Pedal to the Metal

by Jesse J. Thoma

  “Gotcha,” Dubs said. She rewound the footage and tried to ascertain which of the two large double doors perpendicular to the even larger set of main doors the man had entered. That would at least give her an idea of which side of the parking lot to search first.

  Once she was reasonably sure about where to start her outside search, she made note of the time on the front door tape, and switched to the parking lot footage. There were multiple cameras covering the staggeringly large parking lot. Dubs had to watch each one individually, hoping to catch her man. Although she hoped to get lucky with the first video, she didn’t. By the fifth twenty-minute video clip, she hadn’t found the phone buyer, but she had discovered a new gold mine for car theft. No one seemed to lock their car doors, and in some cases, even bother to bring their keys with them. And there were so many cars Dubs would have loved to relieve their owners of. It was strange though, watching the videos, seeing the owners leaving their property so vulnerable. She kept thinking of what Max would say if she were to sneak up and drive off with someone else’s car. Kissing Max was one thing, but having her pop up as an annoying conscience when she was trying to work when she left here, wasn’t going to work.

  Dubs was saved more unpleasant daydreaming when she got to the sixth camera footage. In clear view of the camera, her guy pulled in and parked a black Honda Civic. Dubs watched as he carefully locked the door and tucked the keys in his pocket. She paused the video and jogged into the main office space. There wasn’t anyone except Max left.

  “Pretty Girl, I found him,” Dubs said. “Now I need your help.”

  “Found who?” Max asked.

  “The dude who bought the burner phone.”

  “I thought you found him a long time ago. He paid in cash. What were you guys looking for in there?”

  “We were looking for him arriving. To see if we could get his license plate. And now I got it. But I don’t know what to do with it,” Dubs said. “I figure that’s your business.”

  “Look at you,” Max said. “You’re all giddy and adorably excited. Are you hearing the siren song of crime fighting?”

  “Don’t get carried away, Pretty Girl. Not even you have that kind of power over me. Are you going to help me?”

  “Of course,” Max said. “Bring me the license plate number. Let’s see who it belongs to.”

  Moose returned with coffee just as Max was going to work on her computer. Dubs practically leapt into his arms to get at the latte he had for her. No one else understood when she said coffee helped calm her down, but it did. Right now she was so jazzed up at her discovery she needed the latte even more than she did before.

  Dubs caught Moose up on the developments while Max worked.

  “Nicely done, Dubs,” Moose said. “I thought we were going to be at it all night.”

  “So little faith in my skill,” Dubs said.

  “No one has underestimated your healthy self regard,” Max said, giving Dubs a wink.

  “Just spicing things up around here,” Dubs said. “You are all so…I don’t even know. Superbly Wonder Bread. You need a criminal around.”

  “Thank God you showed up then,” Moose said.

  “I know, right?”

  “All right, I got something,” Max said. “That Civic is a loaner vehicle for Smith’s Auto Shop. The registered owner is the shop owner, but based on the picture, he’s not your guy. Even if he hasn’t renewed his license in years, his license picture doesn’t look like that guy at all.”

  “Is H still around?” Moose asked.

  “Yeah, she’s in her office,” Max said.

  Moose went to fetch her.

  “How do you have all this information so quickly? I can barely make my phone work,” Dubs said.

  Max shrugged. “It’s kinda my thing.”

  “Remind me never to let you near anything of mine with an on/off switch.”

  “Oh, please,” Max said. “I don’t need to get near it.”

  Dubs didn’t like the sound of that. She wondered what information Max could access on her, or what information she had already gotten. It would make sense that she did background on her before she came on board, but now it felt overly personal.

  “What’s up?” Holt asked, following Moose to Max’s desk.

  “The Wonder Twins here have been hard at work all day and have an update.”

  “Who the hell are the Wonder Twins?” Dubs asked.

  “Weird alien twins with superpowers. One can change into any form of water, and the other can change into animals,” Moose said. “They also have a pet space monkey.”

