CHAPTER 7

The ringing of his cell phone woke him up hours later. Groaning, Carlton quickly answered before he had woken up enough to check the caller id. "Lassiter." He barked quietly, hearing Beth mumble as she shifted next to him.

"Hey Carlton! How's it going?"

"O'Hara it's," he checked the alarm clock and groaned. "It's almost midnight here. Is there any particular reason why you're calling?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize that it was so late. Were you sleeping?"

"Yes. My flight was delayed so I didn't get any sleep last night. I'll ask again, why are you calling?" Rubbing his face, he noticed that there was a weight on his chest. Looking down, he found Murphy fast asleep on him.

"I was just checking in."

"Well we're fine. It's been raining all day and slowly getting colder. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go back to sleep. Goodnight."

"Okay, call me!" Juliet said quickly as he hung up.

Putting the phone back into his pocket, Carlton turned to the cat laying on him. Poking Murphy, Carlton whispered, "Get off me cat." Murphy just lifted his head and stared at him before laying back down. "I'm not kidding, get off me!" he growled as he poked the cat again.

"Smurf get off of Carly," Beth mumbled as she turned onto her back and looked at Carlton. "What time is it?"

"Midnight. Now go back to sleep." He replied as he watched Murphy get off of him and settle on Beth's stomach.

"Okie dokie. Leave your door open a crack in case Salem is in there." She closed her eyes as she placed a hand on Murphy.

"Thanks. I'll see you in the morning." Carlton whispered as he got out from under the covers.

"Mmhmm."

Shaking his head, Carlton quietly made his way to the guestroom. As he started emptying his pockets, an orange blur shot past him out the door. Shaking his head slightly, he closed his door before changing into sweats and crawling under the covers.


A loud clash had Carlton bolting awake and grabbing his gun from the end table. In the few seconds it took for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, he noticed two things: there was a strong thunderstorm outside and the power was out. Sighing, Carlton put his gun back and picked up his phone. It was a little after 7, so he figured that he might as well get up.

Grabbing his robe, Carlton made his way downstairs after a brief visit to the bathroom. Stopping in the doorway of the kitchen, he found Beth rummaging through the cupboards, pausing every few seconds to sneeze and blow her nose. He observed for a minute before saying, "You know, you should probably go back to bed if you're not feeling well."

Beth squeaked as she turned around to face him, a hand going to her chest and looking at him with wide eyes. "Oh my gosh Carlton, don't do that! I'm al-already ah-choo! *sniffle* Already on edge from the storm, I don't need you scaring me."

"Sorry, I didn't realize…."

"It's okay. I was just looking for my tea bags and instant coffee . I know that I had some for Thanksgiving and Crissy is more of a Starbucks person." She returned to her search as she continued sneezing.

Looking at the stove, he noticed that there was a tea kettle that was almost boiling. "Oh, you have a gas oven?"

"Yeah, it was here when I moved in and I never felt like replacing it. Besides, it's good for days like today when the power goes out. It happens a few times a year so I always have long-stem matches nearby, just in case. Ah-ha!" Beth reached up to grab something off the top shelf, only to sneeze and whack her head on the adjacent cupboard door. "Ow, okay that hurt."

Carlton moved forward as she held her forehead and leaned over the counter. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She mumbled into her arms. "It's just that between my hangover and the sinus headache I'm getting, that so did not help."

"Why don't you let me fix you some tea while you sit down."

"Okay," Beth whispered as she sneezed again.

Carlton watched as she slowly made her way to the island and put her head down. He took down the teabags and looked at the instant coffee. He wasn't really a fan of instant, but it was Folgers, so it would probably be better than the station coffee. Setting the containers down gently, he was about to look for cups when he heard a weird scratching noise.

"I need to let Frisco in." Beth mumbled as she started to get up.

Carlton walked over and gently pushed her back down as she sneezed. "I'll get him. I don't need you tripping and cracking your head open."

"Fine. Just make sure you dry him off well. Besides, Bobby's the one that usually cracks his head open."

"I don't think I want to know." Grabbing a towel, Carlton opened the door and let Frisco in. He looked completely drenched and a bit sad as Carlton quickly dried him off.

"Just so you know, I was only partially responsible one time, the other two times were entirely his own fault." Beth muttered as Carlton shook his head.

Once Carlton was done, the dog just stared at him. "Go on, shoo doggy," Carlton said as he tried to push the dog away. Frisco continued to stare at him until Beth whistled. Frisco quickly jogged to Beth and smelled her hand before going over to his food bowl.

As the kettle whistled, Carlton quickly turned it off and grabbed a couple mugs that were in the dish drainer. It was pretty quiet while he was fixing the cups until a particularly loud clash of thunder sounded, spooking Beth who squeaked and almost fell off her chair, Holding back his smirk, Carlton handed over the tea before leaning against the counter. He was right, it was slightly better than the station coffee.

Once she had drunk half her tea, Beth stood up. "I'm going to go get dressed and then we can go somewhere, ah-choo, and eat breakfast. Is Denny's okay?"

"Yeah," Carlton nodded as he watched Beth shakily make her towards the stairs.


While they were waiting for their food, Beth had laid her head down on the table. The only signs that she wasn't asleep were the occasional sneezes and when her face screwed up in pain when there was a loud noise in the kitchen.

