Pedal to the Metal

by Jesse J. Thoma

  Max figured since Dubs hadn’t yet stopped her morning updates that she wasn’t going to get the requested sixty seconds of quiet. “Today’s my usual day off, but I probably would have worked anyway. After I got some sleep.”

  “Man, your nose is really bent out of shape about that,” Dubs said. “How was I supposed to know you needed twelve hours of beauty sleep? How many of your days off do you work? Never mind, don’t answer. I bet you work all of them, right?”

  Max tried to remember a day recently she hadn’t spent in the office. She couldn’t. Since Isabelle had found her camping mat and sleeping bag hidden in the broom closet downstairs and Holt had insisted she move into the apartment upstairs from the office, she had worked every day. She felt some obligation to repay the kindness Holt had shown her, but mostly, she didn’t have anything else to do. Before she moved in, she had been briefly surviving on the street. That had required a lot of energy, time, and effort, almost more than she had to give at times. But now that she was stably housed, she had a lot more time on her hands. She didn’t have many people she associated with outside of the people she worked with, though, so even her social life was tied to this building.

  “No work today,” Dubs said. “I’m taking you to do something fun. I haven’t done any of the things I used to love to do around here in years. You know, that whole jail issue. So today, we’re doing as many as we can squeeze into one day. Agreed?”

  It sounded like fun, but Max felt guilty. She had a lot of work to do. Today was her day off, though.

  “I can see you want to acquiesce. Just give in already.”

  “It’s too early for the Scrabble words. I surrender. Fine, we’ll go. But we take a map of the locations of the unaccounted for thefts you identified yesterday, and while we’re out, we keep our eyes out for anything helpful. Deal?”

  “How could I say no to something like that? Any chance we could lose the cuffs?”

  “Depends on what the chances are you’re going to try to ditch me on our super fun day,” Max said, holding Dubs’s gaze with a long stare.

  “Pretty Girl, my day isn’t any fun solo. I told you yesterday too, I don’t make a living being stupid. I know if I ditch you, Holt will drag me back here before you get back to tell her I’m gone. My back spasms chained to you are better than prison.”

  “Maybe by the end of the day my company will outrank back spasms as a better deterrent for a return trip to prison,” Max said. She wanted to trust Dubs, but she was wary. She would keep her close all day. Not an unpleasant thought. “So where are we going?”

  “First, you’re going to show me what you’ve got for bathing suits, then you’re taking me shopping.”

  “I have no idea how those two things correlate. And why do I have to take you shopping?” Max asked.

  “You think I made any money doing laundry in the can?” Dubs said. “I didn’t exactly have a savings account. I don’t know when payday is around here. If you own a bathing suit, you’re taking me to get one, and if you don’t, then you’re buying us both one. And then we’re going to the beach. I haven’t been to the beach in years. We’ll stop at your work locations on the way back.”

  Max wasn’t sure she wanted to go to the beach with Dubs. She found her extremely attractive and was fighting that urge, and she didn’t think a bathing suit was going to help. Maybe she was a glutton for punishment though, because a beach day actually sounded amazing. She hadn’t been in a long time, either, despite living in the Ocean State.

  After packing a beach bag, buying Dubs what had to be the most expensive per square inch piece of clothing Max had ever seen, and downloading a list of the locations of unaccounted car thefts, they headed off to the coast.

  When they arrived at the beach, Dubs made them hustle across the sand. She seemed determined to make it to a specific location. Max would have protested, but the sand was so hot on her bare feet, she was happy to be moving at such a fast pace.

  “Here,” Dubs said, coming to an abrupt halt. “Best spot on the beach.”

  “Wow, you were determined to get here,” Max said. “My feet may never be the same.”

  “I see who you are, Pretty Girl,” Dubs said. “You have that sexy short hair, the muscly little body, the Holt imitation walk, but deep down, you are a delicate little flower with sensitive toes.”

  “Excuse me?” Max laughed, it sounded so ridiculous.

