Free Shades by Mel Odom Page A

jammed." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small Swiss Army knife. "I'm going to have to cut her loose."
    "Not me!" the woman yelled. Tears filled her eyes. "Please! Check on my baby! They told me she was gone! They told me she was gone, but there she is!" She pointed. "I can see her! Please! She needs help!"
    "I'll get her baby." Isabel slithered into the van.
    "Don't," Jesse said, grabbing Isabel by the shoulder.
    "I've got to," Isabel said. She stared into his eyes. "We need to get the mother out, Jesse. We're miles from Roswell. It'll be a long time before help arrives."
    Indecision showed in Jesse's eyes.
    "I'm not giving you a choice," Isabel said.
    "Let me get the baby."
    "You won't fit." Before Jesse could say another word, Isabel pulled herself into the van. With the vehicle overturned and lying on the driver's side, navigating through the interior was difficult.
    "Isabel," Jesse called.
    His body blocked most of the light coming through the shattered windshield. If the van had been a passenger model instead of designed for cargo transport there would have been windows all the way around. There would have been more light, and Isabel would have been able to peer in through the windows.
    "The gasoline smell is getting stronger," Jesse warned.
    Isabel knew that was true. She could smell the change herself. The van was quickly turning into a bomb, and the racing engine might be enough to detonate those destructive forces.
    Placing her hand on the van's metal body, knowing Jesse couldn't see what she was doing from his position behind her, Isabel unleashed her power. Part of her alien heritage, part of all of their heritages, was the ability to affect electronic things. The van had electronic parts that controlled the engine and ignition.
    Whatever special part of her brain or her senses that controlled her alien powers reached out for the pulse of
    the van. She felt the electrical force, then created a surge of energy that raced throughout the van.
    "Isabel," Jesse called. "I just felt an electrical surge. We can't stay…"
    Then the van's engine hiccuped and died.
    "Get her out, Jesse," Isabel said.
    "My baby!" the woman moaned. "Give me my baby!"
    "I'll get her," Isabel promised, but her heart sank when she saw the jumble of boxes and bags strewn across the backseats. She looked for a child seat but couldn't find one. Desperately, she moved boxes, not knowing if she was uncovering the child or burying her farther.
    "There she is! There she is!"
    Surprised by the woman's voice, Isabel glanced forward.
    The woman's face was a mask of blood, and tears streaked her cheeks. But she was smiling. Jesse had almost succeeded in cutting the woman free, and she was able to turn in the seat.
    "There's my little angel!" the woman cooed excitedly. "There's my little Abbie! Come on to Mother, Abbie! Come on!"
    Confusion dawned on Jesse's face as he peered past the woman. He looked at Isabel and shook his head.
    Isabel's heart nearly stopped. Her immediate thought was that something awful had happened to the baby. Overcoming a preternatural fear of seeing what was there, she turned and looked into the seat.
    A child, surely no more than a year and a half old, sat curled up like a fetal ball at the bottom of the seat. Boxes framed her. She had blond wisps of hair and chubby cheeks. A pink bow sat atop her head, matching the frilly dress and
    matching underpants. Pink tennis shoes with white laces covered her feet, looking impossibly wide and blunt.
    "See?" the woman said. "That's my baby. That's my little Abbie." She smiled, then groaned as Jesse continued cutting her free of the seat restraints. "The doctors said she didn't make it, but 1 knew they were wrong. A mother always knows."
    The oddity of the woman's words barely touched Isabel as she pushed her way into the backseat. "Hey," she said to the little girl. "Are you all right?"
    The child glared at Isabel, folding her pudgy arms across her body.
    Jesse helped the mother