Angelo was sitting next to his pool right off the coast of the Mediterranean sea in his luxurious mansion he had only bought months ago.  the morning air was crisp and cool, especially at 5 A.M. The sun was already up and shinning in the east along his back. Shades were pulled over his eyes even though they were closed. A laptop was sitting on an end table next to him with a screen saver that showed nothing but muscle cars and motorcycles, flipping through the pictures slowly one by one. Half naked women were passed out along the pool side  while he himself was half naked as well after having the last few hours to have his way with them. Finally, the long awaiting tone of a video call came through, causing the screen saver to disappear and bringing up the message. Reaching over blindly, he clicked the return button to answer the video call but didn't look at the screen as one of his men started to talk.

"Boss, its all set up and ready."

Angelo sat up and turned his body quickly on the pool chair to look at he screen and removing his shades. "Then get the fuck outta there. It's show time." he said standing and walking along side the pool, kicking and pushing the half naked women to wake their asses up. One even fell into the pool, waking up the hard way, coming to the surface and screaming at him, calling him an asshole. "Better yet," he called out as he walked back to the screen, "Stay close. You may need to follow him and see where he goes. My bet is he goes straight to Toretto but I wanna make sure. Just make sure he doesn't know your following him." he finished finally reaching his computer and hitting a button to end the conversation. 

Picking up his cell phone, he dialed Jacks personal cell phone number which he had gotten from his generous phone carrier and waited for Jack to pick up the phone. While he waited for that, he snapped his fingers for one of the guards to bring out Piper and tie her to one of the pool chairs along side the pool. When the phone was finally answered, Angelo piped up in a rather awake and shining tone. "Jack? Is this Jack O'conner? ....Good morning Jack, let me introduce myself. I'm the motherfucker who has your precious Piper, sitting along side of a pool, tied up and gagged. If you don't believe me, check your email." he said hitting the return button to send the brief 10 second video of it. "Do I have your attention? Are you fully awake now? I want you to see how serious this is. Or....should I call back when its more convenient for you?"

The fact that he was still in the shower was a testimony that something was not right. Jack had never been fond of enclosed spaces so his showers had always been fairly fast - unless he was sharing a shower with Piper and was otherwise distracted. His back was to the bathroom door. With his head hanging down, and his arms braced against the shower wall, to anyone the racer looked like Atlas, as if the thoughts on his mind were as heavy as the world. Water sluiced over his skin, having long since turned cold, but absorbed by the chaos in his head he barely noticed it.

Maybe it was only ever going to be this way. Whether it was some fucked-up test from a higher power or just the fact that he'd always been neck-deep in bad luck, he couldn't really say. All he knew was, those things that he's known and loved were becoming less and less present in his life, and lately he'd found himself asking if this was what he'd really wanted. He'd tried to listen to Piper, tried to do what she needed, but he couldn't seem to move past this shit, and instead, he had taken to detaching himself from everything and everyone... including the only person that mattered to him...

Finally smacking the shower off, Jack ran a hand over the top of his scalp, his finger tips racking into his skin, massaging his skull in hope that it'd make the ache go away, allow him some peace of mind but it was futile. Left alone with only the sound of water dripping on the tiles, the racer went over the conversation he'd had with Piper just before she'd left.

"I love you, Jack... I love you and I'm worried about you..."

Those words (and the fact that he'd let her go without even the smallest response to them) still messing with his head, Jack stepped out of the cabin for a towel and wrapped it around his middle just as his phone rang. Fucking finally. Grabbing it, thinking it was Piper calling, he answered without looking at the caller-ID.

"Babe, wh-"

The voice on the other end of the line, not Piper, didn't let him finish his sentence.

"Jack? Is this Jack O'conner? ....Good morning Jack, let me introduce myself. I'm the motherfucker who has your precious Piper, sitting along side of a pool, tied up and gagged. If you don't believe me, check your email."

The menacing words made his blood boil instantly. Anger flashed in his eyes as Jack moved the phone from his ear to watch the short video send to him where he could see Piper tied up and gagged as described. Tears rolled down her cheeks even as a muffled scream came from the small speaker of his phone.

"Do I have your attention? Are you fully awake now? I want you to see how serious this is. Or....should I call back when its more convenient for you?"

The racer slammed his fist against the wall in rage, the muscles in his jaws tense when he growled his words out between gnashed teeth.

"Listen, you sick fuck. I don't know who you are or what you want, but if you hurt her I will personally find you and fucking kill you with my bare hands and I will enjoy every second of it."

"Listen, you sick fuck. I don't know who you are or what you want, but if you hurt her I will personally find you and fucking kill you with my bare hands and I will enjoy every second of it."

