Chapter 19: Burn it Down

"Holy water cannot help you now
See I've had to burn your kingdom down
And no rivers and no lakes can put the fire out
I'm gonna raise the stakes, I'm gonna smoke you out"

Seven Devils – Florence and the Machine

The sun had been set for hours when the five cars sped beyond the city limits. Tires whooshed over pavement and engines roared with power. They shifted in tandem, criss-crossing one another as they cruised down the otherwise empty highway. As Rio faded into their rearview mirrors they all knew that this was it. There was no turning back.

In the lead car, Dom shifted gears and spared a glance at Mia sitting beside him. He hadn't wanted her to be involved, but if she had to be at least he could keep an eye on her. It was also a factor that Letty had insisted in being one of the drivers. They stood a better change with their best drivers behind the wheels. He knew that. He also knew that he had a hard time stepping back and letting some people make their own choices.

Mia unfolded the blueprint map that Syd, Letty, Brian and Vince had pieced together. There was the gate – which had probably been replaced since Vince had smashed through it. But structurally it was still a weak point.

The main house of the Villa was old and built primarily of wood. It would burn quickly in the hot Brazilian summer. That was their target for the explosives. Whatever they did they wanted to cause as much damage as possible.

"You ready for this, Papa?" Letty's voice filtered through his speakers. Mia pretended to gag in the passenger seat and he reached over to pinch her before switching to his headset.

"You bet you hot ass," he replied, just to get a rise out of Mia, who made a face at him.

"I can still hear *you* ya know, Dom," she complained.

"Too bad our girl didn't grow up a little with all that time spent at school," Letty laughed in his ear. Then she fell silent for a moment and when she spoke her voice was soft. "No second chances. You ready for this?"

"I'm ready to put that piece of shit Braga down so I can get back to taking care of my family."

"No more crazy stunts?" she asked, humor in her voice.

"Trouble found us this time, or rather, it found our friends."

"Family. Remember?"

"I won't forget, Let."

When she spoke again he could hear the smile in her voice. "You owe me a vacation after this."

"Oh yeah? Where at?"

"I don't care. Somewhere skank-free."

"So jealous," he laughed.

"Only cause you make me crazy."

His face fell for a moment and he stared hard out the front windshield so that he wouldn't see his sister looking at him. "You know I love you, right?"

Letty was quiet but he could picture her smile on the other end.

"I know."

0000

As the highway thinned down to one lane Vince and Brian pulled off, taking the same exit. Braga's Villa was a mere twenty minutes away now. The plan was officially in motion.

Brian and Vince stopped about a quarter mile away from the perimeter wall of the Villa. The exit had taken them down a little-used dirt road through the jungle. Once they broke the tree-line there was a good chance they'd be spotted by the guards manning the wall. The key was to not give them enough time. Brian exited his vehicle, hooking up the remote to the wheel and wiring the gas pedal as Vince armed the explosives throughout the car. Together they worked in silent efficiency. Once the car was prepped Brian got into the passenger side of Vince's car, booting up the small laptop computer.

"Ready when you are."

0000

In the country the darkness of the night was oppressive. Cutting the lights on their cars, Dom, Letty and Leon stopped as they came closer to the long drive that led to the Villa. They could see the lights in the distance, mounted on the walls and through the windows of the large house. There was activity on the perimeter. As Syd watched through the binoculars she could see men pacing along the length of the wall.

"Get in position," Dom said and he and Leon maneuvered their cars so that they were facing in the opposite direction. Gunning the engines they began to back up, watching over their shoulders as they kept the vehicles straight. Mia and Syd climbed into the back seats, reaching down to pull out identical grappling hooks mounted on crossbows. Leaning over, Mia rolled down the rear passenger window.

The cars slowed. They just had to wait for Brian and Vince to do their part.

0000

Vince kicked the car into gear, peeling out from the tree-line with the remote controlled car hot on his tail. In the passenger seat Brian struggled to tune out the jostling of the car beneath him as he controlled the other vehicle with the laptop. Through the camera he could see the back of V's car and the wall of the Villa growing closer and larger ahead of them.

Voices shouted in Portuguese and the first shots rang out, making both men wince as they scattered across the bullet-proof windshield.

"Do it now!" Vince shouted, hitting a button to deploy the ramp they had fixed to the trunk of the car. The remote-controlled vehicle hit it at high speed, launching up into the air. It sailed over the perimeter wall as the men shouted and ducked for cover, shooting wildly. The car tilted slightly, listing in the air for weightless moments as it plummeted forward from the force of the launch. Then with a scream of metal and shattered glass it was crunching through the main house, tearing through wood and siding and into support beams. The structure groaned and shuddered, folding inwards over the damage. Part of the third floor collapsed into the wreck made of several rooms on the second, and the car finally came to rest on the first, nose jutting out the opposite side, buried in rubble.

