Two Headaches, Special Commission
"Vince was beaten up, and badly injured?"
Inside the roaring cabin of a heavy American muscle car speeding through the neon lit streets of Los Angeles, Letty Ortiz and Mia Toretto both wore expressions of absolute, unadulterated disbelief.
Dominic Toretto gripped the leather steering wheel tightly, his thick fingers tapping irritably against the rim as he navigated the late night traffic toward Maxwell Private Hospital.
Dom actually could not believe the horrifying news either. After all, within his tightly knit crew, Vince could easily be said to be the absolute most capable, devastating street fighter besides Dom himself.
Although Vince had a notoriously hot, explosive temper, he truly stepped up when violent things happened on the asphalt.
In the past, whenever Dom's crew encountered serious trouble and Dom could not personally intervene, it was basically always Vince who solved the pressing problems with sheer, overwhelming brute force.
He just absolutely did not expect that this time, Vince would be the one brutally dealt with and left bleeding on the pavement.
"We do not know the actual situation yet. We will talk when we get to the hospital," Dom said, using his usual flat, almost completely indifferent tone to try his best to calmly answer the two women's frantic doubts.
Through the vibrating rearview mirror, his intense, heavy gaze finally landed on his younger sister, Mia, who was sitting in the back seat with her hands nervously clasped together.
Before driving over to pick up Mia and Letty, Dom had already called Old Parker to ask for some crucial details.
Although the hospital administration did not know who the unknown culprit who had so violently injured Vince was, the specific place where the ambulance arrived to pick up Vince's unconscious body was exactly the decaying, old apartment community where that young mechanic lived, precisely as Old Parker had told Dom over the phone.
Kid, you had better pray to God that Vince is okay, Dom thought to himself, his jaw clenching so hard his teeth ground together.
And you had better pray that you did not set a cowardly trap to gang up on him with a dozen men. Otherwise, this is absolutely not over.
Thinking about the undeniable fact that his innocent sister Mia seemed to have truly developed deep, intimate feelings for that quiet mechanic, even Dom, who had fearlessly dominated the California underground for years, felt a massive, throbbing headache building behind his eyes.
However, Dom was absolutely not the only one feeling a terrifying headache right now.
Across the city, inside a dimly lit living room, Old Parker was pacing back and forth, sweating profusely.
"Old Parker, you really did not do this right!"
"It is one thing to casually tell Mia my home address, but why on earth would you tell Vince? Did you honestly not know he was coming out here looking for violent trouble?"
As soon as Old Parker had hung up the tense, terrifying phone call with Dom earlier, he had a very bad, sinking feeling in his gut.
Sure enough, his worst fears were rapidly confirmed!
Not long after, Arthur Sterling's chillingly cold phone call came through the line.
Regarding this young, highly skilled mechanic working in his neighborhood repair shop, as the boss, Old Parker should have naturally been the more forceful, authoritative party in any conversation.
But he simply could not help it. Arthur's mechanical craftsmanship and his supernatural [Repair] abilities were truly, undeniably excellent.
Recently, Old Parker had taken the young man on many highly illegal, lucrative private jobs, and the unknown clients' reviews were incredibly high.
Because of this flawless, rapid work, Old Parker had successfully gained several wealthy, long term clients in the underground circuit.
Of course, if it were just a bit of excellent craftsmanship, Arthur absolutely would not have caused Old Parker such a massive headache with just a simple, verbal reproach over the phone.
Earlier today, Dom's violent confidant, Vince, had aggressively demanded Arthur's home address from him.
Later in the evening, Dom had called again and asked for the exact same thing, his voice tight with suppressed panic.
Old Parker had asked a bit too much during that second call and learned directly from Dom that Vince, who was always overbearing and crude but still an incredibly good fighter, had been beaten completely unconscious right at Arthur's apartment complex.
Then he was rushed to the hospital covered in severe, catastrophic injuries!
Old Parker was quite experienced in the dark side of Los Angeles. He used to be a highly respected professional street racer.
Although he now ran a legitimate neighborhood repair shop, he also actively helped fence stolen cars and illegally modify combat vehicles for criminal syndicates.
Having dealt with all sorts of dangerous, lethal people over the decades, Old Parker naturally made the terrifying connection instantly.
Vince, who wanted to aggressively go find trouble and break Arthur's bones, must have been brutally dealt with by the young mechanic instead.
Old Parker did not know yet that Arthur had already intimately claimed Mia's virginity and that they were romantically involved.
He just logically thought Vince was still deeply resentful about the previous events in the garage and went out there to seek petty revenge.
Thinking back to twenty-some days ago, that quiet, skinny boy who had fainted after simply being pushed down by Vince, and even had to take a full five days off to recover from a mild concussion...
These past few weeks, he was likely just silently, patiently looking for a perfect opportunity to violently retaliate while working under the radar.
