Hunter listened patiently to Mia's story, then sank into silence.
He honestly couldn't fathom what went on inside Dom Toretto's head.
Hunter had warned Dom over a month ago that the FBI was watching him. He had even exposed Brian O'Conner—the undercover agent poised to infiltrate the crew—well in advance!
If Hunter were in Dom's shoes, he would have feigned ignorance. He would have laid low, done absolutely nothing illegal, and waited for the heat to die down.
After all, while the FBI handled major criminal cases across the US, they were ultimately an intelligence and investigative agency. They couldn't afford to waste unlimited resources monitoring a single target forever.
Or, if Hunter wanted to be crafty, he could have played the hospitable host. He could have let Brian into his inner circle, fed him false leads, and misdirected the entire investigation toward a rival crew or a complete dead end. He could have even manipulated the situation to eliminate Brian quietly.
At worst, with Hunter's advanced warning, Dom had ample time to move his assets and his family. He could have fled back to their roots or disappeared into another American city under a new identity. Getting a fake ID in the States wasn't exactly rocket science.
So, no matter how hard Hunter tried, he couldn't wrap his head around Dom's decision. Why send men to beat up Brian and trash the parts shop?
Wasn't that just broadcasting his guilt to the FBI?
If they didn't investigate Dom after that, Hunter would have seriously questioned if the entire Bureau was staffed by morons.
Sigh.
Is this just American muscle-head logic? Is his brain just full of protein powder and exhaust fumes?
Even with a cheat-sheet warning, Dom still managed to get himself caught.
This was something Hunter hadn't anticipated.
Ideally, he wouldn't want to touch this mess with a ten-foot pole.
But then he looked down at Mia, huddled in his arms, staring up at him with those pitiful, pleading eyes.
Hunter sighed internally. Fine. Let's do this.
His intelligence, now double that of a normal human, granted him superior IQ and logical processing. In seconds, he had analyzed the situation and formulated a plan.
He looked at Mia and spoke with calm assurance. "Don't worry, Mia."
"Dom has only been in custody for twenty-four hours. Knowing him, he won't say a word."
"His crew should be holding out too. Even if they aren't the brightest, they have to know that if they talk, they're looking at a minimum of seven years in prison."
"Probably much longer."
Mia froze, then pulled back from his embrace slightly.
"You..."
Before she could finish, Hunter cut her off.
"You want to ask how I know they'd face such a long sentence?"
"The 'California Highway Hijackers'... that's Dom and his crew, isn't it?"
Hunter had wanted to address the elephant in the room for a while, so he didn't hold back.
"Back at the garage, I read the reports about the hijackers. Later, I worked on your brother's cars and saw the modifications up close."
"It's not hard to connect the dots."
"Why else do you think I warned you the moment the FBI started asking me questions about him?"
Mia fell silent. She hadn't expected this young, handsome man—the man she had been so intimate with—to be this sharp.
Her lingering doubts vanished.
The reason she hadn't contacted Hunter in the past month was precisely because she feared accidentally exposing her brother's secret. Mia and Dom had depended on each other since childhood. Even though she sometimes resented Dom's strict control, her loyalty to her brother and his crew outweighed her feelings for a "quasi-boyfriend" she didn't fully know yet.
So, at the insistence of Letty and Dom, she had suppressed her desire to see Hunter, the man who had taken her precious virginity.
She never imagined he had already figured it out on his own, just from circumstantial evidence.
He warned Dom twice... maybe he really did it just for me...
Mia let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. The complex mix of guilt and longing she had suppressed for a month suddenly sublimated into a profound affection.
"Hunter!"
She threw her arms around him again, this time with more passion and intensity.
She pressed her red lips against his, delivering a deep, fervent kiss.
"I'm sorry!" Mia whispered guiltily when they finally parted.
Hunter simply smiled and shook his head, saying nothing.
He wasn't about to tell Mia that he had recently read a few psychology books out of boredom. And that just now, applying that knowledge in real-time, he had accidentally triggered two new skills: [Micro-Expression Analysis] and [Emotion Analysis].
Feeling like he was evolving into a high-level heartbreaker, Hunter decided to ignore the moral implications for now.
He kissed Mia gently on the cheek and steered the conversation back to business. "The fact that you're here and not in handcuffs proves something important."
"The FBI doesn't have concrete evidence linking Dom to the hijackings yet."
"So, our priority is clear."
"We need to hire the best, most aggressive lawyer money can buy for your brother and his crew."
"We can let them take the fall for illegal street racing or unauthorized vehicle modifications. Those are minor charges."
"Then we pay their bail."
"The key is to get Dom out of FBI custody immediately. We cannot let them keep him."
Mia, who had been feeling lost and helpless, felt a surge of hope. Her eyes lit up as she nodded vigorously.
"You're right, Hunter."
"Let's do that!"
But Hunter shook his head, looking at her with a troubled expression.
"There's a problem, though."
"Hiring a shark of a lawyer isn't cheap. The retainer alone will be massive."
"And the bail for a group of repeat offenders? That won't be a small number either."
Hunter paused for effect.
"I'm broke right now."
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