Chapter 46

The cellphone in Sky's pocket rang. "Sup?" She spat out casually. The voice on the other end of the line sounded annoyed. "Yo I'm sorry about that. I had a rookie with me. Told you I was putting him to the test and he failed miserably. What did you say to the cops?"

Anyone standing within 50ft of Sky could hear the person screaming about having to talk to the cops, "What do you think I told them? They were here for an hour. You owe me big time."

"Ronnie, man I apologize. Is there anyway I can make this up to you?"

"Yeah hit me up with a new exhaust and a set of rims. Then we're even."

"Got ya. Exhaust and a set of rims. No problem." Sky shot an evil gaze at Dom. "Boy let me get off of here and I'll shout at you in the morning." She hung up the phone and made her way over to Brian's side. "Fuckin amateur." Sky took the opportunity to smack Brian upside the head one last time before heading for the car. "He's all yours boys. Don't hurt Tuna too bad."

"What the hell is up with the Tuna comments?" Brian felt the need to open his mouth at the most inopportune moment.

Sky stopped in her tracks, "I don't like you and I sure as hell don't trust you. Do you hear me loud and clear Brian? Are ya feeling me? Until you have proved yourself to me and the rest of the team you'll deal with whatever the hell we want to call you." She turned around and went to the car. She could be heard muttering as she got into the car, "Bitch ass punk thinks he has the right to comment back. Boy better learn who the hell he's talking to."

Vince and Dom watched the tail lights fade into the distance before they went after Brian. "You a cop?" Vince asked repeatedly pushing into Brian's face.

"Nah man. I'm not a cop. It's been so long since I boosted a car. Just rusty that's all." Brian's voice was shaky and it took all he had to control his urge to run. He watched as Vince played with the safety on his shotgun.

Dom made a motion for Vince to back down, "Brian I gotta be straight with you. That girl is a great judge of character and if she says you're a cop, I'm inclined to believe her. So convince me that she's wrong on this one."

"I am not a cop Dom. I swear. She has me pegged wrong. What I was doing tonight was for the team. I wanted to prove to you that I was worth a spot on the team. I owe you so much man. You have to understand. I want your respect."

Vince didn't believe the shit the boy was saying, "He's a cop, a fucking cop. Can't you see it? Don't tell me you're taking this punk's word for it."

Dom was fed up with Vince trying to take the lead and he asserted his alpha male status, "Enough. If I say he's cool, then he's cool. Let's take a little ride." Dom radioed for Jesse to pick them up.

Within a few minutes Jess pulled up in the Jetta, "Where to?"

Dom took shotgun leaving Brian and Vince to take the backseat. "Head to Tran's garage. Brian here has some work to do." Jess was visibly shaken by the order to drive into Tran's turf, but he put the car in first and headed out.

"Out." Dom ordered Vince and Brian out of the car. "Jesse, hide the car and wait for our call. Keep an eye out for Johnny and his gang."

"You got it Dom." Jesse pulled away and drove down the drive to get a better view of incoming traffic.

Leon waited impatiently for Sky to arrive at DT with the Acura. He had called her cell ten times only to get her voicemail each time. As he headed for his car the door to the garage opened and in came the NSX with Sky behind the wheel. He let out a sigh of relief. "Where have you been?"

Sky got out of the car and leaned against the quarter panel, "Ran into a little trouble getting the car."

"What kind of trouble?" Leon couldn't resist walking over to her and putting his body against hers. His hand moved to the small of her back and under her shirt. "I knew I shouldn't have left you there alone."

With both of her hands she pushed him away, "It wasn't anything I couldn't handle on my own. God Leon you act like I can't handle the smallest shit. I've done this before. Just had to out run a few cops since the punk set off the alarm."

"Look I didn't say you couldn't handle the job, just that you should've had backup. Why do you always got to come off with this attitude? The more time you spend with Letty the more you act like her." He stormed out of the garage and out to his car.

Before Sky could stop him he drove off leaving her to find her own way home. "Asshole."

Brian searched around the garage looking for anything that would help him pin the truck heists on the Trans. A stack of white and blue boxes caught his attention. In a corner tucked behind a set of shelves was two stacks or DVD player that matched those that were stolen from the trucks, but he knew that was not enough. He kept looking until he noticed the door to the garage beginning to open. Dom yelled for Brian to hide. He ducked behind one of the cars. Across the garage he saw Dom and Vince crouched down. There was no way for him to make it over to them before the doors fully opened. A Lexus sedan followed by eight or nine bikes drove into the garage. Johnny Tran stepped out of the driver's seat of the sedan. A man was pulled out of the back. At once Brian recognized the man as one of the racers from his first race. It was Edwin. They dragged him to the middle of the floor. Tran's cousin Lance kept him there with a loaded semi-automatic weapon pointed at his head.

"Edwin, what am I going to do with you? You owe me a great deal of money. It's time to pay up." Johnny paced in front of Edwin.

"Look like I said I'm a little short right now, but I swear you'll have it. Edwin pays his debts."

"I believe that you are lying to me and I hate liars." Johnny motioned for one of his crew to hold Edwin up. Johnny kicked Edwin hard in the abdomen. "I think we need to renegotiate the terms of our deal. I want information on what Toretto is going to be running at Race Wars."

Edwin caught his breath and forced out his words, "Forget it. I'd rather have you as a enemy than Dominic Toretto."

"Have it your way then." Johnny walked away. He gave his crew the signal to attack Edwin. They each took turns beating and kicking him until he was a bloody mess. "Take him home," Johnny ordered before he and Lance drove out of the garage.

It took everything Dom had not to jump out from behind the cars and kick ass. There were too many of them to fight. He knew that he, Brian, and Vince were significantly outnumbered. They waited until Tran's crew left to radio Jesse to come get them.

Brian walked into the undercover house to make his report. He was still shaken by what he had seen at Tran's garage the night before. Tanner and Bilkens were waiting in the kitchen for him. Bilkens started in as soon as he turned the corner into the kitchen, "So what'd you got?"

"Toretto's clean as far as I can see. We really should be concentrating our efforts on Tran. I spotted some DVD players that match those stolen from the trucks."

"That's it. Tran has some DVD players so we should just bust in there and arrest him. Is this the best that you can do? Don't come back here until you have hard evidence or you might want to think about a career change."