Chapter 34

Clamping Down

The traffic on the main road that connected California's country side to downtown LA was stuck since 4 am due to the crash and overturn of a Camaro and the suspicious presence of a SUV stopped near the crash site with its lights still on.

A couple of farmers that were driving through the road before the sunset found the SUV first stopped by the road's left shoulder and the body of a middle age men fallen on the ground near the vehicle.

The entire incident scene was quite strange and after the L.A.P.D's coroner, still on the crime scene concluded that the victim found by the SUV had been shot, the FBI was called and the vehicle's owners were identified. The SUV belonged to Albert Gibson, an influent businessman in the field of the biomedicine and the Camaro was licensed to Priscilla Summers, web designer, who wasn't found on the crash site.

Due to the fact that that session of the road did not have perimeter security cameras, it was hard to understand how the accident has occurred. However, there was tire marks all over the asphalt indicating that at least one more vehicle had been involved in the incident.

The police now had to locate Priscilla Summers to find out if she was driving the Camaro or if there was another person involved. An autopsy on Albert Gibson's body would help to better understand what kind of gun was used against him. The crime felt like some sort of execution of the businessman.

Jack Penning, chief senior of the Los Angeles's bureau headquarters had been on the phone for almost forty minutes with one of his agents that had been sent to investigate the incident on the road. Apparently, a group of teenagers that had been partying near the place had seen the Camaro before the crash being chased by a GM truck; both vehicles were running at full speed and the SUV would have arrived a few minutes after the Camaro's crash after being pushed to the shoulder's road by the GM truck.

"What do you mean by they won't talk?"- Penning inquired sweating up a storm, the telephone already hot on his ear.

"They fear being arrested because they're smoking pot on the road, sir."- The agent explained to him.

"I don't give a damn about the pot!"- Penning growled. "I have better things to do! Grab the phone contacts from these punks' parents and bring everyone to the station. Soon, Gibson's family will be banging at my door for explanations so you figure this out! Alright, fine, keep me posted!"

He hang up the phone and took a deep breath. He couldn't stop thinking that somehow the case they were investigating had something to do with that crash/execution. High speed chasing on the roads, he learned after working for ten years in the FBI were never a coincidence.

Penning decided to take a break and went to the kitchen of exclusive use for the agents on the highest positions in the Los Angeles headquarters; he wanted to eat a sandwich that his wife had made for him, however he cursed out loud when he noticed that the blue Tupperware that he had placed in the fridge earlier had gone missing.

No, his day couldn't get any worse or could it? Braga's case was driving him mad. His best and also the most stubborn agent Brian O'Conner had almost been killed on the dessert with his criminal friend Dominic Toretto and now, they were in possession of the most expensive product offered by the organization whose boss was Arturo Braga; however, Brian and his partner, Monica Fuentes were refusing to tell him their whereabouts at the moment, all because now both of them were protecting Toretto.

He really wanted to understand the fascination that many people seemed to have for that gas's thief that behaved like Robin Hood.

"Penning!"- He heard Stasiak's voice, his most annoying agent outside of the kitchen. "Sir, I need you to come immediately!"- He added nervous.

Penning closed his eyes and counted to five, preparing himself for the tragedy he felt it was about to be announced every time that Stasiak talked to him like that. Finally, he opened the kitchen's door and said:

"Stasiak, if you're here to give me bad news, you'll have to get me a sandwich first as mine went missing from the fridge and..."

He paralyzed when he saw that Stasiak wasn't alone. He had agent Trinh by his side followed by Monica and Brian.

"Finally you two decided to show up! What the hell were you thinking?"- Penning growled. "Where is the product?"- He asked them referring to the drugs.

"Penning we must talk..."- Brian said but his boss cut him off.

"Talk, O'Conner?"- He angrily replied. "You better have a good explanation for all of this...!

At that exactly moment, the slim figure of a woman with long hair, wearing dark clothes, the face partially covered by a hematoma came after Brian. Penning didn't know how he hadn't noticed her before.

"Long time no see, Penning!"- She said with her familiar hoarse voice.