  “You heard me all right. And if your delicate feet can stand it, I’ll tell you what else I think, but you have to get across the sand to the water.”

  Dubs took off running for the ocean, weaving in and out of the many other blankets and umbrellas that littered the beach. After an instant of panic that Dubs was trying to escape, Max realized she was heading to the water, throwing down the gauntlet. Max wasn’t going to let the challenge go. She took off in pursuit.

  “Damn, the water’s cold,” Max said. She didn’t usually barrel straight into the ocean. She was more of the dip a toe in, then retreat until she warmed up, kind of swimmer.

  “See, that’s what I was saying. Too hot, too cold. I’ve got your number now, Pretty Girl.”

  “Oh yeah, what about you?” Max said. “I notice you’re only wet up to your waist. I think that should change.” Max didn’t know exactly what was driving her, but she reached under the water, grabbed Dubs behind the knees with one hand, and put the other behind her back. Then she flipped her into the wave about to break just behind them.

  When Dubs resurfaced, Max regretted her impulsive maneuver. That tiny bikini was now soaking wet and clung to Dubs’s perfect figure. Her small body was tight and toned, and her stomach was as close to perfection as Max had ever seen. She did her best not to look at her breasts.

  “You are not getting away with that,” Dubs said.

  She was smiling, but in an evil, up to no good kind of way. Max started to retreat back toward the beach as fast as she could.

  “Oh no, there’s no salvation that way.”

  Dubs jumped out of the water and onto Max’s back. She wrapped her legs around Max’s waist, and her arms around Max’s shoulders. The move caught Max off guard. It wasn’t unpleasant, which was unnerving. She needed to be a little more careful around Dubs. While she was busy in her own head, Dubs leaned back and pulled Max off balance. When the next wave came crashing in on them, Max lost her balance and they both tumbled backward into the water.

  Max came up sputtering a few feet from Dubs, who was casually treading water, clearly trying to look nonchalant. Max splashed water at her. “Very risky move, Dubs. I’d give you two and a half more waves before that bikini is nowhere to be seen.” Dubs had teased her, saying her bathing suits looked like shorts and a sports bra, but now she was enjoying the security of board shorts and a racer back top. She chastised herself for hoping a rogue wave came and pulled Dubs’s teeny top off and into the sea.

  “Something you’re hoping for, Pretty Girl?” Dubs asked, as if reading her mind.

  “Just an observation.” Max felt like the ocean was the size of a wading pool as Dubs moved into her personal space again.

  “Well, no need to worry. I spent most of my teenage years at the beach, in less of a bathing suit than this. Never lost a top yet.”

  Max wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed. “A beach bum car thief? You should have grown up in LA. And how old are you anyway? Your teenage years must have been right before you got arrested.”

  “Hey, I’m not getting all nosy about why you live in Holt’s attic,” Dubs said.

  “Whoa, okay. I’m going back to the beach. You coming?”

  “If I promise not to swim to Block Island or Nantucket in a really dumb attempt at an escape from your charm, do you mind if I stay here for a while?” Dubs asked. “Like I said, it’s been a while.”

  Max wished she had a better way of detecting bullshit from Dubs, but the request seemed sincere. Besides, she was in the ocean, where was she going to go? “Yeah, sure. Just don’t be too long o
r I’ll have to come and drag you back in.”

  “If you’re going to threaten someone, Pretty Girl, you need to work on making it sound aversive.”

  Max made her way back to their beach towels and small cooler. She dried off slowly, enjoying the sun on her ocean-wet skin. She kept her eye on Dubs, but also scanned the beach for anything out of the ordinary. Dubs seemed to be lazily floating with the waves, occasionally repositioning or taking a few backstrokes to a new location if the waves got too intense. The rest of the beach seemed full of families, teenagers, and typical summertime occupants. She kept her focus though. Holt would expect no less.

