The door creaked and groaned under its own weight as Owen pushed it open before he stepped from the car and shut the door behind him with a heavy thump. They were in an empty parking lot at the northern end of the compound. Apart from the wind and the low rumble of their sedan idling, all signs of life had either been concealed or erased Surrounded by only empty buildings, the silence that came with a lack of human activity was nothing short of eerie.
"What is this place really?" Owen asked. "A training facility? This isn't some abandoned suburb."
Everything around them was far too neat and pristine. The exact opposite of what he expected to find if this truly was just some rich suburb left behind in favour of the coast. All the construction was finished, the roads smooth without any sign of wear and tear. And in this area alone, there were three security cameras poorly concealed on the buildings surrounding them.
"Where's Hobbs and my brother?" Elizabeth walked around the car, searching for any sign of the second sedan. At some point they'd been split up. Perhaps Deckard's car had taken one branch of a road and theirs the other. "You wouldn't be trying to pull something, would you?"
Eric shook his head and gestured to a large warehouse to their immediate west. That was their real destination; everything else was only meant to serve as a decoy. "They're already inside."
Inside that, she wondered, or some secret facility beneath it? No government could be trusted when they illegally renditioned people on a whim and flew them halfway around the world. Why else would Hobbs and his friends send armed bastards to collect the children of an old woman if not due to a lack of legitimacy?
"So why are we out here?"
"I wanted to lay down some ground rules."
Rules? That was cute. He actually expected they'd listen to him. Elizabeth hooked her thumbs through her belt loops and started walking towards the warehouse. Owen promptly caught up to her, slipped his arm around her shoulders and kept to a somewhat casual pace.
"Shaw!" Shit. What was it with these people and refusing to play by the rules? "Volkova!"
"How many cameras did you notice?" she asked, voice low, glancing around as they walked. It was probably a good thirty minute run to the gate they'd entered via. Once they were allowed more freedom, Elizabeth would seize the opportunity to better scope the place out, but for now the easiest exit was going directly south and jumping the wire fence. "This place is a maze."
"Three back there, another up ahead. And I've a feeling that's the point." If they checked every inch of the facility, Owen didn't doubt the number of cameras would exceed a hundred. "You're going to have to put in some hours on the treadmill and be charming before they let you out here."
"I can do charming." For some reason, men often seemed to mistake being nice or competitive with flirting. Just because a woman smiled at someone didn't mean she wasn't imagining the many ways she could flog them. "But you'll have to approach Deckard. If I start asking him what he noticed, he's gonna clam up."
"Over here!" Eric opened a large metal side door and gestured to them. Every time he thought he'd caught up to them, the pair managed to put some more distance between themselves and him. After the first three minutes, he switched his focus from eavesdropping to getting ahead of them and getting inside. "Hey, guys!"
"What?" Elizabeth said, shielding her eyes with one hand. She could almost smell how fresh Reisner was. The guy wasn't completely inexperienced but he still lacked that necessary wariness when dealing with the criminal type. "It's a nice day and I was stuck in that car all night. Can't I take a walk?"
"After the briefing. Maybe."
"See?" She nudged Owen and smiled. "He likes me already."
"No." Owen eyed Little Nobody as he stood in the doorway, waiting and watching them. Unarmed and tense, he was a rabbit caught in the sight lines of wolves. "He's scared of you."
"Even better. He'll leave us alone."
"Get your asses inside." Luke stepped past Eric and looked the Shaws dead in the eye. Whatever delay tactics they were using were about to be quashed. "And stop screwing around. We need to talk."
Hobbs wanted them to talk. Well that certainly sounded interesting. Elizabeth pulled away from Owen and sat on a low concrete wall that lined the edge of a garden bed. "Then let's talk out here."
"Fine." Luke wasn't going to start a fight over something as simple as where they stood. He would certainly be cautious, however. If he played Shaw's game for too long, followed her rules, he'd soon find himself on a slippery slope that potentially led to him losing sight of the mission. "Owen, go fetch your brother."
