Dark Magic, Miami, Florida
July 12, 2003
The club was hopping. Music blared, the base vibrating the floor, as girls in the back rushed to change costume or adjust their makeup. The arrest of Carter Verone approximately a month ago had shaken up the balance in Miami's nightlife. Verone had owned the Pearl, the club to be in after dark, but struggles over management after the big boss had been put on trial had led to its closure, at least for the moment. The power vacuum from Verone suddenly being out of the picture had allowed Jeremy DeWade to move in and open Dark Magic, which had quickly become the new it club. Unfortunately, DeWade had also filled the power vacuum within the criminal underworld of Miami as well. His movements so far had gone unnoticed, but that wasn't likely to last. Anyone who worked for Jeremy DeWade knew he wasn't subtle.
"Yo Tia, you're up girl," a voice yelled and a caramel skinned beauty shoved her way through a crowd of younger girls decked out in glitter and feathers. She paused behind a vanity where a tall blonde was putting the finishing touches on her eye shadow. Green eyes met gold ones in the mirror and the blonde nodded, standing. In four inch heels, the blonde easily towered over her friend. "Don't you trip out there," the golden eyed woman said, hands on her hips as she glanced up at the blonde. "Boss is in a mood."
"He's been in a mood since Molly left 'im," the blonde replied with a roll of her eyes, heading towards the stage.
"You're telling me, sister," came the reply, accompanied with a smirk. Tia turned her head back to show her friend a sly grin before she stepped on stage with a sway to her hips. The caramel skinned woman shook her head, settling on the sidelines to wait for Tia's return. The music was loud enough to be deafening, but she was used to it. Working five nights a week in the club did that to a girl.
Four minutes later Tia returned, glistening with sweat along with the glitter of her gold top and skirt. Her gold curls were disheveled but there was a satisfied smirk on her face as the next girls took the stage. "Done for the night," she said, leading the way to the back. "How 'bout you, Holly?"
"One more set and then I'm outta here," Holly replied with a grin. The two women bumped fists and Tia reached for a makeup pad, ready to wipe the thick later off her face. Exhaustion was setting in, and she knew that by the time Holly dropped her off at home she'd be struggling to keep her eyes open. If she didn't get the makeup off she'd fall asleep with it still on. Then she'd had to clean it off her pillowcase and scrub until the remnants came off her face, just so she could slather it back on again when she had to come into work at eleven.
Makeup removed, she headed for the back room where the dancers kept their things. She snatched the bag with her street clothes in it and headed for the changing rooms. The sooner she got out of the couple of sparkly pieces of fabric that their current clothing designer thought was a top and skirt, the better. She slipped into bluejeans that hugged her hips and a black crop top, not bothering to cover her toned stomach in concession to the wet Miami heat. She left the heels on. They weren't hers, but she'd just be back in them tomorrow so there was no point in leaving them for costuming.
Tia slipped out of the changing room just as Holly was slipping in, over sized purse slung over one shoulder. "Meet you out back in ten minutes girl," was called over a shoulder before the door swung shut. Tia grinned and rapped on the doorway once in acknowledgment before dropping her costume in the laundry bin and slinging her bag over her shoulder. The trip to the back door was a chaotic maze, which was normal, and stepping out into the musty smelling alley behind Dark Magic was almost a relief. The temperature outside wasn't any cooler than it was inside the club, with bodies packed together to watch the shows or dance to the music, but the brick wall of the building provided some relief. Tia made a face at the slimy feel of it but didn't move away, pulling blonde tresses up off her neck in the hope that it would help lower her body temperature more quickly.
"Hey hot stuff!" a voice called from the nearby bustling street but Tia ignored it, used to the catcalls by now. A girl didn't spend long on stage dancing for a bunch of lusting men if she couldn't handle being called all kinds of disgusting names. "I'm talking to you, sweetness," the voice continued and Tia resisted the urge to flip him off. Holly would be out in a minute or two and most guys backed off. If they didn't, the pair could always grab one of the bouncers, who were all too happy to throw disrespectful men to the curb for bothering one of the girls. "Now don't be that way, angel," the voice pleaded and this time Tia had to turn and look in the man's direction because his voice was far closer than she was comfortable with.
The man was standing just far away that Tia couldn't make out facial features, but she took in broad shoulders and a frame that easily towered above her own. Fingers tightened into fists and she pushed off the wall, rising to her full height. "Get lost," she told him, voice as icy as she could manage. "I'm not interested."
"But sweetheart-"
"Don't sweetheart her," Holly's voice snapped from the doorway. "She said no, asshole, so back off and find some girl that's interested."
