~ Outside The Speedway ~ (Lightning McQueen x OC)

Chapter 14

"He's going to rob the vault."

My eyes widened as I said this.

It's the only logical reason he'd be down here.

"Wait, how'd you know there's a vault down here?" I asked McQueen, still frazzled by what I just realized.

"My parents used to work at these types of hotels around the country, so I know some stuff."

Oh, ok. That clears that up.

We keep walking, cautiously this time. McQueen said that the next corner, which was not that far away, was where we would turn. It was most likely where the vault was.

My hands shook a little, which wasn't a surprise. They always shake when I'm nervous. They're also hella cold, another thing they do when I'm anxious. I only now realized how big a mistake it was to take off my gloves earlier while we were in the lobby; when I was picking the lock.

"Why on Earth are your hands so cold?" Lightning asked as if he could read my thoughts. I quickly took them off his back and wrapped them together, blowing hot air into my hands. I stepped forward, now walking side by side with Lightning.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

Lightning looked over at me considerably and took his red gloves off. They were the thin, silky ones, the type we only wore for show. He nudged them to me, "Put them on, you'll feel warmer." I shook my head with a small smile.

"I'll be fine."

"Just do it. I don't want you freezing in the middle of a highly important and dangerous mission we're trying to accomplish here."

"Mission? Really?" I whispered, raising my eyebrows. We were getting closer to the corner. Sounds and grunting were coming from the other side of it.

"Don't change the subject. Put the gloves on." Lightning turned serious all of a sudden. I gently grabbed the gloves from him, not wanting to make the air tenser than it was now.

"Fine. Fine. Just for a few minutes." I put them on.

Lightning grinned in triumph. I pushed his face away by the cheek with my finger, telling him to not seem so happy over such a little thing. He scoffed, shaking his head, but saying nothing.

We were just around the corner. There was a strained voice, cursing every few seconds. There was also a lot of moving around, and things falling.

"He's so loud. How does he want to rob the vault when he's practically telling everyone he's doing it." I whispered in more of a statement than a question.

We stood against the cold wall, right next to the edge of the corner. I was the one next to the actual edge, while Lightning stood close next to me. I look over for the quickest second but gazed a few moments longer when I realized Chris's back was towards us. He was using a small hand truck to roll stacks among stacks to the front of the vault, which was in the wall, then throwing them into a huge bag. Two crates were filled with the bags, along with some gold bars and metal boxes. All this must have taken days to set up.

I wonder how he's going to get it all out without anyone noticing. Or how he's going to haul all those crates up the stairs.

The crates don't even look like they'd fit into the staircase...

Looking around the area, I saw a large, wide, metal door, almost garage-like. That door probably led to a ramp that led to... somewhere outside the apartments. I just didn't know where.

Looking back at what was around the large vault, something sitting on one of the topped crates catches my eye.

It was the gun.