"It's beautiful, isn't it?" said Cipher, slipping a pair of black sunglasses off and resting them atop her head. "Our own little piece of paradise."
Luke gave their surroundings little more than a glance as he stepped off the cargo ramp and onto the private runway. Trees, the ocean, and a private beach lay to the east. In the west, the sun was slowly setting behind the clouds, turning everything some shade of orange or pink.
"Sure," he said. "If you like getting sand up your ass."
"This, however, isn't why I brought you here," Cipher continued. "You see, I realised I wasn't clear enough about what I expect from you, Luke."
"Oh, I'd say you were pretty fucking transparent."
Do what the psychopathic hacker said or his daughter would be killed. How much more clarity was required in a situation like this?
"No. I gave you audio when I should've shown you the real thing."
His head turned on a swivel, scanning his surrounds for any sign of a car. Any sign of men holding a child at gunpoint. Instead, Cipher produced a phone and offered it to him. Luke took it without hesitation. Blinking text at the bottom of the screen read 'live stream'.
"We've advanced to the point where deepfakes are becoming truly convincing," she continued, "so consider this the only confirmation you'll get that I'm not bluffing."
The camera turned, looking down from the corner of a room. Sam lay on a bed, her eyes closed and cheeks stained with tears. Next to her, unfolded on a drawer, was today's print edition of the Las Vegas Sun newspaper, with the words 'I love you' scrawled in Sam's handwriting beneath the headline.
"You still haven't said what you want from me."
"For today? Relax. Make yourself at home." Cipher smiled. "But in future? I want you at your best, mentally and physically. No more losing fights to broken soldiers and street punks."
"Hobbs? ...Hobbs!"
He blinked, looking up from the steering wheel to find Shaw standing outside his door. As of thirty minutes ago, they were in the refuelling and reloading phase of the operation. Her Marussia and the ATV had both been removed from the cargo hold, allowing for two new vehicles to take their places.
His was an armoured beast that made Luke's old SUV look like a kitten. The other, once again, was a blue Mustang with white stripes for Jakob. The child who apparently wanted to play with one toy and one toy only.
"Yeah." Hobbs groaned and stretched the kinks from his neck. Being stuck on a plane was doing wonders for his posture. "I'm on it."
They were on the east coast, as far as he could figure. Georgia, Florida, or possibly South Carolina. The sunset and ocean spoke for themselves, along with the travel time. Still, that was too wide an area for him to pinpoint one private airfield based off the little he'd seen.
"Did she tell you anything?" Luke asked, keeping his voice low. Elizabeth walked alongside the car as he drove towards the ramp. "About Sam or where-"
"No."
"So make her talk."
"It's not that simple."
"Bullshit." Luke slammed on the brakes, stopping his new car short of the plane's loading ramp. His grip on the steering wheel tightened, eyebrows furrowing together as every muscle in his body went taut. "You've been with them for less than a week and already he's wrapped around your finger."
"Toretto?" She scoffed. "Are you serious?"
He wasn't wrapped around anything, Elizabeth thought, least of all her finger. Maybe they flirted a bit too much but it was nothing more than playful banter. A way to break the ice before things turned serious.
"You can't win a guy like Jakob in three days," Elizabeth continued, "let alone three months."
There was no trust between them. No loyalty of any kind. Nothing she could use as leverage to even begin coaxing him in her direction. And why would she want to anyway? It'd only cause problems later on when she betrayed Cipher yet again.
"Can't or won't?" Luke asked. "If you aren't up to..."
Elizabeth sighed, looking away from the open window and his large, very punchable face. Up until the moment she left the base, he'd held all of the power, but now, Hobbs had nothing.
A turn of events that would've been amusing if the attached cost didn't come at the sake of his kid.
"You want to know what I've learnt?" she said. "My precarious position is now borderline unstable."
Jakob had been the one to invite her. Not Cipher. That much was obvious when Elizabeth looked at things, not to mention the way she was being sidelined. Or that late night warning in the warehouse.
"If I play my cards right, I have a shot. One shot. So I'm not about to fuck that up by jumping into bed with a bloke who'd soon as kill me if I look at him the wrong way."
"Well, maybe not kill you. When you phrase it like that, it seems a little harsh."
She glanced at the warped reflection in Hobbs' window and rolled her eyes. Toretto just loved sneaking up on her, didn't he? The kitchen, her bedroom, and now here.
"Besides, if I did that," Jakob said, closing the distance between them until he almost loomed over her, "I wouldn't be able to call this in."
His strong arms wrapped around her waist, firm yet gentle, and eased her backwards until her shoulders pressed against his chest. Every survival instinct she had immediately began screaming for her to fight, to claw her way to freedom, but Elizabeth shut them down instead.
She knew there was no imminent threat to her life, no danger to escape from, so she allowed herself to relax even as Jakob lowered his mouth to her ear.
"You know," he said, repeating her own words back to her, "if all you wanted was to get in my pants, there are easier ways than being coy about it."
"Who said I was interested?"
"Are you?"
