Guarding Hope

“You’re dead to me. I will find you and put a hole in your head just like I did your mother.”

“What? Mad you can’t sell me now?”

“You owe me two million dollars. And when I find the bastard you traded your virginity to—he’s going to get a bullet in his head.” He pressed the end call button hard, then threw the phone across the room, hitting the shoulder of one of Navarro’s guards.

“So the bitch sold her pussy for a ride. Damn, she must despise you.”

Navarro laughed as he strolled from the room and into the foyer when the door slammed open with guns trained on Navarro. He raised his hands calmly with a smirk. Navarro had been through this twice before, but it wouldn’t matter anyway; he’d had officials in his pocket. He’d be out in a few hours with the charges dropped.

Another group of twelve SWAT team members came in and surrounded Cummings.

“Baxter Cummings, you’re under arrest for human trafficking.” Dax Chambers had the pleasure of reading him his rights.

“Chambers, you’re the one protecting my daughter, aren’t you?” Cummings hollered as he was being cuffed.

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law,” Dax continued, unconcerned about Cummings’s excited utterances. After all, they were admissible in court.

He rocked his shoulders, trying to break the hold of the two officers leading him to the patrol car. “Cut the bullshit. I know my rights, you bastard. Where’s the whore at? She ran away and lied. I’ll have her head for this shit.”

“Yeah, that’s not the case, and we know it. Now, we have it on audio.”

The smile on Dax’s face served to infuriate Cummings even more. He thrashed out of the hold, lunging toward Chambers only to feel fifty thousand volts on his ass, dropping the other man on his face.

“Thanks, Owens.”

“No problem. I’ve wanted to use it for a long time.” He turned to Navarro and asked, “Would you like to resist as well?”

“No, thanks. I like pleasure with my pain.”

“You traitor. You set me up, Navarro. You had them listen in. Where’s that bitch at?” Cummings continued to rock his body until he’d been served another dose. When he finally calmed his ass down, the cops picked him up off the ground and marched him to the squad car. He shot out threats to all those around, none more stupid than the one he leveled at Alfonzo Navarro.

“I’m going to get you, Navarro. You’re a dead man, and so is your son.”

With a chuckle, Navarro walked over to the police car, winked at Cummings, and then informed his men to contact his lawyer. A smart drug dealer knew when to keep his mouth shut, and when to act. Cummings had no idea what he had coming his way.

Chapter 15

“We got him. He’s now in custody. The prosecutors are hoping to keep him locked up without a chance to make bail.”

Gage released the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding in. The bastard would get to taste how confined a prison cell was, like his daughter had for all those years. Gage wanted nothing more than to see Baxter Cummings in a pine box, but he had no intentions of being the one to put him there. However, he finally found a setback from retiring. He’d miss the pleasure of sending the bastard to prison.

“Good. I’ll let Hope know. Thanks, Dax.” His voice lilted as he tried to contain his excitement. He rubbed his hands together with a giant smile on his face as he listened to his friend.

“Thank you. It’s luck that you found her and kept her safe. Everything worked out smoothly on our end. You know that’s not always the case and sure as fuck never this fast.”

“I’m so damn happy things worked in our favor. Instead of months, we had to wait a week. Now, how long until they can get him before a judge?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“Okay.”

“What about Alfonzo Navarro?”

“His lawyer will get him out. I doubt he’ll be after her, but if he does, we’ll be on his ass faster than our State Bird.”

“Like the mosquito, I want his blood. There’s no way in hell I’ll feel like she’s safe with Navarro running loose.”

“She’s safer with him on the outside than on the inside. The difference between the two men is a lot of money and power. Cummings doesn’t have the funds to come after Hope, but Navarro can if he’s caged.”

“Fine, but I’m not letting this go.”

“I understand.”

“Okay. Let us know what happens. We need to get some rest. I still have a ranch to run and a woman to seduce. Have a good night.”

“Same to you.” Gage ended the call and placed his phone on the kitchen table. The agents recording the call between Hope and Cummings left the couple at home while they headed back to prepare the files.