Oh, yes, he did have his attention, full and firm. Valente just grimaced behind the speaker of his phone and looked to the tied up Piper that sat along a pool waiting to be used. His hair blew in the soft cool breeze of the ocean air as he stood tall and proud of his accomplishment. his eyes batted to and from through the tints of the Oakley UV protection lenses until he finally turned to look out to sea and continue. "Yes, because that worked so well for you the last time. Tell me Jack, how do you feel right about now," he said glancing over to his laptop and seeing the image of Jack slamming his fist into the wall with nothing but a towel on. "Hanging a little low there, Pal? Feeling a little limp and impotent? I'd say pop a viagra but you're supposed to be young and blossoming with vigor, aren't you?" he said looking away and back at the beach behind his mansion. 

See Angelo wasn't the type to get mad or blow too much shit out of proportion.....oh ho was he kidding, it was the Dago in him but he was being unusually calm compared to normal. Perhaps it was the simple fact that he and he alone had the power right now. He could tear Piper from Jack's little pathetic world right now and Jack couldn't do a damn thing about it but blow up in anger and blame himself. After all, he blamed himself for his brother's death, did he not? Was it his fault? He doubted it very much but then it was this belief that resulted in Lorenzo's death. So....was Angelo pissed? Yes, but he held the power and that in itself only made him want to fuck with Jack even more. 

Angelo turned around with almost a joy in his step and looked at he computer screen once more. "Jack, you're looking a little down and out. You should smile more, it brings out your features of your eyes." he laughed. "Do me a favor.....look out your bedroom window across the street. I have a little surprise for you that you might actually enjoy. You'll see I'm not really that bad of a guy and am willing to work with you if you're willing to compromise a little." he waited a few seconds, again looking at the computer screen to see if Jack was going to do as he asked and then would continue when his request as followed. "Tell me Jack, what color are the three cars parked out front of your neighbors houses?"

"Yes, because that worked so well for you the last time. Tell me Jack, how do you feel right about now,"

Face set in stone, shrouded with shadows that hid his fiery blue gaze, Jack immediately knew what the man on the other end of the line was talking about. He'd always had a volatile nature, preferring to deal with shit the violent way rather than to think things through. And when it came to protecting what he loved or cared about, there was no act too bloody. His knuckles still bore the mauve colored scars from freshly healed abrasions, them being the tell-tale sign of the anger he had released on some lowlife fuck going by the name of Lorenzo Valente, a guy who had tested his luck against the younger O'Conner and lost. No one talked about his brother's end that way and walked away from it. No one.

No thought had crossed his mind as he'd felt himself, almost as if he was a passenger in his own skin, land punch after punch to Lorenzo's face. His mind on autopilot, Jack barely remembered anything after that, except that at one point his victim had been nothing more but a groaning, bloodied and broken mess and he had lifted the muzzle of his gun to align with the man's head before the deafening crack of the shot had pierced the warehouse - an action which seemed to have toppled more dominoes than he'd bargained for.

"Hanging a little low there, Pal? Feeling a little limp and impotent? I'd say pop a viagra but you're supposed to be young and blossoming with vigor, aren't you?"

Now it was the racer's turn to sneer into the speaker of his phone, but he didn't answer as he moved to put on his clothes, switching his cell from one hand to the other and back as he did so.

"Jack, you're looking a little down and out. You should smile more, it brings out your features of your eyes."

"Fuck you," was his only offhand reply, the former Californian being visibly apathetic about the comment. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard it these last couple of months, though usually it was said in a different setting.

"Do me a favor.....look out your bedroom window across the street. I have a little surprise for you that you might actually enjoy. You'll see I'm not really that bad of a guy and am willing to work with you if you're willing to compromise a little."

Jack's jaws were tense as he headed out of the bathroom and into the master bedroom toward the window. Pushing the blinds aside a bit, he almost immediately noticed three SUVs that didn't belong in this neighborhood parked across the street, the early morning light bouncing off of their paintwork.

"Tell me Jack, what color are the three cars parked out front of your neighbors houses?"

Anyone who knew him knew the look that crept into his eyes, knew it meant that he was about to rush headlong into the eye of a storm. But even if all he wanted was to gut this son of a bitch, as long as Piper was involved, the racer had no choice but to play his twisted game.

"Black. What is it you want, huh? Me? 'Cause as you know I'm right here, asshole. You don't need her. She's got nothing to do with what I did."

"Black. What is it you want, huh? Me? 'Cause as you know I'm right here, asshole. You don't need her. She's got nothing to do with what I did."

