“You don’t think it’s strange the state police commissioner asked us to get involved? A big case like this? Wouldn’t they be eager for the bust and the credit?”
“I would think so,” Moose said. “Maybe they really have no idea who they’re looking for. At the risk of your head not fitting out the door, you are the best at tracking down people who don’t want to be found.”
“Our team is the best,” Holt said. “I don’t do anything alone.”
“Has Dubs made contact with the guy her friend told her about?” Moose asked.
“Yeah. She’s waiting for a call back. I still can’t believe you talked me into giving her a cell phone.”
“Come on, H. It would be weird for her not to have one. And Max bugged the shit out of it. At some point, we’re going to have to trust her. It’s not like you to be this paranoid.”
“I don’t want Max to get hurt. I threw her in at the deep end, not only without water wings, but with weights around her ankles. And Dubs is too damned cocky. She walks around here like she owns the place. Look at her right now. I could walk out there and ask her to steal the governor’s car and she would bounce out the door, talking the whole time, happy to do it.”
“She reminds me of a very good friend of mine at her age,” Moose said, giving Holt a good long stare. “You were always on the path to good, though. She might need a push. You going to give it to her, or be a pain in her ass?”
“I can tell you who is a pain in my ass,” Holt said. She hated when Moose was right about something she was completely blind to. Was Dubs reminding her of herself and thus annoying the hell out of her?
“I’m here to help,” Moose said with a smile. “Lola asked me if you would be willing to sit in on her meeting with the lawyer. I guess she finally got in contact with Tiffany.”
“I’ll go talk to her,” Holt said.
When Holt made it to the main area of the office, she found Dubs and Lola sitting next to each other, one facing the other, each with her feet up on a desk. Whatever they were talking about, they were enjoying. Lola was wiping tears from her eyes.
“H, I haven’t laughed this hard in months. Probably not since that thing with Decker and you getting shot and all. You should keep her around.”
“I’ll take it under advisement,” Holt said. “Moose said you were looking for me.”
“Yeah. Tiffany finally came out of the weeds. She’s six months pregnant. Can you believe that? She won’t tell me who the father is. I guess it doesn’t matter.”
“Your pride is hurt, of course it matters,” Holt said. She couldn’t imagine what Lola must be feeling. She’d never liked Tiffany, or thought she treated Lola well, but she knew Lola cared about her.
“Is she still sure she doesn’t want the baby?” Holt asked.
“Oh yeah,” Lola said. “If she could give it to me now, she would. She said she’s been taking vitamins and going to the doctor though. For some reason that surprised me. I didn’t think she’d be so careful.”
“Is she having a boy or a girl?” Dubs asked.
“I don’t know,” Lola said. “I never thought to ask, and she never said.”
“Are you going to be able to get back in touch with her to get her to sign the adoption paperwork? Will she even let you know when she goes into labor?” Holt asked.
“Like I said, if she could, she’d give me the kid right now,” Lola said. “I don’t think pregnancy is agreeing with her. And I didn’t get the sense the father was all that interested in being a dad. I think she’ll be motivated to get in touch. After that, I probably won’t ever hear from her again.”
“Lola, I’m really sorry.” Holt didn’t know what else to say. Of their group of friends, Lola had always had the worst luck in relationships. Maybe because she put herself out there the most. But she seemed to have one bad girlfriend after another.
“So are you going to have a baby shower?” Dubs asked. “Is your place the same size as Max’s? If it is, where are you going to put a crib?”
“I never thought of that,” Lola said. “What else do I need for a baby, H? You’ve seen all the stuff Superman has. Diapers? Toys? Bottles? I don’t know anything about kids.”
“Slow down,” Holt said. “We’ll figure it out together. You set up the first meeting with the lawyer and I’ll be there. Isabelle too, if you want.”
Lola looked relieved.
“You two mind if we switch to work for a few minutes?” Holt asked.
Lola looked relieved at that prospect, too.
