hers to heal it. When he looked at her hands, he noticed that they were turning a light shade of purple, so he loosened them slightly to get her some circulation.

"Thanks." Maria looked over her shoulder at Michael and gave him the nastiest look in the world. "You know, this is the second time you've kidnapped me."

"Well, if you weren't so persistent, I wouldn't have to." Michael answered. He cringed at the look she had given him and turned away. [I really do care for you, Maria. Why do you have to get so upset with me?] Michael thought to himself.

"Well, I'm not sure what to do. Maybe I could take a look at what she's thinking, that would give us some clues." Max untied Maria's ankles and picked her up off of the chair easily. Then, he took her over to the bed and set her down. Kneeling on top of her, he placed his hands over her eyes and mouth. He closed his eyes and entered her mind.

"Max, get out of here! You have no right to do this!" Maria screamed at him through her mind.

Max looked over the scene from earlier at the sheriff's office. She had indeed been scared when Michael grabbed her and she was scared now. He found everything he needed easily. Maria screamed at the sight of that scene again.

"Max, please get out of here! Stop it!"she was screaming at him.

[I'm sorry Maria. I had to], Max thought. He stepped out of her mind and let go of her eyes, but held on to her mouth. "Do you promise not to scream?" Max asked her. Maria nodded with tears streaming down her face.

(Isabel walked into the room and looked at Max, Michael, and Maria.)"What is going on here?! Max, what are you doing?" Isabel was upset.

"Calm down, we're not hurting her." Michael said.

"Well, then what the hell are you doing, experimenting on her? Let her go!" she yelled at them.

"Don't yell so loud," Michael stepped up behind her and put his hand over her mouth. Isabel flipped him over easily and he landed on the floor. Michael looked at his hand, which was smeared with lipstick, and wiped it on his jeans angrily.

"Hey, don't touch her!" Max got up and came toward Michael.

Maria took her chance and ran for the door, but Michael leaned against it and blocked her. He grabbed her and picked her up easily, then carried her over to the chair and said, "Sit." She obeyed. Max looked at Isabel and said, "She was going to tell Valenti about us."

"Oh really, where were they, at the Crashdown? How Could you let this happen?" Isabel was accusing Max of allowing the whole situation to take place.

"Look, we were right in front of the station. She ran straight for the doors. I had to grab her so she wouldn't tell. What was I supposed to do, let her throw us to the pigs? I'm sorry if you think what I did was wrong, but I did what I had to do to keep our secret under wraps. I had no other choice." Michael was as upset with himself as Isabel was.

"Well, tying her up and reading her mind isn't going to help shut her up. She'll just get free and tell everyone, not just Valenti. Did you even stop to think that she might just be plain scared of you? That is entirely possible with the way you treat people!" Isabel snapped back at him with full strength.

"It's not like we had an alternative. I wasn't even there to stop him. But if I was, I would have gone along with it. Michael isn't lying about what happened. They were in front of the police station and she did take a bolt for the doors. She's scared, so we can get her to promise not to tell." Max pleaded with Isabel to calm down.

"Well, I'm not surprised. Being kidnaped by you two is not exactly what I would call lovely. Although I know better than to be scared of you two. You're acting like animals, let me handle this. Why don't you call Liz and tell her to come over." Isabel was looking at Max with a strange expression. She beamed at him, despite her now terrible mood.

Max walked over to the telephone and dialed Liz's number. It rang a few times until she picked up. "Hello", Liz said, sounding worried.

"Hi Liz, it's Max . Okay, I don't know how to tell you this-" "I haven't seen Maria, and she's an hour late for work. Is she over there?", Liz was extremely worried for her friend.

"Okay, Maria and Michael were walking in front of the police station and they got into some sort of argument." Max said this slowly so that he would not have to repeat it.

"And..." Liz was impatient.

"And, she threatened to tell Valenti about us. She even made a run for the doors. But Michael chased after her and had to bring her to his apartment. Now we have to get her to promise not to tell anyone before we let her go." Max winced, waiting for the yelling to come, but it never did. Liz stayed calm the whole time.

