Jacob managed to land a solid punch to the side of Darius's jaw which made him stumble back. ,But Darius recovered quickly, his movements precise and deadly. He grabbed Jacob by the throat and lifted him off the ground.

  "You think you can stop me? You think you can stop El Diablo?" Darius snarled, his voice filled venom.

  With a surge of adrenaline, I managed to free one hand from the leather strap and grabbed the fallen metal rod.

  "Leave him alone." I commanded.

  The metal rod connected with Darius's side and he released Jacob. Darius staggered back in pain. I struggled to free my other hand, my eyes never left Darius.

  "You'll regret that Grant." Darius growled, his voice once again filled with venom.

  As I finally freed myself and stood up. I noticed the fury present in his eyes. This war far from over and I knew that the fight of our lives had only just begun.

  The room was a chaotic swirl of violence and noise which echoed with the shouts and grunts of combat. The metallic clang of the rod against Darius's side of his head still reverberated in my ears as he recovered. I gripped my rod tighter.

  Darius lunged at me. His movements were quick and calculated. I swung the rod again but he predicted the outcome and dodged to the side and grabbed my arm. His grip was like a vice and he twisted my arm back painfully which forced me to drop the rod.

  The sad part about all of this was, he knew the exact place that arm could take.

  I gasped in pain but used my free hand to punch him directly in the ribs, I used all of my strength in the move to which he held his gut in accordance to.

  "You're going to pay for that as well Detective." He hissed, his voice low and dangerous.

  Before he could retaliate, Jacob tackled him from behind which sent both of them crashing to the ground. They rolled in fight.. Both men got the upperhand. I scrambled to my feet, my shoulder screamed in agony and I decided to grab the rod again.

  Suddenly, the door to the interrogation room burst open and a group of men poured in. For a heart stopping moment. I assumed they were more of Diablo's lackeys but then I realized the uniforms of my fellow officers. Captain Howard led the charge.

  "Miami Police Department. Hands where we can see them." Howard yelled.

  Darius was involved in battle with Jacob so he paid no attention to the new people involving themselves as of yet. Within the chaos, as quick as a rat, he managed to break free from Jacob and ducked behind a table as gunfire continued to persist. He pulled out a pistol and began to fire at the officers with deadly precision.

  I looked over as Jacob began to sit up.

  "You alright?" I shouted to him.

  He nodded. "Yeah, just a few bumps and bruises that Idiot handed me." He laughed.

  More officers began to storm into the room which added to the chaos. I spotted Sergeant Burks enter the room amongst them. He nodded to me. I looked over at Darius who continued to fight the other officers.

  I grabbed a nearby piece of the debris and threw it towards him in attempt to distract him from what he was doing, which to my surprise worked. He glanced towards the noise which gave me only a few moments to advance in position.

  Darius began to shoot at me which forced me to dive for cover. I looked at Ray who noticed what Darius was doing.

  "Cover me Ray." I signaled to him.

  I rolled over under a nearby crate and laded hard on my uninjured shoulder which to everyone's surprised. Hurt. But I couldn't stop. I ignored the pain and crawled close. I was determined to end this.

  Ray fired a shot that grazed Darius's arm and caused him to drop the weapon. Darius roared in anger and lunged at him and tackled him to the ground. They fought brutally, fists flying but Darius was to strong. To power hungry from his own good.

  I saw my chance. I ignored the pain present in my shoulder. I grabbed the rod and charged at Darius. I swung the rod with all my might. The rod connected with his back and he cried out and turned his face to me. His face was a mixture of beat up and mad.

  "ENOUGH." Darius instructed. His voice was filled with manic intensity. "This. ends. NOW."

  Before I could react, he punch me hard in the stomach which knocked the wind out of me. I doubled over and held my stomach in agony. He grabbed my wrist alongside his gun and lead me out of the room.

  Howard and the team continued to brawl with each other. Jacob decided to exit the room followed by us.

