CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
she said careful or you'll lose it
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𝐉osephine was good at acting like she was fine when everything seemed to be falling apart. But she was better at pretending nothing was happening when clearly, it was eating her up on the inside. Because as she walked back to the living room to where Vince and Brian were talking around the table━Josephine plastered a fake smile on her face when they looked at her as she emerged from the kitchen, looking like she wasn't just throwing her guts up in the bathroom.
She was so good at it that they merely flashed her a smile in return, warmth encasing their features as the Toretto girl walked around them to sit on the empty chair next to Brian. The blond took a swig off his beer, never taking his gaze off her as she sat down. Josephine tilted her head ever so slightly, noticing the questioning crease between his brows. She sent him a tight-lipped smile and a slight touch on his knee to reassure him.
"So, listen." Vince broke the silence after making sure his wife and son were sound asleep. He looked at Brian and Josephine. "There's a job coming up."
Instantly, both of them looked at the man. They were clearly unsure, the two sporting similar expressions on their faces. A look of uncertainty. The couple didn't say anything though and they let Vince keep talking about this job.
"I was hoping Dom was going to be here by now but this one is clean enough we can do it without him," Vince stated, causing Brian to look at Josephine, seeking her opinion instead of creating his own. Josephine merely pursed her lips, running her fingers through her hair. Vince noticed their reluctance. "It's a good gig. Couple of high-end cars, easy targets. Guy I know is putting together a team to swipe them. Just need a few more willing bodies."
"I don't know," Brian muttered as he stared at Josephine, clearly torn.
"Look, the way the car scene is down here we can unload them quick and get top dollar. It's easy money." Vince tried to persuade them and it was working because they badly needed money. That was something they couldn't deny. "And from where I am sitting, it looks like you both could use the payday."
Brian glanced at him, his jaw clenching because he was right. Then he looked over at Josephine and they exchanged looks with each other, considering his statement. Then they shared a silent agreement. From their position, it was obvious there was no other way for them to earn money. At some point, Josephine almost wanted to tell Brian that she could possibly be pregnant and then backed out at the last minute when she realized their current situation.
She cannot burden him with this right now. As selfish as that sounds. But Josephine wasn't stupid either. She'd do everything to make sure this kid inside of her would be safe. She wasn't living for one life now. She still had to remind herself that now and then. Coping with the fact that she might be pregnant was terrifying but she was more afraid of losing this child because she didn't know how to take care of it.
The walk back to the car was quiet and their heavy footsteps lagged on the cracked pavements on the narrow streets of the favelas. It was way past midnight, the sun was barely grazing the horizon which they could barely see from the stacks of buildings on the hills. Josephine stopped beside the door of the passenger's seat, taking a deep breath as the possible consequences of this job crashed down on her.
Brian's presence lingered behind her. A hand slipped around her waist and another around her shoulders and he put his head on the crook of her neck, pressing a gentle kiss on her jawline. Then he murmured: "Are you sure you're up for this?"
Josephine touched his head, slightly fisting his cropped hair in her hands. She pursed her lips half-heartedly. "We need this, Brian."
"I know, baby," Brian muttered, slowly letting her go, which made her face him. Her back touched the old Skyline as she slightly leaned on it. His blue eyes seek hers in the dim light of the narrow pathway. "Are you okay?"
Josephine bit her lips, realizing he had noticed her everchanging mood and how sluggish she seemed most of the time. It wasn't only because they weren't getting enough sleep or food to eat. Besides, it was stupid of her to even think that Brian wouldn't notice. This man practically sees through her like she's transparent. Not all of the time though. Josephine still kept a good ounce of herself to hers only.
"I'm okay," Josephine murmured, putting on a faint smile that didn't quite assure him. She touched his neck and sent him a nod that he mimicked before she opened the car door. "Let's get this job done."
It didn't look as easy as they made it out to be. Vince had filled them up on the plan, which included the two of them boarding the train where the said cars would be and how the hijack was going to happen. Brian and Josephine needed to get to that part of the carriage first to notify the other guys outside the train where they would be cutting into. It was supposed to be easy. At least at first.
Brian's eyes fell on Josephine, averting his attention from the deserted scenery of the countryside of Brazil that the train passes by on the windows, and immediately smiling upon the sight of her. The younger woman was reading a travel book she held with both hands, completely unaware of her partner admiring her from across the train booth. He appreciated the way natural light made her face glow beautifully for a minute and he almost didn't want to disturb her.
He leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table that separated them. "What are you reading?"
"Travel guide," Josephine mumbled, not tearing her gaze off the magazine.
