Chapter 12- The Furious Ortiz
"Dominic is coming!" Blond warned Leon when he saw Dom crossing the street and approach his garage. "I'm glad I finished his car. I think he'll enjoy the modifications that I made to his old Chevelle."
"Alright, Dude!" Leon said smiling.
After he'd left Vince's house, Leon went to Blond's garage to begin their plan. Letty wasn't as easily convinced, but she finally agreed to go along with their crazy scheme.
Everyone thought that this was the best way for Letty to talk to Dom without being discovered by Braga. Plus, Leon and Vince wanted the couple back together… and then the team could be like was before.
"What's up, Dominic?" Blond asked Dom as he entered the garage.
"What's up?" Dominic said with no emotion in his voice. "Did you fix my car, Man?"
"Your car was fried, Buddy! But I welded some pieces together, and I did some cool modifications to make that machine rock. Now your car is ready for whatever you want!" Blond proudly announced.
Blond led Dom to his car and then Leon casually appeared as if he'd been there all along. Leon acted surprised and shouted. "Holy shit! Dom, is it really you, Man? I can`t believe it!"
"Hey, Leon!" Dom happily greeted his friend after so long and they hugged each other.
"I can't imagine you coming back to LA. What the hell are you doing here? I heard the cops are still looking for you, Man!" Leon excitedly asked.
"And they always will be looking for me!" Dominic said with a smirk.
Dom looked over at Blond, and Blond immediately understood that Dom wanted some privacy to talk with his old friend. Blond simply nodded and said. "I'm going to my office to work on some shit. Back later."
When Blond left, Dom said. "I'm here because something happened and I had to come about Vince? I was thinking if looking him up after I resolved some things."
"Vince is good! He'd really like to see you. In fact, tonight we're going to a race downtown. You interested?" Leon asked.
"I don`t think so." Dom said. "I'm busy tonight."
"Hey, you should join us….it'll be like old times, Dom." Leon insisted.
"Nah!" Dom said and then added. "Things are different now.'
"How come, Dom? What kinds of things are you involved in now?" Leon asked. Dom didn`t answer him.
"Come on, Dominic! We're still a team. You know you can trust me!" Leon said in a low voice.
Dom looked through the glass window into Blonds office and watched him rifle through the papers on his desk. Then Dom looked back at Leon and said. "Leon I came back to LA to find Letty. She's missing. Do you have any idea where is she?"
"Letty? She's missing?" Leon replied, playing dumb. "I'm in shock, Man. I thought she came back with you. I was just going to ask about her."
"No, she didn`t came back with me. We've been separated for about a year now. I left her in The Dominican." Dom sheepishly said and lowered his head down.
"Did you guys break up? Dude, I can`t believe it!" Leon feigned shock.
"No. I was just trying to protect her…that's all. Things were complicated in The Dominican. Cops were closing in. But I made a mistake when I left her behind." Dom quietly said.
"You did a damn stupid thing, Dom!" Leon said.
"Leon, I'm afraid that something very bad has happened to my Letty. I need to find her!" Dom seemed desperate.
"I can help you, Dom. You know I love Letty. She's family. She's part of the team." Leon paused and then said. "Look… are you sure you don`t want to come to the race tonight? If you're looking for Letty, then the race might be a good place to start looking."
"I don`t think Letty would be in a race, Leon" Dominic quietly said.
"Why not?" Leon said. "Maybe she'll be there looking for you, the most obvious place to find you, Dom."
Dom thought about it. Maybe Leon was right. If Letty was in LA and trying to contact him, then a race would be the most obvious place for her to find him! The cops probably wouldn't be looking for him in the most obvious place…a public race!
A race was too obvious, therefore the best place for them to meet. If there were cops there it still wouldn't be easy to find him. He knew there would be lots of people at the race, and even if he couldn't find Letty there, he might find out some sort of information about her or Braga.
"Ok, I'll go to the race tonight and make some money. But I can't race my Chevelle. I need a ten second car." Dom explained.
Leon smiled. "That won't be a problem!"
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"Why are you so mad?" Monica asked Brian as she followed him down the hallway of The FBI Headquarters. "When they told me we'd be working together, I thought that you'd be happy to see me."
Brian forced a smile. "Monica, you don`t know what you`re getting yourself into. This sonofab*tch case has been going on too damn long. It's time to end it. I just don`t know why the boss chose you to watch me. It's ridiculous!"
"Ok, so do you seriously think that I can't watch over you?" Monica asked.
"This is The FBI, Monica!" Brian said. "Not The Fashion Police!"
"Brian you're so friggin' arrogant!" Monica was becoming annoyed now. "You haven't changed one little bit."
"Brian! I'm so glad that I found you!" Sophie called to him as she hurried down the corridor towards him. "I found out one more thing about your Maria Fernandez…and I think you'll like it."
"What did you find out?" Brian asked intrigued.
"I found out that the same Maria Fernandez who boarded without luggage to The Dominican Republic a year ago…. returned to LA this morning!" Sophie explained with a triumphant smile on her face.