  The night was dark, the air was thick with the salt from the river beside us. The distance crash of waves against the shore was the only sound that broke the silence. The old warehouse loomed over the deserted docks. A perfect example of the scenario at hand. My heart pounded as Darius led me out of the room. I looked back to notice Jacob following slowly.

  "This is all your fault Izzy. All of it. I hope you realize that."

  I laughed. "Is it though? I'm doing my job as apart of being a police officer. You're the psychopath who kept this humongous secret from me. After treating my shoulder injury and hitting on me. You're the one who caused all of this. You're a coward. Do you think you can scare me? You know the line of work I do. You know half of the things I have to do. You're a coward wearing a mask who was afraid of taking it off. Which I still can't get over why. If you think I'm afraid, think again idiot."

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "This is your fault, Izzy... All of it... ALL..." Darius said.

  Darius's laugh echoed throughout the nighttime. "Man, I was right. You always were the feisty one Grant. Always were the feisty one." He snarled.

  A crate nearby tipped over which made Darius alongside I jumped. He put his forearm over my throat and began to choke me. His weapon drawn.

  "Whoever's out there. Step away. If you want your precious Detective back in one piece. You'll listen to what I say. That's an order!"

  Jacob popped out from behind the crate. His gun drawn as well.

  "Woah, woah, Toretto. That's not necessary, calm down." Jacob said.

  The sound of a nearby boat engine approached the harbor diverted his attention from Jacob. "Ahhh! Perfect diversion." He laughed.

  "Flint. Flint. Flint. Everything is necessary. It's all because of her. She continued her search. When we told her to give up. I was more than kind to her..." He yelled at Jacob.

  A few moments later, a sleek black boat pulled up to the docks. Darius threw me off the side onto the deck of the boat, when the cabin opened, a figure appeared to climb up the stairs. My vision was blurry, but what I could see. My eyes didn't know what I saw.

  "You let her go right now Toretto."

  I knew that voice. I knew who it was. Mike. My partner when I started at the Miami PD.

  Darius chuckled as reinforcements had come into play in the form of Mike. He looked over at me as Mike did.

  "Ohhhhhhhhhhh, I see. The poor little Detective had to call in more people to protect her." Darius said.

  Mike climbed off the boat and onto the land, he got directly in the face of Darius.

  "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mike. I am a retired Miami Police Officer for over 28 years. Detective Grant happens to be a VERY close acquaintance of mine. You mess with her. You mess with Sergeant Flint? You mess with Miami PD? You get a blast from the past buckaroo."

  Darius laughed again.

  "Oh this is too good."

  As Mike had distracted Darius, Jacob had taken the opportunity. While in the midst of a conversation, Jacob speared Darius to the ground.

  Darius and Jacob struggled, I noticed the pipe that he had in his grasp prior. Whilst he had the upperhand in control of the battle. I stumbled to my feet and climbed off the boat. I crawled over to the pipe and picked it up. I stood up to my feet and proceeded to hit Darius in the back of the neck. The shot stunned him which let Jacob get in control. Which also allowed him to get put in the position to be cuffed. Captain Howard handed Jacob the cuffs."

  "Well, Darius Toretto or El Diablo. Whatever your name is. It's the end of the line. You my friend. Are under arrest." Jacob said. Captain Howard proceeded to walk him away, they stopped in front of me.

  Darius looked me directly in the eyes as I did him.

  "You all think It's the end of the line? Do you? Do you Grant? I'm sure you've heard this in your attempts to apprehend me but I'll say it again. The character of El Diablo... Lives forever. I'm everywhere."

  I got directly into his face.

  "You're everywhere? Ohhhhh, good, good to know. I'm glad to hear it. If you're everywhere. We'll take you down one by one for all I care. I won't have to deal with you though. You'll be rotting in a jail cell." I said as I proceeded to slap his across the face.

  Captain Howard took him away.

  As the officers brought Darius to the squad car. My body gave out and I collapsed to my knees. The adrenaline finally gave up and in its place returned pain and exhaustion. Jacob and Mike came to my sides immediately. The two helped me up to my feet.

