Part 17

"Alright, here's what I'm thinkin'. We need to…" He trailed off when he realized Max wasn't listening. "Am I boring you?"

Max frowned at him, his mind still on Michael's announcement a couple of minutes earlier. "You need to go dry the bathroom floor."

He started at him for a moment before going right back into what he had to say. He knew how to clean up after himself but he still enjoyed getting a rise out of Max on occasion. "We've gotta handle damage control for all the lies that've already been told." He looked between Maria and Liz. "No more answerin' questions if you don't have a preapproved answer to them." He shook his head when Maria opened her mouth to protest. "That whole story about," he lifted his hands to make air quotes as he looked at Liz, "goin' to Sault Sainte Marie to visit a friend at school." He turned to Maria again, glaring at her as he once more made air quotes. "Miami?"

Maria met his gaze steadily. "Last time you changed the plates you chose Florida, genius."

"What should we have done?" Liz asked.

"That's true," Maria chimed in. "The longer we waited to answer the worse it was gonna be. You'd better be glad I was paying attention while I was busy goin' blind from starin' at maps."

"Yeah, well, speakin' of lies since that's your current topic," Max spoke up, "whose bright idea was it to tell Maggie you knew Santa?"

"She's just a little kid," Michael said dismissively. "Look, for every lie we tell, we've gotta make it true. At least to some extent. We've already got a shitload of stuff to remember; we make a slip and we're in trouble. We stick to the story that's already been started… can we all remember that? We don't need to give this guy any more reasons to be suspicious."

Liz shook her head, certain he was wrong about this. "Oh, please… have you seen Edward?"

"No, Michael's right," Isabel said, breaking her silence. "Edward's highly suspicious and regardless of what he does or doesn't suspect, we can't give him anymore ammunition than we already have."

Kyle looked at her and a quiet smile appeared as he took in her appearance as she sat in the rocking chair, cradling the stuffed grizzly bear. Her posture wasn't defensive for the first time in a long time and he found himself remembering her taking him around to the parties for New Years' Eve the year before. He shook himself out of his rambling thoughts when she looked at him and frowned.

"What?"

He shrugged. "Just wonderin'… aren't you the one who told Maggie about Snowflake havin' some pull with Santa and Candycane havin' pull with a certain reindeer wrangler?" He just grinned when Max shot daggers at him for bringing that up. "So, I guess we're gonna have to make that one true too, huh, El Capitan?"

"I have every intention of making that true," Isabel said before Michael could say differently. "It wasn't a lie."

"No, we're not," he denied. "We're gonna be long gone before that ever happens." He shook his head at her when she just looked at him. "No. There is no way I'm ever wearin' another fat elf suit."

"Michael, she's a little girl… you can't just tell her stuff like that and then not follow through."

Maria smiled knowingly. "I've seen you with children, Michael, you wouldn't do that."

He rolled his eyes and his mouth tightened in irritation. "Christmas isn't important here. Am I the only one who sees just how boxed in we are here? Boxed in without any means of escape in the event of a threat? Are you all blind?" He hurried on when Max opened his mouth to say something. "We're in danger here. We're not on vacation an' we're not on a honeymoon!"

Kyle exhaled loudly and wiped one hand over his brow. "Whew! I'm sure glad you clarified that 'cause it's certainly not livin' up to all the hype I've heard."

Isabel leveled her eyes on him when he started to laugh but instead of going off on him she turned to Michael. "And whose fault is that?"

"What?"

"You're having a fit over us being," she made air quotes just to mock him, "boxed in… whose bright idea was it for us to go north in the middle of winter?"

"Isabel," Max intervened.

"Back off, Max. Look, Michael, I agree that we need to get our story straight, but we're here for now… it's a good place and I don't think the Stevens are gonna give us up. Especially if we don't provide Edward with any more reasons than we already have for him to be suspicious of us." She desperately needed the time away from the others to regroup and she knew they all needed it too, and she honestly believed that if they could control their story they would be safe here. At least temporarily.

