Manu's house was homey, with soft couches and wooden chairs and paintings in the living room of homes surrounded by vast fields. A grill was started and dishes of rice, beans, and meat were put out and regularly refilled.

The night before the challenge was to mingle in a crowd of strangers as Alanna but here it was a different matter. Many of the guests didn't speak English and while body language and her high school Spanish came in handy they only took her so far. The result was that as much as the language barrier freed her from needing to pretend to be a different person it also limited her socializing.

Despite the obstacle she felt welcomed by several of the guests, carrying conversations in a mixture of Spanish and English, a few of them wanting to practice their English. She may not have been able to find her next employer easily when she couldn't speak the language, but she appreciated the company and the break from work. Honestly, even the break from Rio.

Before he'd left he'd cupped her cheek softly. Still keeping up appearances, but, she figured, choosing not to hurry a kiss out of her. The guy who'd come to pick him up glanced between the two of them, his eyes finally settling on her as he waited for Rio. As Rio neared he murmured something, Rio replying quickly, but Beth couldn't hear either of them.

Beth refilled her plate three times and tried to enjoy the break and not think about how she was missing some kind of action that Rio was handling that right now. Perhaps it was for the best, she said, biting into her taco. When she imagined taking part of a deal, of a high stakes situation, after going through the thrill and high of making each step, she admitted to herself that she wasn't ready. Not yet. But if Rio offered she'd no doubt jump on the opportunity. That she couldn't imagine happening soon.

Ruby's words returned to her mind. Who knows – who knows what opportunities could come up. She should keep her eyes open. It was only Friday. She looked over the back yard where a few adults set up a couple of kiddie pools. Watching the kids jumping into it and laughing took her back to the time her own children would spend hours entertaining themselves like that. A lot of summer days passed by with her being mostly drenched, she remembered fondly.

A plastic ball made its way to her chair and she grabbed it and walked over to the playing children, throwing it at one of the kids who laughed and bounced it on the ground back to her. Quickly an impromptu soccer game broke out between a few kids and adults. Used to playing hostess, it was a treat not to have to worry about the other guests, to get caught up in a game. Not to have to think about clean up.

"You seem to hold your own," Antonio said when she took a break to rehydrate. "You've played soccer before?"

Beth thought about Sara. On her better days her kids and Ruby's kids played together and she'd gotten dragged in for more than a couple of games. "Not really. Do you play?"

"Don't have time now, but I guess." Antonio grabbed a few chips. "Some weekends."

Beth nodded and poured herself soda, glancing at the players on the grass. "Usually I'm the one who does the hosting. It's nice to be a guest." Maybe she could get her kids together for a game of soccer after she'd get back. At least the younger ones. They had that back yard that they really didn't take advantage of enough. Summers seemed to get shorter – although she certainly didn't feel that way on more hectic days. But it'd be a good idea to make use of it, particularly before it started getting cooler.

"Know what you mean. He's been keeping you away, eh? Haven't seen you at his place. How long have you known him?"

"A couple of months." Beth said, picking up that Antonio was talking about Rio, nodding at a smiling child. She'd rejoin them in a minute. She needed to catch her breathe. "That's probably why you haven't seen me around. You seem like you've known him longer." She sipped on her soda.

"We go a while back, but not like some of these guys. Most of the guys he's known they've worked for him for years. He doesn't take just anyone. He wants them to know what they're in for."

Beth sipped on her drink and raised her eyebrows.

"Hard work." He said.

"Sure. Sometimes it's hard for me to see him."

"Now you sound like my wife." He smiled. "He's a good boss. But even a good boss gotta balance his work life with what's really important."

Beth nodded. "Sure, but that's what happens when you're doing well, right? You stay busy. Sometimes I envy that."

Antonio shook his head. "Trust me. Sometimes I can't keep up."

Beth smiled as she looked away. "Is one of these little ones yours?" She asked, in the last minute changing her question slightly from "which," a common question at parent events.

"No. Got one on the way though."

"Congratulations." Her eyes brightened at him.

"What about you? Got kids?"

"No." She shook her head, her heart aching that she couldn't share it. "I'm the babysitter." She laughed.

Antonio raised his eyebrows for a moment as he poured himself a drink, offering the soda bottle to Beth. "Yeah, I'm doing that now too. Practicing," He said.

She wondered what her kids were doing now with their dad. She resisted taking out her phone and checking. She'll check once she leaves or she'd feel even more homesick.