He went inside without a word and immediately found himself face to face with Deckard. Whatever was going on in his brother's head couldn't be good. That cold, dead look in Deckard's eye was one Owen had seen numerous times. It said he was all but ready to burn everything to the ground no matter the cost.
The day the military arrived at his house and told him his Victoria Cross had been forfeited because of his actions, Deckard had worn that expression. Owen imagined it wouldn't have been much different the day Deckard received the call from the hospital either, or the day a closed court passed sentence on their sister.
"You alright?"
"I'm sick of this." Deckard's jaw was clenched and his sleeves barely contained his biceps. Every inch of him radiated anger and tension while he struggled to distract himself with something. "They came to Mum's house with guns. Showed up in government cars and dragged us off... I just want Cipher dead and this whole thing over with."
Owen nodded in sympathy and rubbed the back of his neck, flinching at the sting of his nails against his scarred skin. There wasn't much to be said when Deckard was like this. They'd both been dishonourably discharged, stripped of rank and medals, their reputations besmirched. The funny thing was no one had ever asked 'why'. The hierarchy only cared for what they'd done, not the reasoning behind their actions. "Me too."
He rolled his shoulders, trying to loosen the tension in them, but Deckard had a feeling the process would require a punching bag, not a massage. He looked over Owen's shoulder at the open door and frowned, noticing nothing but a warm breeze was coming through it. "Where's Hobbs gone?"
"Beth refused to budge so he wants to talk to us outside."
"Course she did." A stubborn pain in the arse was how he'd described her since the day they'd met. Knowing his luck, her refusal was also based on some kind of exit strategy. Deckard had already begun to form his own on the way in. "I guess we should go play happy families then."
Owen raised his eyebrows as if to say 'happy?' but followed Deckard outside without protest. If they stirred up the hornet's nest too soon, it was going to be impossible to leave the grounds without an armed escort. Better to play along than push their luck, he thought.
In his peripheral vision, Luke watched the pair approach then began to speak. "So here's how this whole thing is going to work."
Elizabeth smiled at Hobbs and leaned back on the wall. She'd tried to play him and he'd called her bluff. To say she was surprised would've been an understatement, yet it was clear the man hadn't changed a bit since their first encounter in Moscow.
"Weapons will be issued for practice and missions only, and I'm pretty sure you two don't need any time on the range to brush up on your accuracy. If either of you get a clear shot at her, take it."
This was a kill mission? Beth sat upright and angled her body forward, listening intently to Hobbs' words as he continued. She'd told Magdalene she wasn't going to allow her to kill Cipher, and those pesky morals of hers that said murder was wrong still stood firm now. If Cipher died, she would never get what she wanted. The moment Cipher's heart stopped beating, all that money would disappear and the bank accounts would be closed; every asset and share liquidated.
"If Toretto walks away, that's his call. He's got Marcus to protect," Luke continued. "But I'm finishing this mission one way or another. I don't know if you've ever heard the phrase 'ride or die' but that's exactly what we're doing."
He hadn't signed up to die, Owen thought. Yet if Hobbs was this focused on stopping Cipher then maybe flying under his radar would be easier than expected. "I understand you want justice for what happened to your partner but you've never been face to face with her, Hobbs. She's a whole new breed of psychotic and 'ride or die' isn't going to cut it."
"I think we can handle Cipher," Eric protested. "We did it before with less numbers than we have now. Right, Hobbs?"
His partner? Jesus. What exactly had Cipher been doing? Elizabeth swallowed and shifted her attention to the pavement beneath her feet. That phrase 'ride or die', however they put it, sounded like a quick and guaranteed way to get them all killed. You couldn't just throw yourself at Cipher and hope she didn't see you coming. "What exactly does that entail?"
