A/N - revisions Aug2015: minor editing
Chapter 11
Buried Emotions
"Hey, Shaw." Letty prodded the boss. "What the fuck are we after, anyway?"
He sighed. "A computer chip."
"And we gotta steal a tank to get it?"
"Essentially."
"How the hell are we gonna escape in a big ass, slow tank?"
His cool regard studied her. She refused to show the pain he had inflicted on her, the fear she felt of him, that he had dampened her spirit at all with his brutality. When he nodded at her and turned away, she knew that she hadn't fooled him, but she really hadn't expected to. It was Shannon whom she didn't want to know. Her friend didn't need the guilt on her shoulders for what Shaw had been doing to Letty. To be honest, Letty just had no intention of letting Shannon know that she'd been raped yet again. Ever.
She could no longer ignore the truth of what Shaw had been doing to her for a while now. With him, sex was either for pure physical relief or power. Yesterday had abso-fucking-lutely been about power. Slowly, she shifted her hips, trying to bring relief to the aches. Despite the pain and humiliation, if it got her closer to putting his ass behind bars and going home with her family, then she'd take it without complaint. At least the weather in southern Spain was better. It actually felt like spring was supposed to. Warm days!
Veggie was smiling. The irritation it caused Letty fully drew her out of her blissful enjoyment of warm weather. Why the fuck was the bitch smirking at her like that? She looked around for duct tape.
"On this." Shaw tossed down a schematic of a plane. A humongous beast capable of carrying a dozen cars. Easily. Letty got a little wet thinking of the possibilities, the races she could get to...
"This thing needs like a mile for takeoff. There ain't an airfield anywhere near except the base." Were they going to drive a tank right back to where they couldn't steal it from?
"The highway," Shaw explained, pointing at the map, "Is sufficient at this point. The Antonov will perform a modified 'touch and go' operation."
Drive a tank into a moving plane. That wasn't something she'd get the chance to do ever again. She frowned. Except, she wasn't going to be driving. Shaw had her ass learning how to interpret radar and shit. Not that she expected Team Toretto to even let them get into the tank. Hopefully. "That's a small window."
"It is." Shaw agreed. "But it will be sufficient."
"Right. What's my job this time?"
Wolfish, he smiled. "Helping us steal it, of course. Get yourself a local car."
Inspecting the white Nissan Skyline GTR sitting warm and smug in front of her, Letty pictured a curly-haired blonde buster behind the wheel. His shit-eating grins and cop swagger were charming in their irritating way. Mia had definitely thought so.
"You buy it, or no?" Thickly-accented English demanded.
Letty shifted her dark gaze from car to Spaniard, studied the skinny guy through her lashes.
"You look, you drive, you think." He waved a hand, indicating the hour she'd already spent inspecting what he was selling. "You buy or what?"
She continued her silent stare, and he began muttering under his breath. "Yea. I'll buy your ride."
Stacks and handshakes exchanged, she slung the key on its ring around a finger. Getting in on the wrong side of the car was weird as beet soup. "Fucking balls," she settled in. "If Brian can do it, so can I."
At the hideout, Shannon's eyebrows raised. "Not your usual style, love."
Letty leaned on the hood. "Special mission, special car."
Hip brushing her own, Shannon stepped close to bend over, inspect the insides. Earrings dangled forward and sang like little wind chimes. On her neck was a light sunburn, and it touched her exposed shoulders and upper back too. The thin top she was in outlined the bumps of her spine and bra as it stretched across her ribs. Letty's eyes traced them down to the curve of her ass.
"Makes me miss home, where people drive on the proper side of the road." Shannon pulled away from the window.
"Why the fuck?"
Left hip relaxing against the door, she shrugged. "British influence, love. You did fine in London. I'm sure the streets of Sydney wouldn't be much of a challenge."
"Then, why the hell would I go there?"
Shannon's eyes tightened a little, and her lip was sucked on. "The streets have a few racers that you'd find interesting. If not, there's always the beaches. They meet even your high standards."
"Fuck that. L.A. has streets and beaches. You can just learn to like it there."
Breath blew out of Shannon. "Letty..."
"Letty!" Vegh's bark interrupted. "Are you finished yet?"
"Yea, Veggie. You can go tell your master that it's ready for a test run. Maybe if you beg nicely, he'll let you satisfy his itch today." If Letty was lucky. Her jaw clenched at the ache in her crotch, never wanted to let that bastard touch her again. He'd probably want a quickie before the mission though. Veggie made a noise and slunk away.
A butterfly touch landed on her elbow. "Oh, Letty."
Shit! She knew. Letty's body went stiff, and Shannon's compassion shifted to hatred. "Jail is too good for him. I should've killed that fucking monster a long time ago."
Fingers covering those on her elbow, Letty kept her voice level. "No." Shannon's argument was clear, and Letty curled their fingers together. "No, Shan. It's about justice, not vengeance, remember?"
A twitch went through her body. Her eyes darted to their hands. "But-"
"Don't go poppin' the clutch on me now." Gentle eyes shimmered. Cursing, Letty swept the garage for any eyes on them. She wiped away the escaping tears, let her hands cup Shannon's jaw. "No time for those yet, aight? We got work to do." She tilted Shannon's head down, brushed her lips against her cheek. "Chin up, Sheila. Only bogans cry."
There was a brightening, sunlight poking through the clouds, on Shannon's face. "You bloody strange Yank."
