Author's Notes: So, finals are finally past me… and I've got some more to post here. This is the first chapter that's sort of leading to the real story bit… less romantic fluff, more drug-dealing assholes. Er… right. Well enjoy!

Chapter 4: Trouble We Didn't Go Looking For

Lost in the darkness, hoping for a sign
Instead there is only silence

"Somewhere" – Within Temptation

It was nearing midnight on Tuesday when they got ready to leave for the drive to Sao Paulo. By car the trip would take around six hours, discounting traffic, though probably faster with the way they drove. Still, the shipment was scheduled to leave the warehouse at around 8am and with as long as the trip was they didn't want to miss it and have gone all that way for nothing.

After some debate it was decided that they would take two cars, the girls in one and the boys in the other as only Leon and Syd knew where they were going. Snacks and thermoses of coffee were stashed in each vehicle by the light of the full moon, the city down below illuminated by it's own light.

Leon filled the dog's water and food bowls and double checked the locks on the house while Dom and Letty sat on the front stoop talking in hushed voices. Being as it was the middle of the night most of the neighbors in the sleepy suburb were tucked quietly into their beds. Letty stood, arching her body in a stretch so that her red tank rode up to expose the bronze planes of her belly. Dom watched with a lazy gaze, eyes lingering on the dip of her belly button and the silvery glint of the fastening of her jeans.

Leon stepped outside, hand landing briefly on his shoulder. "Come on, Man, let's go." He crossed the lawn towards the car in the driveway and went around to the passenger side.

Dom stood slowly, leaning down to kiss Letty briefly before pulling back. "See you in Sao Paulo, baby."

She smiled and replied with a "You bet," before looking over to Syd who called her name.

The other girl tossed something in her direction and she saw the glint of metal in the moonlight before she reached out a hand to snag the set of car keys out of the air.

"You mind driving?" she asked as Letty looking at her questioningly.

"How fast does this thing go?" she queried with a grin, rounding towards the driver's side.

"To be honest," Syd said as she opened the passenger door, "I don't really know. I don't trust myself to handle a car going over a hundred."

Letty laughed. "Well girl, you're about to find out. Get in."

She slid into the driver's seat and buckled up as Syd rolled down her window and stuck her head out. "Hey boys!" she called. "We'll race you down the mountain!" She let out a laugh as Letty peeled away from the curb, leaving the men staring after them for a second before she heard the sound of their engine gunning.

0000

Hours later the coffee was cold and stale tasting and both women were experiencing the gritty-eyed feeling that comes from staying up all night. The sky was hazy with the hint of approaching sunrise and the highway stretched out before them still nearly bare of traffic aside from a few other travelers and the occassional truck.

Syd surfed through her iPod's playlist with a wide and noisy yawn that earned her a look from her companion. She smiled sheepishly.

"I haven't pulled an all-nighter since med school."

"Not at all?" Letty laughed, tilting her head back so her bangs fell away from her eyes. "You're telling me Leo's never kept you up all night?"

The other girl grinned, stretching like a cat and shifting her car seat back to get more leg room. "Well we always got snatches of sleep in between rounds you know?"

Letty's response was a half-snort and an eye-roll. "That counts?"

"Okay, maybe not." Syd laughed

0000

The city had been in their sight for a while, clusters of skyscrapers jutting into the early morning sky, still lit up from the night. It was closer now and Syd sat up, plugging the warehouse address into her GPS. She tilted her head until her neck cracked loudly, then winced. The screen was showing their destination a little more than thirty miles away now and it would take perhaps twenty minutes to get there accounting for traffic lights.

"So what exactly do you plan to do if your shipment isn't at the warehouse when we get there?" Letty interrupted her thoughts with the question.

"Call my supplier and reem them a new asshole," she muttered, rifling in the cooler at her feet for a soda. The ice in it had long since melted and sloshed around noisily in the plastic container.

She popped the top and took a long gulp before letting out a sigh. "Truth is I've never dealt with this company before. Someone I worked with in Recife recommended them to me. He knows a guy who knows a guy..." She waved a hand.

"Sounds a little shady."

Syd wrinkled her nose. "Doctors who come down to poorer cities to treat people for no pay are not 'shady'..."

"Maybe not at first, but you never know girl. Besides maybe it's the friend of a friend..." Letty raised a brow in her direction.

"I don't know. It's just as likely that the stuff is just getting stolen."

The other woman nodded and pulled off the highway on the next exit. They were silent for a time as she guided the car down the city streets. They were still empty of traffic, though it wouldn't be long before the early morning commuters were up and crowding the roads, a typical weekday rush hour in Sao Paulo.

A series of stop lights and a detour past some road work took them to the warehouse section of town, where double-lane streets were lined with trucks and bay doors were already open for the morning shifts. A group of men in jeans and t-shirts were unloading crates from the back of one truck, while another worker was moving pallets with a forklift. They drove past and pulled into the wide lot of a sprawling brick building. It was quiet here, no workers yet. White trucks with the medical supply logo were lined up near the back of the warehouse, awaiting their drivers.

