https://youtu.be/zb1hkGLrFG8

"Shit, Michelle, get out of there, right now!" Paige yelled in her ear. Michelle ignored her, still glaring at Trish.

"And if I don't?" She asked Trish.

"I pound you until you reach a point where you need a tube to breathe," Trish said menacingly. Michelle swallowed imperceptibly.

"And if I do it, what does that prove?"

"You said you're with the Night Blazers. Only those guys are crazy enough to take up the felony dare." Trish said. "Brook trashed a cop car for his challenge..." Michelle's mouth fell open at that, but she said nothing, making a mental note to ask Brook about it.

"Fine, I'll do it," Michelle said determinedly. Jada looked surprised but said nothing.

"MICHELLE!" Paige yelled. Michelle was really itching to tell her to be quiet and let her handle this.

"Really? My my, you've got guts, girly." Trish sneered.

"But I have a condition," Michelle said through gritted teeth.

"Oh ho, a smart one she is!" Trish slapped her knee as she cackled. "Gonna try negotiation, huh, cherub? Alright, name your price. This oughta be good."

"You become the Night Blazers' allies and help them with whatever they need," Michelle said. Jada frowned.

"I didn't know the Night Blazers needed help. I thought they went off the radar after Kromer was put away." She said.

"Well, they do. So do we have a deal?" Michelle asked. Trish looked thoughtful.

"I might be open to joining forces with the Night Blazers. If -"

"What?" Michelle asked with narrow eyes.

"You get Brook Havens to come down to meet me. I have a proposal for him." Trish said. Michelle felt like choking in anger at that but she closed her eyes and swallowed her irritation, trying to override her emotions with rational judgment. She had to do this, the crew needed help and this was for Brook. She reminded herself of that.

"Fine." She ground out. Trish looked surprised as if she didn't expect Michelle to say yes.

"Okay then. You steal a cop's car, get Brook to come to me and we have ourselves a deal." She said.

"Now wait a minute let's think this through -" Jada protested. Trish held her hand up.

"I don't need to think this through, I've made up my mind. So, cherub, you got a name?"

"Michelle."

"I gather you already know me otherwise you wouldn't have come here to catch my attention. So let's not waste any more time on chit-chat." She walked to the exit and Jada pushed Michelle forward.

"Come on, get a move on!" She said impatiently.

"Where are we going?" Michelle asked as she was shepherded out of the building.

"You're gonna steal a cop's car, silly!" Trish gave her a shove to remind her. Michelle looked surprised.

"Now?" She asked.

"Duh, now! Unless you're too chicken? In which case I'll give you the beat down of a lifetime." Trish said, cranking her neck from side to side. Michelle glanced warily at Paige's car in the shadows a few meters away.

"No, I'll do it," Michelle said.

"Good, because it's a win for me either way," Trish said with an attitude.

"HEY!" A shout came from the shadows. Michelle almost groaned - Paige was gonna ruin everything. Paige marched into the light, looking livid.

"Paige Manes. Haven't seen your ugly mug in a while." Trish taunted.

"Oh look, if it isn't the Rack Pack." Paige sneered at Trish. She pulled Michelle away from them.

"You leave my girl alone, she's not doing any dirty work for you!" Paige said.

"Oh ho, so she is with you!" Trish exclaimed, her face glowering. "I should've known."

"Get lost, bitch!" Paige said. Michelle held her back.

"Paige, Paige, stop, let's not lose our tempers here." She said, afraid that Trish would go back on the deal. She turned to Trish.

"Look, I'll steal the car for you and I'll convince Brook to meet you." As much as I hate it, she thought to herself. "So the deal is still on, right?"

"Trish..." Jada said quietly. Trish fumed, but the wheels in her head kept turning.

"We'll need Brook if we're gonna get the money..." Jada said. Paige heard that and narrowed her eyes.

"Fine, dammit, but you stay out of my way!" Trish growled at Paige. Paige darted forward, intending to rip her hair out but Michelle held her back.

"Paige, please! I need you to trust me!" She said urgently. Paige gave a roar of frustration and pushed her arms away roughly but refrained from hitting Trish.

"Meet me by Blanco Street, I'll bring the police car there," Michelle said to Trish and Jada.

"Be there in thirty minutes or else," Trish said threateningly. Michelle pulled Paige back to her car and they got in.