  “Water? Really?” Max said. “How is that ever useful?”

  “What did you two find?” Holt said.

  “Oh, right. Well, the guy who bought the burner phone, the one used to contact Shorty, was driving a loaner car from Smith’s Auto Shop.”

  “Is that the shop you and Dubs went to about the Escalade?” Holt asked.

  “No, different place,” Max said. “And we don’t know who the driver is. He’s not the registered owner of the car. Maybe an employee?”

  “Or he could have had the car as a loaner that day,” Holt said.

  “Can’t we go to Smith’s Auto Shop and talk to them? See if anyone recognizes the guy?” Dubs asked.

  “Yes,” Holt said. “But the last time we poked around, someone left a bomb on our doorstep. I’m inclined to do some less obvious digging for a little while. Print a picture of him and add him to our lookout file. I’ll give you a couple more days, Max, to piece this puzzle together.”

  “I’m on it, H,” Max said.

  “Let me know when you have something concrete. Dubs, we may need to turn up the pressure again and get you back out on the street. Think about if you feel that would help us, or just complicate an already volatile situation. Now, though, it’s late. Go home. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

  Holt took her own advice and was out the door quickly. Moose followed shortly after.

  “The boss lady is a lot faster out the door than she used to be,” Max said. “I’m not sure she ever left before Isabelle.”

  “If I had what they had, I’d be the first one out the door at the end of the day,” Dubs said. She didn’t know Isabelle well, but she could tell by the way Holt worshipped her that they had something special. She didn’t get the sense Holt settled, and Isabelle certainly didn’t look like she was willing to just follow along with whatever life put in her path.

  “Well, rumor has it you’re playing house these days, so you better be getting your butt home soon,” Max said.

  “Or what?” Dubs said. “Is my ball and chain going to be upset because I don’t have dinner on the table? Because I seem to remember demanding that you take me out to dinner tonight.”

  “Ball and chain? And I was going to take you somewhere nice. Now I’m downgrading to Dunkin’ Donuts.”

  “You might want to rethink that,” Dubs said. “I’m not wearing the dress hanging in the closet to Dunkin’ Donuts. On the off chance you haven’t seen it, take a peek while I shower. I’ll leave our dining destination up to you though, totally your choice.”

  “You’re a tease, Dubs. Do you know that?” Max swung their joined hands gently.

  Dubs took advantage of Max’s overture and took it a step further by perching on her lap. She saw Max look around, but they were alone. “I don’t mean to be a tease,” Dubs said honestly. “But you make me nervous.”

  “I make you nervous?” Max said. “How in the world is that possible?”

  “Because, for example, right now I want to kiss you, and you also scare me so badly I also want to run out the door and never come back.”

  “That’s not worth it,” Max said. “Holt would hunt you down and drag you back to me, never knowing why you ran away. And she’d probably cuff us together all the time again.”

  “So you’re saying kissing you is the safer option?”

  “Wow, I backed myself right into that, didn’t I?” Max was the one loo
king nervous now.

  Dubs moved closer until her lips were mere millimeters from Max’s. They were both breathing more heavily than normal. “All you have to say is no and I’ll stop,” Dubs said.

  Instead, Max closed the distance between them and kissed her. It started tentative, but soon one or the other of them deepened the kiss. Max wrapped her arms around Dubs’s waist, letting one hand explore her upper thigh.

  Dubs wasn’t sure how long their mini make out session lasted. It could have been a second, or an hour. She was completely swept away in the feeling. When they broke the kiss, Max gently put one hand on either side of Dubs’s face. “You look beautiful with your hair down. I’ve been meaning to tell you all day.”

  “Thank you.” Dubs didn’t think she’d ever gotten such a genuine compliment.

  “Also, you need to shower and do whatever is required for that thing you are calling a dress. I’ve seen it in the closet and I want to see it on you. No Dunkin’ Donuts this evening.”

