Max told the others she would keep watch overnight, since she didn't sleep, but shortly after moonrise she woke Grace to take her place for an hour. She needed to rest for a just a little while, she whispered. Stiff and sleepy, Grace seated herself in the shadows at the entrance while Max lay down near Jace. The full moon was beginning to light the woods, but the fire had long since burned out and in the darkness Grace could see only dim outlines of the sleeping women.
After a while she realized that she needed to pee. At first she tried to ignore it. She was sure Max knew some top-secret military technique for holding it in when you were out in the field, and she didn't want to look like a pathetic amateur if she could help it. But eventually she couldn't.
Shivering, she risked a quick trip into the bushes. It was not until she was nearly back inside the cave that she heard the sound of someone -- or something -- approaching. Keeping an eye on the entrance, she hurried to Max and touched her shoulder. Even in her alarm Grace could not help admiring the way Max's eyes opened instantly, the way she came fully alert in a second. Leaning over, Grace whispered into her ear, "Someone's coming." She pointed to the mouth of the cave.
Max nodded, held a finger to her lips, moved silently as a cat to the entrance. In a moment she looked back at Grace with a quick nod. She pointed left, then held up a hand palm up. Not clear how many of them, approaching from the west. Again Max held her finger to her lips, then pointed first to herself and then outside, waving a hand forward to indicate that she would draw the visitors away. Before Grace could respond the baby began to whimper and in the darkness Jace stirred. Grace, still in the shadows, quietly warned Jace, who picked up the baby and soothed her while scanning the entrance with eyes every bit as alert as Max's. After a few moments, Max moved back until she was next to Jace. The two women exchanged glances, seeming to communicate wordlessly. Jace shook her head, No. Max leaned over and whispered to Grace: "Take the baby. Jace and I will draw them away."
But it was too late. Footsteps crunched loudly on the leaves and underbrush outside. Frantically Grace waved towards the back of the cave. After a moment's hesitation Max and Jace, holding the baby, stepped back into the darkness. Grace felt a breath of air brush her cheek as they moved silently past her. Quickly Grace woke Sophie, finger to her lips to signal caution. Then the cave darkened as the figures of two armed men filled the entrance. One shouted, "Who's here?"
There was a click and the beam of a high-intensity flashlight swept across the cave, blinding Grace and Sophie. Grace shielded her eyes with a hand, then called back in a fearful voice that was not entirely feigned, "Hello? Who are you? Help?" The two men approached and Grace scrambled up from the ground. As she expected, they raised their guns and Grace froze, allowing herself to look every bit as desperate as she felt. "Don't shoot! Please!" she begged as the white light swept over them.
"Two women, no baby," one of them said into a transmitter, then said to Grace, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Two women, no baby. These men were looking for them, or rather for Max and Jace. Desperately hoping she was right, Grace pointed to the entrance. "They were here -- they forced us -- we're nurses, they said there was an emergency -- can you help us --" That was the ticket, confused and vague, get them out as quickly as possible before the baby cried.
"Did you deliver a baby?" asked the transmitter man.
"No!" Grace gasped. "She'd already given birth by the time we got here -- they left us here -- we're freezing -- please, take us back --"
"Which way did they go? How long ago did they leave?" demanded the flashlight man.
"They ran when they heard you coming -- I don't know where they went, they told us not to look --"
"Sit," commanded the first man, then spoke into the transmitter: "Two females, say they were abducted by the pregnant female and her friend. They say the subjects have escaped into the woods ... Should be easy to catch, they're probably not traveling very fast, subject 1 has apparently given birth ... No sir, I won't underestimate them." Then, to Grace and Sophie: "Stay here. We'll send someone back for you later." A moment later they were gone. Grace could hear them moving away through the underbrush.
For a long time, the four women sat motionless and silent. Miraculously, the baby seemed to be sleeping. Finally, Max moved out of the blackness, checked the entrance, and signaled all clear. Jace slid gratefully to the floor, Sophie took the baby, and Grace dropped her head between her knees. I hope I'm not going to throw up like I did at Logan's, she thought. Only Max remained standing. She said:
"We have to move, now. They'll back eventually, when they realize there's a lot more you can tell them."
On the hike back to the car they moved cautiously, Max scouting ahead and then allowing the others to catch up . When they reached the place where the car was hidden, Max signaled Sophie and Jace to wait while she observed the road. Grace followed her out of Sophie's earshot and said, "Can I ask you something?"
