Brian raced up the strip to Barstow in Letty's Camaro, pushing the powerful beast to the limit. He knew she'd be pissed and probably threaten his life over her car, but he couldn't wait for Dom. He found her keys hanging up near the door and it only took a split second to decide to deal with her wrath later. He needed to get to his hometown. He needed to find his mother.
Tears filled his eyes at the thought of his mother being hurt, or even dead. They didn't have the best relationship, in fact, they didn't really have a relationship at all. Not since he went rogue from the LAPD and became a televised criminal. Once he traded in his badge for his Nissan, his mother didn't want to be associated with him, or have anything to do with him at all. Regardless of their distance, she was still his mother, and he refused to let Carter take her away from him.
He headed straight to his mother's home once he it made it to town. Pulling onto the block, he noticed a slew of police vehicles outside of his childhood home. The small two-story house was the same way he left it, except it was in desperate need of a coat of paint and some landscaping. Nostalgia hit him like a brick wall as he glanced over at Rome's childhood home across the street. A watery smile crossed his face when thoughts of spending countless hours on this block slap-fighting and causing mischief with Rome went through his head.
Pulling onto the curb, he was quickly reminded why he was there and the smile left his face. He hurried out and over to the police tape, where a few uniformed cops stood guard of the home.
"Let him through," Hobbs hollered over. Brian ducked the tape and joined Luke on the porch. "Brian, I know I should've called but-"
Before he could finish, Hobbs was eating a right-hook from Brian. His men jumped into action, but he waved them back. He recovered quickly, looking at Brian with fiery eyes.
"You only get one of those," he snarled.
"Why didn't you tell me, man?" Brian asked angrily, but Hobbs knew it was out of fear. Fear of what he already knew - Carter had his mother.
"I've seen Carter's work. I didn't want you to be here if we found her dead," Luke replied bluntly.
Brian calmed himself; he knew his anger was misplaced. He gave a small nod and turned to enter the house, taking the steps over the threshold slowly. The small, quaint home he grew up in was trashed with overturned furniture and dumped houseplants. His mother's collection of porcelain dolls were crashed into pieces on the floor. In the debris, he found a picture frame with the glass casing broken. He scooped the photo into his hands, a small smile spreading across his lips. It was of a young Brian and Rome with his mother, Kelly. With the addition of Roger, this was the only family Brian knew as a child. And now Carter Verone had them both.
"What do we have?" Brian's police instincts kicked in, and he was ready to start the hunt.
"We think Verone initially came for Ms. O'Conner. Roger probably heard the commotion and tried to intervene. There wasn't any disturbance found in his home, or blood," Hobbs said while leading Brian to the kitchen, where it appeared the altercation took place.
Brian investigated the scene for himself. Blood was splattered on the walls and pooled on the floor. There were certainly signs of a struggle; a massive hold in the wall that looked like someone had been thrown through it, the wooden dinner table split in half on the floor, and of course, the blood.
"Who's blood?" Brian was afraid to ask.
"We put a rush on the DNA to the lab. We found Roger on the floor next to one of Carter's men, whom of which took a kitchen knife to the heart. Roman's dad took a beating, and probably by more than one man, but he put up a helluva fight."
Brian felt some comfort in that. The sight and smell of blood was making him sick, so he headed out for fresh air.
"Do we have any clue where he is?"
"No. The call last night pinged off a tower about twenty minutes from here..."
Brian tuned him out when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. It was a call from a private number. Normally he wouldn't answer, but he had an inkling that it was Carter.
"You're a dead man, Verone. You better pray the cops find you before I do."
"If that were the case, your mother would be dead. And right now, she's still breathing. I told you, Pearce wasn't my only leverage."
"Where do we meet?" Brian cut to the chase.
"Come alone to the private airplane hangar outside of the city. Don't think about bringing any police. I'll see you before you see me, and if anything looks suspicious, I'll put a pullet in both of their heads. Oh, and don't worry about going after Brooke... she's already here. You have one hour."
Brian was left fuming when the line died.
"Dom just texted. He's on his way. What did Verone say?" Hobbs asked.
"I gotta meet him at a private plane hangar in an hour."
"Good. Which one? We'll get one of my guys in a chopper to check it out first."
"No," Brian said, "No cops or my mother's dead. Brooke is already with him. I can't take that chance."
Hobbs waved over one of his men, "I need a list of every airplane hangar in a fifty mile radius. I also need any reports from LAX about any suspicious flights in the last twenty-four hours. I need it now."
The agent nodded and raced to get started on his task. Brian flopped down on the steps, feeling completely deflated, and eager at the same time.
