Pedal to the Metal

by Jesse J. Thoma

  Isabelle sat in the large recliner in the room. Holt leaned on the bed with the baby.

  “You should do the skin to skin,” Holt said.

  Isabelle removed her shirt and bra and Holt unswaddled him and handed him to Isabelle.

  “I am fully aware that when we get home we’ll probably feel we’ve lost our minds,” Holt said. “But right now, I feel like my life is about as perfect as it can get.”

  “I love you so much,” Isabelle said.

  “You are talking to me, right?” Holt said. “I feel like I need to check now.”

  “Yes, you brute. Although I love him too. More than I thought would ever be possible.”

  “Me too,” Holt said.

  “Is Dubs out of surgery?” Isabelle asked.

  “Oh. Yes. I was coming back to tell you that,” Holt said. “She’s all settled in her room. I think my whole crew is jammed in her room. Max has probably moved in by now. I tried to warn Max away from Dubs, but I’m glad they ignored me. They’re so happy together. I thought Max was going to lose it when Dubs got shot.”

  “Can you blame her?” Isabelle asked. “I’m not pleased with any of you for that, but I’m too happy to scold. Do you think they’ll let us go for a walk with this little guy? It seems like there’s a party going on across the way that we should join. And Dubs should get to meet him. She did save his life.”

  “I’ll check with the nurses,” Holt said. She left the room for a moment. Isabelle gazed at the tiny creature now sleeping on her chest.

  Holt returned with a bottle and a smile. “Got some traveling snacks and I secured a ride,” Holt said. “Even better, the nurses said we can be discharged anytime as long as we’re fine with a nurse coming to the loft to visit a couple of times over the next week. He is in perfect health even if things got a little dicey right before he was born. I guess it was lucky the bad guys waited to steal Amy’s car so close to his due date. Oh, and security has to check that I installed the car seat correctly on our way out the door and remove his baby lojack.”

  Isabelle offered their son the bottle, which he greedily took. Since his stomach was about the size of a marble, he filled up quickly. She burped him and they were ready to move out.

  “What do you think of these wheels?” Holt asked.

  There was a pram on wheels waiting for them just outside the door. Isabelle laid the little boy inside and Holt wheeled it down the hall, grinning from ear to ear the entire time.

  “We’re not supposed to stay very long,” Holt said. “The nurses weren’t thrilled with the idea since there are a lot of germs in a hospital. I told them we’d be quick and this little dude wouldn’t touch anything.”

  Holt knocked on the door to Dubs’s room. Tuna was closest. “Hey, Holt and Isabelle and the new prince are here!”

  “Wait, seriously, they brought him?” someone said from deeper inside the room.

  “He’s here?” Isabelle heard Max say. “Bring him in.”

  “Clear a path,” Holt said.

  As they walked in, many hands patted Isabelle on the back or rubbed her shoulder. She felt more and more comfortable in this group the longer she spent with them. They had started to feel like family. She knew why Holt was so attached to them.

  When they got to Dubs’s bedside, Holt rolled the pram right next to her head. Max was sitting on the opposite side of the bed, looking like she was carefully avoiding jostling Dubs, but wanting to be as close to her as possible.

  “What do you think, Dubs?” Holt asked. “Was he worth it? This is the little guy you saved.”

  “He’s beautiful,” Dubs said. She still looked a little woozy from the surgery. “What’s his name?”

  Isabelle smiled. “I’m glad you’re all here to meet our son,” she said. “Please welcome George Rochat-Lasher.”

  “Prince George,” Lola said. “It’s perfect.”

  “So are you on full-time mom duty now, H?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Holt said. “I’m still the boss around here. Nothing’s changing.”

  “That’s not true at all,” Moose said. “That guy is now the boss around here.”

  Isabelle joined in the laughter. George started to cry. She scooped him up and snuggled him. He settled and she marveled that she could calm him like that. She knew it wouldn’t last, or at least wouldn’t always be that easy, but it was still miraculous.

  “So what are we going to do with ourselves while you’re playing mom?”

  “We’ve still got cases,” Holt said. “And quit trying to put me out to pasture.”

  “Seriously though, boss, anything big coming up?”

  “Well, we’ve got a newbie to break in,” Holt said.

  Isabelle didn’t know who Holt was talking about. She followed everyone else’s glance. They were all looking at Dubs.

  “Me?” Dubs asked. “You want me to join this team?”

  “If you’re interested,” Holt said. “We’d be lucky to have you.”

  There were a chorus of “amens” and “welcome aboard” from around the room. Dubs might have still been groggy, but she was clearly happy. Isabelle thought it was sweet how excited Dubs was, and Max was obviously thrilled as well.

