Maria groaned and shook her head, trying to run all nasty thoughts out. Alex was only 2 minutes later--that's not much. But after what had happened last night, 2 minutes could mean life or death. A sudden squeal of tries mad her look down the road, and she saw Alex's little red car skid around the turn.

Dashing down the steps, Maria met him as soon as the breaks stopped. "God, where were you?!"

Alex jumped out, running his hands through his hair. "I had a problem."

"Problem? What kind of problem?!" she demanded. She saw Alex take a deep breath and knew it was bad.

"There was a road block--"

"A road block?! By who?"

"I'm not sure--"

"The FBI?!" Without waiting for a reply, Maria went on. "Oh my god!! They're here already?!!"

"No one said it was FBI," Alex pointed out.

Maria rolled her eyes and was about to remark when a red mustang pulled up to the curb and Kyle Valenti jumped out.

"Kyle, what are you doing here?" Alex asked.

"Is Liz with you?"

Maria shook her head, getting a sinking feeling in her stomach. "No...we were just about to go over her house. Why?"

Kyle looked at the ground, avoiding both of their eyes. "Kyle, what happened?" Alex asked slowly.

"Um...Liz's gone."

"What?! How can she just be 'gone'!!" Maria looked at Alex and then Kyle, trying to gain some control.

"She's not at her house...my dad thinks she's with--with the others," Kyle said softly.

Maria looked back at Alex, wondering if he knew. "The others?" she asked, trying to hold back her tears.

"Why would you say that?" Alex asked, also taking the safe route.

Kyle scoffed and looked at them both. "I know. Tess left me a little note."

Maria stood, numbly looking at Kyle. How could Tess do that?! Did she know what would happen if someone got a hold of a note like that?!

"She told you it all?" Alex asked, prompting a nod from Kyle. "And she left all this information in the form of a note? Where is it?"

"Here..." Kyle reached into his back pocket, but stopped and cursed. "Um...maybe I left it in the car."

Maria watched as he jogged back to his car and searched around a little, then came back to them empty handed. "I must have left it at my house," he admitted.

Maria's jawed dropped and she faintly noticed that Alex was now pacing. "Kyle...I swear to god, if Isabel went through all of this and then you blow it--"

Maria nearly jumped at the tone in his voice. Alex was never mean or nasty, but right now, he was pushing for totally hate filled.

Kyle must have noticed too, cause he backed up a step and held his hands up in a surrender move. "Look...I've had a head-ache all morning, so I probably just left it on the counter when I was getting some medicine. We can go and get it right now."

Maria suddenly snapped too. "No...we have other things to do. We need to find Liz," she pointed out.

"Dad said--"

"Max wouldn't take Liz. He knows she's safer here."

Alex placed a hand on her shoulder and said softly, "Maria, hon, this is Max we're talking about."

Maria let his words sink in and sighed; he was right. If Max had to choose between leaving Liz here, alone, or taking her with him, where he could watch over her and be near her...is the kettle black?!

"I will kill Michael if Liz go to go and he didn't ask me," Maria hissed as she started to pace. But in reality, being mad was the last thing she wanted to do; right now, she wanted to collapse and dwell in her own little pit of self pity.

"Wait...you would actually go with them?" Kyle asked, seeming to turn white at the thought.

Maria stopped dead in her pace and looked him square in the eye. "I love Michael...and if giving up," she waved her hand in the air, "all this was the only way...I'd do it in a heartbeat."

Kyle swallowed and looked at Alex. "You too?"

Alex nodded and stood beside Maria. "Yeah...that's what love does to ya."

Maria saw Kyle was letting his eyes drift as he thought about what they said.

"Kyle...what did the letter say?" Alex asked.

"Um...it said she was meeting the others and they were leaving. That their cover had been blown and they had to run," Kyle said softly.

"What else?" Maria asked, starting to pace again. This was getting worse.

Kyle just shrugged and looked at the sidewalk. "Not much more--"

"Kyle, we need to know," Alex interrupted.

"It was personal, ok?"

Maria gave Kyle another look and it hit her what he was talking about. Tess...the letter...personal things... "It's ok, Kyle."

"Look, did it mention where they were meeting?"

Kyle looked at Alex and shook his head. "Just that she was meeting them in a few hours."

"When was that?" Alex was also pacing now.

"I noticed the letter about 20 minutes ago."

Maria looked at her watch and cursed. "Ok, it's only 6:30. Maybe we can catch them."

"We don't know where they are," Kyle pointed out.

"But we know how Max thinks."

"And Max thinks about one thing: Liz Parker," Maria said, noting the irony of the situation.

"First kiss?" Alex suggested.

Maria shook her head. "No, that was on her balcony."

"Where did they first meet?" Kyle asked.

"School, but that's not an option. It's about to start in a while."

"Wait! Technically, first words were spoken in the Crashdown...never mind," Alex said. "They couldn't be there."

