Puzzling Pieces
By TempestRaces
Chapter 50 –See the Cracks
Some people get squashed crossing the tracks
Some people got high rises on their backs
I'm not broke but you can see the cracks
You can make me perfect again –U2
Taylor and Matty went into Stacey's room while the duty nurse wasn't looking and found her alone and sleeping. A quick perusal of her chart revealed the reason. Sedatives. Since her brother was no where to be found Taylor pulled the item out of his pocket. Matty laughed softly. It was one of the newest Gameboy entertainment systems.
"You goin soft on us Taylor?" Matty asked softly, chuckling.
"No but she's gonna get bored in here without Tabitha and Storm." Taylor set the gaming console down on the bedside table where the teen would be sure to see it when she woke up. As he looked her over he started to get mad again. She was so pale and it was clear in her hospital gown that Brian had managed to bruise her upper arms. "Wish I had a camera. Storm'd love to have pictures of bruises on Stacey that her own brother put there."
"No kiddin. We sure we can't just do away with Brian now, before Storm ends up killing him in the most public way and landing her ass in jail in this fucken state? Nothing goes according to plan here."
"You ain't kidding. She's getting beyond pissed at this whole situation. Worse then I ever seen her."
"Not quite that bad. She was worse for about two months after you and her split. You didn't see it because you made yourself scarece." Matty caught Taylor's guilty look. "I'm not tryin to make you feel bad, it was a smart move on your part to stay out of firing range, but she was pretty messed up then. Worse really. She's still acting sane but pissed right now. She was pretty much a total nut job for those few months after you dumped her."
"Don't say it like that." Taylor rubbed his bald head in discomfort.
"Why? It's what happened."
"You don't have to say it so bluntly. 'Sides I asked her back out and she turned me down for the punk."
"Really?" Matty looked up at Taylor in shock.
"Yeah, I mean would I honestly make shit like that up?"
"Guess not. She really liked that guy. I could kill him when I kill her brother." Matty looked at Stacey and his eyes took on a hard cast. Taylor was sure that Matty was being quite serious. It was rare for Matty to get to that point but when he did it could get ugly.
"She'll get over him. And when the custody thing is all settled I have her word that she'll come home with us, at least for awhile." Taylor slightly twisted what Storm had agreed to in his attempt to calm Matty down.
"Good. She promised Tabitha she could stay with us this summer anyway in NYC. I guess when this is all settled she'll be making the same offer to Stacey. I wonder if she ever plans to tell Tabitha her father's not dead after all."
"Shut up fool! What if Stacey hears you?"
"She's out like a light." Matty waved off Taylor's concerns.
"She use to play that game on the punk. She'd pretend to be asleep and let him tell her things thinking she couldn't hear him. Watch that one, she's another Storm in training, but in different ways then Tabitha."
Matty started to laugh. He just couldn't help it.
"What's so funny?" Taylor growled.
"Can the world handle three Storms?" Matty gasped out around his laughter. If he wasn't mistaken Taylor went pale under his creamy brown skin.
"Oh god." Taylor moaned. The two of them left the room to let Stacey sleep and not make any trouble with her brother.
xox
"I don't see this whole thing having an easy happy ending Pop." Storm sighed as she sat with her father in the living room of their home. She'd been keeping herself scarce from the hospital, hoping to let things calm down. Tabitha had secretly provided Stacey with a cell phone that Storm had bought for her. It allowed the three of them to text message and would hopefully allow Stacey to call her if she had a need to if any sort of emergency should arise. Tabitha had only been allowed to see her friend once and it had only been luck that Brian had stepped out to see Dom for a moment. Brian had intended to supervise the two girls the whole time they were together, despite Cara's presence in the room.
It had almost killed Storm to tell Stacey she couldn't call whenever she wanted. That she had to keep her calls to a minimum to make sure that Brian didn't catch her with the phone. Storm knew without being told that if Brian found out about it he'd take it away in a snap. Almost two weeks had gone by and next to nothing had been done with their court battle. It was like Brian was delaying it for some reason, like he thought the longer it went on the more likely it was that the Demaret clan would give up.
"Why not? Surely your mother is a better guardian to a 16 year old girl then a house full of men. Men who should be in jail but for one of them being a dirty cop. The kid's own brother is a dirty cop for Christ's sake."
"Yeah, but he's a native Californian who's a dirty cop. Odds are he's got the sway with the judge or knows someone who will have. Do we have any judges on payroll in California?"
"Yeah, but none that'll help us out much in family court. I can ask around, see what strings I can pull but I wouldn't want you to get your hopes up on it Storm. If this was New York she'd be living with your mother already but doors don't open around here like they do at home."
"God damn it, I want this settled so I can get back to my life, so we all can. What would happen if Brian turned up dead? Who'd likely get Stacey then?" Storm and her father could calmly contemplate Brian's death. They'd done the same over many other people who'd gotten in their way. Thinking on Vince asking her how many hits she had on her conscience had made her think what the answer was. Near as she could figure the answer was none. None of them weighed heavy on her conscience. The total was approaching three digits but none of them really bothered her. Killing Brian would, because she still thought he was acting on what he honestly felt was right, but she'd still do it if it would settle things for all concerned.
"Could go a lot of ways. If they turned down your mother then she might end up in foster care, or living with those thugs her brother lives with. That's not where we want to take this right now Storm. If it goes that way then you can be the one to put the bullet in him, I'll grant you that but right now we don't want to take things that far."
"How are we going to even the playing field on this one then pop? I can't let her end up with Brian."
"The way I see it we either make it worth his while to give up, which I don't think will work because it's too personal to him, sister or no he doesn't want you to win so he'll do all he can to make sure you don't, or two we find a way to stack the odds in our favour."
"There's nothing we could offer him that will make him decide to surrender Stacey to mom. I know that for a fact. What I don't know is what we could do to stack the odds in our favour."
"One thing that crossed my mind was to sue the court for a change of venue to Florida. It's where your mom is from, it's where the original case was heard and it's where this Brian guy doesn't know how to work the system."
"Pop, that's fucken brilliant. I never thought of change of venue. Do we know anyone on the judge's bench in Florida?"
"Yeah, but again, no one that'll help us out in family court, just in criminal proceedings. That's the down side to the whole situation, but I still think taking the case to Florida is our best bet. What impartial judge in the world isn't going to give the kid to a woman with her own daughter and a steady job over some street thug ex cop? Since the cop won't have any influence in Florida either the judge should be impartial if the Demaret name is kept out of things. I'll tell you from personal experience, being a single father raising a teenage girl isn't easy. If Cara has a good lawyer who can make sure the judge understands that then with the kid's statement that she doesn't want to live with her brother anymore then your mother should win."
"So, how do we go about this change of venue thing anyway?"
"Cara's lawyer motions for it and it goes to a judge to decide."
