Pedal to the Metal

by Jesse J. Thoma

  Dubs had no idea how long the shooting lasted. It could have been ten seconds, or ten hours. It was too long. When it abruptly stopped, there were more squealing tires and she could hear the two vehicles leaving quickly.

  “You two, don’t move.”

  Dubs knew the voice sounded familiar. It was directly above her. Given how thoroughly pinned she was, it seemed comical that the woman speaking thought she could go anywhere. As soon as she thought it, the weight lifted and Holt came into her line of sight as she tore off down the sidewalk at a full sprint.

  Max rolled off of Dubs so she was lying next to her.

  “You okay?”

  “Was she the sumo wrestler lying on top of us? I don’t think I have any ribs left.”

  “Tell me about it,” Max said. “I had your bony ass on one side and her on the other. That was a crappy Max sandwich. I’m serious, though. Are you okay?”

  “I don’t know,” Dubs said. “That was pretty shitty. And I think I have road rash on my chin. Do you know what happened to Shorty?” Dubs hadn’t wanted to ask. She didn’t really want to know. He had been right next to them, and he wasn’t with them now.

  “I don’t know,” Max said. “I was trying to get us to that alley. All of a sudden, Holt literally had me by the back of my pants and she tossed me on top of you back here. Then she jumped over us both.”

  “Are you two okay?” Holt was back.

  “What the hell just happened?” Dubs asked. She was mad, and scared, and wanted to yell at someone. “’Cause I’ve never been shot at until I came under your ‘protection.’ If this is how it’s going to be, put me back in prison. It was a hell of a lot safer.”

  “You’re right. I put you both in a risky situation. I don’t think you were the target, but you were in danger. That shouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry.”

  Dubs could hear sirens. The first police car was visible in the distance. She was already on edge enough without adding in the police.

  “What happened to Shorty? Was he the target?”

  “He’s gone, Dubs. I’m sorry. I tried to get to all three of you, but I couldn’t.” Holt looked sad. “Can I get you back to the office? You don’t need to be here for all the police questioning and cleanup. Do you need the hospital?”

  Dubs shook her head. She felt okay, if a little disoriented, by what had just happened. Gone. How close had Shorty been to them when he’d been shot? How close had that bullet come to her? “Where did you take off to just now?”

  “I wanted a license plate on the Escalade,” Holt said.

  “You took off, on foot, after a car full of guys with assault rifles?” Dubs couldn’t believe Holt was serious.

  “My binoculars are in my other pants.”

  “You’re insane, woman.”

  “Calculated risk,” Holt said. “They needed to get out of here fast, not continue shooting at me. And if they did start shooting, they were moving too fast to hit anything with accuracy.”

  “Does accuracy even matter with automatic assault rifles?”

  “Like I said, calculated risk.”

  What Holt was saying didn’t even sound like something a human being should say. What kind of person ran toward that kind of danger? What kind of person would jump on top of two other people to shield them from a shooting? She could understand Holt wanting to save Max, but why did she toss her to safety first? Because she was an asset? Then why not save Shorty? Dubs massaged her temples and sat up. It was all too much for an afternoon.

  “Was it worth the chase?”

  “Nah, no plates.”

  “That car was custom. Shouldn’t be hard to track it. I’m putting money on it being stolen,” Dubs said.

  “Come on. You two head back to the office. I’ll be back in a bit.” Holt positioned herself behind Dubs and Max and waited for them to get up before moving them in the direction of the truck they arrived in. Dubs got the feeling Holt was trying to make herself as large as possible, a human shield against whatever was behind her. Dubs tried to look around her and caught a glimpse of a trickle of red and the sole of a sneaker on the other side of the flowerpot.

  “Leave it, Dubs. You don’t need to see what’s over there. Go back to the office with Max. Today’s been shitty enough. I’ll take care of things here.”

  For the first time, Dubs and Holt agreed.

