Short Track Lovin' ✅

Chapter 48: Court

Friday, July 21

Sarina glances at herself in the mirror, fixing her dress once again, before taking a deep breath. She hoped today went smooth as possible as she hated every second that she was spending there. She actually would be prefer to be anywhere else but right here at this moment.

"Are you okay?" She hears and glances over her shoulder, nodding her head.

"Thanks for coming again, Marcus," she thanks the crew chief with a smile. "It means a lot to have someone here." Marcus rubs her shoulders.

"I told you – I'm always here for you, whether at the track or not. Besides, he did poison one of my guys, as well." Sarina nods her head, remembering the story clearly. That wasn't a reminder she had wished to hear over and over by people as they recalled their own interactions. "I'm surprised that Chase didn't com-"

"He wanted to, but I told him not too. He can focus on practice. He doesn't need to be here to see what's said." She then takes another glance at herself in the mirror, before turning to him. "Alright, let's go."

The pair made their way down the hall, followed by entering the pair of big brown doors that revealed a court room. Continuing to take a couple deep breaths to keep herself calm, she makes her way to the front, taking her assigned seat behind the prosecutor. Marcus sits beside her, grabbing a hold of her hand, as she gives him a glance. She knew she had gotten lucky when Kyle had partnered them together.

Her eyes then focus forward as she watches her brother enter, surrounded by a pair of guards, and led to his location. She watches as the handcuffs are done, as he takes a glance towards her. She immediately looked away, not wanting to revisit every memory or thought she had. Her eyes then turn to the judge who entered, trying to see whether there was going to be any chance of sympathy, which she hoped was actually not the case.

"Judge Reynolds presiding," the clerk states as he stands before the judge's desk.

"Chris Dryer, correct?" Judge Reynolds questions and Chris nods his head yes. "I am going to read each change one by one. You are to state whether you're guilty or not." Sarina silently prayed to herself he just pled guilty to each charge, not wanting to have to deal with months of court. "On the charge of poisoning Joseph Sanjay, how do you plead?"

"That was the random crew member from Bristol," Sarina whispers as Marcus looks over confused.

"Guilty," Chris states, giving Sarina hope for the rest of the day. Maybe this was going to go smoothly.

"On the charge of poisoning Jake Lamont, how do you plead?" Judge Reynolds asks, catching Marcus' attention. He certainly had a personal vendetta over that one.

"Guilty." Marcus takes a careful deep breath, pleased with the outcome. He knew the fellow team members would be, as well.

"On the charge of poisoning Peter Ebbs, how do you plead?" Sarina and Marcus both knew the name, having connected with him through Joe Gibbs Racing.

"Guilty." Sarina couldn't help but smile as she added the years up in her head, knowing eight years a person equaled 24 in total. It was the sanity she needed to begin realizing the future she wanted.

"On the charge of poisoning Darrell Wallace Jr., how do you plead?" Marcus looks over at Sarina surprised and Sarina nods in approval, remembering that. He wasn't that big of a deal, but enough to catch their attention. Everybody did a good job of blowing it off as Bubba just passing out from dehydration.

"Guilty."

"On the charge of poisoning Ryan Blaney, how do you plead?" Sarina crosses her arms, remembering that one clear as day. She could still picture her and Chase returning to the motorcoach, receiving the concerning text from Erin, and hurrying to the hospital. It was also Ryan's confession about her brother that got the wheels in motion for today. She then takes a careful breath, quivering a little, knowing that it was also a moment that almost drove her and Chase apart. Her stomach still ached at the thought of their fight.