Angelo was taken back a little but only for the simple fact that he had not yet stated who he was but for some strange reason, Jack seemed to know who exactly he was talking to.  Was his conscious eating at him? The guilt of knowing he killed someone and this was why this little game was being played, but then again, Jack had killed more than one person, hadn't he? He screwed over many people with cash, cars and simple information being the rat that he was, had he not? So how was it that he knew exactly who he was talking to? Or was that his game? Trying to feel out the situation and who might be on the other line? Giving some info in order to gain info.....Well, wasn't he the smart one......well, not really. Angelo had yet to give anything away just yet and he wasn't about to....not just yet. Let's see just how far Jack was willing to go, willing to reach at conclusions before Angelo offered him any kind of solace just yet.

"Jack, Jack, Jack.....I think you have me ALL wrong or is it the other way around? Yes, I think that's it. You are wrong about at least two things. Let's start with the first.....go to your laptop and click on the link I send you." he replied to start things off. Angelo moved to his laptop and set up the necessary fire walls and back doors he was told to use in order to block a trace. He then opened up his webcam and viola! The link was sent and Jack was able to see nothing more than a pool with Piper up close and personal while bound and gagged. Even the background didn't give away much more than white wall and maybe a curtained window in case Jack got the bright idea to try and fit the environment to his knowledge of the area. Piper wiggled and tried to make noise when Angelo walked up to her, but out of view from the camera. The only thing Jack would see is Piper, the pool and Angelo's biker boot, pushing her into that same fluid of water.

"Now according to my scientific knowledge, Jack, she only has four minutes before the brain is deprived oxygen and starts to cause brain damage. Her life is in your hands and your competence. Now again.....and let me rephrase this for you so that you understand. look to the right of your window and tell me again, WHAT ARE THE THREE COLORS OF YOUR NEIGHBORS CARS?" he said this time practically spelling it out for him as he screamed it into the phone. He didn't give two shits about his men sitting out front and he knew what fucking color the SUV's were. FUCK! He bought them for Christ's sake. Why would he ask for those? "According to my watch, you now have 3 minutes and 20 seconds before Piper becomes a mass of brain tissue jelly."A long pause was evident as he waited for Jack to give him the info he wanted. He even played hard of hearing to waste more time. "I'm sorry Jack, what were those colors again?....two minutes and thirty seconds.....hope she knows how to hold her breath for long periods of time....." 

"Jack, Jack, Jack.....I think you have me ALL wrong or is it the other way around? Yes, I think that's it. You are wrong about at least two things. Let's start with the first.....go to your laptop and click on the link I send you."

Since his laptop was downstairs and he didn't want to be dicking around wasting time getting it, Jack went for the tablet on his nightstand instead, turning its screen on and clicking the link sent to him. When the cam feed came up it was automatically maximized to full screen so that he would be able to see everything better, and possibly notice any small details. Frustratingly, the camera didn't quite cover a large arena, but he kept hearing something that was only barely within hearing boundaries that just didn't seem right. Like intermittent static, only not. Whatever it was, he occasionally noticed it in the background of the phone call too. Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to concentrate on anything that might help him clue into a possible location, all he could see and hear was Piper. Fuck, he would give anything to keep these sick bastards satiated. Anything but her...

Watching powerlessly what was happening next, the racer's heart was in his throat. Piper was still fighting against her bonds, trying to scream something against someone from behind her gag when only moments later a booted foot toppled her chair over, pushing both it and Piper into the pool water.

"No! Stop! Goddamn it," he yelled at the screen in futile protest, knowing in a flash of a second that she was going to drown if he didn't somehow do something.

"Now according to my scientific knowledge, Jack, she only has four minutes before the brain is deprived oxygen and starts to cause brain damage. Her life is in your hands and your competence. Now again.....and let me rephrase this for you so that you understand. look to the right of your window and tell me again, WHAT ARE THE THREE COLORS OF YOUR NEIGHBORS CARS?"

Sneering, the racer immediately returned to the window to look back out onto the street. The three SUVs were still sitting there, obviously serving to taunt him further, but those weren't taking his interest any longer as his eyes quickly switched over the driveways of the three neighboring houses across the street.

"According to my watch, you now have 3 minutes and 20 seconds before Piper becomes a mass of brain tissue jelly."

"One black Bentley, one silver Porsche, one red Ferrari," he all but growled into the phone, restless.

There was an unnecessary long, tense pause on the other end of the line and by the time the sick fuck spoke again, Jack's own seething emotions turned, for want of any better words, borderline extreme even as he looked at the tablet screen again to see Piper was still under. No matter how this was going to end (and it was going to end with Piper alive and well. It had to or else he was never going to forgive himself), if it was the last thing he did, the racer was going to live up to his promise and find out who was on the other end of the line and where the bastard lived. And then he wasn't just going to kill him. No. He was gonna make him suffer.

