“No kidding,” Chase replied before looking over at Logan.
“You three the new hires?”
All three turned to look at the man who’d just spoken to their left. He was a black man in his mid-twenties or so with thin braids down to his collar bones. He was about average height and build, but there was a devilish twinkle in his eyes that put Logan at ease.
“That would be us.”
“I’m Dray,” he said as he extended his hand to Logan.
Logan took it with a smile. “Logan.”
Dray nodded. “Yeah, I recognized you from the pictures her father sent. I know who you are. Allie doesn’t, though. She’d have my head if she knew what I agreed to.”
“Speaking of,” Chase said as he looked around.
“She’s not here,” Dray said with a shake of his head. “She disappears from time to time.”
“What do you know about where she goes?” Logan asked.
Dray sighed and glanced around before motioning for Chase and Blaine to join them on Logan’s side of the truck. “Not enough. I’ve been with her here for about four years now. It took some serious pleading and threatening and it was only when I said I would follow her that she finally came clean. She hates that I know. It worries her.”
“I can understand that,” Chase said.
Dray nodded and continued. “She’s dealing with the cartel, which one I have no idea. There’s several down here. Other than what she’s told me, she keeps me out. Says it’s her way of protecting me and maybe it is, but…” Dray licked his lips before continuing, “I now know for a fact she’s in too deep and she’s scared. She would never admit that to me, but I can tell.”
“Is it possible she’s turned?” Blaine asked.
Dray shook his head. “No way! She’s stuck is what she is. She hasn’t gotten anywhere with this group. They’re too tight, too distrusting. But now she’s in so deep, she can’t get out. She needs your help, whether she wants to admit that or not. Her only way out alive is to bring them down.”
“Bring them down?” Logan asked with a raised eyebrow. “We were sent here to see about her, not bring down a cartel.”
Dray scowled and shook his head. “I know why you’re here. I’m asking you to not just see about her, but get her out.”
Logan sighed and glanced toward the shop.
“You’re the best of the best, right?” Dray asked with hope in his eyes.
“We can protect her,” Blaine replied. “I’m not sure we can fight a war for her. We may be the best of the best, but we’re just three men.”
“You don’t need to fight a war for her, just get her out.”
“You said the only way to get her out was to bring them down.”
“You only need to bring down one man.”
Logan put his hands on his hips and shook his head in disagreement. “It’s not just one man. By cutting off the head, you will inflict some damage, but not enough to kill it. The head will grow back in the form of an eager second in command anxious to make his mark in the drug world. And his first order of business would be to go after Allie. She would know too much.”
Dray shrugged in agitation. “So what the hell do we do?”
“I’m not sure yet, but we’ll figure it out.” Logan gave Dray a pat on the back and nodded toward the garage. “First things first. Show us around; let us get familiar with the place before the boss lady gets back. We need to look as much like mechanics as possible, right?”
Dray studied the three of them, then chuckled. “I’m not sure she’s going to believe it no matter what you do.” He nodded his head toward Chase. “Especially that one.”
Chase stiffened and glanced down at himself. “What?”
Blaine, Dray, and Logan chuckled as they walked into the garage. A grumbling Chase followed close behind.
Chapter Three
Chase strolled around the garage tapping the socket wrench against his pant leg. He had to stop himself from drooling as he glanced under the hood of one of the many cars in the bay. Tanks of nitrous oxide leaned against the far wall, ready to be hooked up to one of the many possible engines. No street racer worth his salt would race without it.
He ran his fingers along the sidewall of a red Honda Civic. Purple and yellow swirls decorated the sides and curled along the hood. The Civic was just an average car, but the engine was anything but. He leaned on his elbows and studied the intake. This car was a racer’s dream and his fingers itched to sit behind the wheel and see just how fast he could get her to go.
“I retract my former statement,” Dray said as he eyed the engine work Chase had done. He wiped his hands on a towel lying over the car and smiled at Chase. “Nice work. You apparently know your way around cars.”
Chase shrugged one shoulder. “I grew up around them. My father was a huge Nascar fan. He even did a little local racing and took me along to work in the pit crew.”
Dray snickered. “You and Allie have similar backgrounds. You should get along just fine. You can swap racing stories.”
Chase chuckled. “What’s she like?”
He needed to know as much about her as he could beyond what had been in her father’s reports. The real Allie was what he was interested in.
“She’s stubborn, adventurous, bores easily, can’t sit still for more than a minute at a time, is like a man when it comes to sex. She’s had more one night stands than I have. She’s also got a smart mouth on her and has what I call a male’s sense of humor.”
One side of Chase’s lips lifted. “A male’s sense of humor?”
“Yeah, raunchy.”
Chase laughed and nodded. “Gotcha.”
He looked forward to meeting this girl. She sounded like a female version of himself.
“She would be a handful for any man.”
Chase snickered and tapped his knuckle against the door of the car. “Well, I’m just here to get her out of trouble, not marry her.”
Dray smiled slightly. “Allie doesn’t go where Allie doesn’t want to go. If she doesn’t want out just yet, then there’s your handful.”
