Operation 21 The Last Stand #3
The entire time God had been in LA, he’d obeyed the rules the police captain had set for him and his men.
They hadn’t done any investigating, pursuing, or overstepped on the detectives working Xander’s case.
He’d stood down and stayed within the perimeters of their assignment, but this was an active threat, and they had a right to defend themselves.
God moved.
“Day, with me. Ruxs, Green, west flank. Free, lock every gate. We’re not letting these motherfuckers get away this time.”
“Already done,” Free answered. “LAPD’s been notified. First unit’s ETA is four minutes.”
“Where are the others, Free?” Tech asked.
“Two bodies moving against the north studio wall.”
God cut across the lot with Day on his left, both weapons drawn, badges visible.
“Police! Get down! Get down!”
A few members from the custodial crew hit the pavement. The driver at the south barricade raised his weapon toward a wounded guard trying to crawl behind the broken booth and God fired.
The driver went down hard beside the crushed truck and didn’t get back up.
“Driver threat down,” Day called. “South side secured.”
God didn’t stop moving.
Another shooter fired from behind a grip truck as two crewmen ran towards the locked gates.
“Green!” Ruxs barked.
“I see him.”
The attacker fired toward them and Green returned fire, his shots hitting inches from the man’s head, forcing him back.
“Police! That was a warning!” Green roared. “Drop the weapon!”
The attacker answered with more bullets.
Ruxs came around from the side and fired once, hitting him in the right shoulder. The man jerked, stumbled, still trying to raise his rifle.
Green fired the second shot, same arm, and the rifle clattered across asphalt.
“Threat down,” Green called.
“Attacker apprehended,” Bishop grated a few seconds later.
“That’s six. We’re code ten,” Free said. “We’re still the fuckin’ baddest.”
“And always will be,” Day added.
God almost smiled.
Cassidy’s voice was strained and rough through the comms. “Starlight secure. Free, confirm all threats neutralized.”
“All angles checked. We’re green,” he answered.
“Free,” God said. “Tell me we have all this.”
“Affirmative, I got it all.”
Tech arrived at his side. “Steele left two alive. Cassidy’s guys got ’em cuffed at the north gate.”
“Alive is proof,” Day said over comms, approaching from the south with blood on his sleeve.
God glanced around the lot. “I need a count.”
Free answered immediately. “Two suspects alive with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. Three suspects deceased on scene. EMS one minute out.”
Sirens screamed closer.
Cassidy’s voice came through again. “Collateral damage?”
“Three West Protective agents wounded, nonfatal,” Free said. “No crew casualties. Cast and production personnel all accounted for.”
God glanced down at his husband, his eyes bright with adrenaline from the fight. He’d never looked more handsome.
He was going to miss that.
Captain Vega arrived with the first LAPD wave. Patrol units poured in through the breached south entrance. Officers spread fast, weapons up, voices sharp.
“Lieutenant Godfrey,” Vega barked, anger flaring across his face. “What the hell happened here?”
Vega took in the scene.
“I’m sure you can recognize blatant self-defense,” God said with his arms crossed. “But if you can’t believe your own eyes, you got countless witnesses standing around and plenty of video footage.”
Vega narrowed his eyes at him.
From the trailer row, the door finally opened. Cassidy came out first, blood darkening the bandage under his shoulder again. His face was pale beneath the beard, but his stance steady and immovable. Xander followed with one hand fisted in the back of Cassidy’s jacket. Shaken, but not shattered.
Xander’s eyes found his across the wrecked lot.
Cassidy looked at the dead men, the wounded guards, the cuffed attackers, the police lights washing red and blue across the studio walls before his gaze shifted to his team...his amazing rebuilt team.
Free spoke quietly into their ears. “Damn, they work fast here in Hollywood. The media’s already reporting breaking news. But I have the studio’s feed, it’s ready for the LAPD.”
“Captain, we have full digital chains ready for you,” Tech said to Vega.
Vega stared at him.
Tech blinked behind his glasses. “You’re welcome.”
Cassidy guided Xander toward the nearest medic with one steady arm around his back while blood soaked through his sleeve on the other.
God glanced around at the ruined lot. The attackers had come to finish what they’d started.
They’d picked the end of a normal filming day, when the lot was dark, the crew was tired, probably hoping to catch Xander’s security off guard.
But they’d also picked the one day every man protecting Xander was on post.
The LAPD loaded the two breathing suspects into separate ambulances under armed guard. Between the two of them, one or both would roll on Bennett Ashford in exchange for a lesser sentence.
Looked like their final mission was complete. Los Angeles had been their last stand.
Now they had to get home and figure what men like them did with the rest of their lives.