Title: Shifting Tides – Episode 4: Reunions
Author: Gil Grissom
Pairings: Dom/Brian, other background pairings
Rating: PG
Summary: The rest of the group converges on Los Angeles and they find out some more information about the players on the board.
“So how did it go?”
Dom glanced over at Han, who was leaning in the bathroom doorway. “Good. He went back to Harry’s for the night, so his bosses didn’t get suspicious. Plus he has to ‘work’ tomorrow.”
Han scrunched his nose. “I’ll be glad when this situation gets resolved. I hate they’ve put him in this danger. I can’t even imagine what you’re feeling.”
“Like ripping their heads from their bodies with my bare hands,” Dom replied as he tossed his dirty clothes in the laundry. “But at this point, there’s nothing to do but wait. Any word on Jason and James?”
“Still in the air, but they should be landing within the hour.” Han flopped down on the bed. “Vince and Jesse went to the airport to meet them.”
Dom laughed. “Well, that was unkind.”
“It was life-saving. Mia’s studying for a test she’s got coming up next week and they were getting way too loud.”
“I think we might need to think about trussing them both up and sending them to Josiah for the duration of her medical studies.” He grinned when Han laughed and then tossed his toiletry bag onto the bathroom counter and his duffle bag on the top shelf of the closet before flopping down next to Han.
Han blew out a breath. “So, how did everything go, really? Our Clan’s brand of crazy didn’t send him packing for a one-way trip to Europe?”
Dom snorted. “No. He took everything better than I expected. He was curious mostly. In between talking about the Clan and Vampires, we made out a lot.”
“Lucky you.” Han huffed. “It’s completely unfair how hot your Mate is.”
“I know. It’s a terrible cross to be burdened with,” Dom retorted. “But I’m strong. I can find a way to endure.”
Snickering, Han slapped him on the thigh. “I should probably move some of my shit into one of the open rooms. We’ve got a lot going on and you two need to figure your shit out without a third person mucking things up.”
Dom raised an eyebrow. “His last words to me when he kissed me goodbye were to have fun with you tonight.”
“He’s sweet, but no,” Han said and grunted while he sat up. “Damn. Getting old.”
“Yeah, you’re ancient. We’ll get you a cane and a rocking chair for the porch so you can sit there and tell passersby to get the fuck off your lawn.”
“Funny, Grandpa.” Han stood and stretched his arms over the head. “Seriously, though. It’ll be easier in the long run for you two to settle into your relationship without me interfering. I’ll still be here. Ain’t going anywhere.”
“Damn asshole,” Dom muttered. “Why you gotta be all rational and shit?”
Han laughed as he walked into the closet.
~*~
“Hey, losers! We’re here. You can start celebrating now,” Jason called out as he strode through the door and dumped his bags on the floor against the wall.
“Yay,” came the deadpan response from Han.
Jason walked into the living room and found Han laying on the sofa, book in hand. He leaned over the back and grinned down at him. “Miss me?”
“Oh, yeah, Doyle. My life has been incomplete until this very moment.” Han looked up as he turned the page. “Where’s your more tolerable half?”
Jason made a face at him and waved toward the front door. “Outside convincing Vince that life is worth living and that driving off the nearest bridge to alleviate the pain of dealing with us will only mean that we have to wait until he’s reincarnated to pick up where we left off.”
“You break him, you’re paying for the therapy,” Dom said as he walked in from the kitchen area and sat down on the sofa directly across from the one Han was lounging on.
Jason smirked as he strode over and flopped down next to Dom. “Why pay for it when Red’ll do it for free?”
Han snorted. “Dealing with this group, one of these days Red’s gonna snap and we’re never gonna see it coming.”
“And until that day, he has to deal with our demented psyches,” Jason replied flippantly. “So, what’s going on and what are we doing?”
“Nothing’s happening right now, and we’re doing nothing,” Dom said as he picked up a book. “We’ll go over everything once Daniel and company get here. Which won’t be until tomorrow or the next day. Besides, the others are still working on information. So you two will have to sit around and look pretty for a couple of days.”
“I’m always pretty,” James said as he sauntered into the room. He dropped down on the other side of Dom and draped his legs over him. “Anything interesting going on outside of the shenanigans y’all have gotten yourselves into?”
“Dom found his Mate,” Han supplied cheerfully, grinning and blowing a kiss when Dom huffed in his direction.
“Ooh, who is it? What are they like? We didn’t hear the scream of horror, so I’m guessing they’ve got a dick.”
“No, seriously, why did Josiah send you?” Dom asked, rolling his eyes when he got two pokes to the side. “He’s got a dick, yes. Brian’s the undercover cop that’s been a part of this case. He’s now aware of what we are and what’s going on.”
“So, where is he?”
