Happy Holidays to everyone!!! Here's a special present for everyone. I hope you enjoy it. I am currently writing the next chapter so you won't have to worry about such a long wait.

Thanks to everyone who had reviewed and encouraged me to continue. I appreciate it very much.

All familiar characters belong to J.E., however the story line and original characters are mine.

Looping Lester In

Isabella said to Carlos "I'll try and contact Estefania today and hopefully she would be free to talk and then I'll let you know what had been determined after I know something." He nodded his head.

She continued after that by adding "That it might take a few days for them to get an actual answer because first she'll have to talk to Estefania and if she agrees that she would like for us to come visit, then she would then have to speak to Papi and sell him on the idea. Like I said he rarely tells her no, but I think because of everything that is going on it will take her some time to convince him on the idea of us going there and it will depends on who goes. I think it he'll only agree if we can guarantee that Diego doesn't come."

She moved to get up off the couch and Carlos mirrored her movement thanking her for taking the time to talk to him and for telling him what was going on. She nodded her head and he walked her to the front door.

He went back into the living room and grabbed their water bottles and took them into to the kitchen to throw them away. While he was in there he grabbed the key fob he had used earlier and pressed another button that would stop the recording.

While he still had the device in his hand he moved back into the living room and sat down on the couch. He just sat there and started thinking about everything that Izzy had just told him plus everything else that they already knew about the whole situation.

After about an hour had gone by, Lester walked in the front door and saw Carlos was sitting on the couch. Lester seeing him there immediately started talking to him about his classes and what had happened to him during the day.

He was doing this as he was walking around the house doing different things so he didn't realize that Carlos wasn't responding to him or that he hadn't even paid him any attention.

Lester stop talking and stood still and looked over at Carlos, he noticed at that point that Carlos hadn't moved or acted like he had heard anything that Lester had said. He slowly walked over to the couch and stood in front of Carlos.

What he saw surprised him, Carlos was just sitting there staring out into space and it didn't seem like he'd heard anything that Lester had said. Lester laughed because for once Carlos hadn't been aware of his surroundings and he was curious what was going on.

Lester moved to the side of the couch so he would be out of the way if Carlos accidently tried to punch him once he touched him. So he leaned over and grabbed Carlos' shoulder.

Carlos reacted just like Lester thought when he jumped up ready to fight. Carlos looked around trying to figure out who was attacking him when he realized that it was only Lester, he started to yell at him for startling him but Lester interrupted him saying "Dude, I've been talking to you for about 15 minutes and you were just sitting there acting like you hadn't heard a word I said and you weren't responding to me and when I looked over at you, you were sitting there practically comatose. What the hell's wrong with you?"

Carlos shook his head shaking out the cobwebs and said "Man, you have no idea about the shit that I was just told in regards to what's going on."

Lester just looked at him waiting for him to continue.

So he did and started by saying "I saw Isabella in class today like normal only this time she got a text message that made her laugh and when I asked her about it she mentioned to me that there are some things that are going with on Estefania that have the potential to be bad. When I tried to press her for more information she told me that she really wasn't supposed to repeat anything that she had been told to anyone else but then she looked at me for a second and then said that she thought that maybe it would be beneficial to tell me because I might be able to help with the situation."

Carlos took a breath and said "So we came back here so that no one could overhear what she was about to tell me and then proceeded to tell me everything that is going on."

Lester interrupted him and said "How come she came here instead of you going to her house?"

Carlos looked at him and said "Because if Diego was home she didn't want him to hear her talking to me. The short version of what she told me is that Estefania is finally home from wherever she was but now Osvaldo has her on lock down and she isn't allowed to come back to school yet."

Lester looked at him like why the hell wasn't she allowed back to school.

Carlos understanding why since he was asking the same question and still wasn't entirely sure himself said "Isabella didn't know the exact reason but she has her theories, which she did share those with me. She also opened up a little bit more and explain to me what Osvaldo's relationship with Estefania is like and the things that she's had and has to go through."

He took a breath and looked at his watch and sighed then he said "Damn, it's been about an hour since she left. I guess I was so deep in my thoughts thinking about everything that we already know plus this new information that Isabella told me that I really wasn't aware of my surroundings for once."

