Usual disclaimers apply. Still having a few problems with my laptop which is holding things up. Regardless of that, the next one is ready. Thanks again to Tempest for use of her characters, and for fixing my mistakes during the beta reading. Hope you all enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 26: Wilder than your wildest dreams, when you're going to extremes, it takes Adrenaline

"Letty, can I ask you a favour?" Karr asked, rolling up behind her.

Letty crouched down next to the sleek, black and silver Trans-am. "What is it Karr?"

"I need a driver. Mine is otherwise engaged, and there's a competition that intrigues me."

"Sounds interesting, what is it?"

"They have a tight course marked out with traffic cones. Fastest time through the course wins. Currently, the average speed to take the course is sixty five miles per hour. The racer that set the quickest time managed to average seventy three."

"And you want to see how fast I can do it?"

"Not exactly. I don't need you to drive, I just need someone to represent me. A talking car that drives itself might arouse suspicions."

"Sure you can win?"

"I can out perform these race rockets and whatever primitive machine he uses with one wheel tied behind my axle."

"How fast do you think you can do the course?"

"I believe I can take the course at a hundred."

"Is your owner ok with me borrowing you?"

"I do not have an owner. I have a partner, a friend."

"Ok, but is he happy for me to borrow you for a contest?"

"I have a will of my own, and make my own decisions. Knight encourages it, despite the wishes of our bosses."

"Good enough for me. Alright then, let's do it," Letty replied. The Trans-am's driver door swung open in response, closing shut behind her.

Dom pulled his RX-7 up to the line eyeing the Mustang next to him with distaste, deciding that there were downsides to being the king of the streets, like being challenged by spoilt rich kids who had the mistaken belief they could drive. So far, not one of them had impressed him. He cranked up the volume on the car's stereo, the speakers pounding out the music as the organiser called the go. Both cars took off, Dominic taking the lead easily. He wasn't even aware of the other car, just enjoying the feeling of freedom he got from racing. His peripheral vision caught a flash of blue from the Mustang's paintjob as it drew level, and calmly popped and punched his NOS button. From Dom's perspective, the desert seemed to streak around the RX-7 as it rocketed forward, blasting across the line a good two lengths ahead of the Mustang. Dom shook his head slightly, not even slightly impressed.

Letty looked doubtfully over the course that had been laid out. "A hundred?"

"Yes."

"You're sure?"

"My simulations show that it's possible. My calculations confirm it."

"Right. Simulations. Calculations," the Latina sighed. "How much is the buy in?"

"Three thousand."

Letty coughed slightly. "Do you win the pot at the end if you win?"

"Affirmative."

"You promise not to lose my money?"

"Wouldn't that take the fun out of it?"

"That isn't very comforting," Letty muttered. "Alright, let's do this."

Karr watched as she spoke with the competition organisers, re-running the calculations idly in the back of his CPU core. It would be a rough ride, but it was definitely possible. He quit the calculations as Letty returned and slid into the driver's seat. "Alright, we're up next."

"Strap in tightly and hold on," Karr advised. "It's going to be a rough ride."

"How rough?"

"Have you ever played pinball?"

Letty didn't have chance to answer before the car started up and moved forward to the start line, the powerful engine revving slightly as it waited for the go.

"Isn't that your car?" Jade asked as they came out of her trailer.

Knight followed the direction she pointed in and groaned inwardly. "Yeah it is," he answered, watching as the black and silver Trans-am lunged forward.

Jade frowned. "So who the hell is driving it?"

Knight glanced across at the Toretto enclave and breathed a sigh of relief. Apart from Dom and Letty, the whole team was assembled. Dom's car was the only one missing, and he knew Dom didn't like anyone riding with him while he was racing. "Letty I think."

"Didn't know she could drive like that," Jade commented, watching as the Trans-am slalomed through the tightly marked out bends.

Knight watched as the Trans-am accelerated towards the ramp leading up to the long line of old cars. "I'm not sure she is."

