Taking a long deep breath as the Porsche came to a sudden stop, William looked down at the girl. “Are you OK?”

She just turned to him, her eyes wide. Is she in shock? Did I just see you do what I thought you did?

“We’ll get you someplace safe,” William said, opening the door. The girl made a small whining sound and clamored after him. “You’ve gotta sit back here. Put on your seatbelt.”

He stepped out as the driver hustled around the hood, pointing to the back seat. “We’ve got to ditch that kid and get to the airport pronto. I called the Cessna on the way here. I can get us out of here fast.”

William began to slide in the driver’s seat when he looked over the field, seeing the helicopter hovering over the section where the Jeep was stranded. He jumped in, his foot on the brake, throwing the gear into drive.

“Whoa, dude! Gotta wait till I’m in the car! You can adjust the seat, OK, looks like you’ve got that handled. I guess you think they’re still coming for you?”

The car tore down the road, William glancing in the rearview mirror.

“I’m guessing by your expression that even you don’t know exactly who they are, right? I knew it, I knew it, I knew that’s why you’ve been hiding. Am I right? It’s all real. It is all real! And I saw it! Why did I not get out my phone? Me, the king of phones, and I didn’t even think to whip it out—”

“Were you joking that you have a plane at the airport?”

I can lose you there. Leave the girl outside in a crowd.

“No joke. You know I’m good for it.”

William looked in the rearview mirror again, catching a glimpse of Lily’s worried face. “How would I know that?”

“Well, at least there’s one person in America who doesn’t know who I am, no thanks to the photographers at LAX. Quincy Martin, Mr. Chance. Hey, what we saw back there is just another example of what the government can do, am I right? If they can pull off Roswell, they can cover this up easy. So what the hell happened? Why did they shoot that lady? I saw them dragging those bodies. Damn! Hiding your shot-up Jeep will be harder though, especially if the newsies get video of it—”

The man spoke like a machine gun, becoming more animated by the second. Mom and Dad will hear about the Jeep. They’ll panic. So will Nanna. I have to find a way to tell them that I’m not hurt.

He swallowed the bile in his throat, thinking of the dead woman. She could have a family too—