"Ugh, great. The suspension spring's bust, the chassis is banged up, the gearbox is fried, the shock absorber got shocked..." Brook surveyed the damage under Michelle's McLaren with a groan. Michelle stood beside it, leaning against the wall with her arms folded, one leg crossed over the other. She gave a little giggle at the way Brook assessed everything but straightened her face when she knew he was serious about his assessment. The two of them had snuck into the garage after breakfast the next morning to look over the damage her car took and fix it.

"Well, Mister Autophile, you're the only one I trust to fix her," Michelle said, patting the hood of her car. "There's no one I'd trust with my baby more than you." Brook grinned as he wheeled himself out from under the car.

"Oh, I will fix her. But we'll need some top-notch new parts. She's more dented than a river rock. And, as much as I hate to say it—" he came close to Michelle, circling her with one arm, "the best place for those are at an auto show." Michelle raised an eyebrow at him.

"Like the one hosted right beside the NNC?" Brook continued cautiously.

"Oh, uh-uh, no way." Michelle swung her hands up in denial and backed away. "There's gotta be some parts lying around this garage, Paige said Soriano's gotten practically every car ever made! He must have some spare parts!" Michelle began rummaging in every box she could see, hoping to stumble on parts that might magically appear.

"That would be true, Michelle," Soriano said, coming into the garage. Michelle turned around to face him as he spoke. "But parts for a McLaren F1 aren't the kind I have lying around."

"He's right, Michelle, your car is a rare make. We've never kept those before," Brook explained gently. Michelle sighed.

"Should've known you'd get me a one-of-a-kind car," she gave Brook a fond but wistful look. "I don't want to go to the NNC. We still don't even know what Zhang's next move is," she continued. "So Brook doesn't have to go to tonight's race."

"That's what I came in here to tell you." Soriano looked uneasy. "Apparently, the Nightshades contacted Paige. They want to set up another meeting with us before tonight's race. They want to discuss what happened last night."

"How do we know this isn't another trap laid by Zhang?" Brook asked, swinging his head to Soriano sharply. "I wouldn't trust those Nightshades any more than I can throw my Bugatti. They may be in cohorts with the Mao You gang and could be responsible for Zhang finding out about us."

"You don't know that, Brook," Soriano reasoned.

"But it's a good guess," Michelle huffed in the corner, defending Brook. Soriano sighed.

"I know you kids don't like this. Neither do I. But now that we're all in this mess together, it's better to see it through and dig ourselves out of it."

"But the Nightshades may be drawing us right into Zhang's hands!" Michelle protested. Soriano looked at Michelle's determined face and was suddenly struck by her stark resemblance to her father. He turned away as a wave of emotion came over him and cleared his throat.

"Ahem, that's a risk we'll have to take," he said, his voice coming out gruff. "But I know Zhang better. That slippery eel won't risk anything in broad daylight. He'll save his tricks for the track. It's more likely the Nightshades will be meeting us alone."

"Couldn't we just back out of the whole thing and forget it all ever happened?" Michelle asked in a small hopeful voice. Brook came and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Michelle, we both know it's not like you to run away from a fight. It's not me either. Zhang challenged me and tried to put us on the chopping block. Frankly, I wanna give it back to him fair and square. Until he's no longer a threat," Brook's eyes softened on Michelle, "I won't stop fighting for us."

"He's right, Michelle," Soriano affirmed, "Zhang's not gonna leave us alone after last night. And the last thing we need is another threat hanging over our heads."

"Okay, okay." Michelle gave in dispiritedly. "You make a good point. Let's get this over with."

"That's my Michelle," Brook said to her with a grin while ruffling her hair. Her mood lightened up and a little smile returned to her face. Soriano felt relieved to see her loosen up.

"Good. Well then, if you two agree, meet me out front in ten minutes. You, Leslie, and I will go meet the Nightshades together."

"What about the others?" Michelle asked.

"Jett and Reece are busy working on making your car street legal again," Soriano said with a wry smile, "and Paige and Payton won't be coming." Michelle felt a little guilty about blaming Paige the previous night and made up her mind to apologize to her as soon as she returned.

