We arrived at the meet up building again and walked in with ease as if nothing in the world could touch us. 'Nice shirt, Bilkins', I smirked at the bright Yellow fish shirt he was wearing.
'It's my day off', he said softly.
'Well, anyhow, this is the deal', I started as Brian crossed his arms, 'last night, Verone threatened a cop into giving us a window. We're driving to an airstrip in the keys, off Nallwood Avenue. Verone has a plane there and he's taking off for good'.
'Wait a minute, how do you know this?' Markham interrupted.
'Monica', was all I said.
'She's doing her job', Brian cut in, 'She warned us'.
'She warned you about what?' Bilkins asked.
'Verone plans to kill us after we give him the money', I stated.
'Driving into an ambush wasn't the deal. I'm calling it off', Bilkins stated heatedly. I stared at him. He had never gotten so touchy about this sort of thing before, why was he doing it now?
'Like hell you are', Markham yelled, 'This is a customs case, Bilkins. No one's calling this off unless I do. Look, this is real simple. You make the run, get Verone and his cash together, so I can move in. You don't, I'll file enough charges on you to make you disappear', he said handing us a walkie-talkie each. 'We're gonna have GPS on you the whole time, just so you don't get any cute idea's'.
'And to make sure nothing happens to them, right?' Bilkins shouted out as Markham walked off.
'Yeah, right', Markham said rather quickly. We followed him out and walked a separate way.
'That guys a dick', Brian muttered.
'Yep', I agreed.
'Let me get this right', Brian started, 'If we don't do this, then we go to jail. If we do it, then Verone's gonna kill us'.
'It's a hell of a deal, huh?' I laughed half-heartedly.
'Yeah', Brian muttered, 'Maybe it is. But I know this guy's got an ass full of loot that he's ready to dump in our cars. I can think of two reasons why he doesn't need that money anymore'.
'Oh, here we go', I stated.
'You and me', he continued, 'Just like the old days. What do you think?'
'I think they messed with the wrong two guys, that's what I think'. I pulled out my mobile, bumped fists with Brian and walked away a little bit.
'Hey, yo, Tej, what's up?' I smiled.
'What's up?' Tej answered.
'Now, man, how quickly can you organise?' I asked.
'Look, bro, if ya'll really want to carry out this plan, this is the best place to do it', Tej stated as we walked across the walk through above the street. Tej had arranged for a meet up after he had looked around for a place.
'I think its perfect', I smiled before continuing, 'so what do they store here?'
We spent the whole of the next day working on the cars, loading the spray and allowing Suki to try out her new design on the side. We even added an ejector seat for the hell of it.
The sun had begun to set and it was possibly our last night alive. Brian and I relaxed out on the dock. 'Man, when did you start eating so much?' I asked as Brian was stuffing his face.
'I've been in jail', he smirked, 'I know how shitty the food is on the inside'. I just cracked up laughing; he was so serious. 'The way things are shaping up out here right now, it'll be a matter of time before I'm back in there or dead', I couldn't stop laughing, 'So I'm trying to eat all I can, while I can'. He still hadn't finished as I stopped laughing, 'Plus, the doctors say I got a high metabolism'.
'Man, I remember growing up', I smiled. 'You know, playing football in the dirt. Getting into trouble, all the stupid things I did?' I sighed, as I looked at him. He was trying not to remember. 'It all seems a little insignificant when you line it up against something like this'.
'Is that why you didn't go after Dom?' he asked me as I looked at the sky then back to him.
'Yeah, I think it had a lot to do with it', I sighed. The other half was the fact that I was falling in love with him.
'When we got busted…' Brian started, 'it wasn't your fault', I looked at him strangely, 'it was all on me. Mr. Brian O'Connor. Wild and out. Crazy man', I smiled slightly as I watched him, 'No one could tell me nothing, riding solo'.
'Yeah, well, not anymore', I smirked. 'Not anymore'.
Six a.m. was rolling in fast as we pulled up at Versailles Café. 'Here we go', Brian said into the walkie-talkie.
'Yeah, so you know what to do', I said in return, 'Stay cool. Keep focused. Remember the airstrips off Nallwood Avenue. It's the third exit after the bridge'.
'Got it', he said.
'So, what up, man, you ready for this?' I asked, leaning closer to the passenger window to talk to him.
'Come on, man. Guns, murderers, and crooked cops?' he said smiling widely, 'I was made for this, Bruh'. I stopped smiling as I saw Verone's men pull up. This was going to be one hell of a ride.
We followed them all the way to some trailer trash hideaway. There was no trailers really, just a bunch of two room house type things, falling apart. It reminded me of home in Arizona. We pulled up out side of one of the houses and I noticed a guy kind of like hector leaning to look out of the window.
