6.
Nothing weighs on us so heavily as a secret.
Jean De La Fontaine
Z
"Okay, so I think that's it." I said as I wiped my hands on a rag resting on the fender of Han's Maverick. I carefully avoided getting anything on my dress, which I still hadn't changed out of. "All it needs an oil change, but I'm not doing that in a white dress." I turned to face Han as I finished my assessment.
"Are sure you didn't forget something. I was sure that you didn't check-" He moved from where he was leaning on Dom's Charger to point to a spot as far away from me as possible as he made up an excuse for me to bend over again in my skirt which was already dangerously short. I raised an eyebrow.
"Papi, if you want to get a peek you're going to have to find another way to do it." I deadpanned with a smirk.
His lips twitched at the nickname I always used when I was being sarcastic.
We were using our downtime after sending Rome to the police station with Tej and Brian to check on the Maverick. I had almost been sent with him, but he absolutely refused. I was wondering how that had worked out for him.
"Yo, Dom. How we gonna get a vault all the way to Rio?" Santos asked from the raised level in the middle factory floor.
"Yeah, how are we gonna get a vault?" I asked Han flirtatiously as I walked over and put my hands on his chest. He put his hands on my wrists.
"I have some black market contacts." He said in a matter of fact manner.
"So do I." I answered in the same tone.
"So I guess you two will be taking care of it?" Dom's deep voice carried a tone of amusement. He had a new spark plug in his hand and was walking to his Charger. He was just close enough to over hear.
Han looked back at me and shrugged. "We got it."
"How in this world did the two of you wind up with each other?" Leo asked loudly from beside Santos. "No offense." He added with after a slight pause. Han and I shared a glance before we started walking over to join the rest of the group.
"The circles we ran with overlapped in Tokyo." I answered simply.
"I thought you were from Columbia." Gisele stated as she looked up from her bike.
"I'm from Puerto Rico originally, then I moved to the US, then Tokyo, then Columbia." I answered.
"So you're not Chinese?" Santos asked Han when he heard Tokyo. The shock in his voice was very clear. From Han's expression I guessed they had had that conversation many times before back when they ran together. I almost started laughing. He noticed and sent me a half hearted glare.
"What circles?" Gisele asked. She only looked at Han now. I felt a chill of jealous roll through me like a shockwave.
"She worked for my business partner's uncle and so she would go to the races with his crew. I met her through him, and the rest of my crew met her at the races. We just saw a lot of each other after that." Han answered.
"So you haven't worked with Dom before?" Leo asked.
"No, I haven't."
What is it with these people? I'm not asking for their life story. I glanced at Han who seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"Will you people stop giving them the third degree? God, you sound like cops in an interrogation room." Mia gave me a comforting smile as she walked in.
Her pale face was shining like she had just splashed it with water. Her dark hair was pulled back out of her face in a high ponytail. I thought back to Dom's confession that she was pregnant and wondered if she was having morning sickness. I didn't have time to think about it long before Tej walked in with Brian and Rome bickering behind him.
"You guys get it?" Leo asked excitedly.
"Of course we did." Tej replied indignantly. "Ya'll people got no faith."
"After your wonderful display of driving, I don't blame 'em." Rome teased.
""My wonderful display of driving?" Tej's eyebrow shot up as he turned to glare at his friend. " How about your impersonation of an FBI agent?"
"I would make an amazing agent." He countered. Brian's million watt smile lit up the garage and Tej rolled his eyes. I felt my lips twitch at the mental image of Rome screwing this up.
"Who's getting the vault?" Brian asked as he held up a folded piece of paper.
"I got this." I told Han. He nodded in response. Still laughing at Tej and Rome, Brian passed me the paper with a smile. I slipped out the doors to make a call.
Z
A chill was brought over the shadows of the favela with the vanishing of the sun. The favela looked eerie at night with the shadows and dark spaces between the oddly stacked houses formed from the light streaming out of random windows.
I hurried along the streets as fast as possible; cursing myself every step for leaving my gun in Han's glove box. I could put up a fight, if necessary, but these were not familiar streets, and the extra confidence of a concealed weapon would be nice. A few people shot me curious glances as I passed them, probably wondering why there was an outsider here. I yanked my jacket closer to my body and shoved my hands in the pocket of my jeans.
The black mass of the old factory loomed at the end of the road. I had left in the late afternoon and, after many called in favors, managed to get the vault Brian had asked for. I was glad that I had to be on the phone for a while away from the garage where the reception was better, because I got a call from Miles.