"He's tough, isn't he? A good guy, but can he be tough." Antonio finished his drink and took hold of the bottle again.

"Oh, I know." Beth laughed.

"Gotta tell you, caught me by surprise that you two were a thing."

Probably because he looked at her and thought Rio could find someone his own age, Beth quickly thought.

"I mean he always dates smart, pretty women." Antonio quickly added.

Smooth save, Beth thought as she smiled graciously. How much did Rio tell him about his fake girlfriend? She had no idea, not beyond of the minimal details. Then again, what had Rio said – less is more.

"I guess I didn't think he had a type but you seem a little more focused than other women I've seen him with. Like you know who you are. Not that I've known all of them." He held his drink up before taking a sip. "He tends to date women who're good in business but usually they keep away from this kind of stuff. I'm surprised he's got you as involved like he does."

"I seem a little more focused, huh?" Beth asked, hearing something between the lines. Little did Antonio know – she herself wasn't sure sometimes who she was. She just learned how to make it seem like she did.

"OK, so I thought you were a little stuck up when I first met you. But you're cool."

Beth laughed. Fair enough, she heard Rio's words echo in her head. After all, it wasn't the first time she'd heard that comment.

That's what he had meant then, that Rio's girlfriends were usually more laid back. She could see it, that would complement him well seeing as in some ways he seemed as tightly wound up as her. Or at least his business self.

"I liked that you stayed back and helped after you were done."

"Hey, it got me invited to this party." Beth smiled and grabbed a few chips. She'd definitely need to get some seconds on food before leaving. "You should come play with us."

Antonio glanced at his phone. "I'm waiting on my wife. Gotta buy some baby stuff."

How could she camouflage her baby knowledge, she thought, holding back from blurting a few tidbits. Maybe she could say she learned it from being an aunt, she thought, when Antonio spoke again.

"I gotta tell you," he said, lowering his voice. "He and I look out for each other. I was with someone before and he knew she wasn't the right woman for me. Now he usually doesn't talk about the women he's with. He keeps most of it to himself. But with some of these women, when you ask him about it, he gets this smile. He gets it when he talks about you. You know he got it bad when he gets that smile."

She hardly believed Rio did a whole lot of smiling when it came to her, not after what had happened lately but regardless nothing seemed to stop her from grinning widely as she heard it. Sure, Antonio was teasing her, as she was sure Rio had brought him up to speed and he was just playing along, but she was tickled at his comment all the same. It felt good that she wasn't the only one who was kinda enjoying this. She'd felt a bit of a thrill talking about it when she spoke with Ruby this morning. It was probably similar kick for Rio when he told Antonio about the ploy they had going on. Pretend games could be fun – in theory – she thought as she brushed away an errant memory.

One soccer game later, she decided it was time for her to head out. She wanted to check in with her kids and Annie and take a minute for herself. After thanking the hosts and getting her things she returned to the back yard to say goodbye to a few kids like she'd promised.

"Rio!" A kid bounced off the moment he spotted the tall, lean man making his way into the back yard. Beth headed with Javier, her ride, to the back gate, right in his direction, glimpsing Rio hug the boy.

"You leaving?" Rio asked as he nodded to the boy who ran back where he came from. Javier stepped aside, saying his goodbyes to one of the guests.

"Yeah, I need to catch up on some things." She said, a pang of something touching her chest that she wouldn't get to stay and spend a little time with him. Snap out of it, she chastised herself.

"I can give you a ride." He said and if it didn't pull her back in just a little bit.

"Rio," a couple of kids ran up to him, one holding on to his leg. Rio smiled warmly, ruffled the hair of one boy, hugging hum, and picked up the smaller one who wasted no time before hugging his neck.

"Come play with us!" He cried out.

"Hug me a little harder, chiquito, and I won't be able to do much of anything," Rio said, but hugged the boy closer.

"Sorry," The boy said and looked at Beth with a smile. Rio spoke in Spanish to the other boy and Beth couldn't take her eyes off him, couldn't stop the swelling of her heart at the image of how gentle he was, in a way she hadn't seen before. He'd seemed kind with his workers at the warehouse but this was a different kind of softness.

"That's OK, you just got here," Beth said, watching Javier move to another guest. "How'd it go?" She asked, not knowing what she was asking about exactly, but sure that Rio was handling business while she was at the warehouse. Of course she knew with company Rio couldn't go into details – if he would at all. Surprisingly she didn't only want to know how it went. She was also asking the question as a way of asking if he was OK.

