A quiet weekend with important meaning.
Abby got Harry up just after noon.
"Harry, we have to get going soon." Abby said walking into the master bedroom. Max ran into the room and jumped on the bed to lick Harry's face .
"Hey boy. How did you get here?" Harry asked sitting up in bed to hug his dog.
"Mia, Sue, and Padma brought him over. They want to see the race, and hang out here. Well Mia might join us, but I think she wants to hang out with Neville. They've been sleeping alone for a week and a half now. A quickie in the office isn't the same as sleeping in the same bed." Abby said as she put the bag Hermione packed for him on the bed.
"I see what you mean." Harry said standing up and walking to the bathroom.
"Your bag is on the bed with your track clothes. We're going to get breakfast." She said leading Max out of the bedroom.
Harry came out with his weekend bag over his shoulder dressed in his red Ferrari track suit. He sat at the counter next to Sue and Padma, who was sitting just a little too close to Kenji, but Kenji was looking at Sue, a fact that Harry found very amusing. On the other side of Kenji was Bobby, Neville, and Hermione.
"Where's Sam and Melissa?" He asked taking a plate of waffles and eggs.
"New York. They're running the office today." Neville said.
"Oh yeah, i forgot about the office. You know this three jobs thing is really starting to get to me. I think two days of not having to be an agent will be good for me. How are you two doing? I'm sorry we haven't been very good to you both, but this operation is really draining." Harry said.
"We're fine Harry. Happy to be here working on something worth working on. The pay is nice. The country is great, and SSI is wonderful." Sue said.
"I like the peace and quiet. I also like the people." Padma said smiling softly at Kenji.
"Well today is not going to be quiet, and peaceful. The racetrack is a loud and exciting place. We'll portkey to a resort. From there we'll drive to the track. You both brought a car?" Harry asked.
"We both helped ourselves to one of your car's Harry. I took the red Mini, and Padma took the super small white convertible." Sue said.
"The Honda S600. I brought my car with me." Padma said.
"The practice session will last for a few hours but if you ladies want to spend some time at the resort instead of sitting around the pit lane waiting for me then you can. They have a full spa." Harry said.
"We want to see the track Harry." Sue said.
"Well Sunday we have a tradition of playing a round of golf in the morning while the ladies have a spa day. I think I'll set that up today. Kenji have you ever played golf?" Harry asked.
"No, and i don't want to start. It's too slow." He said.
"How about you two?" He asked Neville and Bobby.
"I play, I'm not good but I play." Bobby said.
"That's okay, I'm crap. But we played teams last time and that was fun." Neville said with a smile.
"Then that's our foursome. You two, me and Marco." Harry said.
"Oh, before I forget, Kate will be on the plan to New York on Monday. Fred is still an immature child so she left him, again." Hermione said.
"Good, we can use another agent that will take the pressure off of use to be at the office. Can you handle her arrival?" Harry asked.
"I was planing on it. I know how crazy your work days are. I also got a call from the boys. Luna is responding to treatments. They think she'll get up soon. Then it's just a matter of finding out if anything is wrong or missing. She might be out by this time next week." Hermione said.
"No kidding? This is great news!" Harry said excitedly.
"Her and the boys would make a great addition to the team." Neville said.
"Well this settles it. Neville our birthdays are coming up right?" Harry asked trying to remember what day it was.
"Next week Wednesday and Thursday I think." Neville said.
"Well this is all going to be over by next weekend. Lets take a week off. All of us. And go hang out at my Miami house. I've never seen the place but supposedly it on an island, it has a private beach and it's a big ass house. Lets hang out on the beach and have a big birthday party. I'll buy a few speed boats and we'll go nuts." Harry said.
"Sounds good to me." Neville said with a smile.
"I think we're all in." Sue said nodding.
"Good, Kenji you're invited too, so is Marco. Now we have to get going. It's after one. Who's coming?" Harry asked getting up.
"We are." Sue said.
"You mind if I go Boss?" Kenji asked.
"Not at all, you can ride with Padma. Do you have your shrunken cars?" Harry asked as they walked out the front door.
"We do." Padma said walking close to Kenji who looked much younger when he was clean, and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt.
Harry turned his race bag into a portkey that deposited five people and a dog on the road next to the resort. Harry expanded his red Ferrari, and lead the girls to the track. Harry parked with the other team cars and the girls pulled in off to the side. Harry grabbed his race bag and lead them into the pit lane. The Ferrari team had the last set of garages and Harry's car was parked in the same garage as the Camaro was during the endurance race. Harry smiled when he saw that as Nino came out to greet him.
