Hey everyone!

This chapter takes place on the Saturday after Carlton got kidnapped. I'm so excited to start this part of the story! But please don't kill me!

See ya next week!

Enjoy!


CHAPTER 29

Beth stood just outside of the private meeting room and looked at Fred through the window. He was staring at his hands and picking at his fingernails. She could tell that he had lost some weight and didn't get as much sun as he usually did during the summer.

"Are you going in?" Henry asked.

Beth nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you want me to come in with you?"

"No, I. I think I'll be okay."

"Alright. I'll be right out here if you need me."

She smiled at him. "Thanks." Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked in.

The door closed loudly behind her and Fred slowly looked up. He smiled widely when he saw her. "Hey Bethie! So nice of you to fin-a-lly visit. It's been so long."

Beth slowly walked forward and stopped at the table, refusing to sit. "What have you done to Carlton?"

He frowned. "Carlton? Who's Carlton?"

"The detective who arrested you, twice! He's been kidnapped and I know you had something to do with it!" She held onto the top of the chair tightly.

Fred nodded slowly. "Oh yes, that blonde detective was asking about him too. They think I'm involved just because they found a connection with my last cellmate. I'll tell you, that guy gave me the creeps. He wanted to know my whole life story but never talked about himself. And more than once I caught him going through my stuff. So if my cellmate was involved, it wasn't my fault he found out about your detective."

"Cut the crap Fred!" Beth exclaimed, hitting the chair. "It's not a coincidence, I know you're involved! You have always been the jealous type, even when things never belonged to you in the first place. You don't have any say in my life so stop messing with it!"

Fred's expression darkened. "You listen here you little slut! You belong to me! We should have been married by now, but instead you ran off and put me in prison."

"You attacked me! And then after I dumped you, you followed me and attacked again! I don't want anything to do with you!" Beth shook her head and took a step back. "I don't know why I'm even arguing with you. You should have taken the insanity plea so they could…"

"I AM NOT CRAZY!" Fred yelled and stood up, causing Beth to take another step back.

A guard to enter the room and looked between Beth and Fred. "Is everything okay in here?"

Beth nodded. "Yes."

"Fred, you need to calm down before you go back to your cell for the rest of the day."

Fred took a deep breath before sitting down. "Of course, Stanley. Thank you."

The guard looked between them one more time before leaving.

Beth looked down at the floor. "Please, Fred. Just tell me where he is. It's been almost a week. I just want him back."

"Why? So you can continue to cheat on me with him?! How many times do you guys have sex, hmm? A couple times a week? You wouldn't even give it to me once."

Her head snapped up and she glared at him. "I have not had sex with him! Don't you dare insult me like that!"

"Then what do you do with him? Give him a blow job once a week? He sure could use it." He smirked.

Beth hit the chair again. "Stop it! Just tell me where the hell he is!"

Fred raised an eyebrow and leaned back. "I don't know where he is. And if I did, he would have been dead by now."

"No, it's not true. You do know, now tell me!"

"I think we're done here." Fred went to stand up but Beth covered his hands.

She at him with tears in her eyes. "Please, Fred. I need to know. I love him and I can't lose him. Not like this."

Fred looked her over before shrugging, "Sorry, no can do. But be sure to visit again." With a smile, he went to the door and knocked. Turning around he said, "See ya later."

Once the door closed behind Fred, Beth collapsed into a chair and wept. She jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Sorry," Henry mumbled. "Are you okay?"

Beth shook her head and wiped her face. "I don't know. I just want Carlton found, and soon."

"We all do." He squeezed her shoulder. "Care to get out of here?"

"Gladly." Beth laughed as she stood up. She pulled him into a hug and whispered. "Thank you. For everything."

"No problem, sweetie." Henry whispered as he hugged back.


After lunch, Beth went back to Carlton's house to pack up the rest of her stuff. Susie found her in her old room and announced, "Mail Call! Let's see…a bunch of bills for Lassie, including something from an attorney. Oo, I wonder what he did!"