"Since it's just us four—" Brook began.

"We'll be taking the SUV," Soriano cut him off firmly as though he anticipated his question. "The less attention we draw, the better."

"Got it, chief," Brook saluted him, although he was a little disappointed he couldn't drive something more sophisticated.

"We'll be out in a bit," Michelle assured him and he left. She turned to look at Brook.

"Too bad this acrobat needs to stay off the road. Next to my Bugatti, she's pretty satisfying. Er, Michelle?" Brook waved a hand in front of her when she didn't answer but kept staring blankly at him.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, whatever you say." She nodded in acquiescence.

"What's up? You seem kinda out of it," Brook said. A slow smile curved Michelle's lips.

"You look so sexy in overalls, it's a shame I can't spend all day staring at you," she replied dreamily, openly drinking in the sight of the tight vest over his chest and abs and his lean muscled arms bared and blotted with grease. His overalls lay slung low on his waist and he didn't miss Michelle's eyes roving him with hunger. He chuckled and pulled her flush against his chest.

"What I'd do with you if we were alone..." he said and contented himself with lavishing kisses against her neck.

"Payton, seriously, if you don't tell me where we're going, I'm gonna get out and walk," Paige retorted. She and Payton were seated in his Hennessey going at a hundred and fifty per hour through the Mojave desert. They had been driving for close to an hour and Paige still had no idea where they were going.

He had pulled her out of bed that morning and instead of joining the crew on their missions, he suggested they go somewhere on their own. Not wanting to face the hostile glares of the crew and secretly feeling relieved that Payton had not turned on her like the others, she agreed. But the suspense of where they were going was too much for her and she felt like getting out of the car and going back on foot, crazy as it seemed. She hated surprises.

"It's ninety-nine degrees out there and we're in the middle of nowhere," Payton replied calmly. Paige scowled at him.

"Payton so help me, if you don't stop getting on my nerves—"

"We're going on a drive," Payton finally said. Paige gave him a cynical stare.

"A what?"

"A drive. It's this thing people do to relax. And it's what you need right now before you bite someone's head off."

"Payton!" Paige growled. He continued to look unperturbed.

"You can yell at me all you want, but I need some quality time with you and you need a break."

"Since when did you become a romantic dork?" Paige asked in disbelief. The corners of Payton's mouth twitched.

"Since I realized I need to be the bigger person here. I can't let you go through the shredder alone while I'm around. You need someone on your side and who else is gonna play that role if not me?" Payton's words suddenly cut to Paige's heart and she felt her eyes prick.

"Don't go soft on me Payton, it makes you too damn attractive." A smile appeared on Payton's lips.

"Must be doing this boyfriend thing right then," he stated. He drove on for a few more miles before they arrived at a little diner by a gas station, a lonely but welcoming place to the weary traveler.

"And we're here, why?" Paige asked, trying to sound scornful. Payton disregarded her tone and laid a gentle hand on her waist.

"We need to eat, don't we?" He said as though it was obvious. The diner was not crowded as a restaurant in the city might have been and as they took their seats at a far-end booth, a kindly-faced elderly lady came to take their orders.

"Two chocolate milkshakes, two spicy barbeque-pulled pork sandwiches, a large plate of fries, and a cheesecake special," Payton ordered before Paige could open her mouth. The elderly lady nodded and smiled at them before returning to the counter to prepare their order. Paige looked disgruntled.

"You didn't give me a chance to say what I wanted," she grumbled. Payton smirked at her.

"Did I miss something out?" He asked glibly. Paige folded her arms and leaned back with a grunt, knowing that Payton had ordered exactly what she wanted. They ate in silence throughout the meal, Payton well aware that asking her the questions he had for her would only make her defensive. So he left it to time to get her to open up. Paige kept her focus on her food but didn't miss the unbroken gaze Payton gave her and knew there was something he wanted to say. By the time they reached dessert, she sighed and spoke.

"Okay, go ahead, ask me whatever's eating you alive."

