by Hope Stone
“Hello?” I asked, groggily.
“Hey, it’s me. I’ve gotten myself into a little bit of trouble here. Look, I’ve only got one phone call, and they’re riding me pretty hard here. It’s not often one of us gets pinched like this. I’m sorry to ask Moves, but I need your help,” said a voice on the other end of the line, the connection of the call barely hanging on by a thread.
“I’ll get you out. We’re all family remember?” I reminded him, knowing quite well that there would be no way I’d leave him behind.
“I’m sorry, brother. I’m just a little over my head here. I don’t know what to do. I’m not going to last in prison man,” he said, and I could hear the fear in his voice, but I wasn’t going to let it come to that.
“Whatever is going on, I’m going to get to the bottom of it. Okay? I need you to hang tight. They’re not going to let you out of there until morning at least, so you stay strong okay. I’ll make sure you have a place to go once I get you out of that hell hole,” I said, and my words seemed to calm him down a bit.
“Thank you, Moves,” he said, hanging up the phone, and I could feel the reluctance through the line. I knew what it was like for him to be scared, especially because the police were always trying to ride our asses, and I could tell that he was far from innocent. I taught many of the men riding in the Outlaw Souls that we needed to cover our tracks, because the more we had the LPPD housing us, the harder it would be to go about living our normal lives. I had faith that everything was going to be fine, but I needed to keep my head on straight, take care of a little business first before I managed to head back to bed.
I’m no use to Chalupa right now because they won’t even let me post his bail this early. I hate leaving him in there, but there’s really nothing else I could do. I decided to head over to the small fridge in my dingy apartment, grab a beer out of the fridge, and head out back to give my bike a tune-up. I wonder what they did with yours, Chalupa. There’s no way we’re going to risk breaking it out if its been impounded. I thought, looking down at the hunk of metal before me, reminding myself that it was these bikes that bound us together for lives. We really were a family, and no amount of pain or grief was going to change that.
I wasn’t the same person after Padre died, and I struggled to keep my head above water sometimes, especially now that the police were hot on our trail. I sat under the moonlight, feeling the cool air of approaching dawn brush against my skin while I got to work. I wiped the sweat off my forehead, making sure everything was in pristine condition before heading back inside to sleep off the rest of my frustration. I tossed and turned on the creaky mattress, remembering how awful it felt the day Padre died. I hated that I couldn’t shake those feelings when they crept up inside of me, because he was the President, a father to us all, leading the Outlaw Souls to triumph.
I wasn’t high on the list, but I didn’t really care to be, because I enjoyed my position enforcing the rules, making sure everyone stayed in line, but we all just felt better when Padre was around. We had that increased sense of brotherhood amongst us all, and that was starting to dwindle in his absence. I was doing what I could to keep everyone in check, but we all had heavy hearts to lose one of our own. We marked our territory in La Playa, and it was the only place that ever felt like home to me. No matter how much trouble we got ourselves into, how many drug deals went wrong, or how much money we lost, we always had each other’s backs.
Padre would want me to make sure that I get Chalupa out of there before something bad happens. If they have any solid evidence against him, this is going to be one hell of a ride. I thought, wondering what he could’ve done that led the police to his tail, but I could’ve already guessed. I worried that with Chalupa locked up, there are going to be some members who are going to want to halt business until it's taken care of, but I’m not sure that many of them know what has happened yet. I thought that it was probably best I keep things under wraps until I know for sure where all of this is headed. I couldn’t fall back asleep, my eyes catching sight of the steady stream of sunlight filtering in through the patched window in my bedroom, while I tossed the covers aside, running my hand through my sweat-doused hair, ready to get Chalupa out of jail.
Next time, I hope you do a better job keeping things on the low, Chalupa, because I’m not sure how many more lies the LPPD is going to believe before they start hunting us down one by one.
Lacey
The day started out like normal, sitting at my desk going through an obscene amount of paperwork, holding the pen between my teeth while I scrambled to get everything done in a timely fashion. I’ve been a prosecuting attorney for the City of La Playa for such a long time that I sometimes forget how heavily involved I get in every case I take, and I’m certainly one that likes a full catalogue of solved cases rather than letting some slip through the cracks. Everyone in my life had always told em that I needed to let loose every once in a while, and that I shouldn’t let work consume my entire life, but the truth was if I wanted to continue being good at my job, I had no choice. It wasn’t often that the cases I took on were free of thrills, and there was usually something new to be discovered at every corner. We had a pretty good dynamic going in the office, and the criminals we prosecuted never usually got away with their crimes.