"Yeah?" There was a slight amusement in his expression that she soon reciprocated when he slowly turned the magazine down to see what she was looking at. Josephine hummed in response, watching him closely as he grabbed the travel guide. He flipped through it, reciting every place the magazine showed. "Tokyo. Moscow. Goa."
Josephine smirked, lowering the brochure down with a finger so he could look at her. "You wanna know what all of these places have in common?"
Brian raised his brows, intrigued. "Huh?"
"No extradition," Josephine whispered.
The pragmatic way she said it, with a mix of hope and determination, stirred his pride in her. A survivor she was. Brian grinned at her, the corner of his eyes crinkling in delight before he leaned in to put a tender kiss on her lips across the table. Her eyes fluttered close, subconsciously smiling through the moment even after they broke it off. The way they looked at each other said enough. Like they would run through crumbling bridges just for each other a thousand times.
The sound of the sliding door opening from the end of the carriage made Josephine perked up from her position, her demeanor shifting to all business. Her eyes subtly raised to look at a train conductor walking into the narrow path to begin collecting tickets. She glanced at Brian, the man sending her an assuring nod as she said quietly with a small smirk: "Here we go."
So Josephine did what she did best. She led Brian, the former agent close behind her as she walked with purpose and a certain pace. Not even an ounce of nervousness crept through her. In fact, the thrill of the mission made her more determined. Little did she know, Brian had just noticed three hard-eyed federal agents with their badges glinting in the sunlight in a booth together. His jaw clenched, immediately realizing something was wrong.
Josephine kept straight for the conductor, purposely bumping into him, and went into a fit of apology to distract him. She had never been so glad that she knew Portuguese and spoke it like it was her first language. Brian did his job easily. While she distracted the old guy, he went behind his back and scanned the magnetic security card that he used to enter specific carriages on the train and quickly slid on the mobile device he had. That was the easy part.
As for the hard part━well, they were getting there.
The cars were there, at least Vince's guys didn't get that information wrong. They were covered with a tarp, all three of them. Josephine closed the electronically locked door behind her just as Brian notified the guys on the walkie-talkie he held about the location of the cars. She pursed her lips, examining their surroundings rather uneasily, the dimly lit carriage feeling more like a tomb with a terrible story.
Brian broke the glass that encased the car keys with his bare fist, pieces of them scattering on the floor. He picked all of them, letting Josephine see what kind of cars it was, but it wasn't the models that worried Brian. Josephine furrowed her brows, noticing the growing frown on his face as he inspected the small paper tags that came with the keys.
"What?" Josephine questioned. "What is it?"
"DEA tags," Brian said grimly. "These cars have been seized."
"Didn't they think we should know that?" Josephine scoffed in disbelief as she grabbed one of the keys from him. It was in fact tagged by the DEA. "Vince and I are gonna have a long talk."
Soon enough, sparks began to fly from the thin metal walls of the freight as somebody from the outside sawed into it. Brian and Josephine quickly removed all the tarps covering the cars and the seatbelts keeping them on the train. Then they stood side by side, waiting calmly as the others finished carving a hole into the train. The large sheet of metal flew off onto the desert, the rest of them outside on a moving truck ducking down to avoid getting hit. Sunlight streamed into the freight car.
Josephine couldn't believe her eyes. She thought it would be a long time before she saw any of her family again. But there he was, Dominic Toretto, in flesh and blood, and he looked better than her, which says a lot. Relief and joy washed through her as her big brother flashed her a small smirk as light streamed inside the freight. Instantly, Josephine threw her arms around his neck and they engulfed each other into a tight hug.
"Look who showed up," Vince grinned, nodding at Dom's way.
"You have no idea how glad I am to see you," Josephine breathed as she broke off their hug. Around them, the guys were starting to do what they intended to do in the first place.
Brian approached them, which made Dom stare at him. "I thought I told you to lay low."
"Been running on fumes," Brian explained. "Had to make a call."
Josephine bit her lip. "It was my decision."
Before they could say anything else, one of the men, Zizi, cuts in with a gruff tone: "Hey. Quit talking. We only got the two-minute window."
Dom clocked Zizi. Then he turned and subtly scanned the cars in the hold, and like a general he instantly had a plan. He nodded. "All right, let's go."
Josephine rolled her eyes but she sent a silent nod at Dominic who called Vince to get inside the first car they'd already hooked up with nylon straps and all. As the men transferred the 1972 De Tomaso Pantera GTS onto the tow truck's flatbed, Vince was off in the desert behind the wheel. One down. Two to go. Brian lingered beside her, his hand briefly touching her back as they surveyed what was left around them. A 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Sting Ray and the Ford GT40.