"What if Brian has the judge it goes to on his side?" Storm leaned forward, elbows on her knees and watched her father intently. She wanted to be sure she understood exactly how it would work before she committed to trying it. She wanted to be sure it was the best plan of action before they did it.
"In this case I don't think any judge would deny it. The request is perfectly sensible and legal. It'd be too damn obvious why he was denying it if he did. I'm fairly sure it'll go to Florida state courts if we do it. Doin anything in the courts the legal way like this is so strange." Benny sighed as he sat back on the couch. He never thought he'd see the day that he'd be helping anyone do anything by the actual legal way. He was much more comfortable skirting the law and using it for his own reasons then playing by it.
"You honestly think this is where we should go from here Pop?"
"Yeah. We'll try to do things legally first this time Storm, as strange as that is for us." Benny chuckled. "If the point is to keep your mother out of our life so she has a better chance of getting the kid then the best thing to do for now is let the legal system do its thing."
"Ok. I'll tell mom when I talk to her later. Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"How are we gonna keep our name out of this? I know Mom dropped it and that it won't show up anywhere in background checks and everything on her, but I'm her daughter and I have your name. How are we gonna keep Brian from using me against mom?"
"Your last name is a black mark Storm, but you kept outta the press and kept outta any publicity connecting you to me. It won't be a plus but it shouldn't hurt. Just remember that if your mother has to lie and say she doesn't have anything to do with you then you can't be hurt by it. In all likelihood it'll never come up. Let's just cross the bridge if we come to it, ok?"
"Yeah, but maybe you should go home to New York and not to Florida with us if the change of venue happens, you think?"
"That's a good plan. I should get back soon anyway. Without Teddy to leave in charge I don't know how things are getting along at the hall."
"I'm sorry 'bout Teddy pop. I know you and him use to be friends at any rate."
"Yeah, but this life'll do that to some guys Storm. They end up wanting what they can't have. You can only count on one thing in this life Stormianna, and that is that there isn't hardly anybody that wouldn't hurt you to benefit themselves." Benny stopped talking and sighed, not liking the whole situation.
"Of course there are exceptions and on that note, you seen Matty lately?"
"No, he's keeping himself scarce for some reason. He's been going to his therapy but it's under protest. Taylor makes him go. When you gonna put that boy outta his misery and get back together with him huh? There's another one who'd do anything for you no matter what it cost himself."
Storm's head snapped around to her father in shock when he dropped that bombshell. "Taylor? You wanna know when I'm gonna get back with Taylor? Did you see us when we were together the first time? Shit, you'd think you'd be glad out of everybody that I'm not with him anymore. It was a huge fucken mess now wasn't it?"
"He loves you. That's rare in this life Storm. Too many women in this life, in your shoes settle for a lot less."
"He'll never be you pop, he'll never be a wise guy. How's he gonna handle knowing his girl is his boss and that he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of ever being more then her hired tough guy at least at work?"
"I think he could learn to deal with it Storm. I just want to see you happy. I liked that other one, the cop's friend, but I don't see that goin anywhere now and I just want you to find somebody before you're too old to enjoy it."
"You decide to remember you're my dad at the strangest times you know that right Benny?"
"Yeah, well something about this whole thing brings out the parent in me, what can I tell ya. I'm not getting any younger here Storm. Someday I hope you or your brother gives me grandkids to spoil. You won't settle down long enough to have a dog let alone a man or kids and your brother is looking for a woman who doesn't exist."
"How do you figure that?"
"Because he's looking for a woman who's you, but not his sister. And you my daughter are one in ten million. I don't think there's another woman like you in existence." Benny laughed as he picked up one of his cigars.
"I don't know if that was a compliment or not. Besides you got another daughter. Maybe she'll be normal and marry young."
"Who's gonna tell Tabitha about me? I mean, what did her mother tell her about her father?"
"That he was dead. Sound familiar?" Storm teased her father playfully to show she wasn't angry anymore. Her father had also lied to her her whole life about her mother being dead when she'd been anything but.
"It's a convenient excuse."
"It's a thin excuse is what it is, but anyway, I got stuff to do. And no smoking in my house. I don't want it all smoked up and stinkin like those disgusting cigars."
"And here I thought I was the boss and this was my house."
"Well, no one's perfect and we all make mistakes." Storm smirked as she walked out the door of the living room and up to her room. Changing out of her house clothes and into a pair of black flair bottom leather pants and a red tank top, she looked out the window and saw the bright sun of the noon time hour shining down on the backyard. She put on her leather bike jacket and combat boots and headed out to the garage. Tucking her hair up under her helmet she got on her custom painted to match her car Triumph TT 600 and walked it out of the garage.
With a roar she kick started the bike and headed off the grounds of her house, toward the hospital. She was looking for her brother but figured that if she should run into Stacey that would just be a fortunate accident. At least that was her story and she was sticking with it. Deep down she knew Matty had no reason to be anywhere near the hospital unless it was for physiotherapy.
Storm pulled up to the hospital and parked the bike. She left her helmet on her head and walked through the side door. Going up to Stacey's floor she got a few strange looks but she didn't care. The longer no one knew who she was the better. She was hoping to keep her presence a secret from team Toretto as long as possible. She had some information to gather and they would only be in her way while she was working at it.
She got off the elevator on the right floor and walked past the nurse's station. There was only the duty nurse to be seen, meaning all the others were out on the ward working. Storm casually wandered past the unit's waiting room and peeked in. She found Dom and Letty sitting in the room with Leon, all of them looking tired and drained dry. She said a silent thank you that Vince wasn't with them. Seeing him was still hard for her, especially when it was clear he was hurting as much as she was over something so stupid, yet at the same time so out of both their control. She was going to keep doing her thing and he was going to keep feeling a loyalty to the people he'd known since grade school. She knew everything happened for a reason a force even more powerful then her dad controlled. It was just fate and destiny and there was nothing any of them could do about it, it was just life. Storm walked away slowly, knowing she'd be forced to remove her helmet soon. Walking around under a blacked out visor was more then a little suspicious.
She stopped at the door of Stacey's room and cracked the door open. Stacey was awake and alone, busily hitting keys on her cell phone. Her movements looked almost frantic. Storm slipped in the room ad Stacey looked up in shock. The look of terror on her face made Storm so mad that if Carter Verone wasn't already dead he soon would be and Stacey's brother would be joining him too. The two of them along with Teddy Deserve had the most to answer for when it came to Stacey being a very timid version of her former self.
"Who are you?" Stacey asked, scared someone working for her brother had caught her. Storm took off her helmet and shook out her hair, brushing it out of her face.
"Should I be hurt you don't even know me anymore?"
"Storm!" Stacey held her arms open for a hug which Storm delivered. "What are you doing here? If Brian catches you in here he'll flip the hell out."
