CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

            LUCY HAD IGNORED ANY TEXTS AND CALLS SHE HAD RECEIVED FROM HER FRIENDS BECAUSE THERE WAS NO WAY SHE COULD FACE THEM. Not after the man that had tried to murder them had been knuckles deep inside of her a just few days ago. It was a secret she was going to take to the grave, they'd disown her if they'd found out.

She had come out of the bathroom in a daze, watching the drunk girl stumble inside before making a bee line back to the bar to see a smirking Juan. He slid another shot her way and she grabbed it without hesitation before downing it for some liquid courage if she had to be in a car with him after that.

Juan hadn't seem bothered in the slightest that she was going to bail, he had watched her with an amused grin on his face as he took in her develished state. Her cheeks were bright red and her hair was messy and he had shot her a wink when Rio pressed his hand on the small of her back and led her out of the bar.

Lucy could not believe what had happened.

The brunette was still half asleep when her phone rang for the fourth time that morning and as she blinked her eyes open she saw no caller ID. Groggily, she pressed the answer button with her finger and said nothing as she held the device to her ear.

"Lucy?" The desperation that rang in Annie's voice made her sit up in an instant. "Lucy? Are you there? Please tell me you can hear me?"

"Annie? What happened?" demanded Lucy, kicking off the covers and bending down to pull on a pair of jeans that laid scattered on the floor. She bumped her knee against her bedpost painfully and she clenched her eyes shut. "Where are you?"

"I'm in jail." she cried, sniffing on the other end of the line. "I can't get a hold of Beth. Please, please get me the hell out of here."

Lucy had her jeans on to her thighs before she sat back down on the bed with furrowed brows. Her mouth hung open as she moved her eyes around her messy bedroom. "What do you mean you're in jail?"

"I'm in jail. As in I got arrested and now i'm stuck here until someone bails me out. Look, I only have twenty more seconds on this call can you just please get me out. I can't be here."

"How much, Annie?"

It was quiet for a moment before she uttered, "Thousand dollars. I'll pay you back, I promise."

Jesus Christ.

"I'll be there in half an hour."

The call disconnected after that and the woman ran a hand over her face before letting herself fall backward onto her mattress.

Another thousand dollars taken from her escape plan and she wanted to smack her friend for whatever it was she had done to get herself arrested. Though, however pissed she might be she'd never let her rot in jail. Lucy pushed herself back up and pulled on the rest of her clothes before she headed into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Glancing in the mirror, she could almost see him standing behind her like he had done at the bar. Lucy took a deep inhale and blinked away the thoughts before grabbing an empty lotion bottle and taking out a thousand dollars.

It was nine in the morning when the brunette rushed down the stairs of her building and made her way towards her car.

The police station was about a fifteen minute drive from where she lived and she was shivering from the cold. The autumn air was brutal at this time of day and she wished she had pulled on a thicker coat to shield herself from it. The heater in her car did not work so she hid her hands in the sleeves of her sweater.

Lucy parked her Jeep in front of the station and got out, slamming the door shut behind her before stalking inside. God, she hoped she would not run into Agent Turner.

There sat an older gentleman at the front desk and she offered him a meek smile as she rested her elbows on the cold plastic of it.

"Hi, i'm here to bail out Annie Marks." she said, holding the cash within an envelope. "I got a call from her."

"Annie Marks," he grumbled with a nod as he began to type away on his computer as he searched the the woman's details. It took him a moment before he reached beside him to grab a form and slid it her way on the desk. "That'll be a thousand dollars today. If you could sign here, and here. An officer will escort her out in a moment."

Lucy's eyes scanned the paper before she put her signature down in the places she had been told to do. The woman slid the form back along with the money as she tapped her nails on the desk overlooking the station. It wasn't that busy yet and her eyes flickered to where Agent Turner's temporary office was but the door was closed.

"All is in order, ma'am." he nodded, and pressed a button beside him.

Lucy offered him another smile as she waited for Annie to come out. It took a few more minutes before she saw her short friend round the corner. Streaks of mascara running down her face as she flung herself into Lucy's arms.

"Thank god. I thought i'd never get out of that hell hole."

Lucy did not hesitate to wrap her arms around her and embraced her tightly. "Let's get you back home, yeah?"

"Literally no one answered their phones. I've been stuck there since yesterday afternoon." grumbled Annie as they made their way outside and into the cold. She was wearing nothing but her jeans and long sleeved top. "I had to sleep on the floor. It was like friggin' Oz in there."

"Who's with Sadie?" wondered Lucy as they got into her vehicle. 

"She's at a sleep over, thank God." sighed Annie, rubbing at her face as she got comfortable in her seat. 

"Care to tell me what the fuck happened?" asked Lucy as she turned in her seat to get a better look at her. "How on earth did you end up in jail."

"They found drugs in my locker at work."

"Drugs?" demanded Lucy. "Are you insane, Annie?"

"They weren't mine!" she short back as tears welled up in her eyes. "I swear they weren't mine. Boomer set me up. He planted them on me and the cops were already there when I showed up. Oh god. I'm so screwed. I'm gonna lose Sadie."

"Annie ..." 

"You know it's true." she cried and she wanted to tug her hair out from the stress this was going to bring her. "There is no judge in the world that would let me keep her after a felony drug charge."

"I'm gonna help you with this. We're going to figure it out." promised Lucy and she did, this was not going to take away her daughter from her. "We'll talk with the girls and we'll come up with a plan."

"This is really bad."

"Together, okay?" Lucy grabbed her hand in her own and squeezed. 

"Okay," sniffed Annie, nodding her head slowly as she squeezed her hand back. Annie wiped at her eyes again and blinked away the rest of her tears. "Thank you for bailing me out. I know we haven't spoken in a few days and I didn't know if you were going to answer."

"You know i'll always be there for you, right? Even if we have our differences."

"I know." muttered Annie. 

Lucy turned the key in the ignition and revved the engine to life before she pulled out of the parking space. "Do you want me to drive you home or do you want to go somewhere else?"

"Can I come with you? I don't really want to be alone right now."

"Of course," nodded Lucy. "anything you want."

"Thanks." The woman dropped her head against the headrest and glanced out the window. "So ... how's life been without us?"

Lucy's mind went to Rio straight away and she grimaced, hoping her reddened cheeks weren't giving her away. "Pretty uneventful to be honest. What about you? Do you still have gang friend on your asses?"

"Don't remind me." she rolled her eyes and let out a huff. "We found our 'rotten egg' as he said and now she's demanding ten grand each month to keep her mouth shut. That bitch is crazy! We tried scaring her but so far nothing seems to be working."

"Have you told him?"

"Are you crazy?" she shot her an incredulous look. "I mean ... maybe we should. He's going to kill her, though."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"We'll figure it out." shrugged Annie. "You want to hear something else that's kind of funny?" 

Lucy looked at her sideways for a moment as she stopped at a red light. Annie made a face and pulled a knee up to her chest to get more comfortable. She pressed on the heater and cursed when it didn't work.

"I may or may not have slept with Gregg."

Lucy almost caused an accident after that.

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