Enrique and Roberto got out of their four-wheel drive and opened the back hatch. Pulling out two sledgehammers, they stood staring at us, waiting for us to get out of our cars. So we did.
'Come on', Roberto stated, making they're way into the house we had pulled up at. The guy that reminded me of a smaller version of Hector, spoke a little Spanish before hopping out of the house and walking off. I watched him walk off as banging went on inside the house. My attention was then turned to the inside of the house as I watched Roberto and Enrique rip apart the wall, and millions of dollars in cash, tumble out of the now gaping hole in the wall.
They began to pack the money into black leather bags and one by one, threw them out to Brian and me to put in the car.
'Load up', Enrique yelled at us.
They had finished packing and we had finished loading. 'Three bags in one car, huh?' Brian asked Roberto. Not far off we heard police sirens and a chopper overhead, causing us all to panic and anger surge inside of me.
'The cops', I swore as I jumped in the car, drivers side as Enrique jumped into the passenger seat.
'I'm not going back to Jail', Brian muttered, but I heard him loud and clear. He ran off towards Enrique and Roberto's car.
'Where you going man? Lets go', Roberto screamed, as Brian opened the drivers side door of the four-wheel drive.
'What is he doing?' Enrique shouted to me as I just shrugged and watched. He had picked up a rock and sat it on the accelerator and started the car, sending it screaming towards the cops. He ran back laughing as I just chuckled slightly at him before leading the way out.
We made it on the highway and I was going off the road to bypass the cars. Enrique was holding onto the edge of his seat, shitting himself.
'Do you know what you're doing, man?' he asked me as I just looked serious and kept going. I switched a gear as I looked in the rear-view mirror. Brian was falling back.
'Stay with me, Brian, stay with me', I exclaimed more to myself than anybody.
I got the speedometer over 120, as I continued to swerve dangerously around cars. I could hear the cop sirens getting louder and louder as we went further down the highway. This was not good. Enrique turned to me, panicking.
'They're catching up, man!' he shouted as I turned to him alarmed.
'Shut up, man!' I shouted back, turning to face the road again as I went up another gear. 'Yeah, nice driving, Brian, nice driving', I exclaimed randomly again as I served off of the road to pass a car. A chopper flew overhead, two guys sitting out, holding a gun each, pointed at my car. I gaped before slamming both my feet on the brake, Brian doing the same behind me, swerving to miss my backend. That wasn't enough, one of the spider things attached itself to the side of my car, sending the system of my car haywire, before slowly shutting it down.
'Oh, shit', I cursed as I looked back at it. 'Come on, man, take the wheel', I stated, looking over at Enrique.
'No, No, No, man, I can't drive', she stated worriedly beside me. I took drastic actions; I reach over and pulled his hands to the wheel.
'Just hold the wheel', I shouted, holding his hand on the wheel as he tried to tug it back. 'Put your hands on it, hold it right there, keep it steady. Just like that'. I got up on my seat and leant out my window, Enrique holding my shirt as I leant out with a rag, ready to grab the spider affecting my car.
'What are you doing man?' I heard Brian shout as I placed the rag on the spider and tugged at it. Enrique was steering us onto the grass beside the road, which made it harder to pull it out. I continued trying, as my foot began to become loose on the pedal. I tugged harder, grunting as I did so, stomach beginning to be rubbed red-raw as I was doing so. Then that was it. I tugged it free and grunted as I threw the metal claw away and into the grill of a cop car.
I cracked up laughing as I jumped back into the car and took the wheel as the cop car swerved out of control, taking a few more cops in it's wake. Enrique started screaming at me in Spanish as I started cheering and speeding up.
'Yeah, man!' I shouted slapping him on the chest in triumphant happiness. I looked up and still saw the chopper there. Then I realised I was going to pass the turn off as I swerved dramatically to reach it, all the cop cars fumbling over themselves to follow. We swerved round two or three corners as we began to lose the cops.
'You're a good driver, man', Enrique said, a little more calm than earlier.
'Thanks, bro', I said calmly as I continued to maintain my speed. I saw a bunch of cop cars blocking the way, but we swerved pass them perfectly as we headed to the spot Tej suggested to play out our plan.
'All right, Miami's finest, let's see what you got', I muttered as I sped up a little more and picked up the walkie-talkie. 'Hey, man, everyone's here. Time for the show', I laughed into it.
'Let's give it to him', was Brian's reply as we swerved into the storage lot.
'All right, let the party begin. Let's go', I shouted as Brian and I pulled into the only two open garage doors. They shut quickly behind us as we pulled up before getting out quickly.
'What's up Tej', I shouted as we transferred the money bags into the Yenko and Hemi.
'Hope you know what your doing, James', he said to me simply as I nodded and jumped in, Enrique getting in beside me.
