- Chapter IV -

Favors

There seemed to be no leads on who Sean Boswell was and exactly how he was connected to Han. But true enough, they all seemed very happy in the photo Brian saw, and that was enough to warrant occasional visits to the local cemetery.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Dom?" Mia asked him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Dom couldn't bear to look at her. He was in too raw of a state for that.

"This Sean Boswell guy is the only lead we have in finding out what happened to Han, and if it means stalking this cemetery day and night, then that's what I'll do," Dom said matter-of-factly. Brian observed him for a moment.

"Don't make this personal, Dom," he warned his friend.

"Remember Letty? Revenge isn't the answer."

Dom turned to look at Brian and the latter felt those big brown eyes pierce him like daggers.

"Neither is forgiveness," Dom retorted and started looking for any visitors again. Brian concluded there was no point in pushing it further.

"Okay, I'm gonna get something to eat," Brian noted.

"I'll come, too," Mia agreed, giving her brother a peck on the cheek before leaving the car. Dom felt the warmth of her presence leave him, and it didn't help the situation any.

But then, he saw a modded Nissan S15 pull up into the cemetery's parking lot. Definitely a racer. The moment the driver stepped out of the vehicle, Dom's suspicions were confirmed. It was Sean, and he wasn't alone. The girl in the picture, Neela, was also with him. They walked hand in hand to one of the tombstones and laid some flowers there. Dom saw Brian and Mia exit a restaurant with take-out. Brian immediately made eye contact with him and then noticed the couple giving their respects to Han.

"Go to your brother," he told Mia, taking off towards the Nissan while she rejoined Dom in the Plymouth. Sean and Neela turned back to leave.

Brian had to think quick. He knew Sean would be too smart to be tailed all the way back to wherever he came from. He also knew there was no other viable way to track the car, unless...

BUMP!

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Sean demanded right after Brian ran into Neela and stole her purse. The two men engaged in an on foot chase.

"Come back here!" Sean screamed and all Brian could think about was if the guy was packing or not. After evading a few oncoming cars, Brian sprinted into an alley and quickly placed his phone inside the purse, dropping it behind him, and running further away. Although confused by the turn of events, Sean was glad to have retrieved it without any confrontation and gave it back to Neela. The couple left immediately. When Brian finally managed to catch his breath, he noticed Dom slowly pulling up beside him.

"Where the hell were you?" he asked the driver, obviously upset.

"Oh, I was behind you every step of the way. Just thought you might want a bit more excercise, that's all," Dom noted and Brian managed to smile weakly.

"You son of a bitch!" he exclaimed, approaching them to enter the car. Dom pulled ahead by a little. Mia laughed.

"Oh, is that how it's gonna be?" Brian responded to Dom's tease.

"Because apparently, I'm the only one who's gonna be able to make that phone call to the boys in blue and have them track our friend down for us," he said.

"What do you mean? You're not even a cop anymore. What makes you think anyone'll help you?" Dom probed further.

"I'm not sure they will, but unless you got a better idea, you're not gonna step on that gas pedal anymore," Brian noted, but didn't approach the car yet. He saw Dominic consider what that meant.

"Okay, get in," Dom told him and Brian approached the car again. Dom stepped on the gas pedal again as he and Mia laughed once more. Brian smiled bittersweetly.

Vince sat in front of a tied and gagged Takashi Kamata for a good few minutes, observing him with the curiosity that a cat would have for a mouse. And although it was very clear who was the predator and who the prey, Vince toyed with the idea of taking a more business-like approach to their conversation.

"Wakey, wakey! Come on, time is money and I'm running out of it the longer we postpone this," Vince concluded, smirking to himself. Takashi raised his head to take a look at his captor. Vince could see the fury in his eyes.

"Hmm... Nothing like taming a beast, is there? You know, when you see an animal at the zoo, you can always tell if they were caught in the wild by the look in their eye," Vince said, leaning towards Takashi.

"They long for the freedom they lost, the thrill of the hunt. All that potential... locked in a box. It's not dissimilar to your predicament here, isn't it? You want to be back in Tokyo with your daddy tapping you on the back, racing ricers for money you don't even need," Vince noted and Takashi looked away in shame.

"So now, when I take this tape off, I'm going to call your father and you're gonna tell him that I want to arrange for a meet. And that if he doesn't, I will send his domesticated cat in a lot more boxes than you're in right now. Got that?" he asked, but both very well knew that there were no alternate routes to take. Vince took the tape off and dialed a number on his phone.

"Hello?" a voice answered on the other side.

Vince pressed the phone against Takashi's ear.

"Father."

"Takashi?" Kamata asked in disbelief.

"Father! There's a man here! He says he wants to meet you or he's gonna kill me!" Takashi burst out, and Vince took over the conversation.

"Okay, here's the deal. I've got the leverage here, Mr. Kamata, and if you want to see your son alive you're gonna have to make a trip to the other side of the ocean and meet me. Also, make sure you bring ten million dollars in unmarked bills.

"What is this, a joke?!" Kamata demanded furiously.

"Mr. Kamata, if there's one piece of knowledge I'd like to leave you with before this conversation is over, it's that I never play jokes on my business partners. If you so much as doubt my word, I welcome you to test me and find out for yourself," Vince taunted. Kamata remained silent.

"You've got forty eight hours to gather the money and get here. I'd suggest you get to it," Vince advised, ending the call.

Brian bought an international calling card and used a payphone to reach Bilkins. If there was one person who'd help him right now, it was him.

"Hello?" a man answered.

"Yeah, can I get Bilkins on the line, please?" Brian asked nervously.

"Badge number," the man demanded.

"Tell him it's O'Conner. He'll know," Brian noted.

"Hold."

The ex-cop took a look at Dom and Mia in the car, sharing a friendly and clearly intimate conversation. Brian felt the weight bearing on his shoulders. This conversation had to go down as planned, or they wouldn't stand a chance of finding out what happened to Han.

"O'Conner?" Bilkins asked.

"Hey, Bilkins - I know this ain't the best time to call yo-," Brian began.

"Best time? I don't know if you read the newspapers on your little vacation from justice but you're a wanted man, O'Conner! I've got an entire task force dedicated to taking you down," Bilkins revealed.

"I'm sure you do. Look, I know this isn't a convential thing to do, but I need you to track my phone for me," Brian explained.

"And what makes you think I'll do that?" Bilkins asked.

"Because a good man died and we're trying to find out what happened to him," Brian noted.

"Oh, please. Good men die every day. Why's this one so special?" Bilkins asked, and then realized how arrogant he sounded.

"Ugh, that came out bad. Look, I'll help you with this but in due time I'll ask you for a favor and you better not try to weasel out of it. Sound good?" Bilkins asked.

"Yeah," Brian said.

"And don't mention anything to Tanner, either."

"Tanner's working with you on this?!" Brian asked, shocked at the mentioning of his one-time mentor.

"Yeah, and he's got more of a chip on his shoulder for you than anyone else in our department. Speaking of which, he's coming my way. Gotta go," Bilkins said and the line went dead immediately. Brian stood frozen for a moment or two, and then rejoined Dom and Mia in the car.