Elizabeth pried his hands apart, releasing herself from his grasp and moving closer towards Luke's car. "We'll finish this conversation later, pretty boy."
"So you think I'm pretty."
She grasped the SUV's rooftop rail and planted one foot on the side step, pulling herself up. "I didn't say that."
"I take it back," Luke muttered, giving the vehicle some gas and ascending the ramp. "Seems more like you're wrapped around his finger."
Elizabeth climbed down the moment he threw the SUV into park. If that was what Hobbs thought, he was sorely mistaken. "You say that as if you're not a man who lacks the charm required to even wrap someone around his finger."
"Oh, that's where you're wrong, woman," Luke said, pushing the driver's side door open. He stepped out and slammed it shut then walked towards Elizabeth, wearing a cocky smirk. "I have more charm than your brothers have brains."
"I guess that explains why you're here and not them," she said, looking him up and down, unimpressed, "seeing as charm has never been proven to correlate with intelligence."
...Shit. He'd walked right into that one, hadn't he? Shaw had all but called him an idiot, and Luke could only stand there, waiting for the next round of verbal sparring to begin.
"Well, if you're done proving just how wrong you are, I'm going to eat before someone takes all the Hawaiian."
"Elizabeth."
For God's sake, she groaned internally, what did he want now? Wasn't the sun setting and the stack of pizza boxes in the galley enough of a clue that it wasn't the time to be interrupting her? Or maybe he planned on denying her the privilege of hot garlic bread.
"What?" She winced as she spoke, right hand instinctively going to her ribs. Getting up on that car had been a mistake. "If you're going to lecture me about something, save your breath. I have no interest in hearing it."
"I'm sorry for—"
"You've said that twice now. Each time is as meaningless as the last."
Meaningless? He was trying to be nice. Make amends and all that bullshit. But if she didn't want to listen, why bother? Luke muttered under his breath and turned away, facing the door that led to the rest of the plane.
"Fuck. I..." said Elizabeth, noticing his movement. "In my experience, 'sorry' is a word people say to make themselves feel better, right before they go back to being pieces of shit, so it's not exactly something I put much stock in. Anyway, save your apologies for your kid. She's the one who's going to need them."
Luke turned around once more, eyebrows furrowing as he looked at her. That was what Shaw thought? Jesus. He tucked his hands into his pockets, resisting the urge to reach out and knock some sense into her.
Sure, he knew she'd gotten her foot in the door with the Russian mob by using the only resource she had, but the file he'd pieced together was rather lackluster when it came to what followed, save for the murder and her subsequent prison sentence.
The one that'd been interrupted by forces unknown.
He watched as Elizabeth sighed and reached up, freeing the ponytail she'd been wearing all day. She combed her fingers through her hair twice then walked past him, going left instead of right. That was odd, Luke thought. The galley and the rest of the plane was to the right, so what lay the other way?
Hobbs looked down at the airstrip, making sure Jakob wasn't about to rush up and surprise him, then took off in the same direction. He followed the left corridor around, finding himself face to face with a hallway and a set of stairs that led to a second floor.
Shit. Which way had she gone? When he looked upstairs, Luke couldn't see a thing. It was pitch black, save for a dim red light above a metal door. If that'd closed, he thought, surely he would have heard it, so Elizabeth had to be on the lower floor then.
But where?
He counted five doors lining the right side of the corridor, with one at the far end. Although only one of them had a beam of light extending from the gap between the door and floor.
"...From now on, I'd keep your nose where it belongs," Jakob said, making Luke almost jump out of his skin. "Or it'll be cut off the next time you go poking around."
"Sneak up on me again and I'll cut your goddamn head off." He pivoted to face the faux Toretto, lips pressed together in a grim line. "I was looking for-"
"I don't care. Go hang out in the common areas, eat some pizza, or jerk off in your room. You don't need to be down here."
"And she does?"
"That's not any of your concern, cop. If I were you, I'd be more focused on doing what you're told. That way, your little girl keeps on breathing. Because if you screw this up, the one who'll face the consequences is her."
He sidestepped Hobbs and made his way to the first door on the right, opening it without hesitation. Light poured out into the corridor, along with the sounds of voices, laughter, and chairs being dragged.
"Jakob, kill Roberts for me, will you?" Elizabeth's voice echoed out from the room. "He's taken my dinner hostage."
"In my defence," Roberts said, "I offered to negotiate. She refused."
"I don't negotiate with...Hey, Finest Ass In America, you eating or what?"
"Finest ass?" Jakob choked and broke into a coughing fit. "Who exactly are you talking to?"
Luke hesitated. There were many things he'd do for the sake of his daughter, but walking into that room? Sitting down and breaking bread with the people who were currently holding a gun to Sam's head? That was a hard task.
"Screw it. Gimme half a Hawaiian, half a deep dish, and some garlic bread. We get anything for dessert?"
"Brownies," said an unfamiliar voice.
"Two of those too."
"Now you want to negotiate?" asked Roberts.
"Just hand it over and no one gets hurt."
