The entire Neons club had shown up to the courthouse in their home uniforms. Travis was sitting up with Neptune’s billet family, and Harv was on the other side, both with squared, tense shoulders and locked jaws. Beside Harv was another man, in a dark tailored suit, much more relaxed.
“That must be the lawyer,” Gretchen whispered, reading his mind.
Josh and Gretchen stood near the back, taking the scene in once they had made it through security and been briefed on the rules. It had taken a full fifteen minutes to get through the detectors and wands. Apparently Gretchen had metal in her bra, and the wand had shrieked loudly. She had to let the female guard frisk her. Her face had made Josh laugh. Then he got frisked by a very large, very sweaty male guard and he stopped laughing.
It was a frigging circus.
Part of it was the activity around them. The craziness of a court in Las Vegas was not lost on him: women in skimpy clothing, people obviously coming down from a high, the sheer number of young men. The smell of cigarettes and sweat permeated the room, and he could not see Neptune in the defendant’s holding area. A few harried lawyers and officials were sorting papers at the front of the room, the judge looking as if he’d just swallowed a lemon.
“Lots of support,” she whispered. “Where do you want to sit?”
He ran a thumb over their joined hands, wishing he were anywhere else but there. Ric waved at him, gesturing to an empty spot. They made their way through the crowded room to the polished wood benches. Josh felt like he was on some sort of crime drama set, the way the dark wood and white plastered walls echoed the noise from the activity around them.
“Ric! How is your new baby?” Gretchen asked.
“She’s wonderful. We named her Evangeline. She’s almost a month old now,” he said, beaming. He pulled out his phone, and as Josh waved to Harv and Travis, Gretchen oohed over pictures of Ric’s newborn.
“Congrats, man,” Josh said and punched Ric’s shoulder.
“You next, bro,” Ric teased and wiggled his eyebrows at Gretchen.
Josh pretended to look shocked, but in reality, the statement had not made him silently freak out like it would have before.
Babies. Marriage. No longer an impossible thought for him as he looked at the woman beside him. She was a touchstone to a life he wanted. He cleared his throat as Gretchen laughed.
Several of the players waved and said hello to her as they settled to await Neptune’s turn. Everyone was on edge. Josh was hopeful 1that things would go well for Neptune and that they could take him out of here today.
They sat through a few arraignments—some of them quick and to the point, some more drawn out. Most were guilty pleas and repeat offenders, while some were fines and releases.
Groups of defendants were led out and the next group shuffled in. It was a conveyor belt of desperation and hardship. People brought low, people who hadn’t been able to figure life out.
Not what anyone here would have envisioned for Neptune.
Josh felt the intake of breath around him and knew Neptune was in the room. Everyone on the Neons bench was rigid as he sat with a bunch of other men, these ones chained in a line by their hands. He was wearing a gray jumpsuit, had a swollen black eye, and looked utterly exhausted.
“Shit,” Josh swore under his breath. Harv and the lawyer were deep in conversation, and he watched Neptune’s billet mother stand up, then get pulled down by her husband, her hands on her mouth. Felicia, who had been hiding with the team, let out a Lord Jesus, help in her unmistakable midwestern accent and stood as well. She spied Gretchen and scooted over to sit beside her, shooing Ric out of the way. Ric chuckled and moved over beside Josh.
“Honey, it is good to see you here,” Felicia said and squeezed Josh’s arm for good measure as she took Gretchen’s hand.
“Neptune seeing all y’all will lift him. Lord knows.”
Josh kept his eyes on Neptune, hoping the boy would look up and see everyone who was here for him. He looked utterly defeated, and Josh worried.
“Look up, dude. See us,” he breathed to himself. Harv, Travis, and the lawyer couldn’t see the defendant box easily from their spot at the front of the court.
When Neptune finally did look up, Josh got his attention.
Neptune’s eyes widened and he craned his neck, taking in the team. Then he looked back at Josh and tears started falling. His hands were restrained, but he lifted them in thanks. Josh swallowed, a lump in his throat. Some of the boys were quietly saying “Hey, Nep,” and saluting him. No talking to the people brought in for arraignment—that had been one of the rules barked at them, but they did it anyway.
“It’s okay,” Gretchen murmured in his ear. “He’ll be okay, Josh.”
Josh was gripping the back of the bench in front of him so hard his knuckles were white. He relaxed, and she put her hands on his, pulling one into her lap, her touch soothing.
Travis had finally come back toward the team, his face a thundercloud. He saw Josh, then spied Gretchen, and a small smile lit his face, cutting through the scowl. Josh put his arm around her again, and they all moved over to let him sit beside his wife.
“Well. I knew you’d be back,” he said simply.
“Tra-vis!” Felicia hissed and then giggled.