"Nothing's eating me alive," Payton said plainly. Paige frowned.

"Payton, you know me well enough to know my order. Same goes for me. I know you well enough to know when you have something on your mind. So talk before I drive back to base in your car without you."

"Always such a spitfire," Payton said softly, "I don't blame you for it one bit, Paige. We've been through enough that's made us both rough around the edges. But you need to learn to let your guard down with me if we're ever gonna call what we have a 'relationship'." Paige remained silent, trying to keep her expression neutral. Payton went on, "And that requires trust."

"What do you want me to say?" Paige asked, her temper bubbling up.

"It's not what I want you to say, Paige. It's what you're ready to tell me," Payton replied, unusually gentle. Paige's temper deflated as quickly as it rose and she leaned her head back on the seat.

"What if I'm not ready to tell you anything?" She asked wearily.

"Then I'll just have to wait till you are. But I want you to know that you'll always have me. I'm on your side babe, and there's nothing you can ever do to make me leave." Paige felt her eyes prick again and felt annoyed with herself for getting so close to tears, something foreign to her. But the love in Payton's voice made her feelings explode inside her and she suddenly got up.

"I can't take it anymore," she rasped and ran out of the diner.

"Paige!" Payton was up and after her in a moment. He found her sobbing violently outside, her shoulders shaking as she tried to control herself. He quietly wrapped his arms around her.

"Paige..." he whispered, wishing he knew how to comfort her. He was not good at all that 'relationship' stuff, he himself had grown up without knowing what it was. But seeing Paige's pain now he knew he had to be there for her. He had barely begun to discover his feelings for her and didn't want to fail to be the shoulder for her to cry on.

"Paige, it's okay. You don't have to tell me—"

"He's back, Payton, and he's after us," Paige choked out, interrupting him.

"Who is?"

"Hudson Ross." The name that left Paige's lips knocked Payton for a loop; he stared at her for a minute, trying to accept what he heard, his mind in a whirl.

"Does the chief know?" He asked hoarsely. Paige shook her head.

"Do you think he'd be sitting at home with his sanity intact if he knew?" She asked incredulously. "Right now he's already worked up about Zhang. Imagine what he'd do if he knew Ross was tracking our whereabouts by picking off everyone we knew, trying to smoke us out into the open by lighting fires. He'd blow the roof off." Payton exhaled heavily.

"Is that who you were going after? All those secret missions, all that sneaking around?" He asked quietly. Paige looked him straight in the eye.

"What did you think?"

"You wanted outside help to track Ross without any of us finding out... That's why you went to the Nightshades..." Payton voiced his deduction. Paige nodded.

"Can't you see why I couldn't tell you? Why I couldn't tell the crew? How do you think they'll react? How Brook would react if he knew? He already made that stupid decision last year to go after Kromer himself. What do you think he'll do if he knows Ross is active again after all these years?" Payton pressed his eyelids with his fingers.

"You were worried about Michelle, weren't you?" He asked. Paige looked stressed.

"She's like the sister I never had. I can't bear to watch her crumble again by losing Brook, you know what she went through last year because he left. And the crew is the only family I ever knew, I couldn't bear to hurt them with this. And you..." Paige's eyes softened on him and she touched his cheek, "how the hell was I supposed to break it to my boyfriend that the man responsible for his family's demise is alive and kicking?" Payton's fists clenched tight.

"Paige, you didn't have to labor with this all by yourself for all this time. You've been at this for months and got nowhere on your own. You almost got yourself killed trying to pin him down by yourself." Payton's gaze became agonized on her face. "You claim we're the only family you ever knew, but you couldn't trust us to protect you? Trust me?"

"Payton, don't you understand?" Paige snapped, her impatience seeping out. "I wanted to clean this up without anyone ever finding out because it was my problem! I'm the only one still linked to that," she cussed Ross's name, "and I have a personal stake in this too! You know what he did to my dad! To yours, to Brook's, to all Soriano's best friends! And what my mom suffered because of him! He betrayed them all!"

"Paige, calm down," Payton held her shoulders when he saw her close to losing it. Seeing the calm look in his eyes, Paige quelled herself and tried to speak normally.