  Chapter Eleven

  Max could tell her pacing was adding to Dubs’s agitation, but she couldn’t sit still right now. She was going over and over the past few hours, dissecting every decision and move she had made, trying to figure out if she could have done something different to change the outcome. Holt trusted her with a lot of responsibility, and right now she didn’t feel like she was living up to that trust.

  “Hey, Pretty Girl, you need a cup of calming tea or something. You look wound even tighter than me. Not even sure how that’s possible.”

  “I’m thinking,” Max said.

  “Well, be careful,” Dubs said. “With as hard as you’re thinking, it looks like you could pop a vein or something.”

  Dubs got up and caught Max as she passed on one of her laps. She put her hand on Max’s back. “Look, I’m upset too. That was some scary ass shit.”

  “No Scrabble words to describe it? I’m a little disappointed.” Max was getting used to Dubs’s nonstop talking and vocabulary that was bigger than both of them. She even kind of liked it.

  “My brains almost got Scrabbled. Kinda takes the fun out of a triple word score.”

  “You have a point,” Max said. “You really haven’t ever been in a situation like that before? I know it’s a big assumption, but given your past life…”

  “My father always told me to get in and out before anyone noticed you were there, otherwise the guns come out. He never let me carry a gun either, even though a lot of the other thieves did. He said it would slow me down and make me feel invincible. I made it a mission to avoid what we just experienced.”

  “Your dad sounds like he went to the same school as Holt. She has the same rule about guns,” Max said. Given the chance, she suspected Holt and Dubs might actually get along.

  “My pride is still a little bruised at having been flung like a rag doll over a flowerpot earlier. How did she do that?”

  “Eventually, you stop asking ‘how’ with Holt,” Max said. “You just accept that some things don’t make any sense, but you’re glad she can do them.” Max wished she had some of Holt’s confidence and instincts. She should have been the one keeping Dubs and Shorty safe today. She was embarrassed Holt had to swoop in and rescue them. And now Shorty was dead. He was their best lead, and she’d let that lead be compromised.

  “Any chance we could do something? You know, some work, or go for a walk? Not outside or anything, but around the office. Maybe get a snack. Do you have any video games in here? Or coffee?”

  “How about we see what we can find out about that Escalade? It must be related to the folks we’ve been looking for. You said you thought it was stolen. Why?”

  “A car like that, it’s really noticeable. And the tint on the windows is illegal. I mean, shooting people in the street is too, but why call attention to yourself like that? My thought is, they were using whatever they had and they’ll dump the cars after.”

  “Couldn’t they have just removed the plates off their own vehicle before coming out?”

  “Sure. But there are probably only two or three of those Escalades around. It really narrows down the search if they used their own car. Maybe they’re idiots, though. I would be all for that.”

  Dubs still looked a little wound up. Max moved closer to her and put her hand against Dubs’s cheek, and her stomach jumped when Dubs leaned into the touch. It felt so intimate, Max’s instinct was to pull away. She didn’t know what she was doing, but she didn’t move. Instead, she ran her fingers through Dubs’s hair, which was down after being tied back for their meeting with Shorty.

  “We’re going to get these guys. We always get o
ur guys.”

  “You’ve been spending too much time with me, Pretty Girl. You’re starting to sound cocky,” Dubs said quietly.

  “Well, uh, should we get to work?” Max said. Dubs was looking at her too gently and they were standing too closely. She didn’t know what the expectations were from here. It kind of felt like they should kiss, but she wasn’t about to go there. Certainly not in the middle of the office. She also wasn’t sure she wanted to kiss Dubs. It didn’t seem like a good idea. She was already struggling enough with her new responsibilities.

  “Whatever you say,” Dubs said. “How are you planning on tracking this vehicle down? What if I’m wrong? Or if they didn’t file a police report? A car like that, with illegal tint, probably doesn’t belong to some upstanding citizen.”

  “If there’s a DMV registration, a traffic violation, or a parking ticket, I’ll find it,” Max said. This was where she felt most comfortable. She knew she wasn’t letting Holt down when she was behind her keyboard.