"I'm less than afraid of Brian." Storm waved her hand dismissively. "How long has he been gone outta here this time?"
"He left right before you walked in. He was going to visit Mia." Stacey spit out the name Mia like it had a bad taste. "He'll be gone a little while. He doesn't ever leave me alone for more then twenty minutes or so."
"Good. I haven't been hearing from you much lately."
"He hardly ever leaves me alone if he can't get one of the guys to sit in here with me when he goes. Only Vince would let me use the phone, the rest of them would just rat me out to Brian and Vince hardly ever comes here anymore. Not since the night he snuck you in."
"Well, I got some things on the go today that are gonna make sure that my mom wins so don't worry too much about it. By the time you get released from all these hospitals you'll be living with my mother."
"How can you be so sure?"
"I just am." Storm smirked. "Trust me."
"Ok, I do. I'm just curious how you can be so sure." Stacey checked the clock. "He'll be back soon."
"Ok, I'll take off soon then to save us all the fight. He treaten you ok?"
"I guess. He's mad at me all the time because of me not wanting to live with him and because I tried to run away."
Just as Storm went to reply to Stacey her cell phone rang. She held up her hand with a finger raised, asking for a moment and answered it. "You live, holla."
"Storm where the hell are you?" Taylor's voice came across the line.
"In Stacey's room. Be brief."
"I hid a surveillance camera in Stacey's room and trust me we need that tape. You should get it since you're there and we don't want Brian to find it first. It's in the closet. Get that tape Storm, don't let them get it." Taylor hung up and Storm did too with an irate look at her cell phone for how Taylor had talked to her. She got up out of her chair and crossed the room to the closet.
Opening the closet door she found a small recorder wired up to a little camera. From where the camera was positioned it had a perfect view of the whole room. The unit it was recording to was so small that it was recording onto camcorder tapes. Storm was used to looking for such things and she'd never even noticed the tiny camera in the corner of the room herself. Taylor went up a few notches for his forethought in her opinion. It had to have been Taylor who'd thought to set up the camera. The little light on the brain box of the surveillance system was blinking out of tape. Storm quickly pocketed the tape out of the machine and put a fresh one in, starting it recording again on extended play. She turned back to Stacey.
"All I can tell you is hang tight kid. I'm doing all I can and we're gonna win this thing. But we have a better chance if you don't try anything like running away again, ok?"
"I'll hang tight as long as I can." Stacey said reluctantly as she sniffled.
"Ok, I guess I should go before he comes back." Storm put her helmet back on, making sure all her hair was hidden and strode out of the room. She was almost down the hall all the way to the elevators when she heard a voice she knew to be Brian's call out behind her.
"Hey you! Stop right there!" Brian shouted after her irately.
Rather then listen to his commands Storm stalked onto the then open elevator car and hit the buttons for ground and doors closed simultaneously. The doors whooshed closed in Brian's face just before he would have had his hand between them to hold them open. Storm was lowered out of the path of Brian's wrath as he could only guess who he'd chased onto the elevator thanks to her dark visor and helmet. "Damn it!" He roared at the closed doors. He turned around and stalked back to Stacey's room, where he found her laying back in her bed playing on a Gameboy Advance that Taylor had gifted her with the day Tabitha had been released from the hospital. "Who was just here?" Brian asked his sister, some of his anger about having the masked figure slip out of his fingers being projected in his tone with his sister.
"No one." Stacey said, batting her eyes as she looked up from the screen of her game.
"Bullshit! Don't give me that line of utter shit. Who was here? The girl in the bike leathers with the helmet on. Who was she Stacey?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I've been alone since you left. I spend my life alone because you won't let me have any of my friends in to visit me."
"You mean I won't let Storm visit." Brian sneered down his nose at his sister when he talked about Storm.
"Or Cara, or Tabitha, or Matty or Taylor either. You only want to let Dom and Leon in here. You even keep Vince away."
"Those people are nothing to you. Get used to that now because you will never be seeing them again. And I never told Vince not to come. He's walking around in a daze over that bitch Storm Demaret. She's nothing to you Stacey! Understand?"
"Someday soon you will be the one who's nothing to me." Stacey went back to her game and tried to ignore her brother. He ripped the game out of her hands.
"This bad attitude has to go. This is why you can't see these people anymore! Especially Storm. She's a bad influence on you and I won't have you end up like her. Some evil bitch who thinks that laws are only meant to be broken and that she can do whatever she wants to whomever she wants. I won't have you end up like her!" Brain's voice was raised.
"I'd rather be alone then yelled at." Stacey said as she fought to remain calm in the face of Brian's rage.
"Good because you're going to find yourself spending a lot of time alone when you end up grounded, which will be happening when you get home. And the amount of time you spend grounded is only going to get longer the more you give out this attitude. You better hope the attitude goes away with these people when they all go back to their normal lives. And that will happen, Stacey. As soon as this drama is all over and they lose out in court they'll go home to their real lives and forget all about you. I'm your brother and I'm the only one who's in this thing with you to the end."
"Whatever Brian. I heard that from Mia and even believed it for awhile but guess what? Storm's still here, Taylor went to jail twice over it all, and even Matty cares about me enough to try and make sure I'm not bored and that I'm doin ok. You're not going to tell me they don't care about me because I know they do and I'll never let anyone tell me they don't again. Storm will fight you until the bitter end, don't kid yourself that she won't." Stacey looked out her window, away from her brother. She saw him go to open his mouth to deliver some come back statement to her little speech. She cut him off before he could say anything. "I'm tired now. Can you leave so I can get some rest?"
"Go ahead. I'm just going to sit over here in my chair and wait to see if you have any other visitors who don't exist." Brian sat down in his chair and Stacey lay back with her eyes closed, trying not to cry.
xox
Later that same afternoon, Storm and her mother sat in the lawyer's office, discussing their case.
"How's our change of venue request going?" Storm asked the lawyer. They'd only petitioned the court for the change of venue early that morning.
"So well that it's already granted." The lawyer answered Storm's question with a smile as he handed over a stack of papers. "Mr. O'Connor will be served notice of the case being moved to Miami's state court tomorrow. We'll all have to move to Miami for the duration of the proceedings and they start in just over a week's time. I can do all my prep work here before we ever leave and when we have our day in court all will be ready to go."
"Is there anything that can be done for Stacey in the mean time? Her brother won't let her have visitors and she's feeling very isolated." Cara Miles asked with a frown marring her otherwise flawless face. For a woman in her mid forties who had raised two children into their teens and early twenties, she still looked young enough to pass for Storm's older sister not mother.
"Unfortunately as her brother is still her legal guardian and she's a minor there is nothing we can do about that. I would just advise you to try and visit her when her brother isn't around. There's no legal reason why you can't visit Stacey in the hospital. However I would caution you not to fight with her brother in public. If he asks you to move on then you should do so. The whole purpose here is to make sure you always look calm and reasonable while he looks unstable and angry. It will just hurt his case in the long run."