"Hey..." Hobbs sat next to him, "This is what I do for a living - catch wanted criminals. Hell, you're pretty good at it yourself. We'll get Carter, and we're gonna get your mom and Roman back. Don't carry all of this on your own."
"I have to get my family back home, Luke. I can't let my son's entire childhood be surrounded by danger and instability. Mia is a nurse now, and Jack's in a good daycare," he paused, "When does all this shit actually stop so we can live in peace? I mean, I thought I missed the action, but I realized - how could I miss anything that would take me away from them?"
"It's easy to miss your old life when you're surrounded by pain and death."
"What'd you do before the badge?" Brian asked. The family was tight with Luke, but Brian didn't really know much about him.
"I played college ball back in my heyday. I was pretty damn good too, almost went pro. I guess my dad felt like I'd be more lucrative in the military. Got in, and never came out," he shrugged.
"Well I can't let my family live a life of what ifs. Regardless of what happens today, I'm sending my family home. And I'm going with them."
"How about you let me have a few of my guys drive them up and watch over them until we finish this Carter thing?"
Brian nodded. He was comfortable with trusted, armed men looking over his family.
"Boss, we got something!" Brian and Hobbs ran over to the DSS truck. "There are at least ten private hangars inside the radius."
"This is the closest," Hobbs pointed to a red dot on the screen, located a few miles outside of Barstow. He turned to Brian, "On your word, we move."
Brian wanted to move on Carter now, use the element of surprise, but he didn't know what he'd find at the hangar, and he didn't want to walk into a trap with no back-up. Dom was the only person he trusted to roll with him, but his anxiety made it hard to wait.
"Call Dom," Brian grabbed a Glock from the truck and loaded the clip inside. As he turned for the car, he heard Dom's Charger roaring up the block. Dom drifted to a stop in front of the house. He and Oz stepped out of the car.
"Leaving without me?" Dom said with a smile.
"You down for one more ride?" Brian grinned, tossing a 12-gauge shotgun in his direction.
"Always," Dom smirked.
Letty inhaled the fresh air as she stepped out of the police station with Kara at her side. She knew she had dodged a bullet with the charges, but she wasn't out of the woods just yet. She had to somehow get Brian to agree to meet with Tanner, despite his more important meeting with Carter today.
"What now?" Letty asked.
"Get O'Conner down here as soon as possible."
"I don't know if that's possible."
Kara pulled Letty out of earshot of the station, "If I'm gonna be representing you, I need to know what's going on."
Letty was apprehensive, but she agreed, "After Brian turned in his badge in LA, he fled to Miami. In order to avoid charges here and in Florida, he agreed to work with the Feds to bring down this guy, Carter Verone. Verone escaped prison a few days ago and now he's on a revenge run. He kidnapped our friend, Roman."
"Shit," Kara said.
"No shit. He's meeting with Carter today for an exchange. That girl Brooke from Leon's shop? Carter's daughter. He wants her for Rome."
At that time, Leon's Nismo pulled up to the curb.
"Have the police been informed?"
"We have a good friend who works for the Diplomatic Security Service, he's working the case. I need more time, Kara. Brian won't back off finding Roman to walk down memory lane with Tanner."
"Do what you can, I'll work on Tanner. He's got a tough exterior, but he's a softie at heart. I know the history of O'Conner around here. Tanner really admired him. My guess? He wants answers from Brian. I'll see if I can postpone their little meeting."
"Thanks. Who knows - maybe you aren't a complete cunt after all," Letty said with a smirk.
"Oh no, I am," Kara said foxily before turning to Leon, "I have to go to a meeting. Are we still on for tonight?"
Letty shot Leon a playful smirk.
He smiled, "Yeah, we are."
"Good," Kara stood up and smoothed out her skirt, "I'll see you later."
Letty slid into the Nismo with a grin for Leon. He rolled his eyes while speeding off.
"Don't. We're having dinner with Jess tonight. Kara's pregnant."
"What?!" Letty exclaimed. "I thought that was over?"
"Yeah, I thought so too," he replied soberly, "A little over a month ago, she lost a tough case. I was there to ... comfort her."
"Yeah, I'd say," she smirked, "So what are you gonna do?"
"I'm gonna be a dad again," he said with a slow smile.
"I mean about Billie? You like her."
"Yeah," his smile grew, "I don't know. It's too early to say."
"We'll you got about seven months to figure it out," Letty said. "I need to pick up my car from the beach house."
"You need to call the big guy, too. Let him know you're out."
Letty retrieved her cell and dialed his number.