"Hey Nino, how's my car?" Harry asked seeing the hood up.
"Good, I kept the tight steering from last race but I moved the gearing up a bit. You don't need speed here. You need quick acceleration. Marco is going to come back soon to tell me if we have it right. But as it sits here now, you top out at 170mph, but you get there a few seconds faster." Nino said.
"Good Nino, I need the quickness out of the turns here. I'm going to go toss on my suit, Nino, this is Susan Bones and Padma Patel from Britain and this is Kenji Yamoto from Japan. Kenji is a greasemonkey like you." Harry said making the introductions before heading into the bathroom to change.
"You're a Mechanic?" Nino asked with a smile.
"I work on mostly Japanese tuner cars. Nothing like this though." Kenji said looking at the race car with hungry eyes.
"Would you like a tour of the car?" Nino asked.
"Absolutely!" Kenji said with a huge grin.
"There goes your chance. He's lost to boy stuff for the rest of the day." Sue said with a smirk.
"Please Sue, you know I'm better than that. Besides the cute Italian looks even better." Padma said popping another button on her shirt and sauntered up to the boys as they stared at the V8.
"She's a determined girl." Abby said with a smirk.
"She's overcompensating because she lost her twin sister. Ever since Parv died she's been trying to act more like her sister. Trying to keep her alive I suppose. Padma was always the reserved one, but her sister was wild. Now she's going to wear herself out." Sue said.
"Everyone handles loss differently." Abby said watching the byplay.
Harry walked out of the back in his red race suit and Abby caught Susan staring at him as he walked to the car.
"He's something else isn't he?" Sue said.
"That he is. How long have you been in love with Harry." Abby asked with a laugh.
"I'm not… you know what? Forever. That's how long. And I can tell you it's not just because he's cute. It's the way he does the impossible. You know even before the war Harry had this way about him. The first time he got on a broom we made house Quidditch team. We had no one to teach us how to fight, we turned to a fifteen year old and he taught us more than any defense teacher we had before. He just can't lose you know?" Susan said with a soft smile.
"Yeah. I've seen him turn it on and just be whatever he needs to be, and it just rolls right off his back." Abby said as Marco rolled into the pit lane and stopped by his garage.
"Hey Abby. Who's your friend?" Marco asked pulling off his helmet and gloves as he got out of the car.
"This is Susan Bones. She's a friend of Harry's from the UK. Susan, meet Marco Gillette famous race car driver." Abby said with a smile.
"Nice to meet you Susan." He said shaking her hand.
"Like wise." She said shyly.
"Harry is still here right? I need to tell him the track is a bit slippery. It rained last night." He said walking into the garage.
"He's cute." Susan said.
"He's taken. She's an underwear model from Brazil." Abby said.
"Right." Susan said laughing.
Harry spent two hours on the track and by the end of the practice session he was putting up consistent 1:32s. When he came back into the pit area everyone was laughing and joking. Harry pulled the car into the garage and got out.
"Nino, what was my best time?" Harry asked pulling off his helmet.
"You put up a 1:32:128 at the end there. You are out pacing Marco by six seconds." Nino said as Marco threw a water bottle at him which he caught and drank.
"Six seconds you asshole! You make me look bad in front of our boss and the pretty girls." Marco said.
"It's not my fault I can drive this course in my sleep. I know there's a 1:29 out there still, but the track is still too damp on the back straight and that's where the time is. With a dry track and hot tires I bet I can set a 1:28" Harry said unzipping his race suit.
"You put up a 1:28 and that breaks a Ferrari track record set by Andretti three years ago in a Ferrari F50 GT. You do a 1:28 and you will hold the Ferrari track record at Laguna Seca. That kind of honor will get you any drive you want." Marco said seriously.
"What are you saying Marco? I put up a 1:28 and I can move up to a better race series?" Harry asked.
"Or you can make the kind of money I make to beat these guys next summer." Marco said.
"Where are you racing next summer?" Harry asked.
"Here I think. We haven't talked contracts yet." Marco said.
"Well, I race where you race." Harry said.
"Sure so you can keep showing me up." Marco said laughing.
"We're a team. There has to be a number one and a number two. Now get dressed number two, we'll go have lunch." Harry said.
"I can go for a good meal." He said ignoring the number two jab as he stood up.
They drove back to the resort and had a nice lunch out by the terrace overlooking the golf course.
"You've been quiet Harry, too quiet. You think too hard and your brain will smoke." Marco said laughing.