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Letty looked at her daughter sleeping like an angel on the bed, and then looked nervously over at Vince.
"Come on, Letty…you can't give up now!" Vince asked. "Leon said that he's convinced Dom to be at the race tonight. He also loaned him a car. You need to be there, too!"
"Vince… I'm not sure if I can leave Nina. I've never done this before! Soledad was the only other person who ever watched over Nina besides me… and she isn't here now! And that was only when I had to go to work!"
"Letty, she's just a tiny little thing. Of course I can handle her! I swear… I`ll be as good to her as if she was my favourite car…. and you know my car is like my baby!" Vince stood there with a big grin on his face.
Letty rolled her eyes. Vince continued talking. "I'm serious, woman! Just tell me what she eats and what she likes to do when she's awake."
Letty sighed. She needed to find Dom. She had so much to tell him and the only babysitter she had for Nina now…..was Vince. Letty knew if she wanted to do this…she had no choice.
"God help me." Letty thought before finally agreeing. "Ok,Vince. I`ll let my daughter stay with you. My heart is in pain now… but there's no other way."
Letty looked at her little girl again and caressed her hair. "I put some milk in a bottle so you can feed her if she wakes up. She'll go back to sleep after you feed her, but you have to remember to burp her first."
"Ok, but I told you I don`t have any milk…. so where'd you get it from?" Vince asked and Letty frowned. Vince was slow but he finally understood and gasped. "Oh, ok! I got it! But how do I make her burp? You know… I don`t need any help when I burp."
"I'm sure you don't." Letty agreed, slightly annoyed. "Just place her carefully on your shoulder and tap her back gently…. I said gently Vince!"
"Ok, ok, I got it! Don`t worry!" Vince agreed, becoming a bit annoyed himself.
"Vince I'm leaving my child in your hands…. if anything happens to her while I'm at this damn race…" Letty's lips were trembling now.
"Jesus, woman! Would you just relax? I told you I`ll take care of the baby! What could happen, huh?" Vince said exasperated.
Letty visibly shuddered, because she didn't want to think about all of the possibilities that could happen to her baby. Letty resigned herself to the reality that this was the best thing for now…Nina would be ok for a short time… with Vince….and she needed to get to Dom.
Letty got ready for the race and the got into the car that Vince had gotten for her. It was a green '68 Camaro SS, with gray stripes on the bumper. "Holy crap! Where did you get this machine, Man?" Letty gasped, suddenly feeling very excited about being in a race after such a long time.
Letty remembered that the last time that she raced was when she was running from Fenix, trying to save her own life…and the life of Nina. To be able to race and relax again felt good.
"I got this machine from the junkyard, can you believe it? I hauled it to my garage and I got some old blueprints that Jess made, you know? And my buddy Tyler and I worked on this car. Well, we practically built a new car. You'll see what my baby can do now!"
Letty turned on the engine and revved it. She was giggling now and said. "I bet I'm going to win this race, Vince, and get some money for my baby girl!"
"With this car you'll win, girl! Too bad I`ll miss my baby's first race… but it's for the greater good, right? Man, I wanted too see Dominic's face when he sees you! Leon said that he only came back to LA to find you." Vince explained.
Letty wanted to believe it, but she was reluctant to. She had her doubts and besides, she was still very upset with Dom for abandoning her.
"The money for entrance fee is in the glove box." Vince said.
"Thank you for doing this for me, Vince." Letty said.
"You don't have to thank me. We're family. We're a team, remember? And now the team is back!"
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Dom smiled when Leon gave him the keys to the car that he would drive that night. It was a blue Nissan with incredible modifications. Dom couldn't wait to see what this amazing machine could do.
"Here's your ten second car, Dom!" Leon proudly announced. Dom got in the car and Leon sat beside him in the passenger seat. Dom turned on the car and smiled. He then quickly drove through the streets of Los Angeles.
"Hey! Slow down, man!" Leon said holding on to his seat. "The race hasn't started yet! And besides…you wouldn't want to attract the attention of the cops."
The streets were full of people that night. Everyone was waiting to watch one more race between the beasts of the streets.
As usual, there were many cars of many colors and models. The hoods of the cars were raised to display their enginges and the music playing from so many car stereos became one big noise. The noise was very annoying, but it didn't seem to bother the drivers, the racing fans or the gamblers putting money down on their cars.
Dom parked in the drivers line. Everyone was almost ready to start. His sudden arrival in the stylish Nissan caught people's attention.
"What`s up?" A young girl said as she approached Dom and his car. She was wearing a pink dress. It was Suki, the girl whom Letty had met in the ladies room of the bar one year ago.
"What`s up, baby?" Leon said. He knew Suki from other races. "This my friend, Dominic."
"Dominic Toretto?" Suki asked with a smile. "Man… you're a legend around here. Are you racing tonight?"
"Yeah!" Dominic said.
"Shit!" Suki said. "I'm going to lose all my money tonight."
"I bet you will, girl!" Dom smirked. He was deliberately being sociable, in an attempt to get more information about this race and maybe some important clues about Letty?