'Time to go is now', I whispered as everybody started their engines, revving them in hopes for a good take off. The first wave out were the trucks with the bull bars, in use for clearing the way for the stampede of cars about to speed out, and that, they did. Everybody went pouring out, circling around the cop cars before I gave the signal.
'Yo everybody, let's break', I said into the walkie-talkie as everybody started pouring out of the storage car park, and sped there way in every direction.
'How bout them apples, man?' I smirked as we sped of down the freeway, no cop in sight. It was free range from here.
'Good job, man', Enrique sighed, happy he wasn't being chased and he could breath easy. I laughed as I picked up the walkie-talkie.
'Hey thanks, thanks a lot Bro. You're clutch. I owe you big time', I shouted as Tej came back sounded rather unhappy.
'Yeah, James, you really do owe me, you really do…' he paused for a second, '…us. Suki says you owe us, all right?' I smiled as I turned down a small country road.
'What's up Brian, you there? Come in', I asked as he came back rather happy.
'Yeah, what's up man?' he shouted.
'Hey, it looks like we've got just one more trick left', I shouted in return.
'My pleasure, buddy, let's do it baby', he shouted as I smirked. It took awhile, but as I waited, I heard the faint screams of Roberto being ejected from the car. It was now my turn.
'Miss O'Connor, it worked! Blow and go baby, I'm all clear', he shouted as I nodded, 'Meet me at the point, hurry up, its on baby'.
'All right, 10-4, man', I answered calmly. I picked up the button, ready to press it when…
'Get off at Tarpon Point', Enrique said calmly, nodded to his left.
'Tarpon point?' I questioned confused, 'There's no airstrip at Tarpon point'.
'Who said anything about an airstrip?' he smirked at me as I panicked slightly and dropped the button.
'James?' shouted the walkie-talkie. It was Brian. 'James, what's the hold up, man?'
'Yo, Brian', I came back, choosing my words carefully. 'There's a new plan'.
'What the hell?' he shouted.
'We're meeting him at Tarpon Point exit, not the airstrip'; I came back, keeping side-glances on Enrique.
'So what are you saying?' Brian shouted back, I cursing him in my head.
'Like I said, there's a new plan', I replied as Enrique smirked at me, I looking worriedly at him.
'James?' Brian shouted as I put the walkie-talkie down. 'James? Hello, you there?'
I pulled up at Tarpon point and one of Verone's bodyguards walked up to my door, holding me in there with his gun as Verone and Monica stepped out of the car ahead. The first thing I saw was the shotgun in Verone's hand.
'It's all right, let her out', Verone ordered as the bodyguard stepped away and I got out slowly. I walked round the back, keeping my eyes on Verone as Enrique stood beside me.
'Pop the trunk', he ordered. They cleared the money and I was pushed roughly to the front of the car then over to Verone.
'Where's the rest of it?' Verone asked, panicking slightly.
'The other car', I muttered.
'Another car?' Verone questioned, 'Where's the other car?'
'On it's way?' I said gravely.
'On the way, huh?' Verone said, almost laughing.
'Yeah', I replied. 'Here's your money', I stated as I threw the bag I was holding at his feet.
'So you know nothing about the agents that stormed my jet?' he questioned as I just stared at him. He looked around, before finally looking back at me. 'The funny thing is…I only told one person about the airstrip'. I swallowed hard as he walked over to Monica and started stroking her cheek, 'Custom agents sure are getting pretty, aren't they?' I heard Enrique hold a gun to the back of my head.
'Put her on the boat', Verone ordered, waving his hand carelessly. His bodyguard went to grab her hand but she just slapped it away. 'Get on the boat', Verone stated heatedly holding the shotgun to her face. She glared before making her own way onto the boat.
'Hide the cars, and get rid of her', Verone ordered as I just glared.
'Back in the car', Enrique ordered, shoving the gun against my head. I walked to the driver's side of the car, and drove down the little road beside the jetty. 'End of the road', Enrique chuckled, holding the gun to my head. 'You know, I like you. But I still got to kill you. It's my job'. I started clicking the ejector button desperately as he looked down at my hand. 'What's that?' he shouted.
'It's Barstow baby, and it's about to get ugly', shouted Brian from the walkie-talkie as I heard an engine rev from behind. Brian crashed into the black car from behind and that gave me the opportunity to reach over and grabbed Enrique's hand and beat it against the dash to get him to let the gun go. He started firing, putting holes in the windscreen as I pulled his arm away. That was when the teeth sunk into my shoulder and I started screaming. I elbowed him in the head, dazing him a little as the door opened beside Enrique and Brian pulled him out, me tumbling out after him.
'Oh shit', I swore as Enrique got me in a headlock. That was before Brian kicked him full bolt in the head, knocking him away. I got up and held the gun on him as Brian continued to hit him. I looked at Brian before I kicked Enrique in the head, hard. I liked it so much I decided to do it again. Brian spat on him as I jumped and brought my right foot down in the middle of his back.