"Lett? Thank God. What happened?" he blurted out.
"I have to get Brian to agree to meet with the lieutenant at the station today. Apparently they have history."
"That might be a bit difficult today. Carter's in Barstow. He attacked Rome's dad and kidnapped Brian's mom."
"Brian has a mom?" she replied bluntly, then realized how ridiculous it sounded, "Stupid question. I mean, I never heard about her."
"They aren't close. I'm on my way to him now. What happens if you don't deliver him?"
"I'll be looking at a cozy cell for a year," she said. She caught the nervous look on Leon's face as he listened to her conversation. "How's Brooke?"
"Don't know. She's not with me."
Letty didn't like the vagueness in his words, "What do you mean? Where is she?"
"She hit Oz over the head with his own bat, then took off. I got ninety mill that says she's with her dad."
Letty's blood soon boiled over, "I'm going to pick up my car, then I'm coming to you."
"I got more bad news... Brian has your car."
Her body temperature spiked even more, and she felt like screaming. The thought of someone else driving her car put Letty on edge.
"Wha-what?" she stammered.
"I promise if she even has a scratch, I'll hold him down for you myself," Dom promised. She could hear the grin on his lips.
"If anything happens to my car, I'll need someone to hold you both down," she replied.
"Message received," Dom smirked. "Alright, head to the house and look after Mia, will ya. Hopefully we won't be long."
"Dom?" she said softly.
"Yeah, Lett?"
"Please be careful."
"Always," he said before ending the call.
"The Buster has my car," she said with a groan, "Take me to Dom's."
While heading to the Toretto home, Leon received a text alert on his phone. Letty watched as he flipped through his phone with a sly smile, all while driving.
"Mind keeping your eyes on the road, Playboy?"
"Sorry," he dropped his phone in his lap, "It's just Billie. She wants me to meet her in Barstow for lunch today. She's flying out tomorrow to look at a place in Miami, and I want to spend as much time with her as I can."
"She's leaving? Does Dom know?" Letty asked, surprised.
"She hasn't told him yet. I don't think she's told anyone, actually. She got the call from a Realtor yesterday to come check it out before finalizing the deal."
"Did she say why?"
"Not really. I figured she's not down for the thrills like you folks," he replied with a smirk.
"Kinda bad timing, isn't it? She was there last night, right? When we found out our friend was kidnapped by a psycho?" Letty's nerves were already rattled by Brooke's betrayal and Brian's idiocy. "And why Miami? The other side of the country... that's an extreme relocation, Leon."
"She didn't give a reasoning and I didn't pry," Leon shrugged. He looked at Letty, "Why are you so bothered by this? I thought you'd be happy that she's leaving."
Letty frowned, "I'm not bothered. I just think it's strange that as soon as we realize we have mole, she's suddenly moving across the country and nobody knows but you, a guy she's only known for two days. That's not weird to you?"
"I mean, I don't know," he shrugged. "I don't really care to know why she's moving. I just wanna enjoy lunch with a pretty woman while I still can. Are you really giving me a hard time for that?"
"Leon, I'm just trying to work this shit out," she thought about Billie's sudden departure, "It's almost as if she's running."
"Lett, you ever think maybe she wants out of the castle now that the Queen is back home?"
Letty frowned at Leon's gullible mind. She wanted to figure out who was responsible for giving them up to Carter, partially because she felt responsible for bringing Brooke home. Either Brooke was an incredibly great liar and had been playing her from the beginning, or they were focusing on the wrong person. Letty wasn't a fool, and she didn't like to be treated as such.
"What's she doing in Barstow, anyhow? Is she with the guys?"
"No," Leon checked his messages again, "She drove up last night to work on her mom's car. She stayed overnight."
Letty's mind continued to work, "Leon, I know you just met her, but what exactly has she told you about herself?"
"About as much as you know, I guess. Only child, dad unknown, and her mom lives up in Barstow. She's from 'all over', whatever that means. She's worked a lot of different jobs while studying in the automotive field. We didn't go into anything too personal last night."
"She told us she was from Texas, where her half-sister and Dad live. And when did her mom move to Barstow? I thought she lived in Glendale?"
"Don't know, don't care," he shrugged.
"You don't think it's weird that she has told us two different stories about her?"
"Maybe she has her reasons, Lett. You're being paranoid."
"We thought the same thing about Vince, too," she said. Leon's jaw clenched; he knew she had a point. "What else, man?"
"I don't know," he said, frustration seeping out. He parked in the driveway of the Toretto home. "You really think she could be working undercover?"
