Word Count: 1,776/27,373
Chapter Five
Noon, two days later, found the two of them out at Neptune's Net, enjoying the lunch special.
"You know," Letty said, popping a piece of shrimp in her mouth. "I can totally see why you went back, Arizona. This subterfuge thing is kinda fun."
"Yeah," he agreed. "Except when you become real friends with your mark. Then it kinda sucks."
She reached across the table and squeezed his arm. "You came through in the end, Bri," she said. "You know, he was never as mad as he should have been. He was more hurt than anything, although I don't think he was ever willing to admit why. Not even to himself. He wanted to make you family. Not just for Mia, either. I still don't think he's ever fully realized it, but he wanted you at his side."
"And would you-" He trailed off, unsure exactly what he wanted to ask and letting her fill in the blanks.
"Would I have let him? I don't know. I'd like to say yes, but I don't think I would have been okay with that. I've grown up in the last five years and I think that's made all the difference."
"I'm glad. I never wanted to come between you."
Just then, they heard a buzzing sound and Letty pulled out the GPS with a frown. They both stared at it for a few moments.
"Guess I'm up," she said.
They stood and Brian tossed some cash on the table before they made their way out to the parking lot.
"We don't have time to get a tracking device, but it wouldn't do any good anyway," he said. "They have to run a scan, which is when we lose the UCs. I'll go back to the office and put up a show of calling for a trace on your phone. Turn it off whenever you need to, but remember that we'll always be in contact over the coms. Keep me posted on anything that happens. Call me on the cells when you get home. And, Letty."
He gripped her arm and pulled her to a stop next to the car, turning her so he could look down at her face. "Be careful," he said seriously. "If it looks like things are going south, you get out of there. Dom's freedom ain't worth your life and I know he'd agree. We'll find some other way to bring him home if we have to."
"I got this, Arizona," she said confidently before pulling him down for a kiss. "I'll be fine."
She got into her car and drove off. Brian watched until she was out of sight before getting into his own car and heading into the office.
He rushed into the building forty-five minutes after Letty got the call, nearly knocking Stasiak on his ass in the process. He hid a smirk as he continued to his desk.
"O'Conner!" Stasiak yelled, rushing after him.
Brian skipped the elevator, running up the stairs and bursting onto his floor. He grabbed the phone on his desk and quickly dialed.
"Nextel, this is Robin."
"Yeah, this is Special Agent O'Conner of the FBI, badge number 50232. I need a trace on a cell phone."
"What's going on, O'Conner?" Penning asked as he followed the irate Stasiak over to Brian's desk, Sophie trailing along behind him.
Brian covered his free ear so he could hear Robin.
"What's the number?" she asked.
"340-555-4082."
"All right. I will call you back when I have a lock."
"Thank you."
Brian hung up and turned to Penning, ignoring Stasiak. "I was meeting Letty and the GPS went off. I told her to go and that I'd track her cell phone."
"You mean we have a rogue informant running for the bad guy with no trace?" Stasiak demanded.
"I'm working on it," Brian said.
"GPS is taking us to a warehouse down on the docks," Letty said. "In addition to the other three drivers, there are three goons and Campos. They're running scanners for a trace."
"Like we suspected," Austin said.
Letty was silent as they scanned her car. "They're loading us into an Atkinson Furniture cargo truck. Sorry, Arizona. They're making us turn off our phones. I'll turn it back on as soon as I can."
His phone rang. "O'Conner," he said.
"Agent, O'Conner, this is Robin with Nextel. I traced the cell phone to a warehouse down on the docks, but right after I got a lock, the signal went out."
"All right. Thank you." He hung up the phone. "Shit!" he exclaimed.
"What?"
"Robin lost the signal. She must have turned the phone off." He ran his hand over his face. "Dammit!"
"She's running," Stasiak said with a sneer. "She has before."
"No, she's not. I saw the call myself. If she runs, not only does she have the FBI on her tail, she also has a pissed of Braga. She's got too much at stake right now to run," Brian said.
Penning looked at Brian for a long moment. "All right, O'Conner," he said. "We'll trust her for now, but you call me the second you hear anything from her."
Brian nodded. "Will do, Boss," he said, standing up. "I'm going to head down to the location Robin gave me, see if I can find anything."
"You do that," Penning said, walking away.