Letty held on for dear life as the Trans-am rocketed through the course, twisting through turns and bends, the back end sliding out on the harsher turns, coming within millimetres of the cones. Letty grinned as the car accelerated down the narrow straight, through the cross section. The steering wheel spun to the left sharply, the Trans-am sliding into the turn, the rear tyres squealing as the car spun through the curve, Letty clinging to the hand holds to keep from being thrown across the car, and laughing like a maniac. Karr straightened up and hit the gas, powering out of the turn and accelerating sharply, winding quickly through the S-bends, towards the 90 degree turn. Letty's eyes widened as she realised that the turn was perilously close to a hanger wall. "uhhh... Karr? You realise we're heading towards a brick wall at..." she glanced at the speedo, showing one hundred and twenty and still climbing. "at over a hundred and twenty?"

"I know."

"Shouldn't we slow down to make the turn?"

"Not yet."

Letty glanced up as wall came ever closer. "Then when?"

"Now."

The Trans-am's brakes slammed down hard, the wheel turning sharply to the left. For what seemed like the longest moment of Letty's life the car continued to barrel forward, straight towards the wall before finally turning. Letty held her breath as the AI increased the power, fighting momentum and dragging the car out of the turn millimetres before hitting the wall, clouds of dust and sand obscuring the car as it pulled out of the turn and headed for the finish line. Letty started laughing madly at the rush of adrenaline as the car crossed the line and began doing donuts, the dashboard lighting going crazy as the individual systems tried to determine what was taking place. The AI finally brought the car to a halt, the engine whining slightly as it powered down to an idle state, throbbing gently. "I believe we won."

"I don't think anyone else could beat that time," Letty agreed. "Or the finish. Do I even want to know how close we came to that wall?"

"No."

Letty grinned. "I won't ask then. Let's go collect your winnings."

The Trans-am's scanners rippled. "Unfortunately, I will be unable to do so currently. I am receiving a transmission from home."

Knight was watching Jade race when his watch beeped insistently at him, Karr attempting to raise him over the comm. link. He half turned to hide the motion as he clicked the watch. "What is it Karr?"

"Bonnie's transmitted the cleared up image I obtained of our shooter. It's Tempest."

"Where is she now?"

"She's leaving along with Ricky Tran, his cousin Lance, and the two Cowell's in two cars."

"Sounds like they're our hijackers. Keep a lock on them and come and get me pal."

He straightened up and turned as white Mustang pulled up next to him, Jade leaning out of the window. "What's up?"

Knight gave her an apologetic look. "I have to leave for a little while."

"What is it?"

"Something's come up. Work. I have to go."

"What? Why?"

"Jade, the people I'm after are the bad guys. They aren't all bad, the hijacking aside. But some of them are really bad guys, they're gonna hurt someone. I have to make sure they can't."

He squeezed her hand as the Trans-am pulled up behind him. "I'll see you later."

Jade watched as he pulled open the car's door, slid into the seat, and gunned the engine, the Trans-am sliding away gracefully. Jade watched the car slow down, by the Toretto camp, Letty climbing out, and Brian sliding in before the car pulled away rapidly. She quickly pulled her cell phone from her pocket. "Knight knows. He's trying to catch up with you."

She listened intently for a moment to the voice on the other end of the phone. "Alright, I'll meet you there."

"Alright," Tran told the group as they yanked the covers off the Honda Civics. "We're without Jade on this one. Craig, take the left side of the truck, so that Dan can cover the driver. Tempest, come up on the right side, but hang back a bit. We need to keep him steady so Lance can get on board."

"Right," Dan replied.

Tempest just gave him a cool look and a 'whatever' shrug and turned her head to look over at Craig. "Seeing as you have nothing better to do, keep your eyes on the police scanner."

Craig nodded as they headed for their cars, Tempest glancing back at Craig, pointing to her eyes and then at him with two fingers. Craig returned the gesture with a cheeky wink as he slid into his Civic and started the engine, following the other two cars out onto the road.

"You still got them on your scanner?" Knight asked as he raced the Trans-am down a stretch of desert road.

Karr's steely voice responded with annoyance. "Negative. I've lost them."

