Background music for this chapter. ↖️
"Michelle, I'm gonna need you to trust me." Brook gave her such a defenseless gaze it made Michelle's heart drop. She slipped her hands in his, squeezing tight.
"Brook, who are these men? What do they want with you?" she asked, her voice trembling. Brook swallowed again, averting his eyes to the ground, unable to meet her eyes.
"They want me to race for them. They want... they want us to race." Brook said in a low defeated voice.
"But why?" Michelle asked, glancing quickly at them over Brook's shoulder.
"I – I'll explain later." He replied haltingly. "Right now, we gotta find a way to get out of here alive – and the only way to do it is to comply with their terms."
"Which are?"
"Race to survive." Brook closed his eyes for a second as the words left his lips. "Michelle, if there were any other way – these races are savage and brutal. And Zhang's men are ruthless. It's like signing a suicide pact just entering –"
"I'll do it." Michelle interrupted him, summoning up her courage. Brook looked up in surprise.
"What? But—"
"If that's the only way for both of us to get away, then I'll do it." Michelle had quickly assessed the situation and made her decision.
"Michelle, this isn't an ordinary race. It's a bloodbath." Brook looked so worried that Michelle's confidence shook a little.
"Do you have a better idea then?" she asked impatiently. The whole idea of a bloodbath race frightened her, but for Brook's sake, she had to keep her courage. They had to get out of this together.
"Time's up, Havens! Have you made up your mind?" Zhang asked. "Either you ride, or die."
"Michelle, this is killing me," Brook whispered, the tension palpable in his expression. Michelle cupped his cheek, trying to imbibe what strength she had left in him.
"We'll be okay. Trust me," She assured him softly. She turned to Zhang.
"We'll do it!" She told him loudly. Zhang narrowed his eyes at her.
"At least one of you is smart." He turned to Holden.
"Get Havens a car. The girl drives her own. The rest of you, get moving!" he barked. The men dispersed as they got ready to race. Michelle exhaled weakly.
"You okay?" Brook asked, holding her close. She nodded.
"Forget me, I was so worried when I saw you get dragged off." She said with concerned eyes. She shivered. Brook noticed she was not wearing a jacket and her bare arms were exposed. He shrugged out of his shirt leaving only his vest and put it on Michelle.
"What did I get us into?" he asked in a wretched voice, half to himself. Michelle met his eyes, the silent unspoken need for each other louder than words.
"So here's what's gonna happen." Brook shook himself back to reality as he laid down the rules for Michelle. "These street races are not like the mainstream ones. There are no rules and no restrictions. Like I said before, they're savage and the main goal is to survive and make it to the finish line in one piece."
"Okay." Michelle nodded, though her stomach tightened.
"They want us to race each other and they'll try their damnedest to ram us off the road and make it look like an accident. They won't care what happens to us." Brook took a deep breath. "That's why I want you to cross the finish line first."
"What?" Michelle blinked. Brook held her shoulders.
"I'll stay right behind you and make sure they don't try any stunts. I'll protect you. But you need to win in order to get them off our backs. You understand?"
"But Brook, who's gonna protect you?" Michelle asked anxiously. He gave her a wan smile.
"Don't worry about me, I'm the best damn street racer around, remember?" He said with a ghost of a grin.
"That was in your Bugatti or Ford! They're giving you a completely new car!" Michelle's voice rose to a pitch with panic. Brook glanced worriedly at Zhang standing a little ways from them who was glaring at them in impatience.
"No, Michelle, I can't afford for you to worry about me now," Brook said urgently. "Just trust me and cross the finish line. I promise you I'll be alright." Zhang's men returned and began to usher them towards the track where Zhang laid out the track.
"You'll find the finish line on Silverado Street – there's a blue archway set up. You cross it, you win our race and we'll leave you alone. That is, if you can make it there alive," Zhang gloated. Michelle swallowed and was forced into her car after giving Brook one last pained glance.
"Try not to die, pretty," Holden smirked at Michelle through the window from his car next to hers. Michelle glared at him. She gripped her steering wheel with strangling strength as she and Brook drove up to the starting line next to Zhang's men's cars. Brook was given a pale blue Nissan to drive and Michelle hoped he could handle it. It looked flimsy as a paperweight compared to the cars he usually drove.
"Get ready!" One of Zhang's men called out as he stood in the middle of the road, holding up a flag. Michelle revved her engine and heard Brook do the same. The flag came down and the cars shot forward with a deafening roar.
"Ah!" Michelle gasped as the other cars immediately began to crowd around her. She swallowed, trying not to lose her head so early into the race.
"Michelle? Can you hear me?" The radio crackled to life with Brook's voice.
"Brook! How –"
"They have a CB radio in this car. I hacked into our frequency. You doing okay?"
"Uh-huh!" Michelle answered with a nervous laugh. Brook grinned weakly.
