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19
Porsche sat at the bar waiting for Bugs to get the last of his monitoring equipment removed when her phone rang. While Porsche was relieved that Sassy would have to pay for what she did she feared Sydney would have to come to Cali and testify. But for now she had Bugs out of jail and he’d been granted full custody which meant once the final balance of his custodial interference charge was settled both he and Sydie Bean could stay in Montana.
Taking a quick shot from her glass of whiskey she answered the phone on the third ring, “Hey Topaz.”
“Girl! We sold out all three days of your fundraiser. Chief is beside himself he wants to know if you have everything ready for the show?”
Porsche’s body rushed with skin raising heat and a smile lit up her face before she twisted and regrouped.
“Shit. I totally forgot about that thing. What the hell am I going to do now? I’m stuck in California.”
“How are you stuck? There’s a fucking party going on here from Cream’s win. Bounty’s strutting around like a damn peacock about his baby kickin’ ass and takin’ names.”
“She did, she really did, but there’s still a few legal hang ups we can’t get past. I’m not sure when we can come home. I’m wasn’t planning on leaving until I know Bugs can come with me.”
“But Porsche you have to plan this thing and it’s like in ten days.”
Her mind splintered and tore through the middle. The same way it always did when she’d taken on a thousand projects and they slipped from side hustles to needing completion. How many times had she pulled up steps from the finish line. Why couldn’t she find a way to finish the dance she played in the real world. Then again, leaving before the music ended tended to be a go to for her at times. The transition created by the DJ to get the next girl on as she scooped her money from the stage and ran. But this time she couldn’t, this time she had more than one responsibility and both needed to come to an end point.
Turnabout Creek really needed a fire truck. The fact it took nearly a half hour for another town to make their way to the ranch meant not only were the Steels on their own, but the city too. When the gas station was bombed, it took out nearly half the block before a truck arrived to help the rest of the civilians who had little more than a bucket brigade.
Bugs needed her. When he came from the judge’s chambers and rushed to her she could feel the tension and reset in him as he held her tighter and tighter. The man practically fell apart in her arms, as she held him up. This wasn’t a make out session, this was post scene recovery. When a lover had been pushed to the edge and adrenaline spiked. Light burns from ropes and deep indents from restraints needing tending. She did this for him in the middle of the hallway as Cream explained all that had happened to Mrs. Hanover.
Porsche had never been held so long in her life and it changed her. Stronger than any of Doc’s drugs or maybe because of them, she was able to see clearer than ever before. Be the support Bugs needed in this moment and the serotonin boost she received was higher than any yet to be bottled.
“Topaz, I have to talk to Bugs and see what I can do.”
“What you can do? Has he claimed you? Because he has no say in what the hell you do. Shit Onyx barely has a say in my choices. Porsche, I know you like him, but don’t lose yourself in a man.”
“When have I ever allowed myself to get lost in a man since Clive?” she sniped. “I haven’t. I’ve been guarded and afraid and he makes me feel safe, Topaz.”
“But does he make you feel like you?” she questioned. “I understand wanting to be there for your man, but he isn’t your man yet. He’s a guy you’re fucking and has as much claim to you as Ax, Brick or any other man around here.”
Porsche rocked the shot glass between her fingers and Pix, the woman working the bar came over with a bottle, but Porsche waved her off. “I have a play list drawn up based on the men’s music, the lineup, everything. Maybe you could try and set it up for me?”
“Absolutely not, Porsche. This is your thing. We’re having to cover your shifts already, we’re not going to start teaching the men anymore moves or spending our off time making sure they understand it’s more than getting naked next to a pole. Get your ass on the next plane and get it together.” Topaz disconnected the call leaving Porsche to wave Pix back over and soon fire burned down her throat.
Wandering toward the back of the clubhouse where church was probably held she slipped in the room, trying to stay out of the way of the video conference call going on.
“There are a lot of technicalities I’ve seen you skirt during this matter Ms. Castle,” Judge Yang said as she sat in her chambers in the upper corner of the screen. “You slide along a razor’s thin edge almost forcing me to have you brought up on charges. While I appreciate the greater good argument being brought forth and in many ways, I agree, if I allow this precedent there could be repercussions beyond this case.”
“Maybe there should be,” Cream challenged. “How many children are lost in the system? How many are used as pawns between adults because instead of seeing them as someone they are tasked with protecting they see them as property to be used in a manner they see fit? Sassy Everett used Sydney as a bridge for what she saw as a failing marriage. My client has a job lined up in Montana that would allow him the ability to not only support his daughter, but be home every night with her. He has medical and therapeutic specialist who have already seen progress in Sydney’s recovery. She testified it will be a long one and switching therapists at this time would restart the trauma this child has already expressed by having to repeat the process.”
In the lower corner Doc was listening and Porsche reviewed all those on the call. Hollywood, Hack, the DA, Judge and three others she didn’t recognize.
“Every person in Montana who has been helping the minor child is willing to travel to California to testify if the case against Mrs. Everett goes to trial. On their own dime they will because we do not condone what had been done to her and our organization fights for those we encounter that have been abused. It’s the founding mission of the charter.”
“A motorcycle gang?” a woman with a pinched face said.
“Club, we are a motorcycle club with a support system across the country. Even now we are in California at a place provided by a charter out of LA,” she stated. “We can be found simply enough.”
“Ms. Castle,” Mr. Anderson said. “Can we go into a break out room and discuss off record?”
“I’ll allow it,” Judge Yang said and the screen flipped to only having Mr. Anderson on the screen.
“Annie,” he said as if he were familiar with the woman they all called Cream. “The system is fucked up, we know that, but my boss won’t let your man skate on a murder.”
“Who did he murder outside of a combat zone?” she questioned. “Better yet, the burden of proof—”