Her hands drifted down, were brushed by tender fingers. Too much effort was needed to back away, making her grimace as she eased down into the driver seat.
Dust flying along the desert highway, Letty started to enjoy her day. Good weather, great car, and an end to Owen Shaw in sight. The only things missing were a cold Corona and Shannon. Neither she nor Shaw had told her where she'd gone. Likely, she was waiting on the plane with the rest of the team, but why the secrecy? She'd seen Shannon that morning, then the woman was gone.
Like smoke.
Jesse had smoked sometimes. Hell, they'd all tried it, a little tobacco, a little weed, even crack once. Letty hadn't cared for the taste or stink of any of it, even when she'd liked the high. Dom hadn't indulged often for her sake. Dom, who hadn't abandoned her, but moved on after her funeral. What was going to happen after they finished Shaw? Her enjoyment fizzled out, replaced by her more customary bitch face. She studied the highway full of boring cars. Where the hell was Team Toretto? They should've caught up with her by now! If they let Shaw get inside a tank...
Slightly ahead of the stolen police SUV and its squealing sirens, Letty blew past the military convoy. Two jeeps, one in front, the other behind. Between them, an oversized trailer truck. In the rearview, she watched Shaw in the passenger seat toss a sticky grenade at the rear jeep, then the lead.
Letty braked hard, same as the SUV, putting them behind the convoy. Twin fireballs ballooned, both jeeps exploding into little parts and pitch black smoke. The truck swerved around the mess, righted itself. Shaw was already half out of the SUV, and jumped to the truck. The ninja followed a moment later, the mechanic driving saluted Letty as he took the highway exit.
"Letty. Get up here." Shaw's voice came over the radio.
Why was he changing the plan? "What?"
"Get up here." He repeated. "Now."
So much for her starting to like the Skyline that she was driving. Giving the car a little goodbye pat, she angled it alongside the truck, unbuckled her belt, and opened the door. There were exactly two handholds. God, how she wanted to feed Shaw his own balls.
She jumped.
They didn't have a plan to take out the tank while Letty was inside of it. She should have expected Shaw to insist on keeping her close. He was the kind to like that old saying about keeping friends and enemies close. His laughter as he not only tried to mow her family down, but casually murdered innocent people, finally took its toll. Blowing up that overpass, raining hundreds of tons of rock down on both family and innocents was the last straw.
Mr. Ninja got his head bashed into his monitor first, then Letty's little gun was shoved into Shaw's temple. "Stop the fucking tank."
"You're not going to kill me, Letty."
God dammit! She couldn't, and he knew it. Through her clenched teeth, she hissed. His fingers moved before she could pistol whip him, and he dodged her attempt. Autopilot blinked from his console. Damn high tech shit! "It can't be stopped now." Arrogance lifted his lips in a grin that she wanted burn off his face. "Not until it reaches the preset coordinates. Once there, you know what's waiting."
She forwent the gun and punched him. It didn't immediately put him down, and that was the point. Her fist and his face met a few more times before Shaw turned the tables and disarmed Letty. The gun clattered away. Large hands gripped her wrists painfully, her body pinned by Shaw's weight and the tank's tight confines. Clicking his tongue at her, Shaw's demeanor was disappointed. "Ah, Letty. I was afraid your acting was better than your intelligence."
"Blow me, asshole."
He cocked his head. "Isn't that you'd rather Shannon do?"
"Anyone other than you." She agreed.
"Come now, Letty. You know I'm going to kill you for this. I'm offering you a chance to say last words, get," his face warped through thoughts. Had this asshat ever had a kind thought in his tiny little head? "Buried emotions out in the open."
"I have a better idea."
He waited.
"Fuck off." She waited until he closed his eyes to shake his head and sunk her teeth into his nose.
"GAAAAAAAH!" One of her wrists was released to allow a cracking blow to her skull. Seeing white, she crumpled. Colors and shadows returned. Shaw was reaching for something. Flat on her back, her boots were closer to him, and she happily fed his mouth with one. The other quickly followed, more force behind it. And again. Sharp edges returned to her eyesight in time to see his head bounce off steel.
First, she scrambled for the gun, then she kicked Shaw again. Just to make sure he stayed down, not because she was sinking to petty revenge. Fuck it. Yes, she was. One more boot to his ribs wouldn't kill him. See, her fingers checking his pulse proved her right.
The tank crunched over something big. One of the rear mirrors showed a smooshed car, a body half out of it. From the inside of her jacket collar, she pulled an earbud and plugged it in. She tapped the button on its wire. "Hey, it's Letty, you hearin' me?"
"Letty! Wha-"
Hearing Brian's voice over the radio made her heart hammer. "No time. You guys have to take out the tank."
"But I thought the point was to take Shaw alive."
"Yea, well, if you only blow the treads, he'll probably survive. If the tank gets to its destination, the game's up."
"Where are you, Letty?"
She tried to open the hatch, but it wouldn't budge. "Not in the tank. I was put on another project. Take that fuckin' thing down before it kills more people!"
There was a pause. He didn't believe her. She bit her lip, waiting.
"Alright, Letty. Tej brought something that'll do the job."
"Good. See you guys later." She hoped, turning off the radio, spitting Shaw's own blood back at him, and stuffing herself back into her chair. "Not my first crash." Fear made its way into her veins. "Can't be worse than that time in-"
One of the camera monitors showed a car coming alongside the tank, Roman standing up out of the sunroof, rocket launcher on his shoulder.
"Oh. Fuck."