"What the hell, Michelle?! What did you get us into?!" Paige blazed in the car.

"I told you to trust me," Michelle replied calmly. We'll get that cop car and do it without becoming outlaws again."

"How?!"

"Two words: Soriano's garage," Michelle said with a smirk. Paige frowned.

"I don't get - oh, oh! Hell yeah!" She broke into a wide grin as understanding dawned on her. Michelle winked.

"Good thing an ex-cop always keeps his old car around..."

Meanwhile, back at Havens' auto shop...

"The girls are pretty late, where are they?" Brook wondered aloud to himself as he checked his watch and saw that the time was eight-fifteen. He pulled himself out from under the car he was working on and took out his phone. He tried calling Michelle three times but there was no answer. He tried Paige's phone next but got the same result. He began to feel worried.

"Hey Brook, you here?" Payton's voice called out. He appeared out of the shadows in front of the auto shop.

"Over here. Did Paige call you? It's pretty late and she and Michelle aren't back yet." Brook said. Payton frowned.

"The girls aren't back? That's not good." He looked tense. "I came here hoping to find them - I suspected Paige would do something like this again."

"Do what?" Brook asked, his concern rising.

"Paige has been sneaking off on secret missions, claiming someone's after us again. She tried to keep this from Soriano so she went off on her own - until I tracked her down and saved her from getting shot."

"Shot?! How serious is this?!" Brook asked, putting on his jacket hurriedly.

"Let's just say she's likely to get tangled with the wrong crowd. And if she took Michelle with her..." Payton looked grim.

"Dammit, Payton, get in the car! We have to go find them!" Brook said, closing the auto shop at lightning speed.

"I'm already ahead of you, I know exactly where they are," Payton said as Brook got into the passenger seat of his Hennessey. He pulled out his phone and opened an app. He handed his phone to Brook.

"I installed a tracker in Paige's Chevy. Right now they're traveling along Trampton Road -"

"Get on it," Brook said with a grimace. Payton nodded as he turned on the ignition and bolted the car out of the driveway.

"Keep it down, we don't want anyone to suspect we're here!" Paige whispered as they entered Soriano's garage. Paige had picked the lock with a skeleton key so they could break in and Michelle exclaimed loudly as she took in the line of cars inside.

"Dang, Soriano's got what? Every car ever made?" She asked.

"He's a kleptomaniac over cars," Paige whispered. "He needed something to obsess over after he quit being a cop. How did you even hear about this place?"

"He mentioned it last night when he said where you guys were staying," Michelle said. "Lucky, huh?"

"No, 'lucky' is having an ex-cop who thought of saving his car from the nineties. If he hadn't we would've been stumped - the Nightshades don't tolerate insults too well." Paige winced to think what might have happened.

"Yeah..." Michelle shuddered at the thought of getting pummeled and ending up breathing through a tube.

"There it is - the old Ford. The modern Dodge Charger tops this baby and the rare Lambo cruiser is a killer set of wheels but still, she must have done her job well back in the nineties." Paige said, stroking the hood of the car almost lovingly. She filled the empty tank with a can of petrol from the garage.

"Get in already, we only have fifteen minutes to get this to Blanco Street," Michelle said, getting in the driver's seat. Paige hotwired the car so it would start without a key and let out a whoop.

"Whoo hoo, good thing Soriano got a nineteen ninety-one model."

"Why?"

"Because you can't hotwire cars made after nineteen ninety-five. They've been upgraded."

"Oh. Cool." Michelle was impressed by Paige's knowledge of cars.

"Alright! Yeah, baby!" She said as the car engine roared. Michelle grabbed the wheel.

"We're not stealing it, just borrowing it. We'll return it after Trish has seen it." Michelle said as if she was trying to convince herself.

"Guilty conscience much?" Paige asked slyly. "Relax angel face, Soriano won't be too mad even if he does find out."

"Let's not let him find out," Michelle said as they shot onto the streets.

"Keep to the back roads, this car's way too suspicious to get attention," Paige warned.

"I figured that out. Imagine what the cops would think if they saw a twenty-year-old cruiser on the road today." Michelle laughed nervously before lapsing into a subdued silence.

"You okay?" Paige asked, seeing Michelle's worried face as she drove. Michelle sighed.

