Chapter 7

"And you say you saw her last week?"

"Yes, she was the only new face I'd seen in quite some time. In fact, that was the same day that warning about the serial killer came on the news and you men showed up, isn't that right, Sue?" Louise turned to her cohort for verification.

"Yes, but she couldn't be the one you're looking for. Jess said she was a friend of the family, didn't she? She wouldn't harbor a fugitive from the law," Sue declared.

"Well, Jess always was unpredictable, if you ask me. Having a child when she was only sixteen. And the father? I don't even know if she knew who he was," Louise sniped.

"Now, Louise, you know she was never that kind of girl. She said the young man just up and disappeared," Sue tried to smile at the Federal Agents, as she calmed down her slightly older companion.

"Well, thanks for your time, Ladies."

Agent Cross ducked his head in farewell and ushered his partners ahead of him out through the glass door that led to the main street of the small town, the tinkling of bells marking their passage. He was just glad to have gotten away from the old biddies. They just never shut up.

However, it had been worth listening to them criticize and bicker back and forth. This new lead looked promising. Maybe the two women he'd met the week before hadn't just been in the area for a lark. At least now he had something to follow up on.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Jess scooped up a pile of hay with the pitchfork and flung it around the stalls. She tried not to think about her son being impaled on the ends of the tines, as she stabbed into the hay again to gather up another clump to scatter around the inside of the barn. The image made an appearance in her mind's eye every now and then and it always caught her off-guard.

Kaylee stood in the entrance to the barn. The sun was shining brightly behind her and there was very little breeze to enhance the chilly February air. In fact, it was warm enough in the barn that Jess had taken off her jacket, while pitching the hay, and was clad only in a tight T-shirt.

Jess's momentary flash of pain had brought Kaylee out of the house, where she'd been fixing lunch, but the sight of a sweaty, muscled Jess had stopped Kaylee in her tracks.

Jess felt a wash of arousal flow through her body and settle in her groin and she stopped what she was doing. She turned around and found Kaylee watching her. She smirked. That was one way to keep her from thinking about less than happy events.

"Yes, it is," Kaylee responded to Jess's thoughts.

Jess tossed the pitchfork straight into the ground, to keep the tines from being dangerous to others. She wiped at her forehead with the back of her arm and grabbed up her jacket, which was hanging over one of the stall doors.

"Lunch ready?"

"Just about."

"Great. I'm starved."

"Then you should eat."

Jess stepped into Kaylee's embrace and hugged her. They floated, for a while, in mutual affection for one another and then Jess kissed the top of Kaylee's head.

"Thank you," Jess whispered.

"For what?" Kaylee asked, turning her head slightly, so she could listen to Jess's heartbeat and voice at the same time.

"For loving me. For coming into my life. For replacing those thoughts with much better ones."

"Anytime."

They pulled away from each other only enough to walk side by side into the house, Kaylee's arm wrapped around Jess's waist and Jess's arm wrapped around Kaylee's shoulders. Jess held the door open for Kaylee to duck under her arm into the house and only then did they release their holds on one another completely.

Just as they were about to sit down to eat, the doorbell rang. Jess frowned. She hated being interrupted during a meal. More than one telemarketer had listened to her rant at them for disturbing her dinner. She also wasn't expecting anyone and that made her nervous.

She pulled open the heavy wood door.

"Hey, woman, long time no see," Alice greeted her.

Jess breathed a sigh of relief and grinned.

"Hey, it works both ways, you know," she replied and hugged her best friend, as she stepped inside.

"Yeah, well, I'm here, aren't I?"

"Come on in."

Jess helped Alice hang her coat and beanie up and then the shorter woman removed her muddy galoshes and rested them on the plastic tray by the door. When she stood up, her eyes were met by a pair of green-blue ones. She almost gasped, but held it in and merely looked to Jess for an introduction.