"Who's organizing this race?" Dom asked Suki.
"Hector." Suki said and just then, Hector magically appeared.
"Dominic Toretto!" Hector barked as he walked around Dom`s car. "I heard that the cops were looking for you, hombre (man). Is this true?"
"Let`s just say I didn't come back to LA for a social visit." Dom grimly said.
"You going to race with this?" Hector pointed to The Nissan. "Me gusta mucho (I like it very much). "I bet your girl enjoys this one a lot. Are you two still together?"
Dom shook his head and said. "Actually I'm looking for her. Have you seen her around, Hector?"
"Hermano (brother), I haven't seen tu chica (your girl) for a long time. But it`s ok, if you're not hanging with her anymore, then maybe you'd be interested in the new girl that's going to race tonight. She reminds me a lot of your ex-girl." Hector said.
Hector pointed to a woman with long dark hair. She was dressed in dark clothes and she was wearing powerful night vision glasses that covered her face. But her curves under her tight clothes suggested that the woman was really beautiful underneath all of her gear.
"Who is she?' Dominic curiously asked. She seemed familiar to him, too, somehow.
Hector grinned and explained. "Her name is Sarah, and she just arrived in LA. This will be her first race in town. She told me that she wants to race against a real driver, so I saw you and thought I'd come and tell you. She wants to bet double…in cash… with you tonight. Very simple, one ride and whomever's left behind loses!"
Dominic focused his gaze on Sarah. He thought about refusing the challenge, because that wasn't why he was there. However, if she was so interested in racing with him, then maybe that meant that she was one of Braga`s drivers?
Dom hadn't forgotten about the strange package that he'd received in Panama, supposedly sent by Braga. Maybe this woman was the answer to everything he needed to know. Maybe she could tell him where Letty was. He could make her talk!
"Tell her that I accept her offer!" Dom said to Hector. Hector enjoyed the news and told everybody they were going to have a hot race that night.
Some of the drivers that were racing that night had known Dom for a long time. A few of them went to say hello to him. Among them were Edwin and Silvia.
Silvia was one of the women that Letty used to call a skank. Dominic never thought that Silvia would ever become a driver and work on cars, because she never liked to get grease under her nails.
Silvia talked to Dom for several minutes. She was obviously trying to seduce him and arrange to meet him after the race, but Dom wasn't interested.
The only woman that Dom was interested in that night…was Sarah! He desperately wanted to talk to her. Dom felt a strange feeling deep down in his gut, but somehow the thought of talking to that woman, made him feel like he was going to be close to Letty again. Dom couldn't explain where this gut feeling was coming from…he just knew he had to trust it.
Sarah kept her distance from Dom and the other drivers until the race began. Dom tried to talk to her before she got into her car, a'68 Camaro SS, but she simply ignored him.
One of Hector's girls, a brunette with big boobs known as Solita, made the signal to start the race. She waved a colorful scarf in the air and moved her body sensually in the short red dress that she was wearing.
Dominic revved his engine and looked over at Sarah. Her car was next to his car. She didn`t look at him at all. She kept her focus on the road ahead.
"Are you ready?" Solita shouted. "Go!" The cars sped off. Immediately, Dom, Sarah, Edwin and Silvia fought for the lead position.
"Go, Letty! Go!" Leon murmured to himself as he followed the the cars with his eyes.
The finish line wasn't very far, about five miles through the city streets. Silvia was quickly left behind by Edwin. Edwin pursued the leaders and soon he was competing head to head with Dom and Sarah.
Suki reached them on the final turn but she lost control and crashed into Edwin. "Oh, f*ck!" Edwin shouted angrily at Suki. She got out of her car and shouted insults back at him, too.
The race continued between Dom and Sarah. They looked at each other and then suddenly their cars lightly collided. Sarah smiled at him before turning on her NoS system. Her smile caught Dom off guard. Sarah's smile was identical to Letty`s! It couldn't be! Could it?
Dominic`s brief distraction was fatal, because by the time he'd activated the NoS System of The Nissan, Sarah's Camaro had already crossed the finish line…. only a mere seconds ahead of him.
People couldn't believe that Dominic Toretto had lost his first race to a woman!
Several people approached Sarah, shouting and cheering. Hector awarded her her prize money. However, Dominic didn't give a damn that he'd lost the race. He was thinking about Sarah`s smile. He needed to talk to her and make sure that he wasn't going crazy or something.
Dom tried to get near her, but the crowd wasn't helping. Suddenly, Sarah broke away from the crowd and moved towards a dark alley. Dom followed her. His heart was racing so fast that he could swear it would burst out of his chest. He needed to get close to her and look into her eyes.
"Hey!" Dom called after her when she finally stopped walking. Sarah's back was to him. Dom walked towards her.
"Who are you?" Dom demanded as he approached her.
The mysterious woman finally turned towards him and stepped forward out of the shadows and stood face to face with Dominic Toretto. She removed her glasses and even in that dimly lit alley, Dom instantly knew who she was.
"It`s been a long time, Papi!" Letty said with irony in her voice.
To be continued…