"I was thinking about what you said. I think I want to do another year in the Challenge series, then I want to move up to GT for two year. What comes next after GT?" Harry asked.
"Formula two." Marco said with a smile.
"Figure two years doing that and then we'll move up to Formula 1." Harry said.
"We'll?" Marco asked.
"Well I need my number two man. Someone that knows how to set a good pace and block for me like we did in the BMW race. I set the lead lap and you held back the pack giving us clean track. Someone to keep me on my toes and help with the mechanical side of things. What do you say? You want to place first and second for the next ten years? Keep flying the Rosso Red?" Harry said holding out his hand with a serious face.
"It will never work out like that but, I agree to try." Marco said laughing as he shook Harry's hand.
"Why won't it work out?" Abby asked.
"Because racing is a fickle sport. On day you're on top the next day you're out on your ass. some kid from nowhere shows up and out paces you every race." Marco said with a smile.
"Not if we stick together. We'll make it a contract stipulation that we move up together. If not at the same time then within a year. I'll do it. I don't care if I move up, I can stay in the challenge series and just beat these fools. Hell I'll even do it in last years car if they really want a spectacle." Harry said laughing.
"Now that I would like to see." Marco said laughing too.
Harry went to the club that night for a bit but he left early after only a few races. That night Harry got to bed early and got up at eight the next morning. He kissed Abby, got dressed and made two portkeys. One for himself and one he set on the kitchen counter next to his red Ferrari team car for whoever wanted to come to the race. He then portkeyed to the parking lot of the resort and waited for Marco to come down a few minutes later.
They drove to the track and jogged the race line, well most of it, they slowed way down for the corkscrew. They stretched and sat on the pit wall as the sun baked the track to a perfect race temperature. They sat on the wall in quiet contemplation for a few minutes.
"I've been thinking about what you said yesterday. I don't mind playing second fiddle to you Harry because I know you're more talented. You know how far you can push the car and you know where your limit is. I'll agree to make it a rider on my contract this fall when we negotiate the new contract. We move together." Marco said holding out his hand.
"We move together. This morning I'm going to push for the record. I want you to follow me out of the pit. All we have to do is break 1:29. I don't care who gets the better time as long as we both do it." Harry said.
"I'll try to keep up with you." Marco said.
Abby, Susan, Padma, and Kenji came walking down the pit lane with Max.
"Are you two all set to go?" Abby asked hugging Harry.
"Yeah, we're just waiting for the qualifying round to start." Harry said.
"Well, good luck out there. Well brought breakfast so when you guys are done out there come up to the stands." She said giving Harry a kiss and Marco a pat on the back.
"I wish Ava was more like your girl. She comes to every race, she sits in the stands and brings you food. Instead my girlfriend is on a beach in Mexico right now. This is the last race of the season and she's not here. On top of that she's probably cheating on me." Marco said shaking his head.
"I'm sure that's not true." Harry said.
"I know her, when she gets drunk she'll hop into bed with anyone. That's how we met in the first place. What's to say she don't do it now?" He said with a sad smile.
"Because she's in love with you. You just miss her and the stress of the last race is filling your head with shit. You need to get that shit out of your head. Now go get changed and remember, follow me out there." Harry said pulling him into a one armed hug.
"Yeah." Marco said shaking it off.
They changed and got into their cars. At two minutes to ten they rolled out of the garages and lined up at the exit. As soon as the light turned green Harry blasted out of the pit with Marco right behind him. Marco followed him on his wide line and by lap two they both put up 1:31s. Harry dug in as the tires heated up and pushed to the edge of the track Marco kept up with him but he was pulling away. Nino came over the radio.
"Harry want's to know if you have the balls to push for the record or if you just want to hang back." Nino said trying not to laugh.
"You tell him to fuck off." Marco said laughing as he burned up to the back of Harry and stuck to his bumper.
Two laps later and they both put up 1:29. Again Nino came over the radio.
"Harry said to stop being a little bitch over the corkscrew."
"I'll show him little bitch!" Marco said.
On the next lap they crossed the line with two new lap records. Harry had a 1:28:281, and Marco had 1:28:809.
"YOU DID IT!" Nino called over the line.
"Yes!" Marco yelled as they did a cool down lap and pulled it to the pits. They got out of their cars and hugged and cheered like they won the race Niko and Nino joined in too.
"Let's go eat, and mingle with the fans." Harry said with a huge grin as they announced the new record to the crowd.