Jess suddenly realized they weren't alone and looked behind her to find Kaylee standing patiently in the hallway. She glanced back and found an equally patient-looking Alice. She almost laughed.

"Um, Alice, this is Kaylee. Kaylee, this is Alice."

Alice stuck out her hand and Kaylee shook it. After a moment, Kaylee smiled.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise. I didn't know you were entertaining, Jess. Is this a bad time?" Alice asked, turning to Jess, as the handshake broke.

Jess looked to Kaylee and Kaylee smiled her agreement for Alice to stay. Jess turned back to Alice.

"No, we were just about to sit down for lunch. Care to join us?"

"Sure. So, where did you two meet?"

Jess laughed and then shook her head.

"You never beat around the bush, do you? You couldn't wait until we at least sat down?"

"I don't talk to you for a week and suddenly there's a strange woman in your house, no offense Kaylee, and you want me to be patient about the details? I think not," Alice replied.

"Why should I be offended?" Kaylee asked.

"Oh, I just didn't want you to be insulted. I don't know you, but I do know Jess, so I'm allowed to tease her mercilessly."

"I don't remember that being part of the contract," Jess objected.

"Like you ever read the thing. Page ninety-seven, paragraph six, lines two and three; 'thou shalt have the right to tease the party of the first part mercilessly, while leaving her friends out of it,'" Alice intoned.

Jess laughed.

"Now I know I didn't sign that."

The two friends laughed easily and Kaylee remained silent, while she dished up a third plate for their guest. She couldn't figure out what she was feeling. She felt good at seeing Jess laugh and Alice seemed to be a very nice woman. Kaylee had picked up on a few of her thoughts and decided the woman was genuine in her affection for Jess.

Which was why Kaylee couldn't understand the strange knotting in her stomach or why she felt a need to gain Jess's attention away from Alice. Jess looked up at Kaylee, as the young woman came back out of the kitchen, and her smile fell.

Jess stood up and went to Kaylee. Something was definitely wrong. She could feel it and Kaylee had never sent anything but love to her before.

"What's wrong?" Jess asked.

Kaylee set Alice's plate in front of her and Alice looked up at her with a concerned expression on her face.

"I don't know. My stomach hurts a little. And..." Kaylee looked at Alice, but she couldn't find the words to describe the feelings.

"Maybe you're coming down with something. It's the season for it," Alice offered.

"No, I don't think so," Kaylee replied. Considering her body's ability to repair itself, that was a very unlikely answer.

Kaylee sat down in her chair and Jess returned to hers. Jess glanced over at her friend. Well, she'd always been able to tell Alice anything. And the way Kaylee kept looking at Alice, and the fact that this strange "illness" had mysteriously shown up when Alice did, gave Jess an idea about what was causing Kaylee's discomfort.

"Let me feel it, Kaylee," Jess requested softly.

Kaylee looked up and held Jess's eyes. She poured out the feelings that were causing her so much trouble and sent them into Jess. Jess closed her eyes and then sat back in her chair. She nodded and held up her hand for Kaylee to stop.

"Oh yeah, that's what I thought."

"What is it?" Kaylee asked a little plaintively.

"It's called jealousy."

"Make it stop," Kaylee almost demanded.

Jess took Kaylee's face in her hands and stared into her eyes.

"I love you," Jess said quietly.

Kaylee felt her stomach unknot and begin to flutter. Her chest loosened and it became easier to breathe. Her eyes seemed to focus better and the room felt larger. She smiled.

"Thank you. That feels much better."

"I thought it might," Jess grinned back.

Jess glanced over at Alice to see if she'd been keeping up. Alice looked a little puzzled.

"Okay, so what just happened here?"

Jess tried to figure out where to begin.

"Um, well, Kaylee is telepathic. She also has amnesia and can't remember certain things, like what jealousy is. I was helping her deal with it."

"Whoa, whoa, back up. Telepathic?"

