"Sir?"
The voice filtered through the haze...
There was a light patting on his cheek... " 'rissa...? "
The woman chuckled and leaned back. Yes, this was Jake Shaw, it had to be. "No, Agent Shaw. I'm not Marissa Fian Randall."
Jake sat up like a bolt of lightening and looked at her hard. He felt like he'd just seen a ghost as she'd taken off her sunglasses. Slowly he looked around. He was now sitting on the stoop of his apartment building next to this woman who looked and sounded eerily like Speed. But Speed was dead, he'd held her, listened to her last breath, last words...
"Please, are you Federal Agent Jake Shaw? I really would like to know before I start babbling on..."
"yes..." he croaked out. She didn't talk like Speed...
"Whew. Glad we got that out of the way. I rather figured you were when you fainted and called me 'rissa."
"I did not faint."
"Yeah, and I'm a natural brunette. That's beside the point. What IS the point, is that I've finally found you."
"Finally?"
"Yup, finally. Took me just over two months to track you down and get everything finished. As you know, our parents disowned Fian when she was around 20. didn't think it'd be good form to have a boost in the family. So they pretended that they didn't have a daughter named Marissa Fian. It nearly killed her. Firstborn and the spoiled rotten one by the time I came along. Daddy's little girl and then whammo, disowned and disavowed. They didn't even come to her trial eight years ago. So, needless to say that when Geo-"
Jake had been listening to the woman start spilling out all this information, eyes wide like he'd been stunned or shocked. When she said something about 'our parents' and 'came along', he heard this roaring in his ears. "WHOA!!!"
She blinked and looked up. "What?"
" 'We?' 'Our parents?'"
The woman blinked slowly, then grinned a grin that he'd only known Speed to grin and she started to chuckle. "I'm not surprised she didn't talk about me. I'm her kid sister. Sara Morgan Raines."
"Sister...?" It was entirely possible... she did look a damned lot like Marissa...
"Yeah. Baby sister. She was 6 years older than me. Look," her voice took a down turn towards more somber. "Can we go inside or somewhere to get some coffee? It's kind of cold out here and what I have to tell you shouldn't be said on a doorstep."
Considering he had nothing to offer in his refridgerator, he took her offer to go somewhere for coffee. As he stood up and headed down towards the car, he stopped. "Vanessa."
She turned around, then smiled again. "Yeah, how'd you know?"
"It's a long story..."
"She was on the list, wasn't she?"
"Yeah."
"Figured. Every Shelby that came across our paths was named Vanessa. When I found this one, I found my Vanessa. Get in Agent Shaw..."
"Jake," he said as he slid down onto the leather seat. "Please call me Jake."
"Alright." The engine rumbled to life and she shifted into first gear, pulling out into traffic easily. She handled a stick like Speed. Of course she would, kid sister would have had driving lessons from big sister.
"You're dying to know why I'm here... right?"
He nodded yes.
"George called me. After the funeral - which I heard was nice, thank you for chipping in on it - he called me up and told me what had happened. Needless to say that I was beside myself. My sister was dead and I didn't even know about it until after the funeral. Anyways, back to the subject. After the funeral George called me, told me what had happened, told me about you. He went into great details about the deal Fian struck with you guys to keep her crew safe and out of jail, and about how much she loved you." She looked over at him as she drove, easily sliding the stick shift through the paces while keeping it just barely over the speed limit.
Jake didn't say anything, just kept looking at her with a wide eyed stare.
"Anyways, I got in contact with someone named Donovan and he told me what happened afterwards, how she tore up the town with Christine and broke a few land speed records in order to get to you... about how she gave up her life to keep Switch from going after you. Always was a real prick that Switch, never liked him even when he was just a newbie... Fian didn't pay it any mind, always the optimist when it came to new blood and a protege... But, when George told me of how this had affected you, that you were in a depression like funk, I figured I'd better come out here to see if I could help you out."
"George? How did he know?"
"Oh come on Jake. You mean to tell me that you haven't noticed that you were being scouted? You infitrated a boost's world and made it part of your own. Boosts look out for their own and you've made an impression on the crew. Especially George. That old bear is gonna look after you until he dies. Donny, Sweet and Flynn also keep their eyes on you when they can. They all got ahold of me after they found out George knew where I was, told me all about the visits to the head doctor and how you're so lovesick you can't eat or sleep."
"And what else did they tell you?"
"That Fian was in love with you. She never said it straight out, never had to. They all knew her well enough to know it when they saw it. Sweet told me about the look on her face when she put two and two together to come up with a snake wrapped around you and preparing to sink it's fangs into you. So what I want to know is this - do you love her?"
He looked at her like she was as mad as a march hare.
"I'll take that as a yes." She pulled into a parking spot outside of a coffee house and killed the ignition.
Once inside she slid off her leather coat and relaxed a bit. With the sleeveless tight cropped top on, she looked just like Marissa. Jake found himself staring at her or his coffee instead of drinking it.
"So why did you come looking for me?"
"To see what kind of man you were. For Fian to have fallen for you, you had to be something spectacular. I mean, I can see why she was attracted to you - you're gorgeous. But for her to fall required more than physical lust. I want to find out what it was."