"You said you didn't want to involve the boys - but Trish's condition was to meet Brook, goodness knows why. Point is, we'll have to get him involved if we want Trish's cooperation."

"Yeah, that's a little snag we hit," Paige said, folding her arms. "I'll try talking to her, see if she can be persuaded about that. I heard Jada mention something about money; if it's money they want, I can speak their language."

"What do you think they need Brook for?"

"Don't know. But Trish wouldn't get him in trouble - at least, I don't think so."

"Not helping, Paige." Michelle rolled her eyes.

"Sorry. Anyways, everything's riding on us pulling off a successful negotiation so get your business face on."

"Right."

Brook stared at the GPS app that was supposed to track Paige's car and blinked to make sure he was seeing it right. It had stopped at a particular location that confused him.

"That's odd," he stated.

"What?" Payton asked.

"The tracking device must be malfunctioning because it stopped at Soriano's place."

"What? Lemme see that." Payton glanced at the screen to confirm it.

"Why would Paige go home?" He asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"And with Michelle still with her -" A call from Jett popped up on Brook's phone as he spoke. He picked it up.

"Jett, this isn't a good time."

"You're telling me - I'm calling to tell you Paige's car is here."

"Just her car?" Payton asked urgently.

"Yeah, no sign of Paige. Coincidentally, our garage has been broken into and Soriano's old police cruiser is missing. Paige's car is parked right outside by the way. I didn't tell Soriano yet, I thought you could figure out what's going on -"

"Thanks for the info, Jett. Listen, did you install trackers in that cruiser?" Payton asked Jett.

"Course I did! I installed trackers in all our cars!" He grinned.

"Remind me to question you about that later," Payton said with a grimace. Jett's laugh became nervous.

"Nevermind that." Brook cut in. "Just track the cruiser and send us the location ASAP."

"Er, okay. Hey, I was wondering - did Paige steal that car? It wasn't even worth much and a regular thief can't have known I'd put a tracker -"

"Jett!" Payton yelled.

"Sorry, sorry, I'll get on it." He hung up and sent them the location of the cruiser within a few minutes.

"Blanco Street," Payton said through gritted teeth.

"That's out of town. I don't like this." Brook said in a low tone.

"Neither do I," Payton replied the same.

"Er, Paige? What's that sound?" Michelle asked nervously as a low indistinct siren sounded in the distance.

"Must be an ambulance..." She muttered, not sounding convinced. Michelle gave her a horrified look.

"If those are real cops, we're in big trouble!" She yelped. Paige whipped around to see the road behind them. Two police cruisers appeared in the distance, lights flashing and sirens wailing.

"SHIT!" Paige swore aloud. "Double PPVs!"

"PP what?"

"Police Pursuit Vehicles! We're being chased!"

"Oh no!" Michelle bit her lip. "Do I pull over?"

"Do you wanna explain to a bunch of cops how we happen to be driving an illegal outdated cruiser?!" Paige asked in a shrill voice. "Hit the gas, we gotta get out of here!" Michelle did just that and the cruiser shot forward.

"They're still chasing us, I wonder how they saw us... Oh, damn! I forgot about the road CCTVs!" Paige slapped her head.

"Can you worry about that later?" Michelle asked in a panicky voice. "Where am I supposed to go? They'll follow us to Blanco Street!"

"We gotta lose 'em first!" Paige shouted over the roar of the engine. "Head east, I know a shortcut!" Michelle swung the wheel to a hard right sending the car plummeting off road.

"This - had - better - work!" Michelle stuttered as the car jerked on the uneven ground, shaking her voice.

"It will! We're too suspicious on the road, we can lose 'em this way. Just - shit!" Paige shielded her eyes as another cruiser appeared in front of them. Michelle got blinded by the headlights, unable to cover her eyes but instinctively turned left, screeching the car away.

"They're everywhere!" she exclaimed.

"Ugh, this is bad. The only other way to lose them is in the city." Paige said angrily. Michelle nodded, a look of determination coming over her face.

"I know what to do." She shot the car forward onto the main roads ridden with traffic.

"This is the craziest thing I've ever seen you do!" Paige declared, hanging onto the handlebar for dear life as Michelle zigzagged through traffic without slowing down.