  "You did it Izzy." He said.

  "YOU. You where the one that kept going with this case even with the moments got tough. YOU were the one that agreed to come down here and meet him, which went a little haywire, but after he revealed himself. You didn't let your emotions get the better of you." Jacob said as he wrapped me in a hug and didn't let go for a few moments.

  After a few moments, he let me go. I turned around and Mike was stood behind me.

  "Well, well, well." He said.

  "Mike. It is so good to see you." I said.

  "Looks like you could hack it at this job huh Grant." He said as he laughed.

  I smirked. "It was a team effort." I said as I wrapped my arms around Mike as well which to my surprise. He responded to the embrace.

  "I'll see you back at the station. I plan on stopping by." He said as he let me go.

  I nodded, too exhausted to speak. I began to walk away alongside Jacob. As the officers finally reached their squad cars, Darius locked eyes onto mine one last time. A look that was full of spite and vengeance. I knew this wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

  ____________________________________________________

  Back at the station, the tension was present without a doubt. Howard waited for Jacob and I as soon as we walked in. His face was full of anger and frustration. "Grant. My office. NOW." He barked.

  I exchanged a glance with Jacob who decided to followed me. I followed Howard. As we entered his office, I braced myself for whatever chaos was about to come.

  "Do you have any idea of what kind of chaos you just unleashed? Are you stupid?" Howard barked. His voice low and dangerous.

  I met his gaze as I laughed at what he said. "Oh, sir, I did what I had to do. With all due respect, I was the one that followed his whereabouts and endangered myself which gave us the upperhand."

  Howard's face continued to stay rough but before he could respond. Jacob stepped forward.

  "With all due respect sir. Don't speak to her like that. Detective Grant did what none of us could. She brought him in. She followed where he was. Like she said, she brought him in."

  Howard's gaze flickered to Jacob but he did look quite surprised at his temper. He sighed. "You know, you always have been a pain in the backside. But, I can't lie. You got results. We captured the most dangerous leader in Miami."

  I felt a surge of relief along with a sense of shock. There was still so much to do but Howard acknowledged him mistake.

  As we left Howard's office, I turned towards Jacob. "You didn't have to do that."

  Jacob turned me down. "No, no, I did. You risked your life. He doesn't need to beat you down and treat you like a child."

  "This isn't over. Not by a long shot."

  He nodded. "I know. I know. But believe me. We got this."

  As we walked down the hall, I noticed Mike off in the distance. He approached us as we made our way down the hall.

  "Hey Mike." I said.

  "You alright" He asked.

  I nodded. "Yeah, I'm good." I said.

  He nodded.

  "Hey, I was meaning to ask you. How did you know we'd be at the docks?" I asked.

  He smirked. "Ohhhhhhhhhhh, I got a call from a little birdy."

  Ray Burks approached him from behind.

  "Ray called me before Howard and the crew came into the battle with you and Diablo. He explained to me where you all were."

  "I decided to pay a little visit to some old friends." He said as he shook Ray's hand.

  I laughed and smiled over at Ray who nodded to me.

  "Thought having a 28 year veteran of the department on our team was a good thing. He was the first one I called." Ray said as he laughed.

  We got Darius scanned and ready to be brought down to his cell. I watched as he was led away. His expression was unreadable. But I knew one thing for sure. This was FAR from over.

  Jacob and I walked out of the station, the cool night air a welcomed relief. We stood there for a moment next to each other. And then, without any warning. Jacob pulled me into his arms and held me tightly.

  I buried my face in his chest and the tears finally fell. We had won this battle but the war was far from over.

  "I thought I was going to lose you again today." He said softly.

  Our eyes locked and in that moment, all the trouble flew away. Jacob leaned in, his lips brushed against mine in a gentle, yet electrifying kiss. It was a promise, a declaration.

  "I've been waiting to do that for 2 years." He said.

  I laughed and held onto him again.

  I knew whatever came next, we were ready to handle it together.