50 Shades of Drake 5 and 6

More Life: Chapter 6ixty-Three

    Life immediately became chaos, because serving as witnesses in this trial meant leaving the warm comfort of the Golden State. It meant traveling to meet with the prosecution, since Aubrey and Destiny weren't available to receive the subpoenas that were issued to them. Thankfully, Darius was kept apprised of all of the pertinent trial information. It wouldn't just be Aubrey, Destiny, Carlos and Darius traveling to D.C. to participate in the case. Sandi, Dennis, and the Richards also wanted to accompany their children. That meant booking hotel accommodations for everyone and ensuring all of their rooms were on the same floor, ensuring that enough cars were ordered to transport everyone from the house to the airport, from the airport to their D.C. hotel, from the D.C. hotel to the courthouse and back and forth as needed throughout the duration of the trial, from the D.C. hotel to the airport, and from the airport back to Aubrey's Los Angeles estate. Aubrey owned a private plane, which did help to simplify airfare travel booking. But considering the fact that this trial would take some time, booking hotel and cars alone for seven guests would prove to be a challenge. That seven-guest count didn't even include the FBI agents.

    An extensive list of charges had been brought against Harold Palmer, the vast majority of which would be addressed in the DC Superior Court trials. The most recent attempts made on Destiny's life and the loss of her child would be addressed in a separate court case. There were crimes committed in Toronto that their own justice system would want to bring to trial. The process of divvying up which court system would try which cases had nearly resulted in a federal court case being tried, since a few states wrestled over jurisdiction. Ultimately, any disagreements between states had been resolved. 

    Aubrey, Destiny, and their loved ones weren't the only ones who wanted to see Palmer fry for adding another stain to the general perception of United States politicians. Multiple states wanted to make an example out of him, and even the Superior Courts had salivated at the possibility of trying a federal case.

    News reporting outlets were counting down to the first day of trial while continually reviewing all of the details they knew about the case. Paparazzi flooded the D.C. area, on the hunt for even a whiff of Aubrey Drake Graham. For that reason, everyone was briefed and informed that just because they were in a new city didn't translate to them having the ability to go wherever they wanted. Hiding out was even more important here than it had been in Los Angeles. 

    Darius paced the length of the hotel suite living room area with his arms folded across his chest. "Whenever you even get the inkling of venturing out of this hotel, remind yourselves that we are now in the same city as Palmer. This is a city that he knows like the back of his hand. This is a city where he has a ton of contacts, a ton of people who are still standing up for him. This is not a city where you want to go exploring. This is not a city where you'd even want to go down to the hotel bar to get a drink. Because our team has already been infiltrated once, this won't even be a city where you're allowed to accept your own room service orders. An agent will accept the order for you. You will remain tucked in your rooms for the duration of this trial. Depending on the length of this trial, we may be able to make some sort of accommodations so you can enjoy time out in civilization several towns away. That is something we're going to have to play by ear, though. This room is the cave that you will hibernate in, like your life depends on it."

    Carlos tried not to roll his eyes and failed - multiple times. 

    Aubrey and Destiny exchanged long glances.

    For the past several days, Mr. Richards had worn a perpetual frown. This day was no exception. "So, we're staying in this beautiful hotel where they have pianos in rooms, but can't go swimming if we want to. We can't go down to the gym if we want to, can't go to the bar and grab a drink if we want to?"