by Jayne Blue
Judge Martin cocked his head and stared at Addie over those glasses. I didn’t take it as a positive sign.
“While that’s certainly intriguing,” the judge said, “that doesn’t answer the question of where Ms. McLain might go to sleep every night if I let her out. I’m also concerned about her safety, Ms. Moscowitz. This is becoming a very high-profile case. Would you speak to those points, please?”
“If I may, your honor,” Addie said. “My client has no criminal record. She’s never had so much as a parking ticket. And she does have a place to stay. We ask that you release my client into the custody of Mr. and Mrs. Reed and Margaret Burnett. I haven’t had a chance to secure written statements from them. But the Burnetts are here in the courtroom if your honor would allow them permission to address the court on my client’s behalf.”
I spun my head around. I’d been so focused on Charlie and then the judge, I never even bothered to look at who else might be in the courtroom. Reed and Margie Burnett sat on the bench in the gallery just beside Charlie. His face had gone white and I guessed it was the first he’d heard about new developments in Dad’s case. God. I prayed he’d remembered to take his blood pressure medication this morning. I shot him a quick smile then locked eyes with Reed Burnett. They were the last two people I expected to come to court and vouch for me.
Then the courtroom door opened again and time stood still. Jack walked in looking tall, strong and commanding in his black Armani suit and red and gold tie. His step faltered when he saw me and I sat up straighter in my seat. The last words he’d spoken to me were filled with hurt and doubt. He had told me he wanted me out of his life. My heart skipped a beat as his eyes found mine. He smoothed his hair back with his hand. He worked the muscles of his jaw as he took a seat directly behind Reed.
I turned back around. Judge Martin observed this new spectacle with an arched brow. “Counsel,” he finally said. “Let’s take a ten-minute recess. I’d like to see both of you and the Burnetts in my chambers. Everybody else stay put. Let’s go.”
“All rise!” the bailiff shouted again as Judge Martin rose to his feet.
“What’s going on?” I whispered to Addie as soon as the judge left the bench.
“Just hang in there,” she said. “No promises, but this looks like a good sign.” She gathered her notebook and stepped around the defense table. “And Victoria. You’re still not allowed to say another word until I get back, okay? I know there are people in here who are dying to talk to you but I need you to keep your mouth shut tight for a little while longer. Just cross your fingers and let me go do my thing.”
I nodded and turned back in my seat so I was facing forward. Addie, the prosecutors and the Burnetts walked around the bench as the bailiff opened the door to the judge’s chambers for them then closed it behind them.
I felt Jack and Charlie’s eyes boring into me from behind and it took everything in me not to turn toward them. I heard shuffling and Charlie’s gruff voice. Jack whispered something to him. I finally did turn back, just in time to see Jack walk out of the courtroom with Charlie close behind.
Minutes seemed to tick by like hours but then finally, Addie walked back through the door with the Burnetts in tow. Her face was neutral but she shot me a quick wink as she took her seat next to me. I jutted my chin toward her in a questioning gesture. She leaned in and whispered at my ear, “We’re almost there.”
She would have said more but the bailiff came in ahead of the judge and we were on our feet again as he took the bench.
“All right,” Judge Martin looked at the prosecutor. “Let the record reflect that after a brief meeting in chambers, the prosecution and defense counsel have come to an agreement regarding bail. Mr. Ramsey, would you like to state the pertinents?”
The prosecutor rose. “Yes, your honor. If it pleases the court, we’ve agreed to bail release pending trial with the following stipulations. The defendant will be placed on house arrest at the residence of Reed and Margaret Burnett of Lake Bliss. Standard bail conditions apply as your honor sees fit and we agree to bail set at one million dollars.”
“Ms. Moscowitz?” The judge looked at Addie.
“Yes, your honor, we understand and accept.”
“Ms. McLain?” I rose to my feet as the judge addressed me. “I’m going to release you to the custody of the Burnetts. You’ll wear an ankle tether. That means you’re restricted to a one-mile radius of their home or you turn into a pumpkin. Do you understand that?”