“Great,” Chase drawled.
Dray stiffened and Chase immediately tensed up as well, wondering what had caught Dray’s attention as he stared out the bay doors. Before Chase could ask, Dray leaned down, resting his elbows against the car as he looked into the engine.
“Don’t look out the bay doors right now, but the boys are back,” Dray murmured.
Chase leaned down as well, studying the small silver part Dray wiggled with his fingers. “What boys?”
“Two guys that swing by here periodically. They park across the street and watch the shop. Allie must not be far behind. They’d stopped watching her for a while. This is the first time I’ve seen them in several weeks. She must’ve done something to raise their hackles again. Made them suspicious of her.”
Chase frowned. “Does that happen often?”
“Not as much as it used to. They watch her so much, she can’t get word to her superiors. She found a bug in the phone, too. She left it in for fear if she took it out it would make her appear even more suspicious.”
“What about the shop? Is it bugged too?”
“Maybe. I don’t know what I’m looking for, so I’m not sure I would know it if I saw one. It’s why I keep the music going like I do. It helps to cover some of what we’re saying. Just in case.”
Chase nodded.
“At least behind this hood if they were trying to hear what we were saying, the hood blocks their line of sight.”
“Good thinking.”
“I’ve had to learn some of this stuff working with Allie. I just wonder what the hell she’s done this time.”
Chase glanced over toward the office and caught Logan’s eye. Chase lifted his right hand and curled his first two fingers, indicating Logan should join them.
Logan strolled out and walked to the other side of the car, leaning behind th
e hood as they did. “What’s up?”
“There’s a car across the street,” Chase began.
“A blue Cadillac,” Dray added.
“See what you can find out.”
Logan nodded and stood up. Chase watched him walk toward the opening of the bay, then called out. “Hey, don’t forget the drinks this time.”
Turning his head slightly, Logan sent him an amused look before raising his hand in acknowledgement. He climbed into the truck and took off down the road. As he watched him leave, Chase got a good look at the car across the street and one of the drivers.
“Where’s he going?” Dray asked.
Chase turned back to Dray and leaned back over the engine. “To get lunch and a few pictures of that car, the license plate, and its drivers. We can send the pics to SECNAV and he’ll do the research for us. It’s good to know who we’re up against. The more information we can get, the better prepared we’ll be.”
“Makes sense,” Dray replied as he reached out to tighten a loose bolt.
The low rumble of a large truck overrode the music and filled the bay with the harsh growl of a diesel engine. Dray and Chase straightened, looking out the bay doors at the wrecker pulling a deep purple Mustang.
Blaine joined them in the bay and wiped his hands on a rag hanging from the wall. “Nice car,” he said.
“Yeah,” Chase replied, but in truth he wasn’t even looking at the car. His attention was on the woman climbing from the now quiet truck. “Damn,” he whispered and turned to Dray. “Please tell me that’s not Allie.”
“Sorry, man. That’s Allie.”
Chase turned back to the young woman as she shut the door with a hard slam. Dark brown hair cascaded down her back in layered tight curls with streaks of gold. Long dark brown lashes surrounded deep brown eyes that slanted up at the corners just a little. Full lips tinted pink glistened in the light as the sun’s rays caught her gloss and made it sparkle.
Swallowing, Chase let his gaze wander lazily down her jean-clad hips to her red painted toenails encased in three inch heels. His eyes traveled back up her curvy figure, past her full hips, trim waist, and perky breasts. Toned, deeply tanned arms lifted to remove the lock holding the front wheels of the car off the ground and he couldn’t seem to stop staring.
This is not what he’d expected. Not at all. He wouldn’t be worth shit if he had to stare at her all damn day. He’d been looking at her less than ten seconds and already he could feel his balls getting tight. Allie was a knockout.
“Put your tongue back in your mouth, man,” Dray said, his voice dripping with humor. “She can smell a man who’s lusting like that from a mile away and when she does, she eats them alive.”
Chase sent him a look of disbelief over his shoulder before turning back to Allie.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn ya,” Dray drawled as he moved past Chase. “Hey, beautiful. What cha got for me today?”
“Well,” she said as she stepped back from the wrecker and eyed the mustang. “It’s not a bad car, but it needs some work. Piston rings are fried.”
Chase moved closer, but kept his distance. Blaine moved up to join him, watching her with interest as well as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“That’s an easy fix,” Dray replied.
Her lips spread into a smile that made Chase’s chest tighten. “That’s what you said when I brought that Supra in here. Took you three weeks to fix it.”
Dray snorted. “That’s because you kept running off. I have help now.” He pointed his thumb into the bay toward Chase and Blaine.
Chase tensed slightly as she turned to look at them in surprise. “You hired two guys?”
“Three.”
She jerked her head back to Dray. “Three?”
“Three,” he repeated. “I told you I needed help and you said hire however many you need.”
“I don’t think I said those exact words.”
Dray waved his hand toward the cars littering the parking lot. “Look around, Allie. We’re behind. I know it, you know it. Accept it. I hired three.”
