Captive - Sequel to Ocean's View

By Tonya Young

She almost died on an empty Miami street. It was Xavier’s love that had saved Ocean’s life. But two years after infiltrating the Jimenez organization the FBI has pulled her in offering her the career that she had dreamt of. But what does she do when her heart is pulling her in one direction and the badge is pulling her in another.

Despite the deception Xavier can’t help but love Ocean. She’s everything that he’s ever wanted in a woman and nothing will stop him from having her completely. He’s determined to go to the ends of the earth to not only make her happy but to also make her understand that there is no place in the world for her that will not lead her back to him.

What will they do when the FBI comes knocking to take the Jimenez crew in? Will Ocean give up her new-found love and family for the career that she’s dreamt of all her life or will she choose love?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781387602957

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Captive - Sequel to Ocean's View

Captive

By

Tonya Young

Copyright

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them. +

ISBN     978-1-387-60295-7

Printed in the United States of America

Cover design by bettibup (thebookcoverdesigner.com)

Copyright © Tonya Young 2018

Publisher:  Tonya Young

..

CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Dedication

How do you even begin to tell the people who are most important in your life how much they mean to you?  Is it enough to dedicate your life works to us?  I don’t know, but I do dedicate this and everything else that I have written and will write in the future to my loving children, Aliyah, Anson, and Alexander.  You three are my muse, my strength, the only other thing besides my love for the Lord that keeps my hustling and making moves to do better and be better. 

Dream Big and Love Harder

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Acknowledgements

Thank you to my Heavenly Father. Without God nothing is possible, but with God, All Things Are Possible.  

Tonya Young

Live life today like you’ll never see tomorrow

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Chapter One

Will my death come quick?

If Hamza has his way Xavier will tire of me soon and he will be able to have his way with me.  Torture me until I no longer have the strength to cry out.  Make me suffer for days on end before he strikes the final blow that will end my life. 

He is the brother of a don and I am merely the girl who managed to slip her way into his brother’s heart.  I’m also the girl who managed to break his brother’s heart.  And for that he wants me dead.  But if I’m honest with myself I can’t blame him for fantasizing of the day that he will be able to end me once and for all because if someone harmed one of my sister’s I too would be out for blood. 

I glance over at Hamza and can tell that his disdain for me just grows more and more with each passing day.  Nothing short of my death will rid him of it. 

My heartbeat speeds up and I begin to count to ten in an effort to slow it down and calm my nerves.  I scoot closer to Xavier and try to avoid Hamza’s death glare.  I feel safer when I’m close to him.  He touches my arm gently and that small show of affection lets me know that despite what I’ve done he is still mine.  In my heart I know that although I betrayed his trust he would never allow harm to come to me.  He loves me unconditionally as I love him. 

Love.

Yes, that four letter word, that tiny, tiny word was the only thing keeping me alive.  I had run scared for months from his love until I could run no more.  Now I find myself once again caught in between a rock and a hard place. 

I look up at him as he is speaking but I don’t hear a word of what he is saying.  My mind is elsewhere.  I’m once again being pulled in too many different directions.  I once again have too many people expecting my allegiance. 

My stomach knots and a sharp pain hits me hard.  I shift in my seat and his grip on my arm tightens.  He knows what’s about to come and he’s trying to help me to fight it without bringing any attention to me.  I’d been having panic attacks.   Between getting shot, the fear that comes along with facing certain death,  the thought that the department was still expecting me to continue the investigation, the FBI  vetting me and meeting my long lost father, I was slowly losing my grip on reality.  The only thing that helped to keep the panic attacks at bay and kept me on the other line of insanity was being close to Xavier. 

I lean into him even closer.  My breathing begins to even out and my heartbeat begins to slow. 

When are you planning on telling Ocean about the girl?

I heard my name come from Noelle’s lips and frowned.  At that point I would have rather have gotten shot a second time than to lay eyes on her.  Octavio nudges Noelle as if scolding her and she looks at him with a dumbfounded expression on her pretty face.  I glance from Noelle to Octavio.  They seemed so in love.  It’s been two years but Octavio still has that adorable boyish look.  From the looks of him he’d been lifting a lot.  He wasn’t as muscular as Hamza but you could look at him and tell that one of his favorite pass times in Barbados was working out. 