"Okay, so basically, Michael kidnaped Maria. And now she's sitting in his apartment with the three of you huddled around her turning green and blue."

"Well, we're not green and blue, but you're almost exactly correct." Max turned to look at Maria, tears were running down her cheeks.

"So you want me to do what?" she asked, still impatient with how slow he was talking.

"Isabel wants you to come down here." he said plainly.

"What, so you guys can just kidnap me too, forget it!"

"No, we just want you to convince her not to tell. God, she's crying and I feel awful, you have to come and help us out." Max was clearly very upset with himself.

"Okay." she agreed reluctantly.

Max hung up the phone and announced, "She's coming." He walked over to Maria and looked her in the eye.

"Okay, I'm not going to tell anyone, I swear. Let me go!" Maria was struggling with the rope around her wrists.

"Liz is going to come over, we'd better untie her before Liz sees." Max said without paying any attention to Maria.

Michael came over and knelt beside Maria. He untied her wrists and stood up. Maria brought her hands to her face to look at them, they were red and raw, but now they were free. She made a move to get up. "Don't move. You're going to sit there until you solemnly swear never to tell a soul about us. And Liz is going to hear it too. So stay where you are." Michael warned her.

A few minutes later, Liz came rushing in the door. She looked around the room and was terrified when she saw Maria's tear stained eyes. She walked over to Maria and looked down her arm when Maria's wrist caught her eye. "What happened to your wrist?", Liz asked picking it up softly and rubbing it.

"Ask Michael." She said, sniffling. "Did you do this?" Liz looked at Michael in bewilderment.

"I had to, she was fighting me like some mad woman." [Why did I do that. I hurt the only girl I've ever loved, and now I've lost her forever.] Michael thought to himself.

"Get me some ice, Michael." Liz was furious at him for hurting her best friend.

Michael went into the little kitchen and opened the freezer for some ice cubes. Then, he got out a clean hand towel and put them inside, pulling the end to make a small package. He walked over and handed it to Liz. She applied it carefully to Maria's wrist.

"Now, what is going on?" Liz asked while softly applying the ice on Maria's wrist.

"Like I told you before, she was going to squeal us to Valenti. She can't tell anyone, otherwise we're screwed. You have to talk to her, Liz." Max looked worriedly at her.

"Hey, I'm sitting right here! And I'm not going to tell anyone, I swear! I have a lot of homework to do, so we'd better hurry this up!" Maria sounded annoyed.

"Hey, we didn't start this, you did!" Isabel shouted.

"Everybody calm down! Maria just promised not to tell anyone. I just came to see she did that, now we're going to go, alright?" Liz tried to calm everyone down with her sweet, convincing voice. She was trying everything she could to get Maria out of there. (Maria was clearly upset). Liz helped Maria up and together, they walked to the door. Once again, Michael blocked them.

"You swear you wont tell anyone?" he asked.

"She promised, Michael. Get out of my way!" Liz pushed him with surprising strength and they walked out the door.

Michael waited a few seconds, then he peeked out the door and watched them walk away. Maria had started crying once more. [I love you Maria. God, I love you. And I'll never be able to hold you again.] Michael swore to himself and went pulled his head back inside.

"Well, I hope she forgives you, Michael. Maria is the only person who can bring out the best in you." Isabel said softly to him. Then, she pushed past him and walked out the door.

[God, I hope she does too.] Michael said to himself.

MEANWHILE

"God, that was strange." Maria said, turning into her real self.

"What happened back there? They didn't hurt you, I mean, besides your wrists?" Liz wasn't easily fooled, Maria had been scared and she could still see it in her friend's face.

"No, but I did fight Michael. I tried to break free, but he was too strong. I was scared, you know. At first, I thought he was going to murder me! You never can tell with Michael." Maria was sobbing.