  “Excellent,” Dubs said. “It fits just like my bikini.”

  “Lord help me,” Max said. “I hope I make it through the evening.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Dubs hadn’t been exaggerating when she described the fit of her dress. Max was having a hard time focusing on their conversation. She suspected that was the point of the dress, and also Dubs’s intention when she went out of her way to draw attention to its finest features. It was navy blue and formfitting from her hips to her chest. The two straps tied behind Dubs’s neck, something she of course had needed Max’s help with while getting ready. It was open to the middle of her back, making it impossible for her to wear a bra, a fact not lost on Max.

  They hadn’t been sitting there for five minutes, hadn’t even ordered appetizers, and Max was rapidly cycling through thinking about just how beautiful Dubs looked, how perfect her bare shoulders looked in that dress, the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra, and that she wasn’t supposed to be thinking about any of it. She was supposed to be paying attention to what Dubs was saying. She was also uncomfortable in clothes she never wore.

  She had panicked after boldly telling Dubs she would take her to one of the nicest restaurants in Providence. She owned exactly one shirt with a collar, and she didn’t know if it was appropriate for where they were going. While Dubs was showering, she had snuck down to Lola’s apartment and begged for help. Lola had called Jose, who lived nearby, and before she knew what she had done, Jose and Lola had stripped her down to her underwear and were dressing her like a Ken doll.

  The end result was a pair of her pants and a dress shirt that belonged to someone Jose knew. He said they’d left it at his house and wouldn’t be coming to claim it. No one asked any questions. It fit Max, which was remarkable, since she got teased for being so small. The man who had previously owned the shirt must have been the world’s skinniest man. Lola had insisted on a bow tie, which Max resisted at first, but now was really into. They had passed three other people, all under thirty, rocking similar neckwear, so apparently, Lola knew what she was talking about. In reality, it didn’t matter what Max was wearing, because everyone was looking at Dubs. Max didn’t blame them. She was stunning.

  “Did you hear me, Pretty Girl?” Dubs asked.

  “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

  “Everything okay?” Dubs asked, looking concerned. “That bow tie cutting off circulation to your brain? It’s cute as hell, but I don’t want you losing brain cells for my pleasure.”

  “Oh please,” Max said with a half grin. “Don’t pretend you have no idea why I might be a little distractible this evening.”

  “Me? I wouldn’t know what you’re talking about,” Dubs said. “I’m just out to dinner with a mighty dapper lady. When you told me where we were going, I had to dress the part.”

  “Oh, of course,” Max said. “Now, what did you ask me?”

  Dubs stroked the top of her foot along the back of Max’s calf. Oh, those high heels, Max thought. She had forgotten about the heels. Focus.

  “I asked why you live in Holt’s attic,” Dubs said.

  “Oh.” Her body stiffened. She had no trouble focusing now as she thought about the place that felt a million miles away, but was only about fifteen miles away, and a small house about three towns away.

  “Hey, wait. No, never mind. I didn’t realize that was a bad subject,” Dubs said, clearly reading the change in Max’s body language. “I want to know all about it. But it doesn’t have to be here. I just want to know more about you. How about I start?”

  “I’m sorry,” Max said. “You just caught me off guard. I don’t mind telling you. I want you to know. But it’s a rough transition to go from thinking about you in that dress and how good your ass looked when you were walking in here tonight, to the fact that I was homeless for three months last year.”

  “I didn’t mean to cause such a tenebrific atmosphere,” Dubs said.

  “One more Scrabble word and you shouldn’t need dinner,” Max said. “That one was quite a mouthful.”

  “I could totally do better,” Dubs said.

  “I have no doubts.”

  “Haven’t you worked for Holt for more than a year?” Dubs asked.

  “I have,” Max said.

  Dubs looked angry. “How could she, with all her fake save the world crap, let you live on the streets for three months? That is the worst kind of hypocritical, horrible…How can you work for her?”

