Hobbs still couldn't understand how he had been thrown.
He had seen Morin up close. He knew Morin worked out and had a solid build, but there was no way someone with that kind of body should have been able to send him flying.
He weighed over two hundred pounds.
Yet he had been thrown easily.
And far.
"That's more like it," Morin said with a smile. "Alright... come on?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Hobbs threw a straight punch.
Morin didn't dodge.
He answered with a straight punch of his own.
This time, he deliberately held back a bit of strength.
The fists collided with a dull thud that echoed clearly. Two arms of completely mismatched size met-and the thicker one trembled violently before being forced back.
Sometimes, bigger really wasn't better.
Compact. Solid.
That was what mattered.
"Had enough?" Morin said, waving his hand casually. "Goodbye, Agent Hobbs. Good luck with your operation, and... forget it."
"You-" Elena tried to step forward.
"Stop!" Hobbs barked, stopping her and the rest of his men. He was breathing heavily. "Hospital. Now."
His hand felt like it had cracked.
After watching Hobbs and his team leave, Morin called Toretto and briefly explained what had happened.
"So you taught him a lesson?" Toretto laughed.
"Not really," Morin replied. "If he hadn't attacked first, I wouldn't have fought back. That was self-defense. You guys should hurry, Dom."
"Of course," Toretto said. "Once we understand the situation around the police station vault, we can officially start."
"Alright," Morin said, yawning. "But be careful. Dom, after this job, you should get out. You've got a kid now. It's time for a normal life."
"I know," Toretto said seriously. "If everything goes well, we won't need to do this anymore."
Morin didn't comment.
He knew that plan wouldn't last.
Whether it was because Toretto couldn't sit still, or because he would need to save Letty one day, he would never truly stop. At best, he'd just take a break.
...
A few days later.
Morin kept his promise and didn't participate in the operation.
He only provided equipment and technical support for the modifications.
Did that count as getting involved?
For Toretto's crew, with Morin's support, everything became much easier.
Safety wasn't much of a concern. With the armor on that off-road vehicle, there probably weren't many weapons in the city that could threaten them, at least for now.
And with Toretto and O'Conner's driving skills-plus their obvious protagonist halo-things were even more stable.
They had managed before without him.
With his equipment, how could anything go wrong?
A jinx?
Morin wasn't worried.
After all, he wasn't participating.
To him, this trip was basically a vacation.
Yacht parties. Surfing. Sailing. Skydiving.
He enjoyed all of it.
Hobbs never came to see him again after being sent to the hospital that day.
The medical report stated a minor fracture that would take at least two or three months to heal.
His right hand was in a cast, making it impossible for him to personally lead armed operations. The FBI sent additional personnel to assist him.
Elena once suggested using Hobbs's injury report to pressure Morin into cooperating with the investigation.
Hobbs had been tempted.
But after receiving a phone call, he dropped the idea.
If he had handled things decisively from the beginning-dragging Morin to the station first and asking questions later-the FBI would have covered it up. At worst, he would have been scolded and given some meaningless punishment.
But now?
He had failed.
And Morin had made calls.
The situation had changed.
Wealth often meant power.
A multi-millionaire carried weight.
Especially a multi-millionaire like Morin.
At the very least, you had to consider whether it was worth provoking him.
That was even more true when Morin hadn't done anything illegal-at least nothing they could find.
Fabricating evidence worked on small-time criminals.
On someone like Morin?
Did they want to be sued into oblivion?
The investigator who had suggested forcing the issue was transferred the very next day to a department with no real authority.
The official reason?
He had "stepped through the door with his left foot" while his superior was in a bad mood.
After being warned and reprimanded, Hobbs had no choice but to stop targeting Morin.
Even though he was convinced Morin had connections to Toretto, he could only set that aside and focus on satellite tracking and surveillance-based facial recognition.
Manpower was no longer an issue.
Funding was.
Monitoring someone required a place to monitor them.
And with Morin constantly partying on yachts, joining sailing races, or skydiving... who could afford that?
Hobbs's superior had already been furious that Hobbs had been injured in a fight.
If he asked for more money now, would he be asking to get spat on?
Hobbs was strong.
But he wasn't stupid.
As for wiretapping?
In this era, you still had to get close enough to install the device.
And who could get close to Morin?
According to intelligence, either a beautiful woman or a businessman.
Among Hobbs's team, only Elena barely qualified as the former-and she was just a local police assistant temporarily assigned as a guide and translator.
And she had already met Morin.
As for a businessman?
The clothing. The identity. The way of speaking.
Even if Morin was still taking modification jobs, did they really think he would pay attention to some random person driving up in a junk car?
In the end, it all came down to money.
No matter the era, money was hard currency.
With it, everything became easier.
Without it, nothing worked.
And since his superior had clearly ordered him to leave Morin alone, Hobbs couldn't get funding for any further monitoring.
If he really wanted to watch Morin, he'd have to pay for it himself.
Hobbs wasn't stubborn enough to fixate on Morin, especially when there were other ways to complete his mission.
Besides...
Morin had even sent money to cover his medical bills.
But that definitely wasn't the reason.
Absolutely not.
~~~~~
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