Maria's thoughts were moving along the same lines as she tapped her forefinger against her lip. "The borders into Mexico and Canada have agents and cameras…"

Max nodded, seeing where they were going and following along with them. "It would make sense to wait them out, keep a low profile…"

"True," Kyle mused, "and going further north in the winter would make it just as hard for the FBI to follow us."

Michael's gaze swept over the room as he internally shook his head. "Do ya think?" he muttered sarcastically. Why the hell did they think he had gone north in the first place? Because he was really all that excited about the cold? Hello, people! Raised in the desert! He silenced his inner voice, his eyes darkening as he gave voice to the words that had been tumbling around in his head for a while now. "It's time to split up."

"And just where do we go?" Isabel bit out, not liking the turn this meeting was taking.

"Canada. We can't risk a border check, but there's gonna be open land where we could cross… from Minnesota maybe."

"Not to break this streak of strategic brilliance you've got goin' on, El Capitan, but even if we can get the van fixed it's not gonna be up to a trip like that."

"No," Michael agreed thoughtfully. "But we could do it on snowmobiles."

Silence fell over the room until the sound of Kyle's stomach rumbling reminded them of the time.

"Maybe we should worry about one thing at a time," Max said as he pulled Liz up against his body and wrapped his arms around her. "For now we've gotta get the van back."

They'd have to steal to get their hands on snowmobiles. Michael felt a wave of self-loathing wash over him at the thought. He had managed to keep them from having to do that so far. He looked at Maria and walked past her, grabbing his coat and shrugging into it as he pulled the front door open.

He shoved his bare hands in the coat pockets, wishing he had gone back and grabbed the gloves when they had gotten to Isabel and Kyle's cabin and he had realized he had forgotten them. He had put them down when he had gone to grab the cookies and then completely spaced picking them up again. He thought about the silence in the cabin when he had mentioned using snowmobiles to cross the border. They all knew how they would be procured if they decided to follow that path when the time came.

He dreaded becoming the lowlife stealing whatever they needed to get by. He didn't want that life for her. It wasn't a good enough life for her. He could accept it for himself if he had to, but not for Maria. They had kept far enough ahead of the game that they had been able to avoid that so far, but there was no way of knowing how much the van was going to set them back. They picked up the odd jobs here and there, always doing their best to put back a little more than what they had to use, but something like this could wipe out their savings in no time.

His thoughts turned to his own words as he plowed through the snow. It's time to split up. It had never really been a question of if they would split up, but more a question of when. Six months had been pushing it, they all knew that staying together was a risk but it was one they had continued to take. Would Maria come with him because it's what they'd always done? Like a bad habit that just refused to be gotten rid of? What if she wanted to go with one of the others? Could he stand back and let her go?

Given the choice, would she come with me? His stride slowed down because of the deep snow and he swallowed hard as his thoughts took a dark turn. Got a better question for ya, Mickey… why would she? Plannin' to keep her safe by lying and stealing… how long before she regrets the decision to be with you a second time? How do you know she doesn't already regret it? He shook his head to clear it, hating that particular voice. Doubts, fears and insecurities, they always seemed to have that same voice and he didn't need a shrink to know why.

He knew how much she had given up to be with him… whatever that meant. He wasn't even sure they were together and now here he was contemplating whether or not she'd continue to stay with him when the group split up. She had given up her home, her family, her singing… she'd given up everything to be with him. He stared around at the white landscape feeling old doubts and insecurities creeping up on him. She had given up everything and he had given her nothing in return.

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Kyle called Maria's name, stopping her before she could go after Michael and he nodded to her when she stopped in her tracks, hand on the doorknob.

"What's up?"

"Listen," he lowered his voice, "El Capitan's startin' to cross the line into scary territory. He's gonna go ballistic when he finds out… um…"

Maria wrinkled her nose and her eyes narrowed when he started hedging. "C'mon, Kyle, just spit it out already. When Michael finds out what?"

He cleared his throat. "Look, you've gotta get that guy to relax. I could suggest some meditations but I'm pretty sure he and Isabel have conferred and he'd give me the same response I get from her. And I'm pretty sure if I ever took that advice I'd be walkin' funny for a long time and Buddha wouldn't appreciate it either."