“Maintaining his cover since we suspect that some of those running the op from the FBI side of things are actually accomplices of Tran’s,” Han told them. “He’s managed to put a bug in the ADA’s ear about the issues he’s having without revealing that we’re aware of what’s going on. Hopefully, he’ll be able to suss out what’s going on there from his side of things.”
“So we really don’t have anything to do but sit around and look pretty,” Jason said, sighing heavily as he walked over to grab one of the bags by the door.
Dom snorted when he sat back down and pulled out his latest knitting project. “What are you working on now?”
“Baby blankets for the hospital for Christmas,” Jason replied as he got himself settled. “I’ve already got half a dozen finished.”
“Car freaks and craft nuts,” Han said with a laugh. “Brian may just hop on that plane to Europe before the month is out.”
Dom rolled his eyes and pushed James’ legs off him. “I’m going up to bed to read. Tell Vince and Jesse to quit poking around his car in order to avoid these two and get some damn rest. Once things get rolling, our lives are going to be busy and they don’t need to be already dragging ass before that.”
“I’ll tell them,” Han said, waving him off.
~*~
“Another shipment is headed this way,” James said the next morning as they gathered in the living room. “Bridger says it left the warehouse about three hours ago.”
Dom nodded and made note of it in his documents. “We’re letting this one go. It’ll throw them off their stride to let one through. Any word on further info?”
“Just that they’ll send it via email once they have it,” James replied. “And Daniel called before they got on the road this morning. They’re just inside the Arizona border on the New Mexico side, so they’re planning on finishing out the trip today. Apparently, Belle’s new Mate has been giving them unimpressed looks at the speed they’re going. She informed Daniel and David this morning that she’s not a delicate fucking flower, thank you very much.”
Han laughed. “Sounds like a good match for Belle, if she’s already calling those two on their bullshit. I’m looking forward to meeting the not-delicate flower.” He looked over at Dom. “When’s Brian coming over?”
“He was awake early to do some work before opening, so he’ll only be working until noon. If he doesn’t get brought in by those running the op, he’ll be heading over here to work on the car.”
Dom sighed and gathered his paperwork to place in the safe room. “Speaking of, we do need to get to work on the Supra. We need to have it done by Race Wars, and that’s coming faster than we’d probably like. The feebs will expect it, and if there’s a shipment during that time, it would be a good one to make ourselves seen while the others work on hijacking the truck.”
“Then let’s get Vince, Jesse, and Leon into the garage and get to work on it,” Han said.
“Jesse’s at his place. Leon and Vince are upstairs,” Dom said, rolling his eyes when James and Jason cackled and took off upstairs.
It wasn’t long before Vince was screaming like an unpleasantly surprised five-year-old, quickly shifting into cursing up a blue streak, with Leon’s laughter overlaying the not-so-dulcet soundtrack.
Han snorted. “One of these days, Vince is going to snap and dust us all.”
“And yet, today will not be that day,” Dom replied, standing up. “Let’s get outside. Vince and Leon can fend for themselves this morning.”
~*~
Brian sighed heavily as Muse undid his cuffs again and then glared at Tanner, who raised his eyebrows in response. “Honestly, if you want me to get any kind of work done, being picked up and harassed constantly isn’t going to accomplish it.”
Tanner snorted. “Not my call. Bilkins is getting questions from the brass about our progress and he has some questions for you.”
“About what?” Brian asked as he followed Tanner inside. “It hasn’t been that long since I was last here, and either there haven’t been any trucks between that time and now, or they haven’t been hijacked. Do you know which?”
“From what I understand, there haven’t been any trucks,” Tanner admitted.
“Then what the fuck am I doing here? There’s no evidence anywhere in Toretto’s house that indicates he has anything to do with it, he has no vehicles matching the description in any of his places that I’ve seen, and there are no other properties on record for him, Lue, or his sister. Not even for any of the others who hang out with them, and that would be a big red flag because of their age, class level of their families, and lack of personal finances.”
Brian dropped down onto one of the chairs around the table in the center of the living room. “Thanks,” he said when Tanner slid over a water bottle.
Bilkins walked in before Brian could even open it. “You got anything for me, O’Connor?”
“No. There haven’t been any trucks or hijackings, everything is going business as usual with virtually everyone around me, whether or not they’re affiliated with Dom. No one has made any suspicious purchases through Harry, and as I was telling Tanner, there is nothing at any of the properties I have access to that belong to Toretto.”
“That’s not good enough,” Bilkins said, running his hand over his head and huffing loudly.
“Too bad, because it’s what I’ve got. Maybe get your guys to give us some less shitty and half-assed intel on our players.” He rubbed his face when Bilkins glared at him. “I can only do so much with what you’re giving me. You want me riding Toretto’s ass? I’m doing it, but getting someone who is doing shady shit, as you seem to think he is, to trust others takes time. Expecting instant results from a long-term op is just stupid, and I know you know that.”
