Page 11 of Knox

“But the children --”

“-- are doing the same thing.” Knox set me on the vanity before gripping my shoulders in a firm but gentle grip. “I’ll look after the kids and my dad. Though, I think Luke has both of them under control. He’s a very protective kid.”

“He’s always been like that, but the last month? Yeah. When he said he’d seen Danny with that woman a month ago, I realized that’s when he started to really assume the role of man of the house.”

“Yeah. I get that.” He sighed, looking away. “Look. You’re safe. I’ll take care of everything.”

“I don’t know you.” I had no idea why I was protesting when I really needed someone to take over, even if it was just for a few hours so I could process. Honestly, though, I wasn’t sure much was going to change. Other than Danny would no longer make his occasional appearance.

“No. But I helped get you out of a burning building. Give me the benefit of the doubt. I’m not gonna hurt you, Evelyn.” He sounded so sincere I wanted to believe him. I was so confused right now! All I wanted to do was huddle in the corner with my children and lick my wounds for a few hours.

“There are other ways of hurting someone than just physically,” I whispered.

“I know. Ain’t gonna do that either.” He held my gaze for long moments. Then he gave me a crisp nod and helped me off the counter to my feet. “I’ll be right back. You can clean up, and I’ll get us all some supper.” I’d been in the middle of fixing lunch when the fire alarm had started blaring. I suppose it was time for supper.

There was nothing else to say or do. I just nodded, knowing he was right. Besides, I’d be more able to process and think once I was clean, full, and rested. I would figure out what to do from here on. Right now, I wanted to shut down. Let someone else take control. After that, I’d start evaluating the pieces of my life and how to proceed.

Chapter Four

Knox

Evelyn rested the rest of the day, for which I felt more relief than I had a right to. She should have stayed in the hospital, but I didn’t have the right to push that kind of care on her. The kids seemed to adjust quickly. Aneshya was upset the day immediately after the fire, but it seemed to be more that she’d lost some things important to her than missing her father. It was puzzling. I knew they had a very relaxed relationship, but I had no idea it was this spartan.

“Danny’s never home.” Dad stood beside me. Lemon, Apple and Cecelia had showed up too, keeping Evelyn company while Luke, Aneshya, and a girl of nine or ten named Effie play in the backyard. A week had passed, and the kids were acting like normal kids. Well, except for Luke, who was twelve going on forty. “He’d show up from time to time, giving Evie and the kids some excuse about how he had to travel for work but never brought home money. He never took care of them. Everything the kids have, Evelyn provided. Even the apartment was paid for by her.”

“What the fuck was my brother doing?” It was more a musing than a question I expected an actual answer to. My brother had always been a selfish bastard, but this was next level.

“I’ll be honest, Knox. I’ve worried over Danny since before you disappeared.”

“You and Mom both. He was always into something… expensive.”

Dad snorted. “No shit. The woman he was with at the hospital, the woman who claims to be his wife of fifteen years? She owns the building. I’ve seen her there, but she didn’t really pay attention to the people around her.” He shook his head. “We’re all kind of beneath her notice. Probably how Danny was able to live a double life so effectively with the mother of his children being in the same building.”

“Evelyn was too busy trying to keep a roof over her family’s head and food on the table to question him much. His actual wife couldn’t imagine he’d have an affair with a woman she sees as second-class compared to both of them.”

“Yep. I’m not sure what Danny’s goal was, but my guess is he’s lost both women.”

“You heard from him?”

I barked out a laugh. “No. Doubt I will, even if he knew how to contact me. I figured you’d be the one he’d reach out to.”

“No. Danny and I haven’t seen eye to eye in several years. I thought he was just a workaholic. Until I found out Evie had been the one paying all the bills. Making sure the kids got to their extracurricular activities. She was basically a single mom with Danny poking his head in every now and then to say hello. You notice how Aneshya shrugged off not having her dad here after we all moved?”

“Yeah. They’re not used to him being here, so they don’t miss him in their lives that much.” The more I learned about everything going on, the less I liked it.

“What about you?”

My dad glanced at me sharply. “What about me?”

“You got my pension. Death benefits. All my personal possessions. Why did you make it look like you’d sold this place? Why move to that apartment building?”

“I moved there to protect my family. Because, at the time, the memories here were too much.” There was a pause as he cleared his throat before he continued. “And…” He scrubbed a hand over his face with a sigh. “Because Danny was going through money like hell wouldn’t have it. After he took out all those loans on the house and property, once I got them all paid off with your death benefits, I told him I’d sold the house. That I was broke. All I had was my social security check. He didn’t know about anything I got from you. I’ve been putting all that into savings for the kids. Figured they’d need something for college or whatever they wanted to do after high school. I keep the fridge and cupboards stocked with food. Evelyn pretends not to notice, but she always has me over for dinner and makes reheatable breakfasts and lunches for me. She also cleans my apartment when I’m not looking.” He sounded and looked disgruntled, but I saw the affection he had for Evelyn. I figured he let her because my dad knew Evelyn wouldn’t want him doing so much for her without her repaying him. Since she was on a limited budget, that was how she did it. “Hadn’t expected you to have me listed as an actual dependent and not just a beneficiary, though. How’d you make that happen?”

“It wasn’t easy, believe me. I had to pull some strings and threaten more than a few bureaucrats to make it happen. But when I heard you’d moved out of the house, I figured Danny was up to his old shit.”

“Danny never stopped his old shit. I think he spends everything he makes. Well, that’s assuming he even had some kind of job. He was pretty good at moving around the building without being seen where he wasn’t supposed to be. My guess is he’s mooching off his wife’s bank account and either stays in the penthouse with her or in Evelyn’s apartment. I doubt he’s ever had a serious job.”

“How the hell did he keep all this secret? I had the best people I know looking into you and never once did they turn up that Danny was married.”

---