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Trinity
The next morning, Trinity got up at dawn, helped with Arabella, and then headed into the office. If she was going to go into the courthouse and ask to see her sister, she needed to be on top of her game. She was determined to offer Charity her services, and if her sister foolishly turned her away, then so be it.
She should have known that Beck would be at the office early, but finding her sitting behind her desk, really threw her off. “You’re here early,” Trinity said.
“Well, when you have no life, no hot boyfriend, and no one at home, that leaves lots of free time. I figured I’d get in early today and hopefully get far enough ahead in my mountain of work to poke around your life,” Beck teased.
“Ah—you want to know what happened at Bella’s school yesterday. Did I guess correctly?” she asked.
“I don’t want to seem nosey, but yes,” Beck said. “If you want to share.”
“I more than want to share,” Trinity said. “I need your help.”
“Sure,” Beck breathed. “Name it.”
“I need to go to the courthouse to see my sister. She’s being held there until her arraignment and I’ll need a buffer. I’m sure she won’t be very happy to see me now that I’m with Ace. She believes that I’ve stolen her life—Ace, and Arabella, and she wants them back now.”
“Wait, did your sister show up at Bella’s daycare yesterday?” Beck asked, not missing a beat.
“I wish I could tell you that you are wrong, but you’re pretty spot on. Charity showed up at Bella’s daycare demanding that they give her baby back to her. Luckily, Ace asked me to petition the court for full custody of Bella, under the grounds of abandonment. The judge ruled in Ace’s favor and the daycare center had the paperwork that I gave them on file. When the cops showed up, Ace could prove that he had full custody and well, my sister freaked out. She was taken into custody and now, she needs a lawyer.”
“And you’re going to offer to defend your sister, aren’t you?” Beck asked.
“You know me well,” Trinity said. “It’s one of the reasons I was hoping you’d be in early today. Yes, I’d like to offer to be her lawyer. She probably won’t take me up on my offer, but I have to try. She’s still Arabella’s mother and I need to be able to tell my niece that I at least tried to help my sister when she’s old enough to start asking questions.”
“You are one of the best people that I know, Trinity,” Beck said. “I will definitely go with you to the courthouse and be your buffer.”
“Things could get ugly,” Trinity warned. “My sister was on something and she was drinking. Ace seems to believe that she was living on the streets since her looser new boyfriend kicked her out a couple of weeks ago.”
“That sucks,” Beck said. “I almost feel bad for your sister.”
“Don’t,” Trinity ordered. “She feeds off of that kind of thing. The more you pity her, the more she uses that to her advantage. She’s vicious when she wants to be and if she sees an opening, she will sneak in and attack.”
“Well, she sounds lovely,” Beck teased. “How are you two even related? She sounds nothing like you.”
“I appreciate that, Beck,” Trinity said. “I wish everyone who knows Charity now could have known her when we were little. She was a good big sister for so many years, but then the shit hit the fan and she ended up taking off like everyone else in my life.”
“You know that Ace isn’t like everyone else, right?” Beck asked. “I mean, I’ve only known him for a short time, but from what I gather about him, he’s crazy about you. He’s also a good man and the way he fights for the people that he loves, well—I’d consider you a very lucky woman.”
“Don’t count me too lucky yet—you still haven’t had the pleasure of meeting my sister. How about you reserve judgment of how lucky I am until after you meet Charity?” Trinity asked.
“Deal,” Beck agreed. “When do we leave?” she asked.
“Now,” Trinity said. “She has an early morning arraignment and I want to meet with her first.”
“Let me just grab a few things and I’ll be ready to hit the road, boss lady,” Beck offered.
“Thanks, Beck,” Trinity breathed.
“It’s my job,” Beck said.
“No, this goes above and beyond your job description,” Trinity said. “This is something a friend would do for another friend.”
“Well, anytime,” Beck said. “That’s what friends are for.”
* * *
They got to the courthouse when it first opened and Trinity was hoping to get in quickly and get this part over with. She had a feeling that her sister wouldn’t be very happy to see her but she had to at least try.