"Shhh. It's alright now." Liz leaned toward her friend and pulled her close for a hug. [Michael is going to pay for what he did. He'll wish he never set foot on earth], she silently swore to herself. "What did they do to you?"

"I'd rather not talk about it right now. I'll never talk to any of them again." Maria was still sobbing. "But Max didn't-"

"He's just as guilty as Michael. Do you know what he did? He got inside my head, Liz. He read my mind. That boy invaded my privacy, he-"Maria stopped at the sight of Liz.

"Stop! I don't want to hear any more, Maria." Liz was sobbing now, too. "Why did he go and do that? God, I trusted him. And now he, he invades my best friend like some kind of thing. I can't ever look at him the same way."

"I still want to tell Valenti, but I promised not to." Maria said, not directing it anywhere. The two girls walked into the diner and up to Liz's room. They sat on the bed and discussed the situation thoroughly. Later, Maria decided to go home.

Now, it was about 1 in the morning and Liz was getting ready for bed. She had her pink leopard print pajamas on and was brushing her hair. Suddenly, she felt a breeze coming from her window. As she went to shut it, she felt a presence. She spun around and gasped. Standing in front of her was a very tall, very big man wearing all black. Could she be imagining this? No, this was real. Liz tried to run, but the man grabbed her and held her mouth with his gloved hand. She tried to break free, but the man was too big, too strong. Liz saw the man pull something out of his jacket, a needle. He pushed it into her arm and injected the liquid. Within seconds, Liz blanked out. Thinking only of escape............

MEANWHILE Max woke with only one thought, Liz. He knew what a late hour it was, but he neglected to wait until morning. He had to know if she was alright. Max had a sick feeling in his stomach that wouldn't go away. So, he dialed her private line, which, he hoped was out of hearing range of her parents. If something had happened to Liz, he wanted to be the one to find her. Not only for him, but for Maria and Liz also. He knew that Liz was very angry with him and Maria probably would never talk to him again unless he did something so heroic that what he did could be forgotten. He let the phone ring until the answering machine came on. There was Liz's sweet voice, "If you need to reach me, please leave a message and a phone number. I'll try to get back with you as soon as possible. Now just wait for the cute little beep." There was laughter in the background. Max figured Maria must have been there, because no one else could make Liz laugh like that. Maria! Max had to get a hold of Maria. She was on the third memory, so he pressed the button and waited for Maria to pick up.

"Hello?" came her sleepy voice.

"Maria, I think Liz is in trouble. Is she with you?" Max was almost in tears. Somehow, he knew that Maria was alone.

"Max, is that you? What's wrong?"

"Maria, is Liz with you?" Max asked again, waiting, just waiting for the dreaded answer.

"No, she's at home, why are you calling me? I hate you." Maria was upset.

"Liz isn't at home! She's not home, Maria. Don't you get it, Liz is missing!"

MEANWHILE

(Liz is in a room completely tiled in black. She's walking around pounding on the walls and yelling)

"Help me! Somebody!" Liz was crying and pounding on the jet black walls.

A voice came from nowhere. "You can scream all you like, noone can hear you. That room is sound proof."

"Who are you? Let me out of here!" Liz was still yelling.

" My name is Pierce, and I've been working as a deputy at the Police station in your home town. I've been watching you closely."

"Why have you been watching me? What did I do?" She asked.

"Max Evans loves you, my dear. He'll do anything for you. With you here, I can push buttons I've never even dreamed possible. I see how he looks at you and I know how he feels. You are the key, Miss. Parker, you are the key." The voice was booming.

"Let me out! Do you hear me?" Liz fell to the floor sobbing. A tall, muscular man walked in and came over to her. She shrank down as the man neared. He was wearing a black suit.

"I am Pierce. You need to come with me, Miss Parker. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, your call." he explained, looking at her.

"Where are we going?" she wanted to know first.

"I'm going to take you to get a shower and some clean clothes. And then, you can eat something. Come along, Miss Parker." he took her hand and gently helped her up. Then, he guided her out of the room and into a hallway.

