Chapter 25-Stupid and Reckless
"What the fuck do you mean they were kidnapped?" Dom yelled, flipping over the metal table in the safehouse. He had just received the news from Tego and Rico that Letty and Mia were snatched out of the shopping mall in broad daylight and he was on a warpath.
"We were outside, Dominic. We didn't know!" Rico tried to explain, fearing Dom's wrath.
"You were supposed to be with them!" Dom yelled, pointing at them. "You weren't supposed to let them out of your sights!" Dom and the others – especially Brian – were heated that the two cousins could be so brainless to leave the women alone. They were being haunted by the FBI, the most powerful man in Rio, and every local cop behind him.
"We're gonna have to speed up the timeline, Dom. We need to hit these houses now," Brian said, every fear and worry in his mind now gone. His girlfriend was now a hostage and he refused to let anyone cause her harm.
"Brian, it's too dangerous," Dom said, running his palms down his face. He couldn't begin to describe the amount of stress that weighed on his shoulders.
"I don't give a damn how dangerous it is, Dominic!" the tone of Brian's voice surprised everyone. He had been the relatively sane one of the group, but yelling at Dominic was just crazy. "The woman I want to marry is probably hurt and scared and I'm not gonna wait around until something happens."
"Then what exactly do you think we should do?" Dom tried not to knock every tooth out of Brian's mouth for his tone.
"I say we hit one."
"And just how do you expect us to get the others? As soon as we show up to the first one, they'll be doing everything they can to protect the others," Han spoke everyone's thoughts.
"Exactly - hit one and send a message. He's gonna bust his ass to move them all to one safe place."
"Helluva lot easier to steal his money if it's all in one place," Dom smiled, finally understanding where Brian was going with this.
An hour later, Dom and the boys were standing inside the Leblon cash house next to about ten million dollars in cash up in flames. The set-up was run like an assembly line with several half-naked women counting, sorting, and wrapping fresh crisp bills. And the whole thing had been shut down by a couple of pissed off fugitives.
"Are you loco? Do you know who you're stealing from? Yeah, you better hide 'cause Reyes is going to find you before you make it off this street!" the ringleader of the workers yelled furiously. He knew his life was hanging by the threads now that they were being robbed. It was his responsibility to look over the money and make sure everything ran smoothly.
Dom and the rest pulled off their ski-masks, revealing their faces. "Who's hiding? You tell Reyes he's fucked with the wrong people. There's more of this coming. I want my girls back."
-x-
"Now what?"
The big question echoed off the warehouse walls from Tej's mouth. They sat around the table, waiting. They waited for something to give, for their big break. Dom personally waited for the miracle of his baby's mother and sister to walk through those doors, unharmed. Dom knew the word had spread fast about what happened to Reyes' cash and they were running out of time.
"Fuck!" Brian yelled, slamming his angry hands on the table.
Suddenly, the prepaid cell phone on the table began ringing, scaring everyone surrounding it. Dom reached for it, putting it on speakerphone and placing it back on the table.
"Who is this?"
"Dom! Please help!" Mia's voice received a sigh of relief from everyone.
"Don't worry Bella, we're on our way. How's Letty, Mia?"
"Your precious girlfriends are fine," a familiar male voice took over, "but they won't be for long. You idiots really fucked up this time."
"Verone, I swear: you even so much as breathe too close to them and I'll slice your fucking throat," Dom growled, his baritone voice bouncing off the warehouse like a megaphone.
"Now Mr. Toretto, even a man as street-smart as you would know not to make threats when these two very important lives are on the line."
Dom's face was nearly purple and every vein in his throat throbbed but he kept his mouth shut.
"Smart man," Verone said to his silence. "You and your followers need to meet Reyes and me at your precious garage in an hour. And you better come up with ten million dollars by then, or I pick off the babies first. Ciao."
"Babies? As in more than one?" Brian whispered, wondering what the hell Verone was talking about.
The line went dead, leaving the guys confused and pissed off.
"Dom, you realize we don't have ten million dollars right?" Rome stated the obvious, which only annoyed Dom more.
"Shut up man," Tej nudged him quiet.
"We need to set up surveillance at the cash houses. He should be moving them soon."