"I didn't learn how to drive like this for nothing!" Michelle laughed, an exhilarated look on her face. Paige snorted.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't - whoa!" Michelle zipped just inches from a bus.

"Try not to get us or anyone else killed!" Paige whimpered.

"I'm trying to keep us out of jail! Hang on!" Michelle shouted. She turned the car to the right where a mall rose in front.

"Where are you -" Paige began.

"Car park! I got an idea!" Michelle replied before she could finish.

"But that's a dead end! And I really don't want to get arrested tonight!" Paige protested.

"We won't! We'll lose them inside!" Michelle drove into the basement, the cop cars hot on their tail a little ways behind.

"In a mall?!" Paige asked skeptically. She didn't wait for an answer because the car started to draw dangerously close to the underground mall entrance.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Michelle, BRAKE!" Paige yelled as the car headed straight towards the glass doors.

"NO! This is part of the plan!" Michelle yelled back. Paige covered herself with her arms, bracing for a crash. The car smashed through the glass doors, startling shoppers inside. It slipped and screeched on the smooth mall floors.

"Don't hit the people, Don't hit the people..." Michelle muttered to herself as she navigated through the crowd.

"Yes! There it is!" She exclaimed on seeing the main entrance up ahead. She had to go through a few potted plants along the way, sending them and the soil flying in the air onto the car.

"Chief's gonna flip when he sees the car again." Paige groaned.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll hose it down," Michelle said impatiently as that was the least of her concerns. "Are the cops still following us?"

"No, way. I don't think they have the guts to chase a car through a mall." Paige replied, shaking her head skeptically. Michelle giggled.

"Here we go!" She sped up and crashed through the glass doors of the entrance before returning to the main road.

"We lost them! Michelle, that was damn brilliant! Crazy, dangerous, illegal, but brilliant!" Paige whooped in excitement and hugged Michelle.

"Okay, get off, I'm still driving!" Michelle laughed. She killed the headlights and plunged into a dark back alley.

"We better not get any more attention if we wanna get to Blanco Street in one piece," she said.

"Yeah. We're crazy late though, hope the Nightshades didn't change their mind." Paige said doubtfully.

"After what we just went through to get this car? NO. WAY." Michelle said doggedly.

Soon, the cruiser rounded up to Blanco Street where Trish and Jada were already waiting beside an expensive-looking mint green car. Trish's face broke into a grin when she saw them draw near but Jada's expression was icy.

"You're late." She snapped at Michelle as the girls got out of the car.

"We had a bit of car trouble okay?!" Paige retorted with a glare. "But we brought it anyway, so shove it." Trish eyed the car with a smirk.

"Damn, you actually got it," she said and clapped her hands in applause.

"Kind of old for a cruiser," Jada commented with narrow eyes. She x-rayed Michelle in suspicion. "I haven't seen a car like this in years. And what did you do, get into a mud match with it?" She gave a look of disgust at the car's soiled, dented, wrecked state.

"Still, she didn't fail the challenge," Trish said, oblivious to anything else.

"Yeah, so you keep your end of the bargain, Alvarez," Paige said.

"Not so fast, Manes. There's still part two of the deal." Trish sneered at her. Michelle interposed, stepping between them.

"Look, I'll bring Brook along tomorrow, will that suffice?" she asked.

"Fine, but if you don't show with Havens, the deal's off," Jada said firmly.

"Understood." Michelle nodded. "So can we go now?"

"What? Hell no, you gotta trash the car!" Trish said, surprised that Michelle thought of leaving.

"What?! That wasn't part of the deal!" Michelle's mouth fell open.

"Are you gonna chicken out? If that's the case - you have a date with my fist." Trish pummeled her fist into her palm with a gloat. Paige stood in front of Michelle, her own fists clenched.

"No, you have a date with mine." Paige grated out, raising a fist. Trish snickered.

"As you wish." She raised her fist when the screech of tires filled the air and made all the women turn around.

"PAIGE!" A harsh voice called out. A familiar Hennessey Venom pulled up in front of Trish's car and Payton and Brook got out. Michelle gasped.

"Shoot! Busted!" She whispered to Paige. Paige groaned. The two guys walked up to them and Trish's jaw dropped.

"Brook Havens?" She asked, her gaze softening on him. Brook barely heard her, his eyes were fixed on Michelle. He walked right up to her and took her in his arms in a bone-crushing hug.