“Docket number 84754—Neptune Gilbert. Possession of a Schedule 2 drug without intent to sell,” droned the court bailiff, and Neptune was led to the front of the court. The lawyer wove his way out beside him.
“All right, let’s hear the plea,” the judge said.
“Not guilty, Your Honor,” the lawyer said.
“On what grounds?” the judge intoned, and tilted his head, as if studying Neptune.
“Your Honor, I would like to move that my client’s Fourth Amendment rights were breached and that law enforcement performed an illegal search. My client was not driving his own 1vehicle; it was borrowed from a friend. He was not speeding, and the officers would not tell him why he was pulled over.
Furthermore, he was not aware of the drugs in the vehicle. This also shows a lack of intent,” the lawyer rattled off, placing papers on the desk in front of him.
“Let me see those papers,” the judge said, beckoning to the bailiff to bring them up. He flipped through them quickly, and then he sighed and rubbed his eyes.
“Son, this wasn’t your car?”
“No, sir,” Neptune replied, his voice all but a hoarse whisper.
“Do we know whose car it was?” the judge asked.
“We do, Your Honor, and are working with law enforcement to find him. He has not been seen since my client’s arrest.”
The judge grunted and looked straight down at Neptune, who raised his head and looked back. Josh was proud of him for that.
He had nothing to be ashamed of. What this would do to his confidence long-term, he didn’t know.
You could hear a pin drop in the room.
“Son, you have a promising future ahead of you. May I suggest, in the future, you make better choices in who you associate with? I’m sure this experience has given you a good eyeful of what will happen if you do go down the road the officers thought you were already on.”
The judge was a condescending asshole, but he was also, from the sounds of it, giving Neptune the benefit of the doubt. Every single person in that room was holding their breath now.
“Charges dropped. See the front office for your personal effects, and you are free to go, young man,” he said and whacked the gavel once. The court bailiff handed a release package to the lawyer, and Neptune was deluged by his billet mom, her husband behind her, patting his shoulder once his restraints were removed.
The courtroom erupted in cheers, and Josh sagged in his seat, the stress evaporating. Gretchen was being hugged fiercely by Felicia. The noise forced the judge to bang his gavel.
“Out of here with that noise! I hate banging my damned gavel.”
They exited quickly, and stood at the front of the courthouse, talking quietly in groups. No one was leaving until they saw Neptune walk out those doors. The team bus was parked illegally alongside the curb, so Ric drove around the block a few times waiting for everyone to come outside.
Felicia and Travis joined them not long after, and finally, Neptune bounced down the steps with his billet mom and dad.
Josh put his arms around his friend and hugged him for all he was worth. The relief at seeing him was the best thing. They thumped each other on the back for good measure.
“You’re here for me,” Neptune said into his shoulder.
“Of course,” Josh replied and let him go. Neptune saw Gretchen and his eyes lit up. He reached down and hugged her, too, and she patted his back when he picked her up.
“I told you, man. She’d be back,” he said as he set her down.
“She’s the one you’re gonna leave baseball for. I know it.”
“I’d never ask him to do that,” Gretchen said and took Josh’s hand. His chest swelled. It was a simple thing for her to say, but the meaning behind it was huge. It meant she wanted to make it work, even if it meant he was on the road and not where she was.
For now.
“I see it. He loves you. Has since he met you. You’re the one.”
A big toothy grin spread across Neptune’s face, then he ambushed Josh for another hug.
“Means a lot, you being here,” he said, muffled.
The team surrounded him, and Josh stepped back to let them.
They saw Harv and made their way over to him.
“All good? Where’s the lawyer?”
“Gone already. Had to catch a plane, he said,” Harv replied.
Neptune looked exhausted, but his spirit had returned, the toothy grin a mile wide, his hands gesturing as he talked. Josh butted in and shook Neptune’s hand.
“Listen. I’m in town until tomorrow morning, and you need to get your shit together after all this. So, end of season, come see me in Dallas again, okay?” he said, and Neptune grinned widely and agreed. The rest of the team shook Josh’s hand, saying goodbye. It was all a blur, but it felt good.
“Joshua Malvern. You are bringing this young lady for dinner, you hear?” Felicia called over. He would prefer to spend the next twenty-four hours in bed with Gretchen, but you didn’t say no to Felicia.
“Do I have a choice?” he called back.
“Seven tonight,” she added, wagging a finger.
Harv put his hand on Neptune’s back. “Let’s get you home, son. A good meal and a good bed.”
Neptune waved as Harv and his billet family pulled him away.
The team left for the bus, and suddenly, the noise and crowd disappeared. They were alone in front of the courthouse. He pulled Gretchen in for a hug.
“Whatcha wanna do now?” he drawled. “My plane to Dallas doesn’t leave until eleven tomorrow. Other than dinner—”
Gretchen laughed and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she did. “Anything,” she said breathlessly as they started walking toward the parking lot.