Noelle is still looking like she can’t believe that she just screwed up.  Her long legs are crossed and swinging back and forth.  She’s wearing a brown mini skirt that barely covers her assets and a bikini top.  She rolls her eyes and plops herself down on Octavio’s lap. 

Tell me about what girl, I asked looking up at Xavier who was staring at Noelle as if he wanted to strangle the life out of her slowly?

He looks down at me and there in the man that I love eyes is a mixture of love and distrust.  We can discuss it later, Ocean. 

He was still handling me with kid gloves.  It had been three months since I got shot.  Three months since I lost our unborn child.  He was afraid that if too much was place upon me too soon I would lose it.  But I was tougher than Xavier thought.  Yes, I had spent the first two months and two weeks sitting in a dark room recovering and crying over our loss and trying desperately not to lose my mind over it but I could feel myself getting back to the old me.  I knew that I could handle whatever news Xavier was withholding from me. 

I agree with Xavier.  You don’t need too much on your plate right now Ocean, Jenson said from across the room.  I looked across into his green eyes and saw the emotion n them.  He and Xavier had taken turns helping the nurse to take care of me while I recuperated .  Even when I had insisted that Jenson leave me the hell alone he had refused to leave my side until I was up and mobile again. 

A smile is playing on Hamza’s lips.  Just tell her already, Xavier!

I take in a deep breath because I know that if Hamza is smiling whatever they are keeping from me is nothing that I really want to hear.  Again I look to Xavier who was looking from his brother to Noelle with a warning.  It’s killing Hamza not to be able to spill the beans.  He’s tapping his left leg against the marble floor with his sneakers and eyeing me.  I hate him but I still have to admit that he is like the rest of the Jimenez me in that he is so attractive that a girl who didn’t know that he was a sadistic son of a bitch could easily get totally lost in him

"I said it can wait, Hamza!  Xavier’s voice boomed and silence fell upon the room.

No whatever it is just spill it now.  I can handle it.

Ocean I—

Now, Xavier, I said, cutting him off.

He nodded to Hamza and Hamza jumped from the bar stool as giddy as a school boy leaving school for the weekend.  He jetted out of the room and again silence loomed over us. 

Xavier turns to me and runs a hand through my hair.  I can tell by his expression that whatever it is isn’t good and he’s now regretting whatever he’d been holding from me.  Please don’t be upset with me Ocean.

What have you done Xavier?

My heart races because once again I can feel the panic attack coming on.  We’d been through too much in the past few months to ruin how close we’d become. 

I need you to take a nice deep breath, Ocean, he whispers.  He can see that I’m on the verge of losing it.  He places an arm around my waist and kisses the top of my forehead.  I slowly begin to calm down again.  Something about his touch puts me at ease every time.  But I know that what I’m feeling is just temporary.  If Hamza is happy then whatever he is running off to retrieve is going to make me miserable and cause an argument between Xavier and I. 

Hamza returns to the study and my breath gets caught in my throat.  My stomach is ill.  I immediately feel as if my lunch is about to fall into my lap.  The green eyed girl is staring at me from across the room.  She’s just as beautiful as she was the night that I’d met her at the club.  She’s wearing jeans and a tube top.  Her long blonde hair is handing down her back desperately in need of a trim.  My gaze goes to her feet.  She’s wearing house shoes.  My gaze goes back to her eyes and I can still see the pleading look that was there the day that I had seen her in the house that she had been held captive in. 

My heart dropped.  I push myself away from Xavier and look up into his eyes.  How could you, I ask?

I knew how much she meant to you.  I thought it would be easier for you if she was close.  That way you could keep an eye on her and make sure that she’s safe.  She won’t be working, Ocean.

Because I knew what he meant by working my stomach flips again.  So you thought that brining her here and keeping her captive right up under my nose would make me happy?

Not exactly what I meant Ocean. 

She’s here with me, Hamza said, smiling widely.

I rolled my eyes at him and returned my gaze back to Xavier.  What the hell does he mean?

Xavier shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  Well, Ocean, he……

Hamza cleared his throat.  What my brother is trying to say is that she’s mine.

Xavier grabbed my arm only for me to jerk away from him.  I stood and shook my head in total disbelief.  I’m going for a drive, I said, turning away from Xavier and crossing the room only to have Jenson stand and block the doorway.

Let her go, Xavier ordered.

Jenson shook his head in disagreement, pulled a pair of keys from his pocket and handed them to me.  Before I made it out of the room I heard Xavier’s fingers pop twice. 