If this had been a television show, Tia would have been able to see the man's teeth gleam in the darkness and would have guessed that something was wrong, but real life didn't work that way. "But dollface," the man whined plaintively and Tia scowled, turning to glance at Holly.
"Why don't you go grab Tony?" she suggested. "He'd be more than happy to take care of this for us." Tony Andretti had two pretty daughters at home and no problem throwing some guy across the street if he didn't want to take no for an answer.
"You got it, sister," Holly replied, door banging shut behind her.
Tia took the noise as her cue to turn back to the man, saying "You have two minutes to get outta here before Tony comes over and makes you. Do yourself a favor and get going."
"Two minutes, you say," came the reply. The man's voice shifted abruptly, from whiny and pretentious to something darker. "That makes things a little tighter than I would have liked, but I guess that can't be helped."
Tia's eyes narrowed as she strained to see a facial expression in the darkness. What she caught sight of instead was a blue handkerchief coming out of nowhere to cover her mouth and nose, the man's bulk lunging forward to pin her to the wall. She opened her mouth to scream, but the sound was muffled and the air she pulled in made her head spin. Her knees gave out and the only thing holding her upright was the weight of another person pressed intimately against her. Her vision was blurring and fading when the handkerchief was pulled away and stuffed into her gasping mouth. The man stepped back and she tumbled towards the ground, the sickening sensation of falling the last thing that she experienced before she blacked out.
When Holly stepped aside to allow Tony Andretti to step through the back door first, the alley was empty. Not so much as an abandoned high heel or a single loose sequin from the designs on the back of the blonde's jeans remained to remind the pair that she'd existed. Tianna Holloway was missing, and as Holly dialed 911, she couldn't stop her hands from shaking. She knew, just as every other girl in the back did, that anyone who took the time to make a dancer vanish completely normally left a dead body lying somewhere for the police to find.
"We, the jury, have reached a decision. We find the defendant guilty of drug trafficking and assault of three federal agents."
Tej's Garage, Miami, Florida
July 15, 2003
Brian O'Conner hummed tunelessly under his breath as he worked on getting a ruined water pump out from under the hood of a Honda Civic. The car was six years old and its original owner had done a poor job of keeping the car maintained. The man who'd brought it in had bought the car for a bargain for his teenage daughter, only to discover the vehicle needed a lot of work. It had been brought into Tej's last Wednesday but the going was slow since they kept having to wait for parts. To his left, Rome was finishing up the oil change on a two year old Nissan Altima whose owner was coming to pick it up in an hour and, to his right, Jimmy was doing some tweaking on Suki's baby. The garage had been decently busy during the past month and Tej had been all too willing to hire Rome on as another mechanic, jumping at the chance to expand his business.
Originally Brian and Rome had toyed with the idea of opening their own garage with the money they'd filched from Carter Verone and the feds, about a million each, but had decided that if the feds were keeping an eye on them, their sudden good fortune might raise suspicion. Instead Brian had taken his job back at Tej's and Rome had accepted one. Now the two of them spent days elbow deep in cars' innards while talking smack and passing tools back and forth. The Spyder and Evo were parked around the back, gifts from the feds since both vehicles had gotten plenty banged up during the race to nab Verone before he made it out of the country with the drug money and Monica Fuentes. So far the two brightly colored vehicles had just sat, neither Brian nor Rome having found the time to take out all the GPS trackers wired in under the hoods or to repair all the damage done to them.
Sooner or later Brian would have to do some work on the Evo so that Suki could get the rematch she'd been pestering him about. He would have taken her challenge weeks ago if he'd still had his Skyline, but he hadn't seen the car he'd put so much work into since the night he'd been arrested after a race and pulled into the Verone undercover job. He doubted he'd ever get it back. As if sensing that she was in someone's thoughts, Suki sauntered into Tej's in what looked like a modified Catholic schoolgirl's uniform, though she was showing far more skin than any dress code would allow. Her boots clicked on the floor as she crossed over to talk to Jimmy about her S2000, lifting a hand to acknowledge Brian's wave. He smiled and turned back to the Civic, carefully easing the water pump free. Faulty piece of equipment out, he scanned the folding table next to him, searching for the correct box.
His eyes had just landed on it when the rumble of a vehicle pulling up to the garage caught his attention. Tej was out for the afternoon, talking with the bank over a statement that had a couple payments on it the man didn't recognize making, so it had been left up to Brian, Rome, and Jimmy to handle customers until closing. With Jimmy talking to Suki about her vehicle and Rome, working on the final checks of the Altima, Brian was likely the person who'd have to talk to this customer. He wiped his hands as clean as he could manage on a rag, which he swung on to his shoulder before turning and freezing as Agent Bilkins of the FBI stepped out of a slick looking black pickup truck.
