Captain Rita Secada is the tritagonist of Bad Boys for Life and Bad Boys: Ride or Die. She is the head of Advanced Miami Metro Operations (AMMO), Mike Lowrey's ex-girlfriend and former fiancé of Adam Lockwood. She is portrayed by Paola Núñez.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Rita Secada and Mike Lowrey were dating for a while, but broke up before the events of the movie Bad Boys for Life.
Bad Boys for Life[]
In 2020, during a party celebrating the birth of Marcus Burnett's grandson, Rita comes to congratulate Marcus on his grandson, he also shows Rita pictures of the baby and Mike, in turn, congratulate her on being the new head of the AMMO (Advanced Miami Metro Operations). Marcus asks what the AMMO is and Rita explains that it is a team of police officers trained in new tactics and investigation and also tells them what the acronym means. Rita leaves, after congratulating Marcus again. Mike stares at her as she walks away. Marcus told his partner that he's in love with her and tries to convince Mike that he should go out with her again, saying that she is perfect for him and that he shouldn't spend the rest of his life alone but Mike refuses and tells him that although he had many dates, he was only in love once.
Rita sees Mike and Marcus do a race when they leave the bar, but while running, Mike is shot by Armando Aretas. Rita, Marcus and the other cops go to help Mike, while Captain Howard calls the hospital for help. Mike remains in a coma for six months.
During that time, captain Conrad Howard assigns the investigation of Mike's attempted murder and the other murders to Rita and Advanced Miami Metro Operations (AMMO) Team. The captain and Rita agree that this case is something personal for them.
When Mike recovers, he is determined to seek revenge and unsuccessfully attempts to recruit the now-retired Marcus, causing a fall out between them. Rita goes to Mike's house and enters without Mike knowing because she still has the key. Mike turns to the door with his gun when he notices that someone has entered his house to meet Rita. She tells him that he has been very slow, that he is losing faculties and that she has been able to enter because she still has the key to his house. As Mike takes a glass from the fridge, Rita also tells him that he can't participate in the case (she knows because Howard has told her) and that he was shot. But Mike still doesn't care what happened to him. Rita tells him that for this type of case the AMMO was created, that he does not want to be realistic and she asks him if he is completely cured. Mike insists yes but she gently hits him on the chest and it still hurts Mike, she keeps doing it playfully until Mike tells her to stop. Rita insists that if he participates he will make mistakes but Mike tells her "Hasta el fuego" and she doesn't understand what that phrase means. Mike tells Rita that he knows him too well to ask her to quit. She asks him because she cares as a friend and asks him again to let the AMMO take care of it, but Mike refuses and continues investigating.
The next day, Captain Howard tells Rita that Mike will be a consultant into the tech-driven Advanced Miami Metro Operations (AMMO), although neither of them wishes to work with the other.
Rita takes Mike to the AMMO facility, and explains to the group that Mike will work with them as a consultant. AMMO members are:
- Rita Secada, head of AMMO.
- Kelly, weapons expert of AMMO.
- Dorn, tech expert of AMMO.
- Rafe, a member of AMMO.
While the team surveils Grassie at an arms deal, Mike determines that the buyers intend to kill Grassie and intervenes, but fails to save him.
Sometime later, Captain Howard tells Mike it may be time for him to retire as well before he gets himself killed. Howard is subsequently killed by Armando with a sniper rifle. After the captain’s funeral, Marcus decides to help Mike out one last time. Marcus enlists the help of AMMO to track down Grassie's accountant to find who was sold the ammunition. Marcus identifies the key suspect as Lorenzo “Zway-Lo” Rodriguez, someone Marcus used to coach basketball.
They crash a birthday party for Zway-Lo, but Zway-Lo flees. Mike, Marcus, and AMMO give chase but are halted by Armando on a helicopter over the bridge. Armando kills Zway-Lo to get to Mike. Before trying to kill him, Armando says "Hasta el fuego." Marcus, however, stops Armando with gunfire and Mike jumps into the river to escape.
