Chapter 2: 3 Strikes

After he picked the lock, Vince opened the door slowly, letting Dom walk in front of him. With Jesse's help they were able to track down the Dayna Morelo that the credit card belonged to. She conveniently lived 2 streets and a couple of blocks down from the team's house and a street down from the store. There was a sign outside of the house that read sold, which would explain the dark, messy house Vince and Dom had just broken into.

The men glanced up the stairs as they heard faint footsteps and a female voice singing an old love song. Dom walked over to a chair in the living room that was facing the stairs and sat down, his arms crossed over his chest and his face frozen. Vince hid in the shadows besides the stairs, in case Dayna Morelo wasn't alone. He glanced down at the cold piece of steel in his hand and took in a deep breath. She's worth this. If I have to catch a case for her, I will, he thought to himself, thinking back to the last time he got in trouble with the law.

As the footsteps got closer, Vince's breath quickened. Soon after, a female body was seen coming down the stairs, singing softly to herself. She walked through the dark living room, oblivious to the two men that were in her house. She walked into the kitchen and with the light coming from the fridge, Vince got a good look at her. This can't be right, he thought to himself as he watched her drink straight from the milk carton. She currently had her hair in rollers, her face was covered in some green gunk and she was dressed in an oversized tee.

As she turned towards the living room, the milk carton slipped from her grasp as her eyes landed on Vince and the gun he was currently holding. "Dayna Morelo," he said, taking a step towards her. She nodded, taking a step back. Vince motioned for her to step forward, but she shook her head no. "We just want to talk to you," he said, walking towards her. "We?" Dayna said, glancing over into the living room and recognizing the outline of another person in her living room chair.

Vince grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the living room, placing her in front of Dom. He turned on the lights and stood behind her, incase she tried anything funny. "You were at the mom and pop store down the street earlier tonight," Dom said, not moving a single muscle. Dayna shook her head, glancing back at the scary looking man behind her.

Dom threw her debit card at her feet and cocked an eyebrow. "Maybe you want to rethink your answer," he said. Dayna took in a deep breath and began to wring her hands together. "I went down for something to cool me down while I waited for the first coat of paint to dry. I guess I dropped my card and didn't notice," she said. Dom stood up and walked over to her, stretching out his neck along the way. "Try again," he replied, staring her down.

"I found her like that. I dropped my change and my card as I ran to the back of the store. It was ransacked and she was already shot when I got there. I called the ambulance and when they got there I took off," Dayna said. Vince took a step forward, pressing his gun into her back. "You didn't see who did it?" Vince asked, his voice sending shivers through her body.

Dayna shook her head and stared at the big man in front of her. "No, but she said the name Dom. I don't know if that'll be of any help to you," she replied. Vince nodded and took a step back, placing his gun into the waistband of his jeans. Dom nodded and unfolded his arms. He stepped back and motioned for Vince to start walking to the door. "I take it that I passed whatever test you put me through," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and staring Dom down in return.

"Don't get cocky," he replied, heading for the door. Dayna stared after him, murderous thoughts in her head.

---

"What happened?" Letty asked, as soon as Dom and Vince walked through the hospital room door. Dom ignored her and walked over to his sister's bedside, placing a kiss on her forehead. Letty glared over at V, expecting an answer. "She was the one that called the ambulance. Dayna claims that she didn't see anything, that she found her like that and only tried to help her," Vince said, walking over to Mia and taking her hand in his. "And?" Letty questioned further.

"Nothing. We left her at home safe and sound," Dom sarcastically replied. "Well Leon and Jesse are out asking the neighbors if they saw anything, which I doubt will turn up anything," Letty said, sitting at the foot of Mia's bed. The trio shared a silent prayer as they looked upon their fallen angel. "I promised myself that I would look after her," Dom whispered, the vein in his forehead looking as if it were about to burst. Letty reached over and rubbed his hand. "This could've easily happened to anyone, Dom. You can't beat yourself up for something you had no control over," Vince said, pulling up a chair to Mia's bedside.