  When Dubs was finally done with her extended swim and exiting the water, Max noticed a young man, not much older than they were, leave his perch and head straight for her. She had noticed him before, mostly because he wasn’t dressed for a day in the sun. He was wearing long pants, a dark T-shirt, and sneakers. Max got up and headed for Dubs too. She brought a towel with her. If this guy wasn’t beelining it for her, she would seem a little overly eager to dry Dubs off, but there were worse things.

  When she got closer, there was no doubt about the young man’s destination, or that Dubs knew him. As soon as she caught his eye, Max could see the familiarity, and the warmth. Dubs hadn’t looked that relaxed since they’d picked her up. She was a little jealous.

  Dubs also saw Max approaching. She caught her eye and gave her a strange look…almost pleading. Dubs threw her arm around the man’s neck, kissed him on the cheek, and behind his back shooed Max away. She hesitated, unsure. She had no idea who this man was, or what game Dubs was playing.

  “Trust me,” Dubs mouthed over the man’s shoulder.

  That was the problem. Max didn’t trust her. She calculated the risks and tried to imagine what Holt would do. Holt would probably have some magical superhero action plan, but Max was a regular human. She was going to have to trust her gut. She backed away, wrapped the towel around her shoulders, and circled around Dubs and the stranger so she was behind them as they walked along the beach. She was glad she had had the sense to grab her cell phone when she left their things. At least she was able to take a few pictures of Dubs’s companion.

  She stayed at the point where the sand and water met, kicking at the softly lapping waves, stopping idly now and again to pick up a shell, never taking her eyes off the two in front of her. She wished she could hear what they were saying. It was making her crazy that she was stuck back here, following behind, too far to be useful. She imagined this was one of the situations Holt was trying to avoid when she handcuffed the two of them together. And once again, she’d been right.

  Fortunately, she only had to stew about ten minutes. Whatever the stranger wanted to say, he clearly didn’t need a long time to do it. He gave Dubs a quick hug and took off toward the parking lot. She tucked her phone in the pocket of her board shorts before Dubs turned back in her direction. She wasn’t sure how Dubs would feel about the photo shoot.

  “What are you doing here?” Dubs asked. She seemed genuinely surprised to see Max. “What if he had seen you?”

  “You didn’t even know I was here,” Max said. “And you couldn’t honestly think I was going to just let you wander off down the beach by yourself. You remember who my boss is, right? I’d like to live through the night. Who was that? What did he want?”

  “That was an old friend. His name is Tony. He heard about our job last night, figured it must have been me. When he saw me here, he wanted to say hey. But even better than that, he’s heard about the new group we’re looking for.”

  “He just happened to see you on the beach?” Max wanted to believe her, but it seemed too good to be true. “Of all the thousands of people here, he got lucky and saw you? The dude was dressed for the roller derby, not the beach. What was he really doing here, Dubs?”

  “Hey, I don’t judge other people’s beach attire. Tony doesn’t wear anything but what you saw him in. At least not that I’ve ever seen.”

  “I want to believe you. I want to go back to Holt later and say we had a great day, you met a friend who gave you valuable information, and that you’re going to be a great asset. But I can’t do any of that if you don’t stop bullshitting me. You said he told you about the crew we’re looking for. Fantastic. I want to hear all about them. Not until we get past Mr. Beach Attire. I need to know that I can trust you. Or I need to know that you’re going to hold back on me. Either way, what comes out of your mouth next determines a lot about whether we’re going to get along well during our time together. Go.”

  Dubs looked stunned speechless. Max found that amusing and a little endearing. It was also one of the only times since she’d met Dubs that she hadn’t had something to say.

  “He probably came here looking for me. I told you I spent most of my teenage years here. And I told you where we set up was the best spot on the beach. That’s my spot. I always set up there. You can see the ferries coming in and out, and the view along the coast is the best in the state.”

  That felt like an honest answer. “Why did he want to talk to you?”

  “He wanted to know if our little joyride last night was my handiwork. He told me the game has changed since I’ve been gone. I think he came to warn me. That’s when he told me a little about the new guys.”