"What about the meeting?" Han asked.
"Split up at the other spots. O'Connor, you ride with me."
"That'll leave us one man short," Tej noted.
"I'll handle that. Come on, let's go," Leon said as he thought of the perfect assistant.
"You know how bad you fucked up? When the boys get here, you two are dead," Letty spoke carelessly to her kidnappers. She looked to Damon, who stood guard at the entrance, "I might let him spare your life."
"For someone so pretty, you talk too fucking much!" Carter Verone snapped.
The group was at Jesse's, the Team's recently rebuilt garage, except now it was in shambles, new tools broken and new graffiti lining the mural. It broke Letty's heart the most to see Dom's rare artwork destroyed. The women were hanging in the center of the garage, their wrists bound to the chains on an engine lift.
Letty rolled her eyes and turned to look at Damon. He stood still, his face stoic as he watched his uncle and his longtime business associate ordered their men to rip the beautiful garage to shreds.
"I was wrong about you, Damon," hearing his name, he turned to her. "Here I was, thinking you were some small-time hustler who had a little compassion. Now I see you're nothing but a gutless bastard. Like these two," Letty snarled. "You are a piece of shit low-life and I hope I personally can pull the trigger that blows your fucking head off."
Verone swatted the barrel of his gun at Letty's face, splitting her cheek nicely. "I told you to shut up."
"I think I'm gonna be sick," Mia groaned; she couldn't think of a worse time for her morning sickness to kick-in, especially considering they were suspended several feet into the air.
"How cute," Verone said sarcastically.
Verone walked to one of his henchmen, pulling him away to talk privately. Mia was surprised to hear them speaking in French, a tactic to keep the conversation a secret. He wasn't aware of Mia being just as fluent in French after taking up the language class at UCLA.
"Letty," Mia whispered, "Verone's going to kill Damon."
"How do you know that? Hernan wouldn't let him do that."
"Trust me, that's the plan."
"Well then ... shit just got twisted."
"'One' is on the move," Roman stated over a two-way radio from the restaurant across from his cash house.
Soon after, each of the others reported their SUVs traveling back on the road again. Just as suspected, Hernan Reyes was starting to transfer his entire life savings to a secure, unknown location.
"He's moving," Brian said from the Impreza.
"Our guy is off. Tej, keep an eye on them. Guys, make sure you hit the trucks before they make it to the drop spot. Afterwards, I want you guys to meet me at the garage. Don't forget the plan," Dom dropped the radio and picked up his shotgun, loading it with one hand and tailing the SUV with the other.
Brian pulled out in front of the black truck, while Dom got directly behind it. They drove for a mile on the city streets, making sure to keep up with the route that Tej directed. Brian came to a slow stop with truck stopping also.
"Burn 'em," Dom muttered.
Instantly, Brian burned the rubber on his tires, kicking up a large cloud of white smoke into the air. Dom crept out of his car slowly, keeping the shotgun low. The driver of the truck stepped out, clearly annoyed at the delay. Dom crouched and approached the driver, smashing the butt of his weapon on his head. The man's legs caved quickly, his body dropping to the ground. Brian kept the tires roasting, creating a distraction for Dom. The passenger and Dom pointed their weapons quickly but Dom fired first, killing the man instantly. Dominic could feel his hands quivering as he reached for both bags of cash, but ignored it as he tossed them in his car.
He slammed the car in reverse and swiftly spun the car around speeding off in the opposite direction.
"It's done," Dom said into the talkie, trying to ignore the blood splatter on is white t-shirt. He reached over and unzipped the black duffel bag, smiling as he pulled out a stack of bills. "I've missed you, Ben."
"You're precious boyfriends aren't gonna make it," Damon Reyes teased the women.
"Neither are you, apparently," Mia muttered to herself.
"And what does that mean?" Damon spoke, though it was against his uncle's wishes.
"Well those two are planning to kill you after they try to kill my brother and boyfriend," Mia replied, a smug, Toretto grin on her face.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Damon scowled, approaching her slowly.
"Your idiot uncle just signed some bogus deal. Carter just bought out your half of the family business. They know you'll run your mouth after you're booted so they are going to kill you. "
Damon looked at the smug grin on her face, unable to tell if she was bullshitting him.
