Hello again! Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the delay. Been real busy lately!
A/N: So I finally noticed that Lizzie has been spelling her name differently from the way it was spelled in the first two stories and the short story (as Lizzy)! So the unannounced (in this story, anyway) reason for this change is that she wanted to spell her nickname a little differently when she went to college, to feel a little more mature. College is the place to do that, ya know. Also, in case anyone was wondering, the other stories established that Lizzie had an earpiece. She doesn't have one in this story, since she is supposed to be taking a break from missions to study.
CHAPTER EIGHT
"Britt! Hi! Um, how'd you find me?" Lizzie asked, trying to hide behind the front door.
"Where else would you spend the night?" Brittany asked, taking the liberty of stepping inside, "It was either here or with the Smith's dogs."
"Oh," Lizzie said.
"Alright, let's talk," Brittany said, closing the front door behind her, "You told me that you weren't the one who damaged the lecture hall."
"I wasn't," Lizzie defended herself.
"Fine," said Brittany, looking visibly relieved, "Next question. Why haven't you gone to the police already and straightened things out?"
"I just woke up!" Lizzie said.
"That's no excuse!" Brittany countered, "You've missed all your classes yesterday, Security has been trying to reach you all night, and everyone seems to think that since I'm your roommate I have to know where you are!"
"Did you tell anyone?" Lizzie asked, eyes automatically turning to the window.
"Not yet," Britt said, "I wasn't sure where you were. Until now. Look," she said, "I believe you, but Campus Security doesn't know you like I do. And they've told me that if you don't come forward soon, they're going to go to the police and have them issue a warrant for your arrest. There's a rumor that the police are already looking for you. Worse, the school will probably expel you."
"I know," Lizzie said.
"Then let's do this right now," Britt said, grabbing her arm.
Lizzie instantly thought of Karr, alone in the garage.
"Wait!" She said, yanking her arm back, "Not yet!"
"Lizzie?" Brittany asked.
"I-I can't," Lizzie said, "There's something I have to do first."
"Like what?"
"Look, you're going to have to trust me," Lizzie said, "I'll meet you at the police station in...in an hour, alright?"
Brittany stared at her for a second, then slowly nodded.
"Alright," she said, "But if you chicken out again-"
"I'm not chickening out," Lizzie said, "I'll be there."
"Right," Brittany said. She walked over to the front door and opened it. "I just hope you know what you're doing."
Britt exited the building, closing the door quietly behind her.
Lizzie let out a breath she had been holding.
"Now," she said to herself, heading back to the garage, "It's broad daylight, and the roads are crowded. All I need to do is get Karr from the garage to the woods. I think I know how to get to the station from there."
She bit her lip. The road outside Mrs. Mahogany's house was not going to be as empty as it was in the rain the day before. Getting Karr into the woods was going to be the tricky part...
Ten minutes later proved it to be even trickier than she thought.
The garage door was wide open, and the day promised to be infinitely clear and bright outside, but Karr would have none of it. His engine whined, and his breaks were firmly locked. He wasn't going anywhere.
"Come on, get going!" Lizzie said, pushing Karr from behind.
"Karr," Lizzie said, walking around to his hood, "Listen. We're going to the police station. I am not leaving you behind here, so you're coming with me. I told Brittany I'd be there in an hour. Do you want to make me out to be a liar?"
There was no response. Why was she still expecting a response?
"Look, I'm not leaving you again," Lizzie said, "Not after what happened yesterday. Although technically, you ditched me. Now, will you just come on?"
Maybe instead of pushing, she could drive him there. In fact, that would be a whole lot better than sneaking him around in the woods. She walked over to his front door and tried the handle.
But just like the last time she tried, it wouldn't open.
"What's wrong?" Lizzie asked, "It's not raining anymore. And I'm not asking you to drive out in plain sight. We're just going to hide you in the woods-"
She paused.
"Oh." She said, "You must have been pretty scared in those woods yesterday, huh?"
Karr shivered. Did he really know what she was saying? Or had he just put two and two together and realized that was where she was going to ask him to hide?
"Fine," Lizzie said, placing her hand on his frame. The shivering died instantly, "We won't hide you in the woods. I'll just have to take you to the police station with me, and you can stay in the parking lot."
She groaned.
"Of course," she said, "I'm going to have to convince the police that I didn't use you to destroy the lecture hall. Oh my gosh, what am I doing? I'm bringing you right to the police station!"
She sighed, and began pulling at her own hair as if doing so would give her an idea of some kind.
"What am I going to do?" She asked.
Karr backed up slightly, and then he rolled forward slowly, ever so slowly, until the tip of his hood was rubbing up against Lizzie's legs.
As if he thought she was the one who needed comforting now.
"How much farther, Kitt?"
"We're nearly there, Michael. We should see the campus any minute now."
"Good," Michael said, relaxing into his seat, "How long until we're back at FLAG?"