"Yeah. She's also empathic. She was just sending me her feelings, so I could figure out what was bothering her."

"Yeah, right."

"It's true. You wanna test her?"

"Sure. What am I thinking right now?" Alice addressed her question to Kaylee and Kaylee listened with her mind.

"You think Jess is playing a 'practical joke' on you. You want to know who I am. You don't believe I can do anything that Jess has said and you hope she doesn't believe my 'scam' either. You're worried about her being alone and you don't want her falling for some 'carnival act'..." Kaylee paused as she looked internally for a definition of what a carnival was. She grinned and turned to Jess. "I've never been to a carnival. That sounds like fun. And a circus. I want to see an elephant."

Jess grinned back at Kaylee and then glanced at Alice. Alice's mouth was hanging open and her eyes were wide.

"How the hell did you do that? Who are you?"

"My name is Kayleeya, but I don't know any more than that. I'm not from here."

"No kidding. I think I would have remembered meeting you," Alice said only slightly sarcastically.

Jess shook her head.

"No, Alice. She's not from here. As in, the planet. Earth."

Alice finally looked away from Kaylee and at her best friend.

"You are shitting me."

Jess shook her head.

"Come on," Alice insisted.

"No joke," Jess said quietly and met her friend's chocolate brown eyes calmly.

"Holy shit."

"Yeah."

"Holy shit."

Jess laughed.

"You said that already," Jess chided her friend.

"Yeah? Well, give me a goddamn minute. I'm sitting in your dining room having lunch with E.T. And from what I just saw, you're in love with her. I think I'm entitled to repeat myself a few times."

"Okay, you've got a point. It is a bit much to take in all at once."

"A bit? Woman, you need to work on your understatements a little more. Jesus, Jess. What the hell have you gotten yourself into? This is what all that FBI hullabaloo is about, isn't it? What are you gonna do? It's not going to take them long to figure it out, you know."

Jess frowned. She'd been thinking the same thing the past couple days. So had Kaylee. It was just a matter of time.

Jess gestured to their neglected plates and picked up her own fork to start eating. Kaylee and Alice dug into their meals, as well.

"I don't know. I've been telling everyone that meets her she's a friend of Terry's. You remember my cousin? She stayed at Mom's when Aunt Jeanine was visiting to meet Jason after he was born. I hoped no one would question it, since she isn't around to check with."

"That's not going to last long. Not with the Feds sniffing around here night and day. They're bound to figure out she's the one they've been looking for."

Kaylee remained silent. She knew Alice was right and she'd been trying to think of some way that she could make the 'Feds' leave her alone. No ideas had been forthcoming.

The three finished the meal in relative silence and Jess walked Alice to the door, while Kaylee set to work on the dishes. Alice leaned up and hugged her best friend tightly.

"I'm happy for you Jess, but you be careful. You have a son you have to think about."

"I know that, Alice. Really, I do. But you should see them together. He calls her Mama."

Jess could feel tears welling up in her eyes and Alice cupped her cheek.

"All the more reason to make sure you all come out of this in one piece."

Alice stepped into her overshoes and pulled on her beanie. She opened the door and turned around before leaving.

"If you need anything, I don't care if it's three in the morning, you call me. Got it?"

Jess nodded.

"Got it."

"All right, I'll see ya soon. Bring her over for dinner or something."

"Okay, I will."

Alice left and Jess went back to the kitchen.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just scared."

"I know, but we'll figure something out."

The doorbell cut off whatever Jess was going to add and Jess grinned at Kaylee.

"What did she forget? The leftovers?"

Shaking her head, she prepared a teasing insult, as she opened the door. It died on her lips, when she took in the suits standing on her front porch.

"Jessica Taylor?"

Jess nodded dumbly and then cleared her throat, as she regained her voice.

"Yes, I'm Jessica Taylor."