When they got into the stands they were mobbed by fans. They signed hats, T-shirts, ticket stubs, and in a few instance people. By the time they got to the area where his friends were seated qualifying was wrapping up.
"You both broke the track record?" Abby asked.
"You know we did." Harry said kissing her with a big smile.
"Harry dragged my ass around the track the whole way." Marco said taking the breakfast burrito from Abby and sat next to Susan.
"Well you were holding me back. If we didn't do it when we did I was going to drop back behind you and push you around the track number two." Harry said laughing.
They laughed and joked around for a half hour before making their way back to the pit lane for the race. Harry lead the pack out on to the track and after a warm up lap they lined up. When the lights went out Harry took off and never looked back. For 60 laps Harry and Marco were ten seconds a lap faster than the pack and as a result they lapped the pack six times. Harry knew he could put up a better time than a 1:28:281 but it was more fun keeping up with Marco. Besides he needed something for next year. They rolled into the pit lane. Harry got a gold trophy shaped like the famous track. After that they handed out the championship trophies. Marco took first. Harry celebrated with him. Harry ended up fourth in the points. Thank to his three first place finish out of eight races and the fact that the field was so staggered.
Harry took photos and interview questions in his track suit. They asked him about next year and he just shrugged and smiled.
"I'd be happy to come back next year and drive for the best factory team in the world. Ferrari has a proud history of winning and I'm happy to be a part of it." He said holding his trophy.
Harry took a nap from four to seven with Abby and Max. They went to the driver's party at eight, held at the resort in a back room. They sat at a table with Niko, his wife Angela, Nino, and Marco. They ate a nice meal and after the plates were removed the head of the factory team stood up, and addressed the drivers.
"I would like to congratulate you all on a great season of racing!" He said getting a round of applause. "As a team we took home first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth place in the championship! As you know this year was all about building our fan base and gaining notoriety. Was started off the season with Marco Gillette coming in to shake up to team and the sport. Marco did a great job but still attendance was down. Then by accident we found Harry." He said as everyone laughed. "He showed up to a F360 buyers event and showed off his skills. In three races he's brought a lot to the table and a lot to the Ferrari Challenge brand. Not just by winning but by bringing in an audience. I'm happy to report that Harry now holds the Ferrari track record at Laguna Seca, and he's the second Team driver to break that record today! Thanks to our youngest driver we are happy to announce today that next year we will be adding two more races to the season and five more teams have signed up for next season. I'm also happy to announce that Shell has signed a partnership agreement with the Challenge team. You are all getting raises!" He said to uproarious applause.
"Now, here's the question every reporter has asked today. Harry, are you racing next year with us?" He asked.
Harry paused letting the air in the room get quiet. He looked to Marco and he nodded. Harry stood from his seat with a smile.
"Well, that depends on two things, one is that Marco stays on the team. We want to bring home first and second place in every race next year. And two, you have to sponsor some track day events so the fans can race us. You want more people to get into the sport? Then set up a few track days where we can drive our team cars and race our fans." Harry said.
"That's a great idea! We'll put it together. Now lets drink to the end of a great season and what looks like a great next season." He said holding up his glass.
Harry and Abby hung out for a while before getting ready to go.
"You leaving so soon?" Marco asked.
"Yeah. We have to make an appearance at the club tonight for our other job. You want to come? It would be good for the club if a celebrity driver showed up." Harry said.
"Sure, sounds like fun." Marco said.
"Come on. How about you Nino? You want to go to a street racing club? Drinks on me." Harry said.
"Sure." Nino said.
They took a portkey to LA which freaked Nino out. Harry expanded Marco's Ferrari and Marco and Nino followed Harry to the club. Harry drove into the lot causing a rolling cheer to pulse through the crowd. Marco followed him in and the crowd looked on confused.
Harry got out and lead Marco, Nino, and Abby up to the club. In the VIP lounge was Susan, and Padma dressed in club outfits. Harry walked in and smirked when he saw Padma's eyes lock on to Nino.
"Hey ladies. Anything good going on?" Harry asked.
"Not really, no one has asked me to dance all night." Padma said getting up and walking up to Nino.
"Would you like to dance?" He asked taking off his suit jacket and tossing it on the couch.
"I would love to." She said grabbing his hand and dragging him out to the floor.
The waitress came in and brought a bottle of Russian vodka fill with water in a bucket of ice and two glasses. "Your usually Harry. Would your guests like something to drink?" She asked eyeing up Marco.
"Yes bring us two bottles of our best champagne and six glasses. We are celebrating tonight." Harry said.
"Right away sir." She said walking away.