Rio nodded, at least giving her the recognition if not the actual words. "I'll see you back at the yacht."

Beth nodded. "I didn't know that Antonio was one of the guests," she said and smiled at the boy who was playing with Rio's free hand, Rio occasionally tugging at him to the boy's delight. "Did he just get here?"

Rio shook his head. "He's not. He's just running some errands."

Oh. OK. So how did he think that she and Rio were – oh, he probably got him up to speed when they spoke earlier.

"He was in Detroit early this week, we made some plans for today. I had a lot going on this morning had only just enough time to tell him to pick you up." He smiled at the boy he was holding who smiled back. He looked back at Beth. "Why?"

"No, no reason," Beth said, more confused than before.

"Alanna, you coming?"

Beth faintly heard the call, still thinking about Rio's words.

"That's you," Rio smiled when Beth didn't move.

"Yeah. Yeah. Nice meeting you," Beth said to the two boys. The boy Rio was holding held his arms out to her. Beth smiled widely and hugged him. She pulled away, seeing her kids in the child's face, thinking again how lovely this break was.

"Soon to be you, man," Antonio said with a wink as he passed them. Rio smiled at him indulgently, before he seemed to do a double take of Antonio's meaning, and his expression cleared like something just clicked. He glanced at Beth, and in that moment she was absolutely sure he'd said nothing to Antonio about them.

"Yes, well, I'll see you later." Beth said, looking away, smiling at the boys one last time, the boy standing next to Rio waving at her.

The sun came out behind white clouds as she followed Javier to his car and the kids' voices mixed up with the wind. Antonio must've heard someone say something. Or she had to have mentioned to Antonio that she and Rio were together. But she hadn't, she thought as she played back her conversation with Antonio when he introduced himself. She'd just rolled with him. And Rio hadn't planned this, so he wouldn't have said anything to him before the trip. So what -

Please. What was she doing, thinking about this? She was being ridiculous. Someone must've mentioned something to Antonio at the party. Someone from Rio's yacht contacts must've been there, or knew someone. She shrugged her thoughts and made easy conversation with Javier as they drove back to the boat. More than anything else, she tried not to think of the way Rio looked at her right before she turned and walked away.

"Are you sure he didn't say anything? You're not just saying that but when I see you face to face you'll say something else?" Beth leaned back in her chair.

"No." Dean said resolutely. "Maybe I'm growing up. Maybe I learned that it's better not to hide things from you."

She wasn't quite in the mood, but still something about Dean's tone softened her. "If you talk to him today, tell me what happened. OK?"

"Sure. After I help Jane and him study."

Beth bit a "oh, you remembered comment," maybe the most painful choice she'd made all week, she thought cynically. They ended the call soon after that, the kids calling their dad.

After getting back to her room, speaking with Dean and her kids, taking a shower, she sat at her chair by the desk. Her ears half listened to the TV as she caught up on one of her mommy forum threads. Annie hadn't answered her call and it was a little hard for her to sit still. She set her phone down and closed her eyes.

The silence in her room thundered after being surrounded by people and activity. Dean was going to take the kids to the botanical gardens tomorrow and she could already picture them calling out to each other. Hopefully they'd remember to facetime her. She loved that place, particularly a secluded spot by a pond surrounded by greenery. It had been years since she'd been there. She shook her head at the realization.

It felt good to be the fun parent, she was sure. She closed her eyes, enjoying the silence. But in her call with Dean she'd reminded him him of a few tasks he said he'd do, ones she hoped he'd take care of between movies and adventurous outings, and to her surprise he'd remembered most and even got a few done. She'd even understood the difficulty of getting Kenny to talk with balancing three other kids. She had to give him a bit of credit, then – he seemed to be on top of some things. She opened her eyes. Thinking about giving him credit for anything right now was exhausting and that was exactly where she was going to fall asleep, right there in the stiff chair.

She looked out the window, watching families walking on a boat across the way. She'd looked forward taking her family sailing, maybe once the kids got a little older… There'd be so much more they could do once the kids got older.

She'd been able to calm her mind down after her Antonio's comment to Rio. She'd assumed Rio caught him up about her as Alanna but clearly he hadn't. Obviously Rio had been talking with him about a different woman and for whatever reason Antonio had assumed Rio had talked about her. Not to mention she'd played right along. That had to mean that when Rio had spoken to him about her he hadn't mentioned her name. Somehow that didn't surprise her.