"Ok, this is getting us no where," Maria pointed out.

"Wasn't there first date at 'Senor Chows'" Alex asked.

"Yeah...but it's in town--out in the open," Kyle said suddenly.

Maria jumped suddenly, having an idea blast through her head. "Oh, I got it! Ok, Alex, do you remember where they found the orb?!"

"Yeah, out on the old highway," Alex replied.

"That was also where they spent the night, alone..."

Alex and Kyle both popped open their eyes. "Did they..?" Kyle asked.

"I had no idea--"

"Guys! They didn't do anything, except sleep; but don't you get it! It's a 'Liz memory' for Max!" Maria said in frustration.

"So, you think they're there?" Kyle asked.

Maria nodded. "It's our best bet."

"What about the cave?" Alex said suddenly.

"The cave?" Kyle asked.

Maria ignored him and locked eyes with Alex. "There's two."

"Two caves?"

"We only know where one is," she added, ignoring Kyle again.

"We don't...but River Dog might!" Alex said with determination.

Kyle threw up his hands and sighed. "Ok, who's River Dog?!"

Maria finally looked at him. "Ok, River Dog is an Indian who knew Nasedo." Kyle opened his mouth, but Maria beat him to the gun. "And before you ask, Nasedo is their protector; he's an actual alien. Ok, River Dog knew him, and a lot about Max and the gang. The first cave is in Frazier Woods."

"Frazier woods?"

"Yeah, the whole Father Camping Weekend," Alex added. "Big hoax to just get to the cave."

"Anyway, it's a few miles from the Mescalero Reservation, where said River Dog is," Maria continued.

"So, you think they're there?" Kyle stated. "That's a pretty big jump."

"It's the only jump we have to take," Alex said softly.

Maria was about to freak out if she didn't do something. "Ok, here's the plan: Kyle, do you know where the old radio tower is?"

"Highway 42," Alex added.

"Yeah," Kyle said after a minute. "Why?"

"You're going there. Me and Alex are gonna take the cave. Maybe talk to River Dog. Got it?"

Both men nodded and Maria sighed. It was gonna be a long morning.

***

Ms. Parker was pacing her living room as the sheriff looked at her daughters bedroom. He took in his surroundings: a not slept in bed, clothes on the closet floor, window opened with no force applied, used towels on the bathroom floor. The more he saw, the more he was drawn to the same conclusion.

"I don't any indications of foul play," Jim Valenti said, coming back to the main room. Nancy and Jeff both looked at him.

"What does that mean?" she asked, holding back tears.

"I mean...if she left, it looks to be on her own," he said after a minute.

Nancy looked away, placing a hand over her mouth. Jeff, also taken back, said, "Liz wouldn't run away, if that's what you're implying." Valenti fiddled with his hat then finally replied. "I'll look into this, I promise, but we can only do so much when there's no evidence," he admitted.

"How can you say that?!" Nancy accused. "This is my daughter we're talking about!"

"Nancy, honey," Jeff said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "We would like you to do a full investigation," he added after a minute.

"Of course. I'll send out for back-up." Jim pulled out his cell phone and was surprissed when he saw it had a message. "I'll be in the room if you need me," he added, walking down the hallway. He pressed the button and listened to his son talk.

"Dad, I'm on my way out to the old radio tower. We think Max and Liz may be there. Um...we still don't know what's going on, but we have a-a plan, sorta. Gotta go." Kyle stopped talking and the message was over, still leaving a blank void in his head.

"Where are the others?!" he asked aloud, almost forgetting about the Parkers. But almost wasn't enough.

"What did you say, Jim?" Jeff asked, walking into his daughters room.

"Um...I was wondering where my deputy is," he flubbed. Truth was, he hadn't called yet. They would come to the same conclusion.

"Do you really think...do you believe what you said earlier?" Mr. Parker asked slowly.

Jim looked out the window and sighed. "Liz is a smart girl. If she did leave, I'm sure she had a good reason."

Jeff nodded and walked back out of the room, leaving the sheriff to ponder his thoughts. He pushed the repeat button on his cell and listened once more to his son's voice.

The only radio tower he knew of was on old highway 42...which was just a few miles from the crash! Cursing himself, Valenti dialed Hanson's home number and let it ring a few times.

"Hanson? Listen to me, you need to come over to the Parker's residence. Their daughter's missing and I have to be someplace else." After getting a reply, he clicked off the phone and tapped it back and forth, letting a few seconds go before walking back to the living room.

"Jim, Nancy, Deputy Hanson is on his way over. I need to leave for a while, but I'll be back."

"You're leaving?" Ms. Parker asked.

The sheriff gave her a reassuring smile and stated, "I assure you that Liz will be brought back home safe and sound."

Jeff nodded and looked at Jim. "I know...it's just hard to imagine our little Liz..."