"How could I put the crew through all that again?" She asked in a small voice. Payton drew her close.

"Look, Paige, I'm relieved that you decided to be honest with me, but this is not a battle for you to face alone. We have to tell the chief, everyone. We all have a stake in this and we all get to decide what's to be done. That's not just your decision."

"And risk reopening everyone's wounds?" Paige asked hollowly. Payton sighed in defeat.

"You're not making this easy, Paige."

"That's not my intention," she returned. "You asked me to trust you with the truth and I did. If you can't stand with me on this, I'll handle it myself. But I'll never forgive you if you tell the crew about this." Payton gave her a long look before answering.

"Okay. I won't tell. This will be between just you and me. But," Payton's voice became sharp, "I don't want you to keep anything from me ever again. Whatever we're dealing with because of Ross, we'll deal with it together. You head off on any secret missions by yourself again and I'll tell the crew everything. I won't let you put yourself in danger again."

"Fine," Paige agreed, though it irked her to do so. Payton took her hand.

"Now let's get back home. We have to help Brook prepare for tonight."

Michelle tried to keep her temper under control as they neared the Inked Glass, the Nightshades Club. Jada was standing outside waiting for them, her arms folded and her eyes narrowed to shield themselves against the bright sunlight but keenly observing the road. Her posture shifted when she saw the Night Blazers' SUV pull up.

"Follow me round the back," she said and led the way behind the building. The chief, Leslie, Brook, and Michelle followed her up a rusty metal fire escape to the second floor of the building. They stopped on a cramped threshold before going through a door leading inside the building. Jada led them into an apartment, nondescript to look at from the outside. The living room was heavily furnished on the inside – there were leather couches, glass tables, patterned carpets across the floor, a huge flat-screen TV on the wall, a stereo, and even a mini bar near the kitchen. Trish appeared from behind it with a tray of drinks, dressed in a cotton shirt and mini shorts.

"Don't just stand around, make yourselves at home," she said tonelessly. The Night Blazers took their seats but Jada remained standing.

"Mojitos?" She asked, placing the tray on the coffee table. Only Leslie took a glass and sipped from it. Michelle eyed Trish sharply, wondering where the sudden hospitality came from. Soriano cleared his throat and spoke first.

"You know why we're here. We need to have a serious discussion about Zhang."

"Nice to see you too, chief," Trish muttered, her expression hardening. Jada gave a shake of her head and stepped forward, her attitude cool.

"I take it you ran into Zhang's crew last night."

"More like ran for our lives from them," Michelle interrupted her. "They kidnapped Brook and forced us to race against them!"

"It's okay, Michelle," Brook laid a hand on hers, seeing that she was on the edge. Trish glanced at Brook but said nothing. Jada spoke up.

"Zhang's crew has been harassing us for a couple of years. They've tried to extort money from us a bunch of times and managed to ruin us once. It took us a lot to get back on our feet and this building is all we have left to keep us going."

"Sounds like you've had a hard time," Leslie said. Jada looked surprised at her lack of hostility and continued in a more civil tone, "We used to struggle to make ends meet, yes. Zhang had a particular loathing for us for having once associated with you people. You don't need us to tell you what he's got against you. But since you disappeared into the heart of the Mojave, he had no choice but to settle his vendetta with whoever was left."

"Namely us," Trish interposed. Brook looked thoughtful.

"So you roped me into the NNC to get back at him? That'll only make the cornered animal fight back, so to speak."

"He might be mad," Trish replied, "but once he and everyone around our circles know that we're associated with the Night Blazers again, he won't dare try to mess with us again. Like it or not," she gave a humorless laugh, "you people have quite a dangerous reputation. Everyone knows that you guys took down Kromer and they're not stupid. If you can take out a homicidal psycho and his entire gang, you're not someone people will think about trying to knock block off."

"So you're using our reputation to protect yourselves," Michelle said wisely. Jada nodded.

"You needed our help and connections, we needed a safeguard against Zhang. We won't get something for nothing, we were prepared to pay for any help thrown our way."