My love was having me followed.

Chapter Two

On my way to meet with Caden I veer to the left just to see that the vehicle that is three cars behind me veers to the left as well. 

The windows on the SUV are tinted so dark you can’t make out the driver or how many passengers are in the vehicle with him.  But I know exactly who they are and why they’re following me.  Xavier doesn’t trust me as far as he can throw me.  He acts like I have my freedom and can do as I please but I know better.  He loves me but it will probably take years before he fully trusts me again.  So in the meanwhile I’ll just have to deal with the security detail that he has tailing me every time I take a walk, run or climb behind the wheel.  Being watched twenty four hours of the day is my punishment for deceiving him. 

I turn left at the last minute and the SUV cuts off another vehicle trying to turn the corner to keep up with me.  The owner of the other vehicle is experiencing some road rage and lays on his horn for what seems like forever but the SUV never stops to give him the time of day.  They’re more concerned with keeping me in their sights.  I speed up and of course so does the black SUV.  They’re only two cars behind me now.     

I had one in the chamber just in case.  Anything was possible.  Xavier would shit if he knew that I had a weapon.  Caden had slipped me a .45 just a couple of weeks prior.  And I have to say it feels great to have it in my possession.  I don't feel whole without the protection of a piece of steel.  After this is over I'll probably never feel safe without it.  But even with the weapon at my disposal there’s nothing that I can do about the guys who are tailing me.  If I confront them and pull my weapon on them it will get back to Xavier and then I’ll have to explain where and how I came about obtaining the gun. 

I speed up again and duck in and out of traffic.  Damn the driver tailing me is good.  He never misses a beat.  Just keeps coming after me without losing me even for a second. 

As I drive at speeds well over the speed limit I think of Ariana.  That thought alone throws me off for a second causing me to veer off of the road.  I quickly snatch the steering wheel and swerve back into the right lane before I run out of road. 

This entire situation is making a mockery of the justice system.  Here I am in Barbados living with the girl that I drew into this shady world.  When you think of it I’m just as much of a predator as the men I share a home with.

I glance around at my surroundings.  I hated being in Barbados.  It isn't the country.  It’s the circumstances that have me here that are bogging me down.  I don’t feel like I’m making any headway at all.  Everything is moving in slow motion here.  I look over at my handbag that holds my weapon and the thought of being on the force almost makes me ill.  I glance back into the rearview mirror and I’m still being tailed.

I think of my job and everything that I’ve accomplished so far and yes my stomach turns.  I've done a lot of questionable things in the line of duty and now I'm facing the consequences for what I've done.  And it sure as hell doesn't feel good.  It's been a long time since I felt good about my job.  This investigation against Xavier was flawed from the start.  I'd been sent in blind and had failed my mission because of what my superiors hadn't filled me in on. 

I thought that my training meant that I was going out into the world to rid it of everything bad.  Instead I’m contributing to the bad that is floating around in the world. 

Decisions need to be made about Noelle and Ariana but I don't have the authority to make things happen.  If I had my way they'd both be on a plane headed back to the states.  Ariana would be returned to her family and Noelle would be headed for a jail cell so that she could be dealt with appropriately.  Mistakes were made.  A ton of them and a lot of people are paying in more ways than one. 

Could I use the excuse that I have just been following orders?  Is that going to keep me from going to hell for my actions?  Since I've been on Xavier's case I've been getting my hands extremely dirty but my superiors seem to believe that it's okay to step over the lines if they're giving the orders. 

I’m so much deeper into this assignment than I want to be.  Not to mention I no longer believe in law enforcement.  I now believe that law enforcement is just a way for the government to get in on the crime so that they can get a piece of the pie.  It really isn't about helping people.  We put our badges on and we help no one but ourselves. 

There are no real options for me.  I can't even go out of the house without Xavier's muscle following behind me.  That's the position I find myself in now.  He gives me the car keys but he has them tailing me to make sure that I don't get to a phone.  Little does he know that I have everything I need on me.  My hand reaches for the necklace that Caden used to have to convince me to wear. 

Because of Ariana I can't just lick my wounds and keep living without helping her in some way.  I have choices to make.  Ariana, or Xavier?  How do I choose between helping Ariana and not betraying Xavier again?  Then there is my job.  I’m still Detective Ocean Rose.  In the end whatever I decide will show exactly who I am as a person.

