Jamie Begley - Knox’s Stand

“Hello, is the sheriff in?” Diamond requested.

“He sure is, honey. You wanting to see him?”

“Yes, thank you.” Expecting the woman to pick up the phone, Diamond jumped when the woman yelled.

“Sheriff! You have someone here wantin’ to talk to you.” The office door at the end of the hall opened showing the sheriff.

“Come on back.” His loud voice filled the office. Diamond hid her wince at the lack of decorum.

“Sheriff.” Diamond extended her hand towards the large man who everyone in town respected. Diamond had met him before, several times, at the courthouse.

“What can I do for you, Ms. Richards?”

“I’d like to talk to my client, Knox Bates. I’ve scheduled a hearing in the morning to set bail.”

Diamond didn’t see surprise on his face when she told him she was representing Knox.

“Have you met Knox before?”

“No, but I know he must be a little difficult if his other lawyer quit,” Diamond answered.

“Little doesn’t describe anything about Knox. Prepare yourself.” Diamond ignored his warning. Thanks to her parents’ lifestyle, she had been exposed to some hardass bikers and she had held her own. She wasn’t worried about dealing with Knox.

The sheriff went into his office again before coming back with the keys and then walked down the short hallway, Diamond following behind. The steel door was unlocked and pushed opened.

Diamond walked into a large, grey room containing a small window and long table with several chairs placed around the table.

“Have a seat. I’ll bring him out.”

Diamond sat down, opening her briefcase and pulling out her writing pad as well as a pen. She looked up when the sheriff returned with a huge man that Diamond recognized instantly. It wasn’t like you could forget something that big and bald.

The huge biker was wearing faded jeans and a blue t-shirt that covered a muscled chest that she had seen the day that she had gone to The Last Riders clubhouse to interview Winter. He had been wearing only jeans then and his muscled chest had been bare, showing the tats on his chest and arm. He had also had his hands on two very attractive women who had obviously just been very intimate with the biker.

Diamond was more than familiar with the loose sexual atmosphere of a biker club, but from the way the trio acted, Diamond suspected it went beyond what even she had been exposed to.

Observing the man as he came across the room, Diamond was struck by his sexual aura. His cleanly shaven head and fierce expression were intimidating. He wasn’t ugly by a long shot, however he wasn’t handsome, either. The huge body, she was sure, had caused more than one man to back down from the threatening looking biker.

Diamond stood to her feet. “Hello, my name is Ms. Richards…”

“I know who you are.” Knox took a seat at the table across from where she was standing, ignoring her outstretched hand.

Diamond’s eyes narrowed at his interruption. “Then you know that Viper hired me to represent you in court.”

“Viper told me. When you getting me out of here?” Knox asked bluntly.

“You have a hearing in the morning. If they set bail and your friends come up with the bond, you can be released afterward,” Diamond explained.

“They’ll have the money; just get me out of here.”

“I intend to. Now, I looked over the case and I would like to ask you several questions. Sheriff, if you don’t mind, I’d like to be alone with my client.”

The sheriff gave her an amused look. “Certainly, if you need anything, just yell,” he said, leaving with a warning look towards Knox who gave him a stubborn one in return.

Opening the file that Holly had put together for her, Diamond tried to ignore his hard stare.

“How well did you know Samantha Bedford?” Diamond started her questions.

“If you needed to know how she fucked, I could tell you anything you want to know. Personally, not a damn thing,” Knox answered crudely. Diamond looked up at him from her papers to show him he wasn’t going to get anywhere by trying to shock her.

“Okay. How long had you been fuck buddies?” she rephrased her question.

“Not buddies, we just fucked. You have to like each other to be buddies. I hated the bitch.”

“I see. How did she feel about you?”

“Nothing. Sam didn’t feel emotion other than the need to fuck. Had to have it all the time, didn’t care who gave it to her or where as long as she got off,” Knox said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms across his massive chest.

“Can you give me some names of other men she had a sexual relationship with?”

“No.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Diamond tried to clarify his answer.

“Sam wasn’t allowed to hang with The Last Riders anymore. Since she quit being a hang around, I don’t know who she’s been fucking. I didn’t care enough to ask.”

“You had sex with a woman and didn’t inquire about her sexual history?” Diamond couldn’t believe that a man could be so stupid in this day and age not to check out a partner’s health status.

Knox shrugged, unconcerned. “I used a condom. Didn’t let her have my mouth. She was safe enough to fuck.”

Diamond’s fingers tightened on her pen. This man was a living,-breathing jerk. Taking a deep breath, her mind kept going over and over how much she needed the money that defending Knox would bring.

“Let’s move along. When did you meet Sam on Friday?”

“I didn’t meet her. I crashed my bike and she was driving by and offered me a ride about four o’clock,” Knox estimated.

“She offered you a ride?” Diamond looked up at him. “So how did her giving you a ride end up with both of you at the hotel? Are you sure you didn’t have plans to meet her?”

“I’m sure,” Knox stated.

“Okay, so she gave you a ride and you both decided to go to the motel?” Diamond asked. Trying to get the chain of events straight was like pulling teeth.

Knox sighed. “I called for a lift. While I was waiting for Viper to call me back, we sat in her car. She made a move, I didn’t say no, so we went back to her hotel where we fucked for an hour. Viper returned my call, so I left to meet Rider. End of story.”

“Do you have any witness to that fact? Did she come to the door and someone see her?” Diamond asked hopefully.