"Only one way to find out," she said before stepping out and hurrying to the door. She pushed it open to find Mia, Rosa, and Tej all gathered in the living room, watching Jack and Nico play together in the floor.
Mia was the first to rush to her, yanking Letty in for a hug. Letty returned the gesture, holding her friend close.
"Thank God, Lett. Dom told me you got locked up. What the hell happened?"
"My temper caught up with me," Letty smirked. "I'm fine. I need a change of clothes."
"What's going on? Where you going?"
"Barstow. Tej, can you find me everything you can on Billie? Birth records, hospital visits, criminal record, things like that?"
"I'm on it, girl," he grabbed his laptop that was nearby.
Mia frowned, "Letty, I thought we were past this. Why do you need all of that?"
"This isn't about her and Dom, Mia. Just trying to clear up some inconsistencies."
"What inconsistencies?"
Letty waved for her to follow as she headed up the stairs for a change of attire. A chill rolled down her spine as she stood in the same hallway she walked away from two years ago. Mia took the lead towards her room, leaving Letty frozen like a deer in headlights.
"You alright?" Mia asked when she noticed Letty wasn't following.
Letty rubbed her hands over her arms, feeling the hair standing on end. A strong energy was pulling her towards Dom's room at the other end, but she turned in Mia's direction instead.
"Yeah, I'm good."
Letty began shuffling through Mia's closet while the younger Toretto sat nervously on the end of the bed.
"What's going on, Letty?" Mia asked in a way that demanded a response.
"Billie's leaving, for Miami. This week," Letty said while changing into a black sleeveless crop-top.
"What? As in she's moving? Does Dom know?" Mia fired off questions rapidly.
"Leon's the only one who knows, she told him last night. Why would she just take off like that? In the middle of all of this?" Letty asked.
"That doesn't make any sense. Why didn't she tell me? Or Dom? " Mia stood to pace the floor quickly, "Billie loves it here. She's been here since she was a kid. Did something happen?"
"Yeah," Letty yanked on some of Mia's jeans that were a little long but they'd do. "She realizes the heat is on, so now she's splitting."
"I need to go see her," Mia headed for the door but Letty stopped her.
"She's in Barstow."
"Is she with the boys? I know she was the one who figured out where Carter was."
"How convenient. She's been up there since last night, working on her mom's car."
"Her mom lives in Glendale - why would she be in Barstow?"
"Well according to Leon, that's where Billie went last night after the party."
"That's weird. Why would she lie about that?"
"That's not all. Tell me about Brooke's childhood."
"Born in Austin, Texas. Her half-sister and dad live there. After her parents split when she was seven, she and Brenda moved to Glendale."
"She told Le she was an only child from all over, who didn't know her father. Do you see what I mean? She's inconsistent," said Letty.
"I don't understand," Mia ran her hands through her hair repeatedly. "She lied about trivial things. That doesn't prove anything," Mia thought about what Letty was saying. "Tell me you don't think Billie is the mole?"
Letty only quirked a brow at Mia before heading over to her old room. She prayed it was still the same way she left it, but knew the chances were slim. Mia was still hot on her tail.
"Billie has been around for years, since before you left. She's had a chance to hurt Brian, or myself, if she wanted to."
"Maybe," Letty glanced around her old bedroom, satisfied and slightly saddened that Dom hadn't changed it. It only meant he hadn't spent much time in it, not wanting to be reminded of her. From the crumbled rough drafts of the dreaded letter in the bin, to the neatly-made bed that she left... everything was the same. Even the box of toothbrushes that she kept in the top drawer of her dresser. She grabbed one and placed the box back before heading back down the hall. "Or maybe she couldn't make a move on Brian without Carter's consent. What if she was sent down here to keep an eye on him while Carter waited for his parole date? Someone on the inside. When I came back with Brooke, it was just icing on the cake."
Mia seemed to weigh Letty's theory in her head. It was plausible, but Mia didn't want to believe it.
"I don't know, Letty. This is all insane."
Letty walked out of her bathroom drying her face. She sat next to Mia, snaking her hand to clasp with Mia's. "Listen, if I'm right - which I hope I'm not - then you aren't the only one she had fooled."
"She was at my wedding. She was my maid of honor."
Letty felt Mia's hand trembling, so she gripped it tighter.
"Don't sweat it. I'm gonna work on her while the guys are out. If Dom calls, make up something. Don't let him know I'm gone. He'll come looking for me, and Brian and Roman need him today. Tell him I'll call him later."
Mia nodded, wiping away the few tears that spilled down. She stood from the bed and headed for the door before Letty stopped her again.
"Oh, and Mi... I need your car."