Knox, p.1
Knox, page 1
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
World Castle Publishing, LLC
Pensacola, Florida
Copyright © 2025 Kathi S. Barton
Paperback ISBN: 9798891264984
eBook ISBN: 9798891264991
First Edition World Castle Publishing, LLC, December 22, 2025
http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com
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Cover: Cover Designs by Karen
Editor: Karen Fuller
Chapter 1
Knox didn’t understand the paperwork in front of him. Actually, he wasn’t sure if it was the paperwork or if he was just having a bad day. It had started out all right, but as soon as noon rolled around, he was having shit happen that had him pissed off at the world. Things just weren’t going the way that he’d hoped when he left his house this morning.
Focusing on the paperwork now that he’d gotten something for his headache, he knew two things at once. He needed more research on the wording of the thing, and that the trial coming up for Carrie was going to be a bust if he didn’t get someone to tell him where all her family was living. Blowing out of his mouth, he sat back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment. He really did need to think about something else other than Carrie and her upcoming trial against her family.
Carrie Sharp had five brothers and three sisters who all wanted the same thing from her. Their mother’s social security checks that came to her monthly. Not one of them had a job, nor did they feel the need to get one, so long as there was money around that they could steal. However, because their mother was staying in a nursing home now, the checks went to them instead of Carrie. Not that Carrie used it for anything but her mother, but they thought it was free cash so long as they got to her before one of the others did.
They weren’t above beating her up for the money either. Leaving her to have to work three jobs so that she could afford her mother’s meds and food on the table, before his family stepped in. Carrie had been beaten so badly before that she’d been injured in a way that made it so that she couldn’t have kids. His heart hurt for the younger woman, and he wanted to make things right for her in this world. And his job was to do the research for the upcoming trial of her against her brothers and sisters.
“I have a question for you.” He smiled at Carrie and told her that he was just thinking about her when he showed up at his office. “I hope in a good way. I know this is costing you a fortune in keeping me hiding out in a hotel until you find them all. I have to say it’s been kind of nice having someone clean up after me. But to have someone make the bed is the best. I hate making my bed in the morning.”
“I don’t care for it either. It’s why there are times when I want to get myself a sleeping bag so that I can sleep in it and just straighten it out in the morning before I leave for work.” He asked her what her question was. “Not that I mind looking for them, but I have a couple of questions about your family as well. Like, where are they?”
“They are living in the old house that my parents were renting. I don’t believe that they’re paying any rent there, but they are staying there. I think that Allen keeps the owner at bay most of the time. He’s the meanest of them all.” He made notes on what she was telling him. “He’s scary dangerous to be around. He’d kill you with his bare hands with witnesses and claim that you were setting him up. I avoid him most of all. My question is, do you know how much longer I’m going to be staying at the hotel? While it’s nice and all, I’m bored out of my mind staying there.”
“As soon as they’re all arrested, then you can be free to move around.” He told her all, but Allen and Syble had been arrested so far, and they were all in the cells at the new jail. “I’m looking for them both, but they’re being tricky about things. I’ll have the police go to the old homestead to see what they can figure out. Thanks for that.”
“No worries. I was just wondering.” She sat down, and he waited for her to speak again. “I’m going to owe you all my life if things don’t change up soon for me. As it stands right now, I think that I’m going to be paying you back until well beyond my retirement years.”
“You’ve been told you don’t have to worry about paying it back, correct? All we want you to do is to pay it forward when you have a chance. That way, you can help someone else out when they need it. I like that better than you thinking that you’re going to be beholden to us forever.” She told him that she doubted very much anyone would need as much help as she’d needed. “You’d be surprised. There are a lot of people out there in need of a hand up. And you’re going to be in the position to help them out sometime.”
“I hope so.” He felt better about doing the work now, and he was glad that she’d stopped by. She made him feel good about himself, and he was forever grateful for her input on things, too. She was smart. “All right, I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing. I have another program that I’m working on and needed a short break from it to clear my head.”
“I was having the same trouble. I’m glad that you stopped by.” He picked up the next file that was on his desk when she left and decided that he needed to change up what he was doing. This one was the file on his brother, Demi and Mandy adopting her nephews now that they were married. It was going to be good for all four of them when things were settled, and he couldn’t have been happier for them. He answered his cell phone without looking to see who it might be. It was his brother Dusty.
“I have two investments that I think you’ll want to get in on the bottom floor with.” He told him that he was in. “Just like that? You don’t even want to know the details?”
