Chapter 36

The garage was deserted except for Jesse who was still working on Sky's car. He had pulled the engine and was busy working underneath. He didn't hear the footsteps of the person next to the car due to the high volume of the stereo blasting House of Pain. Sky rolled Jesse out from underneath her car, "Hey Jess you ready for your first dance lesson?"

"What? You scared the hell out of me."

"Pay backs for this morning."

"You wanna dance here in the shop?" He rubbed his greasy hand through his unkempt hair.

"There's no one here but us. Everyone left hours ago. You didn't notice?"

"Not really. If you're ready let's get to it." Jess hopped up from the floor and nearly knocked Sky over in his excitement.

"Sure thing but first we need to slow this music down a bit. You can't get your groove on with this." She walked over to the radio and popped in one of her mixed CDs. The first song began with a slow pounding bass, "Nobody" by Keith Sweat. Sky moved her body next to Jesse. "Dancing is like having sex with you clothes on." Jess started moving his hips fast. "No not like that. You know this explains why you're having problems scoring."

"Hey that's not funny." Jesse pulled away and leaned against the Civic behind him. "It's not easy for me. Just don't know what girls want. I've not been with a lot of them."

"Relax Jesse I was just kidding. To be honest most of the time women don't know what they want. Give me your hand. I'll show you how I liked to dance with Leon and we'll go from there." The fifth song on the CD began to play, "I Wanna Know" by Joe. "Remember go slow. Just move with me." They moved close together and Sky guided Jesse's hands to the small of her back. He began to whisper the lyrics to the song in her ear. Her fingers played with the hair at the nape of his neck. Jesse slowly bent her back into a dip he had seen Leon do once. Softly he pulled her back into his arms. It put a smile on her face to see him trying.

The song ended and they released each other. "Jess you don't need lessons."

"You make me feel comfortable. I get nervous around other girls. Don't know if I can do this with someone else."

"We'll work on that. Now you wanna try something with a little more rhythm."

The team was seated around the table when they walked into the house. "Where the hell have you two been?" Vince yelled from the kitchen. "I slaved over this hot stove and you're late for dinner."

"So we're having pizza from down the street," Sky countered back.

"Yeah." Vince said with a cheesy grin.

The table was silent except for the sounds of Vince downing his fourth piece of pizza. Dom picked at the piece in his place trying to find a way to break it to the team that soon they'd all were out of a place to live and work. There was no quick solution to the money situation. He'd blown everything and it would take a miracle to save them.

The house became quiet and the team settled into their respective rooms. Dom watched Letty sleeping peacefully. He feared her reaction more than anyone's. He had betrayed her once with a Tran and now they were going to loss everything over another. He watched the clock as the hours ticked away to the fast coming sunrise. Sleep would not come to him this night, only more worries.

Sky closed her eyes and drifted into a rough sleep. The nightmare was there to greet her. She stared into the barrel of the gun and had no way to escape. Her mother's screams rang through the hall. She was pleading for Sky's life. The shot rang out and Sky looked down into her dying mother's eyes. She had made the ultimate sacrifice. The radio was only a few feet from Sky. She crawled her way to the door with just inches to go when the next shot rang out.

The heat and pain shook Sky from her sleep. The room was different and she was far from that night in Riverside, yet the fear was still there. In her mind any minute her father could burst through the door and finish the job. Sky jumped from bed, dressed quickly, then headed to the garage.

Every night for two weeks she battled the nightmare, battled her father. Sleep never lasted for more than an hour. Fatigue took over and her whole body tensed at the sight of her bed. The only place she felt safe was the garage with her car where she felt she could escape.

Her cell phone rang out from Dom's office. It was 2 o'clock in the morning and she couldn't think of who would call her at that hour. "Speak." She commanded.

"Testy are we Little One?" The familiar voice replied back.

"Raz, what the hell you doing calling me so late?"

"Like you were asleep? I thought that we'd take a ride on the bikes. Gotta get out of this house before I go crazy."

"You just got home from the hospital today and I don't think that your doc wants you out riding around."

"Shut the hell up. I'm not taking no for an answer."

"Be there in 2."

"No need I'm waiting outside."

They raced through the streets of L.A. having a blast. Raz laughed as fearlessly Sky stood up on her bike and spread her arms out like an angel ready to take flight. Neither noticed the pack of sport bikes trailing close behind. The bikes sped up and surrounded them when Sky sat back down on her bike. The bikers flashed automatic weapons and motioned for Sky and Raz to pull into a parking lot nearby. They killed the engines and slipped off their bikes. The apparent leader headed over to where Sky and Raz were standing being guarded by some crazy-eyed Asian kid, "You're a member of Toretto's team am I right?"

Sky looked him over and noticed the way too tight leather pants and over- priced cologne, "So what's it to ya?"

"What's it to me? Toretto and I have an understanding. He and his stay away from here and I don't blow up his world."

"Who the hell are you the godfather?"

He laughed in a way that reminded her of Simon, smug and arrogant. "Who am I? Well a former business associate of Toretto. The name's Johnny Tran and that's my cousin Lance. All you see around you is ours. This belongs to me."

He made a gesture to his cousin and Sky heard the gun cock. Her eyes flashed a signal to Raz and they pulled their own guns. Johnny was on his back in a split second with Sky's 45 tucked under his chin. Raz had Lance by the neck with a gun pointed to his temple.

"Put your guns down boys or I splat Tran brains all over the parking lot." It was funny how fast her skills came back to her when she needed them. Some things you never forget. Johnny waved his gang off. They dropped their weapons and moved back from the bikes. "I respect your agreement with Dom and you won't see us around here again, but don't ever pull a gun on me unless you can defend yourselves." Sky and Raz got on their bikes and rode off with no more trouble.

The house was eerily quiet to her. The dining room light was on and Dom sat alone staring at a full cup of coffee. "Where have you been?" He asked without even looking up.

"Out for a ride. Ran into a few of your friends."

"Oh yeah which ones?"

"Asian thugs. Tran and company."

"Shit I'm sorry. That's a messy situation."

Sky was concerned by the look on his face, "Dom talk to me. What's wrong? You're a man of few words but this is quiet even for you."

"I fucked up everything. We have to be out of the garage, store, and house in 30 days unless I can come up with the money."

"How much?"

"3 million."

"What the hell did you do?"

"Business deal with Tran. I mortgaged everything and the deal went south. Over and over I have thought about how to save everything."

"There's only one way to get that kind of money fast." Sky sat down next to Dom and put her hand on his. "Gotta take it."

"I know that, but we need professionals." He said almost defeated

"Well you have two professionals on the team. Vince and I can break into anything. We can teach the rest."

Dom looked up at her and smiled, "You'd never know it to look at you with that innocent baby face that you had such a criminal mind."

"Years of hanging around you." She tilted her head to the side and scrunched her nose at him.

"Look I got a line on a job, but not sure if we can pull it off."

"Need details Dom. What'd ya have in mind?"

"High-jacking semis."