Playing Games Chapter 16: The Safe House, a fast and the furious fanfic

Chapter Sixteen

They were the first ones to arrive at the safe house. Dom figured they would be because they had had a head start on Christian and Kyra.

As he pulled his car into the driveway and to the back of the house, so no one could see it, Madison hit the armrest with her fist.

"Shit," she cursed.

"What?" Dom questioned.

"My car," she mentioned.

"Yeah, what about it?"
"It's in front of the shop. If PD does show up, they'll see it. Then we're all screwed.," Madison continued.

"Fuck," Dom agreed. Then he thought about it. He would have to go back to town tomorrow anyway, to get a few things from the house.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Madison asked.

"Tomorrow, when I head back to Boston to pick up some stuff from the house, we can swing by the shop and get your car. That sound okay?"

"Whatever works. I'm workin' on your schedule now," Madison commented passively.

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Christian saw Dom's car parked behind the house as he pulled into the driveway. He was obviously trying to cover all the bases, making sure he was not easily found. He pulled up behind Dom's car with Kyra behind him. Dom and Madison were standing by Dom's car, talking. He wondered how lunch had gone. Well, Madison was still alive. That must be an indication of something good.

Kyra saw the two of them standing by Dom's car. It pissed her off for a few moments, but then she got over it. For the first time in a long time, it looked like Dom was enjoying himself. Although she was upset that it was Madison and not her making Dom's life easier, she was happy for him.

He had seen Christian and Kyra pull up and waited as they each got out of their cars. They both walked up to Dom and Madison.

Christian nodded his greeting to Madison before turning to Dom.

"So, what's going on? What's the news?" he asked.

"Vince called," Dom began. Christian knew Vince from when he had stopped by to see Dom in LA, but didn't know him well. Kyra guessed that it was Vince who had been calling, going by "V". Maybe it was a nickname Dom had given him.

"Shit," Christian commented.

"Yeah," Dom agreed. "He called giving me the coded version of cops were all over his ass and we should get the hell up out of wherever we were in case they came after us, too."

"Damn. They really want your ass, don't they," Madison said.

All three of them looked at her.

"Yeah, and your being here complicates everything," Kyra added.

Madison was about to say something, but Christian jumped in.

"So what now? Damn, Dom, if they check out the shop...Madison's car's still there. What the hell do we do about that?"

"When we all go back to Boston tomorrow to get whatever we're bringing here, including Madison, I'm going to bring her by the shop to get her car," Dom explained.

"And what if the cops have the shop staked out?" Kyra asked.

"Boston PD is intelligent, but they don't know for sure Toretto's here. All they have is a supposed 'tip' which may or may not be valid," Madison offered.

"Yeah, but if that 'tip' was Brian, they'll follow everything he said to the letter," Dom growled.

Everyone else was quiet. Madison wanted to jump in, but the look in Christian's eyes stopped her.

Dom walked around to the front of the house to see if anyone had followed them. After making sure that no one had, he checked the mail. He stopped by every week just to check it. He had all the mail sent there under Christian's name so no one would suspect anything. So far it had worked.

Kyra watched Dom walk down the alleyway that led to the front of the house. He was seriously pissed, she knew that for a fact.

She shot Madison a look, then searched her facial expression. They had never had problems before, not until Madison came to town.

Madison was not easy to read. Her face held no particular expression, therefore providing Kyra with no information.

A few minutes later, Dom returned. He shot her a glance and she lowered her eyelids and nodded in Madison's direction. She knew Dom would know what she meant.

He caught Kyra's expression and shook his head in answer to her unspoken question. Then he let his eyes wander to Christian, who met his glance. Dom knew from the expression in his eyes that he had seen the look Kyra had flashed Madison. Which may have meant that he saw Dom's response to Kyra's question.

In the midst of all this, Madison seemed oblivious. Dom figured it was best that way, since she wouldn't have reason to start shit with Kyra. It was better that they didn't.

Madison was thinking hard about whether or not Brian would've tipped the Feds off. After having those drinks with him last night, she wasn't so sure.

"So, what are we doing for dinner?" Christian's voice broke into her thoughts.

"Shit," Dom hadn't thought about food. He looked at the watch he rarely wore and saw that it was five-thirty.

"Why don't Christian and I go into town and get some chicken or steaks or something?" Kyra suggested.

"No," Dom shook his head. If they were going back to Boston, all four of them were going.

"Look, Dom, we'll go there, get some grub, then come right back. There are 11,000 people in Boston. They don't even know for sure that you're here," Christian tried.

"That's not why I said no," Dom began to explain. "If you're going to Boston with Kyra, we're all going. We'll go to the house and get whatever shit we need, pick up some grub and something to drink, then we'll come back together."

Kyra began to object, but Dom cut her off.

"No discussions," he said pointedly.

Vince took a pit stop to use the restroom and to buy some beer, ice and a cooler, when his cell rang.

"Yeah," his gruff voice came out.

"V...I'm worried about Dom. Have you heard from him lately?" It was Mia.