“I trust you more with my money than I do myself at times.” He thought of when Alex, Locke’s wife, had gone over his books and found a great deal of money they were all paying out for things that they didn’t need. Like Locke was paying for a service to come in and press his suits monthly when he didn’t wear them but once or twice a year. There were things like cable bills, too, that they were paying for that didn’t even come close to being right. One of them had been paying for the cable bill at the local bar that would order the big fights and other things and charged it to his account. She’d saved them a great deal of money by going over their books, and he was very careful now to look over his billing monthly and to sign his own checks. They’d been taken advantage of by their accountants as well. It was a nightmare to get fixed, but she’d done it all for them.
“It’ll be long-term, just so you know, but the profits will be epic when they’re ready. I can get us both in on the ground floor today if you want to invest.” He told him how much he wanted to invest in the venture, and Dusty thought that was a good amount. “Good. Now I’ll be giving you the paperwork in the morning so that you have it when you need it.”
“Thanks. I’ll look forward to going over it.” Not that he would really. He trusted his brothers with everything that he had. Especially his love. He loved them all so much that he wondered at times if there were words strong enough to tell someone how he actually felt about them. “We’re still on for dinner, right? I know that Shipley has that thing tonight with the other women in the family.”
“Yeah, I’ve made us reservations at the restaurant in Coshocton. We’re to be there at six. I hope that’s all right with everyone.” He said he was sure that it would be and thanked him again for doing that. “I love eating at the Warehouse. They have the best steaks around and don’t get me started on their onion rings.”
“Now I’m hungry.” They both laughed and then closed their phones. He really was hungry now and decided to go find something to eat to tide him over. It was only one o’clock right now, so he’d eat something light to make sure he didn’t get a headache from that too. His cook was making bread when he entered the room. “I’m sorry. I thought I told you that I’d be going out tonight.”
“You did, sir. I’m making bread for the stew that I’m making for tomorrow. It’s an overnight kind of bread, and I’m excited to see how it turns out. If nothing else, you’ll have biscuits with your stew.” He told her that he’d enjoy it either way. “You’re easy to please. You need a wife around to keep you on your toes. Like your other brothers.”
“I don’t know that there is anyone out there for me.” He thought of Carrie and smiled at the thought of having her as his wife. “Carrie would be busting my chops over every little thing. She’s hard on people, I think. But a good person.”
“Now, there is a woman that you need in your life. She’s a good person and has had a lot going on with her to make her sour, but she’s not. You’d do well to have someone like her in your life.” He said they were just friends. “I see the way you two look at one another. Like you’re in love but too stubborn to admit it. You and she? Well, I can see you two having the best marriage of all of your family. You have her as your friend first, and that’s always a good thing.”
“Nah, we’re just good friends.” He sm iled at the thought of them being together and nearly laughed. “She’s not my type. She’s more Zander’s type. I think of her as a little sister more than someone that I would even date.”
“Mark my words, she’ll be good for you. Get you out of the house, too.” He would admit that he’d been spending too much time in the house of late. It seemed to be too cold out to do much more than run to the mailbox for the mail and back in the house. He’d even been working from home a lot more because he didn’t want to deal with people. Not that he hated people, but he would rather be alone than anything else. His cell was ringing when he got back to his office after having a sandwich of bologna and cheese.
“He’s here.” He knew the whispered voice, and he was suddenly terrified for Carrie. “He’s at the desk in the lobby of the hotel I’m staying at, giving them a hard time about not allowing him to know if I’m here or not.”
“I’m on my way. Where are you?” She told him how one of the clerks had met her at the front door to tell her not to go in. “Good for them. Stay put, and I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”
He was never so grateful to catch all the green lights as he’d been today. He called the police as soon as he got into his car. As soon as he pulled up in front of the hotel, she got into his car and told him to drive. He was more than happy to do that for her and made his way down to the next block just as she noticed that Syble was walking down the street too.
“We’ll get them both now, and then we can start the process of a hearing. I have everything that I need to get them put in jail for the rest of their lives.” She asked about her mother. “She’ll be fine where she is. I just hope that once these two are off the streets, things will go better for you now.”
“I’d like that.” She watched as her sister stopped people on the streets, no doubt asking if they’d seen her. “It would be easier on them if they had a job for all the work they put into not having to work, I’d think. What exactly are we having them arrested for? I meant to ask you that before, but I was just so happy that someone was getting them out of my hair that I forgot.”
“Forgery is the biggest one. They signed the back of your mother’s government check when it came in before you could get to it.” She asked him if there was anything else. “Yes. Mostly, it’s petty stuff that will have them serving jail time, but the biggest one is, like I said, forgery. Not to mention stealing from their own mother and you so that you couldn’t take care that she had what she needed.”
“I’m so grateful to have them off the streets that—look, there’s the police.” They watched as Syble was arrested. She would get resisting arrest, too, if he didn’t miss his bet. The way that she was fighting with the officers who had her was enough to make him feel sorry for them. He was glad when she was handcuffed and put into the back of the cruiser. “She went a lot harder than I thought that she would. I wonder what she said to them. I can imagine that it wasn’t all that nice.”