“Have you heard anything from the guy you contacted, Dubs?” Holt asked.
“Nothing yet. But if history holds, he’s cautious. He’ll get in touch, but it might be a day or two. He’s probably asking around about me right now. Honestly, I doubt it’s helping my cause that I’m sitting in your office talking to you. I’m sure everyone in Rhode Island knows I spend my nights handcuffed to Max.”
“Well, that should only improve your status in the world.” Lola winked.
“Very true,” Dubs said. “But her association with you,” she nodded in Holt’s direction, “not so much.”
“Hey, you’ve joined the Avengers now. Don’t hide it, kid, flaunt it,” Lola said.
Holt almost laughed out loud at the look of horror on Dubs’s face. The Avengers was clearly not part of the self-image Dubs had for herself.
“You more the Legion of Doom?” Holt asked. She was curious how Dubs saw herself.
“Lone Ranger,” Dubs said.
“That’s not what I’ve heard,” Holt said. “You used to work with others. What about your friend, Levi? He was your protégé right?”
“Don’t talk about Levi.” Dubs leaned forward, her teeth clenched.
Holt put her hand on Dubs’s shoulder. She hadn’t meant to upset her. It wasn’t a test. “When I was younger than you, I lost my best friend, George. He was Lola’s brother. He was shot and killed right in front of me. I felt like I should have been able to stop the man who killed him. I carried that guilt for a long time. I still have some of it.”
“Why are you telling me any of this? Are you trying to get me to spill my guts? Trying to get me to like you?”
“No,” Holt said. “I’m telling you because I might understand some of how you feel. And I thought you might want to know that. It’s a hard burden to carry alone.”
“We’re not the same,” Dubs said. She got up and walked away.
Holt thought she saw tears forming in Dubs’s eyes, but she couldn’t be sure. She wasn’t sure if she should follow. Dubs didn’t seem like her biggest fan.
Max walked into the office, just back from an errand. “Where’s Dubs going in such a hurry?”
“I may have mentioned Levi,” Holt said. “I was trying to tell her about George, and that I understand.”
“H, I told you not to bring that up,” Max said. Max put down the papers she had been carrying and hurried after Dubs.
*
Dubs felt like a firecracker with a lit fuse, waiting for the explosion. The emotions were close to the surface, and she had no outlet for them. She didn’t understand why Holt had to ask her about Levi. It wasn’t any of her business.
She jumped and spun around, ready to fight, when she felt a hand on her back. It was Max. She wanted to tell her to go away, scream at her, because Max was there and she was hurting, but she couldn’t. Max held out a bottle of Coke and looked so sweet. Even when she was swearing up and down she didn’t trust her, she always had the kindest eyes.
“You okay? You look a little tense,” Max said. “I notice you drink way too many of these a day, so I thought your blood supply might be running a little low.”
Dubs wondered if Max was paying extra attention to her soda consumption for business or pleasure purposes.
“They calm me down,” Dubs said. It seemed weird, but it was true. “I’m fine. Just not used to being caged up. I’ve never been on someone else’s schedule. Well, in prison I was, but I thought I was
out now.”
“Come on,” Max said. “The company has to be better than prison. At least give us that. And I got you a phone.”
“I guess Lola is pretty cool,” Dubs said. “And Jose does know a lot about cars.” Dubs saw Max waiting for her to continue. She let her wait a few beats, then caught her eye and winked. “My jailor’s a lot cuter here too. And I didn’t get to sleep with the dude at the state prison, thankfully.”
“I don’t think that’s a rumor you should be starting,” Max said.
“And how would you describe it?” Dubs asked, feeling calmer. She enjoyed spending time with Max, verbally sparring with her. “At night, the cuffs come back, and we hop in bed together. I don’t know what other name to give it.”
“My back couldn’t take another night on the floor,” Max said defensively.
“I’m also irresistible.”
“And modest.”