As Harry was sitting down Toretto and his crew walked in. Harry clocked them out of the corner of his eye and saw Toretto's sister with them. She was standing close to Brian and he guided her to a table by the window by placing his hand on the small of her back. Harry narrowed his eyes when he saw it.
"Sue, can you do me a huge favor?" He asked without looking away from Brian.
"Sure Harry." She said standing up.
"See that guy over there? The blond sitting with the hot brunette girl? I want you to go over and hit on him. Don't push too hard but see if he'll bite." Harry said.
"Sure Harry, is there a reason for it?" She asked adjusting her shirt buttons to show off some more skin.
"I want to see if he's fucking the brunette. You girls have a sixth sense about that stuff right?" He asked.
"We know when we're being looked at." She said walking out of the VIP lounge as the waitress came back in with the two ice buckets and six glasses.
"Anything else?" She asked with a smile.
"Yes. I want you to wait on that table over there by the window. Be friendly and see if he looks at you." Harry said handing her two hundred dollar bills.
"Sure. Is this a prank?" She asked.
"No, but come back and tell me what you think." Harry said.
Harry watched as Susan walked up to Brian and leaned in to tell him something. He looked up shocked as Mia Toretto gave her a death glare. Susan handed him something and Brian shook his head and handed it back. She shrugged and walked away. As she walked off the waitress walked up to take their drink orders. She touched Brian's shoulder and again incurred the wrath of Mia's eyes. Sue walked into the lounge and shrugged.
"He's taken, and she doesn't look like the sharing type." Sue said as she dropped into the seat next to Marco.
The waitress walked in next and shrugged.
"I know, I saw the whole thing. Thanks Christy." Harry said handing her another Ben Franklin.
"You think he's in too deep?" Abby said more than asked as Harry took a seat next to her and looked deep in thought.
"Maybe. I need to bait a trap and see if he bites down hard. As for right now, I don't trust him. I think it's good he doesn't know about us." Harry said watching Brain laugh and carry on with Dom all the while he had his hand on the back of Mia's chair.
"Well I want to race. Harry, what do you say to a throw down. Your car versus mine." Marco said.
"I'm game. Lets go." Harry said leading him out.
Soon Harry was lined up with Marco and a crowd formed around the track. By now mostly everyone knew who Marco was, and the cover story Abby spread around was Harry loved racing and he met Marco at a track day event and they became friends, which was true. The tree lit up and they took off. For the first two seconds they were right with each other but soon Harry pulled away. In the end, even without Nitrous Harry laid down a 9.5 second run to Marco's 11.9 second run. Not bad considering it was a stock car on race rubber.
"Now that was fun." Marco said.
"That was slow. My car can put down an 8.5 with a nitrous shot." Harry said.
"No way." Marco said looking at the white NSX.
"Try it. I have two thousand dollars on you. Anyone want to take the action?" Harry asked holding up a wad of cash.
"I'll take that bet." Dom said holding up some cash.
"Then roll your car up and let's see." Harry said.
"Oh, I'm not driving. The kid is." Dom said pointing at Brian.
"You sure Dom?" Brian asked.
"Yeah. This buster running a mad car for the first time." Dom said with a cocky smirk as he tossed Brian the keys to his RX-7.
"Cool." Brian said rushing into the club to get the car.
"So it's a World class driver against your Lap dog." Harry said to gauge his reaction. Dom gave him a cold look and folded his arms in a very tough guy way.
Harry was impressed he kept in the rage. It was quite obvious he liked Brian very much in a mentor way. Let's see if the cop turned street racer felt the same way. Harry walked over to Marco who was sitting at the start line in Harry's car. Harry took a knee next to the car.
"Marco, I need you to jump from first to fourth and throw this race." Harry said just soft enough for Marco to hear him.
"Why the hell would I do that?" Marco asked.
"Because the guy you're racing is an undercover cop and I want to test his loyalty." Harry said.
"Right. First to fourth it is. So embarrassing." Marco muttered shaking his head.
"You do this and I'll give you a tuner car and let you into my race crew. What do you say Marco, do you want to be a bad guy?" Harry asked.
"Now that sounds like fun." Marco said with a big grin.
"That's what I thought." Harry said getting up.
Soon enough the two cars were lined up. The tree lit up and Marco had him on the start. His reaction time was so much faster than Brian's. Just as he was getting into the race he remembered he had to throw it. He was a car length ahead when he threw the car into fourth. The revs died way down and he even let off the gas a bit to let the kid win. When they pulled around Brian got out and practically hugged Dom.