Driving to park across the street from the hotel, they pulled up in time to see Allen being arrested as well. He looked a little bloodied and worse for wear, but he was in cuffs too and on his way to sitting in the back of the cruiser that had come for him. He’d never been so glad to see someone arrested as he was the two of them. He knew that he’d sleep better tonight just knowing that they were off the streets and in custody. Now all he had to worry about was if Zander would be able to use what he’d found about them to put them away for a while.
“I don’t know how to thank you for this.” He said it had been his pleasure, and it had been. “I can go back to my place and sleep better tonight. Just knowing that they’re going to be going to jail for a little while makes me feel so much better.”
“I understand that. It’s been a long time in coming.” It had only been about three weeks, but it felt like forever to him as well. “I can help you pack up if you want, and I’ll take you home. You will still need to be careful until the trial. I don’t see them getting out to cause more damage, but you never know about the judge that is coming through to hear the pretrial things that are set up about them.”
“I’ll be careful. I don’t know that I know how to be anything but careful. Now I can go and visit my mom without worrying about them finding out where she was.” He told her that he’d take her now if she wanted to go. “No, you’ve done enough for me today. Just knowing that you were coming to get me made me feel so much better.”
When she got out of the car and crossed the street, he thought about what Shirley had said to him just before he left. That Carrie would be good for him. He thought that he was doing all right for himself; he couldn’t imagine what she was talking about. Going back to his home, he was sitting at his desk an hour later with no idea what he’d been thinking about or if he’d gotten anything done today. He needed a nap and a good run. Both of which he was going to do right now.
~*~
Demi was having fun with his brothers. They met up at least once a week to have a good meal together, and tonight was the night. As soon as Knox showed up, he told them that the other Jameson family had been arrested and were in jail. He said that Carrie was moving back to her old place even as he spoke.
“You didn’t help her?” He said that he’d lent her his car to drive her things home, but she wouldn’t hear of him trying to help her pack. “She’d be like that, too. I’m betting that if you hadn’t given her your car, she would have toted things to her place on her own. She’s stubborn like that.”
“I know.” He looked at his brother and wondered why he hadn’t started dating Carrie. As far as he could see, they’d be a perfect match. They both liked their solitude and were smart. There were other things that they had in common, but right now, all he could see was that they were missing out on the best time of their lives, not being together. “What are you mumbling about?”
“I was just thinking that you and Carrie would make a good couple.” He said he was the second person today to have said that to him. “Really? Who else can see you two together other than half the state?”
“My cook.” He nodded, thinking that his brother wasn’t seeing what they could all see. That they really would make a perfect couple. “I’m not going to date Carrie. She’s like my little sister or something. I’m just glad that we have a good relationship like we have right now and not have to worry about dating and stuff like that.”
“Maybe she needs to be with Zander. Did you think of that?” He said that she’d eat Zander alive; he was just too kind for someone as ballsy as Carrie was to date. “Ballsy? I don’t see that. Now, Alex and even my wife included are ballsy, but not Carrie. She’s too delicate.”
“Really? That’s what you see when you look at her? Christ man, have you met her family? And the very fact that she’d come out on top of them makes me think that she’s stronger than even your wife and Alex. Shipley might be a little more so than Carrie, but I see a strong woman who has put up with a lot with her family and still has a good outlook on things in her life. She’s also very smart and good to have in your corner.”
“Sounds like you do like her.” Knox said that he did, but she wasn’t his type. He didn’t know what his type was, but he knew that Carrie wasn’t it. “You’re good friends too. That’s always a plus. I think you should take her out and see what sort of stars line up for you.”
“I don’t want to date her. She isn’t my type.” When he sounded a little angry, Demi apologized to him. “It’s all right. I’m sorry. It’s just that I know that I don’t want to date her, and having her pushed on me isn’t something that I want either. She’s a good friend, and I’d like for her to continue to be, so I don’t want to mess it up by asking her to date me. Understand?”
“Yes, I do. And I’m sorry.” Knox waved him off, but he still felt bad about making him angry. Deciding to change the subject, he told him how the breakfast thing was going at the school. And about the teachers returning on Monday.
A month ago, seventeen teachers were given a month off without pay. When asked for a list of things they might need for their classrooms for the end of the year, they’d gotten padded lists of things like pallets of water and microwaves. What a second-grade class would need with a microwave is what got them to look at the lists a little better. There were things like gift cards that they wanted to paint their rooms when they had just been painted. Also, one of them wanted a case of paper plates and plasticware to use in their room. The kids didn’t eat in the room, so no one could figure that out. When it was established that they were ordering things for their own homes, the board of the school laid them off without pay for a month. He wondered if any of them would be returning starting Monday.
