Some old Volkwagen*Fast and Furious*

Chapter 15 - Clean Record

*Hi darling readers, here comes the next chapter! Find out Nelly's plan and you won't believe what she discovers... Enjoy! Love, Jazzlin xxx*

The sun was heating up the streets – it was only the end of August, after all. The huge concrete buildings in the centre of LA seemed to be radiating heat as well; to Nelly they were all looking more or less the same: grey houses with many windows that could do with a fresh coat of paint. Only one building interested her, and that was the one which had "Los Angeles Police Department" painted all over its front. Nelly had put on her neatest white blouse and a grey, knee-long pencil skirt, but her nerves showed on her face: her cheeks were more flushed than usually, but everything that wasn't pink seemed to be of an unnatural white. You can do this, Nelly told herself and walked towards the Department, putting on a look of determination. Dom was the only one who knew she was here and Nelly was well aware that the Department was about the only place where Dom's hands were more or less tied: he couldn't just walk in here and save her, not if he wanted to stay out of prison. Sure, the police wanted a confession from him, yet Nelly doubted they'd be able to prevent themselves from arresting him if he showed up on their front-porch voluntarily.

Nelly opened the door and stepped inside, hoping that Brian's boss did indeed hate him as much as Brian had made them believe. The bored-looking officer behind the counter sat up straight and ruffled through his hair when he spotted Nelly. Using that slight confident-boost, Nelly stepped forward and put on her – hopefully – most charming smile. "Hello officer," she said. The cop licked his lips and then replied somewhat flustered: "Hello – how can I help you, miss?" – "I need to see a certain Commander Cillian – or anyone else with authority. I need to talk about Brian O'Connor." – The man raised one eyebrow. "Officer Brian O'Connor?" – "The very same." – The man scratched his head. "Officer O'Connor is on duty right now, I know as much..." – Nelly flashed her grin again. "So do I. I need to speak to his boss. It is important – it is about Dominic Toretto." Her boyfriend's name seemed to be able to move any obstacles out of her way. The officer picked up a phone and dialled a short number. "I'll just see whether she's available..." he said to Nelly before speaking into the handset. Even though the room was air-conditioned, Nelly felt the sweat running down her neck. This just had to work... The officer looked up and beamed at her. "Commander Cillian said she would receive you in her office immediately. I'll show you the way."

The man led Nelly past some offices and around so many turns that Nelly felt utterly lost. Finally, they came to a halt in front of a dark, important-looking wooden door. He knocked and seconds later, it opened and a stern female face shot piercing glances at the officer. The man took a step back, looking nervously at Nelly. "Miss..." – "...Nelly Watts," Nelly completed for him. – "I brought Miss Watts to your office as you wished, Commander," he stammered. The woman turned to look at Nelly and she felt her insides freeze to ice. Commander Cillian hadn't said a word yet, but Nelly wouldn't have been surprised if she were indeed the dragon Brian had described her as. Commander Cillian ushered Nelly inside and closed the door to the officer's face. She went to sit at her desk and put on a fake smile. "Miss Watts. Do sit down, please. You wanted to talk to me about Dominic Toretto and O'Connor, I've been told?" Before Nelly could say anything, the Commander added: "I don't want to be prying, but you are Mia Toretto's flatmate, isn't that correct? And you've been seen spending your free-time with the Torettos." – Nelly frowned. "Brian told you that, didn't he?" Now it was Nelly, who didn't let Cillian time to answer – she wanted to get over with this, and quickly. "I know I'm not supposed to know he's with the police still, but I found out." – Commander Cillian leant back in her chair in shock. "He's such a stupid... git! How did he uncover himself?" – Nelly shrugged. "I don't suppose it was his fault, really – yesterday, he was called by someone: he was standing in the middle of the kitchen and called the person on the other end of the line 'Cousin John'. Mia found it funny because you know, she's Brian's girlfriend and she knew he didn't have any living family left. Brian told us afterwards it had been one of his friends calling and that they had given each other 'code names' when they were little. – I suppose it was the word 'code names' that got me the idea of something not being right... When I heard 'code names', I just automatically thought of the police. And Mia had told me Brian had been working for the police some year and a half ago, and that that's how they met. You know, I had never before asked how they could've met just because Brian was an officer, but yesterday it made me think. Mia isn't the type to go and do crimes, you know. So I started asking and finally, I found out Dom and some of his friends were real criminals! I had thought they were just doing the races, I could overlook that – but I can't ignore when they're stealing! And no one ever cared to tell me a thing."