CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Tank
I tug at the collar of my dress shirt as I stand outside the courthouse, surrounded by friends, family, and coworkers. There’s a part of me that doesn’t want to be here, but there’s also another part of me that knows I need to be here. I have to see justice be served. More than anything, I deserve to see justice served.
“You doing alright?” Blaze asks as she stands next to me, her hand on my arm.
Glancing down at her, I take in the dress she’s wearing. Conservative, not her normal wear, and she has her hair pulled back in a pile of curls on her head. She looks nothing, if not sophisticated. Beside her my family stands, and then the guys from the Moonshine Task Force.
“I’m good,” I clear my throat. “Want this over with so we can truly move forward.”
“It does feel like there’s a dark cloud hanging over us in the form of Brooks, doesn’t it?” she puts her arm around me, leaning into my chest.
“Yeah,” I answer truthfully. “It’s the unknown. I don’t want to ruin the kid’s life, but he also deserves to pay for what he did to me. I could have died, at the same time, I’m almost thankful because it brought us back together. I’m conflicted as hell. He’s lucky he didn’t kill someone.”
She nods her agreement as I see Holden ascending the stairs with Leighton on his arm. She looks pale, but that’s nothing unusual; her dark hair gives her the look of a modern-day Snow White every time I see her. “Thanks for coming,” I put my hand out for Holden to shake it, and then give Leighton a quick hug.
“I never apologized to you for what my brother did. I’m really sorry,” Leighton tucks a curl behind her ear. “He wasn’t ever taught better and didn’t care to learn, either. I hope he’ll still have some life left if they decide to let him out.”
“My wish isn’t for them to lock him up forever, it’s that he learns there are consequences to actions, and not all of those consequences involve paying off someone,” I shake my head, pissed off because that’s normally what the family does. “No disrespect meant to you.”
“None taken,” she smiles sadly. “All of us have to learn in our own ways.”
The state prosecutor comes over to our group, pulling myself and my family to the side. “This morning there was a meeting for a possible plea bargain and I refused to play ball. I’ve got this little bastard dead to rights traveling in excess of ninety-five miles an hour on a curvy backroad where the speed limit is thirty-five. I’m gonna nail his ass to the wall, but if you, as the injured party in the attempted vehicular manslaughter charge, want me to work with his lawyer I will. He’ll still go to jail for his reckless driving, felony reckless driving, and driving on a suspended license. You tell me what you want, Trevor,” she looks at me, her lips pursed.
To be honest, she scares me and I’d hate to face her in a court of law. I think she could probably take a man’s balls and pull them over his head if given the chance. I realize I can’t make it easy on Brooks, none of this was easy for me. I had to recover, had to prove my physical fitness to get my job back, and I’m the one having to deal with the sweaty palms every time we drive that stretch of road. I have my consequences just like he’s going to have his.
“No deal, let him get what’s coming to him.”
Everyone with me seems to breathe a sigh of relief as they hear what I say. I have to admit, I do too, but now all I want to do is get this whole situation over with.
* * *
The whole trial passes in a blur, I try not to pay attention too much. For me, the less I know, the better off I am. I have no recollection of the wreck, and if I can keep it that way, I think I’m better off. For the two hours we’re there, and while the prosecutor presents her case, I keep my gaze on Blaze, watch at points where her face pales, and then I see tears pool in her eyes. Only then do I glance up to see they’re showing pictures of my truck and pictures of me from what must have been the first day I was in the hospital. They turn my stomach and I decide to again focus my attention on the beautiful woman sitting next to me. On the other side of me, my mom grabs my other hand, holding on tightly.
At one point, Renegade leans forward from behind me, claps his hands on my shoulders and quietly tells me, “This fucker is going down for good.”
I know without a doubt he will, but I can’t let myself get fucked about it. It happened, and I’m moving on.
“Do you have any remorse for what you did, Mr. Strather? The man you hit is a respected officer, a member of the Moonshine Task Force, a boyfriend, a son, a brother, an uncle, and a loved friend to many of the people in this court room and in this entire community. Do you understand what you could’ve done?”
Only then do I let my eyes meet his. I want him to look at me as he says whatever it is he’s going to say.
He smiles, and it’s cocky as hell. “When it’s your time, it’s your time. Regardless of who or what causes it, ma’am, the good Lord chooses, not me and my lead foot.”
“Son of a bitch,” I gnash my teeth together, shaking my head. I have to take my arm out from behind Blaze and shake my momma’s hand out of mine. Anger courses through me like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Scooting forward, I put my elbows on my knees and stare straight ahead at this piece of shit. He’s going to talk about me and my time to die? He can damn well look at me while he does it.
Blaze scoots beside me, talking in my ear. “He’s young, babe, he doesn’t get it and look where he comes from. He doesn’t know any better.”
I’m trying like hell to remember she’s right. He’s a product of his environment, but it doesn’t make it right. I let out a deep breath and try to calm the adrenaline flowing through my body. Getting pissed won’t do any good to anyone. Finally I calm down and sit back against the bench again. My mom grabs my hand, quietly soothing me.
When the verdict comes in, I feel vindicated when they give him twenty-five years with the possibility of parole in fifteen. Chances are he’ll get out earlier because of overcrowding and good behavior, but it’s a lot more than a slap on the wrist.
We’re all getting up to leave when Leighton’s dad, Jefferson, walks over to our group. He singles her out, ignoring the rest of us. “I see you’re sittin’ with the enemy. You think I’m not watching you? You think I don’t know the things you’ve probably told these people, Leighton?”
She doesn’t back down, but I can see her shaking. “What are you gonna do? Beat me? Already did that.”
He steps closer to her. “If I find out you’ve betrayed your family, little girl, I’ll kill you.”
Holden picks that moment to step in between them, putting his body in front of hers, and it’s then that anyone who’s never seen him work figures out why we call him Havoc. He’s able to ruin someone with one punch, one well-placed word. “To get to her, you’re gonna have to get through me. Bring it on, I’ll rain down hell on you.”
Bailiffs rush over to separate everyone, and I grasp Holden around the waist. “C’mon, not here.”
And I know without a doubt the Moonshine Task Force isn’t done with the Strather family. I have a feeling we’re only just beginning. I glance at Whitney, our eyes meeting over the fray. If there’s one thing I do understand, it’s sometimes choosing family and love over the long arm of the law.