Ashley's Bend (40 page)

“How could you do this, Ashley? What the hell is wrong with you? You know it isn’t true!”

“I finally found a guy who I could actually see myself being with, and you rip him away from me by having him arrested?”

“I thought you were my best friend? I thought you were like a sister to me? Please, Ashley, I am begging you! Stop this insane accusation!”

I forced myself to stop thinking about all the words she threw at me as the tears were forcefully falling from my eyes. They were already red and swollen from nearly twenty four hours of relentless crying. Being forced to hurt people I loved, made me angry. I indignantly wiped the tears off of my cheeks as I tried to sit up in the bed. The heavy weight that constantly pulled down on me made it difficult, but after a few attempts, I finally made my way to a seated position. I placed my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands as I once again had to try to stop the tears that were in constant supply. I would be shocked if my body was not severely dehydrated from the loss of liquid that gushed constantly from my eyes.

There was a soft knock on my bedroom door, and I turned around to see Kelly standing in my doorway. I couldn’t look her in the eye and tell her the truth. I couldn’t tell her why I lied and that the men we loved were in jail because I was trying to protect them all from a sadistic son-of-a-bitch who had threatened to kill them if I didn’t. I turned back around to look out the window in my room and watched as life passed by outside, but inside my life and heart were in a standstill.

“Ashley, can we talk?” Kelly asked softly, and I could hear her trying to hold in her sniffles.

“Why would you want to talk to me?” I remarked as unaffected as I could make my voice sound.

I felt the other side of the bed dip as Kelly sat down, the creaking of the frame and springs the only sound in the room to be heard other than our breathing. We sat there with our backs facing each other for several silent moments before I felt the bed dip even more and her hand clamped over mine.

“Ashley, whatever it is you are going through, you don’t have to go through it alone. I saw how you looked at Dominic, and I know for a fact you are in love with him and I know you didn’t do it on purpose just to hurt him and Knox. Something else is going on.”

My lip quivered as I fought harder than I ever had in my life to hold my emotions in. Kelly’s safety was just as important to me as Dominic and Knox’s was, so I had to do everything I could to keep the charade going.

“Nothing is going on, Kelly. I did what I did to teach guys like Dominic and Knox a lesson that they cannot just play with women’s emotions and then dump them. Now they know how it feels,” I lied.

“That is bullshit and you know it, Ashley. There is something you aren’t telling me, and I swear to God I will find out what it is. Even though I am pissed off beyond all reason at you right now, I still love you, and I am not going to let you destroy your life and mine because you are in some sort of trouble and won’t let anyone help you.”

Kelly got up from the bed and walked over to the door to my bedroom, but turned around before she exited.

“I love you, Ashley. Just...just remember that,” and then she left. Before I even had a chance to start crying all over again, my phone chirped from the table next to my bed. With a tentative hand, I picked it up and swiped the screen to see the text awaiting me.

Asher: Good girl.

What??

My head snapped up, and I looked out of my bedroom window. I couldn’t see his actual face due to the glare of the sun, but I knew it was Asher staring back at me. We both stared for what seemed like a million seconds, neither one of us willing to back down before he finally shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away. I picked up the vase from the table next to my bed and threw it against the wall. I watched as the each shattered piece of glass fell to the floor as if it were my own heart breaking before my eyes.

It was misery in the purest form. I felt like screaming at the top of my lungs until my voice gave out, and I could no longer speak so that I wouldn’t have to continue to say words that hurt the people I held close to me. It all felt like a sick dream.

How could this happen to me?

The nightmare was so torturous that I could barely stand it. Would I ever heal from it?

The pungent staleness of the courtroom was the first thing I noticed as Russell led me to the bench where I would sit and wait to hear my bond. The second thing I saw was Knox on the other side of the room wearing the same bright orange state issued jumpsuit and shackles on his hands and feet. His head was bowed as he sat and stared at the floor. Anger rose up again not only for me, but for a man who had been with me through thick and thin only to have to fall with me as well.

Victoria was sat a few rows behind Knox, and I was grateful for her support. I knew she was the one who would post our bail for us and that she had to be here, but I was still thankful all the same. She had helped me out so much over the years opening numerous clubs and finally settling in Chicago with us after a jealous ex-boyfriend threatened to harm her in Reno.

I took small, tentative steps toward the front of the courtroom, mostly due to the limited motion of my legs from the shackles, but also at the nervousness I felt about the situation. The sound of the chains echoed through the starkly silent courtroom with each step and Knox lifted his head to look at where I was coming down the aisle. He gave me a curt nod before he clasped his hands together and began to twiddle his thumbs back and forth, fighting the same nervousness that I was feeling.