"Good race kid." Harry said handing Brian the cash. Brian turned around and handed it to Dom.
"Put this towards the car." Brian said as Mia hugged him.
"What did I say, the buster slipped a gear." Dom said laughing.
"You know what your problem is Toretto? You just can't keep your mouth shut. You are such an expert then let's see you beat him. Double the bounty. Lets see you throw down. See if you're as good as your lap dog." Harry said holding up a stack of hundreds.
"Maybe I will." Dom said getting into his car.
Harry turned to Marco who looked back and forth between Harry and Dom.
"Smoke him like a fucking Christmas ham." Harry said.
They lined up again, and when the tree lit up Marco blasted off the line with barely any wheel spin. He hit his shifts and a hundred feet from the end he hit the nitrous button and smoked Dom by two seconds. He put up an 8.9 and Dom put up a 10.8. Harry was standing by the top of the strip with a smirk on his face. Dom got out looking pissed off. He handed over the cash. And Harry counted it in front of the crowd.
"You know what the best part about him kicking your ass was? The fucking silence." Harry said walking away as the crowd laughed.
"You Sandbagging piece of shit!" Letty yelled rushing at Harry's back slipping past Dom. Sam stepped out of the crowd and dropped her on her ass with one good punch. Letty looked up and saw a gun pointed at her face.
"Dom, collect your bitch before she get shot." Sam said looking cold.
"Letty, give it up." Dom said shaking his head.
"For your information, I did slip a gear the first time." Marco said with a shrug as he pulled the car back into the lot.
Back in the VIP lounge Abby sat next to Harry who still looked contemplative.
"You still don't know what to make of O'Connor do you?" She asked.
"No. I need something more to prove he's a lost cause. But that's for another night. Right now Marco needs a car if he's going to run with us." Harry said grabbing the black case and showing him the cars. "Pick one on me." Harry said.
"This is an NSX like yours?" Marco asked.
"Not really, it doesn't have a wide body kit or a turbo. But those are all things Kenji can fix." Harry said taking him downstairs.
They stayed at the club until two and headed home. The next day at noon Harry, Neville, Bobby, and Marco played a round of golf. They played teams of two with Harry and Neville as one team and Marco and Bobby on the other team. At two just as they were putting on the tenth hole Kenji called to tell him Brian was caught trying to sneak around the club by an SSI guard. Harry shook his head.
"I'll be there in ten minutes. Keep him cuffed." Harry said hanging up. "O'Connor broke into the club and two guards caught him. I have to go, keep playing I'll catch up with you guys in a few minutes." Harry said turning his putter into a portkey.
"Harry, how are you going to handle this? Do you think you can trust him?" Bobby asked.
"I just don't know, but I'm going to have to find out." Harry said putting on his glamour watch.
He portkeyed to the club and he was directed to the kitchen. He looked in and saw Brian handcuffed to a chair with a black canvas bag over his head. Harry conjured a tray, a needle and a bottle of saline. He told the guard to pull the bag off his head and he walked in with the tray.
"Brian O'Conner, what am I going to do with you?" Harry asked with a cold smile.
"Let me go. You know I'm a cop. You don't want to kill a cop." Brian said looking like he was going to shit himself.
"Brian, do you think you would be the first cop I killed? You wouldn't even be the first in this city. I thought your little failed murder charges would have thought you I'm untouchable. Now I want to know things. Things you know. And since I don't trust you I'm going to give you a little cocktail of drugs that will make you tell the truth." Harry said filling the needle half way.
"Hold him." Harry said and the two guards grabbed his arm and held it still. Harry jammed the needle in his arm and cast a compulsion charm on him. As soon as he did Brian's eyes glazed over.
"State your name and rank." Harry said.
"Officer Brian O'Conner. Los Angeles Police Department." He said looking shocked the whole time he was talking.
"Are you fucking Mia Toretto?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Brian said looking angry.
"Why were you here?" Harry asked with a smirk.
"I was searching for evidence to put you away." Brain said coldly
"Because if you serve me up to your boss you can keep Toretto out of jail?" Harry asked.
"Yes."
"You know he's guilty?" Harry asked.
"Not for sure." Brian said looking away from him.
"But you suspect?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Brian said.
"Why has Toretto stopped racing? What is he saving his money for?"
"We are building a Toyota Supra for race wars."
"Where do your loyalties lie, to the LAPD or to Dom?"
"Dom."
"Brian, if I was to give you the choice of death or blowing your cover and getting you kicked out of Toretto's crew what would you chose?"