"We met in the woods a few days ago. I'm Special Agent Cross and this is Special Agent Harrison," he said, gesturing to the man on his left, "and this is Special Agent Barlow," introducing the man on his right. "May we come in? We'd like to ask you a few questions."

"About what?"

"We're still investigating the child murderer case and we'd like to ask you a few questions."

"I'm sorry, I don't know any child murderers."

"Mrs. Taylor..."

"Ms."

"Ms. Taylor, are you going to cooperate with us or do we need to get a court order?"

Jess thought quickly.

"Suit yourself. I have nothing to hide. Come on in."

Jess held the door wide for the three men to enter and closed it quietly behind them. They waited for her to lead them into the main part of the house and Jess tried to calm her nerves as she brought them into the den.

"Please, have a seat."

Harrison and Barlow sat down on the couch and Cross took the recliner.

"May I get you gentleman something to drink? Water, soda, milk?"

"Water would be fine," Cross answered for himself and his men.

Jess forced herself to take her time to get to the kitchen. Kaylee was standing with her back to the sink, her eyes wide with fear. Jess immediately enveloped her in a hug and tried to send soothing feelings to Kaylee. It was difficult to do, since Jess herself felt anything but calm.

"It's gonna be all right. They just want to ask a few questions."

"And what happens when they get the answers?" Kaylee asked.

"We'll just have to make sure they don't get the ones they're looking for. Okay?"

Kaylee nodded. Jess brought out three glasses and filled them with cold tap water. She wasn't about to waste her bottled water on those guys. Kaylee followed behind Jess, as Jess carried the glasses back into the den.

"Kaylee heard we had company and decided to join us."

Agent Cross stood to take his water from the tall woman and then sat back down again.

"Good. Did you both get a chance to find your wallets? We'd like to have a look at your IDs. It's just routine."

"You know? Funny you should mention that. This freak thing happened the day after we talked to you. I was cooking and the pan slipped and a grease fire started and my purse was on the counter and got splashed and burned to a crisp. I'd been carrying both our wallets in the purse because I forgot to give Kaylee's back to her and they were both destroyed. We're waiting for replacements in the mail. That's why I haven't driven anywhere; I didn't want to get caught without my license."

Jess groaned internally. Sure, it was plausible, but she sounded like an idiot.

"Really. That's too bad. When do you think the replacements will arrive?"

"It'll probably be another week."

"Hmm, well, I guess I'll just have to take your word you are who you say you are." Agent Cross smiled, but it wasn't very mirthful.

"I'm sure you could ask anybody in town, they'll tell you who I am."

"But would they be able to tell me who you are?" Agent Cross asked Kaylee directly.

"I don't know anyone in town. Except Alice," Kaylee amended.

"Alice..."

"Dr. Alice Jones, she's the local veterinarian," Jess supplied.

"And how do you know Alice?"

"She was here about a half an hour ago," Kaylee answered truthfully.

"She came over for lunch. We've been friends since kindergarten," Jess told them.

Agent Cross nodded, then turned his head slightly to speak to Kaylee again.

"So you only just met Alice today?"

"Excuse me, gentlemen, but what does this have to do with your investigation into a missing serial killer?" Jess interrupted before Kaylee could answer. She needed to divert them from their obvious interest in Kaylee.

"I apologize, Ms. Taylor. Miss Woodrow seems to have shown up at a rather bad time and we're simply trying to cover all our bases."

"You're implying my friend is the serial killer? Is she a suspect?"

"Ah, no, Ms. Taylor..."

"Is she under arrest? Should I call my lawyer?"

Agent Cross's face went still. He stood from his seat and the other two agents stood with him.

"No, that won't be necessary. No one here is under arrest. Thank you for your time. We'll be back to check those IDs."

Agent Cross walked out of the den and Jess followed behind Harrison and Barlow to see the men out of her house. Once they were gone, she leaned against the door and sighed heavily. They'd just run out of time.

Jess went back into the den and found Kaylee in front of the fireplace.