"Leticia Ortiz?"- He stuttered, perplex by her suddenly apparition. It felt like he was seeing a ghost as the vision of that woman standing in his office could only be a haunt.

"Yeah, I guess I'm very much alive!"-Letty said in face of his shocked eyes.

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"You two are idiots!"- Braga yelled after finding out that his two men were beaten by a single woman who had fooled them in the most cliché way. "How could you two think that Ortiz would want anything to do with you? Coños! You got carried away by a nice ass!"

The two men were so embarrassed with the situation that they didn't dare to say anything back to their boss, the humiliation was hurting more than the wounds inflicted by Letty.

Mumbling, he left Gus and Patrick alone, making sure to tell his other men to punish them accordingly. He could still hear the two men begging for clemency but he didn't care. There will be no next time for them to make Braga look like a fool.

At least he still had the child, Campos thought and that was his biggest triumph against Letty and Toretto. They would do anything to have their kid back.

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Gisele was still shocked that her godfather had kidnapped Dom's baby. That was way too low even for him. She had done some research on the internet and was able to order the adequate formula to feed little Caterina but still the baby wasn't accepting the bottle from her very well, she didn't seem to be used to feed on artificial milk and was making a fuss on her arms.

Gisele felt broken hearted watching the baby girl suffering away from her mother and was thinking about a way to fix that mess.

She heard Campos in the hallway talking to one of his men. His voice sounded really angry and he was cursing in Spanish. When she was finally able to get the baby to feed a little bit, the little girl calmed down and Giselle placed her back to her carry-on. She left the bedroom for a few minutes and confronted Campos in the living room.

"What's going on?"

"Those hombres de mierda! (Those shit men) Gus and Patrick! They shot an important business man and now la policia is going to come after us. Apparently, someone wrote down the GM license plate number that the coños were driving when they grabbed Letty on the road.

"Letty?"- Gisele asked with a hand on her chest. She remembered her very well, the driver that was able to escape from the organization's claws and have been missing for a year. "What Letty has to do with anything?"

Campos shook his head and said:

"Gisele, I know I don't tell you everything that happens here to preserve your sweet innocence…- He had sarcasm on his voice. "… but you must know this! Letty is Toretto's girlfriend and the mother of this baby you carrying for. We were able to find her but Gus and Patrick let her escape.

"My God!"- Gisele exclaimed, she was horrified with the entire situation. "How could you do this?"

Campos chuckled.

"M'hija, don't look me at me like this! It's just business. You know that mi melocotón!"

"You really don't plan to give the child back to her parents."- Gisele said, annoyed by his attitude.

"Braga te cuidó muy bien. Talvez sea el momento de darte una hermanita."(Braga took good care of you, maybe it is time to give you a hermanita- He kissed her on the forehead.

Gisele felt disgusted by his gesture.

"Stay close to the phone because they will be calling soon."- He told her.

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Agent Fuentes brought camomile tea to Penning in an attempt to calm down her boss and get him out of the catatonic state he had been in since he had seen Leticia Cristina Ortiz in front of him again after being so certain that she had been murdered.

"Here, boss."- Monica said placing a steaming cup of tea in front of him.

Brian had grabbed a chair and sat beside Letty before closing Penning's office door. Stasiak and Trinh had left at that point.

"So, you've been alive all this time, Leticia."- He finally spoke. He held the cup and blew on the hot liquid before taking a small sip of the drink. "Why you didn't contact the FBI when things went south a year ago? You were pregnant for God's sake!"

"If I had done that I wouldn't be here now nor my child!"- She dryly said.

"Still, you got yourself inside Braga's organization even knowing that you're pregnant; you knew what kind of risks you were taking!"

"I had just find out about the baby."- Letty told him. "It was a mistake, a big mistake but the biggest mistake I've ever done was to believe that the FBI would protect me."

"Letty, I..."- Brian began to say. He still felt very guilty about everything but Letty didn't allow him to continue.

"Wait, Brian! What I'm trying to say is that Penning more than any one of us here knew about the risks of that mission and still he put everything on your shoulders! You alone couldn't protect me! But penning knew that from the beginning…"

Jack sighed but said nothing. Letty continued:

"I was dischargeable for being a criminal just like Dom! We were both dischargeable to you!"

