CHAPTER 7
His cell phone ringing woke Carlton up, but it stopped before he could reach it. Looking at the clock, he noticed that it was only 3am. Grumbling about prank calls, he rolled over. Before he could fall asleep, the phone rang again. Quickly opening it, Carlton barked "Lassiter."
Getting no immediate answer, he was about to yell at them for pranking people in the middle of the night when he heard what he thought was a sniffle. Sitting up, he tried again. "Hello?"
There was more silence until a hesitant voice spoke. "Ca-Carlton?"
"Yes, who is this?"
"It's Beth."
When she didn't continue, Carlton got a bad feeling in his gut. "What's wrong?" he asked as he grabbed his pants and threw them on.
"Can, can you come get m-me?" She took some deep breaths.
"Yeah, where are you?"
"I'm on the beach."
Slipping on his shoes, he tried not to growl in frustration. "Okay, do you know which beach?"
"Between the harbor and Stearns Wharf."
"That's near your motel, why don't you go back there?" He grabbed his car keys and made his way to the door, grabbing his jacket as he passed.
"I can't go back there, please don't make me go back." She started getting more upset.
"It's okay, you don't have to." Hearing her take more deep breaths, he asked, "Do I need to call an ambulance or another police officer?" Getting no response, he checked to make sure the call hadn't dropped. "Beth? Are you still there?"
"Yeah. Can you hurry, please? It's cold out here and I didn't bring my jacket."
Starting up his car, he asked, "You didn't grab your jacket? It's got to be about 40 degrees out there."
She laughed sadly. "I know that now. I barely remembered to grab my purse which has my wallet and phone."
"Okay. I'm in the car now and will be there in 10 minutes. Can you meet me at the dolphin statue?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, I'm going to hang up now."
"No! Please don't!"
"Okay," Carlton put the phone between his shoulder and ear. "But you're the one who called me a 'law-abiding driver.' I'm not exactly following the law while talking on the phone, am I?"
Laughing, Beth replied, "I guess you're right." She sniffled a few times before asking, "You're coming, right?"
"Yes, 8 minutes tops."
Taking a deep breath, she said, "Then I guess you can hang up. Just be careful."
"I will." Hearing the call disconnect, Carlton dropped the phone into his lap and sped up a little. All the cops knew his car and wouldn't dare pull him over.
When Carlton finally pulled up near the statue, he didn't see Beth anywhere. He was about to get out when he saw her hurry out of a bunch of trees. Leaning over to open the door, he noticed that she was just wearing shorts, a tank top and sandals. Her hair was a mess, one side of her face was red and she seemed to cradle her right hand to her chest. As she sat down, Carlton took off his jacket and handed it too her.
"Thanks," she mumbled as she put it on.
Turning on the heater, he asked, "Where are we going?"
Still not looking at him, she shook her head, "I don't know. How about your place?"
"No, let me try that again." Carlton quickly pulled away and started making their way through the streets. "Which hospital should we go to?"
Sniffling, Beth said, "You mean you don't want me to disturb any potential evidence, so you want me to go to the hospital and start a report?"
Carlton nodded. "Yeah."
She sighed, "It'll make you happy if I go?"
"No, but it will make me feel a little better. Something happened, and like you said, I'd rather have the evidence filed."
Nodding, Beth wrapped her arms tighter across her chest. "Fine. Do you have any spare clothes?"
"Yeah. They are some in the trunk. I've got sweats and a t-shirt that you can put on after we get you checked out."
"Okay," Beth whispered as she looked out the window.
After some silence, Carlton asked. "Should I send a patrol to your motel room?"
Sighing, she talked to the window. "Might as well. He's probably long gone by now."
"Okay. McNab is on duty tonight and he's discreet. I'll give him a call and have him meet us at the hospital."
"That's fine."
After he made the call, Carlton asked, "Can you tell me what happened? Not all of it, just the basics."
"Fred, my ex. He showed up while I was sleeping. Drunk again. I got away before he could, you know. But it was close." Beth shook her head as she curled into the seat, facing the window.