And despite having direct, daily contact with Arthur almost every single day, Old Parker had not noticed a single thing out of the ordinary.
That deep, terrifying level of scheming and those absolutely ruthless, bone-breaking methods made even the experienced Old Parker feel his scalp tingle with absolute dread.
So, hearing Arthur's clearly dissatisfied, icy voice over the phone, Old Parker suddenly felt exactly like he was being watched by a vicious, highly venomous snake in the grass.
He actually felt his mouth go completely dry, and even his gruff voice trembled slightly as he spoke into the receiver.
"Ar... Arthur..." Old Parker stammered, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.
"You know... Dom and the others... they are the major financial shareholders of the repair shop..."
"If... if they aggressively want to ask for a lowly employee's home address... I simply cannot refuse them!"
This cowardly, entirely predictable explanation was well within Arthur's strategic expectations.
Arthur gave a light, mocking click of his tongue over the phone, his tone sounding indescribably dissatisfied and dangerous.
"I probably will not be able to safely go back to the repair shop for the time being," Arthur stated coldly, his voice devoid of any warmth.
"You know the exact reason why!"
"I need money, Parker. A massive lot of money."
"You need to actively arrange some more highly generous, lucrative clients for me. You should know my skills better than anyone by now."
Seeing that Arthur did not continue to violently press him about the betrayal or threaten him directly, Old Parker breathed a massive, shaky sigh of relief.
He did not know what was wrong with his nerves just now. Perhaps because he was rapidly getting older, he no longer had his former fearless drive and aggressive bloodthirstiness.
He actually felt a bit terrified of a young man with such deep schemes and ruthless physical methods.
But on second thought, it was always far better not to permanently offend such a highly lethal person if possible.
If Old Parker were truly targeted by Arthur in the dark, it would be absolute, fatal trouble.
He thought seriously for a long moment, and as it miraculously turned out, Old Parker really remembered something highly relevant.
Just two days ago, an old, trusted friend from the underworld had quietly asked him if he knew any absolute experts in advanced car modification.
That old friend was a well connected information broker in the city.
Supposedly he had a highly secretive client who desperately wanted to hire an expert in car modification for some immediate help.
However, the initial price offered by the unknown client was not very high for the required labor.
And there was one more incredibly strict requirement: the mechanic had to meet the modification expert in person to discuss the highly classified requirements face to face.
Although standard car modification is absolutely not prohibited in the United States, highly illegal modification meant for criminal activities certainly is.
Moreover, most federal cases involving illegal car modifications are directly related to underground street racing syndicates, violent gang conflicts, or even highly organized, armed robberies of jewelry stores, federal banks, and the like.
Once caught by the FBI, even if you only provided minor technical help for the illegal modifications, you would definitely get into massive, life ruining trouble.
Therefore, most high-level, highly skilled technicians in the car modification circle are completely unwilling to risk appearing in person or even exposing their real faces to unknown criminal elements.
Old Parker had previously asked a few highly skilled, veteran buddies in the repair shop if they wanted the job.
He had even asked within his own extended circle of underground friends who possessed the necessary mechanical skills.
But absolutely without exception, no one was willing to take a dangerous job that paid so little upfront and would completely expose their identity to a potentially lethal crew.
Originally, Old Parker was fully prepared to politely turn down that information broker friend tomorrow morning.
He certainly did not expect Arthur to proactively reach out to him tonight, aggressively demanding some fast, highly lucrative jobs.
Old Parker immediately cleared his throat and told Arthur all about this specific matter.
"Arthur, I honestly do not have any massive, high-paying clients right this second," Parker explained nervously.
"But there is a very secretive client with relatively high, complex requirements looking for a builder. Do you want to carefully consider it?"
Arthur became instantly interested, his sharp mind calculating the possibilities. He asked coldly, "Explain it clearly."
Old Parker was not angry at the blunt tone and continued to carefully explain the situation. "The other party desperately wants an absolute expert in car modification, but they strictly insist on meeting in person to discuss the technical requirements face to face."
"If you bravely agree to meet them, you can directly negotiate and ask the other party for a much higher payment in person."
"With your terrifying, supernatural skills, the final payment definitely will not be too bad once they see what you can do."
"If you need any heavy steel parts or specialized engines, I can quietly provide them to you from the shop at a very low, wholesale price."
"What do you think, kid?" Old Parker asked, holding his breath.
On the other end of the secure phone line, Arthur was completely silent for a long while, clearly thinking and running strategic simulations in his enhanced brain.
After a good while, his calm, authoritative voice sounded again in the earpiece.
"Give me the exact contact information. I will contact them myself and set up the meeting."
"Good!" Old Parker exhaled, finally feeling the crushing weight of the night lift slightly off his shoulders.