Besides Brian, who was standing next to him, and Mia, who was still an innocent girl for the time being, the rest of Toretto's crew in front of him were essentially a bunch of robbers.
The highway robbery case that Brian was investigating had actually been committed by this group.
As Brian grew closer to them later and became Mia's boyfriend, he nearly forgot his responsibilities. Eventually, he even became a part of Dominic's "family."
But right now, he was still a young officer with a sense of duty and justice, so when he saw Ethan twist Vince's finger and force him to his knees, he thought things were about to go badly. If the group decided to retaliate, the young man would likely suffer.
Brian quickly looked at Diana on the other side. Since she was with Ethan, maybe she would do something—like call someone or the police.
To his surprise, the woman just sat there with a smile, not looking the least bit concerned about the boy.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!"
The others quickly rushed over, separated Ethan and Vince, and stood between them.
"Oh?"
This surprised Ethan. These people didn't take sides or try to teach him a lesson. Letty even stepped in front of him. Watching her teammates hold Vince back, who was still trying to charge forward, she turned to Ethan.
"You look new. You're probably not from around here. You should leave quickly."
Though her tone wasn't exactly polite and came off a bit arrogant, her eyes were on Vince, clearly trying to prevent him from causing trouble.
"Kid, you're dead!"
Vince was still furious and tried to charge forward again, but Leon and Jesse held him back tightly.
"Enough!"
Dominic, who had been in the back, finally came out. Carrying the presence of a leader, he first scolded Vince before swaggering toward Ethan.
At that moment, Letty tried to stop Dominic, and Brian also stood up, ready to step in.
Ethan said nothing. He and Diana just sat there quietly watching everyone's reaction.
"Dom..."
Dominic raised a hand to stop Letty, then walked up to Ethan, deliberately keeping a bit of distance, as if to show that he had no intention of attacking.
"Young man, you should leave."
Ethan looked at Dominic. At this time, Dominic was still young, and his build wasn't as massive as it would be in the future. But that bossy, arrogant attitude was already there.
He didn't hide his assessing gaze and stood there trying to assert dominance with nothing more than his presence.
"Are you their boss?"
Dominic didn't respond, just stood there staring at Ethan, as if using his aura to pressure the boy.
"Subordinates like that can hurt your business."
"That's none of your concern."
"So you don't care if this shop makes money?" Ethan had taken Diana's beer at some point and took a small sip. "Looks like you don't need the deli to survive."
"What do you mean by that?"
Dominic felt like Ethan's words carried another meaning. Especially since this group didn't rely on the shop to make a living, and their real business was something illegal. That made Dominic feel slightly uneasy. Their most profitable work, after all, was robbing trucks.
"Nothing, just small talk."
Ethan finished the beer in one gulp, then stood up and asked Brian beside him, "You drove here, right?"
"Yeah."
Brian wasn't sure what Ethan meant, but the kid's earlier comments had made him think.
He hadn't forgotten his mission. Ethan's words made him realize something. These guys hung around all day, had money for cars, gear, and mods. Where did all that come from?
A deli with few customers couldn't possibly support that lifestyle. It was definitely not just racing. Was underground racing really that profitable?
Thinking about how he planned to infiltrate their circle through racing, Brian decided he needed to confirm whether that income could sustain this kind of lifestyle. If not, it would further strengthen the suspicion surrounding Dominic and his crew.
While he was distracted, he instinctively answered Ethan.
"Perfect. I'd like to ask a favor."
"Huh?"
"I want to know where I can buy a car around here?"
Brian thought for a moment. He was worried the group might retaliate, so using this excuse to take Ethan away wasn't a bad idea.
"I'll take you."
Ethan nodded, pulled out a few bills, placed them on the table, and said to Mia, "His tab too."
Then he got up, pausing in front of Dominic.
"See you tonight."
"What?"
Ethan didn't explain. He just walked out of Toretto's Market & Deli. As for Vince, who still looked pissed, he couldn't be bothered to care.
Not long after arriving in this world, he had already met several important characters from the series.
He had thought about teaching Dominic a lesson on behalf of Han and Gisele, but unfortunately, this version of Dominic still had some principles. He didn't attack someone who was technically still a "kid," so Ethan decided not to bother.
Brian immediately followed him. His red pickup truck was parked nearby. He gestured for Ethan to get in, then drove them away.
After a while on the road, Brian kept checking the rearview mirror to see if anyone was following.
"They're not following. You don't have to worry about me."
Brian turned and glanced at the boy next to him. He really couldn't figure out what this kid was relying on. Was it just youthful recklessness?
"You don't know who those people are."
"Dominic Toretto. He's pretty famous around here."
"You know who they are?"
"Yeah. I know."
Brian gave Ethan a few more looks, even more confused as to why the kid acted like he didn't care, even knowing who they were.
"I know who you are too."
Brian's expression changed. He stared at Ethan more closely. If he weren't driving, he might've kept staring. But Ethan's next line made him pull over and stop.
"You can still be saved."
"What do you mean by that?"
Ethan didn't answer. Instead, he asked another question.
"Do you have a modified car?"
"Huh?"
Ethan still remembered why he came here. He wanted to have fun with Diana, and in this world, racing was the main attraction. Especially since Dominic and his crew would be joining an underground race that night, he planned to tag along.
But there wasn't enough time to buy and modify a new car. He needed a ready-to-race vehicle. Brian's original green car had good mods, but the still-green Brian had almost wrecked it.
"I'm not planning to sell it... Wait, how do you know I have a modified car?"
"I saw you driving it."
Brian nodded. That wasn't too strange. He'd been driving that car a lot lately, so someone noticing it made sense. At the same time, he started asking Ethan questions, trying to figure out his background.
He was also very curious about Ethan's relationship with Diana.
The two were clearly very close, but that was none of his business.
"Why do you want a modified car?"
"Did you forget? I told Dominic I'd see him tonight."
Brian immediately understood.
"You want to race tonight?"
He looked Ethan up and down again. Judging by his age, he didn't even have a license, right? This had to be a kid who heard about underground racing and wanted to get in on the thrill. Thinking that, Brian was even less willing to agree.
Whenever this happened, Ethan felt very frustrated. He had no choice but to say he was buying it for Diana.
Diana rolled her eyes and said nothing. She was curious how Ethan would solve the problem. That guy's not even going to entertain you, you underage kid.
Brian restarted the car and drove the two of them to the shop where he worked. The place sold car parts and had a few sample cars. His own car, though, he wasn't planning to sell, since he still needed it for getting into the underground racing scene.
"Really not going to consider it? I can pay a high price."
Brian smiled and said Ethan could try to buy something from the shop if he could convince the boss, then went off to do his own work.
When he came out later, he saw the boss, Harry, chatting happily with the two strangers Brian had brought.
Just as he was about to step closer, Harry walked over with a flushed face and praised him quietly.
"Hey, Brian. Two big spenders. Nice job!"
"..."
Brian watched Harry run off to the back to direct the employees. He turned to Ethan.
"What did you do?"
"Bought two cars."
Harry had a few ready-to-drive sample cars. Ethan picked two and paid on the spot. To him, any car was the same. Whether it was fast or well-tuned didn't matter at all.
How did Ethan buy a car while looking underage? It didn't matter. On paper, Diana bought them. As for who drove them afterward, Harry didn't care.
(To be continued.)