"I speak French very well. Ask him."
Damon eyed Carter Verone closely. He didn't like the man and he sure as hell didn't trust him, which made Mia's words more believable.
Before he could debate it, several engines were heard arriving outside.
"Great. The party finally starts," Carter grinned, rubbing his hands together excitedly.
-x-
Dom tried to shake the panic and anxiety that passed through his body after taking a man's life from point-blank range. He did it, though, knowing the assailant wouldn't have thought twice about doing the same to protect the money.
"Tej, how's it looking?" Dom asked, checking his rearview to make sure Brian was behind him.
"Everyone hit the cars, except our girl. We still got two marks out there," Tej reported from the roof of a skyscraper that overlooked the city. He had a bird's eye view of 'Operation Benjamin'- their plan of attacking each money-transfer truck, doing whatever they could to seize the duffel bags full of cash. "But she is working hard to get their attention." Tej admired Daisy's booty-shaking from afar.
Dom chuckled, "Just make sure you get the rest of the loot."
Dom drifted into the parking lot of Jesse's, jumping out quickly. He grabbed the small handgun from the trunk, along with the heavy black bags. Brian skidded in behind him, pulling his weapon from his car as well. He opened the trunk, using two hands to pull Roberto from his car. The man had been tied up at the warehouse for weeks because the crew had no idea what to do with him. No one had the balls to kill him, and it was too much of a risk to release him. But today all of the trouble would end and Roberto would become useless. They had to get rid of him.
"Keep up," Dom muttered to him, entering the garage.
His blood boiled at the sight of his longtime girlfriend and sister dangling several feet in the air. He had to put his arm out in front of Brian to keep him from getting shot for trying something. Dom tried to stay emotion-less at the sight of his memorial for Jesse. The shop was destroyed, but his painting was more important and hurt the most.
"Welcome to the party, boys," Verone grinned, holding his arms out wide. "You boys are good. I underestimated you. I didn't think you had the balls to come after what's ours."
"Bigger balls than you think," Dom stood his ground. "So how do we do this?"
"Well the way I see it," Reyes started, "You've returned my money so I'm not going to kill you today. Just replace the money you destroyed, and I'll give you a twenty-four hour head start. After that, I'll send out the bloodhounds for a treat. How's that sound?"
Dom approached the two slowly, keeping an eye on the man pointing a gun at his pregnant girlfriend's head. He stopped a few feet from Reyes, dropping one of the bags at his feet. Brian let Roberto go, kicking him in the ass so he'd move forward.
"How 'bout I give you half and Roberto and you spring the girls loose. They aren't involved in this."
Reyes looked to Verone, who shrugged. He looked to his men and gave them the signal to let them down.
Letty thanked God that things were going smooth. She instinctively placed her hands over her belly as she touched the ground, protecting her cub. Letty ran to Dom, exchanging kisses quickly before being pushed to Brian. Before Mia could run, Damon grabbed her by the hair, pulling her back to him.
"Hey!" Brian yelled, stepping to him with his gun pointed.
"I wouldn't do that," Verone said as Damon put his piece to Mia's head "Brian O'Connor. I've been waiting for this moment for a long time."
As he spoke, more of the Team arrived, evening up the body count. The bay doors filled with bodies, Dom's team standing tall and equipped with weapons.
"How was jail, homeboy?" Rome teased Verone as he entered.
Carter clinched his teeth and cocked his gun back, fed up with Roman's mouth already.
"Now tell me, did you have your manhood taken or were you a willing participant?"
He and Tej bumped knuckles, laughing at Carter's expense.
"You still got a big fucking mouth, boy," Verone scowled, staggering towards Roman. Dom put his gun to Verone's head as he approached, stopping him in Dom's personal space.
"Enough!" Reyes yelled, annoyed with the antics. "I want my money and you all out of my country, now!"'
"Guys, give him the money," Dom ordered, looking at Reyes with a grin. When Hernan realized that they were in possession of a lot more than ten million dollars, he let out a string of curses. "Stupid and reckless," Dom shrugged carelessly.