This one was harder to write than I thought it would be. Hopefully the next chapter comes easier.

Chapter 56

With horror Vince watched the car carrying his cousin and Letty careen out of control and flip off the road. He felt sick to his stomach and the anger welled up inside of his like a fast moving fire. The gunfire ceased and Vince took the opportunity to look up from the grill of the truck. The driver was slumped against the steering wheel. In an instant Vince was inside the cabin. The truck swerved as he took control of the wheel from the incapacitated driver. He shoved the guy to the floorboard and slipped into the driver's seat. It took everything he had not to take the shotgun laying in the seat and blow the guy's brains clear out of his skull.

Vince took the exit for the drop-off not knowing if anyone from the team was with him. The words Leon said right before the heist ran through his head over and over, "This don't feel right." Why hadn't he listened? He wasn't ready to bury one of his friends for money, but that's just what he was facing. He pulled the truck into an empty parking lot and jumped out. He came around the truck and pulled the driver out. Unable to contain his fury, he unloaded punch after punch into the face of the guy. He wanted to kill the son of a bitch.

Two black Lexus sped into the lot. A tall Italian man stepped out of one of the cars, "We'll take it from here." He held out his hand for the key to the truck.

"It's inside the ignition, but there's a complication." Vince pointed to the truck driver. "He saw my face."

"Don't worry he won't remember a thing."

Vince grabbed the man by his arm, "Maybe you didn't understand me. I'm not taking any chances. Make sure he's never seen again."

"There is a small fee for disposal."

Vince clinched his fists and stared the man down, "Name your price."

"Additional $50,000."

"Done." Vince stood stoic until the vehicles were out of sight. His stomach wretched and he fell to his knees as the contents of his stomach emptied onto the hot asphalt.

Dom watched from afar as the deal went down. Once the truck left the lot he pulled back onto the highway and headed back to the house to look for Jesse. Tran would be looking for the Jetta by now and wouldn't stop until he had the car and Jesse's life. What ever possessed Jesse to race for slips he would never know. Whatever the reason Dom knew he had to clean it up.

Leon swept Sky up into his arms and carried her off to his Civic. Mia followed close behind stopping every few steps to turn and look back at Brian, the man she had trusted and fallen in love with. She wanted to remember every feature of his face as it might be the last time she saw him. "Let's go." Leon screamed motioning for her to hurry to the car. Leaving Brian was tearing her apart, but she had to take care of her family. Mia ran to the car and jumped in the passenger seat.

Brian watched the dust fly as the Civic disappeared from his sight. He fought back the tears while tending to the massive wound in Letty's chest. He used his free hand to pull his cellphone out of his pocket and dial 911. "This is Brian O'Conner. I'm off-duty L.A.P.D. I need a life flight roll out to Highway 86 mile marker 116. I've got a female 20 years of age with a gunshot to the chest upper left hand side."

"Officer, do you know what kind of gun she was shot with?" The operator kept her voice calm.

Brian was afraid to give too much detail wanting to give the team time to escape, "It's a scatter pattern. I believe a shotgun. To be honest I'm not quite sure. What's the ETA on the chopper?"

"The flight is in the air and will reach you in approximately 2 minutes."

"Mia you need to drive as fast as you can. Get V and Dom." Leon was holding her by her shoulders and looking her in the face making sure she understood.

"I got it. What do I do when I get there?"

"Dom will figure it out. Now get in that car and don't look back." He walked back to the Nissan where Sky was slumped over in the passenger seat. "Baby everything'll be alright," his hand rested under her chin.

"Promise me. Promise me that you'll get Jesse and be in Baja tonight."

"I promise I'll be there. Sleep and before you know it we'll be together. You don't know how much it's killing me to let you go without me."

"Leon…" Sky held tight to him not wanting to let go.

He pulled her hands away and backed from the car, "Don't worry baby. Nothin'll keep me from you." Her cries echoed in his ears as he jumped in his car and drove off towards L.A.

Leon went over in his mind the place Jess might hide when he remembered the conversation he overheard between Jesse and Sky about his mom's death. That was the one place no one would expect him to be. Few people even knew the location. Sure enough as Leon drove through the cemetery he spotted the White Jetta parked behind a mausoleum. As Leon passed the car he saw the kid lying beside a grave marker. Leon slipped out of the car and ran over to him, "Been looking for you."

"I fucked up this time. I'm so sorry." Ashamed he couldn't look up at Leon.

"We all fucked up this time. I shouldn't have let you bet your dad's car or I at least could've ridden with you."

"I can't believe I lost. I had the better car. Johnny didn't have shit under the hood of that car that I couldn't beat. If I hadn't of hit that button too soon I'd have won."

"Everybody makes mistakes, but we got bigger problems right now. We did the heist without you and shit went wrong. Letty got shot."

"Is she…?" Jesse couldn't bring himself to say the word.

"Don't know, but we ain't got time to talk about this now." Leon reached down and helped Jesse to his feet. "Got to get…"

Out of the shadows came two motorcycles speeding up the drive. They raised their automatic weapons and sprayed the area with a barrage of bullets. Leon covered Jesse's body with his own and pushed him to the ground. He felt the heat of the bullets piercing his skin and then nothing.

"Leon? Can you hear me Leon?" Jesse held his friend close. The sirens blared in the background. "They're coming to help. Hold on." Rocking back and forth he repeated the words almost in a chant. "I'm so sorry."