"They didn't believe you. They plan on watching the house," Kaylee spoke into the fire.

"I kind of figured." Jess sat down on the couch and stared at Kaylee's back. "So, I guess the question is, what do we do now?"

"I should leave."

"No. That stopped being an option when I fell in love with you."

"Then what should we do?" Kaylee scooted around to face Jess. "Wait for them to kidnap me? What if they hurt Jason?"

"They won't do that."

"Harrison was thinking 'The kid might be more cooperative.'"

"He was?"

"Yes. He was thinking about casually running into Jason and asking him about me to try to trick him into telling them who I am and where I came from."

"Shit. Was he thinking about a particular time frame? Like are they headed to find Jason now?"

"No, it was just a stray thought he had. There were no plans."

"Good. That gives us time, hopefully."

"Time for what?"

"Time to explain to Jason what's really going on and to tell him the story we made up to cover for you."

"He's just a child, Jess."

"Yeah, but he's a damn smart child."

"But he's still a child. He shouldn't be brought into this. Neither should you."

"Jason is already a part of this, and so am I. You're stuck with us. Got it?"

"Jess..."

"No. We're a family. I don't care if you happen to be... It just doesn't matter. I love you."

"I know. I can feel it. But I love you too, and I can't just stand by and let anything happen to you, not when I'm the cause."

"Are you saying you want to turn yourself over to them?"

"To save you and Jason, yes, I would do that. But I'd rather just leave. I know enough now that I could hide from them indefinitely. And you and Jason would be safe."

"You think that if you disappeared suddenly that they would just leave me and Jason alone? I don't think so. If you run, then they'll know for sure who, and what, you are. They'll realize me and Jason have been in contact with you for the past couple weeks and will no doubt be curious as to the effect you've had on us. There are enough science fiction movies around to convince me that they'd be almost as interested in us for scientific information as they are you. If you leave, we're going with you."

"You can't leave your home. This is where you belong."

"I belong with you. And Jason belongs with us."

Kaylee got up from her place in front of the fire and moved into Jess's open arms. Jess felt the connection again, as Kaylee's feelings flowed over her, and she was amazed again at the depth of the emotions coming from the alien woman. They stayed like that until they heard Jason come home from school.

Kaylee looked up at Jess and Jess nodded. Kaylee stood up from Jess's lap and helped the taller woman to her feet. Jess let Kaylee precede her up the stairs and into Jason's room. Jason looked up at his two mothers from where he was setting out his books on his desk to get ready to do his homework.

"Uh, did I do something?"

"Maybe. What do you think you did?" Jess asked. She was stalling and she knew it.

"Um, nothing?"

Jess continued to stare at him.

"Ah, Hades. I didn't mean to break it. It just slipped when I was washing it in the sink. I'm really sorry. I know I should have told you, but I thought I glued it back together really well."

Jess almost laughed, but she knew she had to do the stern mother bit and she certainly didn't want to encourage lying.

"You know what you did was wrong?"

Jason nodded and looked at the floor.

"Next time you'll tell me? Even if you fix it?"

"Yeah. I promise."

"No Nintendo for a week."

Jason looked up and tried his puppy dog eyes. It didn't work. His lower lip came out just slightly from beneath his upper lip and Jess shook her head minutely. It wasn't going to work.

"All right. I really am sorry."

"For getting caught or for breaking... whatever it was you broke," Jess grinned.

Jason groaned.

"Oh man, I can't believe I fell for that! That's not fair. Come on, you don't even know I broke anything, I could have been lying," Jason protested.

"You're digging yourself even deeper with that one, kiddo," Jess's voice was now firmly entrenched in her stern mother tone.

Jason shook his head.

"Forget I said anything."

"All right. That wasn't what we came up here for, anyway. We need to tell you something."

"You're getting married?"

Jess blushed.

"Ah, no. I mean, not right now at least. That's... Uh, no, that's not what we wanted to talk to you about."