He looked down at his watch. “And this pulling me in constantly bullshit isn’t helping. I’m supposed to be heading to Toretto’s to work on the car right now. They’re expecting me, and now I’m going to have to figure out a believable lie about why I’m so damn late, one that they can’t double-check if they get suspicious.”
“Fine. Get the hell out of here, but you better get me some evidence soon, because my superiors are getting frustrated by our lack of progress,” Bilkins said.
“I can only work with what I’ve got, and I can’t push so hard I trip over a red flag for him,” Brian replied evenly as he stood up. “I’ll see about angling to spend more time with Toretto and his people. Maybe they’ll get more comfortable, enough to let something slip, if there is anything. But I need you to back off and let me do what I’m going to do, especially since they’re hell-bent on getting that junk car you gave me ready for Race Wars. There’s only so much time in a day and Harry’s as my cover is taking up a hell of a lot of it.”
“You want to quit Harry’s?” Tanner asked curiously.
“I think I can’t be in two places at once and you need to put someone else in at Harry’s while I focus on Toretto and the rest of the racers. It’s difficult to keep an eye on what they’re doing when I’m spending hours running errands or doing busy work at Harry’s to keep my damn cover.”
Bilkins frowned but nodded. “I hate to say it, but you do have a point there. Fine, you’re officially out of the store, but you keep on Toretto’s ass. I don’t care if you have to bang that sister of his nine ways from Sunday to keep on his radar.”
Brian was careful to keep the snarl off his face and to remain blank as he nodded and walked back out. “He’s such an asshole,” he muttered to Tanner and Muse once they were out of the house.
“He is, but he’s who we have to work with,” Tanner responded. “Be careful. I don’t want you hurt if your cover is blown since you’re pretty much going to be on your own from now on. It’ll be harder to pull you in.”
“Which only works to our benefit.” Brian ran his fingers through his hair. He sighed. “You guys be careful too. There’s something seriously wrong here, and I don’t know what it is, but my gut is telling me something isn’t right. I’ll get in touch when I can.”
Tanner nodded. “Muse, take the unmarked car and drop him off a few blocks from Toretto’s. I don’t want to be billed for the cab.”
Brian smirked at him and saluted him before following Muse to one of the surveillance vehicles. He and Muse didn’t talk much on the way across the city, and Brian only waved sarcastically at him when he drove off after dropping him off.
“Idiots,” he said under his breath as he headed toward Dom’s house. It only took a few minutes to get there, and he smiled and leaned against the door frame that led into the garage. “No air conditioner today?”
Dom looked up at him and smiled. “Nah. Not that hot and the three Stooges over here don’t have enough brain cells between them to risk more with the fumes we’ve got circulating right now.”
Brian laughed as the three in question protested loudly from their respective places around the car. He jerked his head toward the house and then headed in when Dom nodded and walked over to the sink. He opened the refrigerator and laughed a little when he found bottles of his favorite juice on the top shelf with his name plastered on them. He snagged one and closed the fridge door, jumping a little when he heard a voice pipe up behind him.
“Well, well, well, who do we have here?”
Brian turned as he opened his juice and came face to face with two men he hadn’t met. He sipped on his juice as he looked them over.
The slightly shorter of the two was ruggedly handsome, with lighter brown hair and pretty blue eyes. He was the more muscularly built of the two and something about him screamed military bearing to Brian. The other was more classic movie-star handsome, taller, and leaning more toward the lanky side, but clearly not someone to underestimate. He definitely fit the notion of ‘tall, dark, and handsome.’
They also looked vaguely familiar, so Brian figured he’d seen them in one of the many photo albums at the beach house. “Brian O’Conner.”
Military-man smiled at him. “Jason Doyle, and he’s James McCandles. We’re Hunters for Border. I’m…not sure what Dom and the others have told you.”
Brian nodded. “I got the bare-bones overview on Clans and how they function, but nothing in great detail. Told me a little more about Hunters since it seems that dealing with people like Tran is more in your lane.”
James leaned against the wall. “We train specifically for the position we hold, but underestimating a good portion of our Clan honestly would be a dumbass thing to do. Neither Daniel nor David are Hunters but I wouldn’t cross them for love or money.”
Jason snorted. “Doesn’t help that half of them would be more inclined to shoot someone as look at them. It’s what happens when half your Clan is made up of people who grew up in the Old West era.”
“Or the cowboy type in general,” Dom said as he walked in. “Something you needed to talk about? I noticed you were later than you’d expected.”
Brian nodded and leaned back against the counter. “Got pulled in again. Apparently, Bilkins’ superiors were looking for an update. The guy’s a stubborn asshole, but I got it through his head somewhat that I wasn’t going to be able to give him what he’s expecting right away. I don’t know how long he’ll go without pushing again, but I did convince them that my time will be better served being all up in your business full time rather than having to work for Harry and work to get into your good graces and investigate the other racers as well.”
