When he finally looked away toward the judge who was banging his gavel against his desk, all her breath let out at once, and she was dizzy from it.He’d threatened her again, and there wasn’t anything that anyone could do about it.She knew that if he got out, she’d be dead because there wasn’t any way that she was going to give up her mother to him.She liked her just where she was staying.
Zander stood up so that Allen could no longer see her and told the judge that he had a list of crimes that the family as a whole had committed.He also had a list of things that they did individually that were in a separate file, he told him.As he gave dates and the crimes, she could see that there were a great deal more than them just hurting her.It seemed like everyone in town had had some kind of interaction with her family, and none of it was good.
When he got to the checks that had been stolen and forged, the judge sat up and listened.Carrie was sure that he’d heard it all before and was just listening to him go on about all the seemingly petty stuff that her family had done compared to the checks.The judge had questions as to when the checks had been stolen and by whom.He also wanted to know what was done to them by the police department.
“I can only find where they were arrested the one time for forging the checks.The bank manager had called to say that he knew for a fact that the check he had wasn’t signed by Mrs.Sharp and wanted someone to come and arrest Allen.He never made it to jail, it seems, and that was the last time that the bank manager had ever called the police.He didn’t cash the checks every time they were brought in, but he did on occasion.”The judge wanted to know why he’d cashed them at all.“I don’t know, Your Honor.I could never get an answer from him other than it was Allen Sharp that wanted them cashed, and he knew better than to not comply.”
“So you’re thinking that he threatened the bank, too, are you?”Zander told the man that he didn’t know what to think, as no one was talking to him about it.“And I know you and your brother well enough that you would have left no stone unturned trying to find the answer to that, too.Let me look this over.”
As the judge looked over the files that Zander had given him, she looked at her family.Syble was dressed in one of the orange outfits that the jail gave a person, but the others were dressed in their street clothing.Allen had on a suit, which he usually wore when he was walking around town, but theothers were in jeans and t-shirts.They weren’t clean, any of them, but they looked like they’d spent the last several weeks in a jail cell.If they could stay there for the rest of her life, that would make her feel much better.She knew that she’d live longer.
When the judge cleared his throat, she looked back at him, but not before Allen got her attention.He was making a slit across his throat with his fingers, and she knew what he meant.Yes, she hoped that they stayed in the system for the rest of her long life, or she’d not be around to see that her mom was well taken care of.There was no doubt that Allen would kill her or any of the others.They were all just as bad about hurting her, but Allen was the worst.
“Ms.Carrie Sharp?”She stood up when the judge said her name.“Do you have anything to say about this group before I pass judgment on them?”
“Yes, sir, I do.If you could give me twenty-four hours before they’re released so I could get myself out of town and hidden away, I’d appreciate it.And if you can’t do that, could you please allow me enough time to get my life in order so that my mom is taken care of with my insurance policy?I don’t have much, but it’ll be enough to make sure she’s not out where they can get to her anytime soon.And her checks will be safe with the nursing home.”He said that he had that part under control.“Good then.I don’t have anything to say to any of them, however.”
“You’re going to be dead no matter how much time he gives you to hide out, little sister.”Allen only called her that when she’d really pissed him off.“Do you hear me?I’m going to come after you for all this shit that you’ve laid at my door.”
She just stared at the judge, and when he stood up, Allen was taken out of the room, screaming about how he was going to kill her and he’d not make it easy on her either.She was going to be dead, and he, for one, would be happy when she was.Allen’s last words about killing her were still echoing around the room when the judge sat back down.
“I have enough evidence here that I’m going to set up a trial date.”As he continued on with what he was saying, all her mind could do was center on the fact that her own brother was going to kill her, and there was nothing she could do about it.When Zander grabbed her hand, she laid her head down on the table they were at, and she closed her eyes.She was going to die, and there wasn’t shit she could do about it.They’d make it long and drawn out, too.No bullet to the head for her.They’d make her beg for death when they started on her.
She didn’t know how long she lay there, but Zander was pulling her out of the seat for the next attorney to sit down.Carrie knew that something had happened, but she didn’t know what and would ask Zander when they got outside.In the sunshine, she felt better but no less determined to get her affairs in order so that she could leave as soon as possible.For her to live, she was going to have to leave now in order to get a jumpstart on her family to keep them from finding her.She said as much to Zander when he came up to hug her.
“You didn’t hear, I take it.They’re going to have a trial in two years—late October two years from now.The judge thinks it will take that long to get the evidence that we already have together.Then the public defender for them asked for an extension, and he was granted it for another year.”She asked if they would be in jail all that time.“No, he’s sending them off to prison so that there’s no overcrowding of the jails here.Isn’t that great?”
“They’ll be gone for three years in a bigger jail?”He told her that it would be prison and they’d be under lock and key until the time of the trial.“That’s wonderful news.Oh my gosh, I never expected it to be that long.Are you still going to be taking the trial?”