I sat at my desk, hearing a knock on my door from the ADA himself, slipping in with a cup of hot coffee in his hand, the steam rising up into his face.
“Hello, Lacey,” he said.
“Don’t you have anything better to do than slip in here to see what I’m up to, Richard?” I asked, and he smiled back at me, taking a seat comfortably in the chair in front of my desk, staring back at me while I continued to work.
“You’ve been here late every night, Lacey. You know, some of us manage to get all our work done and still head out there and try to put ourselves back on the market. You’re a catch, and it doesn’t make sense why you’re not out there dating right now,” he said, teasing me about my lack of relationship status even though he knew nothing was going to change.
“You and I both know that I’m already romantically involved with my job, and with all the time I spend backlogging cases, I really don’t have time to be dating anyone. Or would you rather I let my performance at work suffer for someone to take me out to dinner?” I asked, glaring at him.
“Now, I don’t think that it has to be one or the other. You are perfectly capable of handling them both, and Know it’s been a while since you’ve been out on a date, but you need it. Trust me, I see how frustrated you are everyday, how exhausted you are when you return to the office the next morning after a long night, and you need a break.”
“I don’t have time for a break, Richard,” I replied, running through a few files in the filing cabinet near my desk.
“Think about it, Lacey. What’s the point of doing all this great work if you don’t have someone to share your successes with? You’re a great prosecutor, and you deserve to have a little fun too is all. I want to set you up with someone I think you might like, and it may help take some of the edge off around here,” he said, and I knew he meant well, but a blind date really wasn’t in the cards for me with all the work I still had yet to get done.
“I don’t think so. Not something I’m interested in, Richard but I genuinely appreciate the effort,” I said.
“Suit yourself, Lacey, but the offer stands,” he replied, getting up to leave my office. I knew quite well that he wasn’t going to stop teasing me until I put myself out there again, but it was something I was willing to deal with because my heart was in my work. I couldn’t see myself coming home to someone, telling them about how work was, not being able to divulge any of the real details, only to pretend that this job is not absolutely exhausting. I love what I do, but I wasn’t ready to share that part of me with anyone, and frankly, I didn’t think that love would ever be something I indulged in. I just didn’t have the time for it.
I sighed, grabbing my lunch, bringing it back to eat
it at my desk while I continued going through cases. I thought a lot about what Richard said, but I didn’t have it in me to go out with this friend of his, especially because Richard knew absolutely nothing about what kind of men I was interested in. I decided it would be best to call up someone who genuinely understood me, and get everything off my chest. I called my best friend, Mona, hoping that she would be able to side with me on this one, because anyone that Richard would’ve picked for me to go on a date with would probably be just as self-obsessed as he was.
“Hey, Lacey! You’re still at the office, what could you possibly be calling me about?” she asked, pretending not to know that this was a regular thing we liked to do.
“It’s okay, there’s no one around. Richard is trying to set me up with someone, telling me that I needed to take a break every once in a while, and put myself back out on the market. Is he crazy? There’s no way any work would get done if I spent all my time running after men who had no idea what they wanted and would end up disappointing me anyway,” I said, rambling over the phone while she listened attentively before chiming in.
“Richard is right, Lacey. You really are married to your job. It wouldn’t hurt to let yourself go every once in a while, and you might even find that you feel a bit more refreshed when you return to work, instead of being so uptight all the time,” she said.
“Ouch,” I said, jokingly.
“I tell you these things because I love you, and I don’t want to see you crash and burn,” she replied.
“I feel like I’m crashing and burning all the time, Mona. You know that this job is hard, I’m constantly burned out, and let’s not forget that I originally wanted to be a defence attorney, but instead I ended up working for the government,” I said, wallowing in my sorrow, while she continued to try lifting me up.
“I know, Lacey. You have to remember that you’re incredible at your job, and I don’t think there’s anyone that can do what you can. That fire you have inside of you isn’t going anywhere, even if you took a break every once in a while,” she said, and it was the first time that I was starting to warm up to the idea.
“I’ll think about it,” I replied, realizing that she might have a point.
Is there really room for balance in a life like this, or am I just kidding myself?
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Hope Stone is a contemporary romance author who loves writing hot and steamy, but also emotion-filled stories with twists and turns that keep readers guessing. Hope’s books revolve around possessive alpha men who love protecting their sexy and sassy heroines.
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