The Villa was in chaos.

"Now!" Brian shouted, hitting the switch for the explosives as Vince spun the car around, pulling the ramp back in. Dust flew in a circle with the tired of the car. Vince turned the wheel hard, shifting as his food pounded down on the gas.

With a series of booms the explosions tore through the main house of the Villa, shrapnel and car parts flying. Smoke and fire burst into the air, crackled onto the wood of the building, licking a violent path over broken furniture and papered walls. People fled, screams and ash floated through the air.

Braga marched out the front door his cheek streaked with soot and his eyes blazing with anger. He was shouting orders in Portuguese, ignoring the cries for help coming from the burning building. He snapped for Fenix and Eddie, stalking towards the garage. Another explosion ripped through the Villa, raining bits of wood and plaster down over them. Braga made the last few steps, yanking open the door to the garage. Over the shouting and the roar of the fire he heard the sound of a car engine gunning. He knew it. They would pay. Looking to Fenix he yanked open the door to his car.

"Kill them all."

0000

"The explosions are off," Brian's voice filtered through their car speakers and Dom and Leon slammed on the gas, their cars racing backwards toward the front gate of Braga's little hideaway. The girls leaned out of the windows and fired. The cables flew through the air, the hooks catching into the shiny black of the newly-replaced gate. Leon and Dom revved the engines of their cars as Mia chucked home-made smoke bombs out the window. She pulled her hand back and ducked as bullets scattered across the rear windshield, pelting the bullet-proof glass with a dull sound.

The guards were shouting and scrambling and the Villa's fire was spreading, roaring and crackling the old wood and pluming into the air. Soot and bits of plaster rained down and the smoke bombs made the visibility worse. The cars took off, wrenching the gate from the stone wall with a squeal of metal and the crunch of flying bricks. As they cleared the front of the Villa, moving out of the range of the guards' weapons, Syd and Mia opened the rear door and disconnected the cables that were attached to the grappling hooks. The warped metal gate skittered across the road and flew off into some trees. Tugging the doors shut the girls climbed back into the front seats.

"I think we probably got his attention," Leon said.

0000

Giselle had been expecting something ever since the vague text she'd received. Though she hadn't been expecting anything like this.

Explosions and fire and a carefully thought out attack that could be considered chaotic. She really had to get to know these people. And get on their good sides.

The text had clearly been a start. Without the warning she'd have been asleep in her room around now. And definitely dead. The Villa was a burning husk, a smoking shell. Giselle peered over the lid of a wooden container next to the old shed. She could hear the shouting and the sound of gunfire. She knew Braga would be out for blood, his dog Fenix hot on his heels.

She pressed against the side of the shed, inching along until she could peek around the corner. It was more chaos. Without a leader shouting orders the guards had scattered. Some had taken to the Jeeps intent on escaping. Others were scaling the walls to take their chances in the jungle. Still others stood at their posts, sifting through rubble for survivors, shooting at something over the front wall…

The front wall.

Reaching into the waistband of her jeans, Giselle withdrew the pistol she'd tucked there the night before. She scurried across the lawn, avoiding burning rubble and skirting around a body that had been thrown free from the blast. She reached the front gate just as the horrific squeal of twisting metal filled the air. She pressed her hands over her ears and crouched down, cringing in pain.

"O que está acontecendo?" she demanded of the nearest guard.

"Estamos sob ataque! Os terroristas em automóveis."

Giselle rolled her eyes. If anyone was a terrorist here it was them, running drugs and killing whomever got in their way. She thought back to the text. This had to be them. They had struck against Braga before he could. She found herself admiring that. She'd never had the guts to stand up to him. But these people had. They weren't going to run or curl up and roll over so that he could kill them without a fight.

Smashing the guard in the face with her pistol, Giselle ran out the wrecked gate just as a red Plymouth pulled up alongside it. She met the dark gaze of a familiar woman through the windshield. A woman who only days before had been her prisoner. A woman who was pointing a gun at her.

"Give me the gun and get in," Letty said. "Or I'm leaving you here to die with your master."

Without a second thought, Giselle chucked her pistol through the open window into the woman's lap and skirted around the car to yank open the passenger door and slide in. She could hear the guards shouting her name behind her, heard the ring of gun fire pattering across the trunk as Letty spun the vehicle away from the Villa. There was no going back.

And for that, she was glad.

Portuguese Translations:

O que está acontecendo? – What's going on?

Estamos sob ataque! Os terroristas em automóveis. – We're under attack! Terrorists in cars.