18. The Takedown
EIGHTEEN
THE TAKEDOWN
JACKSON
Our team is in position around a remote airfield, lying in wait and monitoring the supposed rendezvous point between Ybarra and the smugglers. We’re roughly thirty clicks south of Love Beach, with the midday sun beating down warmly. I’m sweating like crazy—more than usual—and I can only blame it on the thoughts of Gigi’s irresistible body waiting for me at home.
At least she’s safe and not here. Who knows what kind of mess awaits with Ybarra and his crew during this transaction? I adjust my bulletproof vest and run my sweaty hands along my thighs to ensure my gun won’t slip.
Suddenly, the comm crackles with a female voice: “We got incoming. Two dark SUVs from the West. Over.”
“Buyers have arrived. Over,” I reply. I’m hidden inside the air hangar, crouched behind some cargo and ready for any scenario. Dozens of other men are concealed like me, and a sniper lurks on the roof with his rifle aimed through one of the vents on standby.
As the sound of parking cars and slamming doors reaches my ears, my pulse races. Peeking through a narrow gap between two cargo boxes, I spot the buyer in this deal—Ybarra himself, accompanied by about six of his men. He does not know the ambush awaiting him.
In the helicopter earlier, ops HQ had briefed me: after the thwarted deal at the docks in Love Beach, the smugglers are running scared. They managed to set up another meeting with Ybarra at this airfield, where he’s expected to complete the purchase and board the plane back to his homeland. But we’re here, waiting.
Our team also discovered illegally caught fish dumped in a river two hours inland from Love Beach. The fish would have spoiled within days, meaning the smugglers are on the hook since Ybarra refuses to pay top dollar for subpar product.
Our mission is clear: capture Ybarra and his men, seize the smugglers along with their illegal goods, and finally shut this operation down for good. With one less arms-dealing ring in the world, Gigi can sleep easier knowing the ocean’s fish are safer.
With any luck, I can make it back to Gigi by nightfall, cozying my cock deep inside of her like I’m home.
“One truck incoming from the North. Over,” another voice calls into my earpiece.
“This is it, team. Wait for my mark,” I order, a ripple of adrenaline spiking through my veins.
“I have a perfect shot on Ybarra. Over,” the sharpshooter confirms.
“Stand down. We’re taking Ybarra alive after the transaction concludes. Over.” I know these ops guys are itching to end this quickly, but patience is key here.
The cargo truck slows and then executes a three-point turn as it backs into the hangar. The driver turns off the engine, and a man steps out, followed by two more on the passenger side. From the briefing, I recognize them as the gun smugglers.
Ybarra’s men immediately draw their weapons, forcing the three smugglers to raise their hands in surrender.
I hear Ybarra ordering in Spanish for them to open the truck doors slowly so he can inspect the cargo. His men remain alert for any tricks.
They follow orders and—holy shit—alongside cases of guns, stands Dawson holding Gigi bound and gagged in front of him. Her eyes widen in terror, and my heart nearly stops.
“See. It’s Dawson. What’d I tell you? Now do you believe me?” Parker whispers, hiding behind me.
“But did you know he’d have Gigi?” I growl, clenching my jaw.
“No. He must have thought he needed insurance in case you showed up.”
Parker had called me last night when I was driving in my truck to rendezvous with the helo, and confessed to his role plus ratting out Dawson in this all this fuckery. I couldn’t believe his story at first. Just like I couldn’t believe Gigi when she suspected the two of them.
Much like Mike at the Yacht club, Dawson had been a middleman, making a modest profit on illegal fish until other opportunities emerged—like partnering with the gun smugglers to ship their product to the East Coast via Love Beach.
That’s when he pushed Parker to help. Initially, Parker’s role was simply to fix his ordinary police reports about activity at the docks. For covering up, he got his slice of the money. But he hated every second.
Parker had always been a good guy, willing to do anything for his sister, but the mounting pressure of the medical bills made the money too tempting.
It caused havoc in his relationship with Dawson along the way, especially when he refused to let him have anything to do with Kelsea. Whenever Parker considered backing out, Dawson threatened to expose him.
