"With Michael?"

"Yeah."

"Nothing. My mom and I totally bailed him out of jail, and he didn't even thank us. He just left, as usual. I should be furious with him. But after finding out about Michael and hank…" she let that hang in the air. "Listen, I have to get home. I'm still grounded because of that whole 'Michael in my bed' thing. I'll see you later."

Liz laughed. "Bye."

Maria walked home, thinking about all that had happened in the past week. She had not seen Michael at all. As usual, he had not shown up for school, or been to the Crashdown. She had heard from Liz that Max thought Michael might leave, but then Isabel told her that Michael had left, but he had come back and had become an adult some how. Maybe she would see him tomorrow.

She opened the door to her house, stepped inside, and looked around. Something did not seem right. It was too quiet. Then a thought occurred to her. This was just how her house sounded when she found her mom and the sheriff downstairs. She shivered at the thought. She still could not shake that ekk feeling it gave her. She prayed to god he was not here, and went into the kitchen, looking around for clues. The kitchen was spotless, but she heard a guy's voice coming from the downstairs, and it did NOT sound like Jim's.

She knocked on the door and when no one answered, she opened the door.

TBC