Chapter 12: Rollin' round my head, goin' through the red

Knight sighed as he slid into the Trans-am. "Well?"

"Well what?" Karr replied sounding slightly annoyed.

Knight drummed his fingers on the cars steering wheel. "Did you find anything to connect the team to the heists?"

"No," Karr answered shortly.

Knight frowned. "Great. Nothing to connect them to the heists, nothing to prove they didn't."

"I hadn't finished," Karr told him irritably.

Knight shrugged. "Sorry. What did you find?"

"There was nothing to connect Toretto and his team to the heists," Karr replied. "However, Hector has been shelling out money on parts for Honda Civic's over a long period of time."

"That might just mean he's been upgrading one Civic over that time period Karr, getting newer and better parts."

"Then why buy the same part three times on three separate occasions?" Karr asked. "Parts don't wear out that quickly."

"You got a point there," Knight admitted as he backed the Trans-am out of its parking space. "I guess we have a new lead to follow. But not tonight."

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After Dark

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When they arrived, the racers had already started to move out. Knight was curious as to the opening line up. He wasn't curious for long as they quickly found a place to race. The line up was good, a blue BMW Z4, pitted against an Aston Martin Vanquish in racing green, an Evo VIII in pearlescent paint with glowing rims and wide body kit, the cars skin appearing to change colour under the light from different angles, but it was a bright red Ferrari F-40, with Hamann Motorsports modifications that caught his eye. The machine sported huge air intakes to supply the cars powerful engine with cool air. The rear of the car was painted in a black and silver chequered pattern, forming a flag diagonally up the cars sides, a galloping horse in black sprinting along the cars side. Knight found the blue underglow coupled with the red paint to look strange, and didn't think that the two went well together, but he admitted the car looked good, its plates reading "DN 2FST" obviously a custom job. The car sported markings for Nitrous Express, GReddy, Stillen and Hamann Motorsports, along with various others. The go was called by a blond wearing a miniskirt, bra with a mesh top over it, and a puffed up cap, and the cars took off. Knight winced as the Evo hit its nitrous and muttered. "Too early," to himself, the view confirmed when the F-40 surged forward with nitrous seconds later, blasting into the lead. Seconds later, the race was over, the driver of the F-40 having won. Knight shook his head slightly as the crowd gathered round, jumping as Tempest surprised him.

"You avoiding me?"

Knight shook his head, feeling slightly guarded. "Nope, why would I?"

"You tell me?" Tempest replied. "Enjoy the race?"

Knight shrugged, "If its drag racing, I prefer being in. not a fan of watching. No entertainment in people driving in a straight line if you're just watching. Not so bad if you have a bet riding, but I was a bit late for that too."

"I hear ya," Tempest grinned. "You race any other style?"

"Sprint races," Knight grinned, looking slightly wistful. "Miami was always fun, it's a lot of sprints down there."

Tempest smiled innocently. "I was hoping you'd say that," she told him, then wrote an address on the back of his hand. "Be there tomorrow night. Slightly more challenging races, lots of curves and bends."

"Your rematch?" Knight asked.

Tempest laughed lightly. "Damn straight boy. And you can bet I'll beat your ass."

"Yeah, you didn't look happy eating my dust last time."

Tempest made a sound like a buzzing wasp. "Oooh, you'll pay for that."

"If you say so," Knight said teasingly, then looked around. "Your friend not around tonight?"

"Nah," Tempest answered. "She hasn't wanted to come to many of the races down here lately. Says she saw someone she once knew, wants to avoid them. Apparently it's a bad situation."

"I know what that's like," Knight replied, struggling to keep his tone neutral. Tempest gave him a slightly suspicious look, but didn't press further.

Knight hoped she hadn't caught the lie as she asked. "What's your interest anyway?"

"I was just curious," Knight answered, annoyed to find himself still struggling to keep his tone neutral. "So who's the driver of the F-40?"