He laughed and then continued "Towards the end of our conversation she came up with an idea and said she'd call when she had more information about that and then we'd figure out what the next steps would be."

Lester nodded his head but still looked a little lost about what was going on so Carlos said "I recoded our conversation so if you want to know exactly what was said and it would probably be easier to listen to it instead of me trying to explain everything to you. Also she isn't aware that I made the recording so unless she says it's OK to tell you, you can't let on that you know anything that we talked about."

Lester thinking Carlos was right said "OK, let's hear it."

Carlos got up and went into the spare room that held all of their recording equipment. He quickly thought that It was times like this that he was grateful that they had the foresight to have the house totally wired so that they could record and playback from any of the rooms by using a key fob.

He made sure the recording would start at the very beginning of their conversation and walked back into the living room and sat down, he picked up the key fob and pressed the play button.

Lester heard Carlos and Isabella's conversation start playing through the speakers and sat there listening to it.

After it was over Lester looked over at Carlos and said "That was some pretty crazy stuff. However that one thing that goes through my mind and has me thinking about after hearing all of that, is how this would have been a great opportunity to tell her everything that we plan to tell her but then I stop and think is it really the smartest thing to do? I mean if decided to tell her while we were there and she decided not to believe us and runs to Osvaldo or any of her bodyguards and tell them, we wouldn't have any time to get away. It would totally remove the 2 hour head start that we were hoping to have in order to get away."

Carlos nodded his head in agreeance and said "That was the biggest thing that I was working out in my head when you found me the way you did. I was trying to come up with the best way to handle the situation and what the best plan of action would be. The only idea that I could come up with and what would be the best for everyone involved is if we were allowed to go there that we would not tell her while we are there. We would need to somehow convince Osvaldo to trust us enough that he would be willing to let her to return to school with us. We'd have to find a way to let him know how serious that we would take her safety and that we would protect her at all costs, no matter what happens."

He stopped for a second but continued "Although one thing that we can absolutely count on no matter how much he tells us that he trusts us, he's still going to insist that her bodyguards escort her back here. Because we both know that based on what we know and have heard that's the key to everything is her safety. That seems to be the reason for everything he does, including killing."

He stopped at that point to see how Lester would react to the last part but when he didn't show any emotions Carlos continued "So on to the plan, like you said if we did it there we wouldn't have any protection and no way to get out. So once we got her back on campus we would have to figure out the best way to get her away from everyone and bring her back here."

Carlos said "Doing it here in the house would allow us to show her everything tell her everything that we know. She wouldn't be able to hide from the facts that we show her and then no matter what her response would be we could have a plane on standby ready to take off at a moment's notice."

Lester nodded his head in agreement and said "You're right, that is the better option. We'll need to speak to the Cmdr. and make sure that we coordinate with him in regards to what teams would need to get involved for a safest extraction possible and to make sure that when we determine when the best time is to make all of this happen that everyone is in place and ready."

Lester suddenly got very serious and looked Carlos straight in the eyes and said "You remember your promise to me right?"

He paused there so that Carlos would know how serious he was and then continued "You promised that no matter what her decision was or how this whole thing goes down that you will be on that plane and that you will leave with me and not risk your life to stay here."

Carlos just looked down and said solemnly "Yes I remember and I promise that I will be on that plane no matter what. I may not like it if she's not with me or if she ends up hates me but I'll go back with you."

Lester nodded his head and said "That's all I ask. I know it may not be what you want but if she decides to stay here, you have to let her. She's lived with him for far too long and as we've heard he's made her his life and made sure that she's had everything she could possibly want. I'm not sure at this point that we would be able to convince her how much of an evil man he is. It definitely won't be easy, no matter the evidence we have and show her."

Carlos nodded his head and quietly said "I know."

They continued talking for a few minutes longer on the subject and then decided that there really wasn't much more that they could plan out in regards to telling her and then getting home safely themselves until they had heard back from Izzy and knew for certain if they would be allowed to go to the Jimenez compound. Once that was determined then they would be able to lay out what their next steps would be. After that then they would need to know who to talk to and to work out the timelines and figure out how they would achieve everything that they needed to.