When they got to the hospital, Carlton grabbed the clothes and a blanket before they made their way into the waiting room, which was practically deserted. He had her sit while he grabbed the papers to sign her in. Wrapped in the blanket, she leaned against him as she told him what to write.
They sat in silence as they waited her turn, watching others being called back. Ten minutes into their wait, Buzz McNab showed up. Beth pressed herself a little closer into Carlton when she saw Buzz's 6 foot 5 inch stature.
"Detective Lassiter, sir." Buzz greeted politely.
Carlton squeezed Beth's hand reassuringly as he said, "McNab, I need you to go check out a motel room. The perp is most likely long gone, but check anyways, see if he left anything behind and let the motel's management know that the room is a crime scene and they shouldn't enter. Got it?"
"Yes sir."
Nodding, Carlton turned to Beth and asked quietly, "Can we have your motel key?"
Beth took one more look at Buzz before picking up her purse and looking through it, trying not to move her right arm too much. She got out her key ring and tried unsuccessfully to take off the motel ring.
After she dropped her keys for the third time, Carlton gently took them from her. "I got it." She blushed as she dropped her hands. Quickly separating the key, he handed it to Buzz as he mentioned the motel name and room number. "I'll be by the station later for an update and for the key back. And be sure to ask the night staff and any guests if they heard anything around 2, 2:30. Okay?"
"Yes sir." Buzz replied as a nurse called, "Elizabeth March?"
Waving at the nurse, Carlton turned to Beth. "Are you ready?"
She laughed as she shakily picked up her purse. "No, but I might as well get it over with."
"Here, let me take that."
Beth nodded as she handed it over and stood up. Clutching the blanket tighter, she quickly made her way over to the nurse, who was smiling.
Once they were out of sight, Carlton turned back to Buzz. "Is there anything else that you need, McNab?"
Buzz nervously shook his head, "Not really sir. But, if you don't mind, can I ask who that was? I mean, you guys seem kind of close, and I saw her at the station a couple days ago, I was just wondering if she was a sister or a cousin or some, something." When Carlton simply raised an eyebrow, Buzz amended, "Obviously, it is none of my business and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm just going to go now."
Carlton watched Buzz get about 10 feet before he called out, "McNab!"
"Yes sir?" Buzz responded as he turned around.
"You're right, it isn't any of your business, but she's just a friend. Let's just leave it at that and not start any rumors, got it?"
"No sir, I mean yes sir. Your personnel relationships are your business."
"Good, now get started on that report."
Buzz nodded as he quickly turned and left. Carlton smiled, glad that at least some people respected his authority, unlike a certain fake psychic.
When Beth was finally released an hour later, she was wearing Carlton's workout clothes, which were really big on her. She had a brace on her right hand, her left eye was bruised and she had a butterfly bandage on her forehead.
Lifting her arm, she said, "I guess I'm not trying out for that gig tomorrow, or today since it's almost 5am."
"No, I guess not." Leading the way to the car, Carlton was surprised when Beth leaned into him as they passed people. Putting his arm around her shoulder, he sent glares at those who dared to stare at them.
Beth ended up falling asleep on the way back to his house. Turning off the engine, Carlton just watched her for a few moments.
"Beth, time to head inside." As he shook her shoulder, Beth flinched and moved farther away from him.
"Sorry, it's just me." Carlton whispered as he backed off.
Taking deep breaths, Beth closed her eyes. "No, it's my fault. I guess I'm still a little freaked out. I'm fine now."
"No you're not."
Laughing, she shook her head. "No, but I will be."
"Okay, now that we have that settled, did you want to go inside or stay in the car all day? Because I wouldn't mind getting something to eat."
"Yeah, let's go in."
It took Beth a couple tries before she was able to get the door open because of her brace. Once inside, she collapsed on the couch. Going into the kitchen, Carlton looked in the fridge.
"Do you want anything to eat? I don't have a lot, but I can make sandwiches or something." Getting no response, he reentered the living room. "Beth?"
She was fast asleep in the corner of the couch. Sighing, Carlton covered her with a blanket. Going back into the kitchen, he made himself a sandwich and then came back into the living room. Figuring that he probably wouldn't be making it into work until after lunch, if at all, Carlton decided to take a nap.