"Oof! Brook!" Michelle gasped for air. He stepped back but didn't let go of her.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" He asked in such a soft voice it made Michelle's heart clench. Brook was worried about her.

"I'm fine." She whispered. Right there in front of everyone, he kissed her full on the lips. Trish made a choking sound as she gaped at them.

"Thank God," Brook said when he withdrew, although his eyes still kept roving her body in concern. Michelle glanced anxiously at Trish. Her expression was unreadable.

"What the -" Payton swore, making Michelle cringe, "were you thinking, Paige?! You could've gotten into so much trouble! And dragging Michelle along into one of your schemes?! What if something had to happen to you?! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED YOU MADE ME?!" Paige folded her arms sullenly.

"I didn't want you getting involved." She mumbled. Payton clutched his forehead.

"That's not the point! We are way past this, Paige! I'm telling Soriano about this! Stealing a car and breaking in?! For what?! How irresponsible can you be? I'm damn well not gonna let you out of my sight again!"

"Can we discuss this later?!" Paige shouted, finally losing her temper. "You're making a scene."

"No, he's right Paige. This is going too far. I'm very disappointed in you. I can't believe you'd drag Michelle into this." Brook scolded her in a quiet calm voice. Michelle was surprised - that was so unlike the hot-tempered Brook she'd known.

"Ahem." Jada coughed, reminding them all that she and Trish were still there. The boys turned to them as if noticing them for the first time.

"If we may - we don't wanna get involved in whatever the heck you guys are in but this is turning into a shouting match that's going nowhere," she said.

"Jada, Trish. What brings you here?" Payton asked stiffly.

"Your little protégé, apparently," Jada replied airily as she eyed Michelle. "We were in the middle of a negotiation before you guys interrupted."

"Don't give me that bull, I saw you were about to hurt Michelle!" Brook growled at Trish. Trish cowered back, her expression stunned.

"B-Brook, I didn't know - she was with you - i-it was a simple mistake..." She stammered. Michelle was surprised to see her go through such a drastic transformation of character. Just minutes ago she was all tough and brutal; now she was whimpering at the sight of Brook. Brook turned away from her, grabbing Michelle's wrist.

"Come on Michelle, we're going home," he said, pulling her to the car.

"Wait, we can't leave." Michelle protested. Brook turned to look at her in unbelief.

"Yeah, we came too far to turn back now!" Paige also voiced angrily. She turned to Trish.

"We got you the damn car. And you've seen for yourself that Michelle is with us. Now uphold your part of the deal."

"What deal?" Payton asked suspiciously.

"The deal also entailed -" Trish began but stopped to glance at Brook. She shook her head frustratedly.

"Screw it. The deal's off." She turned and got into her car moodily. Jada made no move to follow but stood watching them all thoughtfully. She moved forward to Michelle.

"Don't listen to Trish. This may not be a good time, but if you still need us, you know where to find us. The deal is still on." She said and got into the car. They drove off, leaving only the four of them.

"Whoa." Michelle blinked. Paige smirked.

"Yeah. Looks like this wasn't a total loss after all," she said.

"We'll discuss this at home. You girls are in BIG trouble." Payton blazed.

"But at least there's still a chance for us..." Paige whispered to Michelle.

"You guys go take the Hennessey. I'll drive Michelle home in the cruiser. Tell Soriano what happened." Brook said and pulled Michelle to the police car. She sighed as she got in. Brook's silent anger rolled off him like a heat wave. Michelle bit her lip. She had really upset him this time and didn't know how she was going to fix it.

''Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
Looking for adventure...

Like a true nature's child
We were born
Born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna die! Born to be wild!''

Wow, what a rush! 😃 My adrenaline was pumpin' just writing this! I sorta brought back the mall scene from ride or die, anybody remember it? But the twist is it's a girls-only escapade and I think they handled it pretty well. I was wondering what theme music would suit this chapter and while the ride-or-die fast-paced instrumentals are pretty cool, I remembered a song from Herbie: Fully Loaded and kapow! It totally fit. These girls were born to be wild!

Lemme know if you liked it, drop a vote and a comment, it can be wild, lol. See you in the next chapter soon! Hint: it's gonna get hot...🥵😳🥰😍😏