"Shit," Knight complained, sitting in silence for a moment. "Monitor your CB band for any transmissions from truckers. See if you can hook into company computers, get dispatch information, GPS location, cargo manifests, anything you can find. I want to know what's being shipped, and routes for the trucks. Maybe then we carry narrow it down, identify which truck is gonna be hit."

"And if we can't?" Brian asked.

Knight frowned. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

The three Civics moved up on the truck rapidly, fanning out around it as Craig gave the all clear. Ricky cut his around in front of the truck, ignoring the blaring of the horn, Lance opening the sunroof and pulling on a helmet as Craig brought his Civic up on the trucks left hand side, Dan pulling on her helmet, opening the sunroof, and standing up, levelling an Uzi at the truck driver and motioning for him to drive straight and not try anything. Lance levelled a harpoon at the passenger window and fired, then yanked the window out, cut the cord and swapped the launcher for another, firing the second harpoon into the passenger seat. As Lance got aboard the truck, Craig pulled his Civic back to the rear of the truck, Tempest moving away from it slightly as Lance took control. Meanwhile, Craig glanced in his rear view mirror. "Shit!" then picked up his walkie-talkie. "We got company. What the hell is he doing here?"

"Who?"

"Knight," Craig answered grimly as the Trans-am gained on them.

Ricky's voice came back over the walkie-talkie. "Tempest, take care of him.."

"Got it."

"Got it," Craig said, moving to the left, making room as Tempest dropped back slightly, before slamming the Civic to the right and hitting the brakes, spinning the car around underneath the truck, with only a couple of inches to spare, before gunning the accelerator as she cleared the truck and headed straight at the Trans-am.

Knight raised an eyebrow. "You see what I see?"

"She appears to be coming straight for us. I was most impressed with her little truck manoeuvre."

"It was pretty tight," Brian said. "Not sure even Let can drive like that."

"See how she handles this," Knight muttered, pressing harder on the gas, the two cars racing at each other head on. "Karr."

"Activating Turbo Boost."

With a roar, the Trans-am took off, soaring over the Honda Civic and carrying on towards the truck at speed. "Can you stop the truck?"

"No."

Knight almost laughed at the car's blunt attitude. "Alright, she's all yours, keep her steady for me," he said, opening the car's auto-roof, and shutting off the passive laser restraint system, pulling the Trans-am close in to the rear of the truck.

"What are you doing?" Brian asked, Karr simultaneously asking "You're going to do something stupid aren't you?"

"You can't stop the truck. The only option is for someone to get onboard."

"You realise that if you make any mistake, I will be unable to protect you. There is a good chance that this endeavour will result in your de-activation."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

As he stood up, the car jolted, forcing him to grab the t-bar across the roof, and glanced over, to see Craig ramming into Karr with the Civic, having come around the truck. "Karr!"

"I am aware of him."

"Yeah, but I wasn't. Why didn't you warn me?"

"I was trying to compensate."

"Next time, just tell me," Knight complained, dropping back into the seat, the auto roof closing behind him, the Trans-am jolting again as the cars collided again, Karr's steely voice complaining,

"how unpleasant."

"Think about how other cars would feel. They dent."

The car jolted again as the Civic collided again before dropping back slightly, the younger Cowell leaning out and spraying the rear of the Trans-am with Uzi fire.

"You'd think they'd have learnt that bullets don't work on me by now."

"You'd think," Knight replied, as bullets bounced harmlessly off Karr's rear end. The bullet fire ceased, and the car was jolted again. "Apparently, they've given up on that plan."

"Surely you don't expect me to just let him keep ramming me?"

"Not for much longer pal," Knight replied tersely, getting more fed up with each jolt of the car. "Ok, enough's enough. Tell me when he's about to ram us again."

The Trans-am was rocked by two more collisions before Karr spoke. "Now."

Knight slammed on the brakes, the tyres shrieking as the car suddenly slowed drastically. Before Craig could react, the Civic was under the truck, and grinding against its rear wheels. Craig desperately gunned the engine, trying to get the Civic clear, as sparks flew from the tortured metal, the trucks tyres whining, before they got purchase, and rolled over the Civic, crumpling the car beneath them, broken metal and glass scattering across the road, steam venting from the wreck. Knight slammed on Karr's brakes to avoid hitting the wreck, cursing their rotten luck. "Are they alright?"

