MustangForums.com - My near death experience today (looking for advice)

First off, hello all. I've been lurking for quite some time, and just recently aquired a 1999 4.6l Mustang.

Now for the story, and then on to my questions.

I was recently in Brooklyn visiting some friends, just driving around and having a good time. Approaching a red light, I put on the brakes, but nothing happened for a split second. After that "WTF" moment, they kicked right in and everything was fine and dandy. I figured the lapse in response was because of the recent torrential downpour the are had experienced moments earlier. Needless to say, I parked the car and left it to the morning.

So this morning I get in my car, and start it up. The brakes are making funny noises, sounding like an airplane and such, and I'm getting kind of nervous. They're responding fine, so I'm not extremely worried. I get on highway 78E and start cruising back to my house. Some jerkoff in front of my slams his brakes for reasons unbeknown to me, and I slam on mine. This is when my day became terrifying.

There's the sound of metal on metal, and a piece of my car shoots out the bottom driver side wheel well. My car pulls extremely hard to the right, and is screeching, but not stopping. I look out the window and I'm about 4 feet away from an Semi-truck. At 70 miles an hour, I figure my little car would probably lose in a situation involving a collision. I yank the parking brake to squeal this deathtrap to a stop, and skid to a screaming stop on the shoulder.

After my passenger and I stop shaking and clean the sh*t out of our pants, I get the damn car to a rest stop, and immediately smell brake fluid. Upon stepping out of the car, I notice that the driver's side door is COVERED in brake fluid. There is also a large puddle of it that gets progressively bigger as the car sits. This surprises me.

Now, I'm assuming I blew a brake line. But seeing as every single garage in my area is closed, I can't take it anywhere to get fixed. This wouldn't be a problem, but I need the car for a drive to PA tomorrow morning.

Here's my question.

I have appropriate tools/jack stands/etc. to do pretty much any repair myself. Only thing is, I've never had to replace my own brake line, so I don't even want to try.

If I can get the car into my usual shop before my drive tomorrow, how much should a brake line replacement cost? Is it lengthy repair, assuming the guy has parts on hand?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, and I look forward to hearing your responses.