The warehouse was quiet, but no one was sleeping.
Maps, blueprints, satellite prints, and traffic data were scattered across every available table. Tej's laptop clicked with precision, decrypting city security grids. Han moved silently, testing tire pressure and oil levels on their designated vehicles. Dom and Brian ran drills in the empty shipping yard, perfecting the timing of precision turns and braking maneuvers.
And Leonardo? He stood before a blackboard with Koko and Gisele, outlining what would be the most ambitious move any of them had ever attempted:
Robbing Hernan Reyes of every cent he had left—by stealing his vault.
"This isn't a cash drop," Leonardo began, tapping the chalk against a circled box labeled D13 - Rio Police HQ. "This is everything. Locked in a fortified bank-grade vault, custom installed in a government-protected facility."
Brian whistled. "You're really saying we hit that building?"
Koko responded before Leonardo could. "It's not impossible. Just… nearly."
Leonardo turned back to the board. "The plan isn't to infiltrate. It's to extract. We take the whole vault."
Silence.
Then Roman raised a hand slowly. "I don't mean to kill the buzz, but... did you say 'take the vault'? Like the whole two-ton chunk of steel?"
"Yes," Leonardo said without hesitation. "We rip it out, chain it to two cars, and drag it through the streets."
Roman turned to Tej. "Man, this guy is crazier than Dom."
Tej grinned. "Nah. He's just dangerous with math."
Preparation took three days. Three days of welding, rewiring, testing, and simulating the run from multiple angles.
Dom stood by Leonardo on the third night, watching as two Chargers were reinforced with steel undercarriages and magnetic towing frames.
"You sure this is gonna work?" Dom asked, arms crossed.
Leonardo didn't look up. "I know it will. But surviving it… that's another matter."
Dom nodded. "Good. I like those odds."
The day of the heist arrived with a strange calm.
At 1:00 PM sharp, they executed Phase One.
Roman and Han created a citywide distraction—smoke bombs in the underground tunnels, followed by a staged police chase near the market district. Rio PD scrambled. Reyes' security detail broke formation to respond.
Meanwhile, Tej used a tap into the traffic grid to give them five full minutes of signal blackout inside the police HQ perimeter.
That's all they needed.
Dom and Brian drove straight into the building's side access wall, just as the support team breached the rear service entrance. Koko and Gisele covered the interior, neutralizing guards non-lethally and blocking radio signals.
Leonardo personally wired the anchor bolts and initiated the vault's magnetic lift release. Sparks flew as steel groaned against concrete. The vault dropped.
"Go!" he barked.
Dom and Brian's Chargers slammed into reverse, chains clanking as the vault tore through the foundation, bursting into the alley with a metallic scream.
Tej's voice crackled over comms: "Cops are redirecting, but we've got six minutes till reinforcements."
"More than enough," Leonardo replied.
The chase began.
Through city streets, alleys, and highways, the crew thundered ahead. The vault smashed everything in its path—fire hydrants, vendor stalls, parked cars. Rio turned into chaos.
Reyes' men joined the pursuit. Black SUVs roared onto the route, spraying gunfire.
From a rooftop, Koko provided overwatch with a suppressed sniper rifle, knocking out tires and disabling lead cars.
Gisele, riding in a bike convoy, pulled sharp flanks and laid spike strips.
Leonardo tailed from behind in an interceptor vehicle, calling out formations, calculating momentum shifts, and feeding real-time data to Brian and Dom's heads-up displays.
Dom growled into his comm, "This thing's gonna rip us apart!"
Leonardo's voice was calm. "Hold the drift on the next left. Tej will trigger the collapsible bridge."
"Bridge?" Brian asked, but the question was cut short as they hit a sharp incline—then launched.
The vault sailed.
For three seconds, the laws of physics surrendered.
It crashed into the other side of the bridge like a meteor, dragging the cars violently but perfectly forward.
They made it to the planned diversion point. Brian and Dom disconnected the vault. Leonardo pulled up beside them.
"You two go," he ordered. "Deliver the decoy. We'll handle the real payload."
Dom raised an eyebrow. "You had a switch planned this whole time."
Leonardo smiled. "Like I said. I play long games."
Koko and Han emerged with the real vault—hidden in a disguised garbage transport truck. The switch had happened mid-chase, under a covered highway bypass.
Classic misdirection.
The crew split. Dom and Brian led Reyes' men on a wild goose chase. The rest vanished into the city.
By nightfall, Leonardo stood in a silent warehouse, the real vault before him.
Gisele walked in, eyes wide.
"You did it," she said softly.
He turned to her. "We did it."
She stepped closer, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "So what now?"
Leonardo exhaled. "Now we disappear. Until the world needs us again."
They stood together, bathed in the quiet hum of fluorescent lights and the undeniable feeling of victory.
The ghost had become the storm.
And the city would remember.