Dom shook his head and sighed. "She shouldn't have been working today anyway. She was begging me to let her have the day off, but I was being such a hard ass with the books for the garage," he replied, almost at the brink of tears. Letty stood up from the bed and placed a hand on his arm. "We should go and get some rest. Vince will stay with her and tomorrow you can take the whole day off and come be with her," she whispered, leading him towards the door.

Dom nodded and placed a kiss on his sister's forehead once again. He nodded at Vince and exited the room after Letty. Vince got up and shut the door after they had left, pulling off his wifebeater and kicking off his shoes. He closed the curtains and turned off the light, returning to his position at her side. He placed his feet on top of her bed and placed his hands behind his head.

Vince felt at home in the small hospital room. With Mia there it felt sort of cozy. It reminded him of the summer before, when everything went bad for the team, especially him, and when Mia used to spend nights by his hospital bed also. "It's been an interesting day, Mia. Jessica called me this morning. I took her out to lunch, thinking she would give it up, but we just ended up eating some burgers. There goes $2.99 down the drain," Vince said, as he began to recount the day's events.

---

The nurse smiled softly, at the sight she came upon. As she had walked into Mia's room to administer her medication, she found Vince still sitting in his chair, with his head tilted back, lightly snoring. Mia had come to earlier in the morning, but the nurse decided to let what she thought were two lovers, rest. She injected Mia's medication into her IV line and left the room, returning 4 hours later to check up on her once again.

She found Mia watching the tall man sleep and chuckled to herself. "He's been here since yesterday, showed up with some smart mouthed girl and some tall, bald, sexy looking thing," the nurse whispered, as she looked over Mia's chart and began to check her over. Mia chuckled slightly and then winced from the pain. "That sexy looking thin would be my brother and the smart mouth would be his girlfriend and this would be his best friend," she replied, trying to sit up in bed, but instead received a stern look from the nurse.

"Take it easy and let prince charming here, do everything," the nurse replied, placing her chart back at the foot of the bed and exiting the room. Mia sighed and leaned back into her pillows, closing her eyes. "Prince charming, huh?" Vince asked, snapping Mia out of her daze. He sat up in the chair, stretching out his body. "Don't get too excited. You are far from it," Mia said, yawning.

"You want to tell me what happened so when Dom comes down here he doesn't jump down your throat," he said, reaching for his boots. "It all happened so fast, V. A group of guys came in a few minutes before I usually begin to close down. They had a while in front of the freezer, so I went back there to tell them I was going to close and this one guy pulls out a gun. They tear the store up expecting big money and next thing I know there's this girl trying to stop the blood, calling 911," she said, running her hand over her wounds.

"Yeah, me and Dom met up with her earlier. She's lucky Dom believed her story, if not, she'd probably be in a bed next to you," he said, sliding into his shirt. "WHAT?" Mia yelled, wincing at the strain she felt in her abdomen. "We paid her a little visit last night. We just wanted to make sure she didn't have anything to do with what happened down at the store," he replied.

"Vince, that was the biggest mistake you could've made," Mia said. Vince cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest, staring straight at her, like as if asking why. "Three strikes and your out." His jaw went slack at the revelation that Mia had just made. "She's a cop?" He asked. Mia nodded. "She identified herself when she called, if not then I probably would've died waiting for an ambulance to come out to that side of the neighborhood."

Vince stood up from the bed and cursed. He thought back to the summer before and the lies Brian created to save the team's ass. Dom, Vince, Letty and Jesse had their license's revoked due to Brian's claim that their money came from street racing, with Dom catching a 2nd strike for various petty crimes Brian made up- anything to get Tanner off of Dom's ass. They had jumped the gun once again and soon enough the shit would hit the fan.

"Save him, Vince. Do something before it's too late," she whispered. Vince nodded and grabbed his keys and cell phone off of the side table. "I'll give him a call on my way," he replied. "On your way where?" She asked, leaning her head back into the pillow. "I'mma go pay Dayna another visit. Figure out some way to save our asses," he muttered, exiting the room. Mia stared after him and sighed, shaking her head softly. "Not again."