“So you don’t have to work at Harry’s anymore,” Dom said, sounding pleased by that.
“Nope. I suggested they stick someone else in there if they want to keep an eye on that angle, but maintaining that cover doesn’t serve me in any single way at this point.” Then he smirked. “Bilkins told me he expected me to bang Mia nine ways from Sunday in order to stay in your sphere.”
James and Jason both burst out laughing as they fled for the outside, and Brian quirked a brow. “Are you growling? I thought werewolves growled.” He tilted his head. “Are werewolves real?”
“As far as I know, no,” Dom said and huffed at him. “No banging my sister. It would be weird. And awkward. And she’ll hurt your delicate feelings.” Dom tilted his head and smirked. “She says you’re not old enough or big enough to ride her ride.”
“Clearly the assholery in your family is genetic!” Brian called out towards the ceiling. Then he turned his attention back to Dom, reaching out and tugging him closer by his belt loop. “You do know what this means, though. Right?”
Dom leaned forward and braced his hands on the counter on either side of Brian. “Means there’s no reason for you not to stay right here where I can keep an eye on you, make sure those idiots don’t get you hurt.” The ‘or worse’ was left unsaid.
“Well, yes, that, but also, it means we have sanctioned, quality time to get to know each other better and make out and other stuff.” Brian reached up and cupped the back of Dom’s head, bringing their mouths together in a soft kiss that quickly turned heated.
Only to be interrupted by a loud wolf whistle. They separated and Brian sighed in exasperation at a grinning Han. “Really?”
“What? It was hot.” Han shrugged. “But hot or not, we don’t have time for this. We’ve got a car to finish. So move it!” He motioned them toward the back door and Brian and Dom allowed him to herd them out to the garage.
~*~
A very long day of them working on the car had all of them – mostly the humans – completely exhausted. They’d called in pizza for the ones who needed to eat, the Vampires of the group having already fed from the humans of their group earlier. Mia had long since abandoned the house for classes and study sessions elsewhere, having finally gotten sick of being around the boisterous bunch, especially since more were invading.
James walked downstairs and dropped down on the floor next to Dom’s leg. “Daniel and them’ll be here in about fifteen minutes.”
Dom hummed and continued running his fingers through Brian’s hair. Brian was dozing in his lap, clearly exhausted from all the work they’d done on the car in addition to having got up early to work in the shop. At least Brian had managed to get himself out of that part of the mess. It certainly took a lot of the weight off Dom, being able to keep a better eye on Brian.
It wasn’t that he thought Brian incapable of taking care of himself. It was more that he knew Brian on his own was in way over his head with things he didn’t fully understand. That understanding would come with time and experience, but time was something they had precious little of, and experience came hand in hand with time.
“You’re thinking too hard. Stop it,” Brian murmured, poking him in the chest before settling in further.
Dom huffed a little laugh and pressed a kiss to Brian’s hair before closing his eyes and dozing himself.
In what seemed like a moment, but Dom was sure he nodded off completely for a bit when the front door burst open, startling him awake.
“You can get the party started now,” David said cheerfully. “We have arrived.”
“Woo hoo,” Leon said, tone flat, not bothering to lift his head from where it was resting in his folded arms as he lay on the floor.
Brian lifted his head and stared at him before blowing a raspberry and resuming his previous position after being startled awake himself.
Dom laughed at David’s amused-yet-affronted expression. “They’re exhausted. A long day of hard work.”
“Then they should be up in bed resting,” Belle said as she walked inside. “Leon, Vince, Jesse, get your butts off the floor and go to bed.”
“It’s too early,” Vince mumbled.
“If you’re trying to sleep on the damn floor, it’s not too early, so get up and go find your bed,” Belle said. “Ach! Don’t argue with me, kid. Upstairs. Bed. Now.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jesse murmured, scrambling up off the floor and stumbling toward the stairs.
Vince grumbled but followed along, as did Leon, who took a moment to stop and kiss Belle on the cheek before trotting upstairs.
“Dom, get your boy to bed, too. We can meet him properly when he’s awake enough to do more than make faces at David for being himself.”
Dom snorted and helped Brian to his feet. “I’ll be back in a few.” Then Dom escorted Brian up and laughed when Brian sat on the bed and fell back onto it. “You’re really tired, aren’t you?”
“Didn’t sleep well last night, then had to get up super early. And the stress of this whole thing and worrying about the people I don’t think are in on it who could be in danger… I think it’s all just caught up with me now that I don’t have to put up a front at the store.”
“Yeah, I can understand that,” Dom said as he helped Brian strip down to his boxers and slide into bed. “Get some sleep. I’ll be back up in a while.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Brian’s forehead and then turned off the lights as he left the room.
“He good?” Belle asked from the couch as he came down the stairs.
“Yeah, he’s fine. Just mentally and physically exhausted. The whole undercover thing is taking its toll on him, but he’s managed to work his way out from under part of it. I’m hoping in a few days we’ll have some answers about what’s really going on.”