"I'm detecting no life signs from the wreck. However Tempest is approaching rapidly."

"Alright, let's go deal with her then shall we?" Knight asked, gunning the engine and spinning the Trans-am round, heading straight back at Tempest. She didn't move the Civic out of the way, bearing down on the sleek black and silver car head on. Knight's left eye narrowed slightly, an unconscious movement accompanied by a subtle turn of his head. "She's not gonna turn," he exclaimed, but the realisation was too late, Tempest apparently realising the same thing as her wheels suddenly turned too late, the cars colliding, the Civic's front end crumpling, the front wheel rolling up the Trans-am's front end, over the windshield, the Civic flipping and rolling down the road, and off the verge at the side of the road, landing on its roof, covered in dust and sand as Knight spun the Trans-am round, thanking his lucky stars for Karr's impenetrable molecular bonded shell, pulling the car to a stop next to the damaged Civic. "Call for an ambulance," he instructed, leaping out, pulling a moaning but conscious Tempest, spitting blood, from the car uncomfortably aware that he might be doing more harm than good. "Where are they going?"

She gave him a glazed look, before her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out.

"You're awake."

Tempest rubbed her head and looked at him and Brian. "Where am I?"

"Hospital," Brian supplied. "You were pretty banged up."

"That would be because someone aimed their Trans-am at me," she retorted glaring at Knight.

He shrugged in response. "Part of the job, stopping crooks."

"So you really are a cop?" she asked, then nodding at Brian. "Like he used to be?"

"No, and your lucky I'm not after you tried to put a bullet in my head."

"How did you…?"

"Know it was you? Karr's pretty well equipped, and got a snap of you, although we couldn't recognise you from it till about five hours ago, when it had been cleaned up. As you probably guessed, the car's bullet-proof. Actually, it's almost completely impervious to damage. Or at least, from most other cars. From what I've been told, it takes a lot to even dent it."

"So what are you if not a cop?"

"I work for," he hesitated for a fraction of a second. "a special branch of the FBI. LAPD needed some help with the case, and I got it handed to me because of my background and my friendship with Brian."

"So, you're here for what, make a deal?"

"I want to know where Tran is. LAPD SWAT raided his house, his holdings, your garage, nothing."

"I'm telling you nothing. He's got contacts, I'm not putting my neck on the line. Think I'm the only hired gun he has in pocket?"

"You're afraid of him?"

"Pft, no," Tempest snorted. "I just don't intend to spend the rest of my life waiting for the knife or bullet that ends it. Kiss my ass."

"So you go to jail," Knight shrugged. "No more freedom. No more racing. You know that one of the truck drivers you hijacked died? You'll be liable for it. You think Tran and his cousin are gonna stick around knowing I'm on to them? They'll leave you to take the rap for it. So, you can tell me what I want to know, or is kiss my ass your final answer?"

"You've watched Triple X too many times," Tempest replied. "What do I get out of this?"

Knight frowned. "I'll drop the attempted murder charge. If you agree to testify against him, I can arrange for you to get immunity from prosecution, you'll be free."

"What, no protection while I'm stuck here?"

Knight pulled out his cell phone. "Mike, I need some help. I've got a witness that needs protecting."

Tempest could hear the voice over the tinny sounding microphone, then Knight spoke again. "Ok, thanks man. We'll get a drink when this is over," he said before he hung up. "A friend of mine agreed to come and baby-sit while we sort something more long term. So, you gonna help?"

Tempest nodded. "What do you want to know?"

"Where do they unload the truck, transfer the goods?"

"Ricky has a warehouse out at the docks, under a different name. That's why the cops wouldn't be able to find him. But he won't be there now."

"So where will he be?"

Tempest regarded him steadily. "He knows who you are. Both of you. This was never just about the heists, this was revenge. Where do you think he is?"

Neither man tracked what she said for a moment. They glanced at each other, and Knight saw realisation and fear cross Brian's face. It was then he also realised what she meant, both of them bolting through the door.

End of Chapter 26…