I’m two blocks from the meeting spot and I’m still being tailed too closely to lose them.  I pull my foot off of the gas pedal and reduce my speed.  It doesn’t matter what I do at this point I’m not losing them.  I’ll have to make sure that I lose them on foot. 

Finally arriving at my destination I find a parking spot in front of a small coffee shop and pull in.  Snatching my bag and the keys from the ignition I jump from the car before they can find a parking spot.  But I know that evading them won’t be easy.  Whoever is in the passenger seat will jump out and follow me on foot while the driver finds a parking space. 

I stroll into the coffee shop as if I don’t have a care in the world and pull a small compact from my bag.  I open it and see that sure enough there is a guy on my tail.  He’s standing across the street peering in the window at me. 

I glance around the shop.  The line is practically out the door with tourists ordering coffee.  Continuing to watch the huge bodyguard I make my way through the crowd and over to the counter.  There’s only one person working the counter and she’s hustling trying to get all of her drink orders out.  She turns, hot cup of coffee in hand and hands it to a tall good looking brown eyed man who is smiling at her.  She hands him his coffee, takes the tip that he offers, stuffs it inside of her bra and smiles at him until he has exited the coffee shop. 

She turns to look my way and I throw a huge smile at her.  One thing I can say about the locals is that they are very friendly people—Nosy but friendly.  It isn’t like living in Florida.  There’s more of a homey feeling on the island.  The people are so much easier to get to know. 

Smiling I greet her with less enthusiasm than the guy who just left after tipping her fifty bucks for a cup of coffee.  Hi Zwena, I say, in an even tone.

She smiles.  This smile is more genuine than the one that she gave to the man with the huge tip.  Hey Ocean, are you getting the usual today?

Yes ma’am.  And a little extra if you don’t mind, I say with a wink.  She knows exactly what I mean.  The first thing that I did when I was able to start wandering around by myself was to gain allies.  It’s always nice to have friends.  Zwena’s father owns the coffee shop but he’s hardly ever here.  She’s twenty six years old and has never ventured outside of the island and doesn’t really want to.  Her mocha colored skin is flawless.  Her eyes are dark and her brown hair, like mine is always up in a ponytail.  That was how we bonded in the early weeks.  Hair talk—both of us ranting about how daunting the task of grooming ourselves was. 

Now I go into the coffee shop at least twice a week and she knows exactly what I want before I have a chance to order.  And she also knows what I need when I tell her that I need a little extra on the side. 

I watch her preparing my coffee while continuing to watch the men through my compact mirror.  They’re standing across the street from the shop in dark suits trying to look inconspicuous but it isn’t working.  They both stand out like sore thumbs.  They’re two of the biggest men I’ve ever seen.  Both of them are somewhere around six feet eleven with nothing but muscle on their huge frames. 

Zwena hands me my cup and smiles.  I’ll see you next week?

I return her smile.  Same time same place, I say as I skip towards the back of the shop and out of the back door.  I jog for two blocks making sure that if Xavier’s men catch on and come looking for me I’ll already be out of their sights before they get to the back of the shop.  I’ve done this enough now to where I don’t even have to think about where I’m going.  I’ve got the area mapped out in my head pretty good. 

I’m ducking in and out of alley ways periodically looking over my shoulder hoping that the two body guards haven’t searched the coffee shop to find that little old me isn’t there.  I’m doing my best not to look as if I’m running from the authority’s as I reduce my speed from a full on jog to a fast paced walk.

When I get to the meeting spot I look around just to be sure that I’ve ditched my security detail.  Sure enough I’m alone.  I stand waiting for Caden to show up thinking about Xavier and how this will end for us.  The man runs an empire and he still finds time to show me that he cares for me.  How could I turn my back on that? 

I rub a hand over my face and allow the sunshine to wash over me.  We couldn’t be in a more beautiful place.  The island even smelled different than Miami.  Miami was filled with smog while Barbados smelled of fresh air.  Well at least the areas that the tourists and those with money see.

I look around patiently when I should be sweating bullets.  I’m deceiving the most powerful men on the island.  And in a way I’m deceiving my superiors as well.  Everyone’s looking for answers and I have none to give.  I won’t exactly be lying when I say that I don’t have any new information because I have none.  The guys conduct business in whispered tones when I’m around.  And even if I did have valuable information, at this point I’m not really sure that I’d give the information to my superiors. 