[I have to escape. No one will know where to find me, so I have to do it on my own.]Liz was thinking. She looked around and noticed a few doors. Without a word, she turned around and kicked Pierce the hardest she possible could, and he fell to the floor in pain. Liz took this chance and ran for one of the doors. It opened, but it was so heavy that Liz had to use all of her strength to do it. A loud sound came from behind her and she knew that it had shut. She gasped for breath, mostly out of fear, and spun around to search for a lock. Unluckily, there was none. Liz panicked and searched for somewhere to hide. There were shelves and file cabinets, but nothing to hide inside. There was nothing to do but wait for Pierce to come in looking for her. So, Liz backed herself as far away from the door as she possibly could and waited. \ A few minutes went by and Pierce walked in, followed by two other big men. Each man took an arm and led her roughly out the door. Pierce spoke to Liz, "That was a mistake, Miss. Parker. Don't try that stunt again!"

The men led Liz into a room with a tub in the center. Next to the tub was a folding wall and a small towel rack. On the floor in front of the tub was a box with white clothing. Liz, looking down at her clothing, realizing that she was still in her pink leopard PJ's. She smiled, despite the situation.

"Clean yourself up and change into the clean clothing. Put your dirty things in the box when you are finished. We'll come back in a half an hour." Pierce smiled at her and they walked out the door.

MEANWHILE

(Max, Maria, Michael, Isabel, and Alex are sitting around in Max's bedroom discussing the situation. Maria is sobbing.)

"We can't just sit around and do nothing. Liz is gone, somebody must have taken her! But we have to find out who." Max is clearly upset. "The only question is, how do we find out who kidnaped Liz when there aren't any clues? Somebody must have known what they were doing when they came into her house. We might be dealing with some dangerous people here." Isabel said, softly.

"Who's to say it has anything to do with us? Why do we always have to jump into things like it's always our god damn fault?!" Michael tried to reason with them.

"God, I hope she's okay. I should have stayed with her when she asked me to, but I wanted to be alone. It's all my fault!" Maria cried.

"If it's anyone's fault, it would be mine. I got her into this mess in the first place." Max tried to calm Maria down, but she was even more angry than before. "I just hope it's not too late" Max had a throbbing headache. Some images flashed through his mind.( Liz crying, sitting on the floor of a black room wearing all white.)

"Max, are you feeling okay?" Isabel asked with concern.

"I saw something." Max said, with worried look on his face.

"What was it?" Michael asked with interest, for he too wanted to help find Liz. It was the only way to get Maria to forgive him.

"I saw Liz........."

MEANWHILE

Liz had finished cleaning herself up and changed into the clean clothing. The white pants and tank top fit perfectly on her small, slender body. [How long have they been watching me?] Liz thought to herself. She sat on the floor and waited for Pierce to return. As if triggered, Pierce walked in that very second followed by his guards.

"Hello Miss. Parker. I trust you are feeling better?" he looked at her expectantly. "As well as I possibly could under the circumstances, sir." she answered with a level voice, holding back what she really meant to say. [Yeah right, how could I be feeling better when I've been kidnaped?! You've got to be kidding me!]

"And what strange circumstances they are. I hope you're hungry. The cook prepared a nice breakfast for the two of us, Miss. Parker. Come along now." he appeared to be hungry by what Liz could see. But she felt sick at the thought of food.

The guards each took an arm and led Liz toward the door. "I'll walk on my own, god dammit! Let me go!" Liz pulled free and kept her pace. They walked further down the hall to the end. The room was fairly small and had a table and two chairs in the middle. A tray beside it held the food. Eggs, bacon, toast, hash browns, and orange juice was on the menu for today, Liz observed. Pierce walked over to one of the chairs and pulled it out, he motioned for her to sit in it. There was nothing to do but what he wanted, so she sat down. Then, Pierce walked to his side and sat down also. A servant walked in and asked them what they wanted.

"Could I have a little of everything, please." Pierce acted totally different than he had before.

