The image of my beautiful sweet Tasha battered and nailed to my door popped into my mind. It was an image I’d never be able to unsee, and I lost my mind.
“NO!” I sobbed, and stomped my foot.
“These mother fuckers have really messed with the wrong woman now! They thought I’d be scared? They thought fucking wrong! I’m going to hurt them Francesca! I am going to hunt down every single one of them and hurt them in every imaginable way!” I was hyperventilating by the end of my rant and had to bend at the waist to try and catch my breath. Agatha started meowing and wove her small body through my ankles.
“Honey, Frank took her to the pond and is burying her next to Old Tom Cat. Is that okay with you?”
In between being completely enraged and sobbing from my grief, I managed to get out, “I love Frank. Please tell him I love him.”
“I will honey.”
“I love you too babe – never forget it, but I’ve got to go and figure out how I’m going to ruin some mother fucking guy’s lives.”
“Be careful honey, please don’t do anything too crazy, okay? You have us, your tribe here and ready to take this walk with you. You are not alone Sydney, never forget we’re here for you.”
“I know,” I whispered, and hung up. I did know. But there was no way in hell I was dragging my tribe of sisters and their families into this mess and putting them at risk. I’d already lost too much.
I put in a call to Cabe, who already knew about Tasha and filled me in a little more descriptively than Francesca had.
“Syd, this escalates the problem in my mind. You and your cat are going to need constant security until the trial is over.”
“Cabe, you have no idea the horrors I am planning for these people. You and your team are going on retainer and I want you to do everything in your power to ruin these men and land their asses behind bars.”
“Let’s just focus on keeping you alive through the trial and go from there.”
“No. If you won’t take my revenge on them I will find someone who will. But I am going after them.”
“Okay, Syd. I got you.”
“Good. Now listen, this is where we are going to start…..”
Yes, the baddest of the bad were after me.
Not only had they shot up my home, shot and killed my Old Tom Cat. Days after the shooting they trapped, tortured and killed my beautiful, life-loving calico and nailed her horribly abused and devastated body to my front door as a warning to me not to testify.
The Russian Mob was as evil and vile as they were portrayed in the movies. And apparently, over the last few years, they had moved into our community and set up shop.
I hadn’t seen her body for myself before Frank buried her. I was being shielded by my SDI security team, the Harmony Grove sheriff, Stockton police and the Women of Wine Country family from most of the crazy things swirling around me, but Cabe was nothing if not straightforward and honest.
Brutally honest, and that’s exactly what I needed. To take off the kid gloves, and be completely straight with me.
Once Francesca’s husband, Frank, buried my sweet Tasha next to my Old Tom Cat, we had a sad, but lovely memorial with only my wine tribe gals, their families, and of course my security team of commandos I couldn’t make a move without.
The memorial was followed by a family-style lunch that was held out by the pond under the weeping willow tree where my babies were laid to rest.
One of our tribe’s traditions was to share a charm at every important event. The ladies presented me with a beautiful silver charm of a tiny willow tree that they had OTC and T carved into its trunk, and the initials were surrounded by a heart. Typically, we would all share a charm but this time it was a single charm that was given only to me.
My bestfriend Raquel hugged me and said, “This one is special. We all know how much your kitties mean to you, honey, and we know how much you’re grieving for them. We love you so much, babe. I wish I could take some of your pain for you. It’s so much to carry on your own.” She laid her head on my shoulder as I silently cried.
Looking out over the beautiful space I was comforted knowing both of my fur babies were laid to rest in this beautiful spot. Frank and his guys had placed them near a large pond on the couple’s property, that sat under a giant willow tree whose branch tips were so long they graced the ground when they weren’t dancing in the gentle breeze. It was the first moment of peace I’d had in a long time, knowing this was their final resting place. The grief and anger swirled around me in such a way I sometimes couldn't distinguish one from the other, until finally, they fused into one ugly emotion that drove me daily.
The amount of kindness and support these people showed me changed me in a profound way. I’d never known my family, or where I’d come from, but these people…these people were now my beloved family and they showed it at every opportunity.
There wasn’t a single thing I wouldn’t do for any of them.
The bond was strong, stronger than I had ever known possible.
These damn bad guys had no idea who they were dealing with; not only had I worked my entire adult life and had a huge bank account, but I had also made contacts and friends all over the world, since the summary of my law practice was importing and exporting wine, related agriculture, and negotiating grape contracts. I could take myself and Agatha out of the country without skipping a professional beat.
And That’s exactly what I did, all the while siccing Cabe and his crew on the group of Russian thugs who thought they’d take me out.
They would pay for what they tried to do to me and they would pay dearly for what they’d done to my babies.
And while Cabe was beautiful and true to his word kept me and Agatha safe, transporting us back and forth to court during the proceedings, I knew I was never going to feel like I could relax enough that my life would go back to its normally exciting, but safe, pace.
So, with a solid plan of attack in place with Cabe and his men, I left and built a successful, but secure life bouncing around wine countries outside of the United States. I kept all the safety and security protocols Cabe had taught me in place like an obsession. If something happened to me, there wouldn’t be anyone left to seek constant revenge on the bastards who had murdered my babies. That alone kept me ever vigilant and ever watchful.