Brian left the building. "Penning almost makes this too easy," he muttered as he got in his car.
Letty laughed on the other end. "You say that like it's a bad thing," she said.
"The sneaking around and trying to outsmart the brass is the best part," Brian complained.
"For you, maybe."
"Be grateful it isn't like that for you, Letty. The adrenaline rush is the only thing Brian and I feel," Ali said from her end of the com.
"I know and I'm sorry. I'm just a little freaked right now. Campos was looking at me weird and these other three drivers keep staring at me. It's creeping me out."
"Knock 'em on their asses if you have to," Brian said.
"Some reason, I don't think the Bossman would approve."
"Your safety is my priority, Chica. I don't care if bossman doesn't approve."
"I'll be careful, Arizona."
"How did that nickname stick, anyway? You are aware that I'm not really from Arizona, right?" Brian asked.
"Yeah, I know. But Dom said it fit you better than Barstow."
"Ah."
"Trace says you're heading south towards the border," Austin said.
"Yeah, I figured," Letty said as Brian pulled into the parking garage of the hotel Ali and Austin were using as headquarters now that Letty was finished training. She sighed. "I should have brought something to do. This is gonna be a long ass ride."
"We'll keep you entertained," Brian promised, heading up to the room.
"You better, Buster."
The four of them spent the next eight hours trying to keep Letty from being bored. They went over various weapons, discussing the pros and cons of each one, before moving on to different fighting styles. That turned into a dissection of fight scenes from their favorite movies and TV shows.
Finally, Letty let them know that the truck was stopping.
"You're maybe thirty miles from the border," Austin said after checking the computer.
Over the next hour, the three back in LA listened to Letty receive some more instructions from Yashar. When the drivers finally headed out, they watched Letty's dot move up the Lagardo Ravine.
"How do they plan on getting you across?" Brian asked.
"I don't know. I can't see anything. Wait. It looks like- there's a tunnel or something that goes right under the mountain."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. It's kinda cool."
"Pretty ingenuous, too," Austin said. "Who would ever think to look down?"
Once they exited the tunnel, the drove another thirty minutes before coming to a stop.
"Hey, Guys. I have a bad feeling about this," Letty said. "They're making us get out of the cars and they all have guns."
"Just do what they say, but stay alert," Brian said, closing his eyes to think. "Okay. Penning said we always lose contact when the UC runs. They end up being collected sometime a week later in body bags." He opened his eyes and locked eyes with Ali. "Shit. They kill the drivers so they can't talk. Street racers are a dime a dozen and no one will miss them. Letty, get out of there!"
He heard the sound of gunfire over the com.
"Letty!"
"I'm all right! I'm in the car, but I think Fenix is following me."
"Lose him!"
"I'm trying!"
Brian, Ali and Austin stood in tense silence for several moments, listening to Letty yelling and cursing at the man behind her.
Ali looked over at Brian. "Even if she does lose him, they're not going to let her go," she said. "She knows too much."
"We have to fake my death," Letty said.
"We do that and you know Dom is gonna come back for revenge," Brian said. "He won't listen to reason and the immunity agreement will be useless."
"We don't have a choice, Brian," Ali said. "We fake her death and Austin and I will take care of her until you bring down Braga."
"Shit! Son of a bitch!" Letty yelled. "Your call, Arizona. I can't outrun him forever."
Brian pulled at his hair, trying to make a decision. He didn't want to put Letty, Dom and Mia through that, but he knew Ari was right. "All right. All right. Can you outrun him to Cerella?"
"I think so. Why?"
"There's that one stretch of road that's just long enough," Brian said, heading out the door and making his way down to his car. "When I give the signal, let him hit you and roll the car. Stay put and don't move. Let him think you're dead. I'll come driving up before he can check. He'll take off. Ali, Austin, I need you two to steal an ambulance and be the first on the scene. Pronounce her DOA. I'll ID the body and after you drive away, you can switch her out with a fake. The only thing we'll have to worry about is when Mia makes the arrangements."
"Got it. Shit! Sorry, Guys. I gotta concentrate."
"Letty, I need you to call my cell. That way I have an excuse to be first on the scene."
"Give me a second, Buster. I'm a little busy."
Brian jumped in his car and began racing towards Cerella Drive, hoping and praying to every one of Jesse's Car Gods that he would make it in time.