Jess took a seat on the edge of Jason's bed and Kaylee sat next to her. Jason repositioned his chair, so he could face them. This looked serious.

"There's something you need to know about Kaylee."

Jason nodded for his mother to continue. Jess decided to just say it.

"Kaylee isn't human."

Jason looked at his mother.

"What?"

"Jase, Kaylee is from another planet. Like what you read about in your books. Only this isn't fiction."

Jason unconsciously scooted back in his chair.

"It's all right, Jason. I'm not going to hurt you. I would never hurt you," Kaylee tried to soothe her son's fears.

Jason breathed in and out a few times and worked his mouth for a few moments, before anything came out.

"Are you like a lizard underneath or anything?"

Kaylee looked up at Jess in question and Jess shook her head at her son.

"No, she's just like us. Well, mostly. I don't think she's going to sprout fangs and gills anytime soon," she grinned.

Jason nodded slightly and relaxed a little. He seemed to be studying Kaylee, now that he had this new information about her.

"You're really from another world? What's it like? Are there other kinds of aliens?"

"I don't know. I still don't remember anything before crashing into the mountain. Maybe one day I'll remember and then I can tell you."

Jason grinned.

"Wow. This is really cool. So that's why you're telepathic and everything. Wow." A frown creased his young forehead. "Wait. Are you gonna go home to wherever you came from? If you get your memory back?"

"I am home."

Jason left his seat and leaned over to hug Kaylee. Jess looked on, as the two most important people in her life reaffirmed their bond with each other. Then Jason pulled away and went back to his desk and sat down.

"Are you the fugitive the FBI've been looking for on TV?" Jason asked.

"Yes," Kaylee replied.

"But she's not really a fugitive," Jess added.

"I know that. The FBI probably just want to dissect her."

Kaylee recoiled from the images she saw flashing through Jason's mind and turned to Jess.

"Is that what's happened to others who have come here?" She'd seen images of being restrained in the agents' minds regarding her, but the pictures she saw in Jason's mind were alarming.

"You watch too much TV," Jess chastised her son for scaring Kaylee, before answering Kaylee's question. "I don't really know if any of the UFO theories are true or not. The government keeps a tight wrap on those kinds of things and I've never paid any attention to the stories before. I thought it was all bunk. Of course, now that I've met you, I don't know what to believe."

"Are we going to go on the run?" Jason asked.

Jess looked at Kaylee.

"Where did you get that idea from?" Kaylee asked.

Jason shrugged his shoulders.

"It sounds like the only thing we can do. The FBI won't leave us alone and you said you aren't going home, so that doesn't leave a whole lot of options," Jason replied reasonably.

"Would you be okay with leaving all your friends, everything you've grown up with? We'd probably even have to change our names," Jess warned her son.

Jason looked thoughtful and then nodded his head.

"It would be hard to leave Carson and everyone else, but as long as I'm with you, I think it would be okay."

Jess stood up and ruffled her son's hair.

"I hope it doesn't come to that, but I want you to be prepared, just in case." Jess glanced between Kaylee and Jason and decided they needed some time alone. "I'm going to go make dinner."

Kaylee watched Jess leave and then turned her gaze back to Jason. She stared at him for a long moment.

"Yes," Jason said.

Kaylee nodded her head.

"How?"

"I don't know. Ever since you healed me."

"You should tell your mother."

"I will, but not yet. She's got enough to worry about."

"She needs to know."

"She will. I'll tell her. Promise me you won't say anything."

"All right, but you have to tell her soon."

"I will."

"Okay." Kaylee stood up and leaned over to kiss the top of Jason's head. "Finish your homework, then come down for dinner.

Jason grinned.

"Yes, Mama."

Kaylee smiled back and then left to go help Jess with dinner.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Jason's right. We don't have very many options open to us. We can either stay and try to fool the FBI, or run and start over somewhere else," Jess said, while she worked over the wok.