Deckard ran a hand back over his scalp and looked everyone bar Elizabeth in the eye. There were numerous ways to explain it but only one rang true for their situation. "It means we don't go home until it's over."
The looks on their faces told her they weren't joking. Ride or die? What kind of overzealous selfish crap was that? Throwing your life away was one thing but asking a complete stranger to do it as well was ridiculous. "I need to take a walk."
Deckard took a cautious step towards her. "Beth—"
"Don't!" Her voice cracked, pitch skewing high and accent wavering. Elizabeth slid off the concrete wall and started walking north, away from the four of them. "Just — Just don't."
"And you thought telling her about Riley would cause problems," Owen muttered. It had taken her long enough to realise what would be required of her, but it seemed those three words had brought her fears to the surface. Now she finally understood what was at stake if they didn't get the job finished sooner rather than later.
"I know it's asking a lot." Luke was on her ass without hesitation, matching her pace. She'd willingly put herself in prison all those years ago and now here he was asking her to place her own neck — her life — on the line. "Believe me, I understand. I have a daughter."
"That's nice." He just didn't stop, did he? She'd refused him back then and even now Hobbs was still determined to see her change sides. It was more complicated than before, Elizabeth acknowledged. The threat wasn't him and his team of elites knocking on her door. It was something bigger. Something a lot more terrifying than a federal agent with a badge and a gun.
"Anna."
"Don't call me that." You haven't earned the right. She ducked down a small gap between two buildings, moving sideways so her shoulders wouldn't scrape the walls. There was nowhere for her to run out here, or hide. Motion detectors had likely been installed inside every building, Elizabeth figured. Cameras too. Why else have extremely lax security?
Goddamn it. Luke sucked in his stomach and squeezed down the passageway. His own shoulders grazed the walls with each step while he forced himself to shuffle faster, trying to catch up with her. "I'm not going to tell you to do it for your brothers."
Little Nobody had tried invoking his daughter once, on his first and only day in that U-Max prison, and he'd quickly learnt not to do it again. "Whatever you decide," he said, "it needs to be about you."
About her? Maybe he hadn't noticed it but when it came down to it, she was nothing short of disposable. "You really don't get it, do you?" she replied, glancing back at him as she stepped out from between the two buildings. "It's never been about me before and that's not going to change now."
"You're not their knight in shining armour, Shaw. The responsibility isn't on your shoulders." He understood the sentiment. His brothers, his sister — back when they were young, Luke had found himself trying to carry their burdens too. It'd taken till he was old enough to join the DSS for him to realise all that weight wasn't his to bear. "They made their own mistakes and they can suffer the consequences of them."
"What do you want, Hobbs?" He had to want something. Every man did. Whether it was political, financial or sexual, men always had their eye on a prize. Some kind of reward to motivate them towards acting like decent human beings instead of the scum of the earth. "You keep pressing the issue but it's gotten you nowhere."
That wasn't true at all, Luke thought. It had gotten him time alone with her, away from any unwanted and corrupt influences. Now it appeared it was time to change tact and really put the cards on the table. "I can't give you back your old life."
"But?"
"I can offer you a new one."
"What makes you think I want a new life?"
"You hoarded cash and papers in your apartment, worked under the radar and lived week to week. People who live normal lives don't do that. You were hiding from someone." Running was another possibility but Luke doubted that was it. If Shaw had been running, he never would've found her. She'd have dug a hole so deep as to conceal her presence completely. "And you went to all that effort only to get kidnapped by your own mother."
"Their mother." Not once in her entire life had she consciously thought of Magdalene Shaw as her mother. The woman had cared for her, raised her, but the only mother she'd ever known was buried in a cemetery somewhere in Moscow, in a grave she knew nothing about. "Get to the point, Fed."
"You can't keep hiding for the rest of your life."
Hobbs really didn't have a clue, did he? Or perhaps he was just playing stupid to get her to talk. If he poked her enough, maybe he thought she'd lose her temper. It was a pity she wasn't the same woman he'd met in Moscow or she would've pulled the knife from her bra and slid it right between his ribs. On the other hand, a quick death was just too good for Hobbs. "Have you said your piece yet?"