****
The voice filtered through the haze...
There was a light patting on his cheek... " 'rissa...? "
The woman chuckled and leaned back. Yes, this was Jake Shaw, it had to be. "No, Agent Shaw. I'm not Marissa Fian Randall."
Jake sat up like a bolt of lightening and looked at her hard. He felt like he'd just seen a ghost as she'd taken off her sunglasses. Slowly he looked around. He was now sitting on the stoop of his apartment building next to this woman who looked and sounded eerily like Speed. But Speed was dead, he'd held her, listened to her last breath, last words...
"Please, are you Federal Agent Jake Shaw? I really would like to know before I start babbling on..."
"yes..." he croaked out. She didn't talk like Speed...
"Whew. Glad we got that out of the way. I rather figured you were when you fainted and called me 'rissa."
"I did not faint."
"Yeah, and I'm a natural brunette. That's beside the point. What IS the point, is that I've finally found you."
"Finally?"
"Yup, finally. Took me just over two months to track you down and get everything finished. As you know, our parents disowned Fian when she was around 20. didn't think it'd be good form to have a boost in the family. So they pretended that they didn't have a daughter named Marissa Fian. It nearly killed her. Firstborn and the spoiled rotten one by the time I came along. Daddy's little girl and then whammo, disowned and disavowed. They didn't even come to her trial eight years ago. So, needless to say that when Geo-"
Jake had been listening to the woman start spilling out all this information, eyes wide like he'd been stunned or shocked. When she said something about 'our parents' and 'came along', he heard this roaring in his ears. "WHOA!!!"
She blinked and looked up. "What?"
" 'We?' 'Our parents?'"
The woman blinked slowly, then grinned a grin that he'd only known Speed to grin and she started to chuckle. "I'm not surprised she didn't talk about me. I'm her kid sister. Sara Morgan Raines."
"Sister...?" It was entirely possible... she did look a damned lot like Marissa...
"Yeah. Baby sister. She was 6 years older than me. Look," her voice took a down turn towards more somber. "Can we go inside or somewhere to get some coffee? It's kind of cold out here and what I have to tell you shouldn't be said on a doorstep."
Considering he had nothing to offer in his refridgerator, he took her offer to go somewhere for coffee. As he stood up and headed down towards the car, he stopped. "Vanessa."
She turned around, then smiled again. "Yeah, how'd you know?"
"It's a long story..."
"She was on the list, wasn't she?"
"Yeah."
"Figured. Every Shelby that came across our paths was named Vanessa. When I found this one, I found my Vanessa. Get in Agent Shaw..."
"Jake," he said as he slid down onto the leather seat. "Please call me Jake."
"Alright." The engine rumbled to life and she shifted into first gear, pulling out into traffic easily. She handled a stick like Speed. Of course she would, kid sister would have had driving lessons from big sister.
"You're dying to know why I'm here... right?"
He nodded yes.
"George called me. After the funeral - which I heard was nice, thank you for chipping in on it - he called me up and told me what had happened. Needless to say that I was beside myself. My sister was dead and I didn't even know about it until after the funeral. Anyways, back to the subject. After the funeral George called me, told me what had happened, told me about you. He went into great details about the deal Fian struck with you guys to keep her crew safe and out of jail, and about how much she loved you." She looked over at him as she drove, easily sliding the stick shift through the paces while keeping it just barely over the speed limit.
Jake didn't say anything, just kept looking at her with a wide eyed stare.
"Anyways, I got in contact with someone named Donovan and he told me what happened afterwards, how she tore up the town with Christine and broke a few land speed records in order to get to you... about how she gave up her life to keep Switch from going after you. Always was a real prick that Switch, never liked him even when he was just a newbie... Fian didn't pay it any mind, always the optimist when it came to new blood and a protege... But, when George told me of how this had affected you, that you were in a depression like funk, I figured I'd better come out here to see if I could help you out."
"George? How did he know?"
"Oh come on Jake. You mean to tell me that you haven't noticed that you were being scouted? You infitrated a boost's world and made it part of your own. Boosts look out for their own and you've made an impression on the crew. Especially George. That old bear is gonna look after you until he dies. Donny, Sweet and Flynn also keep their eyes on you when they can. They all got ahold of me after they found out George knew where I was, told me all about the visits to the head doctor and how you're so lovesick you can't eat or sleep."
"And what else did they tell you?"
"That Fian was in love with you. She never said it straight out, never had to. They all knew her well enough to know it when they saw it. Sweet told me about the look on her face when she put two and two together to come up with a snake wrapped around you and preparing to sink it's fangs into you. So what I want to know is this - do you love her?"
He looked at her like she was as mad as a march hare.
"I'll take that as a yes." She pulled into a parking spot outside of a coffee house and killed the ignition.
Once inside she slid off her leather coat and relaxed a bit. With the sleeveless tight cropped top on, she looked just like Marissa. Jake found himself staring at her or his coffee instead of drinking it.
"So why did you come looking for me?"
"To see what kind of man you were. For Fian to have fallen for you, you had to be something spectacular. I mean, I can see why she was attracted to you - you're gorgeous. But for her to fall required more than physical lust. I want to find out what it was."
****