“Yes, your honor,” I said. My blood roared in my ears. He was going to let me go. I was going to get out of here. I almost couldn’t breathe.
“Good enough,” he said. “Bail is hereby set at one million dollars.” When he banged the gavel I jumped. Judge Martin left the bench again and disappeared behind the door to his chambers.
“Things are going to move quick now,” Addie said. “The sheriff’s agreed to fast track your release so we can get you out of here before the press sees you. Change into the suit I brought you and they’ll take you down into the basement. You’re going home with the Burnetts and I’ll meet you there. We have a lot to talk about this afternoon.”
I nodded. “Why would they do that for me?” I asked. “I barely even know them. And, Addie, I don’t have that kind of money to post bond.”
Addie smiled and patted my hand. “You need one hundred thousand of it to post. Jack Manning is downstairs taking care of that.”
I was floored. A million different emotions flooded through me. Relief was chief among them but I was angry too. I wasn’t sure if I was okay with Jack riding in on a white horse after everything that had happened between us. But then the sheriff came forward and released the shackles on my wrists and ankles and I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
Chapter Eight
Jack
My heart clenched in my chest when I saw her in those chains. Everything became real. She had to be scared. She had to feel alone and abandoned but Tora stood with her back straight, her chin set in defiance as I walked into the courtroom. My last words to her came back to haunt me as I stared at her back while her lawyer fought to keep her from going to jail. It took everything in me not to leap over the gallery gate and punch the prosecutor in the jaw as he accused her of murder. Common sense and something else made me stop.
Charlie Brogan turned around and I saw the same look of barely contained rage in his eyes as I knew must be in my own. I patted him on the shoulder and gestured for him to leave with me as the judge called Reed and Margie into his chambers.
I think Charlie might have been a pirate in a former life. He was a thick, burly man who stood barely five foot seven but somehow seemed towering. He had a deep voice like sandpaper. His sausage-sized fingers twitched at his sides as he stood in front of me and I recognized it as nicotine withdrawal.
“I think it’s going to be okay,” I told him. “I just couldn’t sit in there another second and listen to that.”
Charlie nodded and coughed into his fist. “Me, neither. Thanks again for flying me out here. I don’t even wanna think about her facing any more of this by herself. I’m still trying to get my head wrapped around everything.”
I patted his shoulder. Charlie narrowed his eyes. He didn’t trust me and I couldn’t blame him for that. On the way in from the airport, I’d filled him in on the highlights of Tora’s life for the past few months and he took it pretty well considering. He had to process Tora’s predicament as well as what I’d told him about her father.
He ran a hand across his coarse, gray beard that hung down to the middle of his chest and shook his head. “She’s just like he is. Stubborn, bull-headed. Runnin’ toward trouble.”
“She was afraid you’d come out here and try to stop her if you knew what she was doing.”
“Yeah?” Charlie stared hard at me. “So why the hell didn’t you stop her?”
I held my hands up in surrender. I wasn’t about to get into a pissing contest, but I wasn’t goi
ng to let him bully me either. “She was already deep into this before I even met her. And, believe me, I did try. Like you said, she’s stubborn and bullheaded. How much luck have you had getting either her or her father off something they set their minds to?”
Charlie uttered a sound that was part growl, part moan and I took it as a concession of my point. I would have said more but Addie Moscowitz poked her round head out of the courtroom door and let out a high, sharp whistle between her teeth to get our attention.
She shot me a thumbs up. “Bail’s set. The cashier’s downstairs. Give us about an hour and we’ll all meet up at the Burnetts. You better go now so you can get out of the building ahead of us. I don’t want you seen with her, Mr. Manning. You got that?”
I nodded, my heart pounding a furious beat in my chest. It had worked!
“Hah!” Charlie uttered another wolfish sound and slapped me on the back, hard enough that it made me cough.
