Owen's base hummed under low light. The tension in the air was electric—no shouting, no wasted breath, just calculation.
"In this case, we can use her to draw Toretto out," Cole said evenly. "Hell, maybe even turn him into our own undercover."
A thought sparked behind his eyes. If Letty was working inside Luke's unit because of Dominic, then turning Dominic through Letty meant control of both sides—and every scrap of intel that came with it. Luke could be pulled off-balance, and the chip components taken clean.
Owen Shaw folded his arms. "Good plan. But how do we make it happen without raising Luke's suspicion?"
Cole's voice dropped into calm precision. "Your cars—every one of them—was customized by specialists. Mechanics who know your specs, your parts, your clients. When Hobbs or Toretto start digging, they'll trace you through that shop."
He looked at his brother. "All we have to do is let them think they're hunting you. They'll follow the wrong trail straight to me."
Owen exhaled through his nose, considering. "And when they do?"
"Then I decide who walks out."
He paused, gaze flicking between the monitors. If we time this right, I can play both sides long enough to secure the Nightshade components—and keep my family breathing.
Owen nodded slowly. "All right. We'll split up. I'll move for the second chip component; you intercept them before they touch our line."
Cole met his eyes. "Until you have all three, don't contact Cipher. She's watching you. And Deckard."
Owen frowned. "You think she's tracking us already?"
"She's been watching us for a while," Cole said. "If she can't reach you or Deck, she'll come for Hattie."
His expression hardened. Cipher's too damn smart to wait her turn.
This was still early—Fast 6 territory—before her name had even circulated. But Cole already knew what was coming.
Cipher doesn't chase money or reputation. She chases control.
From the Nightshade device to the God's Eye surveillance grid, from EMP arrays to pulse transmitters, every move she made was engineered to push the world toward chaos. Cold. Precise. Ruthless.
She runs a ghost network. No face. No trace. Always one step ahead.
If she'd already found Deckard and Owen, Cole knew it was only a matter of time before she found him. To beat her, I need the Nightshade system operational before she locks onto us.
He looked back to Owen. "Once you've secured those components, radio me. Cipher moves fast—faster than any agency. We get one shot at this."
Owen gave a curt nod. "You'll have your pieces. Just… keep your head, Cole."
A quiet understanding passed between them—family first, strategy second.
⸻⸻
Inside the new SDD base — London.
Once a war room humming with energy, now half-empty. Only Luke, Brian, and Dominic remained. The silence pressed in heavy.
Brian's mind replayed Dominic's earlier outburst—Han's death, the two bodies, the gunfire. Doubt crawled up his spine. If I weren't his brother-in-law… would he have shot me too? The thought lingered, sharp and cold.
Luke's gravel voice broke the silence. "Brian, what's eating you? You've been off since we left that site."
Brian hesitated. "Just thinking. About Han… about how this all keeps spiralling."
Luke adjusted the heavy machine-gun sling across his chest. "Don't. We'll nail Cole Shaw and Owen Shaw, and we'll settle the score."
Brian forced a nod, though the irony stung. Justice sounds a lot like revenge when Luke says it.
Dominic approached, his expression unreadable. "Any update on Letty?"
He didn't flinch at Han's name—betrayal left no room for grief. Han had chosen his side. Roman and Tej had wanted out long before the firefight; their deaths were collateral. All that mattered now was Letty.
Luke shook his head. "No. To find Letty, we need Owen Shaw's base. And we'll need backup. We can't go head-to-head like this."
Dominic crossed his arms. "Then we build. Faster cars. Armoured rides. Something that can take hits from Cole Shaw's Humvee and still run."
"Already on it," Luke said. "SDD's sourcing a fleet—custom build. We'll need something that can go head-to-head with Cole's Hummer setup."
Dominic nodded once. "And heavy guns. Their rigs use micro-rockets; we'll need equal firepower."
Luke tapped a tablet, pulling up encrypted intel. "SDD intercepted an ICPO notice—Owen raided their database, stole a list of vault coordinates. Each one marks where a Nightshade chip component might be stored."
Dominic leaned forward. "Then we ambush them. Wait at one of the sites and take them down."
Luke shook his head. "Can't. The list has more than twenty locations across Europe. We've got no read on which one they'll hit first."
Brian leaned forward, thinking fast. "How long's that data window active?"
"Ninety-six hours," Luke said. "Four days before the codes refresh."
Brian's mind clicked through possibilities. "Then track their vehicles instead. Those custom jobs—they're not off-the-shelf. Turbochargers, magnetic levitation, hydraulic rigs… that kind of work leaves fingerprints. Find the shop that modified them, and we find Owen's pipeline. Once they move, we'll know their target."
Luke and Dominic exchanged a glance—Brian was right. Every machine had a trail.
Luke nodded. "Good. We split. I'll hunt down the vehicles we need—something that can match their firepower."
He pointed between them. "Brian, you track the mod shop. Dominic, you stay here—wait for intel on Letty. The second we've got movement, we hit back."
The plan locked in clean, military tight. Luke's mind already tallied names—he didn't need numbers this time, just killers who could finish the job. Too many men just get each other killed.
The enemy had micro-rockets. EMP systems. Gear that shouldn't even exist outside a black-book program. Where the hell did Cole Shaw get that tech?
Assignments set, Luke slung his jacket over his shoulder.
Dominic holstered his sidearm.
Brian grabbed the file pack.
Without another word, they moved.
The sound of engines broke the silence.
VROOM.
Two missions, one goal—find Letty.
End Owen and Cole Shaw.
End this war.