"Dan Cowell," Tempest told him. "He and his brother Craig both race. Dan tends to be better at the drag races, while Craig's more of a sprint racer. Don't think Craig's around tonight though."

"He wasn't bad," Knight shrugged. "I could beat him."

"Maybe tomorrow night," Tempest said, then added. "Of course, you'll both be watching my ass cross the line before yours do."

Knight leaned back slightly and looked down. "Nice ass it is too."

Tempest slapped his chest with the back of her hand. "Watch your step boy."

"Not my type anyway," Knight retorted.

Tempest stuck her tongue out at him. "I'll have you know I'd rock your world."

"Not if your drag racings anything to go," Knight responded teasingly.

Tempest made a face of mock outrage. "You are so gonna get your ass handed to you tomorrow night."

"We'll see," Knight replied, nudging her. "Time to get racing."

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Knight pulled the Trans-am up to the starting line with the other cars alongside. The other cars didn't seem like they'd prove much of a challenge to Karr, an older model Celica, a very new Lotus Elise with a lot of modifications, and a Porsche 911 Boxster. Knight briefly wondered why the other two were involved, neither one of them posed a threat to either Karr or the Porsche. He didn't have time to wonder as the race started, the four cars tearing away from the line with a squeal of tyres and cloud of dust. The engines were screaming, the Elise and Celica already falling behind. The Porsche was tearing away easily. Knight grinned at its driver's over-confidence, and hit Karr's nitrous, rocketing up behind the Porsche and drawing level with the metallic blue car. The car's driver looked over, and gave Knight a surprised look, trying to get more speed out of the car. Knight shook his head slightly. "How we doing Karr, can we use Turbo Boost yet?"

"The first tank just emptied," Karr informed him. "We're clear to use turbo boost."

"Great," Knight replied, then hit the turbo button. The black and silver Trans-am's engine roared as it blasted past the Porsche, the golden scanner bars rippling back and forth malevolently as it did so. The Porsche entered nitrous, trying unsuccessfully to keep up as the cars rocketed over the line, the Trans-am in front. Knight laughed as he spun the car around as Karr growled, "all too easy."

"You're getting a big head."

"I deal only in data. The facts speak for themselves, I haven't lost a race yet."

Knight coughed. "You lost to Kat's Skyline."

"Only because you told me we had to throw the race, to maintain our cover. Had I been allowed to perform as usual, I would have won," Karr retorted.

Knight grinned. "I really admire your modesty."

"Modesty is a state of mind, I deal only in data and logic."

"If you say so," Knight said, as he pulled the car to a stop. "Keep quiet ok."

Karr made a growling noise. "I do all the work, and you get all the praise."

Knight grinned but didn't reply to the car as he climbed out, slapping hands with Brian.

"Good race bro."

"Thanks Bri," Knight replied, grinning. Dom slapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Good race."

"Thanks Dom," Knight answered, surprised to find he was pleased to have earned praise from Dom. The noise from the crowd of racers and hanger-ons gave him a buzz, one he hadn't felt for a while. He enjoyed it, but it felt slightly hollow. None of these cars could catch Karr if the machine didn't hold back, but he knew it was more than that. It was because he wasn't here for the races, he was here to do a job, and it felt like he was cheating on the person he'd used to be. He pushed those thoughts aside, and relaxed, letting himself enjoy the accolades from the other drivers, watching the scanner bars pulse back and forth across Karr's front end as he praised the car for his success. He grinned slightly, realising that he was boosting the car's ego even more.

Finally Dom called for the last race of the night. Knight watched as four RX-7's lined up, Dom's bright red machine with the rockets on the sides, Tempest's elaborately painted storm scene on hers, along with a white one with black marks painted on the side looking like tears had been ripped in the side of it and the forth a sickly bright yellow with red markings, and red covers over the headlights. Knight leaned back on Karr's hood, watching with interest. In this race, the outcome depended more on the drivers than the cars performance. Knight knew Tempest was good, and that Dom was supposedly the king of the LA street racing scene. He knew this should be an entertaining race.

End of Chapter 12…