With them agreeing to wait on that they then decided to concentrate on the one thing that they knew would need to do if they were allowed to go see Estefania and that is how they were going to gain Osvaldo's trust enough that he would allow them to bring her back.

They knew that other than everything that they had to do with Estefania that convincing Osvaldo to trust them enough would be the hardest part of the mission.

They both sat there thinking that no matter what happens, for everyone's sake they hoped they would be strong enough to handle it and get everyone through it.

Isabella Talks to Estefania

After Isabella left Carlos' house she felt a little lighter and found it easier to breathe. Lately she's been feeling off balance and kind of like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders for a while.

She knew if someone asked her why she was feeling this way and when it had started, she would reply that she really didn't know but deep down inside she knew that she's felt this way ever since Essie left suddenly. Her leaving wasn't new but she had a feeling that this time it was different.

It only escalated and had gotten worse when Essie called her the other day and told her about there being issues going on that she couldn't or wouldn't talk about and that they were on their way home but she wasn't coming back to school right away.

Then today when she was in class and had gotten the message that Essie was home and what had happened and when Carlos questioned her, she thought that maybe if he knew the whole story that he possibly could help.

She knew Essie trusted him so she figured that she could too, so she explained everything to him and afterwards he had agreed to help her. She knew that the main reason that he did it was because of how he felt about Essie but was smart enough to know help is help.

She felt like celebrating now that she had someone that she could lean on.

When she finally got to her house and walked in she noticed that Diego's bedroom door was closed. Which really wasn't anything new but she wasn't sure if he was home until she heard him pretty much screaming at someone or something.

She wasn't really able to hear what he was saying but she knew just by the way he sounded and the tone he was using that whoever he was talking to was getting an earful. She was just glad it wasn't her. She's been on the other end of that before and she didn't like it.

One thing she was happy about was that he was too preoccupied to notice that she had come home and she wouldn't have to deal with him at that moment. She knew that if he saw her that he would start asking questions and for some reason she had never been able to lie to him.

Lately every time that she sees him all he can talk about is Essie and it's always the same thing, has she had heard from Essie and why do I think she left so suddenly. When she wasn't able to tell him anything and told him that she hadn't heard from her he would just get more and more aggravated. Whether it was at her or the situation she wasn't sure. He would just start yelling and screaming.

With those thoughts she quickly and quietly as she could made her way to her room.

She opened her door and shut it making sure to lock it. She walked over to her bed and sat down on it and grabbed her book bag so she could pull out her phone.

She was trying to decide what number she should call, should she use Essie's actual number or the one that she had called her from before?

She decided that since she didn't know who the other phone number belong to and wasn't sure if they were still around her, it would be easier to call her actual number and see what happens.

She pressed Estefania's number on her speed dial and waited, it just rang and then after about 5 rings it finally voice mail. That made Isabella stop and think and she realized that this was too important and that she needed to actually speak to her. So she decided not to leave a message and hung up.

Isabella figured that texting her would probably be the best and easiest way to connect with her and by doing this way it would allow Essie to call her whenever she wanted and by using whatever number she wanted.

She pulled up her text messages and found her messages with Essie and started a new text:

Isabella: Hey it's me, I need to speak to you about something can you call me when you get a chance.

She knew it would probably take a while to get a response but she wasn't really sure how long it would take, so in order to keep herself busy and her mind occupied she started doing some of her homework from her classes.

About 30 minutes into doing her homework she heard her phone beep indicating an incoming message, she looked at it and saw that Essie had finally responded.

She read the message:

Essie: Hey! I have a favor to ask. Please don't use this number anymore it's being monitored, I have a new number but I can only give it to you if you swear not to give it to anyone else.

Isabella wasn't sure what she meant by it being monitored and thought that was a bit strange, but as for giving out her new number if she gave it to her, she knew that she would never do anything to make Essie not trust her. She needed to make sure that Estefania understood that so she would still be able to continue to talk to her, after all she was her best friend.

