Sequel to "Bound By Blood, Forged in Fire".
As the hunt for Bodnar continues, Jace and Ziva reach a defining moment in their relationship. In the aftermath Julian must learn to continue to go forward in order to stay afloat.
Before the team could take out The Dockyard they had to secure Abarca, the plan was to grab her as she made her way home from work. She took the same route every day, The Madame took an old parkway to an isolated dirt road to her estate. They needed to grab her before she got home, the house was under the watch of state police on her and Vargas' payroll. They were used to her not coming home for days at a time, weeks even. Barca often traveled out of town for potential new hires without giving notice.
They were going to box her in with two cars, an assault vehicle would cut her off and a follow car would keep her from escaping. Team Echo would be in the lead car and Kara and Sharon would be in the following car. Jace would be on a helicopter providing overwatch, so he opted for his M110.
They made their way to Abarca's business complex, where they watched as she made her way home. The teams followed her from a strategically concealable distance if Abarca felt threatened she would call Vargas or Cortés for help or give them a heads-up. Jace scanned the area and checked with ISR.
"TOC, I see no sign of threats or compromises. What about your end?"
"Echo-One, we also see no threats."
Jace continued to watch the area as the cars made their route until he saw a flash of red and blue.
"All stations, be advised we have a state police vehicle about to link up with our mark."
Sharon got on the radio.
"Do we proceed with the interdiction or fallback?"
Jace immediately got an idea.
"Follow car peel off and create a diversion, we'll do a Helo-V-I."
Kara feigned a swerve and jumped into a corner. As the police approached them, Sharon slipped an M18 under the vehicle, making it look like the car was malfunctioning. The HVT reached the lot connected to the dirt road. The aircraft closed in and Jace fired warning shots into the car's engine, stopping her in her tracks. Echo Team approached the car, Reese used a 40MM Launcher to fire a flashbang into the car, Ward smashed the driver window and he and Clarke dragged Abarca out. They put a bag over her head and flex-cuffed her, putting her in the back of the Tahoe.
Everyone took off and met back at the compound. Ward handed Barca to Grey and Rider.
later on, Team Echo and their Mexican counterparts were dressed as Sinaloas, sporting the matching hardware. The rules were if anyone on site was armed take them out, to make the raid look like a cartel hit it had to be rough and messy. Everyone had their faces covered.
Once they reached the target building they breached the south entrance, another team was doing the same at the north. Once inside, they moved quickly, shouting in Spanish that Vargas' time was coming to an end.
They encountered six guards, cutting them down as they tried to retaliate. The civilians fled as the teams moved to the center of the building.
Once they eliminated all enemy combatants and cleared the civilians they set demolition charges and left. As they drove off, the building went up in smoke and fire.
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The next day, the agents were tasked with seizing a shipping container full of firearms and drugs Vargas purchased and planned on distributing. Sharon and her team ran interference with the local police while the FBI agents and Fuerza Especial Conjunta raided the dockyard.
Once they found the container they were looking for the FEC operators breached the container. Inside were the drugs but one of the weapon crates had been opened. It contained MP5s and magazines loaded with armor-piercing rounds, three firearms were missing along with nine magazines.
They began sweeping the container yard in teams, Kara and Agent Simmons circled the container. As they made their way through the containers they took fire from the top of the container northeast of them. Two shooters had them pinned down, Simmons called for backup as Kara returned fire. The FEC operators managed to take out the shooters, but two of them were shot by a third.
The assailant jumped from the container and ran to the water, everyone tried to chase him but he covered his escape with a flashbang and smoke grenade.
Back at the JOC, they managed to identify the dead shooters, locals who often did odd jobs for Vargas' organization. One of the FEC operators managed to wound the third, and DNA came back as a positive match for Cortés DNA.
"He got here quicker than we expected," said Jace, turning to the agents and intelligence officers. "Could Vargas be onto us?"
"No, we kept the information compartmentalized," said Barrera. "Only the Attorney General knew and the state and local police were kept in the blind."
"Vargas must be worried then," said Kara, going over intel reports with Sharon. "He's liquidating his assets and tying up loose ends."
"Cortés justed checked into a hotel," said Moreno. "He arranged to stay there for the next two weeks."
"He's looking for the Sinaloas who torched the factory," said Jace, smiling. "Let's help him find them."
"We'll get back to Abarca," said Grey. "The moment he calls her, we're going to get all the details."
Jace was preparing his gear when Kara checked in on him.
"Hey, how are you holding up?" asked Jace.
"Good, wish we got Cortés before he jumped," replied the FBI Agent. "How about you? Seeing all those people forced to work for Vargas must've hit a nerve or two."
"I want to get them all," confessed Jace. "Not just Vargas, the Sinaloa, Los Zetas, all of them. But more would just take their place."
"It would still make a difference," soothed Kara, resting her hand on his shoulder.
"If Vargas is getting ready to run then Cortés is our last chance," said Jace. "It'll be months, years even, before he shows up on anyone's radar."