His abrasive, bitter, smart ass self was still mad at me. It took twenty minutes of him complaining before he would tell me the profit for the week. He continued on with the underhanded jabs he made at me on the beach. I finally decided I was going to tell Han about my business and money stashed back in Europe. I should have told him years ago when I decided to stay after he recovered, but it was a little late for that. After I finally managed to talk Miles into forgiving me, I hung up.
By the time I changed out of my dress and was ready to leave for the factory again, I felt drained. Being around this many people I didn't know exhausted me. I really didn't want to go back, but I felt like I had to.
When I got close enough, I saw Han and Gisele standing outside. Neither noticed me until I was almost right in front of them. They were both discussing what they were going to do next in the job. Han finally glanced up when he heard my footsteps.
"There you are. I was about to go make sure you didn't fall asleep." He said as he put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into the building. Gisele followed and went back to working on her bike.
"I'm here." I said slowly.
"You eaten yet? I was about to go grab something." He asked. I felt my stomach grumble at the thought of food.
"I'm starving." I complained. He produced a bag of pork rinds out of his jacket pocket. Only a few were left, but I greedily popped them in my mouth. They did nothing to calm the hollow feeling.
"Did you get it arranged?" Dom asked loudly, right as I was trying to pour the remaining crumbs into my mouth in a very unlady-like fashion.
"Yes. Four days." I answered with a mouthful.
"That give us time to do our thing!" Leo declared to Santos. Santos laughed and started insulting him in Spanish. It led to a loud, annoying exchange.
"Okay, I'm going to get some food." I finally said after watching the argument for a while. The few crewmembers that looked away from what they were doing pointed me in the direction of some restaurants; except for Rome, who kept asking me to bring him back a long list of things.
After breaking away from the group and grabbing my gun, I found myself walking a few streets over to a local restaurant. I hadn't realized Han had followed me out until he reached out to grab my hand. That was a very random, unusual move for Han, but I didn't complain.
We settled in to a small table in the back corner of a restaurant with a seating area the size of our bed room. The heat from the kitchen invaded the room to the point where I found myself shrugging out of my jacket. I discreetly made sure my gun wasn't showing.
"The streets bother you?" Han asked with a gesture towards me after the waiter left with our orders. I raised my eyebrows, unaware that he had seen me with the gun.
"Not really. It's just unfamiliar territory." I answered slowly.
"You might need that if he ever feels threatened enough to move the money out." Han said quietly. Why I remembered Reyes finally clicked in my head right as the waiter arrived with our food.
I decided to bring up Reyes later and immediately started eating like I'd been starving the desert for a year. I glanced up at Han to see him sniffing a piece of grilled chicken on the end of his fork. I couldn't contain the laugh, which earned me a glare from him.
"You will eat fried squid tentacles with a straight face, but, oh my gosh, a piece of chicken!" I said sarcastically. He held his fork out to me in a 'you first' gesture. I ate it without a second thought. "It's good."
He finally started eating.
Z
"Was Reyes supplying Kamata?" I asked slowly on the walk home. I couldn't see Han's face well in the low light, but I noticed his jaw tense.
"Kamata was getting shipments from Brazil, so Reyes is the most likely person to go through." He answered after a little hesitation.
"He was also moving girls, but that was kind of rare." I replied. Han looked at me.
"Is that why you wanted to be out of the way in Colombia?" He asked. I could feel his eyes boring into the side of my head.
"Yeah, and I was a little tired of the city, too." I answered.
"Ready to go back?" He asked. I took a long second to answer.
"Yeah. Colombia was nice for a long vacation, but I'm ready to be back in a town with more than a hundred people."
"It really wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be." He said slowly. I felt my lips pull in a smile.
"Did you just admit you liked roughing it?" I teased. We passed a window and I could finally see the highly annoyed look on his face.
"It wasn't that bad once I got a TV and air conditioning." He retorted. I laughed. "Next time, I get to pick where we are going."
"You picked Colombia." I reminded.
"But you picked the town." He shot back. I rolled my eyes. "Okay, you pick the general area this time, and I get the town."
"Okay, Europe. We figure out a more specific country later."
He was silent for a moment. Down the street few children were scolded by their mother as she ushered them in the house. A dog ran down an alley after a rat. I kept sneaking glances at his shadowed face in between watching all of the distractions of the Rio favela, wondering if I should tell him now.
Before I came to any decision, the house we were staying was right in front of us and Han was already pulling the key out of his pocket. I walked in to turn a few lights on, but before I had one on, Han had pulled me close to him. As his lips met mine, I knew I missed my chance tonight. It made me feel guilty, but it wasn't the end of the world. I would tell him; eventually.