They were running, full speed and in a blur, toward the top level of the parking lot, the stolen disc tucked safely in Alec's jacket. When they reached the top of the structure, Max eyed a black SUV as Alec looked behind them for their pursuers. He looked back to her. "Motorcycle?"
"The BMW," she said, adrenaline rushing through her veins as she grabbed Alec by the jacket and pulled him toward the SUV.
"Want me to break the window?" he asked, but when Max arrived at the SUV first, she slammed her boot into the passenger's side window, sending the safety glass inside and to the floor.
Alec looked back at the rooftop access, a car screeching around a corner on the floor below. The SUV's alarm went off.
Max unlocked the door and got in, reaching over to the driver's side door and unlocking it for Alec. He jumped in.
"Keys!" he shouted. He frantically searched for them in the center console, the visor; Max had already leaned into his lap. Alec's hands shot up from his lap so as not to touch her, but not knowing what to do with her head so close to his lap.
Apparently, Max knew how to hot-wire a car, because a moment later, the alarm stopped, the engine revved, and she sat back, whipping her seatbelt over her and clicking it into place. "Drive!"
Alec threw the utility vehicle in reverse and slammed his foot against the gas pedal, the car lurching backwards out of its parking spot. Their pursuers rounded the corner, now also at the top floor and heading toward them. Alec had only a split second to put the car in gear and get them out of there, but he didn't have enough time.
He kept his foot to the pedal and continued backing through the lot until they were face to face with the nose of their pursuer's car.
"Max! A little help!" he shouted, seeing one of the goons in the car pull a gun out of the window.
Max looked around the vehicle for something, anything that could help distract the goons.
"Cover me!" she said.
His eyes widened. "Cover you!"
Max unbuckled herself and headed toward the back seat of the SUV. Alec was momentarily distracted by her rear end in his face and swerved, sending Max toward the back of the vehicle. One of the goons squeezed off a shot that hit the windshield in front of the passenger's seat.
In the back, Max found a big jug of water, some kind of medical tubing, and a lighter. Who were these people? Doctors? Minimalists?
With her back to Alec, she said, "Keep your face forward," while unzipping her jacket. Alec watched in the rearview as she removed her jacket and revealed a white tank-top underneath, which she also promptly removed, leaving her in her sports bra. Alec lost control of his mind and the wheel, swerved a little as she toppled forward, and corrected the vehicle as another shot rang out.
Max rolled down the rear passenger's window and yelled to Alec, "Pop the gas cap!"
Alec found the lever and pulled it, releasing the lid as Max emptied the water onto the floor of the vehicle. She leaned out the backwards-facing, speeding vehicle and unscrewed the gas cap, threaded the medical tubing in and sucked one end until the gas spilled out. She quickly stuffed the tube end into the jug and repeated the process a couple of times.
Alec half-watched her in the rearview. They finally swerved around another corner, correcting the car mid-swerve, and began the descent around the inner levels of the structure.
"Max!"
"What?" Having successfully filed half the water jug with gasoline, she was now dunking the white shirt into the mouth of it.
This girl is fuckin' awesome, Alec thought, eying her in the mirror. "These guys are on our asses!"
"Not for long," she quipped. "I gotta wait to light this 'til we're out of the building!"
He saw their closest exit as through a wooden arm that normally rose with the push of a button. He floored the vehicle toward the arm with no intention of paying the attendant. As the SUV and the chasing car busted out onto the street and ran over the center divider, Alec realized they were heading straight for the pier.
"Max!" Alec threw the car into emergency brake. This swung the SUV around in place thirty feet from the pier's edge. "How long can you hold your breath?"
Max peered out the front of the vehicle as the car approached them at a high speed. Max buckled herself in the back seat and lit the tank top. She stuck her arm out the window, prepared to throw it. "Long enough!"
Alec shifted the SUV into reverse again and let off the brake. Their pursuers approached, speeding up. Alec stomped on the gas pedal, sending them backwards. Max waited two seconds before flinging the makeshift Molotov cocktail toward the oncoming car. It landed in front of the vehicle on the ground and burst into a wall of flames as the SUV shot over the edge of the pier, crashing into the water with brutal force mere moments later.
As the vehicle filled with water, Alec looked back to Max. She had a gash on her forehead, but she was conscious. They stayed seated and buckled in the car for over three minutes as the car sank and sank into the ocean. With a commanding look, Max began to unbuckle herself and pull herself out of the vehicle by the door frame. Alec mirrored her movements, and swam heavily toward the open window.
They swam underwater for another three minutes until they reached what they knew to be shallow water under the pier.
When he saw her head come up from the water, he smiled and they both began laughing.
"I can't believe we made it!" Max said, sort of joyfully.
"Me neither! I thought we were goners when we were face to face with those bastards!"
"Yeah, me, too. Nice driving, though, Slick!" she complemented. "That was the most fun I've had in a long time."
Alec remained silent, staring at her beautiful face, in awe of everything she'd just done. His hair dripped water into his eyes as they waded in the shallower part of the water. Alec was staring at her, and she kind of liked it.
"What?" she asked playfully, keeping afloat.
He was quiet for a moment, the only sounds audible being the water lapping against everything and their breathing. "You're something like a phenomena," he said, with a passion barely held beyond his hazel gaze.
Max blushed. Probably the first time she'd ever blushed at something he said to her. He loved the way her cheeks heated up. He went with it, swimming closer to her, slipping an arm around her and pulling her body toward his.
"What?" she asked, feeling like their worlds were about to change forever.
He smirked a new smirk she'd never seen before. He focused on her lips. Within inches of his face Max whispered, "Think you can take the edge off?"
Alec's eyes lit up at the challenge. Maybe it was all the adrenaline. Maybe not. "I can get your whole body off," he promised.
Max's eyes widened with an unknown desire. She hesitated momentarily. After the longest two seconds of his life, Alec felt Max slam her body into his and kiss him. Hard.