"What?" asked Max, eyes scanning the darkness.
"Who do you think that was, back there? I mean, don't you think it's strange that there were only two men? I don't know much about this stuff, but -- what kind of military operation sends just two men on a hunt like that?"
"Yeah. I don't think it was the alumni committee back at Manticore."
"Then who?"
Max shook her head. "It doesn't matter, does it? They knew who we were."
Grace said, "Before I -- I mean, a few weeks ago, someone was following me." She quickly described the incidents at her office and apartment. But again Max shook her head. "Too subtle for Manticore," she said. "Did ... have you heard the name Donald Lydecker?"
"Yes."
"Did ... has he been heard from since ..." It wasn't like Max to be so inarticulate, Grace thought, but she knew why. Max didn't want to say Logan's name. She knew that because she didn't want to say it either.
"No. Everyone from that night vanished."
Max frowned. "Doesn't make sense," she said thoughtfully, then added: "Besides, the person who went through your office was me."
Grace was not really surprised to hear that, but somehow it made her feel uneasy. There were implications she didn't have time to think through at the moment. And she wanted some answers from Max. She said, "I don't get it. Why did you take this risk? It was not necessary."
"They told me a lot of things in ... there. Not all of them were true. I wanted to know if this one was."
That was not what Grace had meant, but again, she felt that uneasiness. "They"? So Logan had been right. She had been watched. For the first time that night she felt afraid. Max went on:
"I wasn't going to stay here. Then I got the call from Jace. I wanted to head for Canada but she couldn't make it any farther."
The sound of an approaching vehicle and the sweep of headlights silenced both women. It was just an ordinary car, however, and it vanished around a curve in the road, red taillights winking out. Grace said:
"I get why you came back to Seattle. That wasn't what I meant. I want to know why you came to me tonight."
"Jace needed help," said Max impatiently, as if Grace were very stupid.
"My help?" Grace asked sharply. "You said yourself I could have given you a hard time. That's a pretty big risk to take with the gal who stole your man."
Max didn't flinch. "Makes what I have to do easier," she said, eyes on the road.
"Which is?"
"When I get Jace where she's going, I'm not coming back. Maybe not ever."
"Why not?"
"This is a lot more complicated than I have time to explain now. It's better this way." She scanned the road in all directions, listening. "I have to get Jace and the baby out of here. Tonight. I want you to drop us off a few miles down the road. We'll head to Canada from there."
"On foot?" Grace asked incredulously. "Max, she just had a baby a few hours ago ..."
"Manticore is hunting us. That's a given. So far I think we're off their radar, but now we've got someone else crashing the party. Doesn't matter who. Jace and the baby have to be as far away from here, and from me, as possible. I'll do whatever it takes to keep them away from her. Anything," Max added bitterly, more to herself than Grace. "I won't screw up this time. I promise.'
"So ... what do you want me to tell Logan?" There, she'd said it.
"Nothing. Don't tell him anything."
"Are you serious? You're alive and it's just going to slip my mind? 'Oh, did I mention that I ran into Max the other night?'"
"You seem to be a pretty good liar. You've been faking people out all night. You'll handle it."
"Have you listened to anything I've said? He thinks you're alive. That's all he cares about."
Now it was Max's face that shone with tears in the moonlight. "It's time to go. I've waited too long already." Before Grace could say anything else, Max was climbing back up the hill towards the hidden car.
Sophie objected loud and clear to the idea of Jace and the baby going anywhere that night. But when she saw Max couldn't be dissuaded, she insisted on giving her a quick course in post-natal care and rigged up a baby carrier from a blanket, resting it over Jace's shoulder so that the weight was easier to carry and the baby was snuggled warmly against her mother. Then, with a last disapproving look, she drove until Max signaled her to stop. A rough trail leading away from the highway was barely discernible in the headlights. Jace hugged Sophie and Grace, thanked them, then climbed out and disappeared into the woods. Max turned to follow, but Grace caught her arm.
"You can't just go like this. Give me something, anything to tell him."
"Let him believe I'm dead. It's better that way. Just take care of him." And before Grace could say another word, Max ran into the woods. In a heartbeat she was gone, leaving only the night silence in her wake. For a wild minute Grace considered running after her. But they were in a cold, dark, lonely place miles from civilization, Sophie waited in the car, and there wasn't a snowball's chance anyway that Grace could ever catch Max if she didn't want to be caught. Defeated, she climbed back into the car, her face turned stubbornly away the still, dark woods.