“Yes.Knox and I will be the ones who represent you.You’ve been given a gift of three years, and in all that time, we’re going to be digging into everything in their past to make sure that they stay for a good deal longer.Maybe by the time they get out, they’ll be too old to try to kill you off.That’s what I’m hoping for anyway.”She hugged him.“Thank you so much.I can’t believe that we got three years of them being in prison.And they’ll be taken tonight so that they are no longer a burden on the jail system here.No more visits from you either.”
She was thrilled with the news and wanted to dance around with Zander.But he already morethan likely thought of her as a nut case.She’d cry at the littlest things lately.As she was headed back to her home, she did dance around a little.They were going away, and she couldn’t believe it.She had her freedom back, and she couldn’t wait to live like they were no longer in her life.
~*~
Knox read over the lease paperwork for the new building that was going in towards downtown.The building had been renovated just over the last few months, and now that it was ready to be rented, he had five applicants who wanted to take over the building.It was for residential or business, so he had both kinds of requests for it in his file.He looked at his brother when he came into the room with him.He asked August if he’d go over the rental agreements while he had a background check done on the five people who wanted to rent it.
“Are you charging the same for the rent if it’s residential or business?It seems to me that there should be a difference.”He said when he put it out there that it was for rent, but he never said what the rent would be.“So you could charge what you want to them and see if they still want it.What’s the building like?I mean, is it one that could be viable for a family of, say, four people?”
“I think it’s too small for a family of four.It has two bedrooms in it now, but there’s no room for a third or fourth bedroom.All it has are the two bedrooms, one bath, and a living room, and a kitchen area.It’s all on one floor, too.”He said that the applicant for the house rental was five people.“Then they probably don’t want it.It’ll be extremely too small for them.I wonder why they put in an application?”
“There isn’t much in the way of rentals around here.Perhaps they’re desperate to find something to live in.”Knox said that he’d have to tell them it’s not large enough for a family of five.He wasn’t even sure it was big enough for a business.“One of the business rentals said they want to turn it into a sub shop.What was it before?I seem to think it was something along those lines, and they couldn’t make it work.”
“You’re right, and it took us a while to get them to get their stuff out, too.Had we known that, we could have just let them sell it to the new renters.”August asked about the smell.“It was everywhere, but as soon as we painted it, the smell was better.Like much better than it was before.”
“Good to know.The last two places that want to rent it want to change it into a retail store.Again, I don’t know how that’s going to work with it being so small, not to mention so far off from the downtown area.No one will walk that far to get to their shop.”He said that he had thought of that and put it in the advertising when he’d written the place up.“If I were you, I’d just make it a rental for a household.That way, someone with a couple of kids would be all right for a while.A business would just fail again, and that would be another person that we’d have to get out when they do.”
“All right.I think that you’re right.I’m going to make sure that the people who want to rent understand that it’s too small for a family of their size and wouldn’t work.”August said that he’d help him if he needed it.“I thank you, but I think I got it all right.Have you looked over the rentals for the strip mall that’s nearly finished?I hate calling it that, but I don’t know what else to call it.It’s a strip of stores that has five different buildings in it.One of them is already rented.The other four have had a couple of lookers but nothing more.If you’re getting people interested, you’ll have to let me know so that I can do the background checks on them.”
“Like you said, there is only one that is rented, and as for the others, I have had a few inquiries, but nothing yet.It’s off the main street, so I don’t think anyone will want to move out that far to try and have a shop.Unless it’s really good food, then maybe.”He said that it had been sitting empty since before Martha had passed away.“Yes, she left it to me to see if I could get it going.The only thing that I can see moving out that far is a tire shop or something like that.No ladies’ shops.I’ve noticed that they don’t do well unless there is a good food place to go as well.”He laughed at his brother about not having ladies’ shops.“What?You know what I mean?Stops that cater to women that sort of thing.”
“Don’t let the others hear you say that.Your wife will kill you.”He said that he had facts to support his saying that.“Doesn’t matter if NASA said it, she wouldn’t take too kindly to you telling her that a ladies’ shop needs a food place, or it wouldn’t do well.”They both laughed at that, but hedid notice that August looked around to see if his wife was close.They were all afraid of their spouses.
Knox called the family and told them that he thought that the rental was much too small for them.They still wanted to see it, and he was all right with that.But he was going to draw the line at them moving in.It wouldn’t do well for anyone to be crowded into a house that small.He set up a time and day for them to go and look at it.August called the businesses and said that even though it was marked as a business, the place was too small for anything of value to go into the place.They, like the couple, wanted to see if they could make it work, and he was all for it.It would be another failed business, and he didn’t want to have to clean up after them when they left.
“What do you know about the new teacher in town?”Knox immediately thought of Elaine and almost told his brother that she was off limits to anyone single.“She’s a looker, I hear, and is filling out the spot nicely at the school.”
“There are three teachers that you could be talking about.All three of them are doing a good job so far, as I’ve heard.And like we figured when we started helping the school board in getting new teachers, three more quit that just didn’t show up on Monday morning.”He told him she was the kindergarten teacher.“Elaine Westcock.She’s doing really well.Are you thinking about talking to her about Zander?”