Brian fought against the cuffs and against the compulsion as tears slid down his face.
"Choose Brian!" Harry yelled pulling his gun and shoving it in his face.
"Death!" He yelled closing his eyes.
Harry put his gun away and looked shocked. How did he get so lost so fast?
"You would rather die a street racer then live as a cop?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Brian said.
"I want you to sleep." Harry said and the compulsion put him out. Harry uncuffed him and healed the bruises he got trying to fight back. "I want you to forget about everything you've witnessed in this club today. Instead I want you to go to Toretto and tell him you snuck in and saw us unloading a bunch of cars. GT-R34s, Lancers, NSXs, Supras, and RX-7s. Tell him you think we are going to sell them to his competition just to fuck him at Race Wars." Harry said helping Brian out of his seat and down to his red Ford F150 Lightning. He put him in the truck and shut the door. "When I yell your name you'll get up and drive away like the devil himself is chasing you." Harry said softly as he walked away. He stood by the doorway to the club and pulled out his gun. "BRIAN!" Harry yelled and Brian got up, started the truck, and peeled out as Harry shot the back of his truck a few times.
Harry watched him go and shook his head. He portkeyed back to the golf course and found his friends on the twelfth hole.
"How bad are we doing Neville." Harry asked taking off the watch and putting on a smile.
"Harry, what happened?" Neville asked.
"Not now. We still have seven good holes of golf to play. Later we'll talk about it." Harry said looking conflicted before pushing it aside and smiling.
They finished the round and had some drinks at the clubhouse while they waited for the girls. They laughed and joked and kept it light hearted. When the girls showed up they had lunch at the restaurant at five and they headed back to the house after. Harry gathered them around the table by the pool. He told them what happened. Most of them looked shocked but Abby didn't.
"I get falling for the girl. I can even understand wanting to be the bad guy. Lord knows I've thought about handing in my SSI shield a time or two since we started this. But to turn your back on everything you are for a show off like Toretto?" Harry said shaking his head.
"I get it. And you should too. You boys all want to be in a pack. It's in your nature. You guys were fighting a war. As you all lost your parents you all joined Harry's group right?" Abby said.
"We did. When you have nothing else left to fight for you join someone that's willing to fight by your side. You fight for the man beside you." Neville said softly.
"And you joined Harry not only because he was the best horse to back in the race but because he took you in and made you feel wanted. Needed. You fought for him because he treated you with respect and love. I've heard you all say it in your own way. Harry is a charismatic leader. He knows what you want and he helps you get it. We've all read Brian's file. He has no one. He joined the police academy to avoid time in juve. They plucked him fresh out of the academy and put him undercover. The guy has found a pack to run with and he's willing to die to protect them. I doubt he even knows he's willing to go that far for them. You have to write him off Harry. He's a lost cause." Abby said.
"But Toretto? That guy is a total asshat." Harry said.
"To you maybe. To the other racers too. But when he's alone with his crew?" Abby said with a shrug. "You're a total jerk when you put on the character of Harry Burnett. You provoke, antagonize, and bully people. If I had met this version of you I would have been revolted. It's not you. It's who you have to be out there." She asked.
"Woman, when did you get so wise?" Harry asked kissing her.
"I've always been this wise. About the dumbest thing I ever did was fall for a fool like you." She said laughing.
"When she's right, she's right." Harry said causing the rest of the table to break up laughing.
"Harry we still have to talk about what to do with Brian." Sam said.
"We do nothing. We treat him like a member of Toretto's crew. Nothing more. Now this week we have to unload some cars. Tran wants to take a look at our inventory. We need to branch out to the small warehouse next door to the club. Just for a week or two we can set up something permanent later. Bobby, how hard would it be to rent out the space for a week?" Harry asked.
"Not hard. The guy we bought the club from owns the whole three block area. I think I can talk him into something. He's an agreeable man. I think, that we buy the place outright and keep it for storage and as a showroom. You have 90 cars. We need to get rid of them. Having a car lot next to the track would give us a leg up. Come for the races, buy a car, have it modded and race it on the track that same day, if you have the cash. I don't think this street racing thing is going to go anywhere. I think over the next ten years we could make a lot of money by being a one stop shop for import tuning in the LA area." Bobby said.
"You just want an excuse to quit your job and run the club full time. In a week or two we're going to get four very qualified people that can be agents. You'll get your chance to run the club full time." Harry said laughing.
"You think so?" Bobby asked setting everyone off.