Belle nodded. “Dom, this is Suki. Suki, this is Dom, our 2IC for Border.”
Suki waved and Dom laughed as he waved back. “Decided to throw your hat in our ring? Brave woman.”
Suki shrugged. “Belle’s great and I figured if I can deal with David and Daniel’s crazy, I’ll be fine.”
“I take offense to that,” Daniel said from where he was playing a video game with Han.
“What else is new?” Belle asked him before turning to Dom. “Still no word on what’s going on?”
“No, but Brian said the ADA involved with some aspects of this case wanted to talk to him tomorrow, so Brian’s going to see him. Daniel, David, I’d like you to go with him, kind of blend into the background to keep an eye on him if you can. They’re meeting up at a restaurant. You two are definitely players that no one is going to notice. Those of us here stick out like sore thumbs since we’re their target.”
David nodded. “We can do that.”
“Thanks.” Then Dom smirked. “Just do me a favor and memorize my phone number in case you lose your phone again.” He laughed when all three of the guilty groaned and David threw a pillow at him.
~*~
Brian stumbled into the kitchen and took the coffee cup Han offered before heading back into the living room and sitting down on the sofa to inhale all the caffeinated goodness. He heard people talking around him, some of the voices not particularly familiar, but now that he didn’t have to be super alert in the morning his usual zombie-like morning persona reasserted itself full-force.
He’d never been a morning person and he hated getting up before ten unless forced to. He’d have slept in if he could have gotten away with it, but he had a meeting with Lindsey in about an hour and a half and needed time to wake up and get there.
At some point, his coffee cup was exchanged for a full one and after his second cup, he became more aware of his surroundings and found that a whole gaggle of people were sitting around and watching him with what looked to be varying degrees of amused fascination.
He was honestly a little weirded out by it. “Y’all are creepy as fuck.”
Dom snorted. “This is the first time they’ve seen you as anything less than alert in the morning.”
Which was true, because the only time he’d let himself go completely was when he and Dom had been at the beach house those couple of days. It had been an eye-opening experience for Dom and kind of hilarious for Brian once he was aware of his surroundings.
“This is the real me in the mornings. Deal with the trauma,” Brian said, handing his cup to Dom when he held his hand out. Then Brian blinked and rubbed the bleariness from his eyes and looked around, his gaze landing on the man sitting across from him. “Holy shit.”
“What?” Han asked.
“I know I said Lindsey looked a lot like him when Dom showed me the photo albums, but he looks exactly like what I expect Linsdey will look like in another decade. Wow.”
Daniel blinked at him. “You know someone who looks like me?”
“Yeah, it’s who I’m going to meet up with soon.” Brian sighed. “Which means I do need to go up and get dressed.” Brian hopped up and headed upstairs to dress, and he was putting on his shoes when Dom came in.
“Be careful out there. I know Daniel and David will be with you, but remember you don’t know who you can trust.”
“I know I can trust Lindsey because he was even more confused than I was. He doesn’t have a lot to do with it, other than keeping track of the information he’s been given so far to build the case when it comes time and to make sure that nothing they’re doing fucks up the ability to get a conviction.”
Brian finished tying his sneakers. “After I finish up with Lindsay, I’ll go and pick my shit up from Harry’s and let him know what’s going on and to expect someone else to fill my spot. He’ll be thrilled, I’m sure, but that’s his problem, not mine.”
“Make sure Daniel and David are with you. They’ll know them there, so it’s not a big deal. If Daniel wants to approach Lindsey, let him make that decision. He may wait for a more ideal time.”
“Then he’s going to have to keep his face out of the restaurant. They know Lindsey there, and one of the waitresses will notice him the moment he walks in.”
As Dom hummed and walked back out, Brian followed him down. “Belle, I want you to go with Daniel and David. Daniel, you’ll stay out of the restaurant. Brian says Lindsey is a frequent flyer there, and I think you’ll garner too much attention inside. Try to keep a low profile outside.”
Daniel nodded. “I’ll sit in the backseat and keep my head down. The restaurant isn’t the place for that kind of revelation, and we certainly don’t need to add to the gossip or complicate things at the moment.”
Dom tossed the keys to Mia’s car to Brian. “She said not to scratch the paint or she’s going to sit on you and dye your hair neon green.”
“Ah, sisterly love,” Brian said with a laugh. “Alright, you guys follow me in your car and wait until I’m in and settled before you two come in.”
David saluted him and the four of them filed out to the garage. Brian glanced over at the one section of the garage that seemed separate from the rest and had its own doors. Not for the first time he wondered what was in there, but he pushed it aside for later. He had enough on his plate without being nosy or poking at what might end up being a sore spot.
The drive to the restaurant wasn’t terrible so they arrived fifteen minutes early, more than enough time for Brian to get in and see that Lindsey wasn’t there yet, get himself a table outside and away from pretty much everyone, and for Belle and David to come in a few minutes behind him.