Kaylee continued chopping up the vegetables for the stir fry Jess was working on and tossed them in, as each little pile was finished.

"If we stay, won't that make it easier for them to catch us, if we can't fool them?"

"Yeah, but if we run, then they'll know they're right."

"Well, what do we need to do to fool them?" Kaylee asked.

"We need to get you identification papers; a birth certificate, state ID, social security number. But we'd have to go about getting all of that stuff illegally."

"Illegally?"

"Well, it would have to be illegally because you weren't born here. None of that kind of documentation exists for you. I know there are ways to do it. For the birth certificate, you just have to go through some county's death certificates and find someone who was born around when we say you were, but who didn't survive beyond infancy and then you pretend to be that person. With the birth certificate, you can request a social security number. Once you have those two things, you can pretty much get an ID in any state. Add a checking account and a credit card and suddenly you're a real person in this country. You'll even get junk mail," Jess joked.

"That sounds like a lot of work. And couldn't they just check and find out that the real person is dead?"

"Yeah. They are the FBI. But it's what we'll have to do anyway, if we leave."

"But then they wouldn't know who we changed our names to, would they? That would make it harder for them to check."

"True."

"What if I had these documents from someone who is alive? I could just pretend to be them, until the FBI left. Or can't the documents be.. faked?"

"Yeah, but I don't know who to talk to in order to get them. A lot of people around here think I was some kind of wild child, but I was never a criminal. I wouldn't have the first idea about getting a fake ID."

"But you know it can be done. We just have to find someone who knows how."

"Yeah. If we decide to stay."

"I know you would rather not leave your home, Jess. I can feel your sadness. You're worried about the animals and Jason being torn away from all his friends and what you'll do in a new place. I don't want to leave, if we can find another way."

"I know. But our safety comes first. This is just a place and we can all make new friends. Whatever we have to do to stay together, that's what we'll do."

They were silent as they continued preparing the meal. Jason came down the stairs just as Jess was about to call him to dinner.

"Good timing. You can set the table," Jess told her son.

Jason set out their plates and utensils, and Kaylee poured them all glasses of soda, while Jess served the food.

"Did you get all your homework done?" Jess asked.

"Just about. I still have to make up sentences for some of the words on my vocabulary list. Then I'll be done."

"Bring it down for me to check, when you're finished."

Jason nodded and stuffed a long slice of green bell pepper into his mouth, followed by a strip of seasoned chicken. He washed it down with some soda and started all over again.

"Oh, and Jason? I forgot to mention it earlier, but you know you can't tell anyone who Kaylee is, right?" Jess asked.

Jason laughed.

"Mom, I'm not stupid. What am I gonna say? 'Oh, Carson, guess what? My Mama's an alien. Wanna play Mario Karts?' He wouldn't believe me, anyway," Jason shook his head at his mother.

"I wasn't thinking about Carson, Jase. The FBI were here earlier and..."

"What? When?"

"An hour before you got home. Now, as I was saying..." Jess gave her son a warning look and he kept his mouth shut. "Kaylee heard one of them thinking about trying to talk to you. I can't keep you out of school right now; it would look too suspicious. But if someone starts asking you questions, just tell them Kaylee is a friend of your mother's cousin and she's working on the ranch."

"Got it."

"And don't embellish," Jess admonished.

"I won't. I know how to play it cool. I'm not even supposed to talk to strangers, right?"

"Right. I just want you to be careful. This isn't a game."

Jason looked at his mother with eyes that looked far older than his twelve years.

"I know, Mom."

They finished dinner quietly and Jason went back upstairs to do the rest of his homework. Jess corrected it, when he brought it down half an hour later, and then Jason retreated to his room, for the rest of the evening, to read. Jess and Kaylee held each other in the den and watched the fire. But all the inactivity seemed to be more exhausting than previous evenings of excitement and everyone went to bed early.