Later that day then headed to the club and Marco's car was ready. Kenji rolled it out of the garage for him. It was a clone of Harry's NSX but where Harry's car was white Marco's car was Rosso Red. It had the same wide body kit, the same black rims, the same turbo setup and thanks to some charms work from Harry it was charmed lighter. That Night Marco took on five challengers and smoked all of them. With five of them racing they owned the strip all night and they made a lot of coin in the process. Toretto and his crew were a no show and Harry had a feeling that was going to happen all week. If they were throwing all their hopes on a car they were building for Race Wars then they would pinch every penny they could for the car.
Tran showed up just after ten and Harry lead him next door to the show room. Thanks to Bobby's eye for detail and SSI's unlimited operating budget the place looked great. The lot was laid out with a lot of space and the lights over head gave off the right amount of illumination to make the paint on the cars shine but it still gave off the underground Illegal back room deal feel. All of the cars had a price tag, a fact sheet from Morimoto's shop translated into English, and a number that corresponded to the key in the locked key box on the wall. Even if you wanting to break in. you couldn't get the keys and by the time you tried to hotwire a car an SSI tactical team would descend on you with assault weapons.
Johnny Tran and his crew walked through the showroom trying very hard to conceal their looks of excitement but they were all failing miserably. Even the extremely high price tags on the cars wasn't putting a damper on their excitement. Johnny picked out a red GT-R34 with a wide body kit, a green Lancer Evo VI, and his small henchman friend picked out a white Honda Beat with a wide body kit and an engine swap from a Civic with a turbo. Harry took them on a test drive, and lead them back to the garage. He then added up the price.
"Let's see, the R34 is $75,000. The Evo is $50,000. And the Beat is $35,000. You owe me $160,000. I take cash, or trades and cash." Harry said.
"We have cash." Johnny said waving his little henchman over he handed him a silver ridged backpack with a lock. Johnny pulled out stacks of Ben Franklins and handed over 16 of them.
"Good, this looks good, now if you would sign the titles I can hand over the keys." Harry said writing up and invoice for the three cars. "Now it's all legal." Harry said handing over the keys. "Good luck boys. It will be nice to race someone on an even playing field." He said.
"We can come to you to get these cars modded?" Johnny asked.
"You can but it's going to cost you a lot because I don't have parts for the R34. You'd have to ship them from Japan. My last shipment of parts was for all the Hondas that come through the shop." Harry said.
"We will get you the parts. But I want your men to put them on." Johnny said.
"Sure. When you get the parts bring them over and I'll have Kenji and his team put them in." Harry said thinking about how much that would cost him. He was sure Toretto's crew was the hijackers. But Tran was still an asshole. Maybe if his father caught him spending this much bank on cars for street racing it would get him in hot water.
That night when they got into bed Harry turned to Abby. "What should I do with Brian?" He asked.
"Why are you asking me?" She asked curling up to his side.
"Because you have a better handle on this whole situation then I do. I understand that he's lost, but should I run him in? blow his cover? Tell his supervisors? How should I deal with him?" Harry asked.
"That depends on what you want out of all this." She said.
"I want the port contract. That means I want the truck hijackings to stop." Harry said.
"Then come down on the crew hard. The LAPD need bodies in jail. You saw Agent Bilkins, he's desperate for a collar. So hit the Crew when they hit the truck and don't tell Brian. If he's not with them when you make the arrests then give him credit for the collar and move on. If he's with them for the highest then he's with them for the jail time. Either way you turn your back on it when the time comes and you move on to the next case. But you should understand the friendship." She said.
"You keep saying that but I don't get it." He said.
"Harry, if you found out Marco was a thief, and you had to bust him would you be able to?" She asked.
"I don't know." Harry admitted.
"Why not? You just met him six weeks ago. It's not like you've known him long. Why can't you put the cuffs on him and toss him in a cell?" She asked.
"Because…" Harry couldn't come up with a reason. He just knew it would be impossible.
"Because he showed you that you had a talent you didn't really know you had and he took you in and made you a member of his team. He even let you outshine him and backed you up when you needed it. You share something that only two guys can share. That quiet guy time where you guy don't need to talk. I've seen you do it. You tell me how Brian's situation is different then your situation? It's worse for him, he's fallen in love with Mia, and Dom is her only family. He's trying hard to please Dom like you did with bought him a Ferrari, he's trying desperately to shift suspicion off of Toretto. Two sides of the same coin. You have more in common with O'Connor then you think." She said falling asleep on his chest. Harry lay awake looking at the ceiling and contemplating her words.