So Rio had a thing for someone. Her heart stung a little as she acknowledged this. Made sense didn't it – just because she knew nearly nothing about him – apart from having some kind of family – didn't mean he didn't have a personal life. Though she had a hard time picturing him in a relationship. Did he ever talk long enough? She'd had that thought before but still she wondered. Then she recalled his hands on hers and wondered if that's how Rio kept himself and his partners busy and then she felt her cheeks warm as she took a gulp of cold water. Let's not think about that.

At least she could enjoy some relief that her slight disappointment in her realization about Rio smiling about someone, or whatever, quickly led to annoyance that she cared. She felt embarrassed that she had enjoyed what Antonio told her, even if it was taking joy in something that wasn't real. It felt better than this.

Her phone beeped and she glanced at it to see Annie's text. Beth responded, her thoughts leaving Rio behind, seeing dots move as Annie typed her fire-quick responses. She laughed at a text, appreciating her sister always kept her sense of humor, typing her response back, then waited for Annie to finish typing out her update.

It sounded like Annie and Gregg had gotten into it and it was about time for them to have it out. Beth had this to look forward to, if she and Dean called it quits, she thought. The kids would continue to pull them together. She smiled at Annie's latest text, started typing a reply back when she heard a knock on the door.

"It's open," she said, not turning her head until the door pushed inside.

"You gotta find out who's out here before you let people in." Rio sauntered in.

"I wasn't expecting anyone else." She quickly typed "brb" before putting her phone down on the desk.

"It don't matter," he said. He sounded more exasperated than irritated and though she didn't want to think that way she found it charming. Anyway, he was maybe right, but she saw it hard to live like that.

"Took yourself a lunch break, huh?" He surveyed her room.

She got up. "Yeah." She felt a little exposed to have him look her room over. Even on vacation she kept her hotel room tidy, had even been known for making the bed herself on a couple of rare occasions out of a force of habit.

When she'd gotten back from lunch she had wanted to sit back. Now she would've preferred to at least put some of her clothes away. It wouldn't have hurt to tidy a little if she knew he was stopping by. Perhaps locking her room was not such a bad idea.

"Even got a chance to enjoy the pool," His eyes rested on her body.

"The kiddie pool?" She laughed lightly. Ignoring his gazing was becoming an art form. "Antonio told you? I stayed back too, helped out with some boxes after my job was done." She said, hearing in her voice that she was trying to impress him.

"Cool." He glanced at her window and walked towards it. She stepped aside to give him space and he turned his body slightly to her, not taking advantage of the extra space, and a thought about old habits passed her mind as he passed her and stood by the window. People still paced on the boat docked across the yacht.

Beth walked closer and stood at the other side of the window, leaving space between them. "I've been watching kids walking there for the last ten minutes. Made me think. I was waiting for my kids to get older, so we could go scuba diving. Have you ever done it?"

"No." He looked from the passengers on the other boat to her. "You?"

She shook her head. "We talked about it, Dean and I. Then we had kids and we waited for them to get older."

"At the lake?"

She leaned against the wall. "Costa Rica. Guess it's looking like we could be going on separate trips." She'd even gotten brochures one day, a lifetime ago, and one evening they'd gone through them and started laughing about something and couldn't stop. Who knows what had caused it but it was a fond memory.

"Deal got pushed back," He pulled her out of her thoughts.

"What?" She pushed herself off the wall. "That's what you were doing this morning?"

"Yeah." He put his hands in his pockets. "Last minute change. It goes like that sometimes." He lifted his shoulders. "No biggie."

"It's the main job you came for." She said, not understanding how he could be so laid back about this.

"You keep paying attention," he said mockingly. "It's just postponed."

Did that mean-

He raised his chin. "About your friend. I'm not gonna be able to help her. Got instructions from higher ups. And you best stay away from her too."

She didn't miss the tension behind his last words. "What did she want?" She asked.

He closed his mouth.

She stepped closer. She wasn't going to back down this time. "Is this why the deal didn't go through? Because of her?"

Still he didn't answer. She resisted crossing her arms. "Why am I getting a feeling this a bigger deal than you're making it? Are you gonna be able to get this done?"

He squared his shoulders. "I gotta. But she wants me to make deals with people I can't do nothing with. Not without back up. And you best remember you work for me, no one else, if you want a shot back in, yeah?" He said again, a barely veined threat. "And before you ask, no, there's no way in hell that you're helping me with this."

