Miami Beat: The Secret Society

By Frederica Burden

Welcome to Miami! When the sun-kissed beaches and clear blue skies fade into the darkness things really heat up. Miami nights give way to tantalizing temptations that can excite and coerce the darkness out of even the best of us.

Sidney is learning this the hard way.

A young, vibrant woman, Sidney is on a mission to pursue her dreams. Unbeknownst to everyone else, Sidney also has a goal and she will stop at nothing to see it through.

Losing her father to police brutality at a very young age became the catalyst in Sidney’s life, setting her family on a spiral that she desperately tries to end.

Once an Explorer in the police department, she learned a great deal about law enforcement, which she intends to use to bring her father’s killers to justice.

The only thing standing in her way is her heart. There are two love interests in Sidney’s life and she’s forced to choose.

Will her choice lead to happiness or her destruction?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Frederica Burden
• Release date: Apr 13, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370338726

Frederica Burden

Frederica Paremore Burden graduated from Barry University (Miami Shores, Florida) with a Bachelors Degree in Nursing, and a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice from St. Thomas University (Miami Gardens, Florida). She worked for 28 years with the City of Miami Police Department, in various units throughout the department, including undercover details. Frederica was also a calendar model for the Police Department. She has three (3) sons and currently works as an adjunct professor at Miami Dade College School of Justice. Her debut novel Miami Beat: The Secret Society was published Spring 2018. Miami Beat: Dilemmas is her follow up suspense novel. You can learn more about upcoming releases in the series at: www.FredericaBurden.com

Book preview

Miami_Beat-cover.jpg

Miami Beat II

The Secret Society

Frederica Burden

Copyright

© 2018 Frederica Burden

All rights reserved.

This book is a work of fiction. All characters, names, locations and references are a part of the author’s imagination. Any similarities are purely coincidental.

Contact: Frederica Burden

Email: [e-mail]

Facebook Page: Miami Beat: The Secret Society

RCS Publishing, Leah G. Reynolds

[e-mail]

Book Cover Design: Indigo Design

Acknowledgements

I would first like to thank God for giving me the gift of a vivid imagination and the time and patience to develop it. Mom, I wasn’t ignoring you, I was working on this surprise for you. Love you.

I would like to thank Yonder, Mr. What I do is Taboo, for pushing me to write a book for years. Here is #1.

I would then like to thank my partner in crime, my personal cheerleader, Vanessa Morales, for being my sounding board, giving me the thumbs up or down with decisions that I needed to make.

Earnest Lawrence, my boo, I appreciate you being there when I needed you to be my critic. I know I bugged you a lot and bounced a lot off of you, but remember that I appreciate you and love you…thank you.

Tysheika Shaw-Williams, your Cali-girl is coming out now. Thank you for all of your support.

Lynnise Jones-Curry, no matter how long we go without talking, we always pick up as if we talk every day. Thank you, sis, for supporting me and encouraging me.

Toni Sunshine Henson, you are truly the sunshine in my life. You have been my number one from day one of this project. I promised you the first book, and you will receive it. Thank you for being you.

I would like to thank Distinctive Images Photography for the fantastic photo shoot. Demetrius and Cassandra King are the best in the business, a dynamic duo.

Now my SHOUT OUT goes to Leah Reynolds. Together we are a force to be reckoned with, my friend. It only gets better from here. I have fallen in love with this thing called writing, and I have you to thank for that. You are an amazing coach and a phenomenal editor and publisher. I’m so blessed to have you on my team.

The wait is over! Miami Beat: The Secret Society is steamy and suspense-filled, and it will not disappoint. Thank you all for your love and support. I love you back. Let the reading begin!!

Prologue

The sound of glass breaking woke Sidney Stevens from a deep slumber. Frightened, she climbed out of bed and put her feet in her slippers. She could hear voices. Familiar voices, but the tone was completely off.

Terrified, she crept out of bed to investigate the noises. She slowly walked out to the living room and watched in horror as her world shattered right in front of her.

Her father’s right hand was gripped tightly around her mother’s throat. Sidney screamed in horror as she watched her father holding her mother in the air, by her throat. Next to them, lay two empty bottles of Johnnie Walker Black Label, her father’s favorite whiskey.

Clawing at his arms, her mother tried desperately to break free from his stranglehold. Stop it! Sidney screamed at the top of her lungs, praying that her father would let go. Her mother’s beautiful butter pecan complexion was now beet red. It seemed as if her mother, Florence Stevens, was going to die right before her eyes. Sidney didn’t know what to do, but she knew that if she didn’t act fast, her mother would be dead. Luckily, she didn’t have to contemplate her next move for long.

Sidney heard a sudden bang on the door and jumped as five police officers stormed their home. One cop lifted her up in his arms so quickly it felt like she was flying. He sat her in the kitchen as the other cops questioned her father, Randy Stevens, Sr.

Sidney tried to peer around the corner to see what was happening with her parents, but the cop who picked her up began talking to her. What is your name? How old are you? Tell me what happened, he asked as she tried to make sense of it all.

Things flew across the room, shattering, as she heard raised voices. Sidney listened to her mother begging for her father’s release. Let him go! Florence cried as a wrestling match ensued in the other room.

Suddenly a scream ripped through the air, and Sidney jumped in fear for the second time that night. Running in the living room, she saw her father sprawled on the hardwood floor with four cops kicking him. They pounded on him while one kept repeating to him, Stop resisting, sir.

I’m not resisting, her father cried. I didn’t do anything wrong! Get out of my house, Randy yelled between kicks and pelts. He covered his head and tried to protect his body, but to no avail. They were whooping him as he cried out in pain.

Where are you taking him? Florence cried in fear as one of the officers handcuffed her injured husband. Downtown, Ma’am, he said as a tall blonde officer with sunburned skin began to read Randy his Miranda rights.

Do you understand your rights? the blonde officer questioned after he read Randy his Miranda rights. When Randy didn’t respond, the officer kicked him in the chest. Coughing up blood, her father responded, Yes and lowered his head in defeat.

The commotion woke Sidney’s brothers, Randy Stevens, Jr. and Cero Stevens, who were holding on to their father for dear life. Take them in the bedroom Florence! Randy, Sr. yelled to his inconsolable wife, but Florence couldn’t hear him. She was too busy crying on her knees, praying for God to intervene.

Sidney kissed her father’s forehead and watched as the four officers dragged him away, forever.

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this first published book to my three heartbeats, my sons, Adam, Devin and Davon. Thank you for sharing mommy time with writing time. I love you, and look...it’s done.

Chapter 1

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Sidney tried to calm her erratic breathing. She would never have any peace if she couldn’t sleep through the night. Her father’s death replayed in her mind like a tragic scene on repeat. Every night since the tragic incident, she had the same nightmare. The bad dreams plagued her for decades. She vowed to one day overcome the horrors; to one day have a real life. Lying back on the bed, she closed her eyes and hummed an old lullaby that her mother used to sing to her. Sidney desperately needed the rest, she had a full patient schedule, and she wanted to be at her best.

Since the day Sidney watched her father being beaten to death, she decided to one day work with law enforcement. She wanted to affect change in the Police Department. Sidney was delighted to be able to work in the field of her dreams. She set out on the fast track to her current position