"Personally, I'll take haunted mansions over aliens or our friends in the Special Unit," Michael said.

That one got laughter from Liz as well as the others. Liz couldn't believe they were laughing now, with the Special Unit boxing them in. She was just as surprised that it was Michael who was making them laugh.

Something had happened to him when they left Roswell. Maybe it had happened to all of them. Liz felt like she was more in control than she had been in years. She also felt more relaxed, even though they had already faced terrible danger on the road.

"It should be dark in just over an hour," Max said.

"Maybe we'll lose them after all," Michael added. Then, just a second later, he added, "Police car coming up behind you."

Liz saw Max check his speed. He was going the speed limit.

"He's going pretty fast, he'll probably just blow past us," Michael said.

Checking her own mirror, Liz saw the police car closing the distance behind them. In the far distance she saw the black SUV pacing them. Then the police cars lights came on. She immediately heard the siren.

The car was now directly behind them. It was crazy. They were being tailed by some of the most dangerous people in the F.B.I. and they were about to be pulled over by a local policeman in a squad car.

"Oh, Max," Isabel said.

For a second, Max considered flooring the accelerator and taking his chances on the road. But the VW van was more than three decades old and though Kyle had done a great job of repairing and upgrading it, Max had no illusions about whether it could outrun a late model police car.

And even if it could, it could never outrun the police radio. There would be a car from the next town or the state police waiting for them up ahead. Still, if there was a turnoff… even a dirt road… Max might have tried it. But this road was a long, straight stretch of nothing much.