Finally, Parker reached his limit and called me to put an end to it. He’s prepared to be a witness and informant for leniency—unbeknownst to Dawson, he kept duplicate copies of every report detailing what really happened at the docks each time Dawson brought in a new shipment.
Dawson’s screwed himself over getting in so deep, and who knows what repercussions his actions will have on his brothers once we take him into custody. But right now, he’s holding Gigi, and I can’t let anything happen to her.
“What is this with the woman?” Ybarra shouts.
“Insurance,” Dawson yells back, shifting with Gigi beside a crate. “Send one of your men up here to inspect.”
Ybarra gestures, and the nearest man lowers his gun and jumps into the truck, opening the crates to check their contents.
“He was going to take the money and run, wasn’t he? That’s his only move. He can’t return to Love Beach, not after kidnapping Gigi. But what about his brothers?” I whisper to Parker, incredulous at the unfolding events.
“All I know is, Dawson forced me to get rid of the fish and wanted one night with Kelsea. He threatened again to expose me if I didn’t comply. So after our fake story at the beach about my date, I took off to dump the fish in the river. The entire time, I worried if I’d come home and find her dead. But when I arrived, he and his brothers and Kelsea were having a nice time eating pizza and playing board games, laughing and carrying on like one big happy family.”
Parker shook his head. I look away from Gigi for a split second, noticing his inner turmoil.
“After they left, I broke down and told Kels everything I’d been holding back. Of course, she’s furious with both me and Dawson, but she’s a lawyer. She knows that once I’m arrested and put on trial, things will get ugly. That’s why she urged me to call you and turn myself in. She called Davis, too, and he’s keeping her safe at his place with Belle for now. I know she’ll be fine while I face what’s coming to me. Believe me, I never expected to be one of those officers to turn a blind eye to what’s right. The guilt of it nearly killed me, and the lies were multiplying too fast. I wanted out, and I’m just glad I am now, no matter what happens.”
My teeth grind as I struggle to accept it all, but my focus remains on Gigi. In this room, any man could become trigger-happy in an instant.
Ybarra’s man jumps down from the truck and nods. Another man approaches, holding a tablet for Dawson to see. He taps a few buttons, and it’s done—a multimillion-dollar transfer, no doubt, to an offshore account in Dawson’s name.
Now I face a hard decision. I need to capture Dawson and Ybarra, but I can’t let Gigi be caught in the crossfire. I swallow hard, wrestling with the choice.
“Keys!” Dawson yells.
One of Ybarra’s men and one of Dawson’s trade keys, looking like Dawson intends to get away in one of the SUVs while Ybarra’s men can load the guns off the truck into the airplane.
Dawson fumbles awkwardly, trying to lower both himself and Gigi out of the truck to the ground—a glaring oversight in his plan.
“If you have a shot to wound Dawson, not kill him, take it. Same goes for Ybarra and the others,” I command my team as I prepare to launch from behind the crate and secure Gigi.
Before I know it, chaos erupts. A shot hits Dawson’s shoulder, sending him stumbling backward into the truck and causing Gigi to drop to the floor. Quickly and smartly, she rolls under the truck toward the front.
The sharpshooter strikes Ybarra in both legs, taking him down, while Dawson’s men and Ybarra’s exchange open fire, taking each other out almost instantly.
I sprint forward, desperate to find Gigi, as my team moves in to apprehend suspects, process evidence, and secure arrests. “Gigi!” I yell as I reach the truck and find her on the driver’s side, hiding behind the front wheels with muffled sounds coming from her taped mouth.
I fall to my knees and pull her out and into the safety of my arms.
There’s no time to breathe—gunshots ring out. My head snaps to the far end of the truck, where I see Dawson making a final, defiant stand, slipping away from our ops guys and pointing a gun directly at us.
Everything seems to slow down. My hand fumbles along the ground for my gun. I hear a shot ring out—but Parker suddenly jumps in front of us, taking the hit. Behind him, my team tackles Dawson to the ground.