  “Is that legal?” Dubs asked. She looked impressed.

  “‘Is that legal?’ asks the car thief,” Max said. “I got to watch you work, hot stuff, now it’s your turn to be impressed.”

  “Lay it on me,” Dubs said. “My socks are ready to fly right off.”

  They got to work. Mostly, Dubs sat and watched Max tap away on her keyboard, but she was a supportive presence. It felt good to do something after their stressful afternoon. As Dubs had suggested, no police report had been filed for a missing vehicle matching the car from earlier.

  If Max had any doubts about Dubs’s usefulness in this quest, they were quickly allayed when Dubs was able to give the trim level and year of the Escalade from memory. Max looked up a picture of that vehicle, and it perfectly matched her recollections as well.

  “Never doubt the memory of a car thief for the details of a car,” Dubs said. “Even with someone shooting at me, that was the first thing I noticed.”

  “I think you might need to work on your priorities,” Max said, although in this case, it was coming in handy.

  “So, how many are in the DMV database?” Dubs was worse at sitting still than Max.

  “Dubs?” Max said.

  “What?”

  “I’ve been tense since we got back, but I’m finding the massage a little distracting.”

  “What? Oh, sorry.” Dubs looked surprised, but not especially sorry. Max had been caught off guard when Dubs had first rested her hand on Max’s knee, but she hadn’t minded. Over the past fifteen minutes, though, Dubs had been absentmindedly stroking Max’s leg until her hand was quite a bit farther from Max’s knee than when she started.

  Dubs moved her hand from Max’s leg and rested it on Max’s back, settling it against Max’s ribs. This position actually brought them even closer, something that was significantly more distracting than her hand on Max’s leg.

  “Is this some kind of test?” Max asked. “Some examination of my iron will?”

  “Is there a problem?” Dubs asked.

  Max wasn’t sure if she was playing dumb, or was actually clueless.

  “I like being close to you,” Dubs said. “Since we’ve started sleeping together.”

  “You’ve got to stop saying that.”

  “You get snuggly after you fall asleep. Turns out I kinda like it.” Dubs ignored Max’s protest. “It’s better without the handcuffs, though.”

  “Oh dear Lord,” Max said.

  “So, how many Escalades?”

  Dubs didn’t move away, and Max was working on breathing. She wasn’t sure if it was Dubs specifically, or the fact that anyone was giving her this kind of attention. She didn’t want to get carried away by a beautiful woman playing with her.

  “Five,” Max said. “Two seem unlikely to be our vehicle, but we should still check them out.”

  “Well, do you have addresses? Let’s get going.”

  “Hold on there, Tiger,” Max said. “We’ve got a chain of command here. I’ve got to talk to Moose. We might not be the ones to go on this jaunt.” Max wasn’t sure if she wanted to be the one to be back in the field so quickly. Moose was across the room. “You wait here. I’ll go talk to him.”

  Dubs put her feet up on the desk. Max made her way over to Moose. She could have brought Dubs, but she wanted the opportunity to talk to Moose alone. He had been in her corner since she started here, willing to lend an ear, or a gentle push in the right direction, when needed.

  “You good, Max? Too much excitement out there today from what I hear. You know I don’t like Holt getting shot at. How do you think I feel about you being on the other side of a gun barrel?”

  Max didn’t know why it would matter who was being shot at, but she was flattered Moose made a distinction. “Why would you care if it’s me or Holt?”

  “Holt’s too damn stubborn to get shot for real. She’d just flex something and send it back where it came from. Maybe it’s my own denial about her invincibility. But you, let’s just say I can’t imagine anything happening to you. Makes me want to put you in my pocket and keep you safe.”

  “I think I’d probably fit in your pocket,” Max said.

  “What’s on your mind, Max? You look like something’s gnawing at you.”

  “Couple things, I guess. First, we might have found a lead. The car from the shooting today was custom. Dubs thinks it was probably stolen. There are only five in Rhode Island that could be the one we’re looking for. I thought we could pay them a visit.”