Maria rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him so close their noses were almost touching. "Kyle, I do not have all day here, so if you would please get to the point…"

"Thevanengine'stoastanditcan'tberepaired," he said quickly.

Her eyes narrowed further as she attempted to translate his mumbles. "It can't be repaired," she repeated slowly. "You're sure about that?"

"Pretty damn sure, yeah. It was dark and it was nearly cold enough for me to be frozen to the van, but uh… the size of the oil puddle underneath was pretty self-explanatory. Very bad sound, puddle of oil… kinda equals one huge red flag. He was seriously on edge when we broke down and I figured pointing it out at that moment wasn't necessary. Not to mention he'd just about busted his ass on the asphalt right before I made that discovery, so… no."

She released a pent-up sigh. "That's just great." Ballistic was too tame a word for the meltdown he was going to have if Kyle's analysis of the van was accurate. They were looking at an eruption of volcanic proportions for sure.

"Maria, he'll listen to you. Just… ya know… get him to relax."

"Um-hmm, and how exactly do you expect me to do that? Have you seen him lately? Relaxing is so far out of his realm of capabilities right now."

"Well, you know… maybe some," he wiggled his eyebrows in an effort to convey his thoughts meaningfully, "together time."

She stared at him for a moment, trying to decipher his cryptic tone and dancing eyebrows. "Are we talking about sex, Kyle?" She held a hand up, stopping him. "Please say no."

"Well, you are the one here with the best chance of usin' that particular method to get him to chill out. Other than you, what're our other options? A married couple, Isabel's practically his sister, and well… I'm sooo not goin' there. That leaves you and it's in the group's best interest that you… ya know." Kyle held his hands up when she made a face at him and turned to pull the door open. "What'd I say?" he called after her.

"You're a man of such tasteful ideas," Isabel remarked as she placed the little grizzly bear back in his seat and gave him a final pat before turning to Kyle. "I have no idea why I married you."

He snorted and followed her out the door. "Goes to show you just how lucky you are." He glanced at the last two standing in the cabin. "Time for breakfast, you guys."

Max and Liz exchanged a look.

"Uh, yeah… we've still gotta shower," Liz said, her dark eyes dancing as she looked at her husband.

"Yeah," Max added, not bothering to take his eyes off of her. "You can cover for us, right, Kyle?"

"Ungh, so do not need to be here right now." He pulled the door closed and ran after Isabel. "Hey, babe, wait up!" He took a step back when she suddenly stopped and turned and he ran into her. He hadn't realized she had been walking slowly so he could catch up to her.

"I don't do pet names, Kyle. Not babe, baby, sugar, sweetie, sweetheart, or any other colorful pet name you can come up with. I am not a child and I am certainly not your pet, so do not refer to me as such."

He grinned and gave her a sloppy salute. "So, is this our first official fight?"

Isabel glared at him for a moment before turning and heading for the house.

Kyle released a relieved breath and reached up to wipe his brow when she started walking again. Whew, that was a close one! Talk about your arctic fronts! He hurried to catch up with her, falling into step beside her. His intention had been to keep her mind occupied, not start a fight. He knew Michael's mention of the group splitting up had to be bothering her and before long she would say something just to get it out.

Isabel's thoughts were running in circles, seeming to be stuck on five little words. It's time to split up. She had known it had to happen eventually, not just for their safety but for their sanity as well. She had just hoped that it wouldn't be as permanent as the ominous words made it seem. She already felt so alone. The thought of being separated from the only family she had left was just unbearable.

She found herself seeking reassurance from the one person who seemed to know her better than anyone else. What would she do without him if it ever came to that? "What happens when we split up, Kyle?"

He reached for her hand and tucked it in the crook of his arm. "We can't split up without havin' a way outta here, can we?" He shook his head in response to his own question. "Don't worry, we're gonna be okay no matter what happens."

She nodded but remained silent, feeling a calm settle over her at his words. Her fingers tightened on his arm for just a moment, conveying her appreciation and she smiled when he patted her hand in response.