Letty turned the wheel and pulled up alongside the trucks, parking the car. The boys were already there, lounging along the driver's side of Dom's vehicle. Leon held a bag of chips and they were laughing about something.

"What took you so long?" Leon snickered when Syd slid out of the passenger seat.

She raised a brow at him and made a face. "Please, you couldn't have been waiting more than a couple of minutes."

He shrugged, offering her a chip from the bag, his fingertips shiny from grease and salt and she wrinkled her nose before dipping her hand into the foil package and grabbing one. She turned, scanning the line of trucks with narrowed eyes.

"I wonder..." she murmured softly, popping the chip into her mouth before wandering over towards the large vehicles.

"What's she doing?" Dom asked, pushing away from the car. Letty glanced up from where she was stretching her weary limbs. She shrugged and turned to follow the other woman.

Syd circled around to the truck's cab, reached out to try and the door. It clicked open. She frowned, muttered something about shitty security and climbed up into the leather seat. A clipboard was wedged between the seat and the center console and she picked it up, her eyes scanning. She turned her head to look at Letty who was standing outside the door looking at her in confusion.

"It's a list of the truck's cargo. This isn't one of mine..." She dropped the clipboard into the seat and clambered out again. "Check the other trucks."

Letty sighed, opening the door of one. "I can't read Portuguese..."

"Uh..." Syd hummed as she rounded towards the next truck. "Just look for the words estéril and médico, they should be in there a lot."

Grumbling she searched through several of the trucks before hearing a loud "Here!!" from across the lot. By then the guys had wandered over to see what they were up to and the three of them made their way towards the last two trucks parked closest to the bay doors. Syd stood at the back of one, tugging at the latch.

"These two here are the trucks with my supplies." She tugged again and scowled. "It's locked."

"No shit," Leon scoffed. "They don't want someone stealing the supplies."

He pushed her aside gently and examined the lock. "Is there a release in the cab?" he asked and Letty moved around to the front of the truck, hunting for a button.

She located a lever near the seat and pulled it. With a loud clank the door was released and Leon shoved it open. Syd climbed up into the truck.

"Check the other one." She pointed to the vehicle parked next to the one she was in.

Leon motioned for Dom to follow him as Letty came to join Syd at the rear of the opened truck. She was struggling to pull tape off one of the sealed boxes.

"What are you doing?" Letty grumbled, climbing up into the truck. She watched Syd struggle with the tape a moment before fishing a pocketknife out of her jeans. "Here."

Syd took the offered tool and cut away the tape. She tugged the box opened and stared down at it, shock flickering over her face.

"What?" Letty asked, looking down into the box. Inside were stacks of what looked like white bricks wrapped in plastic. "I'm gonna take a guess that these aren't your medical supplies…"

"No," Syd said, shaking her head. "This looks like cocaine."

"Shit, girl. We might be in a lot more trouble than we thought."

0000

At the other truck Dom hopped out of the cab to find himself face to face with a man holding a gun. He looked uneasy and clicked the safety off, pointing the weapon at Dom.

"Quem são você?"

Dom raised his hands slowly, staring evenly at the man as Leon crept up behind him. "I don't want any trouble," he replied.

"É tarde demais para isto," the man fairly snarled, waving the gun. "Quem são vo-?"

The rest of his question was cut off as Leon knocked him over the head with the butt of his own weapon. Dom caught the guy before he crumpled to the ground.

"Leon, the girls."

0000

Syd and Letty stumbled on their feet as the truck jerked into motion.

"What the fuck?" Letty asked, flattening her hands against the inside of the truck to keep her balance.

"We better get off before this gets up to speed!" Syd shouted over the grinding of the engine.

They scrambled towards the back of the truck, sneakered feet trying to gain purchase on the slippery metal flooring. The truck hit a bump and jerked, knocking them into one another and the boxes. Letty got onto her hands and knees, pushing herself up. The back door was bobbing up and down dangerously with the vehicle's movements.

"Dom!" she shouted just as it slid all the way down and slammed shut, enveloping them in darkness.

0000

The two men raced around the back of the truck at the sound of an engine kicking in. The other truck backed out and they caught a glimpse of a dark-haired man before the truck jerked around, clanked loudly over a pothole.

Dom vaguely heard someone yelling his name before the back of the truck slammed shut and it sped out of the lot.

"Shit!" Leon cursed. "We have to go after it!"

Dom shook his head. "Believe me Lee, I want to but we have no idea what we'd be walking into. Let's wake up our guy here and get some info out of him. You check the truck."

He wasn't used to being the level-headed one, but he'd be no use to Letty if he got himself killed rushing after her with no clue and no plan. He had to trust that she'd keep them safe in the meantime.

Leon clambered up into the back of the truck as Dom went around front to collect their hostage. He hefted him over his shoulder as Leon called out to him.

"What?" he asked, rounding the vehicle with his captive.

"These boxes are all full of drugs. And not the medical kind. I think it might be coke or somethin'."

"Fuck," Dom muttered, dragging his free hand over his face. What had they gotten themselves into now?

Note: I do not speak Portuguese, all of what I put here is from online translation.

Quem são você - Who are you

É tarde demais para isto - It's too late for that