"Ok, thank you and we'll see you in Miami next week." Storm stood and her mother jointed her. The two women shook hands the lawyer and left his office together, heading out of his building to the car park.
"Poor Stacey. I can't imagine how hard this all is on her." Cara's frown had not left her face, but had deepened.
"She's missin Taylor more then any one of us. She'll be ok unless Brian somehow wins in Florida."
"I miss Taylor myself so I can't really blame her." Cara's eyes lit up teasingly and the frown left her mouth.
"You been talking to pop or something? Shit you sound just like him, it's like you guys are tag teamin me here."
"We always liked to have Taylor visit with you Storm. There's just something about him that makes me feel safe when he's around. I don't want to think about where Matty would be without him."
"You got that right at least." Storm sighed. "Thanks for doing this mom. I know I sorta thrust Stacey at you when I decided that I couldn't do what she asked but that someone had to get her away from the Toretto's. I know her and Tabitha can be a bit of a handful together and I'll take them off your hands any time you want some time off. I'm just sorry that I couldn't take Stacey on legally myself and that I didn't give you a lot of say over whether you wanted the added responsibility or not."
"Don't be silly Storm. I wanted Stacey to live with me when her mother first passed away. I never thought it was a good idea for her to live with a brother she didn't know in a totally new state with a group of men no one knew but the courts didn't listen to me then. With Benny behind us this time, much as I hate to use his influence and hate what he does, we should win. And any time you want to take the girls with you, even for extended visits its fine with me as long as you protect them from what you do."
"That goes without saying. They didn't even know what I did until I had to tell Stacey why I had to say no to her. Dad's influence has its perks, but he's already told me that he has very little influence in Florida so other then making sure we have good lawyers he can't help us this time. That's why he sent you to live in Florida when he sent you away, because until Carter Verone he didn't even have a name for himself in Florida, other then that stupid special on A and E on the history of organized crime. Besides that, he thinks after all the stuff with Brian comes out we'll win anyway. The fancy team of lawyers he hired will certainly help."
"I really hope so Storm." They had reached the side of Cara's car.
"Me too. Mom?"
"Yes dear?" Cara's tone told Storm her mother was already half a world away.
"I think it's time we told Tabitha about Benny." Storm watched her mother look up at her, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Why?"
"Because he knows she's his kid and because she deserves to have a father. He makes a pretty good one when he's not in a killer bad mood. I know what's it's like to be missing a parent remember?"
"Yes, I'm just not sure this is the best time." Cara hedged, not wanting to expose her younger daughter to the same world that Storm had grown up in.
"There's not gonna be a best time for this. It's gonna hurt her feelings that we lied to her all along. But then she's scared spitless of Pop right now so maybe knowing he's her father too will calm her down a bit around him."
"You and Tabitha have always been very close, ever since you came into our lives and if you want to tell her I won't stand in the way Storm. I'm just not sure it's the best time for it."
"I'll think about it Mom, but I got some stuff to take care of for now so I'll talk to you more later."
"Be careful Storm."
"Always." Storm replied as she walked over to her bike and got on, tucking her hair under her helmet. She watched her mom drive off and then took off herself, headed for home.
When she got home she put the tape she'd gotten from the hospital into the adaptor and then into the VCR. As the tape played out and reached the end Storm's temper started to reach the boiling point. By the time the scene on the tape flickered off and snow filled the screen she was ready to murder someone and that someone had blonde hair, blue eyes and a chip on his shoulder a mile wide.
xox
"I think we should go to races tonight." Letty told the team, who were gathered at a table eating supper in the canteen.
"No way am I leaving Stacey unsupervised." Brian growled. "She'll just try to run away again."
"She'll be supervised by a whole hospital full of staff Brian. It'll be after visiting hours by the time we go anyway and the hospital knows they have to watch her so she doesn't run off."
"I think it's a good idea." Leon said. "We all spend too much time here lately. There's nothing we can do for Stacey or Mia while it's night time. It'd be good for us to get outta here and do something normal for a few hours."
"They're right Brian." Dom surprised everyone by saying. "We should do it. Start to get back to normal. It has to happen sometime. Stacey's going to be fine and we know that now. Mia's gotta get better on her own but she's stable for right now. Us going out of the hospital for one night isn't going to hurt her any. Besides, the day is going to come where if she doesn't wake up the rest of us are going to have to try and get back to our normal lives without her in them. We can't practically live in the hospital forever." Dom's deep baritone turned even gruffer then normal as he thought about the fact that there was every possibility his sister was never going to wake up.
"Ok, we'll go." Brian caved to group pressure but it was clear he wasn't happy about it.
As soon as visiting hours were over they headed to the house to get ready. Brian felt strange getting ready without Mia getting all dressed up at his side. He felt just plain strange to be in her room without her there. Seeing her clothes in the closet and drawers seeing her makeup and perfume all over the dresser brought it back to him what was missing from his life. What if she never woke up? Would there come a day when he could get out of the bed they'd shared and he wouldn't miss her? Would the day come when knowing she was laying in the hospital was as normal to him as knowing she was in the kitchen waiting to give him his good morning kiss and cook him one of her breakfasts? He sincerely hoped not.
He had nagging doubts at the back of his mind. If Stacey and Storm were so sure Mia was working with Carter what if she really had been? What if by not believing his sister he was making the biggest mistake of his life? He could be cheating Mia out of her chance to get help and Stacey out of having a brother she could trust. He just had to cling to the fact that his Mia wouldn't do anything like they'd accused her of. She just couldn't have. Not even if Matty Demaret had sworn she'd confessed. Oh, Brian knew all about it. He'd heard the team discuss it even though he knew they thought he had no idea. He just didn't buy it. It was just another ploy of Storm and her criminal family to pin the blame onto someone else. And that was the only way that Brian got out of bed every day so he clung to that thought, even though he likely knew in his heart he had his head in the sand.
xox
When Storm left her room at the end of the surveillance tape her calm exterior was misleading to her real frame of mind as she started hunting for Taylor Reese. She didn't find him anywhere she looked. Since he didn't have a cell phone she was at a loss as to how to get a hold of him. It finally occurred to her that since Matty was back in town where ever he was Taylor was sure to be close around. She dialled Matty's cell number.
"Hello?" Matty picked up.
"Is Taylor with you?" Storm didn't bother with any pleasantries. She wasn't in the mood by any stretch.
"Yeah, he's here with me. What's wrong Storm?"
"Put Taylor on the phone." Storm growled. She heard the guys talk in low tones and the phone crinkled against things as they tried to stop her from hearing them as they pasted it around and talked.
"What?" Taylor's voice finally came across the line.
"Were you ever gonna tell me?"
"Tell you what Storm?"
"That that fucking asshole hit my sister."
