Book of Days
Chapter four-Family History
Lizzie blinked a few times, feeling warm sunshine on her face. She winced and slowly emerged from the grogginess of sleep. She stretched her arms above her head and sat up. She looked around, momentarily panicked as to where she was. It was a strange bedroom and a strange bed. Then, her memory clarified and she remembered where she was.
But, the thing that confused her was how she got up here. The last thing she remembered was dozing off on the couch next to Lassiter. The thought jarred her alert. iOh god. Did he carry me up here?/i she wondered, stunned to feel heat creeping into her cheeks at the implication that he had.
She quickly threw off the covers and got to her feet. She hurried out of the bedroom and into the hallway and padded down stairs. Fear tugged at her memory of the last time she came down here what had happened. But no. Everything was normal. She could hear Henry, Shawn and Gus talking animatedly in the kitchen. Her nose detected eggs, bacon and sausage and her stomach grumbled hungrily.
She stepped into the kitchen and the three men looked up at her, breaking into identical grins. Shawn's of course, was more impish.
"Morning Lizzie! Care for some grub?" Henry asked using a spatula on a frying pan to move around some eggs.
"Yes please," She said pulling out a chair and taking a seat next to Gus. Shawn was still grinning at her in that sly knowing way. She glanced to Gus, who also had a similar look.
"Why are you two staring at me like that?" she asked feeling rather self-conscious about herself and quickly looked down at her shirt, perhaps thinking that something was showing that shouldn't have been. But everything was in order.
"Did you sleep well?" Gus asked her, his tone light.
"Yes," she said frowning and looking at the both of them.
"Lizzie, don't pay attention to these two knuckle heads," Henry said placing a plate full of scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage down in front of her. "Remember I said I dropped Shawn on his head as baby numerous times. Gus I can't account for, but maybe he inhaled some of those toxic medal fumes…or he forgot his medications." Henry's expression was deadpan.
Lizzie actually managed a laugh. The sound caused the three of them to have elated and astonished looks on their faces.
"You have a nice laugh Lizzie," Gus commented appreciatively.
"Thanks, but seriously guys why the impish looks?" Lizzie asked confused taking a bite of eggs.
"Well, I'm sure you remember falling asleep against Lassiter right?" Shawn said, his grin growing wider. "Well he helped you up upstairs."
Lizzie's hand holding the fork froze midair to her mouth, the little bit of eggs shaking as her whole hand trembled, mouth frozen open.
"What exactly do you mean…helped?"
"Lassiter carried you upstairs," Henry clarified throwing Shawn and Gus exasperated looks, mixed with annoyance. "You were practically comatose. You looked like you were awake for almost 72 hours. I was busy talking with Shawn, O'Hara and Gus. Lassiter didn't yell for us for fear of waking you up when the sleep you had was much needed. So he carried you up and put you to bed." (Shawn and Gus made snickering sounds and began whispering to one another about Lassie's dream date being a comatose woman) when Henry reached over and slapped Shawn up the back of the head stopping the whispering debate going on.
All the color drained from Lizzie's face. Now more than ever, she had reason to be mortified and shy around him. Shawn and Gus were quietly snickering amongst themselves but stopped when they saw Henry's warning look.
"It's fine Lizzie," Henry said softly. "He wasn't about to leave you downstairs. You don't have to worry about him." He added with a meaningful tone.
Basically, he was telling her that Lassiter wouldn't endanger her virtue, which made the color rush right back into her face. Lizzie finished off her breakfast in record time, just to have her mind occupied.
About an hour later, the doorbell rang. Shawn ran to answer it.
"Hi Lassie and Jules!" Shawn said loudly knowing full well Lizzie would hear him.
Lizzie's heart began hammering loudly in her chest. Gus was watching her with amusement, while Henry was shaking his head, stifling a laugh.
"Hi Shawn," Lizzie heard O'Hara's voice say softly. "Is Lizzie awake yet?"
"Yep," Shawn said cheerfully. "Follow me."
iOh dear Lord/i Lizzie thought gripping the edge of the table.
Lizzie looked up as O'Hara and Lassiter stepped into the kitchen. Lassiter seemed completely fine, showing no signs of embarrassment or being uncomfortable yet Lizzie found herself imagining slipping through the floor cracks and disappearing altogether. She noted he was dressed in a silver gray suit and matching striped tie and that only made her want to disappear even more.