And smart.
And I was nothing if not smart.
Genetics had gifted me the ability to pay attention to details others didn’t seem to, and a sharp enough mind to think quicker than most. I had the full anger of my Mama Bear status on my side, with the support of my wine tribe gals.
I wasn’t arrogant about it. I just knew who I was and what my strengths were.
The day after I testified, I was on a private plane to Italy and then off to France. I bounced back and forth between Italy and France and then added Spain to my travels and client base, and finally bought small homes in all three countries. I worked day and night building my business, amassing a fortune and trying as hard as I could to stay ahead of the grief I felt for my two beloved fur babies who suffered so horribly at the hands of monsters, and the loss of the beautiful life I’d built.
All the while, I got updates from Cabe, updates about the thugs he was assigned to making sure were kept behind bars. I funded an all-out legal war against the Russians who had taken me on. Any and every method within the lines of the law were used to bring them down and make their lives impossible.
I was very security conscious and much of that has stayed with me today, but slowly I was able to start relaxing little by little and started to enjoy stretches of time when I wasn’t on edge or overwhelmed with the knowledge of what those monsters had done to my poor Tasha and Old Tom Cat.
That was six long years ago.
Chapter 5
Home Sweet Home
“P lease place your seat back in their upright position and prepare for landing.” The flight attendant announced over the airplanes internal speaker system.
&
nbsp; I was finally coming home after six years of being away from everything and everyone I knew and loved.
“Ma’am, you’ll need to store your pet under the seat in front of you during landing.” After an almost eleven-hour flight both Agatha and I were ready to land and remove our rears from this plane.
I watched out the small window as the plane landed and eventually taxied to our final destination, at the Sacramento International airport. The same airport I’d been driving home from on that horrific night six years ago, when my life, and the lives of those I loved changed forever.
Except for this time, it was bright California sunshine and I had my beautiful Agatha safe with me. I took her everywhere with me these days, and since she was older as well, she loved going with me. The other differences were with my shoulder length brown hair now had blond ends and I wasn’t wearing white .
Once we came to a complete stop and the activity of people gathering their belongings interrupted my thoughts, I pulled Agatha’s designer carrier I’d had made for her out from under the seat in front of me. Since she was so small, it was very easy and comforting to keep her by my side. After everything Agatha and I had been through, we never really got too far away from each other. Luckily, I seemed to wear ‘crazy cat lady’ well because no one ever blinked an eye when I insisted she stay with me.
Might have been a little of the crazy showed too.
Also, this time someone from my sisterhood was meeting us. Agatha and I would not be making this trip home by ourselves.
I wish I was coming home for the holidays or someone’s birthday, or any other fun celebratory event.
Or even a business meeting.
But no.
I was coming home to help plan my dear friend and her husband’s funeral.
It was a terrible reason to return.
The death of two wonderful friends, one of my best girlfriends: Raquel and her husband Antonio, who’d both been killed in a car accident the previous week.
As long as I live I will never forget receiving the call from our fellow tribe member Steve, “Sydney, my love, we lost Raquel.”
He’d let me have it straight, like ripping a bandage off he just told it to me flat out. Steve had moved into my spot of ‘best friend’ with Raquel since I’d left, but that was okay with me because I’d loved them both anyway. I knew he would take care of her and she would him, until I could get home.
“What happened?” I asked as soon as I could compose myself. And then it got worse.
“Raquel and Antonio went to Quincy for a short vacation before harvest started. Babe, we lost them both in a terrible car crash.” Steve was a retired correctional officer who always told it like it was. His husband Allistor was much more sensitive and would probably have been better suited for delivering this kind of horrible news to anyone but me. I liked it straight.
“Both are gone?” I whispered.
“Yes, babe. Both are gone. We need you home Sydney. The girls need you. I need you. Honey, we’re falling apart, we all need you,” he replied quietly. The emotion made his voice sound deeper than I’d ever heard during any one of our hundreds of phone conversations.
“I’m hanging up to find a flight. I’ll text you when I’m arriving.”
“Okay, honey.”
“Steve, tell the girls I’m coming home for good.” The line went quiet, but I could hear my sweet strong friend crying. It was well past time I come home.
My tribe was going to need me now more than ever; we were all devastated and going to be grieving their loss. The funeral was something I would not have missed even if it had been at the height of the trial, but certainly not now when things had settled down and most of the bad guys who were after me were doing life sentences or dead. At least that’s what I’d been told.
Speaking of that, I’d kept Cabe on retainer and due to his and the officer’s involvement in the shooting efforts, as they were personally motivated, were quite successful in rounding up and imprisoning the drug/weapon/sex trafficking bad guys. It was a long ordeal and had lasted more than three years. By the fourth year Cabe indicated he didn’t need to keep billing me for his agency’s portion of the “investigations” and he felt pretty good about the outcome and convictions. The bad guys had even started turning on each other and had been killing each other off behind bars.