“Let’s do what the lady said,” I said. Screw it, I put my arm around Charlie as we headed toward the elevators together.
***
Tora
Charlie Brogan’s full-strength hug had the power and reach of a boa constrictor. He sobbed against my hair as I wrapped my arms around his neck and held my breath. My back nearly broke as he leaned against me but even that I would welcome. I’d held myself together for so long it felt good to just finally let go. I had a long way to go but being held in the arms of someone I knew would never turn their back on me filled my soul. He was everything to me. I wasn’t alone anymore.
“Button,” he said as he pulled away and squished my cheeks in his beefy hands. “What did you do?”
I put a hand over his and gently pulled it away so I could talk. “I did what I had to do. I did what no one else could. Not even you. So don’t ask me to say I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “I won’t. You’re too much like your dad for me to expect to get a different result. I just wish you would have told me.”
“I’m sorry I had to lie to you,” I said. We were in Reed Burnett’s basement surrounded by Jackson Manning’s journal pages and a stunning amount of additional documents produced by his former secretary. Addie sat on the opposite side of the room talking into her phone. Reed hung back by the stairwell and Margie Burnett brought down a heaping bowl of chicken soup and a plate of warm bread. It tasted like heaven and I said so.
“I get it,” Charlie ran a hand through the thick, corded strands of his beard. He’d chucked the suit for his more traditional worn denim and Harley t-shirt and it was good to see him looking more like himself. With me finally back in my own clothes, I guessed he thought the same when he looked at me.
Addie clicked her phone off and slapped her hand loud against her leg. “Hot damn!” she exclaimed. “Now we’re getting somewhere.” She tossed her phone on the coffee table as the rest of us stopped and waited for her news.
“That was my friend Jean at the Justice Project,” she said. “They’re sending someone over in the morning. They’re going to file an emergency petition in circuit court to try and get your dad released pending his motion for new trial. I can’t promise anything right now, but it looks good, Tora. It looks really good.”
I couldn’t believe it. I wouldn’t let myself believe it. Not until it was real. “Does he know?” I said.
Addie shook her head. “Not yet. One of their lawyers is in the process of making an appointment to see him first thing in the morning. She’s swinging by here in the morning to pick up the documents.”
Charlie harrumphed. “He won’t take the appointment. Not with someone he’s never heard of before.”
“I need to talk to him,” I said. “I’ve got to figure out a way to explain all of this.”
“There will be time for that later,” Addie said. “And you’re not going anywhere.” She pointed to her ankle to make me aware of my own again. I sported a thick, plastic ankle tether that tracked my movements via GPS. I wasn’t behind bars anymore, but I was very much a kind of prisoner. Margie’s chicken soup helped though.
“I’ll go,” Charlie said. “I’ll rent a car and drive down in the morning. It’s better if he hears this from someone he trusts or he’s going to think this whole thing is a scam. He’s had his hopes dashed more times than you can imagine over the last dozen years.”
“Sounds good,” Addie said. “Now, I’m afraid it’s been a hell of a morning and I still have a few other clients to deal with before I can call it a day. Are you set up with everything you need, Tora?”
I patted Uncle Charlie’s knee. “Yes. And thank you. All of you. I don’t know what I did to deserve all of your trust but I’m grateful.”
Reed Burnett still stood in the stairway. He hadn’t said much on the drive over or since we’d gotten to his house. I was a virtual stranger to him and his wife and they’d stuck their necks out for me anyway. They had let me in to their home and none of us knew for how long. We were going to have to find a way to reach some sort of detente. Reed Burnett was firmly Team Jack and I wasn’t sure where that left me.
Margie Burnett was just coming down the stairs again, this time with a plate of warm cookies. She was like some angel grandmother I’d never had. She called me dear and looked at me with kind eyes. She set the plate of cookies in front of me and slapped Charlie’s hand away when he tried to dive in first. He grumbled but sat back, eyeing Margie. I smiled. I sank my teeth into the first cookie.