"But now, we've become a target for Zhang," Michelle said, a trace of anger in her voice. "He almost got us killed last night and we're not on good terms with the cops either because of him."

"Collateral damage," Jada said dismissively, infuriating Michelle. "I'll admit it was our fault for not warning you about Zhang, but I don't see the problem here. Are you claiming you're afraid of him and want to back out of our deal?"

"That's not the way it goes, Jada," Soriano spoke out in a hard voice. "I might have been prepared to help you if you had reached out to me but I don't take lightly to anyone using my crew as a patsy. It won't go well for anyone who tries to harm my kids." Soriano's threat subdued both women for a moment. Trish raised her hand.

"We didn't mean it like that," she said rapidly, "we didn't want any of you to get hurt either. We needed help, yes, and despite all our connections, no one was willing to stand up against Zhang with us. We didn't think it would come to a full-blown fight with him, things were supposed to be confined to the track."

"And you thought an outlaw gang leader would conform to a bunch of rules?" Michelle asked with utter disbelief. Trish gave her a glare but swallowed a retort on seeing Brook's eyes on her.

"Zhang's not gonna play by anybody's rules but his," Soriano said. "I've known him for years. He hates to lose. And if he does, he'll make it so that the game is played by his rules where the only possible outcome is him winning, regardless of lives lost." He exhaled irritably. "Much as I hate this, it looks like you girls really need our help. I'm not cold-blooded enough to let you face that bastard on your own." Michelle turned to him in dismay.

"But chief—"

"I know, Michelle," he said, holding up his hand to stop her. "But we've never been the kind of folk to abandon people who really need help. However," he gave Trish and Jada a steely stare, "if I see the first sign of betrayal from either of you, I won't hesitate to feed you to the wolves myself. I won't tolerate anyone, and I mean anyone, harming my kids ever again." Jada nodded.

"We have a deal."

"But then, Brook's still taking part in the NNC?" Michelle asked desperately.

"It's okay Michelle, it's just a race," Brook said softly. Michelle looked at him in despair.

"I thought we were through with that," she cried.

"It'll be over before we know it, Michelle," Leslie said comfortingly. "You'll see. And you know our Brook, he never loses a race."

"I'm sorry for what you had to go through last night," Trish said directly to Brook. "But I'm grateful for the help. With you in the race, Zhang won't give us a hard time anymore." Michelle raised angry eyes at her.

"You'd better be, seeing as we almost lost our lives because of you," she mumbled darkly.

"There is one thing I want to know," Soriano interposed, "how did Zhang know where to find us? Did it come from either of you?"

"No chief, we'd never rat Brook out," Trish denied vehemently. "He must have tracked him down on his own after he found out he was in the NNC."

"Chief, my dad's auto shop," Brook said, "he probably remembered it from the old days."

"I see," Soriano let it go for the moment. He stood up.

"If there's nothing else for us to discuss, we'll get going now."

"Brook, you didn't touch your drink," Trish said to him.

"I'm not thirsty," he said, and wrapping his arm around Michelle, he walked out the door with the crew, leaving Trish to grit her teeth.

Ooooh, some spine-tingling secrets just got revealed! The long-term mystery from Rebel Heart is starting to come out into the light, did you connect the dots yet?

Also, I might have overturned a few of your guesses about Hudson Ross - bam, he's apparently not Paige's father! Did that reveal something to you? Or deepen the mystery? Hoping it did the latter coz we're just getting started!

But I hope you connected Rebel Heart's chapter 9 with this chapter, if not, you might wanna brush up. Kromer might have been the enemy on the outside, but who do you think played Judas? 🤔🤨

Man, writing mysteries requires a lotta brain cells, this chapter took days to perfect. 4k words, baby! Woot! Hope you're still with the plot. Also hope you liked all the pwetty pictures 😍 there'll be more to come.

Last but not least, please hit the star if you loved the extra long scene with Paige and Payton! I'll be bringing them to the forefront of the book alongside our favorites Brook and Michelle as a couple so enjoy!