Chapter 101: Fast & Furious 4 (Beginning)
"If you want an autograph by beating the crap out of people like those two on the floor, I'll sign whatever you want right now. Just leave my old bones alone. Trust me, there's nothing special about them."
"No, no, no," Ron waved his hands frantically, bending down to pick up the shattered phone that had gone flying during his knee strike. It was a cheap Samsung Galaxy—nowhere near as indestructible as those old Nokia bricks.
"Those two guys were just tailing me everywhere, making me paranoid. My roommate's a huge fan of yours. He's especially into Spider-Man. Half his t-shirts are Spider-Man themed."
"Spider-Man is Marvel," the old man tapped his walking stick in exasperation.
"Oh right, and there's Iron Man and Captain America too," Ron said, sensing he'd embarrassed himself and trying to recover.
"Those are Marvel too!" the old man stamped his foot in frustration.
"Uh, okay. Anyway, my roommate's obsessed with your comics, though I can't remember which ones specifically." Ron shrugged. "Can we exchange numbers? I'll bring him by to meet you sometime."
Another scheme to gain free access to top-tier creative talent crystallized in Ron's mind. Despite the rocky start with the comic book mix-up, Ron still managed to score Stan Lee's business card.
...
Across Town
Another knock echoed at the door of Dominic Toretto, former king of LA's underground street racing scene. Mia opened it to find a woman with the lean power of a panther.
"Letty! I've missed you so much!" Mia joyfully embraced her. After a brief hug, Mia peered out into the shadowy street. "Where's my brother? Didn't he come back with you?"
"No," Letty said with a hint of guilt. "I came back solo. Got some business to handle. If Dom calls you, just tell him you haven't seen me, alright?"
The truth was, Letty had returned to Los Angeles without Toretto's knowledge. It wasn't some clichéd cheating drama or anything like that.
Instead, Letty could see that Toretto was exhausted from life on the run. Dom, a man who constantly talked about "family," wanted nothing more than to be back home with his loved ones.
Unfortunately, he was wanted nationwide by the FBI, which meant leaving his sister alone in LA while he, his girlfriend, and a few crew members bounced between various South American countries.
Toretto desperately wanted to come home, but out of pride, he refused to reach out to Ron. Letty couldn't understand why he wouldn't ask for help when he had a brother with those kinds of connections.
Letty didn't pretend to understand male ego dynamics, and she didn't want to get caught in the middle, but she was loyal and wanted to help Toretto get his wish to come home. So she'd slipped away from their hideout while Dom was sleeping.
"Okay, but..." Mia hesitated, "Can you tell me what's going on between you and my brother? You know I've always considered you family. If there's trouble between you two, maybe I can..."
"No! Everything's fine between us," Letty quickly interrupted, opening her mouth to explain further, but remembering Dom's warnings, she clamped up again.
Mia read Letty's expression and said, "Come inside. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Letty stood there, bit her lip, and finally made her decision: "Mia, do you still have Ron's contact info? I mean Ron Cooper."
"Ron?" Mia's face lit up with excitement, but she quickly masked it: "What about him? I haven't talked to him in forever. Dom told me to keep my distance from him."
"Can you give me his number?"
"Absolutely." Mia pulled out her iPhone and texted Ron's contact information to Letty.
Letty thanked her and turned to leave without even stepping inside.
"Since you're here, why don't you come in and sit for a while?" Mia asked, puzzled. Something seemed off about Letty tonight.
"Can't stay. This is urgent. I've got something I need to handle."
Letty declined the invitation and vanished into the darkness, leaving Mia standing alone in the doorway. After a long moment, realization suddenly dawned on her.
"Oh my God! It's about Ron! Ron's back in LA!" Mia exclaimed joyfully, pulling out her phone and dialing the number she'd been longing to call.
Unfortunately, it went straight to voicemail. Mia's face fell as she stared at her phone and slowly closed the door.
Letty, who had just disappeared into the street shadows, tried calling Ron repeatedly, cursed a string of expletives in frustration, and glared at her phone in despair.
"Damn it! I can't reach Ron. What the hell is he doing over there? Did I come back here for nothing?" Letty tugged at her hair in frustration.
Just when she was at her wit's end, her phone screen suddenly lit up with an unknown number. Letty eagerly hit the answer button.
"Ron? Is that you?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, Ms. Ortiz," an unfamiliar voice came through the speaker: "Let me introduce myself. My name is Agent Stasiak, and I work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
Hearing "FBI," Letty's blood ran cold. The voice continued: "I have it on good authority that you entered the country illegally through the Port of Los Angeles freight terminal at ten hundred hours this morning. Is that correct?"
"What do you want?" Letty said cautiously: "If you're planning to arrest me, you can try!"
"Relax, we're not here to jam you up. I want to offer you something—an opportunity for both you and Toretto to receive full pardons and return to Los Angeles as free citizens."
Letty was tempted, but years of dodging law enforcement had taught her never to drop her guard. She knew damn well there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
"I'm guessing there are strings attached, right? What do you need me to do?"
"Just a small favor," the agent said in a casual tone, as if asking Letty to pick up a Big Mac, except this Big Mac happened to be potentially lethal.
"Recently, a major drug kingpin named Braga has surfaced in Los Angeles. This individual is extremely elusive. We've already lost several undercover agents, so we're looking for outside assistance.
We received intelligence that he's recruiting drivers for his operation. Word is your driving skills are nearly on par with Toretto's, correct?"
Letty's grip on the phone unconsciously tightened. Although the FBI was playing it down, losing multiple agents in succession was seriously alarming.
Seeing silence on the other end, Stasiak sweetened the deal: "If you can help us successfully apprehend Braga, I can even expunge your entire criminal record. What do you say?"
"I'm in."
(End of Chapter)
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