Knox's Stand

Chapter Eighteen

She was at the sheriff’s office for several hours. David Thurman made an appearance as Diamond sat by Dustin’s side while he retold his story. Afterward, Diamond and Commonwealth’s Attorney went out into the hallway.

“Well?” Diamond asked.

“I’m not going to press charges. No jury is going to convict him after he tells that story. I’ve been trying to get the Porters in jail for the last two years, but that man’s being punished enough. He has no idea where his child is?”

“No. Samantha and her father covered their tracks,” Diamond explained.

“I’ll see what I can do in the morning,” David offered. He started to leave, but paused. “That was good work, Di. You ever want a job in my office, let me know.”

“Thanks, David.” Diamond went back into the room to give Dustin the good news.

It was another hour before Diamond made it back to her apartment. Exhausted, she went to the refrigerator to get a drink when a knock on her door startled her. She went to the door, looking out the peephole to see Knox on the other side.

“Go away, Knox.”

“Let me in, Diamond.”

Diamond’s head fell against the door. She knew what would happen if she let him in. It wouldn’t matter that she hadn’t seen or heard from him for the last two months. Where Knox was concerned, she knew her weakness.

“Diamond.” Knox’s cajoling voice almost had her weakening.

“Knox, if I let you in, we both know what will happen; that’s why you’re here.”

Silence from the other side of the door.

“I want you, Knox, so bad. You know I do.”

“Let me in then.” His voice turned seductive.

“I care about you, Knox, but us in my bed wouldn’t mean anything to you. The saddest part is, I don’t even care that you’ll leave here and be in someone else’s bed. I want you that bad. I’ll open the door if you can tell me you care about me. I have to know that much at least. That’s all I’m asking, Knox, please.”

Without even a pause to show he’d thought about it, Diamond heard the sound of his boots walking away then the loud sound of him riding out of the parking lot. She slid down the door until she sat on the floor, leaning against the door, crying.

She had taken a leap and had asked little in return. She hadn’t asked for commitment, love or even fidelity. The only thing she had wanted was to know that, when they were having sex, he cared about her. He hadn’t been able to give it to her. She didn’t know why her heart was breaking over a man like Knox, yet something inside her told her she was losing a prize worth fighting for.

* * *

Diamond closed the folder, stacking it with the others she had just updated.

“Ms. Richards?” Holly said, sticking her head in the doorway of her office.

“Yes, Holly.”

“There’s someone here to see you; they don’t have an appointment.”

“Who is it?” Diamond was about to leave for the day, but she didn’t have anyone to rush home to, so a few extra minutes at the office wasn’t really going to make a difference.

“Pastor Dean. His church is the one across the street.”

“Show him in, Holly.” Holly disappeared for a minute before her door reopened. Pastor Dean walked in, giving Holly a smile that had her blushing and smiling back.

“Ms. Richards, my name is Pastor Dean. I wanted to introduce myself and see what it would take for you to give my church a visit.”

Diamond smiled at his forthright approach. “I’m afraid you have an uphill battle there, Pastor. I’m not much for going to church.” Diamond rose from her desk to greet the Pastor, extending her hand to shake his. Diamond was surprised how rough and calloused his hand was, expecting a smooth one. This man was used to doing labor.

“I’m sorry to hear that. If not church service, then on Wednesday we have a potluck dinner that everyone in the community is invited to. It would give you an opportunity to become more familiar with the townspeople and build your client base.”

“Pastor Dean, you’re not trying to bribe me with potential clients to get me inside your church, are you?”

“All roads lead to God, Ms. Richards,” he said, not denying his attempt at coercion.

Diamond couldn’t help laugher laughter at that. It didn’t take him long before he’d turned the humor into finagling a clothing donation out of her, and changing her firm no at attending church services to a maybe.

“You’re a very convincing man, Pastor Dean. I’m willing to bet you give an excellent sermon.”

“I try.” He tried to appear humble, though somehow Diamond had a feeling this man had plenty of confidence.

Diamond motioned for him to have a seat on the chair by the window as she walked over to take the other one. Pastor Dean followed her to the seating area, pausing before he sat down to look out the window.

“You have quite a view of my church.”

Diamond nodded. “It can be a pain sometimes when I’m thinking of billing my customers for an extra hour and look outside to see the church; keeps me from padding the bills,” Diamond said wryly.