"You got this, bro?" Rome called, focus still on the Altima, and Brian barely resisted the urge to run a palm through his hair as he called back an affirmative, stepping cautiously out from the shade of the garage and into the harsh Florida sunlight. Bilkins was dressed down in a white polo shirt and a pair of dark wash bluejeans, which made Brian hope that the man wasn't here to arrest or recruit anyone. The last thing Brian needed was to be pulled into another FBI undercover mission, considering that the first one had ended in a warrant for his arrest and the second had almost ended in his death.
"Do you have a minute, O'Conner?" Bilkins asked, body language relaxed.
"Sure," Brian replied, stopping just out of arms reach, as was his habit when he wasn't sure how a situation was going to play out. "What can I do for you?"
Whatever Bilkins saw in Brian's face made him smile and slip his hands deep into his pockets. "Nothing dangerous," the FBI agent replied. "I just came to return something of yours." He gestured towards the trailer attached to the back of the truck and Brian glanced at it, curious, before turning back to Bilkins. The smile stayed in place as the older man led the way around the back of the trailer, opening it up. Brian squinted into the darkness and then felt a wide grin cross his face at the sight of his Skyline. "Consider it a thank you," Bilkins said, offering Brian the keys.
"We still have the Spyder and Evo," Brian felt compelled to say, shooting a measuring glance at Bilkins.
The other man shrugged in response and asked, "What's the FBI need a Nissan Skyline for?"
"I just want to make sure this doesn't come with strings attached," Brian said, not looking away from Bilkins.
"No strings," Bilkins reassured him. "It just seemed a shame for such a nice car to sit around in an impound lot for years." Brian nodded and stepped into the trailer, heart pounding in his chest but fingers steady. The engine roared to life at the first try and he blew out a relieved breath, pulling his slightly damaged baby out of the trailer and into the sunlight. The Skyline needed some work, but it would be ready to race in a lot less time than it would take to get all the GPS crap out of the Evo.
"Nice, bro," Rome called, wiping his hands on a rag before slamming the hood on the Altima. Brian grinned at him, on cloud nine for the moment, before turning to Jimmy.
"Think you can get her up and running again?" he asked and Jimmy nodded, grinning at him.
"Sure thing, Brian," came the reply and Suki bounced next to him with a grin on her face.
"Does that mean you're gonna race me?" she asked with a challenging smile.
"As soon as she's up and running," Brian replied with a grin. He turned then, grin still in place, to look at Bilkins. "Thanks," he said and the other man nodded at him, shutting up the trailer and heading for the cab of the truck. Brian turned back, stroking a hand over the shine of the silver and blue paint job, as the truck pulled away.
Rome pulled the Altima out and Jimmy motioned for Brian to pull the Skyline inside in its place. "I'll take a look after I finish Suki's," he promised and Brian nodded, tucking the keys in his pocket before heading back to the Civic. The water pump replaced, Brian moved on to the next problem. An hour later he'd replaced another part and Suki's S2000 had been pulled out, replaced with a used Kia Sorento that was in for an oil change. Rome got to work on that and Jimmy popped the hood of Brian's Skyline, the three of them working in relative silence. Sometimes, mostly when Tej was in, the radio was on but most of the time the only sound was the clatter of tools and parts, often accompanied by Brian's off tune humming.
Suki returned an hour and a half later, decked out for a race. She flipped on the radio to some Spanish pop station, the sound washing over them in a rhythmic wave that drowned out Brian's humming. There was an hour left in the work day before they closed up the garage and Tej was due back any minute. Brian finished up what he could on the Civic and slammed the hood down, wiping the back of his arm back across his forehead. Jimmy was still working on the Skyline, which would take at least another day to get in racing shape, and Rome was finished up with a battered looking Ford Focus.
Tej pulled up as the sun was setting, stepping out of his vehicle and slamming the door. "You get everything fixed up with the bank?" Brian called and Tej nodded, grinning.
"Got some good news for you too," the other man called. "Verone's sentence got handed down today. He's doin' ten years in the big house. Got some kind of fine too." Rome whistled and Brian nodded his head in acknowledgement. He doubted Verone would be locked up for longer than a year but it was good to know he'd be locked away for the moment. He nodded in acknowledgement but Tej had already turned away, eyes wide. "Man, you got that Skyline back?"
"A...friend dropped it off," Brian replied, unable to keep the grin off his face. "We're fixing it up so Suki can have her rematch."
"Damn straight he is," Suki replied with a grin. "I'll get you this time Brian."
"Sure you will," Brian drawled but they both were grinning.
"Any of you racing tonight?" Tej asked, pulling his phone out of a pocket but pausing before he dialed, Jimmy already heading for his own vehicle so he could get people around to set up the track for the night.