"She'll tell everyone who I am." She stepped away from the window, her heart sinking in her stomach. "It'll destroy my family." She turned back to him.

He waved her words with his hands. "But you're just a good girl, you couldn't ever do something bad. Wasn't that the speech you gave me?"

The way he was speaking to her made her breathe thin. "I've done too much, you know that. This is my family-"

"I didn't make you steal my money." He rubbed his chin and lifted his hand up. "I got family too, but when I was arrested you didn't think about that, did you, darling?"

"How would I have known you had one?"

"Would it have made a difference?" He looked to the side then tilted his head down towards her.

She looked down.

"Yeah." He said.

"It would've mattered if I didn't think you were going to kill me." She spat out.

His eyebrows furrowed when his phone went off. He picked it up and started to speak quickly, in chipped words. After a minute he ended the call and pocketed his phone.

"If Karin blows my story," she tried to change gears. "I won't be able to work for you. If you brought me on this trip there's value in me working for you or I wouldn't be here."

He was worked up too, she could see in his stance, and she had no idea what his conversation had been about. She could see his expression harden. "Baby, this is no easy secret to keep. Turner already got his eyes on you. At least you won't have to worry about keeping it a secret no more."

"You don't understand."

"Nah, I don't get the luxury of hiding."

As she did, she heard his unsaid statement. At least, she had so far. Hiding behind a safe title as a housewife, who had a one time affair with a stranger who happened to commit crime on a regular basis

She looked away. She'd have to take it a step at a time, as she'd told herself for the past several months, as she'd always told herself. As she hasn't stopped telling herself during the past couple of days, it seemed. But if Rio wasn't going to help her, if he wasn't going to help Karin, what was she going to do?

"Look, I gotta leave. I woulda wanted this to work out, yeah?"

Her chest constricted a little and she realized that was the closest he was going to say I'm sorry. It wasn't easy for him, she imagined, particularly if he was telling the truth and it wasn't his decision. And because of the inopportune time that his original deal and Karin blew up at the same time.

"If this doesn't work," she asked, "It's going to come back to me right? That's what it'll look like to your higher ups?"

He didn't answer but the air cleared a little, in a way that turned her stomach over.

"Don't worry about that," he said and she knew she had every right to worry. He'd been holding that from her and she wasn't sure what that meant.

"Antonio's gonna call you with another job in twenty minutes." He said. "I gotta go play cleanup."

"Yeah," She crossed her arms and stared at the window.

"You may wanna change," he said blankly. "May get dirty."

"Yeah," she said again, leaning back against the wall, not making eye contact, staring at the figures crossing the deck. She felt Rio hang on a couple of seconds, felt him about to take a step back.

"Don't you sometimes," She said and from the corner of her eye saw him stop, felt irritated at herself for the comfort she felt that her words stopped him. "Think about what it would be like if you stopped? If you wouldn't feel like people are counting on you to make the right choice all the time?" Wasn't that her special power? To plan and plan. And here she was, still trying to figure things out.

"Yeah. And I know you're smart and you won't do something stupid."

"I'm not – I'm not talking about that," she said squinting at him, but easing back when he squinted right back at her, lowering her head slightly, before looking out the window again. "Sometimes I get tired. Of being smart. Just – I just mean in general," She lifted her palm before crossing her arms again. "Maybe it'd be easier when you don't need to have everyone counting on you. Don't need to worry that you can't take a wrong step. But then you can't stop. You don't know what it'd feel like if people you love won't count on you anymore. It keeps you going." She lifted her back off the wall. "You know whe-" She looked back at him, hitting her stride, easing into her monologue when her next words froze on her lips. He was just staring at her with a look that she couldn't make out.

"What?" She shook her head.

Dazed. That's what he looked like.

"What's that look for?" She searched his face.

Something passed between them and he shook his head and stepped closer to her. Air was running short in her lungs as his eyes stopped at her mouth.

"I didn't tell Antonio about us." He met her eyes.

She blinked. "What?"

"I didn't tell him you're my date," he said.

You mean, you're girlf- whatever, but a little tension was dispelled at his ill fitting comment. The way he said it, like her being his date was something ridiculous, bothered her more than it should've. What did she care what he thought?

"OK," she uncrossed her arms, shrugging. She'd figured as much.

"You tell him?" He asked.

"No."

He studied her like she was guilty of something.