“I have a good view also. Perhaps we should learn a signal. I could signal you when I have a parishioner that wants to stay forever and you could signal me when you have a client you can’t get rid of,” he joked.

“Don’t temp me; I’ve had several of those.”

“I noticed Knox coming by several weeks ago, but he hasn’t been around for a while, why is that?” Pastor Dean inquired.

Diamond was surprised that he’d bluntly let her know he had noticed Knox coming into her office as well as his question. “His case was dropped, so there wasn’t any need for him to come around anymore.”

Pastor Dean nodded his head. “I was glad to hear it. Knox and I were in the service together,” he explained.

“You’re friends?” Diamond asked in surprise.

“Yes, I consider myself one of the few honored with that position. We started out in the service together straight out of high school. Knox didn’t have many friends then, still doesn’t. The Last Riders are his friends and family, but I think that’s it. He ended up in foster care when he was pretty young. He told me he had been in over fifteen foster homes before he graduated and joined the service.”

“Fifteen?” Diamond was shocked.

“Yes, I imagine that was hard growing up; every time you became attached to a new family, being sent away.”

Diamond felt the pain for Knox in her chest, aching for the man when he was a child who had been unable to control his own life. It would have been doubly hard on Knox who had such a dominant personality.

“I knew his wife also,” Pastor Dean said, watching her reaction.

“His wife?” Diamond whispered.

“They got married about a year after he joined the service. She was very pretty and shy. I can still see her in my mind on their wedding day. They were both nineteen and thought nothing could touch them. They didn’t even have time for a honeymoon. They wanted to get married before Dena got shipped out. It was the first wedding I performed. She was shipped out thirty minutes later. They didn’t even have time to consummate their marriage, yet they didn’t care. Both of them simply laughed and held hands while they waited on the chopper to pick her up.”

“What happened?” Diamond whispered, seeing that Pastor Dean’s hands had clenched at his side.

“She was killed by a roadside bomb two days later. I was the one who had to tell him. I’ve had to deliver that news sixty-three times, but Knox was the worst. He was a friend and I saw something inside of him die that day.” Diamond couldn’t help the tears that fell from her eyes. “He met Evie and joined The Last Riders two years later, but he never let himself fall for another woman. It would be a leap of faith for him to do that and I think he gave up on God the day Dena died.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Diamond asked, finally realizing that he’d had more than one purpose in coming to her office.

“As I said, my church has a perfect view of your building.”

Diamond’s face flamed, remembering the night she had worked late and Knox had showed up. He had lifted her onto her desk and taken her until she had begged for mercy, promising she wouldn’t be late meeting him again. Pastor Dean must have gotten an eyeful.

“He had a look on his face I hadn’t seen in years. Frankly, I was happy to see someone in his life that he cared about again.”

“He doesn’t care about me,” Diamond said. “I asked him, he wouldn’t tell me.”

“Knox isn’t much of a talker. That’s for damn sure, but I’m not surprised he’s running away, especially if he cares for you. He won’t willingly put himself out there to be hurt again,” Pastor Dean advised.

“He wouldn’t. He’s a marshmallow,” she agreed with his assessment.

“A marshmallow?” Diamond nodded. “Yes, well, I don’t know if I’d agree with that analogy, but if it keeps you from playing ‘Rolling in the Deep’ over and over again, I’m all for it.”

“You can hear that?” Pastor Dean nodded. Diamond couldn’t help but laugh. “You and my secretary won’t be hearing it again,” Diamond promised.

“Thank God,” Pastor Dean declared, standing up.

“It was nice to meet you, Pastor Dean, and I think I will take you up on your invitation. I’ll see you Sunday.”

“It was nice to meet you, too, Diamond.” Pastor Dean left her office, closing the door behind him.

As soon as he left, Diamond went to her desk phone, pushing in Knox’s number. She wanted to talk to him. She didn’t know what she would say, she just wanted to hear his voice. He didn’t answer on her first call, he didn’t answer the next six times she called, nor did he return any of her texts or messages. After an hour of failed attempts, Diamond left her office, going to her car.

She had somewhere to go now.

Driving carefully through the tears clouding her vision, she went in search of the one person who could make it better.