"He didn't hit her Storm. What made you think he hit her?"
"The tape runs out while he's got his hand raised to my little sister."
He looked like he was gonna hit her, I'll give you that, but he didn't. He swore he was just raising his arms to protect himself when she flew at him. He'd be dead if he actually touched her Storm and you should know that."
"You swear he didn't lay a hand on her? You're not just saying that so I don't go kill him?"
"Yes, I swear he didn't touch her and I'm not just saying that."
"Ok then. But this tape sure makes it look like he did, or was going to when the tape ran out."
"If we said it seemed like he was going to hit her we wouldn't be lying. It did seem like he was going to. It's just his word against what it looked like to the rest of us that he was going to protect his own head." Taylor's message was clear, even if he never came right out and said it. They could tell a judge it had looked like Brian would have hit Tabitha if someone hadn't interfered.
"What was Stacey talking about when she said she got you in trouble?"
"Brian had me taken in again. Little fucker. Al I did was let them go get drinks and Stacey had the bright idea to run away. Then Brian drags her back by the arm with a cop in tow and when I tell him to get his hands off Stacey because she was saying he was hurting her he has me fucken arrested. I can't believe that fucker."
"I saw Brian drag Stacey into the room but on my tape the cop just looks like he kicked you outta the room."
"No such luck. Matty sprung me out."
"I warned that little prick what would happen if he fucked around with the cops again, brought cops into a private matter again." Storm hung up her phone abruptly. She felt another one of those wild nights coming on.
An hour later Storm was dressed to go out and headed down to pick up Lindsey at her house. If she didn't go do something she was going to kill someone and since her father had told her no dice on killing Brian she had decided that she and Lindsey would just go out and see what trouble they could find.
Storm got into the Skyline with trepidation. She wasn't having the best luck with cars lately but since she'd given her Cadillac to Matty when she'd gotten it back to make up for wrecking his she had very little choice in what she drove. If anything happened to her Skyline she knew she'd really flip out and no one would be safe from her wrath. When she had Lindsey in her car they headed downtown, just driving around trying to decide what they were going to do. Lindsey spotted a large group of import cars that were all tricked out and heading in one direction.
"You think they're going racing?" Lindsey asked Storm as they watched the cars buzz by.
"When that many import cars goes to one place, all that lowered, and that covered in sponsor stickers then yeah, they're going racing." Storm answered, starting to envision possibilities.
"You wanna go check it out? We'll fit in at least."
"Yeah, sure. Let's see what's up. I've never raced in California before. I got loads of spray and gas. I got about two grand in the car, should buy us into a race of some sort."
"I got another grand on me. Let's do this. I've heard the kids talking about these races a lot but never gone. I've been curious what the hype is about though."
"Its just not gonna be the same for me without Devon calling me Sweets and telling me who I have to race."
Lindsey had heard all about Storm's friend Devon from New York over the many times they'd hung out together. He was the exact opposite of Storm and everyone could only imagine that was why they got along so well. "Don't sweat it, I'll scam on hot guys with you and call you sweets if it'll make you miss him less." Lindsey laughed and Storm joined her.
"I think I'll make it through one night without him. I just wish we had more cars rollin with us so we don't show up alone and end up with all eyes on us before we get a chance to scope the scene."
"Yeah, but I bet that'd happen no matter what because no way these people have ever seen a car like this before."
"Well, one of Dom's guys drives one just like it only a bit newer so they have seen one before."
"Not like this." Lindsey admired the way the street lights reflected off the namesake paintjob on the car's hood.
"No, not like this." Storm admitted without a trace of modesty. "I'm just glad that Brian and his loser squad will be at the hospital because if I had to deal with him tonight there'd be trouble and lots of it." Storm's knuckles went white on the steering wheel and Lindsey could only nod as they fell in line to turn left behind the pack of imports they were following. They followed the pack of Mitsubishis and Nissans down to an alley way between two abandoned warehouses. Since it seemed like everyone was parked in two rows along side each of the buildings the girls found an empty spot and parked their ride.
Getting out they started to walk around. Both got lots of attention from the assembled males. They were dressed very similarly in knee high boots, black skirts and tube tops. Storm's top matched her car, looking like a lightning storm. She had sleeves on that matched but were not attached to the main part of the shirt. Lindsey had a red top minus the sleeves. Both had long blonde hair, Storm's curly and Lindsey's water straight.
"Well this is all very interesting but it doesn't tell me how I'm gonna get to race my car." Storm told Lindsey as they wandered back toward the Skyline, which was busily dazzling people as strobe lights under the car made it seem like a lightning storm was going on under the chassis. The car had quite a crowd assembled. Just as Storm and Lindsey walked back up a medium height black man went to touch the car.
"Hands off my ride if you wanna keep them attached to your arms." Storm called as they walked through the crowd toward the car. People somehow knew to get out of Storm's way before she had to ask them.
"This is your car?"
"It looks that way, yeah. What about it?"
"Just wondering. Edwin." The man held out his hand. Storm shook it reluctantly and Lindsey shook it with more enthusiasm. "You new here?"
"You could say that. Followed a group of people in because they looked like they were coming to race."
"You wanna race?" Edwin asked, curious.
"Yeah, I ain't here to stand beside my car that's for damn sure."
"Well we'd normally wait on the king but since he ain't been around much lately I guess I can set you up without him." Edwin smiled at Lindsey but addressed Storm. "How much were you lookin to buy in?"
Before Storm could answer the distinctive sound of a high revving rotary engine intruded over the bass rap music blasting and a v formation of high powered race imports rolled in, led by a red RX-7.
"Lemme guess, that's the king right?" Storm asked in disgust. Leave it to Toretto to decide to show up to races for the first time since all the shit went down on the one night she managed to find them.
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"There's not exactly a friendship growin between me and Dominic Toretto. You still wanna set me up for a race I got two g's sayin I can take anything you can throw at me."
"I'll keep that in mind after I go talk to Dom." Edwin walked up to the open door of the Mazda as Dom got out. They shook hands. Storm brushed her hair back off her face and turned to Lindsey.
"This is just fucken great!" Storm told her friend in anger.
"Could be alright. They might not want much to do with you either." Lindsey tried to reassure her.
It didn't take long for Lindsey to be proven wrong as Brian stormed up to them. "What are you doing here? Gotta ruin everything that's ours huh?"
"I had no idea you'd be man enough walk away from Stacey for a whole hour. I mean what if I leave and go further corrupt her?" Storm sneered. She saw Vince standing beside his freshly painted car over with Letty and Leon and it was putting her in a bad mood.
"Listen, I know it was you at the hospital this afternoon and you better stay away from my sister."
"Prove it was me. You're the guy who's so fond of the cops he calls them for every little thing. Don't you remember what I told you about bringing the cops into our business Brian?"