"He probably heard something from one of the guests," Beth said, unsure why she felt like she was putting his mind at ease. "Everybody loves a good piece of gossip."

Big deal. Besides, and her irritation erupted- "What are you upset at me for? How was I supposed to know you didn't tell him?"

"I ain't upset. At that."

"At that." She said at the same time as him and there it was, a tiny hint of a smile. No, she didn't want that, she swatted the thought away, she didn't want that from him. "Were you even listening to me?"

His posture seemed to relax and tighten at the same time. He nodded, his eyes starting to travel lower from her eyes, stopped, then looking away. "Yeah," he looked back at her. "I was."

He wasn't quite there with her, she could tell, though she didn't really care what he was thinking about. If it was that instead of her he wished he'd brought whoever Antonio had- forget that. It irked her, that he had interrogated her about Antonio like she'd done something wrong, like she'd blown his secret. But what truly infuriated her was that he'd shut her out, told her to back off Karin, even though it would surely blow up in her face, even though it may well blow up in his face. Like she was a pebble he could all too easily cast away.

She wasn't going to back down though, she thought as she met his eyes, refusing to look down, only fidgeting her fingers slightly. She'd never back down. Something moved behind his eyes and she was so pissed that all she saw was the same stubborn expression mirror hers.

"I need to," he started.

"Leave," She said.

He stared at her blankly. Stubbornly.

And it was a moment before, a moment before she could see anything beyond his ire, that a knock broke the silence. Rio stepped away and walked out of the room, not before reminding her she had twenty minutes, shutting the door behind him. Beth didn't catch a glimpse of who was waiting for him. Guess the same rules didn't apply to him. Or maybe he knew who was there. If she'd ask she was sure he'd swiftly answer that he played by different rules.

She wasn't sure what it was, how she'd looked at him and it was like something had switched off while she was speaking. It had been something she said – but she didn't have time to dwell on it right now.

She was smart. He was right. But he should've known her better. She grabbed her phone and reached for her shoes. Whatever he needed to do was up to him but she wasn't going to wait around. She had needed to say what she had to to get Rio to back down but she couldn't stop. Because she did take responsibility. And that meant dealing with Karin herself.

She paused, sitting on her bed. Was she sure? Rio wouldn't forgive this. No, she shook her head. If she fixed this he'd sing a different tune. And anyway, she had no choice, she thought as she stood up.

This was family.

She made the rounds through the yacht, intent on tracking Karin down, thinking how she'd approach her. But as important was how she'd be able to track her down. It's not like she had her room number. Or her cellphone number for that matter. Beth had called a mutual friend and said she was trying to reach her. Needed some winning recipe. The friend didn't know, said she'd find out, and get back to her. But Beth wasn't going to waste time, texting a few other friends. It would be only a matter of time before Antonio would be looking for her.

She'd gone through her options as she searched of what she'd do when she found Karin. Plead. Barter, offer to help her some other way? Even though she still had no idea what business – or businesses – Karin was involved with. She'd figure it out.

You'd think on Saturday people would be glued to their phones, she thought, winding the corner of another floor, glancing at her phone that held no reply from any of the people she texted. For all she knew, Karin could very well not even be on the yacht.

"Alanna," A deep voice spoke up. Beth twirled on her toes, responding to the familiar voice.

"Hi there," she smiled.

"Can I help you? It looks like you're looking for something," Nathan said.

"I was supposed to find a friend here, Cara-" she realized she didn't know what last name Karin went by here. "A passenger."

Nathan nodded. "What's her last name?"

Beth made a face and sighed. "This will sound silly but I met her here. Voyage buddies you know," she put her hands on her hips. "I don't even remember her last name. She's hard to miss -" she said warmly, describing what Karin looked like, unsure how she kept her tone calm. "But of course, there are hundreds of passengers here."

Nathan smiled and she sucked her breathe for a moment as she waited to see if he'd buy it. "I'm joking. Only one Cara on this boat." Nathan tilted his head..

Filing that away to think about later, Beth continued. "We were going to meet on deck but I must've gotten it wrong. Didn't even get the chance to get her number." Beth made a show of taking out her phone. She slouched her shoulders a little dramatically.

Nathan nodded. "I saw her about an hour ago but I know she doesn't stay at the same place for long. Did you check her room?"

"Yes, she's not there. Maybe she's in the dining room."

"If I see her, I'll let you know."