What if we were denied bail? What if I never got to find out the reasons why Ashley lied, and it landed Knox and me both in jail? All of the questions revolved in my brain as I finally reached the front of the room and sat on the hard cold bench of wood. Even though the wood was cold and hard, it was still softer than the bed back at my cell, and I welcomed the comforting change.

Toby made his way into the courtroom and took a seat at the table in front of me before glancing back to give me a reassuring look and motioned for Knox to join me on the bench.

“All rise for the Honorable Judge Hudson,” the bailiff called out into the room and everyone made their way to a standing position. The judge adorned in the standard black robe made his way behind his bench.

“You may be seated,” his raspy voice called out to the room.

“Mr. Michaels and Mr. Tanner you are being charged with operating a business under false pretenses and prostitution. The prosecutor has recommended that you remain incarcerated. Mr. Johnson what do you have to say on behalf of your clients?”

Toby stood to address the judge, and all I could think about was how the prosecutor wanted Knox and me to remain in jail. None of this made sense. Prostitution charges, even though they were completely untrue on our part, was not a serious enough offense to not allow bail and to keep someone locked up. My mind began to wonder about the entire situation in general and how all the pieces didn’t really add up as Toby plead our case to the judge.

“My clients have not committed violent crimes, your Honor. In fact, they haven’t committed any crimes at all, and you will see that after the investigation. They are not flight risks and are upstanding citizens with merely a traffic violation or two between them that certainly doesn’t constitute the continuance of their incarceration.”

“Duly noted, Mr. Johnson. Under the circumstances, I must say that I agree with you and am posting bail at one hundred thousand per defendant. The Celtic Knot is to remain closed pending the investigation and trial. Dismissed,” the judge said as he slammed the gavel down onto the bench. The sound echoed through the silence of the courtroom, and I exhaled a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I turned around to look back at Victoria, and she nodded in understanding before she slung her purse over her shoulder and ran in search of where to make the payment to post our bail.

I hadn’t talked to Knox since we were taken away in handcuffs the night before. He hadn’t said anything to me, only sat next to me as his leg bounced up and down in a rapid, nervous speed.

“You ok?” I asked him. He continued to bounce his leg as he rubbed at the cuffs on his wrists.

“I just don’t understand, Nic. Why would she do this to us? It was completely unexpected and out of character for Ashley. Something doesn’t add up. Call it intuition if you want, but I don’t think she did it on purpose.”

I sat silent next to my friend for several moments before I opened my mouth to speak to him. I tried to hide the emotions in my voice as much as possible.

“Well, regardless of why she did it, she still did. Maybe if she was honest with us about what is or was going on, we could have stopped this. Instead, I had to make the biggest mistake of my life by falling in love with a woman...her. Fuck, why was I so stupid?” I gritted out.

“Nic, don’t beat yourself up over this, I don’t think Ashley did this because she wanted to hurt us.”

“Well, you know what, Knox? She fucking did. She hurt, gutted, and left me feeling void all the way down into my bones. She has ripped me in fucking two. I...fuck...I don’t know.” I said as I leaned down and rested my forehead on my fists. My heart ached with so much pent up anger and frustration, but most of all, it hurt so much I felt like I was trying to explode from the inside out. Ashley had turned me inside out so that my most vulnerable thing was exposed, and at the first chance she got she drove a stake right into it.

“I think we should try to find out why she did this, Nic. We cannot leave it up to the police to investigate. Something about the cops on the case has me feeling guarded. Especially Russell. I have this vibe that he is out to get us.”

I couldn’t have agreed with him more. Russell’s attitude, actions and demeanor all told me that he couldn’t wait to lock us up and throw away the key. There was seriously something fucked up happening, and I would make it my mission to find out just what.

Russell smugly walked over and stood over where Knox and I remained seated. Looming over us with authority, he looked down on us with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Time to go boys,” he said with a shit eating grin. Why it pleased him so much to think he had authority over us, I would never understand. When this is all over, and I would finally be able to find out what the fuck was going on, I would make sure that asshole lost his job for his involvement in the situation. I had no doubt in my mind that he was.

“Wait!” Victoria’s voice echoed off the walls in the courtroom as she came running down the aisle towards us.

“Uncuff them, officer, they have posted bail,” she said sternly as she waved two yellow pieces of paper under his nose. Russell let out a frustrated harrumph as he reluctantly removed the handcuffs from mine and Knox’s wrists. Once all of our restraints were removed he gave us one last
go to hell
look before storming out of the courtroom.

“Thanks, Vic.” Knox said as he rubbed at the red marks that now marred his wrists.

“I’ve got a change of clothes for both of you in the car, let me go get them, and we can get out of here.