Lindsey arrived about ten minutes after their scheduled time. “Sorry I’m late,” he said as he slid into the booth. “There was an accident on the route from my house so I had to detour.”
“Not a problem. I just got lucky. There wasn’t much in the way of traffic from Toretto’s house to here.”
Lindsey’s eyebrows shot up. “You were at Toretto’s place?”
“Yeah. Bilkins had me pulled in again for a damn update that I couldn’t give him because there was nothing to update him about, and I finally got it through his head that while working at Harry’s gave me an in with Dom and the other racers, I couldn’t keep that job and keep an eye on Dom the way he wanted me to.”
The waitress came out and took their drink orders, and once she was gone, Lindsey sighed. “So, I’ve been looking into the information we’ve been given on the case and I’ve also managed to get hold of what the LAPD have as well, since they had more as it’s a joint operation with the FBI, and I and a few people I absolutely trust have been trying to corroborate what we have. None of the information so far that we’ve been able to confirm is anything incriminating. It’s mundane operational information for Tran’s business that on the surface looks legit, and we have the information about the alleged attack that Toretto instigated years ago.”
“The information that supposedly points to Dom and his crew being the ones to instigate these supposed thefts?”
“Nothing that can be substantiated. Could Toretto have cars we don’t know about? Sure, but so can dozens of others…or even people who know how to race but aren’t actually on the circuits, legal or otherwise. We’re still going through everything because the FBI threw a lot of paperwork in our direction and at the LAPD, all hard copy. We’re talking a few dozen boxes, and so far, it’s all coming up bullshit, especially with a focus so damn narrow.”
“Here you go, fellas,” the waitress said, smiling at them both. “What can I get you?”
“Can I get the All-American breakfast, all bacon instead of sausage? Eggs over easy, and wheat toast?” Brian asked.
“Sure thing, sweet cheeks. And your usual, Lindsey?”
“Please,” he said, smiling at her as they handed over their menus. When she left, Lindsey leaned forward. “The only facts we have are that one, trucks are getting hijacked and two, that whoever is doing it has cars that could be used for racing. That is all the hard evidence that we have.”
Brian nodded and tilted his head as if he was thinking. “And how do we even know if the goods Tran claims are his being hijacked actually are? I mean, from what Dom has told me, Tran has ties to the Yakuza. That doesn’t exactly scream legit by any means.”
“Yeah, we’re looking into that, and it’s more of a delicate operation since we don’t want to tip anyone off.” Lindsey rubbed at his face. “Be careful who you trust, Brian. My gut says this whole operation is going to go balls-up before it’s all said and done, and I don’t want you getting caught in the crossfire.”
Brian nodded. “I can take care of myself, but I’ll be careful. You be careful, too. You don’t want to be catching the attention of someone who wouldn’t think twice of getting rid of your ass if they thought you were too damn close to something.”
“Right.”
“In the meantime, I’ll work from my end, see if I can’t get Dom to give me more information. Bilkins is really hung up on that whole assault thing with Dom, so I wanna know what that’s all about. I’m sure given some time to think about it, I can figure out how to approach it without irritating him. He’s got a soft spot for me.” He fully planned on just asking him, but he couldn’t say that to Lindsey at the moment.
“Just be careful. You don’t want to tip your hand and make him suspicious.”
Brian shook his head and smirked. “Trust me, man. I know how to handle Dom.”
~*~
Dom wrapped his arms around Brian’s waist as Brian put the last of his clothes in the drawers in Dom’s bedroom. “David said you had a question?”
Brian snorted. “Tattletale.” He grinned when Dom laughed into his neck. “Bilkins is fixated on the alleged assault that you got out of because they didn’t press charges.”
Dom rolled his eyes. “A homophobic asshole decided he was going to take his bullshit beliefs out on Han with a steel baseball bat. Han was wearing earphones at the time and didn’t hear him coming. He got in three good hits, the first to Han’s head which had left him dazed, before I got there. Bastard ended up with several broken bones, including a jaw that was wired shut, and nobody saw nothing.
“I made sure that none of the damage would be permanent because the bastard wouldn’t learn a damn thing if he was dead or brain-damaged, but Han wasn’t the first person he tried to hurt. He put three people in the hospital but no one was willing to cross him. Bastard picked the wrong damn person to go after, and he, of course, didn’t press charges because he was too afraid of me and the idea that his own crimes might come out.”
“Where is he now?”
“In prison for murder. He fled the state, ended up in Florida, and about maybe a year after I knocked him around he ended up killing the son of some well-connected, rich businessman there. He received the death penalty for his inability to learn from his own assholery. My one big regret is I didn’t end him before he took the life of a nineteen-year-old boy.”