She replied:

Isabella: That's crazy about it being monitored. However, you know that I would never give your number to anyone, I can promise you that. If you want I'll even promise that if you can call me I won't even save your number. I'll make sure I delete off my phone.

When Essie replied they started talking:

Essie: I trust you and when I call you, you can keep my number but please don't save it under my name. Are you somewhere private?

Isabella: Yes I'm in my room with the door shut. I know Diego is in his room but I locked my door so he can't come in.

Essie: Please don't tell him that you are talking to me, also by any chance do you know what he's doing?

Isabella: I'm not really sure but when I came in the house his door was shut and he was yelling and screaming at either someone or something.

Essie: OK thanks. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll see if I can call you.

Estefania came out of her room and stood at the top of the stairs and yelled down the stairs for her Papi, when he was at the bottom of the stairs she looked at him and said "Hey Papi, I was just texting with Isabella and she said Diego is yelling at someone in his room with the door closed. You might want to have them check my voice mail."

He nodded his head and started to turn away but she stopped him by saying "Izzy asked me if I could call her. I told if I did she couldn't give my number to anyone."

He said with a serious tone "Why does she want you to call her?" Estefania replied "I don't know, she just said she had something to talk to me about? Is it OK?"

He nodded his head and walked away.

She went back into her room, picked up her new phone and dialed Izzy's number.

Izzy picked it up and said with a question "Hello?" Essie said "Hey Izzy, it's me. What's up?"

Izzy sighed and said "It's so great to hear your voice but right now I have a question for you. It's not the original thing that I want to talk to about but the more I think about it I have to ask this and I need you to be honest with me." Essie said "OK and you know I'm always honest with you."

Izzy said "Does the trouble that you are having have anything to do with my brother?" Essie said "Oh Izzy, I wish you wouldn't have asked me that."

Izzy said "Why not?" Essie said "Because by you asking me that tells me that you already have an idea that it does."

Essie continued by saying "and I don't want to have to answer that question because if it does then I don't want you to feel that you are in some way responsible for his actions."

Izzy said "I understand so I will let it drop for now but you know that I had to try and ask. But anyway like I said that wasn't the real reason that I called, the real reason I wanted to talk to you is because I saw Carlos in class today and he was asking about you and that was right at the moment that you had just texted me. I knew you trusted him so I thought that maybe he could help you with whatever you are going through. So we went back to his house so we could talk in private and I just started talking to him about you and your life."

Essie was quiet for a few minutes processing what Izzy had just said and then replied "Izzy why would you tell him anything about my life here? You know how we try to protect our image."

Izzy said "I completely understand how your family is, but Essie he really likes you and right now is really missing you. He hated that you are being hidden away. As a matter of fact he's really the reason I'm calling. He asked that since you couldn't come here is there was any way that we would be able to come see you there? Do you think that it would be a possible for us to come see you?"

Essie started to panic and said "Who do you mean by us?" Izzy picked up on her panic and said "If we could come it would only be Carlos, Lester and I."

Essie let out the breath she'd been holding and at that point she simply said "I will have to talk to Papi about that. Right now he's not much of a conversationalist about what's going on and he is being REALLY strict with what I do. When I told him that you had a question to ask me he was really curious about what it was and I'm sure as soon as I get off the phone with you that I'll get the third degree regarding what you wanted."

She continued "I'm not sure how he'll react to you all wanting to come down and I can't make any promises but I will definitely try my hardest to get him to say yes because I would absolutely love to see you guys. I know one of the things he will be insistent on and I will have to promise him that you all understand that you can't tell anyone what you were doing or where you were going, you'll have to find a way to sneak away without anyone following."

Izzy said "I completely understand and I'm already working on that."

Essie said "Perfect, I'll talk to Papi and get back with you with what he says."

Izzy nodded her head knowing that was the best she was going to get so she simply replied "Sounds good, hopefully I'll be talking to you soon with some good news. Be safe and I miss you."

Essie said "I hope so and I miss you too." With that being said they both hung up.

Izzy was left wondering what exactly her brother had done to cause all this mess that was their life right now. She knew she could never get it out of Izzy but she thought maybe she could get it out of Diego without giving too much away.