Chapter 2

After cruising around town for a bit to learn the layout, I return home to find the bodybuilder male who had driven the RX- 7 waiting. Curious, I pulled Diablo up in the driveway and removed my helmet.

"Can I help you?"

"Just thought I'm come introduce myself and welcome you to the neighborhood." He replied easily pushing himself away from the wooden rail and coming over. "Dominic Toretto. Friends call me Dom."

I took the offered hand. "Kira, Kira Santoro. Moved here from Miami."

He jerked his thumb to the house across the street. "Want to come over? Sort of meet the rest of the crew, make some friends?"

I smiled. "I'd love to. Thank you." Leaving Diablo in the driveway as I was certain I would hear her engine if someone tried to ride off with her, I followed Dom across the street. "You guys race?" He looked at me. "The cars just look like racers, is all. I race some myself."

"With that?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate Diablo.

"Sometimes. I've got an Eclipse in the trailer that needs some cosmetic work." I reply.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Got t-boned by a goddamned Suburban." I growl softly.

He winced. "Damn. If you've got the cash, it can be fixed. I run a garage in town and you're welcome to use it." He offered as we walked into the backyard where a barbeque looked to be underway. I immediately balked. A pretty brunette woman walked out of the house with a bowl of chicken salad. Seeing me standing next to Dom, she smiled.

"Leave it to Dom to reel in the new neighbor."

"Kira, this is my sister Mia. Mia, this is Kira." Dom introduced us and headed to the grill.

I offered a smile. "Hey."

Noticing I had balked, she offered a reassuring smile. "It's quite alright Kira. You're more than welcome here."

"I don't want to be a nuisance."

"If I invite you, you're not a nuisance." Dom grinned from the grill. "The rest are gone for the moment, getting stuff. Come over here." I went to stand near him as Mia went about getting more things from inside the house to put on the table. "You said you raced. How long have you been racing?"

"Since I was sixteen. About 7 years since I'm 22 now. Adoptive brother got me into it and it went from there." I replied.

"You also mentioned your car was damaged. You got the cash to repair it?"

I shook my head. "I was hoping to have some luck with Diablo, that's my bike, until I had won enough to repair the damages to the Eclipse."

"You were right, we do race. All of us except for Mia as she's still in school. And there just so happens that there's a race tonight. You want to ride with us?" I hesitated. "You ride with us and we'll do what we can to help you fix your ride."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "I don't know if you guys want to really get involved with me Dom." I said softly.

He eyed me. "You involved in something illegal?"

"Not me. My adoptive brother." I said softly.

"What'd he do?"

"Ran drugs."

"Want to talk about it?"

"It's a long story." I told him.

"We've got time before the rest show up." He replied and I told him basically the same thing I told you guys. "So your brother was drug runner who screwed up a run and now his boss is after you?"

I nodded. "I've been running for years Dom, just trying to keep my skin intact. The last time they came close to catching me, Reaper paid the price."

"Reaper?"

"My Eclipse. It was actually my brother's, but he made me escape with it. I've been running from place to place, running what races I can to keep all three sets of wheels in working order, while trying to keep ahead of them." I told him.

"As you'll learn, each of the crew has their own problems. Except for Mia. Myself, I was in LOMPOC for two years and I won't go back." He explained. "If you want to stick around with us, we'll watch your back. You were just an innocent bystander in your brother's problems and we'll protect you from them when they do show up. You let the rest know your story and you'll see that. Go get a plate from Mia for these burgers. They're about done. And bring me a beer if you don't mind. If you want one, feel free."

"Sure." I head inside and immediately find Mia who's slicing up tomatoes for the burgers. "Dom needs a plate."

With the knife, she pointed to a cabinet. "Did Dom invite you to the race tonight?"

I reached for a plate. "Yeah. He wants me to join the crew."

"If you want to, that's your choice Kira. You'll find that we may look like a rag tag group, but we're family. A family that will have each other's backs."

"Right now, I need a family." I comment, going into the fridge and retrieving two Coronas and heading back out to Dom in time to hear engines. I put the plate down on the table nearby and with the bottle opener from my keychain, open both beers.

"Thanks." Flipping burgers onto the plate with one hand, he points to the rest of the crew as they appear with a finger from the one holding the beer. "There's Letty, Leon, Vince, and Jesse. Guys, this is Kira Santoro from across the street."

"That your bike?" Leon asks, still staring at Diablo.

"Got an Eclipse in the trailer." I reply with a grin. "You guys wanna see?" I was perhaps a bit too eager to show off my ride. It didn't matter if she was busted. I wanted to show her off. I guess it was the pride of owning a ride like her that demanded it.

Dom looked down at me. "Even though it's all messed up?"

"If a guy wants to admire a ride, I'm gonna let him." I reply. "They're gonna see her anyway when I bring her into the garage."