"Hey beautiful. Yeah, I've heard from him. In fact I'm on my way to him now. Why, what's up?" she sounded worried.

"I don't know, Vince...I'm just so worried something's gonna get fucked up and he's going to be caught in the middle," she explained.

"Another one of your so-called 'premonitions', huh?" Vince laughed. Mia often let her imagination run wild when it came to Dom, but she was usually tripping over nothing.

"It's not funny, Vince. I'm being serious. Just talk to him for me, okay?"

"Aight," he agreed.

"Thanks. Sorry to run so quickly, but I gotta go. I'm meeting some friends for coffee and I'm late," Mia said quickly.

"K," Vince commented. He didn't know what else to say. It wasn't like he could stop her.

"Have fun," he added, then hung up the phone.

He grabbed a six-pack of Corona, a single bag of ice and a mini-cooler, and headed for the cashier.

She saw it in slow motion as if it were yesterday. She could feel every emotion, fear and relief, as if it were happening all over again.

She could feel the butt of the gun pressing against her temple, the breath of her captor, unknown to her, on the nape of her neck. Across the room, she could see Carlos and Jose' Santiago holding guns to her brother and Marcus.

Again, there was no sound, but every word was imprinted in her mind like a horror movie.

"Let her go, Santiago. It's not her that you want, it's me," Jacob had said.

Jose' threw his head back and laughed.

"You don't get it, do you Steele?" he had replied. "You see, I have something you want, something that's important to you. So you aren't in control here."

"I said, let her go," Jacob had gotten pissed.

He had begun to reach for his gun, but Jose' had stopped him.

"I don't think so. One more move and your sweet little sister dies."

"Go to hell, Santiago," Jacob had retorted, reaching yet again for his gun.

Before Santiago could give the order to shoot her, a gunshot rang out. She felt her legs give out on her and as she fell to the floor, she felt two strong arms catch her. She regained her composure and saw it was Brian.

Jose' and Carlos stood where they were for a few moments in shock. In the blink of an eye, Carlos raised his gun at her and was about to fire when he seemed to lose his balance. It took her seeing the pool of blood forming around his head before she realized he had been shot.

In one swift move, Jose' turned to Jacob who was rushing to her side and raised his gun. Before he could fire, Marcus had come up behind him and tackled him to the floor, struggled to get the gun from Santiago, and held him at gunpoint.

Jacob had rushed to her side to make sure she was okay. He and Brian got her to Brian's car and sent them off.

"Thanks for everything," Jacob had said before heading back in the warehouse.

"Jacob!" she called after him, but he ignored her.

"You okay over there? You're awfully quiet for someone who seems to have a lot to say," Dom commented, jokingly.

"Huh? Oh no, I'm good. Just thinking," Madison replied.

"About what? Is it safe to ask?" he questioned.

"What? Oh, I'm sorry."

"Damn, you are preoccupied. Wanna talk about it?"

"Just flashbacks, that's all," she said, but offered no more.

"Remembering's a bitch, ain't it?" Dom offered.

She looked at him with an understanding glance.

"I'm sorry about Jesse," she didn't mean for it to come out, she just couldn't stop it.

He almost drove off the road.

"What the hell do you know about Jesse? Who have you been talking to? And just who the hell do you think you are?"

"I don't like the feel of this, Christian," Kyra began. "There's just something about Madison that don't feel right."

Christian knew what Kyra meant. There was just something about Madison Steele that seemed off. He couldn't exactly put a finger on it, but there was something about her that was bugging him. He just hoped Dom was smart enough to cover his ass as well as theirs and check into Madison.

"She's a cop, man. I'm tellin' ya, I got this feelin. It's been nagging me since I met her," Kyra continued.

"No, Ky, I think you were jealous 'cause Dom was attracted to her," Christian joked.

That just pissed Kyra off even more. Sure, maybe there was some truth to what Christian had said, even if she refused to admit it.

"No comment? Should I go on record with that statement?" he continued his teasing.

She playfully punched him in the arm and he made a face, pretending it hurt.

"Don't worry about Madison, Ky. No one can take your place in Dom's life. You're like a sister to him," Christian assured her.

'But that's just it...he only sees me as a sister', she thought, but said nothing aloud. If only there were some way to change that. If only...

"I asked you a question. Who the fuck have you been talking to?" Dom was pissed, she could tell from the tone in his voice.

"I had a few drinks with O'Connor last night, no big deal. I asked him about the shit that happened in Los Angeles and he told me," Madison answered.

"You had no right, Steele. No fucking right. All that shit had nothing to fucking do with you. You should've left it alone. What the hell were you doing with Brian anyway?" Dom retorted.

"Sorry. Damn. Had I known you were so touchy about the subject, I would've left it alone. I figured it might give me some insight into who you were. Shit, it wasn't like I held a gun to his head and forced him to tell me," Madison tried to cover her ass.

"You were way out of line. It didn't fucking concern you at all," Dom was quieter now, but he was still seething.