Chapter 16
Chapter sixteen
Katrina walked in the front door of her parents’ home without bothering to knock.
“Dad!” she called, looking around as she walked through the foyer and headed toward his study. If he was home, that was almost certainly where he’d be.
The door to his study was open, and she was relieved to see him sitting at his desk, tapping away on his laptop. He looked up at her entrance, surprise on his face.
“Katrina! What are you doing here? I thought you’d be getting ready for the wedding.”
“I should be,” she said, quickly walking over to slip into one of the two chairs in front of the desk. “But there’s something I need to talk to you about first. Before it’s too late.”
He frowned. “Too late for what?”
All the things she’d rehearsed on the way over fled her mind, so she took a deep breath and decided to wing it.
“I know about the Genesis Project,” she said. “I know your investment group is providing the funding for the development of the system, and that an international arms dealer named Nick Chapman wants to purchase the weapon for his own purposes, regardless of your existing contract with the Navy.”
Her father’s eyes widened more and more with every secret she revealed, and she rushed on before he could interrupt.
“I also know Arthur Davis and Harold Thompson were both against the idea of walking away from the deal you’d already agreed to with the Navy, which is probably why both of them ended up dead.
As someone familiar with the subject recently told me, there’s a long history of people dying when they get between Chapman and what he wants. ”
Her father’s eyes narrowed. “Where did you learn all of this? Who told you?”
“Does it matter?” she shot back. “Shouldn’t you be a little more worried about the fact that two men are dead because of your money-making schemes, and you’re facing a choice between backing out of a deal with a known killer or getting arrested for illegal arms trading?”
He stared for a long moment, stunned, before his mouth tightened. “I don’t know where this is all coming from, but you need to let me handle it.”
Katrina clenched her fists in her lap. He was so flipping predictable sometimes. “Did you honestly not realize you were getting into business with a criminal the first time you met Chapman? Or was the potential profit enough to make you grit your teeth and simply look the other way?”
Her father recoiled like he’d been smacked. “Do you really think that poorly of me?”
“Dad, every decision you’ve ever made for this family is based on what will make the most money. This time, though, you’ve put our family in danger.”
“No one is going to get hurt,” he insisted. “I have this completely under control.”
“Oh, yeah? Tell that to Arthur and Harold.”
“No one in our family will get hurt,” he amended. “That’s what I meant. You know that’s all that matters to me.”
Unfortunately, as twisted as that lame explanation might be, that was true. Her father had no problem looking the other way when it benefited him.
“You think you can wiggle your way out of everything, don’t you?” Katrina shook her head. “Dad, if you double-cross Chapman, he’ll come after you or someone you care about. And if you give him the weapon, you’ll be arrested for treason.”
“I can make sure the Navy never figures out Rhett and I were involved,” he said, ignoring everything else she’d said about Chapman. Which meant he’d already made up his mind about how he was going to handle this. He was going to sell Genesis to an arms dealer.
“The Navy already knows you and Rhett are involved in funding the Genesis project, Dad.”
“You told Darwin about this?” her father demanded. “How could you betray your family like that?”
“I didn’t betray the family. And I didn’t have to tell Darwin anything, because he was standing right beside me when Rhett, Arthur, Harold, and Silas were arguing about whether you should honor the existing Navy contract or go for the cash grab.
Don’t blame me if they all talk too much. And too loud.”
Her father opened his mouth to say something, but his cell phone rang, interrupting him. He picked it up from his desk to look at the screen, then cursed under his breath.
“I need to take this.”
That was fine with Katrina. She wasn’t going anywhere until they finished this conversation.
Whoever was on the other end of the line must have said something interesting because her father stood and walked over to stand near the window so that his back was to her. Unfortunately, he spoke too softly for her to hear what he was saying. A moment later, he hung up and turned to face her.
“I have to meet with someone, so we’ll have to finish our discussion later,” her father said.
Katrina jumped to her feet. “But...”
Her father gently rested his hands on her shoulders and looked at her earnestly. “I’ll take care of this, honey. Everything will work out fine.”
She wanted to tell her father to at least wait until Darwin showed up before he did anything that might get him killed.
Unfortunately, her father turned and walked out of the study before she could say anything at all, steadfast in the delusion that he could fix the situation and manipulate events back to his benefit.
“Darwin, please hurry back,” Katrina whispered to the empty room.
* * * * *
“You’re joking, right?”
Darwin slipped his military ID card back in his wallet after showing it to Ramiro, the instructor he’d met the other day at the gun range, to prove to the man he actually was in the Navy.
“I wish,” Darwin said.
“And you want me to let you borrow a handgun?”