"I'm sorry Jack, what were those colors again?....two minutes and thirty seconds.....hope she knows how to hold her breath for long periods of time....."

"You heard me! You want something from me, you get her the fuck out of the water. NOW!"

"No! Stop! Goddamn it,"

That's what Angelo wanted to hear. He wanted to hear the desperation in Jacks voice. He wanted to hear the pain and agony in which Jack felt. He wanted Jack to suffer for what he had done to his brother, but most of all, he wanted to see Jack endure all the pain around him and listen to him suffer with agonizing defeat. So naturally, a smile crept along his face when he heard the faded distant voice of Jack pleading. It created that joy in Angelo's heart only to ask himself, how much longer before he could make Jack beg like a staving hound in the middle of dead winter. The question pondered and salivated his glands, wanting more, but he still had a point to make and it would all come in due time. 

"One black Bentley, one silver Porsche, one red Ferrari,..."You heard me! You want something from me, you get her the fuck out of the water. NOW!""

Still needing Piper alive to torment Jack was a must and whether jack had given him the info he wanted or not, Piper would have been pulled from the water regardless. It was the point Angelo was trying to make. He had the power and Jack proved this in his actions. As long as Angelo had that power, Jack would succumb to everything. The sad part however, is that the moment Jack decided to grow a set of palle, would be the day he would set Jack straight by killing Piper without as moments thought and he would make sure Jack was able to see it in wide screen and HD quality if he had to. He would want Jack to get that full detail and quality sound so that he could ponder over his failed heroic actions.

He looked to the two men in ski masks that were not yet visible to the camera, motioning for them to pull Piper out while he went back to the phone call to Jack. The men jumped into the pool and pooled Piper out, setting her back up next to the pool as directed, making sure that Jack could see. Angelo waited for this because he wanted Jack to see what was going to happen next. "Now that I have your full attention, Jack and as you can see, I am a man of my word, I need you to go look at those cars again. The black Bentley in particular....." he paused a moment while reaching down to a remote device next to his laptop. "If Monte Carlo statistics are correct, that home was just moved into by a popular business man, who had recently gotten married and just a few weeks ago, found out that his newly attained wife is now pregnant with his child. I think they plan on naming her after his belated mother. ...well, that was until today...." he said pressing the button on the device and listening in the background to the very loud and obnoxious explosion blew into a few dozen small pieces, taking the house with it as the nearby "leaking" gas line was ignited. The houses on either side also caught flames and the pieces of debris took out the nearby Ferrari and Porsche on either side of it. "OH MY....Let's hope they weren't home....." Angelo feigned concern. "....otherwise, the future for little Elizabeth isn't looking too good."

Angelo's point behind all this was to show Jack, that he could find things out at any given moment. That was the purpose of giving the Monte Carlo records of who lived in that house. The other point was to give the emphasis of no matter where Jack was, he could be over powered at any given moment. It didn't matter if Angelo was standing right next to him or if they were thousands of miles apart. He wanted to show Jack, that he had him by the Palle The point of the men downstairs was , well, there was no point to them really except to tail Jack when he left. This way Angelo could make sure Jack wasn't  going to grow a brain and endanger Piper in any way. Not that he wouldn't mind it, but not this early in the game. "Now do I have your full attentionJack cause the next part that I'm going to say, I'm only going to say this once.....That means you need to FOCUS Jack,  F-O-C-U-S, FOCUS.... cause one slip could mean the end for our little Piper here. Do you need pen and paper, I'll give you a moment to get that if you need."

Jack’s stages of anger towards this deluded psychopath rapidly had went from pissed, to murderous, to willing to create Hell just to be able to torture the son of a bitch properly once Piper had been pushed into the water while he could do nothing but watch. But perhaps that was why Piper was there right now, paying for his bloody sins, because he kind of enjoyed the unpredictability of violence. That do or die moment when you were pushed into a choice, putting your skill and wit up against your enemy's...

Looking at the tablet screen, watching Piper finally being hauled out of the water and set back up next to the pool didn't make the racer feel that much better. She was able to breathe again, yes. Thank god. But with him holding no cards whatsoever, she was still far from out of the woods and he knew it.

"Now that I have your full attention, Jack and as you can see, I am a man of my word, I need you to go look at those cars again. The black Bentley in particular....."

