Part 10
Once Sara stepped into the alley the stench from the dumpster hit her and she had to pinch her nose to keep from losing her supper. Breathing through her mouth she moved towards Main Street, stopping in the shadows to check to see if it was safe to move out onto the sidewalk.
She almost didn't see Michael and Maria in a lip-locked embrace across the way, but when she did she paused and removed her fingers from pinching her nose. Should I interrupt them or let them continue this? she questioned herself. Then she remembered the old lady was also on break and Liz was alone with the tables filling fast.
Clearing her throat she asked, "Excuse me, do either of you have the time?"
Maria sprang backwards and immediately adjusted her uniform before answering, "Um, it's… Oh my God, it's after 6. I've got to run." She then ran back into the restaurant to finish her shift.
Michael glared at Sara for a minute then turned to walk back to the kitchen.
"Um, just so you know, the one called Dusty was just eyeing the West Roswell prom poster inside. I think you may need reinforcements there. Who should I talk to?"
Michael stopped, "You really should talk to Max."
"Fine. You set it up for tomorrow morning. What about Sheriff Valenti? Can I go and ask him to help?"
He sighed heavily, "Yeah, but be careful. His office may still be bugged from the last time the FBI were snooping."
"I will. I'll also let you know how it goes," she agreed.
She watched Michael return to the kitchen, then turned to walk the block and a half to the sheriff's office. Along the way she tried to decide what to tell him and how to get his trust.
By the time she'd reached the deputy desk she'd decided to try a note with the orb symbol to break the ice, even though she wasn't sure if he'd ever seen the orbs before.
"Excuse me, sir, does a Jim Valenti work here? My father knew him growing up and asked me to stop by," she asked the deputy on duty with her sweetest voice.
"Why, yes he does, ma'am. He's the Sheriff. If you'll wait here, I'll let him know he's got company," Deputy Hanson said.
"Thank you very much," she said relaxing for a second.
As she waited she wrote the note including the orb. She felt the prickle of an electronic bug, as Michael had suspected, while she was writing so she included the warning in the note.
Hansen returned and led her back to Valenti's office. The prickle grew stronger as she walked in the door. She stepped forward and while shaking his hand passed him the note.
"Mr. Valenti, I'm Sara. I'm not sure whether you remember me or not but my father speaks very highly of you," she said while glancing pointedly at the note in his hand.
He scanned the message quickly.
Sheriff,
I need to speak with you about an urgent security matter regarding a danger to Max Evans.
This room is bugged.
The whirling symbol she'd drawn beneath it glowed softly in blue.
Jim looked a bit startled as he stood up. He had a half smile on his face and began speaking to her as if she were an old friend. "Sara, why of course I remember you. It's good to see you again. How is your father?"
"Oh, you know, taking care of things back home. I kind of hate to impose but I'm having a bit of car trouble and wondered if you might know of a good place to get it fixed."
"A bit of car trouble? Well, why don't we go take a look?" he said grabbing his hat.
"I really appreciate anything that you can do," she added.
He drove them a short way out of town into a rather secluded desert area. Then they walked about ten yards away from the vehicle. "Is this ok?" he asked her when they stopped.
Sara closed her eyes and pressed her fingers together gathering energy in between her hands. She released the energy in a pulse that scanned the immediate area for other possible listening devices. She found none.
Opening her eyes she relaxed a little and nodded to the sheriff in answer to his question.
"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I wasn't lying when I said my father has trusted you for a long time. About twenty years or more if my calculations are correct, but you haven't met me yet. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I'm Sara Evans. I actually haven't been born yet in this time. But I am trying to prevent an assassination attempt on my father, Max Evans. Up until about thirty minutes ago I thought this would be taking place on Sunday night, but I am afraid the assassins have found out about the prom scheduled for tomorrow night."
"Who are the assassins?"
"They are Skins, three of them to be exact, Nicolas, Trent and Dusty. I was trying to keep their prom a worry-free event but now it looks like it is going to be chaos."
"I thought Nicolas was dead?" Valenti asked.
"Actually he was strong enough that he took over a Human body for a couple of weeks until he reached the back up husks and they matured to the serviceable body he is using today. He's actually the last leader standing. Kivar died about a year back," Sara answered.
"It's good to know that Max will win someday. Is your mother Liz?"
"Yes," she answered truthfully.
"And is your desire for their prom to be worry free due to any special circumstances or is it just your aunt Isabel coming out in you?" he asked lightly.
"Actually a little of both. Can I tell you a secret and not have you try and stop it?"
"It depends, will any one be hurt or is it illegal?"
"No. They are both over 18."
"Then I will keep it a secret. If you insist," he agreed.
"Ok. The main reason I keep worrying about their prom is selfish really. See my brother and I were conceived on their prom night. I would like for that not to change."