  “And?” Max could tell Dubs was enjoying the buildup. She wasn’t.

  “And, I’m hungry. I’ll tell you on the way to the snack bar.”

  Max was learning that Dubs liked to run the show. She let her lead, for now. They had a lot of day left in front of them. “This time you’re buying. And for every minute you hold out information on me, I’m ordering something else off the menu.”

  “Playing dirty?” Dubs asked. “I didn’t think you had it in you. All right, we’ll get a feast, then we’ll talk. Only one problem. I don’t have my wallet. I came right out of the water, and there’s no place to hide a credit card.”

  Max thought that was an understatement. She also realized she was now stuck paying for lunch. “Well played.”

  They walked silently to the beach bar, skirting kids building sandcastles and young couples rubbing lotion on one another. Max had a moment of wistfulness she quickly squashed.

  “Aren’t you glad you didn’t spend your day off working?” Dubs asked between bites. “This is glorious. Look at this day.”

  “I am working. Or I’m trying to, but my interview subject is obstructing my every move,” Max said, starting to get annoyed.

  “Fine. Have it your way. The new guys in town aren’t an offshoot of any of the other smaller groups that were already here. At least, not as far as anyone knows. Tony doesn’t know, and no one Tony knows has any idea who the leaders are, but they’re well connected.”

  “Does he have any idea where they’re based?”

  “Providence, but we already knew that.”

  “Did he give you anything else? Or is that tiny bit of info what you were building up to?” Max folded her arms.

  “It doesn’t seem like outsiders are welcome, but Tony thought a guy I used to know might do some work for them.”

  “It’s a place to start,” Max said. “Is that all he said?”

  “He asked me about prison and my family. Told me about a couple kids we both know, what they’re up to now. I can give you those details too, if you don’t trust me.” Dubs looked a little hurt.

  “Would you trust you, if you were me?” Max asked.

  “Of course, why would I lie?” Dubs said, giving what Max assumed was supposed to be her most earnest smile.

  “For the record, that didn’t help your cause. Just keep telling me what you know. All of it. That will build trust.”

  “So will the next stop on my list,” Dubs said. “Do you know anything about the trampoline park? I’ve never been, but I think we have to go.”

  “Seriously? I thought we were spending the day at the beach.”

  “Yes, and here we are. We came, we saw, we conquered. Remember, long lis
t, one day, lots to do?”

  “I think I know why you like stealing fast cars,” Max said. “You’re looking for one that can keep up with you.”

  Chapter Nine

  Holt had her feet up on her desk. She thought back to when this was the place she felt most at home in the world. It wasn’t that long ago, but she didn’t miss it. Now, Isabelle was home, wherever that was. When did she get so tame?

  “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that look on your face, H,” Moose said. “It suits you, but I didn’t think anyone could put it there.”

  “And what look would that be?”

  “Bliss, happiness, joy. Take your pick. If she ever dumps your sorry ass, you’re totally screwed, ’cause the crew around here is more in love with her than you are. You’ll have to find a new job.”

  It meant a lot that her friends liked Isabelle so much. After the turmoil of the past few months, and Decker Pence’s attempt on her life, Isabelle hadn’t returned to her previous job. They might not have wanted her back anyway. She was an excellent accountant, but Decker had ransacked the office in an attempt to scare Isabelle, and in the process had really freaked out her bosses. It was a mutual parting of company. While she figured out what she wanted to do next, she had been consulting on some cases for Holt.

  “I’ve been getting the sense she could stage a coup and I wouldn’t stand a chance.”

  “Every reign must come to an end,” Moose said, patting Holt on the shoulder. “What do you think of our newest team member? Max seems smitten with her.”

  “She certainly does. It looks like it’s mutual, but I can’t tell if it’s sincere. Dubs gave us the name of someone who might be doing some work with our target car theft crew. These guys can’t be ghosts, but no one knows who they are. It doesn’t feel right to me.”

  “Spidey sense?” Moose asked.