Chapitre 226: Chapter 226: The Pursuit
Seeing the disbelief on the chubby guy's face, Castle continued, "At first, I thought Dominic and his crew would have Hobbs spearhead their assault, clear a path, and then use those two Dodges to tow the safe away. But they didn't go that route..."
Castle's voice carried a tone of regret, which caught the chubby guy's attention. "What? You actually wanted to see Dominic towing that massive safe with two cars? That's impossible!"
Rick, ever the imaginative, laughed mischievously. "Don't you think it would have been amazing if Dominic and Brian each drove a Dodge equipped with electric winches, dragging that gigantic safe through the streets of Rio? What a sight that would have been!"
The chubby guy tried to imagine the scene Castle described. Shocked, he replied, "That's not feasible. Sure, the cars have enough horsepower, but finding cables and winches strong enough to handle the safe's weight would be nearly impossible. That safe must weigh around five tons! If they tried towing it with just two cars, they'd have to stick to straight lines. Any sharp turns would be too much for the cars to handle due to the centrifugal force."
Castle shrugged. "I know, I just thought it would be an entertaining spectacle. But it seems Dominic's crew were more pragmatic. At least they found a huge Tatra to haul it. By the way, that wasn't your doing, was it?"
The chubby guy shook his head. "Nope, they must have had another source."
Castle wasn't too concerned about the details. He noticed Dominic's truck entering the city limits and quickly refocused. "Look, look! The real action is about to start..."
Dominic was driving the heavy truck fiercely, with a swarm of police cars chasing him as he barreled into downtown Rio de Janeiro. The plan was simple: draw the city's police attention, get Hernan Reyes and his heavily guarded entourage out, and then, with Brian and the others disguised in stolen police cars, blend into the chaos. The goal was to buy Dominic enough time—ten to fifteen seconds—to switch vehicles with Gisele, who was driving an identical truck.
Once they reached the target point for the switch, Dominic would drive the truck onto the bridge and tip it over, blocking the pursuing police cars. He would then get into a car with his Dominican friend waiting on the bridge and make a clean getaway, leaving the police trapped behind the overturned truck.
As for whether Hobbs could use this distraction to take down Hernan Reyes, that was beyond Dominic's concern. He knew he couldn't eliminate Hernan himself. Just getting him out of the heavily guarded police station was already a significant achievement.
Everything was going according to Dominic and Hobbs' plan. The entire city's police force was focused on Dominic, allowing Hobbs to easily escape the police station. Surprisingly, no officers were chasing him. All the police were acting under the furious orders of their humiliated police chief, who demanded the recovery of Hernan's stolen safe.
Vanessa and Brian, seen as minor players, didn't draw much attention. After all, Hernan Reyes had just announced a bounty over the radio—anyone who could stop the truck with his safe would receive a substantial reward. At such a time, who would bother with a couple of small fry?
Everyone was desperate. The police wanted to capture Dominic, who had brazenly robbed their station and humiliated the force, all while eyeing the hefty bounty. Dominic and his crew just wanted to escape the city's swarming police. Hernan Reyes, sitting in a Touareg driven by Mario, was grinding his teeth, fantasizing about how he would punish Dominic for daring to mess with him. And Hobbs and his team, with Mia relaying Hernan's real-time location from the chubby guy, were eager to avenge their fallen comrades.
The only ones thoroughly enjoying the spectacle were Castle and his chubby friend. Watching the mass of police cars chase Dominic's truck, Castle even had time to let his mind wander, musing that Ford must have given huge kickbacks to the Brazilian, especially Rio, police force—almost every police car was a Ford!
With some time before the real chase began, Castle's thoughts drifted to the Volkswagen company. He recalled how the "legendary" Santana was introduced to China after its production line was dismantled and shipped from Brazil. The original model, intended for the South American market, failed there but became a massive hit in China.
Castle, in his whimsical way, wondered if, without their failure in Brazil, Volkswagen's cars would be chasing Dominic instead of Fords. Imagining Rio's police driving Jettas in pursuit made Castle chuckle uncontrollably.
This amusing thought was interrupted when the chubby guy received a call from Mia, asking if Hernan had left the police station yet so Hobbs and his team could track him.
The chubby guy quickly reported that Hernan had indeed joined the chase, riding in two matte black Touaregs, each armed with a mini Gatling gun—a critical piece of information that Castle had reminded him to pass along to Mia to warn Hobbs.
As these updates were relayed, Dominic's Tatra truck finally broke through the police cordon and entered Rio's bustling city center, kicking off an intense car chase.
Dominic, despite being a thief and a rogue, had undeniably exceptional driving skills. Castle, comparing Dominic's daring maneuvers in the Tatra truck with his own driving proficiency and the advanced driving skills he had learned from Vanessa, realized with some dismay that Dominic was indeed a superior driver. Handling a heavily modified, high-powered truck with a five-ton safe in tow as smoothly as Dominic did was beyond Castle's capabilities.
Dominic, with his large build and formidable presence, drove with agility that belied his size. Many would assume that a person of his stature would have slow reflexes, but Dominic's driving defied those assumptions.
Now, he was piloting the modified, Austrian-built Tatra T815 military truck through Rio's streets with remarkable ease, even with the massive safe trailing behind. Despite the police setting up roadblocks ahead, Dominic, aided by real-time updates from Mia, navigated these obstacles effortlessly, moving steadily towards their planned switch point.
As they neared the bridge, Brian, Roman, Han, and Vanessa, driving the stolen police cars, would create enough confusion to allow Dominic to execute the vehicle swap with Gisele. If successful, they could proceed to the final stages of their plan.
Dominic had already fulfilled his part of the deal with Hobbs by luring Hernan out of his fortress. Whether Hobbs could seize the opportunity to take down Hernan was no longer Dominic's concern. After all, Dominic was still a fugitive in Hobbs' eyes.
This temporary alliance, forced by necessity, was fragile. Dominic knew that once Hernan was dealt with, Hobbs would resume his pursuit of him without hesitation. Having done his part, it was time for Dominic to think about his own escape plan.
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