"Shaw," said Jakob, "where are you—"
A few seconds later, Elizabeth walked through the open doorway and thrust one of two boxes at him. "Come on. I'm starving."
Luke swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat and followed her into the cargo hold, then down to the base of the ramp where they both sat. He popped open the lid, staring at the half pizza, garlic bread and brownie within. "We need to talk."
"I don't know what you like so I went for something with meat."
"Your boyfriend knows."
She glanced at him before lifting the lid of her own box and tearing into a slice. "About what?"
"Sam."
"You might want to eat that before it gets cold."
In hindsight, it seemed obvious that Jakob would know. He was the Devil's right hand man. If Cipher so much as sneezed, he'd be there ready with a tissue.
"Stop avoiding the subject."
"Fuck me," Elizabeth muttered, flicking the pizza box in her hands closed. "I understand now is a difficult time for you," she said, turning to face him, "but you need to divorce yourself from your emotions or we aren't going to get anywhere on this."
"I need to—"
"I told you I can waltz, but I can't do a box step if my feet aren't working in tandem."
Luke understood what she was trying to say with the metaphor, but that was a convoluted way of going about it. "And I'm supposed to be one of your feet?"
She sighed and rubbed her forehead with her left hand only to lay back against the ramp. "Two weeks," Shaw groaned. "Two whole weeks of this. God, where's Owen when I need him?"
"Not here," Luke said, "so it looks like I'm all you've got. Considering what happened last time you and your brother worked together though, I'd personally be glad he isn't around. Things don't tend to work out well for you when you mix business with family."
"That was different. I made a conscious choice."
"You ended up in Gitmo."
"Because you put me there, you arrogant wanker! If not for you, I wouldn't have ended up in that prison at all, and I certainly wouldn't be here having to deal with not one but two egotistical idiots."
Elizabeth sat up as if to stand, but the next thing Luke knew, she was bent in half and clutching at her side. Shit. The last thing they needed was her puncturing a lung or her diaphragm while they were miles from a surgeon, nevermind a quality hospital.
"Alright, woman, take it easy. Here I thought I'm the one supposed to be putting a lid on their emotions."
If looks could kill, the glare she shot him would've put Luke in an early grave. He smiled back, finished his last slice, and got to his feet. "Huh," he chuckled. "Seems this'll be the second time I carry you to your room."
"Hey!" Jakob suddenly shouted from inside the plane. "We're leaving in five. Pack it up or you'll be left behind."
That'd be fine with him, Luke thought, but he wouldn't find his daughter by being stuck on the ground. He turned around, looked up at the asshole with his black kevlar vest strapped on, and gestured to Elizabeth. "I don't think she can walk."
"I'll be fine in a second!"
"It's a fractured rib," Luke said, "not a hangnail."
After being blown up and falling seven storeys, he was pretty familiar with the level of pain that stemmed from having busted several of them. It was uncomfortable to breathe, let alone sit or sleep. Granted, he was the cause of her pain, but that didn't mean Hobbs couldn't sympathise with her current predicament.
"If this is another ploy," said Jakob, descending the ramp, "you should consider popping a button or two. Give a guy something to work with besides your charming personality."
"Don't make me laugh," Elizabeth grumbled. She stood slowly, easing herself to her feet, and turned around to face him. "Neither of you are even worth wasting a button on in the first place."
"Really?" asked Luke. "That's not what your sister says."
"Sister?" Toretto raised his eyebrows. "You never told me you had a sister."
"That's because I haven't told you a lot of things," Elizabeth said. "But the fact she's interested in him should tell you everything."
"You know," Luke interrupted, "I think I'll tell Hattie you said that the next time I see her."
Elizabeth clenched her fist but said nothing further. If Hobbs had been one of her brothers, she might have swung and knocked him on his arse for dropping Hattie's name. Too bad he had a good several inches on her in the height department.
"If she's anything like you then I'm sure we'd get along just fine."
"You say that now, Toretto, but you haven't been in a room with her yet. Five seconds and you'd see she's just as insufferable as Hobbs is."
"Insufferable?" Luke scoffed. There was nothing remotely annoying about Hattie Shaw in comparison to Deckard, or Elizabeth for that matter. The siblings were as different as night and day. "For the record: she is singlehandedly one of the most amazing women I've ever met, and if I had to pick between working with her or you, I'd take your sister every time."
"Oh, please. If I had to work with me, I'd choose her too."
He seemed to pause for a second, as if processing her words. Elizabeth seized the opportunity to walk inside and toss her pizza box in a garbage can. Jakob, unsurprisingly, wasn't far behind, with Hobbs catching up a moment later.
"Wouldn't you know, Princess, it looks like we agree on something. The Fed is insufferable."
"Say that again, Pretty Boy," Luke scowled, gesturing with his pizza box, "and I'll happily rearrange your face for you."
Elizabeth cast a wary glance at the two idiots behind her, lips curved up into a half smile. Perhaps she'd been wrong, she thought. Better to have Luke onboard instead of her brother. This, at least, served as some inflight entertainment compared to Owen's silent brooding, and maybe — just maybe — was a sign that things might work out after all.