"And you, Miss?" The man looked at her.

"A piece of toast and some orange juice, thank you." Liz caught the eye of her observer. "I never was one to eat a large breakfast", she explained.

"I should have remembered that. Is that how you maintain your figure? You're a lovely girl, Miss. Parker." Pierce had given his first compliment.

"No, as a matter of fact, I eat large lunches. It's not like I don't eat at all, I just never eat breakfast. It's usually milk or juice. Just a little something to keep me going."

"Are you interested in any sports?" Pierce questioned, trying to maintain conversation. "No, I'm just a busy person. And I never overeat. But, occasionally, I go jogging. When I don't have shifts in the morning, that is."

The servant brought the plates and set them down in front them.

"How did your father come to own the Café?" Pierce asked her while taking a bite of egg.

"Oh, he just always loved people, I guess. There's no real reason, he can't even cook. But, we only sell burgers and sandwiches. That doesn't take any real cooking ability. Have you heard we're the only decent restaurant in town? Well that's what the customer's always say. I'm just going by the saying, the customer is always right, and, as you probably know, that's bull." She smiled at him, thinking how awful this was. Having to talk to a man with no heart.

"Yes, I'm familiar with that saying, but I've found it to be false in my case almost all of the time. I'm afraid I make many mistakes on judgement. But, as is my experience, I quite enjoy the diner. The service is very friendly, with pretty waitresses; that always brings customers. I guess that's why Max Evans enjoys the restaurant so much. There's always you to look at, even if the food isn't decent. But I've found the food to be excellent, so that's just a bonus." He was hinting toward Max again.

"Why are you interested in Max Evans?" Liz pondered, knowing exactly why, but trying to act clueless.

"I think you know, my dear. And it's not just Max that I'm after, it's Isabel and Michael as well. They are special people, I'm told." He took another bite.

"Special in what way?" Liz was trying to act sincere. "He saved you that day in the diner. The bullet went right into your stomach and Max healed you in seconds. We have the dress and it is confirmed that your blood is all over it. And, not to mention, the bullet hole located in the same spot." Pierce leaned over and pulled up her shirt. "No bullet hole here, how strange is that? Care to explain it to me?"

"I really don't remember much. Max just happened to be there, that's all. There were tons of others, so it's hard to say just who saved me, sir. I've no recollection of the event in my head as it is. I'm sure Max being there is just a coincidence." Liz tried to mislead him, but Pierce knew the game she was playing. This made it even more clear that she had something to hide and he was going to uncover every bit of it.

"I understand you care very much for Mr. Evans also, Miss. Parker. I'm sure there are numerous reasons for your continued denial of the obvious. But I will find out, Miss. Parker, you'll not be leaving until I do. Although it will take me twice as long to confirm my findings without your assistance." He smiled at her, picking up his toast and taking bites of it.

"I hope you don't think that scares me. If that's how it has to be, then let it. I've no intention of betraying my friend, sir."

He laughed at her, "Is that all you think of your relationship as? Friends, indeed. That's what he wanted us to believe. Max Evans saw this coming, I just don't know why he didn't try to prevent it." He took another bite.

"Max had no way of knowing! That's entirely unfair." Liz took her glass and sipped some juice.

"Like I said, I'll find out soon enough, with or without your willing help." Pierce smiled once more.

"What's that supposed to mean? There's no way to force a person to talk!"

"On the contrary, Miss. Parker. There are quite a few ways to make to a person talk ."

" I simply won't talk, it's as easy as that. There's no way to force me to do it, I'm sorry." Liz was getting upset. [Oh god, what does he have planned? Will I be able to keep my word to Max?]

"I think it's time to show you your room. You must be tired." Pierce got up and motioned for Liz to follow. There was nothing to do but what he wanted.

So, Liz followed him out of the little room and into the hallway. A few minutes later, they stood outside of the room Pierce intended Liz to stay in. He opened the door for her and Liz walked in. Pierce followed.