Beth sighed, "Will you leave his mail alone and just give me mine?"

"Fine. But only because it's no fun without him here to tease. It looks like you have a package from Meg, a bank statement, and a mysterious letter with no return address. Now which one are you going to open first?" Suzie handed over the mail while humming the final jeopardy theme.

Beth rolled her eyes and looked at the envelopes. "Well, I already know what the bank will say, and Meg was going to mail me a story written by Wes and Kate. That just leaves this mysterious letter." Opening the envelope, Beth froze as she read what was on it.

"What's wrong?" Concerned, Susie came over and looked over her shoulder. Susie frowned as she read it out loud. "'If you want C, you better hurry up and go to the place where you and F were first reunited at.' Who's C and F? And what are they talking about?"

"I, I told you it wa-was Fred." Beth stuttered as she slowly stood up. "I have to save him."

"Do you even know where he is?" Susie asked, worried.

It took Beth a minute but her face lit up. "Yeah, the motel!" She exclaimed excitedly as she dashed out of the room.

Susie quickly followed her. "Beth! Wait! What motel?!"

"The one I was at when I first got to Santa Barbara!"

"What if it's a trap?!"

"Susie, Fred is still in jail and Carlton means too much to me to risk it. I've gotta go!" Beth jumped on her bike and quickly pulled on her helmet.

"But where are you going?!"

"The motel by the pier." With that, Beth revered the engine and peeled out of the driveway.

"Shit! What do I do?!" Susie mumbled to herself. She quickly pulled out her phone and called Gus.

"Hey Susie, how are you?"

"Gus, we have a problem." She started pacing in the front yard.

"What happened? Is everything okay?"

"Beth got a letter that said 'If you want C, you better hurry up and go to the place where you and F were first reunited at.' She thinks that it's about Carlton and Fred and means the motel by the pier. Then she just took off on her motorcycle."

Susie could hear Gus talking with Shawn before asking, "Does she mean the motel she stayed at when she first came to Santa Barbara six months ago?"

"Yeah, I think that's what she said. Can you get down there quick? And call the police too?"

"Shawn is going over there and I'll call Juliet. Beth should know better than to run into a potential trap without any plan or police backup."

"Gus, she is madly in love with Carlton and, at this point, will do anything for him."

"Talk about bad timing. Alright, Shawn should be at the motel within 5 minutes. I'll call back when I know anything."

"Wait! What should I do?"

"I don't know…"

"Are you at the Psych office? Can I join you?"

"I, I guess."

"Thanks, I'll see you in a bit!" Susie ended the call and went back inside to get the car keys. "Oh Lizzie, I hope you aren't falling into a trap." Susie whispered as she picked up the letter Beth had dropped. "I'm gonna kill Fred!"


Beth zipped through traffic, taking dangerous turns and risks she normally never would have attempted. She got honked at a dozen times before she reached the motel, but she didn't care. Pulling into the motel parking lot, she quickly killed the engine and got off. She had stayed in room 108 last time, but that didn't mean Fred had managed to secure the same room. She decided to check that room first before going to the front desk. There was a do not disturb sign on the door and when she knocked, the door swung open.

Feeling nervous for coming to a potential trap without any backup or protection, she slowly crept in. The room looked spotless: beds made, no clothes in the opened closet, no trace of anyone having been in the room recently. "I'm an idiot!" Beth shouted.

She was about to go back out the door when she thought she heard something. "Hello?" She called as she walked a little farther in. A slight thud met her ears and she guessed it was from the bathroom. Looking around, the only thing she found to defend herself with was a bible on the nightstand. She looked upwards and whispered, "Sorry," before picking it up and slowly walked to the bathroom.

The door was slightly ajar and she pushed it open with her foot. At first, she didn't see anything that could be making noise. Taking a closer look at the dark curtain around the tub, she could tell that something was in the tub. With a deep breath, she pulled the curtain aside and almost threw up at the sight that greeted her. "Oh my gosh! Carlton!"