“Damn,” Brian said, shaking his head. “I mean, I get why you didn’t want to go there, but I also get why you regret it.” He blew out a breath. Then he laughed a little. “Got any more dark secrets you want to reveal since I’m standing here clearly poking at old wounds?”
He was joking, but Dom tilted his head and then took his hand. “I want to show you something.”
“I was joking, you know,” Brian said, letting Dom guide him toward the stairs.
“I know, but I think you’ll like this, even if it’s a bit of a sad story.” Dom took him through the house and out to the garage, over to the door that was always shut. He pressed the code into the keypad and then lifted the door.
Brian peered inside and found a cloth-covered car. He wasn’t sure why it was here in its own separate section, but clearly it meant something to Dom.
“Help me with the cover,” Dom said and Brian went to the opposite side of the car and helped him pull it off.
Beneath the cover was a black Charger in pristine condition. “Oh, wow,” he murmured, running his hand over the fender. “She’s gorgeous.”
“She’s a beast,” Dom said, laughing a little. “A great white among fish. Nine hundred horses of pure Detroit muscle.”
“Did you put her together?” Brian asked him.
“A friend and I did, mostly. Han did help, but it was mostly a project that Marco and I worked on together. He was a Chosen who had a fascination with Chargers, this year in particular. He really wanted it, so I agreed to help him build it to his specifications. This was his baby. Ran her in Palmdale, nine seconds flat. He could barely keep control of her, she’s got so much damn power.”
“What’s your best time with her?” Brian asked.
Dom snorted. “I’ve never raced her. She scares the shit out of me, honestly.” He grinned when Brian laughed, and then he motioned for Brian to join him. He pointed out one of the photos of himself and another man in front of the Charger. “That’s Marco.”
“What happened to him, Dom?” Brian asked, wrapping an arm around Dom’s waist.
Dom blinked rapidly as his eyes started to shine a little. “He was an up and comer of the pro stock car circuit, and he was on his last race with her.” He motioned to the car. “Nothing spectacular about it, it was going well, and then this other racer came from the inside and clipped his bumper. Hit the wall going 120. They say he died instantly on impact, but they were wrong. I could hear him screaming even though I was so far away from him. One of the curses of Vampire hearing. It still haunts me sometimes.”
Brian wrapped his arms fully around Dom and squeezed tight, giving comfort in the only way he could. “When did you rebuild her?” he asked after a while.
“About five years after the accident. We knew he’d hate to see her like she was afterward, so I rebuilt her, and Han, Daniel, and David, who were all close to Marco as well, helped me. After the initial test drives to make sure everything was working properly, we put her in here, occasionally turn her on and check everything over, make sure she can go at the drop of a hat. We don’t joy ride in her though. Never could bring ourselves to use her the way he would have wanted. Plus, that’s a lot of fucking power under your ass.”
Brian laughed a little. “Yeah, no kidding.” He pressed a kiss to Dom’s mouth. “Thanks for telling me about him.”
“Thanks for listening.”
~*~
A few days later, Dom and several of the others gathered around the table, while everyone else pulled up chairs in a second circle. Once everyone was settled, Dom looked at Brian, who had just returned from his meeting with the feebs and his boss.
Brian snorted and sat back. “They were completely baffled that the last shipment went by without so much as anyone looking at it sideways. They had a ton of questions and were gobsmacked when I lied and said that Dom, Han, and the rest of the group had gone out for some test driving without me at the same time the shipment was coming through the area. Bilkins appeared confused but underlying it was a considerable amount of fury.”
“Probably because Bilkins is in on the entire thing,” Daniel said, holding a folder a couple of inches thick. “Lucas and Bridger have been busy little beavers, and…Lucas did whatever he does that is effective but we probably never want to know about. Bilkins has been in touch with Tran in particular way more than one would expect, even if his alleged property is being stolen from his trucks. And he apparently calls from two different numbers. The official one is the one he uses way less, obviously, probably for calls that are sanctioned. Bilkins has also received a very generous sum of money in an offshore account.” Daniel smirked at Brian. “Lucas says that Feed the Children was especially thankful for the anonymous donation.”
Brian burst out laughing. “Well, we can’t say he didn’t have that one coming.”
Daniel nodded. “Several other feebs are in on the whole thing, and it’s clear from what Lucas was able to dig up that Tran is specifically having them target Dom. Bilkins is well-aware that the goods are coming from the Han family, but he doesn’t seem to give a shit. He’s all about the money. From what we can tell, all the feebs are simply corrupt assholes, and there is no indication that they know anything about Vampires in general, so we have that going for us.”
“I don’t think they’re the kind that Tran would want to know unless necessary,” Dom said. “He’s notoriously picky about who he Turns when it comes to his associates. The only other time he Turns anyone is if it will get under the skin of another Vampire he hates.”
“Like when he turned Mia,” Belle said.
“Exactly.”