AMMO shuts down due to failed operation. Rita, Marcus and AMMO go to Mexico with Mike, after the latter found out that Armando could be his biological son: before he and Marcus were partners, he was recruited by Captain Howard outside the academy to infiltrate the cartel of Aretas. Being very covert, he had an affair with Isabel, which led to the birth of Armando since Benito was sterile, and they used to say "Hasta el fuego". Despite the promise to run away with her, Mike eventually arrested her, as well as Benito, knowing how dangerous she was. All the previous victims killed by Armando were working on the same case. At first Mike didn't want them to come with him because he didn't want anyone else to die because of him. Mike, Marcus and AMMO prepare in a house in Mexico to go to the Hidalgo Palace. Rita places a necklace with a mini camera and microphone around Mike's neck so they could see and hear everything Mike saw and heard.
At the Hidalgo Palace, Mike meets Isabel, she talks about their romance in the past, which makes Rita want to kill her and he scolds her for not telling Armando the truth about his father and for raising him to be an assassin. A shootout occurs between AMMO and Isabel's henchmen. Mike and Rita instruct the AMMO members to take care of Isabel's men while Mike and Marcus climb to the top of the palace to prevent Isabel and Armando from escaping in a helicopter. Marcus shoots the pilot of Isabel's getaway helicopter, causing it to crash into the building setting it ablaze. AMMO leaves the building but Rita returns to help Mike and Marcus. While Marcus briefly incapacitates Isabel, Mike confronts Armando to try and convince him he is his father. Armando refuses to believe him until Mike insists that Isabel confirm it. Demanding the truth from his mother, Isabel confirms to Armando that Mike is his father. Realizing the task he spent a lifetime training for was a lie, Armando tries to protect his father, leading to Isabel inadvertently shooting Armando in the chest while aiming for Mike. Enraged, she attempts to finish Mike, but Rita intervenes and shoots Isabel, sending her falling into the flames below. They all escape the burning building, where Mike tells Armando he will have to pay for his crimes, but Mike will be there for him. Sometime later, Rita is named the new police captain while Mike and Marcus, having decided to come out of retirement, are placed in charge of AMMO. In the end, Rita, the AMMO and Theresa leave and leave Mike and Marcus to take care of baby Marcus. The duo sing "Bad Boys" to him so that he stops crying.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die[]
Four years later, Rita is now engaged to Adam Lockwood, a district attorney and mayoral candidate. They attend Mike and Christine's wedding. Mike congratulates Rita and Lockwood engagement while they congratulate his marriage.
Sometime later, the late Captain Conrad Howard is reported as he's being involved with drug cartels. Mike and Marcus wants to prove his innocence with Rita and Lockwood's help. After a shootout occurs in Fletcher's club, Mike and Marcus catch up with Rita on clues that Howard left them through a video.
Mike and Marcus turns to an imprisoned Armando for help, who agrees to identify the person who wanted Howard dead. At night, Rita and the AMMO members finds out that Mike and Marcus are now wanted fugitives and accused of killing their fellow police members while transporting Armando out of prison in a helicopter. Judy Howard, Conrad's daughter, wants a manhunt on the three of them.
When Mike, Marcus, and Armando gets assistance from Kelly and Dorn on identifying the person, they discover him as a U.S. Ranger turned criminal, James McGrath. After figuring out that Lockwood was in league with McGrath, who now kidnapped Christine and Callie, Judy's daughter, at Mike and Christine's new place, Mike calls and warns Rita about Lockwood. She confronts him and the two gets in a brief skirmish until Kelly and Dorn arrive and the three takes him hostage.
Mike, Marcus, Armando, and AMMO orchestrates a plan to attack McGrath and his men at a former alligator-themed amusement park in Cuba to rescue the hostages using Lockwood as bait. Rita defeats Lockwood by kicking him into a pool where he gets eaten by an alligator. The plan was successful following McGrath's death after Mike kills him freeing Christine and Callie being saved by Armando, who was allowed by Judy to escape for his heroism. Mike, Marcus, and Captain Howard are cleared of their charges.
Following their victory, Mike and Marcus celebrate by cooking food on a public grill with Rita, Christine, Kelly, Dorn, and Marcus' son-in-law, Reggie present.