"I'm worried about him, bro. Don't you think you should," my look cut Kozik off mid-thought. He sighed and swatted Josie's leg, urging her to get lost. I shook my head, hoping to deter him from continuing his dumb thought. "He's going missing every other day and jumping at loud noises like a kid."
"Not my place. If he needs help, he can ask for it." I said before taking another drink. Kozik rolled his eyes. I knew what he was getting at. Before we went inside, Juice was like the little brother I never wanted. He was always cracking lame jokes and messing up the easiest jobs. Now, he was rarely around and seemed scared of his own shadow. Kozik continued to stare at me as I tapped my personal burner phone on my knee. The noise of our brothers filing into the clubhouse pulled my attention away from Kozik's constant worrying.
"Objection, hearsay." I glared at the prosecutor as I stood and made my case to the judge. My client smirked and folded his arms across his chest. If he wasn't paying me almost a thousand dollars an hour, his cockiness would annoy me. The judge sided with my objection and the prosecutor ended their cross examination of the witness. "The defense doesn't have any questions for this witness."
"What are you doing?" My client hissed, his confidence slipping. I shook my head, uninterested in debating my tactics. The prosecutor had done a horrible job in questioning who they claimed was their star witness. The state had been so sure of their case that they gave it to a rookie who was easily shaken by sustained objections. I learned as much on the first day of the trial and I was exploiting his weakness at every given opportunity. "If you lose this case…"
"Before we break for lunch, does either side of the aisle have any motions?" The judge asked, scanning between the prosecutor and I. I rose to my feet with a smile. I knew this judge and she knew me. She knew what was about to happen. "Ms. Ray?"
"Yes, your honor. The State has failed to even prove that my client was at the scene of the alleged robbery. Additionally, we have provided substantial evidence to show that the primary detective made critical errors in documentation and procedural errors in the photo line-up." I watched as the judge glanced at the prosecutor and decided to keep my argument brief.
"Are you asking for a mistrial on day three?" The prosecutor snapped, jumping to his feet. I turned my head quickly and smiled.
"Your honor," I turned back toward the judge. "I am requesting that the court dismiss all charges against my client."
"The court will consider your motion and return a decision after lunch. Everyone is due back at 1pm sharp." The gavel fell and my client stood quickly.
"What just happened?" He asked, following me out of the courtroom. I moved my bag to my left hand and jabbed a button to call the elevator. "Can she really just make everything go away?"
"No," I said with a smile. "I can make everything go away. The judge just has to agree with me."
"You're not just trying to rattle the prosecutor?" He asked, rushing to follow me into the elevator. I shook my head and glanced at my phone. My babysitter had called twice. I groaned, hoping that she was just being overly cautious and that my daughter's stomach ache hadn't gotten worse. "I'm going to grab a coffee. Do you want one?"
"No, thank you. I need to handle something. Make sure you're back in court by 12:45. You'll be going home a free man by 1:30." I said, stepping off the elevator and calling Diana. I weaved in and out of the crowd towards the front doors of the courthouse as I waited for her to answer. I heard my daughter giggling and breathed a sigh of relief. "Diana, you know I'm in court this morning. What's going on?"
"Sorry, I know. I know. There was a work van out front earlier and I just got nervous." I walked outside and took a deep breath of the cold, Seattle air. Diana had a habit of watching too many crime shows and getting paranoid. "They left and I talked to your neighbor. Apparently they had an issue with some pipes that burst while they were on vacation.
"Take a deep breath and maybe watch some kid shows with Emma. You're paranoid." I stepped up to the coffee cart and the barista handed me my usual. It felt nice to be seen as a regular. I smiled and handed the young girl a twenty, not bothering to wait around for change. I knew from speaking to her in the past that she was a young, single mother putting herself through college and working several jobs. I was lucky enough to graduate law school before getting pregnant with Emma but I could imagine how hard having a child would be in her situation. "How's Em feeling?"
"Oh. Yeah, she seems a lot better. She kept her breakfast down and I just made her some chicken soup for lunch. She's been playing and reading a couple books." Diana's report made me proud. Emma was four going on fourteen. She read at almost a first grade level and she was barely in preschool. I sipped my coffee before raising it towards my partner that was approaching me from across the street.
"Good. I'll be home early today. Please make sure she takes her medicine after she eats." I politely ended the call and stood as Don got closer. "Hey, how were opening arguments?"
"Not bad. The State is playing to the juror's emotions already. I wish we had just taken the plea though." I raised my brow, surprised to hear that from Don. "Don't give me that look. They've got physical evidence and a decent witness. I'm doing what I can but I'm not hoping for much."
"Sorry, Don. I hate domestic cases for that reason. Of course they have physical evidence. Our client lives in the house." I rolled my eyes and took another drink as he shook his head. "What?"
"It's not that. This psycho pissed on the chick's clothes." Don said, clearly disgusted. I took a deep breath, thankful for my robbery case. I did my best to avoid domestic violence cases. It wasn't just the ever present DNA on the scene. It hit too close to home. Don seemed to realize that the topic was getting under my skin. "Sorry. I think it might snow this weekend."
"Good. I hope it does." I loved the snow, even if Seattle's snow was wetter than I preferred. I did my undergrad in Buffalo, New York and loved the fluffy, airy snow that blanketed everything in the winter. Still, I would take snow however I could get it. "I've got to get back in there and get this dismissal."