'Come on', Brian said, pulling me away before I did real damage. That was when he walked back and kicked him again before running after me. We watched the boat sail passed before running back to my car and kicking the windshield out. That was when I reversed backwards, speeding off after the boat.
'I thought you were dead, man', Brian yelled, sternly.
'Yeah, me too, thanks for saving my ass', I yelled back.
'What are you doing, James?' he shouted as I kept on speeding.
'I don't know', I shouted, 'If Verone sees a helicopter or a customs boat, she's dead!'
'Boat', Brian started, pointing out at the boat, 'Car', he said pointing into the car, 'Boat, car', he said together, before…'your not going to do what I think you're gonna do?'
'Yeah, I think so', I said calmly, 'You got my back?'
'Yeah', he said half-heartedly. 'Yeah!' he repeated, as if reassuring himself.
'All right man, put on the seat belt', I stated quickly reaching round and putting on mine.
'This some real dukes of hazard shit, man', Brian shouted.
'We're gunna do this big!' I shouted, bracing myself, 'Hold on, Brian!'
Brian started yelling in his seat beside me. 'Awe, James your crazy man! What the hell you doing?'
I started yelling myself as we launched off of the ramp and went flying. That didn't last long as we came down with a huge bang, smack in the middle of Verone's boat. Bits were flying everywhere as Brian and I sat in the car, me holding my head groaning and Brian holding his arm.
'I think I broke my arm, man', he stated in pain. That was when I looked up in time to see Verone coming towards the car with his shotgun, cocking it. 'Get the gun man', Brian whispered, knocking his gun over to me as I picked it up. I hesitated slightly, not really up for killing someone, but the look on Brian's face told me otherwise and I threw my arm up, firing it in Verone's general direction, knocking him back just as he shot. I sat there gasping, the pain from my arm seeping up and around my shoulders, Brian beside me, not knowing what to do as I saw Monica pop up, Verone's shot gun in hand.
'You ok?' I shouted out to her as she nodded.
'Yeah!' she replied, 'I'm great'. I relaxed back, dropping the gun as I looked over at Brian.
'We got him, man. We got him. Let's get out of here', he mumbled, sitting back too. I took off my seatbelt and got out as Brian just sat in the empty window space.
Brian and I were back on shore, sitting on a bunch of crates, laughing at each other about the jump. An emergency medical officer was tending to Brian's arm.
'That ought to do it', she smiled before walking off as Markham stepped up to us.
'So, there were three bags total? The three from the boat?' he questioned as I nodded.
'So, we're good right?' Brian asked, 'our records clean?'
'You held up your end', Markham answered, 'you're records are clean'. Brian got up and walked over to the remains of his car, unlocking the trunk, before pulling out the last three bags before dumping them in front of Markham.
'So, maybe there were six bags', Brian said sternly, 'I guess we can call it even'.
'Agent Dunn?' Markham called, shaking Brian's hand as Dunn ran over.
'Sir?' he questioned as Markham shook my hand.
'We've found some more evidence', Markham answered as I looked over at Brian who was looking over at Verone.
'Don't drop the soap, man', Brian shouted out as Verone just smirked.
'I hope you know that when he gets out, he's going to kill your ass', I said simply, smiling at Verone, nodding and smiling.
'He ain't getting out', Brian said, smile faltering.
'I'll see you soon', Verone smiled, as he got up.
'You think he's gonna get out?' Brian asked me, smile completely gone now as I just laughed at him.
'He'll be out'; I smiled before walking off.
'No, for real, you think he's getting out?' Brian asked, following me.
'We took care of your decoys. They're free and clear', Bilkins said, smiling at me as I walked up to him, 'There's a sedan out on the road for you, try to bring it back in one piece'. Brian and I chuckled.
'Thanks a lot, Bilkins', I smiled, shaking his hands, 'You're all right'.
'Thanks'; he smiled.
'Thanks for looking out man'; I smiled.
'So you trust me now?' Monica piped up, nodding to Brian.
'You all right', he smirked. She shook his hand as he groaned.
'Oh, sorry', she smiled before leaning over to me. 'Nice working with you James', she smiled, shaking my hand.
'Same here', I smirked as Bilkins and Fuentes walked off.
'Hm', Brian muttered, 'I might have to stay out here in Miami, and keep you out of trouble'. We both cracked up laughing as I headed for the sedan. 'You know what I'm talking about'.
'You're going to kick it in Miami?' I asked.
'Oh, man, I love Miami. Miami is off the hook', he cheered as I smiled wider.
'Open a garage together?' I offered, as he looked at me funny.
'A garage?' he muttered oddly, 'How we going to do that?'
I looked around before answering. 'Pockets ain't empty, cuz'.
He just laughed at me before lifting his shirt. 'We ain't hungry no more, right?'