He laughs as Letty walks up to him. I clearly read the message she was sending me. Back off. She was claiming Dom and I would do well to stay away from him in terms of a relationship. Which was fine by me. I'd only just met him. Besides, with my lifestyle of running, I wasn't looking for a relationship. "Go ahead. Just don't take too long."

After giving Letty a subtle nod to let her know I had gotten the message, I race across the street with Leon on my heels and Vince and Jesse following. "If she was in working order, I'd probably smoke that Jetta of yours." I toss over my shoulder at Jesse.

"I highly doubt that." He calls back.

"What's wrong with it?" Leon asks.

"Got t-boned." I replied, unlocking the back door and throwing them open to reveal the mess that was my beloved Eclipse.

Jesse and Leon wince. "Ouch."

"You got the cash to fix it?" Vince asks.

"Not at the moment. I'm going to see about running a few races with Diablo, my bike, to earn enough to fix her. Dom asked me if I wanted to run with you guys, but I dunno." I shook my head. "I've got a pretty nasty history and if I don't watch my back, it's going to bite me in the ass."

"You running from the feds or something?" Leon asked, curious.

"Something like that. But it was because of nothing I did. My adoptive brother got caught up in running illegal drugs and screwed up a run. The drug boss came after him and the family I was fostering with. They had killed our parents and were working on me when he showed up. He gave me the keys to the Eclipse and had me run for it. I've been running ever since." I looked at the damage to Reaper, remembering the wounds I had endured that night. I had scars across my stomach and it made me self-conscious to wear bikinis during the summer. "They almost caught up with me at the last stop. It's why Reaper looks the way she does. They tried to t-bone me."

"How long have you been running?" Leon asked.

"Couple years." I reply, popping the hood.

"Does Dom know?" Jesse asked as all three of them looked the engine over.

I nodded. "Told him first off. He still thinks it's a good idea I join the crew."

"How much has you and your brother put into this?" Leon asked.

"About ten- fifteen grand, I think. Not sure." I told him, rubbing the back of my neck wearily. "I need to upgrade some parts as they're outdated."

"If Dom thinks you should run with us, even after knowing what you've told him, you should run. We'll have your back whatever happens." Leon told me as a whistle pierces the evening air from across the street. "That's Dom, calling us back. Come on." Putting a friendly arm around my shoulders Leon guides me back across the street.

"Finally. I'm starving." Vince rumbles.

Leon pushes Vince. "You're always hungry." He leans closer to whisper in my ear. "That's why we call him Coyote."

I realized I was going to like running with Dom's gang.

He watched her as she talked and joked with Leon, Jesse, and Vince. Since her own ride was out of commission, she had ridden with Leon to the race.

"Kira!" She looked over at him in time to catch the keys out of the air. She looked at them, then at the RX- 7, than at him. "You can't race if you don't have a ride. Let's see what you can do."

She grins happily. "You got it." She turns to the three and brandishes the keys.

"Go get 'em." He hears Vince encourage. She races over to his car and easily slips inside. A flick of her wrist and the powerful engine is gently purring. She places her hands on the wheel and closes her eyes. A hand goes down to rest of the gearshift and he knows she's familiarizing herself with the car. Leaning in the passenger window, he pulls up the passenger seat, revealing the four small Nos bottles, letting her know where they were and showed her how to prepare it before pointing to the trigger hidden in the center dash.

"This car will beat anything here, as long as you know how to shift her." He told her. "You got it?" She nodded. There's a hard look in her blue eyes as her hands firmly grip the wheel and gearshift and he knows she's ready to race. "Show them what you've got."

The racers lined up and the signal given. All four fly off the mark and he notices Kira had shifted a little too late, allowing the other three to get ahead but the next shifts are perfect and she easily gains on her opponents. By the way she had talked about racing, she knew what she was doing and here he was being proven right. Like he expected, she hit the Nos at the right time and flew ahead of the other three, sending her across the finish line ahead of the others by a nose. She jerks the hand brake and sends the car into a sideways slide, stopping easily before the crowd. He smiles. Show off. At least she knew to show off after a race and not during.

"You missed the first shift." He told her as him and Letty came up to her.

"Yeah, I know. That first shift told me where the perfect shift was." She handed back the keys. "That was fun." She looked over at Vince. "I get to play with the Maxima next time." Before Vince could reply, Leon was shouting the alarm and everybody scattered for their cars and peeled out before they were caught.

"Vince! You've got Kira." He told the other and with a nod, Vince raced toward his ride with Kira on his heels. It was good knowing she wouldn't freeze in the face of danger. The two slipped inside and were gone in under a minute. He trusted Vince to keep her safe and get them back to the Fort.

I realize that the main character shouldn't reveal their past right off like I do, but for some reason, I have yet to figure out who to delay that. AS I get better as an author, I'll eventually figure out how to do that.

And as a head's up, this may a bit loose in places and I've tried not to make it so.