"I'd love to know what you think you can do about it."
"I'll be showin you what I can do about it soon, don't worry about it." Storm smiled smugly Brian's way.
"I'll tell you one thing Storm, you will not be racin here tonight because we won't allow it." Dom had come up behind Brian while the blond man ranted. "Will we?" Brian looked at Dom as he asked.
"Yeah, it's ok, go ahead and back him up Dom, prove that you guys are all pussies, too scared to race me."
"I'm not scared to race you!" Brian came back before Dom could answer to Storm's challenge.
"Oh really? You wanna go then?"
"Any time. Name the time and place." Brian roared back.
"Right here, right now." Storm purred, watching Vince watch her more then Brian and his juvenile hissy fit.
"You're on. What are we racing for? I got three grand." Brian threw down.
"Oh, money's so…well…boring. I mean it's so overdone and I can buy and sell guys like you all day long." Storm was talking in a voice dripping with sarcastic sugar. "Why don't we make it more interesting then money?"
"I'm listening." Brian snarled, spoiling for any fight with the woman he saw as responsible for his strained relationship with his sister.
"I win, you step aside and leave your poor sister alone. Let her come live with whoever she wants. You win; I'll leave her alone instead. And I'll let you live even though I told you what would happen if you fucked with the cops and my family again."
"No way Brian. What if she wins?" Dom gave Storm a death glare. "Go for the three grand."
"My offer stands Brian. You can either take it, or show your true colours and be the bitch you are, let Dom run your life for you, and leave it. What's it gonna be?"
"You're on! I can take you and then you're out of my life forever."
"Brian, don't be stupid!" Dom growled. "What if she wins?"
"I ain't losin." Brian started toward his Skyline with death in his walk. Dom had never seen him so angry. Brian was always the calm one, his calm was his meal ticket and when he lost it he started to make bad judgement calls and as far as Dom was concerned this was one of them. He waited until Brian was in his car then he turned to Storm.
"Why are you doing this? You want break him? If you win and take his sister away you might as well just kill him. Be easier on everyone in the long run."
"His little girlfriend shot my brother and his sister before she tried to take the coward's way out and kill herself."
"That's my sister you're talking about!"
"How the fuck do you guys get off saying it wasn't Mia who was drugging Stacey when Matty caught her with the drugs in her hand before she shot everyone? You think my brother had a reason to lie about it when he was bleeding to death? I mean can the whole group of you honestly be that ignorant? Did you all tune me out when I told you what Matty told me?" Storm asked Dom incredulously. She couldn't believe the whole bunch of them still clung to their idea Mia was not the one who'd been drugging Stacey and Tabitha after what she'd told them about what Matty had seen. She'd give Brian his ignorance just because of all he'd been through and the fact he hadn't been in the room when she told the rest of them the story, but the rest of them ignoring all the evidence just because it pointed at a truth they didn't want to hear, she couldn't accept.
Both thought back on the scene in the hospital when Storm had told them all what had happened. Storm remembered it clearly. Too clearly for her liking.
She was a mess. She was still covered in her brother's blood. She hadn't slept in such a long time she didn't really remember when it had been and that went double for when she'd last eaten. After Taylor had carted her out of the room she'd calmed down somewhat but she knew that if she looked down at herself and saw the blood, her brother's blood, she'd lose it again.
She'd gone with Brian to hear about Stacey, still not knowing what was going on with her brother.
"Have a seat." The doctor had told them both.
"Is she okay?" Brian got the first question in as she listened, curious to the answer.
"She's got very little chance of making it, she's brain dead and comatose and we had to put her on a respirator." She almost hadn't heard the doctor tell them because she hadn't wanted to hear it. It couldn't be true. She had sat in her chair telling herself it was all just a bad dream and she'd soon wake up in bed at home.
"But she'll wake up, right?" She asked, voicing her doubts, fighting for every breath.
"She might. Brain dead people rarely do wake up and even then we expect her to be a vegetable. The drugs injected in her system has made her heart very weak and I'm afraid 63 of it is damaged and the damage is irreparable." He had to be wrong was all she could think as she felt the tears on her cheeks, unable to think of the last thing that had made her cry before she'd left the safety of her city, New York.
"What are you saying?" She heard Brian ask, like he didn't hear or want to believe either.
"You have two options. One, is to hope for a heart transplant. And even with that, she may still be a vegetable. The other is to turn of the machines." She'd sunk to the floor when the doctor had delivered his verdict.
"I'm fine." The other's rushed toward her, to help her. She didn't want them looking at her, seeing her like she was and it made her angry. "Get offa me." She yelled, fighting to remain calm.
"So, you think her chance is little to none?" All she heard was Brian trying to convince himself it made sense to take his sister off the machines and let her die. It was something she wasn't willing to accept.
"You WILL NOT take her off those machines. I will fight you with every god damned penny I have, every ounce of any pull my family or I have, I will fight you, Brian. It's your fiancé's fault she's here and you shoulda listened!" Taylor had grabbed her around the waist to hold her back from clawing Brian's face off but she barely felt his grip as she fought to get free.
"I didn't say I was and you can do what you want, you think you can run the world." She'd watched Brian fall to the chair he'd vacated and sob. Their families had separated them at that point and a few minutes later they'd let her see her brother, who'd told her just what had gone down with Mia. The conversation had been short, with Matty and Storm both so tired and disorientated. Her brother's voice had been weak as he'd told her,
"When Brian left the room Stacey woke up. She asked Mia why she tried to kill her and Mia went off about how Carter was right all along. She was crazy Storm, totally outta her mind. She kept ranting about how Stacey had been trying to take Brian away from her and how she had to stop it from happening. She was demented. And she didn't even think about denying any of it when she thought it was just Stacey to hear her. She flat out admitted it."
"God Matty, now I gotta tell them all that. This is such a fucken mess."
"Maybe they'll all get help now that the truth is out."
"I sure hope so." She had left Matty to sleep, since the medicines in his blood had been forcing him into unconsciousness anyway and quit the room.
She gathered everyone into one room. It was painted blue and filled with plastic chairs. She felt like the room was spinning as she looked at the people in front of her. She was actually dreading telling them what she had to tell them, that she'd proved beyond any doubt it was one of their own who was the enemy. Brian had been absent, choosing instead to sit with Mia rather then join the powwow. She had paced, consciously not looking down at herself. At her bloodstained clothes.
At her bloodstained hands.
She had relayed what she'd learned to the Toretto clan, with Letty still glaring daggers at her, thinking she had turned the gun on Mia herself and not witnessed her try to end her own life. They all fought, the Torettos not wanting to believe what had happened even in the face of all the evidence. The anger had started to overwhelm her to the point where she hadn't been able to deal with it at all. She felt for them so she'd walked away, gone to sit with Matty. But then the anger took back over, as it often did with her, and she decided to finish what Mia had started. The scene with the Toretto's and their indifference to the truth, to what Mia had done, had been what had pushed her into deciding to end the other girl's miserable life. It had been what pushed her into that bathroom, what drove her to smash the mirror, and what decided her on the plan off ending Mia Toretto.