Allie smiled and threw her hands up. “Fine. Three. But couldn’t you have hired some a little less easy on the eyes?”
Chase grinned at her comment as she walked away, moving past him and Blaine as though they weren’t even standing there. Chase didn’t miss the way she checked him out from the corner of her eye and his grin widened. She was ballsy, he’d give her that.
A towel hit Chase in the chest, and he caught it before it hit the floor. “I told ya,” Dray drawled in good humor. “Chomp, chomp.”
“Chomp, chomp?” Blaine asked with a frown.
“Don’t ask,” Chase replied as he rolled his eyes.
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Chapter Four
Allie stood back slightly from the window separating her office from the bays and watched as the tall brown-haired man lowered the mustang from the wrecker. Both were handsome but he was … well, he was gorgeous. And that would make for a distraction she really didn’t need.
Dray walked into the room and shut the door behind him. “You said three,” she murmured. “Where’s the third?”
“He went to get lunch for everyone.”
She nodded, but said nothing else. Was he as good looking as the other two?
“The half Asian is Blaine. The other you keep ogling is Chase.”
She scowled over her shoulder at him before returning to stare at Chase out the window. Chase. A very cowboy sounding name. “And the third?”
“Logan.”
She again nodded. “Easy names to remember. Are they any good with cars?”
“Chase is especially good with engines. Logan and Blaine are good with body work.”
Her lips twisted slightly. It should be the other way around. Chase should be good with body work. Especially work on her body. She could easily see herself being tuned up by that man.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Dray teased.
She turned her back to the window. Dray rested one hip on her desk and smiled at her with his usually easy-going grin that never failed to draw a smile from her as well. “What am I thinking?”
“You can’t screw the help.”
Allie leaned against the window and crossed her arms over her breasts. “He’s your help, not mine. You hired him.”
“He’s on your payroll.”
She rolled her eyes. “You make me sound like some kind of horny manizer.”
“Well, aren’t you?” Dray asked, his lips twitching.
She pursed her lips, pouting. “Not always.”
This time Dray laughed. “Please. Woman, you’re worse than I am. You like to fuck. Admit it.”
“I’ve never denied that.”
“I know you haven’t. That’s why I’m telling you … hands off the help.”
Allie chuckled and looked down at the floor, kicking her toe at some imaginary bug that crawled across the tile. “I should be giving you this speech.”
Dray snorted. “I prefer women, thank you much. Nice full-figured, bubble-butt women. We’re just alike, you and I,” Dray said as he wiggled his finger between the two of them. “I know what was going through that mind of yours when you saw Chase. I know he’s your type. Tall, big dark green eyes, shoulders wide enough to make you feel safe. He’s ex-military. Seals.”
Her eyes widened slightly as she lifted her head and stared at him. “Really?”
Was it possible they knew her dad? Not all enlisted Navy actually met SECNAV in person so just because they were Seals, didn’t mean they had ever met him. Still she wondered.
“All three of them are. They were in Iraq together. Iraq, the Med, Pakistan. They seemed like a good choice to have around, you know?”
She looked away, her heart breaking at the mess she’d gotten them both into. She wanted to tell him she was sorry, but was afraid to get into it here. The
y hadn’t found any bugs, but they couldn’t be certain. The last thing they needed to do was give themselves away. She didn’t even feel safe in her houseboat tied up in the canal behind the shop. Dray had one as well, tied up next to hers.
He’d been with her at this shop since he was nineteen. He’d become her best friend, her confidant, her business partner. They’d made a fortune redoing cars, outfitting cars for street racing, not to mention all the races they’d won. It’s how she’d gotten into the cartel. They’d approached her on her street credit, her ability with a car. Now she was trapped and didn’t know how to get out.
They were out there now. Watching. Waiting for her to do something stupid. They didn’t trust anyone and now two of the other drivers had turned up dead within the last four months. She hadn’t told Dray. He would freak and insist on running so she wouldn’t be next.
They were dying in the order they were hired. There were two more left before they got to her, and she wasn’t any closer now to finding the man in charge than she had been in the beginning. Everything was done through a third party.
Unfortunately, because she was watched so closely, she hadn’t even been able to get word to her boss. She wasn’t sure even if she were to leave Miami that they wouldn’t find her. She was screwed no matter what she did.
She pushed away from the wall. “I should probably get changed so I can help with some of those cars.”
“Chase will like that,” Dray drawled. “Should I send him to your boat to help?”
“Funny,” she replied as she opened the door.
At the sound of Dray’s chuckle, she turned to leave and almost ran smack into Chase’s wide, hard chest. “What the hell?” she snapped in surprise, shocked he’d snuck up on her like that.
“Sorry,” he replied. His voice was deep and sultry and he had a devilish look in his eye that made her heart race. God, he was gorgeous. “I need the keys.”
She frowned. “I beg your pardon?”
He raised an eyebrow in amusement over green eyes so dark and so pretty she couldn’t stop staring. She’d never seen anyone with eyes that deep green. “The keys to the Mustang so we can pull it into the bay.”
Fast and Furious Page 2