  Max took Dubs’s hand, which was clenched into a fist. “She had no idea. No one on the crew did. She still wouldn’t have any idea probably, except Isabelle found out. Although I think Moose was starting to figure it out, too. As soon as I told her, she practically marched me upstairs and moved me into my place. I’ve been there ever since. I barely pay rent. There are people you can get mad at in this story, but Holt isn’t one of them. Okay?”

  “Fine,” Dubs said. She unclenched her fist and instead wound her fingers through Max’s.

  Max considered removing her hand from Dubs’s. Holt had just warned her, for the second time, about getting involved with Dubs, and they were in a very public place. But this felt so good. Perhaps she would get burned, but she would worry about that later. Besides, making out in the office was probably much riskier than this. If Holt were able to look at it objectively, her falling in love with Isabelle while someone was trying to kill both of them probably wasn’t the smartest move, but that had worked out all right. Max wasn’t equating the two, but for the moment, she was going with what felt right.

  “So how did you end up running my mean streets?”

  “I’m tougher than I look, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Max said. She didn’t exactly like reliving those days, but she had survived them fairly well.

  “You look plenty tough,” Dubs said. “You’re like a little Holt clone. Except you’re sexier, and you have more heart. Or at least, that’s how I see it. But the ‘don’t mess with me’ vibe, the ass-kicking stance, the powerful way you walk into a room, total alpha butch. Be still my heart. And I’ve seen you fight, so I know you’re tough. I was just wondering what would have precipitated your arrival on the street.”

  Max was rather shocked by Dubs’s assessment of her. It wasn’t that long ago that she felt like she cowered in Holt’s presence. Now Dubs thought she was as powerful as Holt. Surely that was Dubs flirting, but it still felt nice to hear.

  “Not even you with your rose-colored glasses can think I come close to Holt and those muscles,” Max said, flexing her right bicep for effect.

  “You’ve got everything I’m looking for,” Dubs said.

  Max had to give her credit, Dubs was nothing if not direct. Max just wasn’t sure how much of it was real and how much of it was outrageous flirting. She felt like she was starting to develop real feelings for her, but she was scared to allow herself to until she could understand exactly what Dubs was feeling, and what side she was working for. She didn’t even know how to go about doing that.


  “Uh huh,” Max said.

  “I’m serious, Pretty Girl. No games. Now tell me how you ended up on the street. I want to know.”

  Max sighed. “From as long as I can remember, it was just me and my mom. She’s…old school, I guess you could call it. She still has one of those big butt TVs. You wouldn’t be impressed with her car. We’ve never really gotten along. I’ve never been everything she was looking for in a daughter, and it got worse as I got older. When I got into computers, I at least had an escape, but that seemed to make her hate me. It was like I was some kind of freak or something. She said I was a criminal and a hacker.”

  “That’s just mean,” Dubs said. “How could your own mother say such horrible things?”

  “Well, some of it was true,” Max said. “When I was thirteen, I didn’t cover my tracks well enough when I was practicing some hacking jobs, so I sort of got caught. The police showed up to question me. I had covered up just enough they couldn’t prove anything, but my mom was pissed. I’ve never been caught since, though. That was a good lesson.”

  “Wait, you? A criminal?” Dubs looked beside herself. “I want to rip that bow tie and shirt off of you right now and whisper unimaginable things in your ear until you have no choice but to clear off this table and make me yours.”

  Max thought that all sounded amazing, except for the public performance aspect. “I only use my powers for good, never evil,” she said.

  “For the record, we’re not staying through dessert,” Dubs said.

  “Oh really?” Max said. “I’m telling you my sob story and all you can think about is getting me home?”

  “I’m twenty-two. I’m out to dinner with a criminally good-looking woman, who I find out is just like me and actually can sometimes be a criminal, but for the good guys. You’re like my wet dream. What do you expect from me?”

  “Do you want to hear the rest of my story?”

  “Yes, of course,” Dubs said. “I want to know all of your hurts and triumphs.”