Brian tapped his pen on the table. “Well, ADA McDonald is well-aware that something is rotten in Denmark, and he’s digging into it further via the legal avenues. I’ve warned him against being too careless, so I hope he listens. I don’t know what Bilkins will do otherwise.”
“Well, we may find out sooner rather than later, because the Council has told Josiah basically to do what he’s gotta do, so he’s planning on taking out the Vamps at the warehouse after Lucas is finished with the security measures for the Lues. He’s going to send in the rest of the Hunters and a few of the others who just like that sort of thing to get rid of a whole lot of Rogues and take back what’s still there of the merchandise. He said it’ll probably be another couple of weeks or so because Lucas has been concentrating first on the information gathering, but he’s leaving the rest of it for Bridger to work through.”
Adam frowned. “What’s Tran’s angle, though? This seems like an awful lot to go through just to get on our nerves.”
“I think it’s a combination of doing it to poke at Border and Dom in general,” Nathan said, “and probably wanting the money that fencing property would generate.”
“But for what?” David asked. “He’s got the backing of a whole criminal syndicate. He has to be making quite a bit of money anyway from whatever shady shit he’s up to. Yeah, his bulbs aren’t all screwed in tightly, but that doesn’t equate to the level of intrigue and detail this took to set up. He went through a lot of trouble to bring in the FBI, and remember he’s laying a big chunk of change on them to cooperate.”
Jesse hummed as he looked through the pages that held the calculations for lost merchandise. “Where’s the pages for the money they paid out to the feebs?”
Daniel handed it over and Jesse looked at it and frowned. “Honestly, what he’s paid out to these guys, Bilkins especially, is more than the stolen merchandise is worth. It’s definitely not fiscally sound if his goal is to increase his cash flow.”
Dom frowned. “So we’re missing something when it comes to Tran and his plans.”
“Either we’re missing something right in front of us, or he’s playing a long game and this is just step one,” Han said.
“And at this point, there’s no telling what it is,” Vince said, blowing out a breath. “Man, I hate that asshole.”
Brian laughed a little at that. “Alright, so what do we do? Because there’s no way we’re going to be able to figure out what he’s up to at this point, and I doubt Bilkins or the others know anything beyond them wanting money in their sketchy accounts.”
Dom tapped his fingers on the table. “Race Wars is coming up in a couple of weeks. We’ll leave any shipments alone until that time. I have no doubt that one will come up right when the races are going on just so he can see what we’ll do, so we’ll send out a group to take care of that one specifically. As far as he knows, we’re it, so I doubt he’s thinking that Daniel, David, and Belle are around, and he certainly wouldn’t think I’d bring in Adam and Nathan to be a part of it.
“It’ll leave them flat-footed and scrambling to figure out what we’re up to, give us time to prepare for everything, and it’s not like we need to retrieve the goods. The Clan can provide compensation for the stolen goods to the Lue family, though I do think it’s a good life lesson to not entrust your livelihood to an idiot.” Han barked out a laugh and raised his glass of juice in response. “And maybe it’ll relax those at the warehouse in Mexico enough that it’ll make it easier on that group to deal with them.”
“Is there anything else we need to worry about right now?” Leon asked. “Other than getting Brian’s car ready for Race Wars, which we need to get done so we can make sure he can handle the damn thing.”
“I call dibs on his paint job,” Suki called out. “I’ll order what I need after I look at the car.”
Daniel looked at Brian. “Trust me. You want her to be willing to paint your car.”
Brian laughed. “Okay then. I can’t think of anything else we need to talk about at the moment.”
Dom shook his head. “Me either. If there is, we’re all going to be in the same place…mostly. Everyone just be careful. If you gotta go out, use the buddy system. Not knowing what Tran might really be up to has my hackles up and I don’t want him catching you guys out. And whatever you do, stay out of the area he’s designated as his territory.”
He pointed to Daniel, David, and Belle. “Try not to be seen around too much by anyone. We want Tran to not know you’re around if we can at all help it.”
Belle nodded. “We’re more than happy to stay around here. I’d prefer it if you and Han escorted Suki anywhere she needs to go for what she needs to buy. You know how Tran is about Turning people we surround ourselves with…or they disappear.”
“We’ll make sure she’s protected,” Dom assured her.
After a few more minutes of chatter, they all dispersed, most of them heading outside. Dom and Brian found themselves alone in the dining room and Brian ran his hand over Dom’s shoulders. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I just don’t like not having all the information. I don’t trust a lot of people, but Tran is on a whole level of distrust all on his own. He’s honestly a nightmare, and I’m pretty sure I’ll throw a damn party the day that bastard is dusted.”
Brian snorted. “Come on. Let’s go finish my car.”
Great chapter, looking forward to seeing what else Tran is up to.
Excellent, Gil! Pins and needles here waiting for the next chapter…
Loved it!
—Naj 😀 ♥️♥️
Enjoyed reading! Looking forward to more!