BountyHunterpart20

The waitress returned to the table and took Max and Maria's orders before another word about Liz Parker or anything else could be uttered.

"So," Max sipped his beer that the waitress had brought to the table in record time. "How do you like Roswell?"

"Roswell is hell," Maria shrugged causing one of the dress straps to slide down her arm exposing the top of one milky white breast. She pulled the strap up quickly and made a mental note not to shrug.

* *

Michael's bottled beer nearly slipped from his hand as he watched Maria's strap slip from her shoulder. "Shit!"

* *

"It's not so bad," Max touched his tongue to the mouth of the bottle in his hand. "You just have to get used to it."

"I don't have to get used to anything," Maria said with defiance. "I'm here for a job; when its over I'll go home and hang out with my fish."

"Fish, huh?" Max raised his eyebrows and awarded her with one of his brilliant smiles.

Maria nodded curtly and poured her own beer from the bottle into a glass after a moment's deliberation. "So, how is Liz?"

Max smiled again and shook his head. "What makes you think that I have heard from Liz? I'm sure that Michael, and probably my sister too, have told you that I haven't heard from Liz since she moved away from Roswell in high school."

Maria nodded and watched his eyes. Making a living by being around professional liars made it easy to detect a lie from someone� Someone like Max Evans.

"So, are you enjoying working with Michael?" He asked and tilted his head to one side.

"Not really," Maria tilted her head in the opposite direction. "He's not really that fun of a guy. But his mouth�God!

"He'll grow on you," Max laughed. "Maybe like a fungus, but he will."

Maria laughed with him and determined if Max wasn't a lying, law-breaking aider and abettor, he might not be that bad of a guy.

* *

Michael cringed when he saw Maria laugh at something Max said. He motioned to the bartender for another beer but kept his eyes glued to the interaction between Maria and Max. Jealousy rampaging through him like a cancer.

* *
"Yeah, I can see the fungus angle," Maria relaxed a little. Something about the soothing voice of Max Evans wanted to make her tell all of her secrets. "Anyway, back to Liz Parker."

"I don't know anything about Liz Parker." He said the words with a smile but the undertone of authority wasn't lost on Maria.

"I think you know more than you're telling me," Maria shrugged and let the strap fall down again. She saw Max's eyes linger briefly on her chest and wondered if she was going to have to strip to get some information out of him.

* *
Michael downed the second beer as he watched Maria intentionally flirt with Max; his heart was a racing a million miles a minute.

"This is bad," he muttered and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "This is very, very bad�"

* *
"Why would I lie to you?" Max met her eyes and saw the same thing that was reflecting in his own. Games. Intense games.

"Why would you tell me the truth?"

Max held up his hands in mock surrender. "I give Maria, I give."

Maria grinned and thought the timing of their dinner arrival was beyond perfect. A few minutes to eat and regroup and then back on it.

"So, does Liz plan on staying a redhead?" Maria caught the slight pause as Max brought his fork of pasta to his mouth. Bingo! She wanted to gloat, but held off on it. "Maybe she should try the blond thing, you know it's true."

"What's true?" Max asked meeting her eyes.

Maria winked. "Blondes have more fun."

Max laughed wholeheartedly.

* *
Michael placed a fresh cold beer bottle to his forehead and counted to ten. He was dumbfounded. There had been a slew of women that had answered to his beck and call over the years and he had never once been more attached to them than he was to his next meal. He could have cared less what they did when they weren't with him. Never had a woman gotten so far into Michael's system that he allowed himself to feel the sting of jealousy.

There's something about that DeLuca�

And she was out with Max Evans. Its just work, he told himself over and over and over�

* *
"So," Max drummed his fingers on the tabletop. "Why don't you tell me why you think I know anything about Liz Parker?"

Maria shrugged. This was not exactly what she had been hoping for. She knew she had him over a figurative barrel, but she wasn't sure she wanted to let him know that yet.

"You must have a reason," Max's expression dared her.

Never being the one to turn down a dare, Maria grinned. "Let's just say that, hypothetically, Liz is here in Roswell and, still with the hypothetical, she came in on a bus and spent a few hours in a hotel before she was picked up."

Max nodded slowly; the dare had leaked from his eyes.

"Here's the thing," Maria took a sip of beer and then spoke animatedly with her hands. "The hotel clerk? She saw who picked up our little Miss Parker!" Maria got an obscene amount of satisfaction as she watched Max blanch.

Max pushed his plate away and downed the rest of his beer.

"Max?"

He reached across the table and grabbed her arm, rougher than he should have, but not rough enough to scare her.

* *

Michael ran his hand through his hair and motioned for another beer with his empty bottle as he watched Max touch her arm. She wasn't pulling away from him and Michael would have actually given his eyeteeth to know what the hell they were talking about. From the way Max had leaned over, he could no longer see his face only the side of his head. Maria was calm; but he could see she was holding back a smile.

* *
"Listen," Max spoke softly forcing Maria to lean in closer to him. "She's not a bad person and she's in trouble-"

"She's a wanted felon," Maria raised her eyebrows and noticed how warm his hand was on her arm.

"She's in trouble," Max spoke softer. "They're after her."

"She'll be safe behind bars," Maria whispered sarcastically. "They can't get her there."

"They can."

"The men she worked for? The men she stole from?"

"Not everything is as it seems."

"It never is."

Max let of her arm and leaned back in his chair. "I know why you said you'd go out with me tonight. The dress?" He motioned to the red. "If there were a different set of circumstances going on right now, I'd be all over you."

Maria blushed in spite of herself. "Help me, Max. Help Michael and Isabel. Help Liz. Turn her in."

He shook his head. "Give up Maria. Tell Michael to give up. You'll kill her if you turn her in."

Maria removed the napkin from her lap and laid it over her half-eaten meal. "I can't give up." She scooted back from the table and stood up. "You know you'll take the fall with her, don't you? I could have you arrested this minute for what you're doing."

"But you won't."

Max was right. Maria grabbed her purse from the table and walked out of the restaurant the way she had come in, she never glanced in the direction of the bar otherwise she would have seen Michael Guerin trying to hide behind his fourth beer in less than an hour.

* *
Michael let out a deep breath as the red of Maria's dress disappeared out of the front doors. He turned his attention back to Max and saw him laying cash on the table before he stood up and walked towards the back of the restaurant towards the restrooms.

Michael took the opportunity to lay his own cash on the bar and scoot out the front door. He saw Maria's jeep parked next to Max's car; but he didn't see her.

"Where did she go?" He asked out loud taking a step towards the empty cars.

"She's behind you, nimrod." Maria whispered at the back of his neck.

Michael let out a sound close to a yelp and turned around. "You knew I was there?"

She shrugged and that damn strap slid down her arm; but this time she didn't make a move to fix it.

Michael licked his lips as the doors swung open in back of him. He ducked behind a wall-bordering bush as Max walked to where he had been only seconds before and listened.

"Think about it Max." Maria called to him as he walked to his car. "Think about it. I won't give up!"

Max acknowledged her with a nod before he got into his car and pulled out of the lot.

"You can come out now," Maria hovered over the bush and grinned as Michael stood up and dusted mulch off his jeans.

He looked at her and wondered if his eyes betrayed him as much as hers were betraying her. He stepped into her and cupped her face in her hands, his lips crushed down on hers.

TBC