Leaning over, Carlton asked, "Did you just want to go? There's no point in suffering."

"No, I'll be fine. Hopefully my cold and headache medicine will kick in soon," she mumbled as she switched which arm she was laying on.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes until the waitress came back with the plates. Seeing how unwell Beth looked, the waitress quietly asked, "Is there anything else that I can get for you today?"

"No, I think that we're fine but can you get the check ready, just in case?" Carlton smiled politely.

"Of course sweetie. Enjoy."

After she left, Beth continued to lay on the table. Shaking her shoulder slightly, he asked, "Beth? Are you going to eat?"

"I'm thinking about it." She sniffled as she slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Remind me to never get drunk if we're going to go somewhere the next morning. This is so not fun."

Carlton smiled as he turned to his cooling plate.


10 minutes later, Beth groaned and set down her fork. Carlton was about to ask what was wrong when she pulled out her cell phone, which was vibrating. Looking at the caller ID, she made a face before putting it down and going back to her food half-heartedly.

When she ignored it for a second time, Carlton asked, "Who's that?"

"My mother."

When she didn't elaborate, he asked, "Any particular reason why you're ignoring her call?"

"Because I know exactly what she wants to talk about and I'm not in the mood!" She snapped before sighing and dropping her fork. "I've lost my appetite. I'm going to call my neighbor and see if the power's back on."

Carlton watched her leave and find a place outside that was dry. The waitress came over not too long after with the check. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, just under the weather." Carlton pulled out a twenty. "Do I leave this with you?"

"You can. Did you want any change?"

"No, keep it." He replied as he stood up and grabbed their coats.

"Thank you very much! And I hope that your friend feels better real soon."

"Thanks." Carlton smiled as he went outside and stood next to Beth who was still on the phone.

"Yes Ms Wilson, I'll be sure to stop by sometime this week." Beth smiled at Carlton as she continued, "Yes, you did hear correctly. I'm moving out to California next week. Yeah, I'll tell you all about it when I see you. Okay, have a good day and keep warm. Bye." Beth hung up with a sigh. "Sorry, that was my neighbor and she loves to talk. She sort of adopted me when I first moved in next door to her and she loves Frisco. Anyways, she said that the power came back on about 10 minutes ago, so we should be fine with buying groceries."

"Okay," Carlton nodded as he handed over her coat. "Where is the closest grocery store?"

"About 5 minutes back the way we came, we went right past it."

"Okay."

They had just pulled out of the parking lot when Beth's phone went off again. She smiled when she saw the caller ID and answered right away, "Hey sis, how's it going? Oh, you know, headache, nausea, fatigue and guess what? I've got a cold on top of that! Yeah, I took some medicine and it only took about a half hour to kick in. We went out for breakfast. Well, between the power going out and not having any food in the house, there wasn't much of a choice. Oh hang on." She lowered the phone and pointed, "You're turning right at this next light and then at the second light, turn left. The store is called Giant Eagle in big, blue letters, can't miss it." Lifting the phone, she continued, "Sorry, we're on the way to the grocery store right now and Carlton is driving. Yeah she called me, but I didn't pick up. Okay, I'll call her right after I hang up with you. No, I promise. Okay, luv ya too. Bye." Beth sighed as she lowered the phone.

After a couple seconds, Carlton said, "I thought that you were going to call your mother as soon as you hung up."

She glared at him as she said, "I will, just give me a minute. I'm sick and hungover. I need to mentally prepare myself before talking to my mother."

"Okay." Carlton turned his attention back to the road as the light changed.

Sighing, Beth picked up her phone and dialed. It only took 3 seconds before it was connected. "Hey mom. No, I'm fine, just a little sick. Yes I took some medicine. Yes, we already ate. We're actually about to go to the store so I can't talk long. I told you last night, I can take care of myself. Besides, he's a very strict, by-the-rules kind of cop. If you don't believe me, then why don't you call his boss and find out!" Beth snapped before laughing mirthlessly. "You're not serious, are you? I was joking! Fine! You got a pen ready? Okay. Santa Barbara Police Department and ask for Police Chief Karen Vick. Yes, she's a women. She's been chief for 5 years now. Really, mom? You don't remember? *Sigh* Detective Carlton Lassiter. Yeah, like the dog. Okay, I've got to go. Bye."

She hung up quickly and stared at her phone. "I can't believe her, she's actually going to call your boss."

"Seriously?" Carlton asked as he turned into the parking lot of the grocery store.

"Yeah. That's one conversation that I would love to hear."

"I hope she at least waits a couple hours. Karen would not appreciate a call at 5am asking about me."

Beth started laughing at that. "Oh my gosh, that would be something! But my mom's pretty smart, she'll wait a few hours, maybe until it's about 10am there."

"Let's hope so. I would hate to think of what Karen would do to me if that happened."

"And me. I probably wouldn't be allowed back in the police station unless it was official police business." Beth sneezed as they parked. "Alright, our goal is to get at least a weeks worth of food, possibly more. Amy and Susie are taking care of the food for Saturday, so we don't have to worry about that, especially since they won't tell me how many people are coming."

"Okay, do you have a list?"

"Nope. It probably would have been easier to write down what I did have. Oh well. We'll just wing it."

"I guess so." Carlton shook his head as they unbuckled and got out.