“Oh, don’t tell me you aren’t into it,” Dubs said. “You took the chivalrous route by sleeping on the floor. When I complain about something, you fix it. You’re enjoying being my knight in shining armor. In return, I get to tease you. Which, I might add, I can also tell you enjoy. I saw your eyes glued to me at the beach.”
“Dubs, half the people there had their eyes glued to you at the beach.” Max was turning a little red. “You were wearing an eye patch and calling it a bathing suit.”
Dubs was going to continue, but the prepaid cell phone Max had given her rang. She’d only given the number to three people, and it wasn’t her father or Mrs. Otis calling. “It’s our boy,” she said. She turned away and took the call, speaking softly. Max frowned.
Dubs talked to Shorty for a few minutes. She had known him before she was arrested. They had crossed paths in their mutual professional engagements, but she didn’t know him well.
“He wants to meet in person. He didn’t want to give me details over the phone. It sounded like he’d done some work with our group though.”
“Do you believe him?” Max asked.
“I don’t know,” Dubs said. “He’s always been that kid who didn’t quite fit in, and he always wanted to have information other people didn’t. Sometimes that meant his info kinda sucked. He’s a good thief though. I could imagine a new crew using him.”
“Only one way to find out I guess. Let’s go talk to Holt.”
Dubs wished she could do the meet alone. She wanted the information he had, but she wanted to be able to screen what she gave to Holt and Max. She was willing to help them, but she needed to be thinking about herself long-term too. Either they weren’t going to be able to take down this mystery crew and there might be a place for her among them, or they would bust them, and their absence would leave plenty of room for her to set up shop.
“You hear from your guy?” Holt asked when they approached.
“He wants to meet tomorrow afternoon,” Dubs said. “He suggested the new frozen yogurt place downtown.”
“It will be crowded,” Holt said. “And right on the street. Not the easiest location to provide cover, but I like that it’s public. I haven’t had frozen yogurt in a long time. Maybe I’ll pull rank and take inside cover.”
“How many people are you going to have watching this meeting?” Dubs asked. So much for going alone. “I was thinking I could meet with him a little more privately. He’s a little paranoid.”
“You won’t even know we’re there,” Holt said. “Remember what I said about protecting my people? This is one of those situations. If this goes bad, I need to be close to you, and to Max, to get you out. It’s just how we work around here.”
“So if someone tried to shoot me, you’re telling me you would take a bullet for me? I don’t believe it. I’m a criminal, and you’re Captain America.”
“Believe it,” Moose said. He was leaning over a cubicle wall, half participating in their planning. With him draped over the wall, the divider looked like doll furniture. “It wouldn’t do her any good though, ’cause if the first shot didn’t kill her, Isabelle would be so furious, she’d finish the job. She’d have to get in line though. I’m not interested in you getting shot again either.”
“I don’t remember this being about me,” Holt said a little testily.
Dubs couldn’t remember ever being around people quite like these. They all seemed too good to be true. That said, she hoped she never had to find out if Holt really was willing to make good on her promise.
“Fine, bring all the Merry Men. I have no idea how you’re going to hide him in a crowd though,” she said, pointing to Moose.
Max laughed.
“I’ll think of something,” Holt said.
Chapter Ten
Dubs didn’t know how Max and the others spent so much of their time sitting around. They had been waiting at the frozen yogurt shop for fifteen minutes, but still no sign of Shorty. She was getting antsy.
“I told you to eat slower,” Max said. She wasn’t even a quarter of the way through her dessert.
“How do you wait around like this all the time? It’s making me crawl out of my skin.”
“You get used to it,” Max said. “Truth be told, I don’t do that much out of the office. I’m behind my computer most of the time. This is a treat for me.”
“Do you see how many beautiful cars have driven by, just in the time we’ve been sitting here? And how many people have butchered perfectly awesome machines with really bad custom additions? I mean, don’t get me wrong, sometimes it’s great to add on a little touch here, an improvement there, but some of the stuff that’s out there? No way. What am I supposed to do with your janky ass custom job? I can’t break that shit down and sell it. It’s amazing how many ‘car people’ don’t know the first thing about cars.”