"I'm taking the GT40," One of the men stated in Portuguese, his tone brief and hard, leaving no room for argument.
Instantly, the trio knew something was up as their narrowed gaze slowly turned to the man who shouted something to his friends inside the tow truck outside the freight. Josephine clenched her jaw, sharing a quick argument with her brother only using their expressions. She sighed under her breath, already knowing the consequences of their future actions. As the man went forward to get to the GT40, Dominic's arm shot forward and blocked him from going further toward the vehicle.
"Ladies first," Dom said lowly.
The man's hard gaze flickered toward her between Dom and Brian. Josephine plastered a sarcastic smile on her lips and a slight tilt of her head that fueled the man's disdain for them. Then she turned to her partner, Brian already looking at her, his face unreadable. Not to her. He held a hint of concern in his warm blues, but the small nod he gave her was a sign of determination and trust he held for her.
She calmly went toward the GT40 with purpose, fully ignoring the other guy who was just strapping the car to be loaded onto the truck. He didn't seem too happy about her picking the GT40 but as he got on his feet intending to make her back off━Brian O'Conner was instantly all up in his face. With one hand on his shoulder, Brian pushed him off before he could reach Josephine, a large scowl on his sunkissed face.
The guy said something in Portuguese, smacking Brian's hand off his shoulder and obviously unhappy by the sudden intrusion. Brian wasn't backing off either. He gave him a little rough push on the chest, tilting his head warningly at the man as he spewed words he barely understood. There was no way any of these men was going to get their hands on his partner, not when he was around.
"Hey," Josephine chimed in when she noticed the brewing trouble in front of her. All eyes turned to her. The woman remained calm, collected, and cool as she raised her brows at the men. Portuguese sounded confident in her tongue. "This car suits me better, don't you think?"
She didn't wait for their approval. Dom simply watched, standing next to the other man named Zizi who seemed to be in charge of his little gang. He wasn't the least worried, knowing his little sister could handle herself pretty well. Besides, he trusted Brian to not let anything bad happen to her. So far, it was going just as how he expected it, then again, Josephine always has a flair for sarcastic comments.
Josephine climbed into the car, making herself comfortable in the driver's seat and immediately getting a feel of the steering wheel of the 1965 Ford GT40. Its dark blue wrap looked divine with the white decals━a straight broad line in the center of the car that went from the back to the front. It wasn't the type she liked to drive around but she doubted she'd care once the engine started.
Because anything fast, Josephine Toretto makes her own.
The low growl of the GT40's engine sounded like music to her ears when she revved the car. Josephine tried not to show her enthusiasm but it was kind of hard when she saw how unhappy the unfamiliar men looked when she slowly drove it forward into position to align with the truck outside the freight, awaiting extraction.
Brian walked around the car, briefly tapping on the window with his knuckles, a low rumble escaping his throat as he muttered: "See you, baby."
"Hm-hm," Josephine smirked, not tearing her gaze off the blond until he was completely gone from her line of view. She made eye contact with Dominic through the windshield. Well, her brother looked unamused as usual.
As Zizi ran around to attach the winch straps through the wheels, one of his men, Capa joined him. Then the former turned to him and said in Portuguese as if that would make any difference. Josephine understood them as clearly as the day. "It's fine... We're all going to the same place. We will get the car there."
That's what you thought. Josephine almost broke into a grin as she laid a hand on top of the gear. On the other side of the car stood Brian and he immediately looked at Dominic from what he'd heard. They shared a quiet conversation, their wandering eyes doing all the talking. Dominic stepped forward and opened the car door, making Josephine look up from inside the car on the driver's seat.
"Change of plans," Dom told her quietly while the other men were distracted. "Wait for my call."
Josephine raised an eyebrow. "I'm way ahead of you, brother."
"Good," Dom muttered, slightly shaking his head in amusement at his little sister. Then he shut her door, tapped the hood of the car, and signaled the men to continue the extraction. "Let's go."
As she was yanked into the ramp in the GT40, she quickly switched gears and reversed into the desert. The rough terrain wasn't a stranger to the woman, and rather than heading west like supposed to, she spun quickly 180 degrees and headed east. Josephine hoped her brother had a damn good plan because they had no means of getting out of there except that last car in the carriage and the tow truck that the suspicious guys had.
Maybe she should've wished them a bit of good luck. That seemed to work out fine the last time she did. Then again, her big brother Dominic was there and she doubted those men were going to be a challenge to the big bad wolf himself, and Brian O'Conner might as well burn the whole world down and everyone who gets in his way if it meant getting back to her.