Beth nodded gratefully. "Thanks." She shook her head like she couldn't believe the confusion. "Oh-" She held her finger to her forehead. "This is so foolish. I remember she's in 105, but I probably got it wrong. I was a little drunk when she told me," she shook her head. "Do you know how I could find out where she's staying?"

Nathan smiled at her. "For you? Sure." He pulled out his phone.

Had he just winked at her? She'd take it, as she tried to keep her body language relaxed, like she had all the time in the world to wait.

"It's 220." He said.

"Not even close," Beth laughed. "Thank you," she said.

"Anytime," Nathan slipped his phone in his pocket.

It was getting a bit closer to the time that Antonio was supposed to call her. She hurried to get to the second floor, opting for the stairs and walking down the hallway past a couple of guests, stopping in front of Karin's door.

"Please be in there," she murmured to herself.

The door opened.

"You're not Cara," a well dressed man with thinning brown hair said with a smile.

"Neither are you," Beth replied, almost breaking into a mad laugh, seeing that clock tick down behind her eyes. She glanced at the number at the door. No, she was at the right place. "I take it she's not here?"

"No, looking for her too?"

"I was hoping I'd find her here," Beth said, forcing her speech to slow down. "Do you know how I can reach her? I left my phone with a friend and now I can't find neither Cara or my friend."

"Hold on," the guy said and returned to his room, leaving Beth to hold the door open. Beth shut her eyes for a moment. She saw the guy disappear, then come back holding the phone. "Yeah, someone's here looking for you," he passed the phone to Beth.

"Thank you." Beth held the phone to her face. "Cara – it's Alanna."

"I'll be right there," Karin said quickly and ended the call.

"Oh- OK." Beth stumbled on her words. "Make it quick." She added, making eye contact with the guy who'd given her the phone, no doubt making him curious about what was going on.

"Five minutes." Karin said.

Beth had no idea where she'd come from, but five minutes later Karin was standing in front of her, her guest having been sent out to give them a moment to speak in private.

"I see that Rio talked with you." Karin clasped her hands together.

"Yes." Beth straightened her back. "He got instructions from his highers ups. I'm sorry."

"A shame," Karin said and sighed. "Not a choice I wanted to have. I'd hate for everyone to find out about you. But when it's you and your own, you don't back off." She tilted her head. Though Beth believed she didn't want to do it she had no doubt she got a little power trip off it. Strangely she could relate to something about that.

"I know." Beth said. "He told me to stay out of this. This could – end us. Our relationship and my job." Whatever tenuous thread she had to either one.

Karin considered her, put her hand on her hip. "Tell me something. Have you considered working for someone else?"

"What?" Beth's eyes widened.

"Mixing in work with pleasure, it can get messy." Karin nodded knowingly, like she'd been through the play herself. "Help me get this done and I can make this worth your while. You need money now right?"

Of course she did, but what would she be jumping into?

"We all need money," Beth said with little conviction.

Karin laughed. "Too proud to ask for your boyfriend for help?"

"I like to take care of my own business."

"I can respect that," Karin said, making a steeple with her hands.

"What is it that you do?" Beth turned her hands up.

Karin kicked her head back, laughing. "You'd find out. Nothing too bad," she looked to the side and Beth wasn't sure she believed her.

"You can hold your own. I can tell," her phone beeped but while Beth's eyes went to it she wasn't distracted by it. "I have to get a good sense of people. He's got a hold on you, I can see that. But between him and your kids, between him and your future, what are you going to choose?"

Well of course she'd choose her kids over Rio if that's what this came to. And if a deal was sweetened with some money – she still desperately needed some.

But… A touch of doubt clouded her excitement. Rio had told her to stay out of this in no uncertain terms. She was already walking a thin, thin line. Yet again, she'd also be going nowhere fast if nothing happened. Taking inventory, she knew Rio's deal was stuck, Karin was a step away from telling the world about her dealing with illicit affairs, possibly meaning it'd be something she couldn't protect Ruby and Annie and their kids from either. How could she help her family quickly, everyone in her family, if she wasn't doing everything she could to help them – including the occasional criminal task – just until she figured things out?

That was it. In fact, if she helped Karin it would not only be helping her and hers. It'd help Rio. He'd have to see it that way because she'd have to make this work. Maybe a few hours ago she didn't feel it but she was ready. She had to be ready.

Beth took a deep breathe. "What do you need me to do?"

A/N

Anony, thank you! Here you go.

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