The Gulfstream descended over the coast of Brazil like a sleek predator, its wings slicing through clouds heavy with tropical mist. Rio de Janeiro lay sprawled beneath, vibrant and chaotic—a tapestry of beaches, favelas, glittering skyscrapers, and winding hills.
Leonardo watched from the window, fingers steepled, the city glinting like a challenge he couldn't ignore.
Beside him, Koko flipped through her digital dossier with practiced speed. "One of our offshore shell companies was flagged. Not by the locals—by someone feeding information to American authorities. I traced it to a warehouse in the Porto Maravilha district."
Leonardo didn't look away from the window. "Did we recover the manifest?"
"Half of it. The rest is in federal lockup. But here's the kicker—someone who used to work with Brian O'Conner signed off the customs clearance. Alias only. No trail."
That drew his attention.
He leaned forward. "Interesting. But this will have to wait."
Koko raised a brow. "What changed?"
Leonardo turned his phone around. A news feed scrolled silently on the screen. The headline: Letty Ortiz, known associate of Dominic Toretto, presumed dead in Los Angeles car explosion.
Koko's expression tightened.
"I need to go back," Leonardo said quietly. "Now."
The jet touched down at a private hangar just off the Galeão International Airport. A blacked-out Land Rover Defender awaited them, engine purring softly. Leonardo took the wheel. Koko rode shotgun, laptop open and fed into the vehicle's internal systems.
Driving into Rio was like entering a living organism. The city breathed, pulsed, whispered secrets in graffiti and shouted them in samba. But this time, the rhythm didn't reach him.
At the safehouse—an upscale villa nestled in the hills above Santa Teresa—Leonardo moved like a ghost. Koko and Alfred joined him that evening to receive new instructions.
"You'll handle everything here," Leonardo told them. "I'm trusting you both. Track Reyes. Secure our assets. Make sure no one touches the Aegis routes or the shell companies."
Alfred nodded, voice calm. "Understood, sir."
Koko adjusted her sunglasses. "We'll make Rio run smoother than a Swiss watch. But LA…"
Leonardo met her gaze. "LA is where I need to be. Dom's going to spiral. Brian's going to be pulled back into the system. And Letty's 'death'… it'll set everything in motion."
"You're not planning to tell them?"
He shook his head. "No. Not yet. Letty's not dead. I remember the canon. But if I say anything now, I risk changing too much. I'll watch. I'll make sure things stay in place. Then I'll act when it counts."
Koko smirked. "You really like walking the razor's edge."
Leonardo smiled thinly. "I was born on it."
He boarded a private flight out of Rio the next morning. By the time the sun had fully risen over Copacabana, Leonardo was already high above the Atlantic, on his way back to California.
Behind him, Koko and Alfred would manage the unfolding threats in Rio. Ahead of him lay Los Angeles—and the grim beginning of the Fast & Furious (2009) story.
Letty was gone. Dom was on the run. Brian was back in a suit.
The pieces were moving again.
And Leonardo was stepping back onto the board.