"Okay, stick to what I told you. I'll get behind you and steer them off."
"Finally! There you are! You guys are in so much trouble for not contacting us sooner!" Paige's voice blared through the radio startling them both.
"Paige! Where are you?" Michelle asked. One of Zhang's men came dangerously close just then and Michelle diverted her attention back to the road, veering off to the left to avoid him.
"That was close!" She breathed.
"You are such an idiot for going alone!" Payton's voice vibrated through the radio.
"Hey, don't call my girlfriend that!" Brook defended. Payton laughed humorlessly.
"Where the hell are you two anyway?" he asked.
"Racing against the Mao You gang and trying not to get killed," Brook replied dryly.
"What?! We'll be there soon, hang in there!" Payton shouted.
"Forget it, there's nothing you can do!" Brook argued.
"That's what you think." Paige snorted. Michelle bit her lip, turning back to the road.
"What do we do?" She asked Brook. She had no time to hear his answer as a car rammed into her from the side and she screamed.
"Michelle!" Brook sped up coming right between her and the car, ramming it with his own so that it went spinning off the road before flopping to its side in a ditch.
"Thanks!" Michelle said breathlessly.
"No one's gonna hurt you while I'm around, Michelle." Brook's words warmed her heart and reignited her confidence. They could do this. Together. Survival of the fastest. Only, they were gonna survive together.
"Payton!" Brook's surprised voice made Michelle look up. She heard the sound of a motorbike and glanced in her side mirror. A big red bike was zipping through the Mao You cars until it appeared side by side with Michelle's McLaren.
"What do I gotta do?" He asked. Michelle saw Paige's red Corvette also draw near on the right side. She was now surrounded by the three of them.
"We gotta get Michelle to the finish line on Silverado Street without letting Zhang's men get her," Brook explained.
"Zhang huh? You have a lot of explaining to do later... Alright, we'll see what we can do." Payton returned.
"Go kick ass, Michelle!" Paige cheered. "I mean, you got chased by a bunch of cops and drove an illegal car through a mall, for crying out loud! These guys are nothin'!" Michelle laughed remembering the cop car chase. She had really broken the ceiling with that stunt. Yeah, if she could ditch the police and not get caught, she could definitely leave these punks in the dust.
"Don't even remind me," Brook said with a shudder. "But I don't want you taking chances without me, Michelle!"
"Don't worry, that's our thing," Michelle said with a smile evident in her voice. "Let's win this, guys." She added and sped up. Payton steered inches close to her window and knocked on the glass. Trying to keep her eyes on the road she opened the window while flickering her gaze between Payton and the road.
"What?" she asked him.
"Got something for you!" He shouted through his helmet and threw a canister onto the passenger seat. He then veered away.
"It's nitrous oxide. Save it for when you really need it." Payton said through the radio. Michelle nodded at him and watched him speed ahead. She glanced at two of Zhang's men's cars coming up on her right.
"Shit, they got past me!" Paige swore. Michelle saw that Paige was at a disadvantage due to the narrowing road and couldn't stop them – her car hung back being blocked by one of Zhang's men. She decided to ram them herself.
"I got this!" She said and swung the wheel to the right so violently that her car smashed into their cars causing a chain reaction.
"Michelle! What are you doing?!" Brook shouted.
"Don't worry, I got them! Just focus on the road!" Michelle said though the car shuddered violently under her. But she managed to maintain control and felt proud of herself. No wonder Brook likes this, she thought. The adrenaline coursed through her veins and she remembered the first time Brook took her driving in his Bugatti. The thrill, the rush, the liberating feeling that took over when she was behind the wheel... it was incredible. It was because of him that she learned to drive fearlessly, taking chances she never took before. That's how she and Paige managed to get away from the cops last time. It was all thanks to Brook, and she was stoked that she could share it with him again.
"Guys, we've got a tail. I don't think Zhang's cronies liked that." Payton interrupted her thoughts. More cars came up to their rear and a few even overtook them all and began to slipstream in front of her.
"Dammit, they're blocking her in!" Brook groaned.
"I'll give them a new target," Payton said, speeding ahead. He pulled out a crowbar from his jacket and whammed it on one of the Mao You's cars' windshields, cracking it. The car screeched at the distraction and diverted off the road, swinging from left to right, unfocused.
"Paige, think you could get the other guy?" Brook asked. "I daren't leave Michelle's tail in case they try something from behind."
"I got it," Paige said doggedly. She sped up and dashed into the car from behind several times. Michelle was able to squeeze through as the man was distracted in anger.
"Yes!" She said excitedly. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you Paige?"
"What, being able to smash cars up?" Paige asked coolly, though the excitement was obvious in her voice. "Hell yeah!"
"Look out boys, She-hulk's on the loose." Payton grinned.