"No."
What else could he possibly need to say? Perhaps Hobbs hadn't been paying attention but she didn't want silver platters or 'get out of jail free' cards from some wanker in a suit. With a single call to the right number, Elizabeth could have all that and more. "Too bad, because I have no interest in hearing more."
"Riley died because she chose your brother over her own life." Shaw's stance changed in a second. She clenched her fists tightly, pushed herself up on her toes and almost frothed at the mouth as she stared him down. It wasn't the exact reaction Luke had been hoping for but it was something. "Whatever you do, don't make the same mistakes she did."
"It wasn't her choices that got her killed. It was Owen's." He'd taken some Jeep instead of a hypercar, allowed the Antonov to drop below takeoff speed. And somehow the ramp had even been left open despite him and Riley already being onboard. Perhaps if Owen had taken Cipher's advice and planned accordingly, all the death and destruction could've been avoided. "Owen was told what to do and how to do it. He chose to go against the plan."
The plan? If Shaw had known what was meant to happen in Spain, it was possible her involvement had run deeper than he'd first thought. Interesting. This was the first time she'd let something slip and all Luke had done was push her. "That's because he's arrogant."
At least they agreed on something. Elizabeth nodded slightly before lowering her feet and turning to walk away. It was funny how the pieces came together when you were able to speak to someone other than yourself. Despite the details and guarantees that Cipher had provided, Owen had chosen to change routes, change escape plans. If the past was any indication of what her brother's future actions might be, Owen would go against the plan again and she would be the one cleaning up the mess he left behind.
"Shaw."
There were only so many times he could ask the same questions before surely even he got bored of this never-ending circle. "What?"
"Why were you meeting her in Santa Clara?"
"You're going to have to be more specific." Maybe Hobbs had figured it out, or maybe he was just blindly throwing darts and hoping to get lucky. The worst case scenario was they had a still from an isolated security camera of her sitting at a café drinking coffee and eating Tres Leches cake opposite a woman with black hair and blue eyes. The best scenario had the still showing a blonde. "Sofya? Sasha? Masha? Baba Yaga?"
"Cipher."
Elizabeth chuckled and said, "I haven't seen her in years."
"That's bullshit and you know it."
"It might be, but good luck proving that. You have nothing, Fed."
He had no leads, no clues, no sign Cipher was even in the States. Just how many countries had Hobbs chased Owen across before catching him, she wondered, and how many was he willing to traverse till he caught Cipher?
"I have your family and a prison awaiting them."
Prison wasn't much of a threat. They'd be out within a week, maybe two. One phone call was all it would take for the ball to get rolling. Hobbs didn't get it, did he? He wasn't the big bad wolf anymore. It didn't matter what threats he made because there was nothing to fear from him or his friends.
At least that's what Elizabeth kept telling herself. Her stomach twisted into knots at the mention of her family. Maybe she was just jumping to the worst case scenario but it didn't matter, did it? Hobbs hadn't specified if 'family' referred only to her brothers, or if he'd grabbed their parents as well. Whatever the answer, she was going to have to tread carefully from now on.
"You really need to work on that sales pitch, Hobbs. One minute it's 'do it for yourself' and the next it's 'do it for your brothers'." Just how many times was he going to give the same speech with a different angle? Hobbs had just asked her to put her life on the line then swung back to threatening her when she didn't bend. "It's a bad game of table tennis and no one's scoring any points."
"Then stop being such a pain in my ass and pick a side. Either you help us take Cipher down or you don't."
She was — God, could he hear himself? "You still haven't noticed what's important, have you?"
"And what's that?"
"You're still breathing." Beth reached under her shirt, slipped the combat knife free of her bra, and shoved it flat against his chest with the blade facing down. "And I'm still standing here."