Ember Toretto-O'Connor is forbidden from street-racing and watching it. She sneaks out and watches anyway, sticking to the shadows and not talking to anyone to avoid people founding out who she is. She starts falling for one of the top racers in t...
Chapter Quote: "Maybe you're not the good guy pretending to be the bad guy. Maybe you're the bad guy pretending to be the good guy. Did you ever think about that?" ~ Mia Toretto __________________________________
Chapter 26
Ember
I paced nervously up and down the living room, waiting for my family to come back. Mom sat at the computer, trying to get in touch with Jackson. We'd lost contact with him after he went to get Jace. I feared the worst of why he wasn't responding...
"Mia? Ember?" Dom called out. My mom and I jumped in surprise, whirling around to find my uncle, Letty, and Hobbs walking towards us. We hadn't expected them to be back so soon.
I threw my arms around my uncle, giving him a bone-crushing hug. Letty and Hobbs weren't immune to my affection either, being subjected to the same greeting as my uncle. I tried to convey in the hug how happy I was to see them. I was beyond relieved to see them safe. Now we just needed the others to show up.
"Where are the others?" Mom asked.
"Cops showed up, so we split. Just agreed to meet back here," Dom replied grimly. "Any word from Jackson or Jace?"
"No," I said. "Jackson stopped responding after he went after Jace. He-"
I was interrupted by Sam, Bucky, Steve, Wilson, and Brandon entering the room. Sam bee-lined to her dad. Brandon came to me first, pulling me into a tight embrace.
"Brandon!" Roman shouted. He and Gina ran up to their son, Tej a few paces behind them. Brandon let go of me to go greet his parents. I watched everyone regroup and revel being back together. But we were still missing two very important people. At least they were to me...
"Anyone hurt?" Dom asked, scanning the room. Sam, Tej, Steve, and Bucky raised their hands. "Follow Mia and Gina to the infirmary. Ember, stay and listen to the comms in case Jackson or Jace comes through. Everyone else, follow me. We need to start coming up with a new plan."
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"I'll be there in a sec, Dom. I have an incoming call," Hobbs announced. He grimaced, and I could tell he was not looking forward to telling his superior what had just happened. Not only had two of the operatives disappeared on the field, but we'd lost the target as well.
I took my seat at the radio, listening anxiously for any sign of Jace or Jackson, but I kept an eye on Hobbs, trying to figure out what was being said. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Even from where I sat, I could hear the angry voice on the other end. I wanted to go take the phone out of his hand and rip the guy on the other side a new one but knew Hobbs wouldn't appreciate it. When he hung up, he let out a sigh, then went to join Dom.
I now sat alone, the muffled voices of my family coming from two different directions, and the dead silence on the radio. It let my thoughts wander to everything going on. Lynch thought I was dead, something I wondered if we could maybe use for our advantage. Jace was missing, which meant I would never know what he wanted to tell me until he returned. Jackson was missing, which meant the only connection I had to Jack was gone until he returned too. On top of that, there was a chance neither one of them would return. I wanted to go out and look for them. I needed to do something other than just sit here and wait. Surely there was something else I could be doing to track them down. Not that I could come up with anything myself...