“You’ve been through so much, dear,” Margie said. “I just regret that most of it came because of your associations with the Manning family. I’m not talking about Miranda and Seth, of course, but I wish you’d had a chance to get to know the real Jackson Manning. All of this isn’t a reflection of the kind of man he was.” She gestured to the documents spread out on the table.
“We’re going to have to agree to disagree on that last point for the time being,” Charlie said. He was firmly on Team Tora and my heart swelled even though he was on the verge of being a pain in the ass to my hosts.
“Thank you,” I said again, though my opinion tended toward Charlie’s. There was the Jackson Manning I learned about through Jack’s eyes, and then there was this other. The one who tore my life apart. But now, it was his circle of friends who were reaching out to help me. It made me uncomfortable but I put a mask in place to shield my thoughts from them.
Addie crossed the room and shook Charlie’s hand. “It was a pleasure to meet you. Take care of our girl and I’ll be in touch tomorrow morning. Tora, I’d like to get together sometime tomorrow afternoon. Now that we have more time, we need to start piecing together a real defense strategy.”
I nodded and rose. “Sounds good. And thank you again. From the bottom of my heart.”
Addie smiled and turned to leave. She shook Reed’s hand at the foot of the stairs. “Thank you again for opening your home. The prosecutor has agreed to keep the bail details secret, but if you start seeing anyone snooping around out there, let me know. We can arrange for some security.”
Reed nodded. “Don’t you worry. We’ll keep the vultures at bay.”
I gave Addie one last wave as she shot up the stairs.
“I better go get settled,” Charlie said. “And I’ve got to get in touch with your dad about tomorrow.”
“Of course you’re welcome to stay here, Mr. Brogan,” Margie said, offering him a chocolate chip cookie now that I’d taken one. They were moist and delicious and almost better than a straight shot of bourbon at taking the edge off the day’s events.
“Nah,” he said. “Some friends of mine have a place about five miles away. Better I should stay with them.”
I knew what he meant. Better Charlie should stay with his own kind and I envied him so much that it made my chest ache. I wanted to go with him. I wanted the shelter of the club that had nurtured and raised me. The Great Wolves M.C. had a far and wide reach and Charlie planned to crash with some local members. If he’d had his way, he would take me with him. One of th
e club members had offered to come forward and put up bail and housing for me. I learned later it had been Addie who put a stop to that plan. From now on, appearances were everything and it would do me no good to stay in the company of the club. Most of their nefarious reputation was blown out of proportion. That said, more than half of it had been earned.
“Will you call me after you talk to him?” I said, then it occurred to me I didn’t actually have a phone anymore.
Margie was uncannily good at picking up on unspoken tension. “Let me write down the number for you. We’re probably the last house in Lake Bliss with a land line.”
“Sit tight, Button,” Charlie said as he started up the stairs with Margie right behind. This was going to leave me alone with Reed and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. He regarded me with dark eyes I couldn’t read. I knew what his son thought of me, at least until a few weeks ago. I could only imagine what his impression was now. I hated feeling obligated toward anyone. I gave him a polite smile as Charlie disappeared from view.
There was commotion at the top of the stairs and an instant later, Jack bounded down the steps. He looked fresh and clean in a black t-shirt that stretched across his biceps and faded denim jeans.
Reed jerked his chin toward him. “I’ll get something to put all of that in.” He gestured toward the table and my heart tripped. “All of that” were the documents that could free my father.
“Thanks,” Jack said. “Can you give us a minute first?” His eyes locked with mine. In spite of everything, my body overrode my mind and I craved to feel his arms around me. But I kept myself rooted to my spot on the couch, still not knowing what to feel where he was concerned.
Reed’s eyes went from me to Jack as he worked out what to do in his own head. “Reed,” Margie called down. “I could use your help up here.” Reed sighed, turned and headed up the stairs, leaving Jack and I alone for the first time since the morning of my arrest.