"Homeboy and I don't have nothin' to drive," Rome said with a grin, dodging Brian's half-hearted attempt at a headlock.
"I'm in," Suki sang out with a grin and Tej nodded, leaning over to give her a quick kiss before dialing a number and lifting the phone to his ear, heading for the door. "Meet us at Dark Magic after?" Suki questioned, turning her attention to Rome and Brian. The two exchanged a quick glance before nodding. Suki beamed at them and said, "We'll be there around two-ish."
"We'll be there," Brian reassured her, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek before she headed for her vehicle, Tej right on her heels.
"So what do we do until then?" Rome asked in the sudden silence they were left in.
"I don't know about you, man, but I'm gonna get a shower," Brian replied. "You too, if you wanna get any attention from the ladies."
"Last one back to the house has to wait," Rome said, barely finished setting terms before sprinting off towards the houseboat he and Brian were currently bunking in. The blonde laughed before sprinting after him, knowing his friend had too much of a head start to ever be caught. He skidded to a stop on the deck of the houseboat and Rome was already heading for the shower with a whoop of triumph, making Brian roll his eyes and head for the kitchen. It'd been a long afternoon and his stomach was reminding him that he hadn't eaten since the ham sandwich and flat Coke at noon. He'd grab a quick bite to eat while Rome was cleaning off.
It took ten minutes and dish soap to scrub his hands and arms clean enough that he felt comfortable preparing food with them. Bread came out of the pantry, along with a half full container of peanut butter, and Brian dug around in the silverware drawer for a clean knife. He and Rome had to hand wash dishes on the houseboat, but neither one was very good at putting everything back in its proper place. Knife found, Brian ripped a paper towel off the roll and made himself a quick sandwich, grabbing himself a warm can of Diet Coke from the box on the floor before heading for the deck. Ordinarily he would have grabbed a Corona from the fridge to go with his dinner, but going to a club with Suki and company after a race always involved drinking. There was no point in starting the drinking beforehand, and he could always grab one later if Suki called to let he and Rome know that the cops had shown up to bust the race.
The sunset painted the blue water with orange and pink, a few puffy clouds drifting across the sky. The air was still sticky, humidity helping the high temperatures hang around long after the sun had set. Brian had cut his hair after the mess in LA, shaving it close in the hope that no one would pick him up off the street and turn him in, and he'd kept it that way ever since he'd arrived in Florida. The temperature was far too high for him to consider letting it grow out a bit. He didn't know how Suki lived day in and day out with her long hair covering her neck and sticking to her skin. At least the temperature in LA had cooled off at night to where it could be pleasant to be outside after dark. In Miami during the summer, it didn't matter if the sun had set or not. The heat was there to stay until the cooler months arrived.
Brian polished off his sandwich and took a sip of the Diet Coke, trying not to think about what he'd left behind. Mia was likely the only member of Dominic Toretto's team left in the states, since he'd heard rumors that Vince had mysteriously vanished from his hospital room, and he doubted she wanted to talk to him. She probably thought he'd used her as a way to get into her brother's crew so he could turn her in, and while it had started that way, he had found himself genuinely falling for her, not that she was likely to believe him if he told her that. The end of that undercover assignment had turned out to be disastrous for everyone involved, and Brian had resolved to stay far away from the Toretto family for the rest of his natural life. He didn't think he'd have a problem with that resolution. They weren't likely to seek him out, even to take revenge, with the feds searching high and low for them.
"Shower's yours, Bri," Rome called and Brian stood, stretching out muscles that ached pleasantly from a hard day's work.
"Is there any hot water left?" he called back, stepping inside the houseboat and forcing a smile on to his face. Thinking about LA and Mia always left him feeling melancholy, but he was doing his best to move past that. He had family in the form of Roman Pierce, who was grinning at him from his position in the doorway, and every time he talked to Monica Fuentes, she insinuated that she'd be willing to move their relationship from just friends to something a little more intense. Maybe one of these days he'd be far enough past Mia to take her up on that.
"Nah, bro," Rome said, teeth gleaming in the shadows that spread across the interior of the houseboat as the sun sank lower on the horizon. "You're gonna freeze."
"Thanks for that," Brian replied but his grin felt a little less forced as he slipped by Rome, heading for the back. He grabbed a fresh pair of clothes and slipped into the bathroom, turning on the water in the shower and slipping a hand under the spray, just to make sure Rome had really been kidding. Stepping under ice cold water was never fun, no matter how warm the day had been. Satisfied that he wasn't going to freeze, he stripped and stepped under the water. He'd go out tonight, have some fun, and help Jimmy get the Skyline up and running tomorrow. Maybe after a race his head would be on straight enough that he'd be able to ask Monica out on a date and move on for real.