Any sarcastic, belligerent comments that he was well known for throwing casually at his enemies, would surely not do him, or more importantly, Piper, any favors right now, so he did the only thing he could and bit his tongue even as he turned his attention back on the villa with the Bentley parked in front of it.

"If Monte Carlo statistics are correct, that home was just moved into by a popular business man, who had recently gotten married and just a few weeks ago, found out that his newly attained wife is now pregnant with his child. I think they plan on naming her after his belated mother. ...well, that was until today...."

At first, Jack didn’t register what was happening as the floor began to shake below him and a bright light appeared from the house across the street with the Bentley on its driveway. It all happened in slow motion, the light growing brighter when a thunderous explosion shook the block, sending a gust of wind and razor sharp shrapnel out in all directions. He didn’t hear the blast, but the ringing in his ears assured the racer that he felt it.

But just as quickly as the sky filled with fire, it began to clear. The explosion retreated, containing itself to the detonated villa, which was now no more than a furiously burning inferno. The roar of the settling debris pile was muffled by the thick clouds of black smoke, smaller debris peppering everything, adding to the cacophony of car alarms and destruction.

Having instinctively ducked down a bit when a jagged shard of metal had propelled through the bedroom window, the racer lifted his head back up and blinked. Billowing clouds of dust swirled everywhere, obscuring the entire block. Where once an expensive villa stood, all he could see now through the dust and smoke was pale yellow stone, broken and haphazardly displayed, covered by a layer of burning ruble and more dust. There was another small explosion from inside the wreckage - probably the gas oven or furnace - while the flames, which crackled and popped audibly even for him, threatened to consume both neighboring houses now as well.

"OH MY....Let's hope they weren't home..... ...otherwise, the future for little Elizabeth isn't looking too good."

...Oh man... He didn't know the businessman and his wife, hadn't bothered to get acquainted with them because they'd looked like regular (rich) people, but goddamn... they were innocent people, unrelated in any way to whatever this was about.

"Now do I have your full attention Jack cause the next part that I'm going to say, I'm only going to say this once.....That means you need to FOCUS Jack, F-O-C-U-S, FOCUS.... cause one slip could mean the end for our little Piper here. Do you need pen and paper, I'll give you a moment to get that if you need."

Jack scrubbed a hand over his face before leaning that same hand against the wall beside the window that looked out onto the street beyond, closing his eyes and tuning out the mess outside. Even with the weight of those people's possible death on his conscious, if it wasn't for Piper, he knew sure as hell he wouldn't be hurting so bad now... but what did that make him? A monster - same as the one on the other end of the line?

Fuck that...

"I don't need pen and paper..."

"I don't need pen and paper..."

 

Odd, but that was alright with him. It was Piper's funeral if he missed one important or even not important detail. What did he care. He closed his lap top and looked to Piper with a sadistic smile almost as if to say, 'you're fucked and its gonna be all Jacks fault.' "Suit yourself Jacky........but are you sure?" he asked in almost a high pitch squeal. "Or should we keep throwing circus balls at Piper and see how many times we can dunk her?" he laughed out loud. His foot reached out and sat on the edge of the chair just to get a reaction from Piper herself. He laughed again, taking his foot off the chair and began to pace the pool side while he talked on the phone. 

"Alright, so here's the deal Jacky boy. I'm going to give you a job and you're going to do it. Plain and simple. If you succeed in this job and do as your told like a good little lost puppy, I'll give you back your precious little Piper. Granted it might be piece by piece, but at least I'm giving you my word, right?" he looked at the phone like Jack's picture was stapled all over it. Putting it back to his ear he could tell he got a rise out of Jack on that and only laughed some more, especially when he saw the look on Piper's face. It was fucking priceless.

"You're not going to do this job alone either. I hear that you have someone on your side that can make things happen like they were magic, a certain Toretto. You're going to go to him and ask him for help, and if you don't, I will send you Piper's left ear. This way it might remind you to listen and do as your told." he said propping his boot up on the pool chair that Piper was sitting in. He pulled a blade from his boot and twisted and turned it in front of her, hoping she would make some noise that Jack would hear. "And if Mr. Toretto doesn't want to help you, then I'll send you both a finger. I'll send Piper's middle finger to Dom, basically telling him to go fuck himself and I'll send her wedding finger to you so that you know, you never had a chance." 

He put the blade away and took his boot off Piper's chair. He looked at the time and then spoke back into the phone. "My men will follow you to make sure you go to the hospital. Just in case...though....you gain a brain.....How far is the hospital from you Jack?" Angelo then pushed Piper back in the pool with a loud splash. "You now have four minutes. Best hurry Jack." and that's when Angelo hung up the phone.


(Angelo Out)

To be continued in Here we go again