“No, she was still lying on the bed when I left.” Damn. Diamond should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.

“Was she breathing?”

Knox’s eyes narrowed at her caustic reply. “Yeah, she was breathing.” Knox leaned forward. “If I was going to kill the bitch, I wouldn’t have left my condom in the trash can. They wouldn’t have found my fingerprints and they fucking would have never found her body.”

Diamond shivered at his harsh answer. She was definitely understanding why the rest of his club had no doubt that he spoke the truth. This man would cover his tracks.

Diamond again looked down at her paperwork. “She had bruising around her mouth and vagina. Were you aware of that?” Keeping a professional appearance was hard when she was fighting the embarrassment of her question.

“Sam and I both enjoy sex that gets a little rough. “ Knox shrugged.

“You have bite marks on your hand that are consistent with the bruising around her mouth.”

“When Sam comes, she likes to scream; the walls at that motel are paper thin.” This time Diamond wasn’t able to prevent herself from blushing.

“I see.”

“I doubt it,” Knox said sarcastically.

Diamond looked up at his reply, meeting his mocking gaze. She smothered her irritation once again, thinking about the money she would earn defending him.

“How often have you and Sam seen each other since she was no longer allowed at the clubhouse?”

“Friday was the first time.”

“Can I ask why, if you disliked this woman so much, did you have sex with her?” Diamond didn’t think he seemed the type to be swept away with passion.

A look of self-disgust flashed across his face. “Not many men would turn her down. Sam was not only good at sex, she enjoyed it. She was one of the few women that could give it to me the way I like it.”

Diamond wasn’t going to touch that answer. Gathering her paperwork, she began putting it back in her briefcase.

“The hearing is first thing in the morning. If you think of anything else that’s important, ask the sheriff to contact me. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Hastily Diamond stood up without looking at him directly.

Diamond went to the door and yelled for the sheriff to let her out. He rushed out of his office, looking at her in surprise.

“Finished?” he asked, looking over her shoulder at Knox still seated at the table with an amused expression on his face.

“Yes, I have what I need.” As soon as the sheriff opened the door, Diamond rushed through it, well aware she was making an ass of herself.

“Thank you, Sheriff.” Without waiting for a reply, Diamond walked through the office, ignoring the receptionist’s curious eyes. Once outside, she took a deep breath, trying to gather her composure. As she stood there, several people passing by gave her inquiring glances, which she ignored. When Knox had described Sam, he hadn’t been trying to embarrass her. He had merely been stating a fact.

She hadn’t really been all that embarrassed, either. No, she had left quickly to escape the feeling of arousal that had stormed her body at his blunt revelation. Diamond had only known a few lovers in her life. One, her high school sweetheart, who she had mistakenly thought would be with her forever; another when she had graduated college and began law school; and the last, who’d thought he saw a meal ticket on her forehead. Diamond enjoyed sex with each of them, but she had a feeling that what Knox participated in was something she had never experienced and had no intention of introducing in her life.

Walking back to her office, she went to her car parked in the lot. Shakily opening her car door, she was finally able to regain control of her wayward body; now angry for making a fool of herself. The next time she was around Knox she would be able to manage her composure and keep her traitorous body under control.

One thing her parents’ life had provided was an insight into the life Knox led and she wasn’t about to find herself attracted to a man involved in a lifestyle she hated.

Diamond waited patiently as the clerk signed the release papers. The older woman kept glancing up at Knox, finally handing her the paperwork she needed. Once they were in her hands, she turned to Knox.

“You’re free to go.” Diamond kept her tone completely business-like.

Knox nodded, turning on his heel to leave, while Diamond followed along, rushing to keep up with his long strides. Outside, Diamond came to a stop at seeing her client swallowed up in the crowd of The Last Riders waiting for their friend’s release.

Diamond ignored a pretty blond wrapping herself around Knox and instead moved toward Viper and Winter standing on the edge of the crowd.

“Keep him out of sight, and whatever you do, don’t let him get into any trouble. The Commonwealth’s Attorney won’t hesitate to throw him back in jail.”

“I’ll make him stay at the clubhouse,” Viper promised.

“What’s next?” Winter asked Diamond.

“A trial date will be set. I’m going to look into the case and hopefully find something to prove his innocence before then. It’s our best hope.” Diamond knew a jury would convict him on sight alone. The Commonwealth’s Attorney had already pulled a fast one, bringing evidence the day before to the grand jury— in which Knox’s previous lawyer had represented him—to get him indicted.

“Is that safe?” Winter asked.

“Yes. If Knox didn’t kill her, then we have to cast some doubt. The best way to do that is to prove someone else had a motive. I’m mainly going to be talking to Sam’s friends.”

“Good luck with that; she didn’t have any.” Evie was once again easily recognizable to Diamond.

“There has to be someone in town who knew Sam well. I’ll find them.” Determination to earn her money had her bracing for the work ahead. “I need to get back to my office. Like I said, keep him out of sight.” Diamond cast a last look at Knox, who now had a dark haired woman locked to his side.

“No problem.” Diamond cast Viper a doubtful glance and then turned on her heel, leaving the large crowd that was drawing attention. She heard the loud roar of the motorcycles pass as she turned down the side street to her office. Unable to help herself, Diamond watched as they passed. Knox was easily noticeable as he was the largest in the group. Evie was sitting behind him with her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Diamond felt his gaze on her and dropped hers to the ground then kept on walking.