  “See if they’re still where they’re supposed to be? Do you think it’s related to the people we’re looking for?”

  “Yeah. Otherwise, why come after Shorty? They seemed to target him when he was telling us about his working with them. Oh! I can’t believe I forgot. Dubs,” Max said.

  “Yeah?” Dubs looked up from the cell phone Max had gotten for her. She must have been texting.

  “Didn’t Shorty say the new thieves get in touch with him when they needed his services?”

  “Yeah. I think so, why?”

  “We need that cell phone,” Max said. “Do you think Holt is still there?” Max asked Moose.

  “I’ll call her. Tell me, why do you think knowing that one of the Escalades is stolen will help us? Think they’re dumb enough to lead us to them?”

  “Don’t know,” Max said. “But no police report was filed, so we don’t have any other information to go on. Maybe there won’t be anything worthwhile to learn, but we don’t know anything at all right now.”

  “You’re getting the hang of this fieldwork, huh?”

  “Not at all. I almost got us all killed today,” Max said. She hated admitting that to Moose, of all people.

  “That’s not what I heard. Holt said you were doing a great job of trying to get the three of you to safety in an alley. You reacted faster than anyone else, according to her. Fieldwork takes time to get the hang of. Give yourself the time.”

  “If I was so great at it,” Max said, “no one would be dead, and I wouldn’t have gotten tossed over a flowerpot and landed on by a two-ton tank.”

  “At least you weren’t at the bottom of the pile,” Moose said with a smile.

  “Don’t say that too loudly. She just stopped whining about it,” Max said. Moose was good at making her feel better.

  “Get out of here. You two have Escalades to hunt down. And find out what Dubs is up to over there.”

  Max looked over at Dubs. She was hunched over her phone. She felt like she couldn’t quite keep on top of anything right now.

  She walked over quietly and threw her arms around Dubs’s neck from behind, leaning her head down so their cheeks were right next to each other. “Ready to get going?” Max felt Dubs jump. She quickly closed her text message. Max wasn’t able to see who she was writing to.

  “Who you texting?”

  “My father. He heard about the shooting today and asked if I knew anything about it. I didn’t want him to worry.”

  Max really wanted to believe h
er. She really did.

  “I’ve got addresses for four of the five,” Max said. “Let me run the VIN on the fifth and see if I can get any more information. The owner is listed as a company. They only have a PO Box.”

  It didn’t take long for Max to find some useful information. The fifth Escalade had some service work done at a local garage recently. Maybe they would have more information about an owner.

  “Do I need to send you with a bodyguard?” Moose shouted after them. “Maybe the bulletproof truck?”

  “Shut it, Big Man,” Max hollered back.

  “Do you really have a bulletproof truck?” Dubs asked.

  “I have no idea.”

  Max and Dubs set off on their Escalade hunt. They got through the first three quickly. For two of them, they didn’t even need to talk to the owners. The cars were sitting in the driveway and didn’t match. The third was tucked safely in the garage, which they could see when they looked in through the side window of the garage.

  When they got to the fourth house, no one was home.

  “Can’t we just take a peek in the garage?” Dubs asked. “I think only five percent of houses in Providence have garages that actually fit cars. Why are we visiting all of them?”

  “Just lucky, I guess,” Max said.

  “I’m starting to see why you like playing detective,” Dubs said.

  It was amusing watching Dubs try out a new role. Max noticed she had also been spending most of her time watching Max work. “Is that why you’ve been staring at me the whole time we’ve been out and about today?”

  “I’m trying to learn from a master,” Dubs said.

  “Uh, huh,” Max said. “Take a peek in there. But don’t do anything illegal.”

  Dubs was back quickly. “Car’s in the garage. Also, there is a really, really large spider hanging out over the doorway to the side entrance. I mean, massive. It’s bigger than you. Let’s get out of here before it decides it’s hungry. I think the Escalade belongs to it.”