"Please don't ask me that, Michael." Kitt pleaded.
"They're not doing too good back home, are they?" Michael asked.
Kitt was silent.
"That bad, huh?" Michael asked.
"Oh no." Kitt spoke up again, "Don't look now, but we have company."
"What is it, buddy?" Michael sat up straight and gripped the wheel tightly. He looked into the rear-view mirror.
Red white and blue strobe lights were right behind them.
"The police," he groaned, "Kitt, were you speeding?"
"...Maybe just a little."
"Kitt!"
"Pulling over, Michael." Kitt said, pulling to the side of the road, "Try to make this quick. We still need to get to Elizabeth before They do."
"If you hadn't been speeding-" Michael said, opening the glove compartment to find Kitt's vehicle registration.
He decided he didn't need to finish that sentence. He grabbed what he needed and closed the compartment, placing both his hands back on the wheel.
There was a knock on the window, and Kitt rolled it down. The policeman standing on the other side didn't seem to notice that Michael couldn't have touched the window-both his hands were still on the steering wheel.
"Do you know why I pulled you over?" He asked.
Michael sighed.
"Yes Officer," he said, "And I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have been going that fast-"
"Did you know that this is a 30 mile-per-hour zone?" The officer said.
"I-no. I thought it was 45," Michael answered truthfully. He really hadn't been paying attention while Kitt was driving.
"Hm," said the officer, "Can I see your license and registration?"
Michael handed the police officer the items in his hands.
"Huh," said the officer, "Knight. Any relation to Elizabeth Knight?"
"She's my daughter," Michael said.
"Do you know that she's currently in trouble for damaging public and private property?"
Michael sighed. "The school called last night," he said, "That's why I'm going to find her. We don't exactly live next door to the campus. Been driving all night."
"But you've seen her already."
"Not yet," Michael said, "But when I do, you can be sure I'll get the whole thing straightened out, Officer."
"But you have seen her," said the Officer, raising an eyebrow, "You're driving her car."
"What?" Michael asked.
"Black trans-am, same make and model," said the Officer, looking him right in the eye. Michael looked him right back. "The school's Campus Security gave us the details from her vehicle registration sheet. We've been keeping an eye out for it."
"Wait, what?" Michael asked, "Lizzie registered Karr on campus?"
"Yup," said the Officer, "So how come you're the one driving?"
"It's a different car," Michael said, "Different license plate. This is a favorite model in our family."
"Oh. I see," said the driver, looking at the information on the vehicle registration that he still held in his hand, "Sorry for the confusion. Let us know when you find your daughter, alright?"
Michael nodded. "Yeah," he said.
"Listen," said the Officer, "the kid's not in trouble with us yet. We're not exactly certain she was the one who caused all the damage. But it looks suspicious that she hasn't appeared to give us an alibi."
"I understand," said Michael.
The police officer handed him back his driver's license and registration.
"I'm going to let you off with a warning this time," he said, "Just this once. Next time, don't do 50 when the speed limit is 30."
"Right," Michael said, "Thanks a lot, Officer."
The police officer left, and Kitt rolled up the window.
"You were going fifty?" Michael lashed out.
"Oh hush up. We both wanted to get here quickly." Kitt said, pulling away from the curb.
"You're pretty lucky he didn't give you a ticket," Michael said, "Bonnie would have-"
"She would have thought that you were the one driving," Kitt interrupted, sounding a little smug, "And I would merely allow her to continue thinking that way."
"But tha-alright, fine." Michael sighed, "But Kitt, no more speeding."
"I'm not planning to, Michael. That cost us more time than I accounted for."
"So. How much longer until we're on campus?"
"We're already here, Michael. Five more minutes to Lizzie's dormitory."
"Good," Michael said, squeezing the steering wheel tightly-even though he wasn't the one driving. "But you know what, Kitt?"
"What is it, Michael?"
"I was just thinking about how mad Karr will be, once he finds out."
"About?"
"About how Lizzie registered him on campus," Michael chuckled, "Seriously, what was she thinking?"
"I hope he doesn't take it too badly," Kitt said, "Especially after that time-Michael, look off to the left."
"Whoa," Michael said. Indeed, that was the perfect word for it.
Off to the left was a large, distinguished looking building. At least, it once was distinguished looking. Currently, it looked a little shabby. A large plastic tarp hung heavily over a hole within the building's wall, surrounding by two dozen people and some indeterminate machines, all apparently attempting to patch up the wound.
"What happened there?" Michael asked, "Which building is that?"
"The academic building," Kitt said as they drove past, "The damage goes through the main lecture hall."
As one side of the building disappeared and the other became visible, Michael gave out a low whistle. The other side had an identical-looking tarp over an identical-looking hole.
"Must have been a drunk driver." Michael hypothesized.
"A really drunk driver." Kitt added.