I feel betrayed by the chief and everyone who knew exactly what we were going in looking for.  Xavier treated me more like I was a valuable team player than my own team had.  At this point there’s zero chance that I’d give my chief anything on Xavier.  I’m not giving up on the force but I’m not quite ready to give up on Xavier either.  Not saying I’m going rogue, just that I’m working outside of the lines until I figure out where I want to be.

I’m standing around waiting for Caden to show.  I have no cell phone, no way of contacting him at all.  I look down at my watch and see that he’s about five minutes late but I decide to stay put and wait. 

I slipped past your security detail.  They're going crazy looking for you.

I turn to see Caden standing behind me.  I immediately smile at him.  The kinship I feel towards him is undeniable.  He is my family while we're in Barbados.  I’m glad he’s here with me holding me down.  I wouldn’t have been able to handle the stress if I were here all alone.  I wanted to give him a hug.  For a while there I didn’t know whether he had survived the shootout.  It wasn’t until after I’d completely healed and was able to venture around the island that Caden had made contact with me.  Seeing his face was one of the happiest moments of my life.   

They're big but they aren't very smart.  We probably have about twenty minutes before I have to show my face to keep them from calling in reinforcements.

He smiled and ran his fingers through his brown hair.  You're looking good.  You know you gave us all a scare.

I pause before answering him and study his face.  He’s just as cute as ever.  But he’s changed both physically and mentally.  I can see the changes in his face and body language.  But he isn’t the only one who’s changed.  This case has changed us all, some for the worse.  He’s clean shaven and his hair is cut a lot shorter than usual.  Instead of comfortable jeans he’s wearing a gray suit, black tie and a pair of expensive loafers. 

Xavier wasn't going to let me die Caden.  I had the best doctors taking care of me night and day, I say, eyes locking in on him. 

How's it going with you and Noelle, Caden asks calmly, quietly?

I didn’t care to stand around discussing Noelle.  My eyes narrowed just at her name being brought up.  It's not, I answered simply.

She's going to be punished for what she did when this is over so just give her a break for now.

He was asking too much of me.  I was adjusting as well as could be expected but forgiving Noelle was out of the damn question.  I almost died but you want me to hug it out with her?

I'm just saying that we all know that Noelle was never really up for this line of work.

Now he’s making excuses for that dimwit and it’s making me crazy but I keep calm.  I have a limited attention span and talking about Noelle bores me.

Okay, okay I'm done.  We'll keep all conversations about Noelle to a minimum.

How about we just not talk about her at all, I said, with a smirk.  Where are Armando and my father?  I haven’t seen either one of them.  And to be quite honest I don’t think that I’m ready to face either man.  Armando knows me better than I know myself.  He’d know what I’m feeling for Xavier immediately upon looking into my eyes.  And my father, well we have too much to discuss to meet when we’re rushed for time. 

They're still here.  They both refuse to leave Barbados without you.  They're at headquarters. 

I looked up and concentrated on the eyes that were looking back at me.  What exactly are we doing here Caden?

He glanced down at his hands knowing that I wouldn’t be pleased with his answer.  They want his contacts.  He sells more weapons than he does women so they are making that our main priority, he said quite seriously. 

My breath gets caught sharply in my throat and I feel dizzy from the thought of the life that Ariana is being forced to live.  While I'm trying to obtain his contacts Ariana is going to continue getting raped and drugged?  Sounds like a great plan to me, I said sarcastically. 

You can't move her Ocean.  I'm sorry.

No I can't move her.  I can only sit back and watch as she's raped repeatedly by Hamza.

I have someone who wants to meet you.

Who?

This is agent Shields.

I turn to see a huge man standing behind me.  I took two steps back to put some room between us. 

He held his hand out but I didn't take it.  Hello agent Rose.

I looked from one man to the other confused.  Don't you mean detective? 

Agent shields smiled at me before he let the cat out of the bag.  No.  The paperwork has already gone through.  You now belong to the FBI, agent.  He held out a badge.  This is yours.  Of course you can’t take it back to Jimenez’s place with you but I wanted you to see it.  I wanted you to see what you were working for.  What your hard work has earned you.

My gaze drew back to settle on agent Shields face.  I looked into his blue eyes.  So I'm supposed to say thank you now?  I looked at him with suspicion.  I let them get away back in Miami and the FBI recruits me for that?"

Caden and Agent Shields stood silently looking at me. 