“I think I’ve heard this same rant from Jose a time or two.”
“He’s a smart man,” Dubs said.
“Is this your boy?” Max asked.
Dubs looked around carefully. She had memorized everyone sitting near them. They were on the sidewalk outside the shop, in uncomfortable metal patio chairs, surrounded by couples and families enjoying the warm day. They had already had to scare off more than one person trying to take their third chair.
“Yeah, that’s him,” Dubs said. Finally.
He slid into the chair opposite Dubs, ignoring Max completely.
“I thought you still had a couple years left, Dubs,” he said.
“Hello to you too, Shorty.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean nothing by that, just surprised to see you out is all. Not that I’m worried or anything. I’ve got my own game now. It’s good to see you out. Yeah, good for you. Welcome back.”
“Dude, I told you, I want to hear about your game. You willing to tell me?” Dubs had always found Shorty really annoying, and the last thing she felt like was small talk.
“Hey, after you left, things changed around here. It’s not the same with all the little crews, or people working on their own. If you want to run your own show, you’ve got to either go somewhere else, or you’ve got to pay a percentage to the new bosses running the game now. That’s who I do work for. I think I’m the only one they’ve allowed into their circle.”
Shorty was clearly very proud of that fact. Dubs didn’t think he should be quite as proud as he was, but she didn’t say anything. This meeting was trying her patience, and she was sickened to hear how much things had changed.
“Who is ‘they,’ Shorty?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. Honor among thieves.”
“I’m a thief too, you fuckwad.”
“She’s not,” he said, acknowledging Max for the first time.
“She’s with me,” Dubs said, raising her eyebrows at him knowingly. “You know what I mean? And I say she’s good.”
“Oh man,” Shorty said. “Still. I don’t know anything. They get in touch when they need me to do something. I only have contact with some guy I’m pretty sure isn’t that close to t
he main group. Holy shit.”
Shorty’s eyes got wide as the mood of the other diners changed rapidly and people started moving. Max stood so quickly the table flipped. She pulled Dubs and Shorty with her, away from the yogurt shop, toward the street corner. Dubs didn’t know where they were going, or what Max had seen, but she followed.
Squealing tires heightened Dubs’s anxiety. She glanced back and saw a black Escalade bearing down on them. The windows were tinted so dark the entire car looked like a black hole. She looked in front of them, trying to see where Max was leading. Instead, she saw another vehicle, this time a white passenger van, closing on them fast. There was an alley ahead, but she wasn’t sure they would make it.
Max had her by the hand, but her grip kept slipping because Dubs’s hand was sweating. Her heart was racing so fast, and so loud, it sounded like she was standing in a wind tunnel. She didn’t know why those two cars scared her so much, but it was damn clear they shouldn’t be there. Max was certainly taking them seriously.
When she peeked back over her shoulder again, she didn’t need to wonder why she was so scared. One of the back windows of the Escalade was down and a semi-automatic assault rifle was clearly visible.
She wanted to say something to Max, to pull her to safety, to run in the other direction, something. But she couldn’t. She didn’t seem capable of doing anything as panic squeezed her throat shut. Max and Shorty were still moving, but Dubs wasn’t sure if she was. She might steal cars for a living, but she wasn’t used to people waving guns in her face.
Max turned to her and said something. She couldn’t hear her, her heart was still too loud in her ears. It looked like “move your ass.” She would have, but before she could, everything exploded in chaos around her.
She heard the gunshots because those were even louder than her pounding heartbeat, and at the same time she was hit hard in the back and lifted completely off the ground. At first, she thought she had been shot, but when Max, and then something even heavier, landed on top of her and she didn’t feel any horrendous pain, she reevaluated. She was flat on her stomach, pinned to the ground behind a massive concrete flowerpot. If she weren’t trapped under all the weight, she would have almost felt safe, given the situation.
Pedal to the Metal Page 7