"Leticia, you and your boyfriend were screwed up. I never believed that I was going to be able to get a pardon for Toretto even if he captured Braga himself. This pardon you expect to get for him is beyond anything I can do!"

"That isn't true!"- Brian said. "You know at least 80% of the federal judges in California, you can very well make a recommendation for Dom but you won't even try since the beginning because…'

"I don't believe that men like Toretto can be saved."- Penning confessed. "Once you are in the other side there's no coming back, Brian."

"You brought me back to the Bureau."- Brian reminded him. "I went to the other side."- He gestured with his hands to indicate he was quoting his own words.

"You ain't like Toretto, Brian!"- Penning justified himself.

He turned his attention to Letty again.

"And about you...I'll have to arrest you for faking your own death! The State of Defense Secretary is on my tale because your uncle Ortiz is using their friendship to re-open your case as a priority. You should've at least told him that you are alive. The poor man is suffering!"

Letty snorted.

"I didn't fake my own death! I ran away from the US because I was about to be killed and quite frankly it was the best decision I made since the FBI continues to deny me protection."

"Leticia, what do you suggest me to do then?"- Penning questioned her, impatiently. "I have my hands tied here…"

"Braga has my baby!"- Letty revealed, her eyes wet, lips shaking in distress. "She's only 3 months old."

"What?"- Penning exclaimed even more shocked than when she arrived in his office.

"Braga has kidnapped my baby and also a friend's girlfriend that was watching her for me."

"We still don't know if the girlfriend was kidnapped or if she was part of the plan."- Monica reminded them.

"Fuck! How that happened?- Penning asked them. "I need the facts right now! If a child has been taken, I need all the information possible."

"She was taken from a small community outside of LA…from Roman Pierce's house."- Brian added.

"Roman Pierce?"- Penning replied. "My God, this is getting worse and worse. What's the name of the woman that was with the baby?"

"Priscilla Summers."- Monica said.

"What did you just say? Priscilla Summers?"

Brian and Monica nodded. Penning looked at his notes that he had taken previously about the car crush on the main road and noted that the name of the person that owned the Camaro involved on the incident was the same that he was hearing now. Brian noticed the confusion on Penning's face and said:

"What's wrong?"

"There was a crash on the main road last night, a Camaro and a SUV were involved. The Camaro belonged to a woman named Priscilla Summers."

"I was driving the Camaro."- Letty revealed knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"You?"- said Penning.

"Pitty lend me her car so I could go after Dom but a GM truck threw me out of the road. A man that was driving a SUV tried to help me but one of the man from the GM shot him right in front of me. Braga's men. After that they took me to their quarters. If I only knew they got my baby…"- her voice was full of anger.

"It all makes sense now."- Penning said more to himself than the others. "Braga's men shot Albert Gibson."

"Who's Albert Gibson?"- Brian asked.

"A very important business man that was in the wrong place at the wrong time."- Penning answered.

Letty thought about the SUV driver that tried to help her saying he'd take her to the hospital. She could still see in her head the surprised and fear on his face when he was hit by the shot of one of Braga's men's gun.

"I need more information right now!"- Penning demanded. "The child's name, a picture if you have, eyes and hair color, anything that can identify her. I also need to know where the drugs are…"

"No."- Letty said with emphatically.

"What do you mean by no?"- Penning replied, confused.

"You'll only know where the drugs are if you cover for me and Brian while we prepare to exchange it for my daughter!"

"Letty, the FBI don't negotiate with terrorists and drug dealers! You should know that."

"Now they will!"- She said firmly. "My baby's life depends on it and the FBI will do as I say, otherwise I'll reveal to the world about the gross mistakes that the FBI made during this investigation that has already caused the death of at least 3 people.

Penning eyes went wide. He was very surprised about Letty's attitude However, now he had no choice. If Letty was to tell the world about this investigation he wouldn't escape of being investigated by the Bureau for making the wrong choices when it comes to the security of the agents and sources involved.

In silence, the Chief Senior nodded giving his consent to Letty as she grabbed Brian's phone ready to call Campos.

To be continued...