"If she was doing it then it was because someone made her." Dom wagged a finger in Storm's face. "Mia wouldn't do this stuff on her own."
Dom's voice pulled Storm out of her memories and back to the flashing light show set to pounding music that was race night in Los Angeles. "I have no doubt that Carter put her up to it somehow but she was doing it. Now if the whole lot of you would accept that for the fact it is and stop making the kid think you all think she's crazy maybe Stacey could have a shot at finishing her childhood without any more trauma and if Mia ever wakes up she might be able to get the help she's gonna need. I was there with Carter, remember? I know what he's capable of but that doesn't excuse Mia totally. She still bought into it and went along with him."
"You didn't have to try to kill my sister. She could have got better." Dom went from sad to angry in two seconds flat. "You lose this race, and you will lose, you stay away from us all, that means Stacey, Brian, Mia, Vince, every one of us. Got it?"
"I hear ya baldy but I honestly don't know how you figure you have any say over me."
"I'm assuming your word is worth something. You'll either prove me right or wrong. Remains to be seen."
"You'll never know because I ain't losing and it's Brian's word we're gonna be testing tonight."
"We'll see. Line it up."
"No sweat." Storm turned to Lindsey. "Stay with Edwin? This could get ugly and I'd be more comfortable to do what I need to do alone in the car in this case. I'll take you racin some other time, a'ight?"
"Sure girl. Take care of you." Lindsey pulled Storm to her for a quick hug which the taller girl gratefully returned.
"I'll be fine. See you when I get back." Storm got in the Skyline, revved it up and drove it to where Brian's car was waiting on the line. Storm rolled down her window. "How we doing this?"
"Around the block, first one back to this line wins?" Brian asked, fury barely in check.
"Sounds good. Tell your boy to call it when he's ready." Storm turned on her nitrous and revved her engine, blowing flames out of her tailpipes. She watched as Leon talked to some Latin guy who turned around and raised his arms. With a word from Leon the guy dropped his arms and both Skylines took off.
They got away in unison. They were literally neck and neck. They came up to the first corner and Storm misjudged it on the unfamiliar streets. She swung wide while Brian swung tight and he got in front of her. She ended up behind him.
Storm dropped a gear with a growl, determined to get back beside him if not in front of him all together. She was right on Brian's bumper. Every raise in his speed she countered. He couldn't gain any ground on her no matter how hard he tried. And try he did.
But every move she made to pass him and get back beside him he anticipated and cut her off. "Come on!" She yelled at the rear of his car in frustration. She knew she could go faster. So could Brian, but Storm was banking on the fact that while Brian might be a daredevil she was totally without fear. She didn't fear anything vehicular related and it allowed her to do things that other people's fears would prevent them from doing.
They took the second corner in the same fashion, her stuck behind Brian, wanting to go faster but being prevented by his constant ability to anticipate her. She hit fourth gear and floored it, swinging out to the right. Brian swung just in time to keep her behind him. She allowed her front air dam to kiss his rear bumper to rattle him a bit and he tapped his brakes trying to scare her.
They took the third turn and Storm had still not managed to fake around the silver Skyline she was chasing. She couldn't believe she was going to lose at such low speeds just because Brian had an ability to guess where she was going to go next. She had to do something drastic and she'd been out for crazy. She went from fourth to third and the Skyline growled angrily as the tach hit seven thousand rpms. She was almost red line and her car was letting her know it didn't like it.
She knew that since Brian's car had six gears she had to run her car higher up into the revs then he did however. She faked right and Brian countered her so she went left and Brian followed her there too. But before she had her car fully in the left lane she went back right with a swerve so sharp it made her tires smoke as she held the car on an angle. Brian noticed her in time to get back in front of her but looking at where he was on the road gave her an idea.
She saw that where Brian was if she jumped the right half of her car onto the sidewalk she could get around Brian that way, half in the lane, half on the sidewalk. The drawback to that plan was jumping the curb at the speeds she was going could bust a tire off her rims, could break something in her steering, or worst case scenario could cause her car to flip up into the air and then roll end over end, wrecking it and likely killing her. It was her only hope and the best time to try it would be after the final turn. She continued to stalk her prey, right on his bumper.
xox
Brian laughed as he blocked Storm behind him yet again. He knew he was good at circuit racing. He'd picked it up racing for Tej. The key to him had never been purely the speed, it had always been to get out front and stay there. So when he broke better then Storm and got the lead he resolved to keep it.
He was doing just that too and he could literally feel her frustration as he blocked her darting movements yet again. Two corners they took and twice he managed to swing tighter then her, keeping her behind him where he wanted her. As they levelled out after the final turn he looked up into his mirror and saw Storm cut the wheel left. He countered, and again she stayed behind him. She went right and he went with her. He was gonna win. He could feel it.
xox
Storm took a deep breath. She figured it was now or never. She faked left, just moved a small amount then cut sharply right. Brian did manage to figure it out and cut her off but before he could get fully in front of her she cut the wheel even farther right and used one of the places where the sidewalk ramped to pavement level for driveway access to jump her car half up on the sidewalk. She floored it in fourth, car running at an angle. She saw the look of shock on Brian's face as he realized what she'd done. As soon as she cleared his front bumper she used another ramp to roll back out onto the road.
Her rear wheel missed the ramp and dropped off the edge of the sidewalk instead. Her car bottomed out, due to its incredibly low suspension. Sparks flew but nothing was damaged. Storm laughed as she countered Brian's attempts to pass her, giving him a taste of his own medicine. Then just to show him that it wasn't always about frustrating someone into losing, that it could be about just plain being faster then your opponent she floored it and raced away from him, hitting her nitrous. She flew over the line a good three car lengths ahead of Brian then locked up her brakes and skidded in circles to a shuddering stop.
Her car was quickly surrounded. Storm climbed out, legs a bit shaky as they always were from such a large adrenaline rush. Dom's team surrounded Brian's car as he got out, and then they headed her way, Brian leading the pack.
"So you lost, I guess this means you'll be getting out of the way of my mother's custody of Stacey then."
"Not a chance." Brian's answer was vehement.
Storm gave Dom a look that said 'I told you so'. "So your word means nothing then? You threw down something you weren't really willing to bet. What a fucken joke you are. I know girls who're more man then you." Storm sneered.
"You never shoulda thought I'd bet something so valuable."
"I didn't think anything. You did bet it, then you weltched. You're a coward and you know what? It doesn't even matter pretty boy."
"Oh yeah? Why's that?"
