“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 hadwasspecial.
“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.