Yeah, if their positions were reversed, Darwin supposed he’d be flabbergasted, too.
“I know it’s irregular as hell, but the whole Weber family is in danger, and I need a weapon if I’m going to be able to protect them until the rest of my SEAL Team gets here.”
While stuck in traffic on the interstate, Darwin had sent a text to Katrina letting her know he was on the way, then called Kyla.
She’d told him Nick Chapman, the dangerous international arms dealer the SEAL Team had crossed paths with on multiple occasions, was the one who wanted the Genesis drone.
Then she’d mentioned they’d found Harold dead on resort property, and all Darwin could think about was Katrina getting caught in the middle of everything if that a-hole didn’t get what he wanted.
Darwin had immediately wanted to head to the resort right away to make sure Katrina was safe. The only thing that stopped him was the knowledge that he might have to go up against Chapman at some point. You didn’t go up against a man like that empty-handed.
So, he’d made a detour by the shooting range, praying he could talk one of the instructors into letting him borrow a gun. Luck had been on his side when he walked in and saw Ramiro there. Since the man was prior military, he just might be willing to help.
At least Darwin hoped so.
Ramiro regarded him, his expression unreadable. Like he was still waiting for Darwin to admit this was all some big joke, and he was waiting for the punchline.
“Does this danger the Weber family is in have anything to do with the dead bodies found on the property recently?” Ramiro finally asked. “Are Jameson or Rhett involved in the murders?”
Not sure how much he should reveal, Darwin played different scenarios through his head. In the end, he didn’t see any way out of it. Not if he wanted Ramiro to trust him enough to give him a weapon.
“Jameson, Rhett, and one of their investment groups have gotten themselves involved in a Navy weapon program that’s currently in the testing phase on San Nicolas Island,” Darwin said, leaving out all the classified information.
“Unfortunately, some members of the investment group have decided there’s more money to be made selling the weapon to someone other than the Navy, and now, there’s an international arms dealer involved.
He’s a guy who’s willing to kill anyone who gets between him and what he wants, people like the two men who were murdered. ”
“And you think this arms dealer is going to show up at the resort?” Ramiro frowned. “Why would he do that? It’s not like the weapon is being kept here.”
Darwin hesitated again. “Unfortunately, the weapon has already been stolen. My source has confirmed the arms dealer is still in the San Diego area, though, and my gut tells me he’s coming here.”
“Why haven’t you called the cops then?” Ramiro asked.
“I’m sure you noticed how little concern the local police showed after the first murder victim was found,” Darwin said. “I’m pretty sure the ones who showed up today didn’t hang around longer than it took to collect the body. I don’t think we can depend on the local police showing up to help.”
“What about the feds?” Ramiro prompted. “I’d think they’d be all over this.”
“NCIS is already working the situation, and they’ll be pulling the FBI in soon enough, if they haven’t already.
Unfortunately, they only care about the weapon.
If they show up, they’ll be focused on recovering the weapon and arresting the arms dealer.
Anyone caught in the crossfire will be written off as collateral damage. ”
Ramiro studied him, eyes shrewd. “You really care about Katrina, don’t you?” he said, then, at Darwin’s look of surprise, added, “I’ve seen the two of you hanging out together at the resort this week. It’s pretty clear you two have something special going on.”
Darwin opened his mouth, his first instinct being to deny everything, to keep his relationship with Katrina private. But then he stopped himself. Why the hell did it matter now? They were together. And what they had was special.
“Yeah,” he said softly. “She’s very important to me. I’d do anything to keep her safe–and her family.”
Ramiro nodded, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he turned and walked out of the room only to come back a few seconds later, two gun cases and a stack of loaded magazines in his hands.
“If you’re in a situation where you need a gun, then you should probably have two,” Ramiro said as he opened the cases, revealing a full-frame SIG Sauer P226 9mm pistol and a compact-sized P229 9mm.
Darwin couldn’t argue with that logic and appreciated the thought as Ramiro dug around behind one of the counters for two appropriately sized holsters, one to allow the full-sized weapon to click to his belt behind his back, the other an ankle holster for the smaller weapon.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Ramiro said, sliding the loaded magazines across the counter toward Darwin. “But if this all goes sideways, I’m going to claim these weapons were sitting out being cleaned, and you walked in and took them when I wasn’t looking.”
“Understood,” Darwin said as he loaded the two weapons and slid them in their holsters, then shoved the extra magazines in the back pockets of his jeans.
“Good luck,” Ramiro said.
Giving the other man a nod, Darwin turned and walked out of the building. Now, all he had to do was figure out how to fix this situation before anyone got hurt.