"At least someone's having fun. Keep at it, we're almost there!" Brook said. They continued on, the track leading into the heart city. The bright neon lights of billboards and store signs gleamed against the glass windows in a blur as the cars raced past them.
"Uh oh, this isn't good. We might get the cops' attention out here," Payton warned. Civilian cars began to appear in every direction as they got onto the main roads.
"Shit, Zhang deliberately put us in a spot like this!" Brook shouted. "We gotta get away from the main road before we cause an accident."
"But the track! We need to make it to the finish line before them!" Michelle protested.
"We will," Brook assured her. "We're just taking a shortcut. But we gotta do it before―" The sound of sirens interrupted him.
"Is that―?" Michelle began anxiously. Payton nodded though she couldn't see him.
"Cops," he growled.
"Damn, it's too late," Paige swore in irritation.
"They must've gotten wind of the race!" Michelle gasped. Brook sighed.
"Great, now we gotta fight them off too."
Jett and Reece were in the middle of a heated racing battle – on their computers. They were beta testing out the new level of their game 'Trail Blazers' and were engaged in a vicious battle of trying to ram each other off the virtual road.
"Oh, damn! You sent that mailbox flying!" Reece hooted.
"Watch out for the cop!" Jett exclaimed, his mouth agape as Reece neared a cop standing on the road pointing his gun at them. Reece dodged him and drove onward.
"Whoo! Yeah, baby, I win!" Reece whooped as he crossed the finish line first. Jett flung his controller aside, pouting.
"No fair, I would have made it if those flashing lights hadn't blinded me!" he grumbled.
"Street rules, dude. And you were the one who wanted to add them in the first place," Reece laughed. Jett retaliated.
"Yeah, because I thought level thirty-eight was too tame! I —"
"For goodness sake, will you boys go pick up that phone?!" Leslie hollered from the next room. Jett and Reece took off their headphones.
"Dang, how long has that been ringing?" Jett looked nervously at Reece as they sped to the living room. Jett's cell phone lay on the couch, ringing at an ear-splitting high volume.
"It might be an investor!" Reece said excitedly. Leslie came in just then, a frown on her face.
"That thing's been ringing non-stop for ages! I didn't answer it because you said not to take any calls on your business number!" She complained.
"Sorry, Les!" Jett waved before picking up the phone.
"Hi, you've reached Jett ―"
"No time, Jett! We need your help ASAP!" Payton's urgent voice blared through the phone.
"Paige! Watch the corners!" Michelle shrieked as they had to turn at a hard corner.
"Guys! I don't think we can keep this up, trying to outrun cops and Zhang's gang? This is crazy!" Paige protested as Zhang's men's cars slipstreamed behind them and cop cruisers appeared on the sides.
"Since when do you give up, Paige?" Michelle asked with her mouth open.
"Since I got the common sense to see that this won't end well!" Paige retorted irritably. Payton grinned.
"Now she talks. Where was this common sense when you were on lone missions?" he asked.
"Ah!" Michelle screamed as one of Zhang's cars tried to crowd her off the road from the front right side.
"Michelle! Just make it to the finish line!" Brook said urgently. "Payton, where are you?!" he asked. "I need you to get that silver car off Michelle's right side!"
"I'm a little tied up!" Payton shouted.
"Doing what?!" Brook shouted cynically.
"Calling in reinforcements!" Payton shouted back.
"Hey, guys! Payton told us the plan!" Jett's voice appeared through the radio.
"What plan?" Paige asked.
"Just head for the bridge, we'll take care of the rest," Reece said.
"Bridge? What bridge?" Michelle asked.
"Zhang said the finish line's on Silverado Street which is across Silverado bridge," Brook explained. "But I don't get what your plan is, Payton!"
"We need to cross that bridge before either Zhang's men or the cops do," Payton said.
"And then what?" Paige asked.
"We raise it!" Jett said excitedly.
"Good plan," Brook said, understanding.
"I don't get it," Michelle said in confusion.
"That bridge goes over a lake. It's remote-operated to open and close for boats to pass through." Brook explained.
"Okay, then what are we waiting for?" Michelle asked impatiently. Brook grinned as they all shot forward in a parallel line trying to keep ahead of the other cars.
"There's the bridge!" Paige said.
"Ugh, Zhang's men are relentless!" Payton grunted as one of the cars tried to smash into him.
"Guys, I don't think you'll all be able to make it across the bridge together!" Reece said. Michelle bit her lip.
"What do we do?" she asked. Payton sighed, realizing the only way for them to all get out of this was to split up. He spoke again through the radio.
"You'll have to go ahead with Brook. Paige and I will lead them away."
Phew! What a rush! Sorry to leave you with a cliffhanger but I hope you'll come back for more!
Racing fanatics, romancers, and sweethearts reading this, do leave your thoughts, I'd love to see them! 🥰