Don waved as I tossed my empty coffee cup into the recycle bin and headed back towards the courthouse. I was looking forward to a short Friday. Between my caseload and Emma being sick, the last few weeks consisted of long days and longer nights. If everything went as planned, I was going to spend the evening on the couch watching old Disney movies and snacking on popcorn with my mini-me. I held my ID badge up to the deputy as I set my bag on the x-ray belt. He nodded and waved me forward.
"Heard the case is going your way," the deputy said as I waited for my bag. I shrugged. I had a decent working relationship with local law enforcement but I wasn't the biggest fan. I knew there were good cops. I had even met some great ones. Sadly, one terrible one soured my outlook on the profession as a whole. "Have a good afternoon, Ray."
"Thanks, Barry. You too." I smiled sincerely and answered my phone as I hurried towards the open elevator. After three unanswered hellos, I ended the call and checked the screen. It was an unknown number. A small part of me wondered if it was another client in a jam but I wasn't going to let it ruin my early Friday.
I sat on the loading dock and watched Juice as he paced back and forth. He was like a caged animal. Kozik was right but as much as I hated to watch Juice spiral, I hated the solution Kozik had in mind even more. I continued to watch him pace back and forth, just muttering to himself as we waited on Jax to show up with the truck. Part of me understood why Juice was so nervous. We were moving serious weight for the cartel and with serious weight came serious time. I didn't want to go back inside any more than anyone else did but I didn't focus on the what if. I kept my focus on the now. If I didn't, I couldn't keep everyone safe. I couldn't do my job. My eyes snapped towards the road as a passing car backfired. As quickly as I recognized the noise, I went back to watching Juice. He had ducked behind a car and looked like he was going to be sick.
"Damnit." I muttered. Kozik was right. Juice needed more help than we could give him. I had tried. I wasn't exactly a counselor but when I had tried to give him advice a couple weeks ago, he'd lied to my face and told me he was fine. He wasn't fine. He looked like he was going to throw up as soon as I pulled him into the gym to talk to him. He had no reason to be afraid of me. I pulled my burner out and stared at the keypad. I had done my best to keep my two worlds from colliding for the last six years. Going Nomad made it easier for a while but when my ma got sicker, I knew I needed to come off the road. It made a mess of my personal life but it put some more distance between it and the club. One phone call was going to start a whole landslide and bring the two crashing together.
"Hap! Truck is here." Juice called out, running towards the gate. I slid my phone back in my pocket, thankful for more time to think about the decision I knew I had to make.
"Mom, can we have ice cream?" Emma asked, swinging her legs back and forth as she sat on the kitchen stool. She loved to watch me cook and often watched me clean after dinner as well. I shook my head.
"No, honey. You just got over a tummy ache on Friday and sugary ice cream could make you sick again. How about a Popsicle?" I knew Popsicles also had sugar but the lack of dairy would probably help. Even four years into being a mother, I was far from an expert but I did my best and the logic seemed sound enough. Emma twisted her mouth and seemed to be weighing her options. She eventually nodded and hopped off the stool, rushing to the freezer. I held the Popsicle box within her reach and waited as she chose what flavor she wanted. My phone started to vibrate in my back pocket. "Go pick out a movie and keep the Popsicle off the couch, Em. I'll be there in a minute."
"Okay!" Emma rushed off with her banana Popsicle as I cradled my cellphone against my ear with my shoulder.
"Hello?" I noticed it was an unknown number before answering but had no way of knowing if it was the same number that had called me at the courthouse. I heard the television turn on in the living room as I closed the freezer.
"Hey, Anya," I closed my eyes and leaned against the counter. He hadn't called in over a week. It wasn't abnormal, necessarily but things between us had been rough recently. I chose not to say anything and waited for him to continue. "We need to talk, baby. It's about Juice."
"What?" I felt a stabbing pain in my chest as I waited for him to explain. The seconds of silence felt like hours.
"He's spiraling, Anya. I wouldn't be calling you about it if I didn't have to," I swallowed, relieved he wasn't hurt or worse. "When can you come down here?"
"Come down there? Happy, I haven't talked to him in years and I have an office full of cases that are coming up for trial. What about Emma?" I wasn't sure what he was thinking, asking me to come down to Charming. "You said you wouldn't do this."
"He tried to hang himself last night. I don't want you two down here and I know there's some shit that'll pop off but I don't know what else to do." The chest pain hit me again. Happy never rambled. In all the years I had known him, he only rambled once before. I knew he was nervous. I was equally as nervous that I would do more harm than good.
"Okay. Yeah, I'll um… I'll move some things around and be there tomorrow. Please," I took a deep breath and noticed my hands were shaking. "Please don't tell him I'm coming."
"Wouldn't know how if I did. I'll pick you up from the airport. Just let me know what time. Give Em a kiss for me," I heard the sadness in his voice and struggled to swallow the tears threatening to fall down my face. "Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me. I'll see you tomorrow Happy and I'll give Emma love for you." I ended the call quickly and tried to breathe as the song "Circle of Life" filled my house. Emma loved to listen to the songs in Lion King as loud as possible. Her enthusiastic singing made me smile and helped curb my anxiety. I hated to spring the trip on her but I didn't want to answer questions yet. I walked into the living room and pulled her to my side. "Daddy says he loves you, honey."
"I love him more," Emma said with a smile. She had adjusted well to Happy's absence but I knew seeing him tomorrow would disrupt that. I forced myself to stop worrying about Juice and Emma and Happy and settled in to watch my favorite Disney movie with my favorite person in the world. For the next hour and a half, nothing could touch us.
Note: This is my first story in years but I needed a creative outlet and I've seen some recent interactions with my older stories, so I decided to start something new. Any feedback is welcome and I thank you for it in advance.