No, I'm supposed to say thank you.  You broke ground on a case that no one could even get close to.  We all make mistakes.  I like to think that I’m perfect at this job but the truth is that we all fuck up here and there, he said calmly.  You're doing a remarkable job.  I have to say that I'm not surprised.  Look who your father is.

I looked Agent Shields over.  He was huge.  He looked like a linebacker.  Standing somewhere around six feet eight, he had to be at least two hundred and seventy pounds.  But it was all toned.  His hair was dark brown cut low and his face was clean shaven.  He’s dressed exactly like everyone thinks a federal agent would.  His black suit is tailored to perfection.  His posture is straight.  I’m thinking former military.  Are you saying that I got promoted without even applying because of who my father is?

His eyes flitted across my features.  Of course not.  That detail didn't hurt but that is not why the FBI needs you.  You can only do so much as a team member on the local PD.  Your reach is so much longer as an FBI agent.

So you’re saying that my accomplishments in this case outweigh my fuck ups?

He chuckled and rubbed his hands together.  That’s exactly what I’m saying.  He stepped closer.  Anything new come up with Jimenez or his cronies?

They don’t trust me enough to discuss business in my presence.

I think you’re wrong about that.  Xavier Jimenez trusts you.  He paused and rubbed his bottom lip.  He refused to leave Miami without you.  He risked getting caught to get you the best medical care money could buy before flying you out of the country.

Another topic.  Ariana.  I'd like for Ariana to be sent back home to her family.

Agent Shields voice hardened.  We can't do that agent.  If we come rushing into Jimenez’s and take the girl, we’ll have to arrest them on kidnapping charges and that isn’t enough.

I smile at agent Shields, a smile that doesn't reach my eyes.  I don't need any more friends.  I'm having one hell of a day agent Shields.  I’m living in a house with a former cop who ratted me out and four men who don’t trust me so they’re watching me like a hawk twenty-four hours a day and you say that you can do nothing on your part to help.

Ignoring my complaints, he says, Well special agent Rose it's been a pleasure meeting you.  I'm head back to DC.  Agent Weaver here will be in touch.  He turned to walk away but paused.  Your father and Detective Mendez are keeping their distance under my orders.  I just thought it would be easier to remain on point if you weren't meeting with your boyfriend and father.  Oh and Noelle, we want he returned to us alive agent.

How compassionate of you, agent Shields.

He smiles at me again.  Keep up the good work.

I return the smile and watch as he walks away. 

Ass hole, I say as soon as he’s out of earshot. 

He’s just doing his job Ocean.  We’re all just doing our jobs.  Remember that, Caden said, looking directly at me. 

I grin and look Caden up and down.  Wise crack?  Funny.  You’re telling me to remember which side I’m really working on and the nice agent asked me specifically to keep Noelle alive.

He frowns a bit then shrugs but his voice is low and serious.  He asked you to keep her alive because he had a feeling that you being so close to her would cause you to lose your temper and do something that could get you in a lot of trouble.

She deserves to die for what she did, I said, not bothering to keep my voice down!

Caden’s face flooded with incredulity.  If anyone deserves to die, it’s Jimenez, Hamza and Octavio.  And if Jenson is now working with them to get these girls he deserves to die too.  But Noelle is just stupid.  She doesn’t deserve a death sentence, just to lose her job.

I’m here in Barbados with Xavier when I should be in Miami with Armando.  I really want to kick her ass for this.

"Are you mad because of her betrayal or mad because you’re still confused about your feelings for Xavier and being here with him alone makes it hard to fight those feelings?

Are you a shrink now Caden?  The choice to forgive her is mine and mine alone and so is choosing not to forgive her," I said, under my breath. 

I’m your personal shrink Ocean, if you need me to be, he said, without a hint of humor.

How is Armando holding up?

There was an uncomfortable pause. 

His voice was just above a whisper.  He’s worried about you.  Other than that he’s good.

And my, father?

Your father is great.  I already love working with him.  He sure knows his shit.

Yeah evidently he’s been doing this for a long, long time.

Yeah he has.  I think that when you get back to Miami your mom should have a long talk with you and your sisters about your father and why he left.

I push my sunglasses up on my nose and take a deep breath.  Are you saying that mom knew who he was and why he left?

"Your mother knew who she was getting involved with when she met your dad.  But in her defense it has to be hard to tell your kids that their dad