| Max turned the penlight away from Michael and pointed it at Maria. She kicked at the white sneakers and heard a muffled yelp. "Get out of the tree, Parker." She whacked the trunk with her palm. "This is crazy," Michael shook his head and took his place next to Maria. "Liz?" Max stepped towards the tree trunk, his penlight guiding him. "Are you okay? Liz?" Isabel stood in back of her brother, anger in her breath. "You are in serious shit Max." She whispered hotly in his ear. "What the hell were you thinking?" "But it� It was for Liz," he turned to face her, pity mounting in his voice. Isabel narrowed her eyes at her brother who had dried blood around his nose and mercy in his eyes. She fought the urge to punch him in the face the same way she was sure Michael had. He may be her brother, but tonight, he was her enemy. "I don't give a shit who it was Max!" She hissed. "You broke laws, you could and no doubt should go to jail!" "But�" He stammered on his words until his attention was drawn in back of him again. Maria had both of her arms down the inside of the hollowed out trunk. She had hair grasped in her hands and she knew without a doubt it was red. "I'm serious Parker, get your ass out here right freaking now!" "You're hurting me!" Came the muffled whine from inside the trunk. "Leggo my hair!" With a quick smile, Michael knelt on the ground. He tapped Liz Parker on the leg. "Liz. Bend down and get the fuck out of the tree, okay? You're caught. You're busted. You're going to jail." He looked up at Maria and winked. "Let's get a move on, I got better things to do tonight." He stood and laid his hands on Maria's arms. "Let go of her hair." Maria did so reluctantly after one more quick yank. She looked to Michael and shrugged before taking a step away from the tree. She threaded her arm through Michael's and winked. Liz Parker emerged from the hollowed out tree trunk dirty and on her knees. She stood and brushed off her knees before facing anyone. "Liz?" Max tried to take a step towards her but felt hands on his biceps holding him back. Isabel. He shown his light on the delicate, smudged face of Liz Parker. "Are you okay?" She faced him and nodded. "I'm sorry Max, I should have never dragged you into this." Maria watched as Max Evans turned from the sniveling kidnapper to the guy with the great smile. She shook her head in disgust. "I'm sorry it didn't work�" Max shook his head. "I was stupid-" "Yeah Max, you were." Michael interrupted and faced his friend. "You do realize that kidnapping is illegal, don't you?" "She informed me of that already," Max motioned to Maria. "I'm sorry." Maria opened her mouth to speak as they small group was assaulted with headlights heading in from two directions. "They're here!" Liz screamed and turned to run taking only one step into the darkness before being tackled from behind by Maria. "Get out!" Isabel pulled Michael to her. "Take her and get out of here!" Without hesitation, Michael lurched forward and grabbed Maria by the waist and pulled her to her feet. "We gotta get out of here!" "Not without Parker!" Maria reached down to the fallen felon and pulled her to her feet by her elbow. "Come on!" "They're going to kill me!" Liz whined and stumbled over her own feet as Maria pulled her through the woods. "If you don't shut the hell up, I'm going to kill you!" Maria whispered harshly in her ear. "Now!" Michael shouted, he was a few feet in front of them running towards the parking lot and breaking down the brush before Maria and Liz got to it. Maria kept her grip tight on Liz's arm, she was sure she was leaving a bruise, but she couldn't seem to care. Her feet hurt and the only thing that kept her running was knowing that it was almost over. The hunt for Liz Parker was over and something strangely new was getting ready to begin with Michael Guerin. "I'm sorry," Liz cried while tripping over unearthed roots. "I'm sorry." "Shut up and keep running," Maria saw a light up ahead and knew they were close to the parking lot. The parking lot. One more added reason to hate Liz Parker was that any shared moments in parking lots were going to be put on hold until this Parker thing was closed. "Come on!" Michael called from the edge of the woods. "Isabel's car, now!" Maria nodded and pulled Liz along to the car and flung her in the backseat before following her in and slamming the door. "Go!" Michael started the car as the passenger door opened and Max Evans jumped in. "What the fuck?" "Take the 380," Max barked and swung around in the seat. "Are you okay?" Michael took a deep breath, "Where is Isabel?" "She's fine," Max pointed to inbound flashlights. "Go!" Maria rolled her eyes and slipped off her shoes. "Where is Isabel?" She leaned on the back of Max's seat. "She's fine, she took off the other way-" He was interrupted by a cell phone ringing. Michael swore and pulled his phone out of his back pocket as gravel and dust spewed out in back of his tires. He flipped the phone in the backseat to Maria. "Yeah?" Maria listened and nodded, "But you are okay? And you have keys?" "Isabel?" Max asked. Maria answered him with her middle finger. "No, we're getting the hell out of Dodge. San Fran baby, I'm dumping her in the City by the Bay." Maria laughed and turned the phone off. "She's okay?" Michael asked looking in the rearview mirror at Maria. "She's fine," Maria answered. "And we should be back to see her in about three days. As soon as we drop off Dumb in San Fran, we can bring Dumber back with us and�" "And�." Michael licked his lips and returned his eyes to the road. Maria DeLuca sank back into the plush of the backseat and grinned. Only about twelve hundred miles to go. One way. Maria relished in the idea of how many parking lots there were between Roswell New Mexico and San Francisco California. TBC |
| Part 29 |
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