When he heard the sound of a car engine outside,
Hunter, who'd been pretending to sleep, finally opened his eyes.
'She's gone?'
'Left without saying goodbye, again!'
He got up, walked to the window, and watched his ford mustang disappear.
Hunter knew that the woman who'd suddenly been so forward last night—
and who had ultimately achieved the great harmony of life with him—had driven off.
Probably, after waking up, she couldn't quite accept how wild and proactive she'd been.
So Slater chose to run.
'Think you can run from me?'
He glanced down at the claw marks her long nails had left on his skin.
The corner of Hunter's mouth couldn't help but curve up.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that, after coming back with news that he'd dealt with Steve,
and after taking a shower and heading to bed,
Slater—who'd finished washing up half an hour earlier—would knock on his bedroom door in the dead of night.
He already knew the farm had been John Brief's property;
after John died and Slater paid a hefty inheritance tax, it passed to her.
This place was her other home.
Yet when Slater, in barely-there lace pajamas, knocked on his bedroom door late at night and boldly asked to come in,
what happened next was obvious.
Lightning struck, fire blazed—an entire night of madness.
Recalling the action-packed scenes that lasted until the small hours,
Hunter had thought winning over the beautiful lock-picking expert would be tricky.
Turned out it was far easier than expected.
He'd expended far less effort than when he'd won over Mia.
But that only underscored how deeply Slater had loved her father.
'So, as long as I kill Steve and avenge her father,'
'I can win this gorgeous blonde's affection…'
He remembered that in The Italian Job, the real culprit behind John Brief's death had been Charlie.
If Charlie hadn't begged his old friend for one last job after John had already decided to retire,
John wouldn't have died at Steve's hands.
At the start of The Italian Job, Slater clearly couldn't stand Charlie.
But in the end, after Charlie helped avenge her father—letting the mob boss whose brother Steve had killed take Steve away—
even if she didn't witness Steve's death,
Slater still ended up with Charlie.
It showed how much she cared about her father's murder.
'She drove off in my ford mustang…'
'What does that mean?'
'Is she telling me to come get the car—and her—myself?'
For now, Hunter couldn't figure out what she was thinking,
but it wouldn't stop him from following his own plans and pace.
Still, for the next few days he wouldn't go looking for her.
Simple: he had to move Dominic's cargo quickly,
or he feared Tang might run into trouble.
After a shower and a change of clothes,
Hunter enjoyed a hearty breakfast on the farm,
locked the place up, and wheeled out his ever-changing vintage motorcycle.
He mounted it and sped away from Slater's farm.
Two hours later he was at the port of Los Angeles.
Following Tang's earlier instructions, he soon located the container hiding several million us dollars in dirty money.
After checking for watchers or cameras,
he slipped up to the container, pulled a few metal wires from his private space,
and within moments had the lock open.
He quickly raised the door and inspected the contents inside.
He picked up a few boxes and confirmed they contained a pricey, recently-released consumer electronic device.
That settled it: this container was the very haul Dominic and company had stolen.
Hunter relocked the container and quickly stowed it into his private space.
During the ten-odd days at Slater's farm.
Although Hunter had devoted most of his time to learning Lockpicking Skill.
He'd still found uses for several other skills.
Thanks to that, many of his abilities had risen by one or even two levels.
As a result, the size of his private space had increased again.
Ever since the biggest, always-present ford mustang had been driven off by Slater.
Hunter's current private space was now large enough to swallow the container.
With the container secured, he left the dock at once.
After cruising around downtown for a while.
He finally headed to the airport and bought a ticket to Boston.
Dominic's delivery point was in Boston.
A few hours later Hunter cleared security and boarded the Boston-bound flight.
Only when the plane was about to take off—and he still hadn't noticed anyone tailing him—
Did he pull out his phone and send a message to the email address Dominic had specially given him.
'About to land, all good.'
'Will contact you once the package is signed for.'
After confirming the message had gone through, he slipped the phone into his private space.
Then he closed his eyes and rested.
At the same moment, in a private house in Los Angeles.
Dominic stared blankly at the television, remote in one hand, flicking through channels.
Anyone could see his mind wasn't on the screen.
But that was understandable—not long ago he and his crew had been arrested in a joint LAPD–FBI sweep… though they'd made bail quickly.
Ever since their release, however, he'd discovered bugs planted in his home.
He'd already found more than one.
He suspected there were still more cameras.
And during this period.
He'd sensed constant surveillance.
The first day or two after getting out, the feeling had been faint.
But four or five days ago, the watchers around his house—and even around Mia's coffee shop—had noticeably multiplied.
Meanwhile, Old Parker's garage had been raided by the FBI.
The cars Vince and the others kept there had all been impounded for illegal modifications.
Dominic couldn't be sure whether the FBI had turned up new evidence.
All he knew for certain was that true exposure was probably close.
'It better not be one of those punks letting something slip,' he muttered.
Even now he refused to believe any of his brothers would sell him out.
Yet he knew it was time to run.
Over the past few years he'd sunk most of his earnings into car mods and a lavish lifestyle.
He still had some savings—only a few hundred thousand us dollars.
Normally that wouldn't be too bad.
But with the FBI watching, slipping away under their noses meant.
A forged passport or plane ticket could cost tens of thousands of us dollars.
He wanted every brother out safely.
So the sum he needed was far larger.
1.7
Right now only one person could be counted on.
Yet more than ten days had passed since his agreement with Hunter.
Since the day Hunter had shown up, taken a custom military crossbow and two grenades.
The man had vanished without a trace.
Even Mia's attempts to reach him had gone unanswered.
No wonder Dominic was growing suspicious.
Just then he felt a sudden buzz in his pocket.
'Vibrate!'
He realized the new phone—known to only a handful of people—had received an email.
Dominic felt a surge of joy, but his face stayed blank as he stood up and walked to the restroom.
The moment the door shut, he whipped out his phone and opened the email.
After confirming the contents, a faint smile finally cracked across Dominic's worry-stiffened face…
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