Storm took a folded paper out of her skirt pocket and handed it to Brian. She watched him slowly unfold it. He unfolded it so slow it made her want to scream. "Since it's apparently beyond you to even open that I'll tell you and everyone what it says. Tomorrow you will be served notice that the custody hearing over Stacey is officially moved to Miami Florida. You have no dirty cops on your side and no judges in your pocket in Florida do you Brian?"
Brian looked up in shock after he read the document Storm had handed him. "How'd you manage this?" Brian was literally stunned. He'd never anticipated they'd petition for change of venue.
"It only makes sense."
"What is it Brian?" Dom asked his friend, worried about Brian just based on his tone and the look on his face.
"Her mother petitioned to move the hearing to Florida and they granted the request. We have to take the case to Florida to fight for custody of Stacey."
"Why you gotta do this?" Dom growled at Storm.
"Because it's the right thing to do. You guys are going to want to help Mia get better if she wakes up. It's not fair to Stacey to expect her to live someplace where the people she lives with would welcome the person who tried to kill her repeatedly back with open arms.
"I'll fight this, it doesn't matter where I fight it out with you, here, Florida, New York, the moon, I don't care. I'll win."
"Brian if this was New York you'd already have lost in court and you'd be facing one of the three R's."
"Three R's?" Brian asked.
"Yeah, the roof, the river or the revolver. If this was New York, and you irritated me as much there as you do here I'd have squashed you like the annoying fly you are to me long and ever ago. You never would have lived long enough to fuck up as bad as you have or piss me off this much. Which reminds me." Storm hauled back and punched Brian in the nose as hard as she could, which thanks to her years of taking her frustrations out on an Everlast heavy bag while learning kick boxing was pretty damn hard. Blood started to spurt out of Brian's face.
"What the hell did you do that for?" He roared. Vince, Leon and Letty moved in to be at Brian's back. Only a look from Dom kept Letty from going for Storm's throat.
"You mean you backing out of our wager wasn't enough?" She got dirty looks from Brian and Dom. "Well I warned you what would happen if you used your little dirty cops against me or mine again. You're getting off light so you better thank god all you got was a bloody nose. I'll see you in court in Miami."
Both of them started to walk away. Storm turned back around and started to stalk Brian down. When she was right behind him pacing him she tapped him on his shoulder. When he stopped and turned to face her she hauled back and slapped his face. The sound of her palm against his cheek made a resounding crack like a gunshot and it silenced the crowd, who held their breath, waiting to see what would happen. "That was for raising your hand to my sister." In her excitement over the race Brian's treatment of Tabitha had slipped Storm's mind. "Normally I'd kill you for it. Hell, I'd kill you for less. But since we got it all on tape, and it's going to help us prove you're unstable and unfit to have custody of a minor child and since you didn't actually touch my sister I'll let you live to see the day where a judge tells you to your fucken face you're a crazy, selfish bastard."
"What do you mean you got it on tape?" Brian asked, getting a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"I mean that the room was under surveillance and I got you raising your hand to hit my sister all on tape. I don't think any judge in their right mind is going to send a child needing as much special care as Stacey home with someone who raises their hand to children and also treats them like you treated Stacey when you made her pass out. You already lost Brian. I sure hope your undeserved and stupid loyalty to Mia and the way you cling to your idiotic belief she wasn't doing anything are a comfort to you when you know my mother has custody of your sister. Sleep tight." Storm turned and started to walk away. "Prick." They heard her mumble as she walked toward her car. The ambient buzz of the crowd started to get higher and higher as people spoke amongst themselves about what they'd heard.
With a look at his team Vince followed Storm toward her car, keeping to the shadows so she wouldn't know he was there. She reached her blonde friend. He continued to lurk in the shadows, listening in to what the girls talked about.
"I gotta go let off some steam or I'm gonna explode and someone will be going down with me. What should we do now?" Storm asked her friend.
"How about that club Redline? That's where all these guys will end up eventually. Edwin was telling me about it while you raced."
"Ok, sounds like a plan. But this time we take the car home first and take a cab from my place, a'ight?" Storm asked with a slightly self-depreciating smile.
"Yeah, sounds like a plan."
"For sure. I can't afford to rebuild another Sedan De Ville."
Both girls got into the car and took off. Vince went back to his own car and with a curt good bye to Dom and Leon he took off too.
After the girls left the Skyline at Storm's house they ended up getting Storm's father to drive them down to the club that Lindsey had named. "You girls be careful." Benny warned as they went to get out of the back seat of the car where they'd both decided to sit together. "I mean it Storm. Don't do anything that'll bring attention to you, and don't do anything stupid for that matter."
"Yes father. Anything else?" Storm asked sarcastically.
"No, have fun. I'll see ya when I see ya." Benny pulled off after Storm slammed the back door shut.
"You know, your dad is actually pretty cool for all." Lindsey said as they waited in line to get into the club. It was early yet and the line was short.
"Yeah, he's great, until something sets him off."
"Man like that gets used to getting his own way." Lindsey shrugged.
"Tell me about it." Storm giggled as they paid cover and walked into the main room of the club.
An hour later both girls were dancing. Lindsey had run into Edwin and the two of them were dancing together. Storm was dancing with some random dude she'd just met. She didn't much care who he was, she just wanted to dance until she ran out of energy so she had a chance of getting some sleep when she went home to bed. She had her back to her mystery dude as she shook her hips in front of him, his hands on her hips as he followed her movements.
From what she remembered of him, he was cute in a dark way. He had dark skin, black hair and chocolate brown eyes. He had a very clean cut face, clean shaven like her brother, and an aquiline nose. Not bad at all, but not really her type. She just let the music take her as she moved, in her own word and barely aware of the man behind her in any case.
Vince got into the club and scanned the room. It didn't take him long to spot Storm. She was out on the dance floor and some random guy has his hands on her. With a growl he started their way. He shoved the other man tactfully out of his way and replaced the dark mans hands with his own quickly, hoping Storm wouldn't notice the change. His luck held as she kept dancing, seemingly unaware of the switch.
As the song changed from Ashanti's Voodoo to Britney Spears' Breath On Me. Storm felt her dancing partner move away for a second but he soon was pressed against her again so she didn't even bother to turn around to look, she just kept dancing. When, near the middle of the song, she felt lips on her neck and they brought the feeling of a full beard with them she knew something was up. She also knew the person doing the touching knew just what they were doing.
She knew, as she turned around, that the eyes of the person dancing with her were no longer chocolate brown but sparkling blue. She didn't miss her guess as she looked up into the face of the man who'd become so familiar to her so fast.
"What are you doing here?" Storm asked.
"Making my life a hell of a lot more complicated." Vince answered as he leaned in.
Storm watched his face come closer to her own but she couldn't stop him for the life of her.
This was going to be one hell of a headache filled mess.
Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the stars refuse to shine
Out of the back you fall in time
I somehow find
You and I collide –Howie Day