The second file wasn't any better. Just canceled checks and old bills. The third file had tax stuff. The fourth file had Sheriff Valenti's birth certificate, the lease for the house, and a copy of his car registration.
"Valenti's middle name is Elmer. It's just not as easy to be scared of someone named Elmer," Maria said. She started to giggle.
"Oh no, Maria. Not now," Liz begged.
Maria locked her teeth together and tried to think of something completely unfunny, like that guy Carrot Top. But she heard something that made her giggle even harder, so hard she couldn't keep it in. It was the sound of a door opening.
Liz moved up behind her and wrapped her hand over Maria's mouth. Maria squeezed her eyes shut and took deep, slow breaths until she felt the urge for hysterical giggling fade. She reached up and pushed Liz's hand away.
"I think whoever it was headed to the kitchen," Liz whispered. "If we keep all the way to the right side of the hall, I think we can make it to the living room and out the door without being spotted."
Maria nodded her agreement. She stepped out of the office and pressed her back to the right wall. She crept sideways down the hallway, her eyes locked on her feet.
About halfway there, she coached herself. Keep moving. She took another step, then felt Liz's fingers dig into her arm. Maria looked up-and saw Kyle Valenti staring at them.
Maria's heart slammed up, lodging in her throat. She could feel it in there, a hot, meaty lump. At least it was saving her from another laugh attack.
"What the hell are you doing in here?" Kyle demanded.
"We're, uh, decorating all the football players' houses. You know, as a surprise to… give our guys a boost before the next game." Maria held up her crocheted bag, glad it was her biggest one. "We have crepe paper and everything. Rah, rah!"
Kyle crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not on the football team," he informed her.
"Uh, uh, uh…" Maria swallowed hard, trying to shove her heart back into place.
"Really? This is all my fault!" Liz cried. "I always think of you as on the team. I guess because you're so big and strong. Well, we better go find the right house." She grabbed Maria by the arm and pulled her past Kyle. They raced out the front door and didn't stop running until they rounded the corner at the end of Kyle's block.
"Did you actually look at Kyle Valenti and say, 'You're so big and strong'?" Maria gasped.
"Sickening, isn't it?" Liz answered. "At least we got a look at Valenti's office."
"And found nothing." Maria sighed. "At least I didn't."
"Me neither," Liz said. "I hope the others are having more luck than we are."
Max shot a look at Adam. Was he cute? Max took another fast glance. It's not like he had to watch the road that carefully. It was straight, and flat, and pretty much empty, with the desert stretching out on both sides.
But no matter how often he took one of his fast peeks, Max just couldn't decide. Was Adam cute? Well, what he meant was, would girls think Adam was cute? It was a hard call. There were some things, like kittens or fuzzy ducklings, that were pretty much no-brainers. Definitely cute.
But Adam. Max was pretty clueless, although he had heard Maria saying that Adam's eyes were the most amazing shade of green. And eyes, they were important to girls, right?
Even if Maria thinks he's cute, that doesn't mean Liz thinks he's cute, Max told himself. And even if Liz does think he's cute, that doesn't mean anything. I mean, admit it, you think other girls besides Liz are cute. Like Maria. Be honest, you think Maria is walking, giggling cuteness.
But Liz. Whoa. Liz was so beautiful, it practically made him dizzy every time he saw her. She affected him the way no other girl ever did or ever would. And that's what he wanted Liz to feel about him. And that's most assuredly what he didn't want her to feel about Adam. Not like she did. Or at least he was pretty sure she didn't. But if Adam was cute, she might.
Wasn't there some study about how when a woman looked at a man and found him attractive, her pupils dilated? Maybe that's how he could tell if-
If Michael or Alex could hear what you're thinking, they would rag on you for the rest of your days, Max told himself.
"I guess we're far enough away from town for our practice session," Max said. He pulled the Jeep off the highway and drove another mile or so into the desert.
Adam was being awfully quiet. Max wondered what he'd been thinking about during the drive. Was he thinking about Liz? Was-
Max told himself to shut up and pulled the Jeep to a stop.
"Do you have a headache?" Adam asked. "You keep rubbing your head."
Max hadn't even realized he'd been doing it. It wasn't that he had a headache exactly, but there was this constant pressure behind his eyes. He thought it was from trying to block all the sensations and knowledge from the collective consciousness. It's not that he didn't want to learn everything he could about his heritage. But when he let himself experience the consciousness, it was all-consuming. And he couldn't afford the distraction right now. Later, after Michael was safe, there would be plenty of time to give himself over to it.
"I'm okay," he told Adam. "Any ideas on what we should try first? We're looking for anything that will give us more firepower when we break Michael out."
He didn't say "if." There was no "if" in this situation. In two days the group was going in, and Michael was coming out with them.
"Dr. Doyle, the guy who did most of the tests on me, had me try to explode things once," Adam said. "The biggest thing I ever managed was a grape. But together…"
"Let's try it. So when you blew up the grape, did you just push the molecules apart or what?" Max asked.
"I… I don't know," Adam answered. "I never really think about how I'm doing something-I just do it. Somehow it just comes out."
"Whoa. I've never experienced it like that," Max said, feeling a stab of envy. "Maybe it's because I've spent most of my life trying not to use any power if I didn't have to, and you grew up pushed to find out all the ways you could use yours."
"You didn't use your powers because you were afraid of scaring people, right?" Adam asked.
He's already figured out that's not the only reason, Max realized. Adam had been out of the compound for less than a week, and he'd already seen enough to teach him that humans, at least some humans, would want him dead if they knew the truth about him. Max could hear that knowledge in Adam's voice.
Adam was waiting for an answer.
"We don't use our powers in front of people partly because it would scare them. But also because when they do get scared, they can lash out. There are definitely people out there who would hurt you, Adam, just because you're different."
Adam nodded, his face somber. In that moment he looked like such a little boy. It was hard for Max to believe he'd actually been obsessing about whether Liz could possibly go for him.
"So what should we try and blow up?" Max asked. He and Adam would have to have a much longer discussion about humans later, but now they needed to get some training time in.