  “So that will take about a minute and a half,” Moose said. “We’ll all babysit fifteen minutes a day. That will keep us busy, fifteen minutes a day. You’re going to have to think of something to fill up our time, H.”

  “Why the sudden interest in your timekeeping?” Holt asked, sounding exasperated.

  “Well, you’ve got this cute kid, you’re buying a house. We don’t want you to misplace the Batphone and forget about us.”

  “Oh, please,” Holt said. “You know the Batphone never stays silent for long.”

  About the Author

  Jesse Thoma is a project manager in a clinical research lab and spends a good amount of time in methadone clinics and prisons collecting data and talking to people.

  Jesse grew up in Northern California but headed east for college. She never looked back, although her baseball allegiance is still loyally with the San Francisco Giants. She has lived in New England for over a decade and has finally learned to leave extra time in the morning to scrape snow off the car. Jesse is blissfully married and is happiest when she is out for a walk with her family and their dog, pretending she still has the soccer skills she had as an eighteen-year-old, eating anything her wife bakes, or sitting at the computer to write a few lines.

  Books Available from Bold Strokes Books

  Pedal to the Metal by Jesse J. Thoma. When unreformed thief Dubs Williams is released from prison to help Max Winters bust a car theft ring, Max learns that to catch a thief, get in bed with one. (978-1-62639-239-7)

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  For the Love of Cake by Erin Dutton. When everything is on the line, and one taste can break a heart, will pastry chefs Maya and Shannon take a chance on reality? (978-1-62639-241-0)

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  Advance: Exodus Book One by Gun Brooke. Admiral Dael Caydoc’s mission to find a new homeworld for the Oconodian people is hazardous, but working with the infuriating Commander Aniwyn “Spinner” Seclan endangers her heart and soul. (978-1-62639-224-3)

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  Courtship by Carsen Taite. Love and justice—a lethal mix or a perfect match? (978-1-62639-210-6)

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  A Spark of Heavenly Fire by Kathleen Knowles. Kerry and Beth are building their life together, but unexpected circumstances could destroy their happiness. (978-1-62639-212-0)

  Never Too Late by Julie Blair. When Dr. Jamie Hammond is forced to hire a new office manager, she’s shocked to come face to face with Carla Grant and memories from her past. (978-1-62639-213-7)

  Widow by Martha Miller. Judge Bertha Brannon must solve the murder of her lover, a policewoman she thought she’d grow old with. As more bodies pile up, the murderer starts coming for her. (978-1-62639-214-4)

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  Criminal Gold by Ann Aptaker. Through a dangerous night in New York in 1949, Cantor Gold, dapper dyke-about-town, smuggler of fine art, is forced by a crime lord to be his instrument of vengeance. (978-1-62639-216-8)

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  Once The Clouds Have Gone by KE Payne. Overwhelmed by the dark clouds of her past, Tag Grainger is lost until the intriguing and spirited Freddie Metcalfe unexpectedly forces her to reevaluate her life. (978-1-62639-202-1)

  The Acquittal by Anne Laughlin. Chicago private investigator Josie Harper searches for the real killer of a woman whose lover has been acquitted of the crime. (978-1-62639-203-8)

  An American Queer: The Amazon Trail by Lee Lynch. Lee Lynch’s heartening and heart-rending history of gay life from the turbulence of the late 1900s to the triumphs of the early 2000s are recorded in this selection of her columns. (978-1-62639-204-5)

  Stick McLaughlin: The Prohibition Years by CF Frizzell. Corruption in 1918 cost Stick her lover, her freedom, and her identity, but a very special flapper and the family bond of her own gang could help win them back—even if it means outwitting the Boston Mob. (978-1-62639-205-2)

  Edge of Awareness by C.A. Popovich. When Maria, a woman in the middle of her third divorce, meets Dana, an out lesbian, awareness of her feelings brings up reservations about the teachings of her church. (978-1-62639-188-8)

  Taken by Storm by Kim Baldwin. Lives depend on two women when a train derails high in the remote Alps, but an unforgiving mountain, avalanches, crevasses, and other perils stand between them and safety. (978-1-62639-189-5)

  The Common Thread by Jaime Maddox. Dr. Nicole Coussart’s life is falling apart, but fortunately, DEA Attorney Rae Rhodes is there to pick up the pieces and help Nic put them back together. (978-1-62639-190-1)

  Jolt by Kris Bryant. Mystery writer Bethany Lange wasn’t prepared for the twisting emotions that left her breathless the moment she laid eyes on folk singer sensation Ali Hart. (978-1-62639-191-8)

  Searching For Forever by Emily Smith. Dr. Natalie Jenner’s life has always been about saving others, until young paramedic Charlie Thompson comes along and shows her maybe she’s the one who needs saving. (978-1-62639-186-4)

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  Jesse J. Thoma, Pedal to the Metal