The next morning, I found myself up earlier than Maria. I couldn't sleep much. So, I busied myself with breakfast.

I stood over the stove, flipping pancakes.

I knew I needed to talk to Hector. But, I was worried what he'd say. I was worried he'd take me away from here. I might've only been here for a few days, but I didn't want to leave. I feel like I found something here with Maria. And everyone else seemed so polite and welcoming.

With a sigh, I set the freshly cooked pancakes on a couple of plates, setting the table before deciding to wake Maria up.

She joined me in the kitchen for breakfast, seemingly enjoying my cooking.

My mind raced the entire time. "Maria... What do you know about Buddy?" I found myself asking.

She shrugged. "Nothing much. He tends to keep to himself... Although, he's awfully fond of you."

I looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

She set her fork down. "Nothing. Just that he asked about you. Wanted to know where you came from."

The nerves built in my stomach. "What'd you tell him?"

"The truth. You are from New York right?"

I lowered my head. My mistake was coming back to bite me in the ass. After reading through my identity profile, I learned that I was supposed to be from Washington. Spokane to be exact. I was a farm girl with no friends or family. That must be how Buddy knew my real name. But how? Who did he talk to? Does anyone else know i'm here? How long would it be before that got out?

"Are you ok?" Maria asked.

I nodded quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just... I should get going. Work, you know?"

Maria nodded back. "Right, of course. Thanks for having me."

I smiled as I stood, leading her up into a kiss. "It was great. Come see me for lunch? I have something I wanna show you."

She returned my smile. "Sure, I can't wait."

We shared another kiss before parting ways...

I called Hector on my drive to work. "Hello, Miss Walker, what can I do for you?"

"I need everything you can get on a guy named Buddy Bruno." I replied.

Hector sighed. "You're not a cop, Dani. Now, if there's something going on, I need to know about it."

I shook my head, biting my lip nervously. "It's nothing, never mind... I'll see you later."

"Dani-" I hung up before he could continue, pulling into Mickey's shop.

He approached my car as I stepped out. "Morning."

I nodded. "Good morning. Anything going on today?"

He shook his head. "Nothing I can't handle."

I flashed him a smirk. "You sure about that, pretty boy?"

He rolled his eyes, smiling. "You're lucky you're a girl."

I punched his shoulder lightly. "Please, I've taken guys twice your size."

He started walking back towards the shop, me following next to him. "Now that's a story I think I'd like to hear."

"Hook me up with a new four-barrel for the Duster and maybe I'll tell you." I replied.

He nudged me. "Deal..."

As I set the new carburetor, curtesy of Mickey, onto the intake, I dove into a story I could tell without giving away to much. Mickey knew I was in the witness protection program, but he didn't know why. And it was safer for him if it stayed that way.

"I was doing collections for this guy. No one important. Just a street guy. But, he loaned out a pretty big amount to this club owner. She refused to pay so I went to shake her down..." I started, connecting the throttle linkage. "She sent her bouncer after me. The guy had to be six-four or six-five easy. Built like a brick shit house. Real intimidating, you know."

"How'd you handle him?" Mickey asked from inside the car. He was helping with some wiring.

"Well, I smiled at him... Then, I kicked him in the balls. Guy went down like a ton of bricks." I replied, causing us to laugh.

"Did you get the money?" He asked.

I nodded. "And then some."

We laughed some more as I stood back up. "Alright, start her up."

Mickey started the Duster and I reached under the hood, pulling on the throttle linkage, giving it a few revs.

"Well, that solves the fuel delivery problem." Mickey said, stepping out of the car.

"I think I'm starting to enjoy that sound way to much." Maria said as she entered the shop.

Mickey shut the car off while I wiped my hands on a rag, pulling Maria into a quick kiss afterwards. "Hey, beautiful." I greeted.

She smiled. "Hey yourself. Who's car is this?"

I looked over the car. "Mine. What do you think?"

Maria ran her hand over the faded fender. "Well, I like the color."

"That's a special ordered High Impact color. Code FC7, In-Violet." Mickey said.

I shook my head. "How do you remember all that shit?"

We all laughed as Maria stood next to the car. "Can I take it for a ride?" She asked.

I looked to Mickey. "Care if I take my lunch early?"

He shook his head. "Go for it. Just, take it easy. I'm not confident on those brakes yet."

I nodded as I walked over to the passenger side, joining Maria in the car. "Hit the pedal a couple times, then start her up."

Maria did so, the car rumbling to life.

She put it in gear and gingerly pulled it out of the shop, driving off down the street.

The car did surprisingly well on the street. "So, what do you think now?"

She smiled. "I've never driven anything this old. I was expecting a lot worse."

I returned her smile. "Give it some gas, let's see what she can do."

Maria pressed the pedal down a little harder. The engine pulled the car along smoothly as it picked up speed.

"This thing is so much fun!" Maria called out with a laugh, easing the car to a stop.

A thought occurred to me then. "You want it?"

She looked over at me. "Dani, I don't know the first thing about working on cars."

I waved her off. "I'll get her finished up for you. And, if you have any trouble down the line, I'll take care of it."

She smiled, a blush growing on her cheeks. "You're to good to me."

I leaned over, pressing a kiss to her lips. "Well, maybe you deserve it... Now, let's get this thing back to the shop. There's still a lot of work to do..."