It didn’t hurt my feelings any .
He’d thought I’d need to give it some more time before I came home and before I knew it, two more years had flown by.
I had, of course, notified Cabe that Agatha and I were coming home now for the funeral and I wanted to be able to come home permanently.
However, I wasn’t taking any chances with my Agatha.
What I found as Agatha and I came over the top of the escalator was a sight I was not expecting.
“WELCOME HOME!” was yelled in unison by the small crowd gathered at the base of the escalators.
“OH MY GOD!” I screeched, “What are ALL of you doing here?” Everyone I knew was there. Well, everyone that mattered.
My wine tribe sisters were all there with their families. Cabe, and two of his guys I’d met during the trial and later, during further investigations. Several of the Harmony Grove sheriff deputies and Stockton police officers I’d helped were also part of the welcoming committee.
And they were holding flowers, lots and lots of flowers. I just knew they were for me.
What else could I do?
I burst out crying.
Really loud, hiccupping, ugly crying. This is why I hated crying, it didn’t look good on me. I hope this wasn’t the start of a trend.
I remembered the last time I’d cried, when I got the news about Raquel and Antonio, but other than that, I wasn’t much of a crier and really didn’t express my feelings by crying. I got quiet and got to work. Didn’t matter if I was happy, sad, angry, scared, sick or blissful, each emotion triggered a strong desire to hunker down and work until the emotion passed.
It was one of the reasons I was so successful with my work, also one of the reasons I was still single.
Early on in life I learned I was the one, and only one, I could count on. This is who I was when I first met the beautiful Raquel Bellini. The winery she and her husband owned needed help with a larger winery who was buying up the grapes in the area. They hired me to help negotiate the contracts and we became fast friends.
After spending time with her and Antonio, I realized the level of isolation I’d been living in left a hole in my soul. Raquel must have seen it too; she worked her butt off befriending me and bringing me into her tribe of crazy but loveable girlfriends. She strong-armed me into a few of their fundraisers and before I knew what had happened, I was sitting on the Women of Wine Country board as their council, with my fingers in everything they were doing. The women welcomed me with open arms and it literally saved my life. I think about my life in terms of ‘BT’ before the tribe and everything was in black and white. ‘AT’ after the tribe had accepted me, and I was able to see all the colors of the rainbow. That is the impact the group has had on me.
As I descended from the escalator I was immediately surrounded and wrapped up in a cocoon of love and warmth with everyone chatting at once. My carrier that held Agatha was taken by Francesca’s oldest daughter and the kids started cooing nonsense and talking baby talk to her. I just knew she was purring up a storm.
Home.
This was home.
These were my people, and these people were my home.
“You’re all here!” I sobbed. Looking around at them, I knew I needed to be here with them. I needed to be a part of their lives and join in their triumphs and be there for them for their failures, just like they had done for me. If I did nothing else with my life these people would always have my loyalty and support.
I silently made this vow to them. Each and every one of them. I looked around the gathered crowd and committed to memory exactly who was there so I would remember exactly who had shown up for me on
this day.
Looking around the group I said their names as my eyes met theirs. “Terra,” our tall thin black-haired beauty.
“Becca,” who was in her normal sundress and dirty worn cowboy boots, with crazy curls pulled into a long ponytail. It was so nice to see some things were the same as I remembered.
“Stella and Jules, you’re both here,” I sobbed at them. The sisters had the same gorgeous red hair, but other than the hair, they couldn’t be more different from each other.
“Francesca, you shouldn’t have come honey,” taking in her beautiful long mane of sun kissed chestnut hair she used to wear down exclusively, but was now pulled back in an efficient ponytail.
“How is Frank?” I asked. Her response was written all over her beautiful face, he wasn’t well. I pulled her to me for a tight hug.
“Let’s talk later honey,” She said in my ear during our embrace.
Scanning the small crowd my eyes stopped at a face that stood above most of the others and was looking hard at me in such a way that seemed to drown the others to the background.
The sea of faces that had come to welcome me home were all smiling…except him. I knew this face like the back of my hand but had never actually spoken to this person before.
At least not while he was awake.
I stared back at him. I was waiting to see what he would say or do. My heart began beating hard in my chest and my palms began to itch.
Before I knew he’d even moved, he was standing before me. He was a giant man who towered over me. Without his eyes leaving mine he bent down and engulfed me in the tightest big strong man hug I’d ever received. I could feel him smash his bouquet of flowers onto my back as he lifted me off of my feet.
I hugged him back and started crying again.
It was him, Roman Stognafsky. Now Captain Roman Stognafsky, the man whose life I’d saved and ended up losing so much because of that.
I had never, not once regretted it. I would have done it for anyone but especially after learning what a good man he was, how much he did to save children who had been on the streets, how good he was to anyone and everyone. I learned much later that night he hadn’t pulled the bad guys over. They were already pulled over along the highway. He’d pulled over behind them and hit his lights so other travelers would see, what he thought, was their broken-down vehicle. He’d pulled over to see if they needed help.
Lawyer & Liar Page 4