"Would you two like some coffee?" Henry asked, clearing his throat.
"It's fine thank you Henry but I'm set," Lassiter declined politely.
O'Hara shook her head, offering Henry a smile. Gus by now, watching Lizzie's reactions and facial expressions, was certainly being entertained. He turned his head and turned a laugh into a cough.
"What are you two doing here so early?" Henry asked, as concern crept into his voice, looking from both O'Hara to Lassiter.
"We're actually here for Lizzie. I think it's best if we go to her house and see if there are any clues that might help us understand. She said that there are some boxes up in the attic that her parents left her. Right?" Lassiter said turning his gaze onto Lizzie.
iEeep/i Lizzie thought and as she swallowed hard. Ten pairs of eyes shifted onto her now and she nodded meekly. iSay something, stupid or they're going to think you're some kind of weirdo!/i
"R-Right. I'm just gonna get dressed," Lizzie fumbled as she got up from her seat and began edging toward the kitchen doorway. She carefully passed by Lassiter, who was watching her with suspicious eyes. Once she got passed him, she bolted up the stairs to the sound of laughter following her up from the kitchen.
She pulled on a white eyelet skirt and a teal tee shirt. She made a mental note to thank O'Hara for the clothes. She had good taste. She found a belt and quickly put it around her waist. She quickly used a brush O'Hara had gotten her (the detective clearly thought of everything for her. She was extremely grateful) she let her blond hair fall around her shoulders in soft barrel curls. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed and rosy and her blue eyes seemed to sparkle. This was wrong. She shouldn't be looking like that. Her boyfriend died not even 24 hours ago. What the heck was wrong with her?
Basically she felt drained emotionally, like someone had sucked all of her emotions out with a gigantic vacuum cleaner. Something about that thought set her off laughing. Either she was cracking up or she was seriously disturbed right now after two near death experiences in a matter of hours apart from one another. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs and a few seconds later there was a knock on the door.
"Lizzie? Are you okay?" O'Hara's voice called through the door.
Inhaling deeply, Lizzie gathered herself and opened the door. O'Hara was standing on the other side looking concerned.
"Yes I'm fine," she answered softly.
"Ready?"
Lizzie nodded and followed O'Hara downstairs. They met Lassiter, Shawn and Gus in the living room. Shawn was still wearing a smug grin on his face as though he knew something no one else did. Lizzie arched an eyebrow at him and he quickly wiped it off.
"Gus and I have a taco date so we won't be joining you," Shawn said. "But Lassie promised to text me every moment!"
"I did not Spencer," Lassiter growled, narrowing his eyes at the pseudo-psychic.
"Kay well you kids play nice! Jules, if Lassie gets out of hand, spank him okay?" Shawn said and waved at them before heading out of the house. Gus threw them an apologetic look before following him out. Lassiter just rolled his eyes.
"Henry, sometimes I wish you gave me permission to dump Spencer's body somewhere where they would never find him," he commented.
"Lassiter, I think I might actually do that myself," Henry retorted.
Lizzie felt a smile creeping onto her face. Henry turned his attention onto her and winked at her. He gently touched her arm affectionately and reassuringly.
"Let me know what you find," he said.
O'Hara led her and Lassiter out of the house and to the car. En Route to her house, Lizzie began wondering what they were going to uncover. She hadn't been up in the attic in years and she doubted anything was really up there to begin with. She told Lassiter her address and about 30 minutes later, he pulled into her driveway. She owned a cute two story colonial house that was white with blue shutters. Rose bushes hugged the front of the house and swept around the sides. A pathway led up to the 4 steps leading to the front door. There was a circular drive way in front as well. She had hoped her cat, Artemis, was alright and began feeling guilty for not coming home sooner. Lassiter pulled up in front and put the car in park, shutting off the ignition. They climbed out and closed their doors. Lassiter peered over the roof at Lizzie.
"Your cars in the impound lot," he said. "Being you had parked half on the curb." Seeing Lizzie's expression he continued hastily. "But I took care of it for you. You can pick it up later."
Lizzie noted the surprised expression on O'Hara's face. She looked taken aback but pleased on some level. Perhaps she'd never heard her partner do something like that? Lizzie wasn't sure but she looked at Lassiter gratefully.
"Thank you," Lizzie said softly and reached into her purse, pulling out her keys. "Come on in."
She opened the front door and led them into the hallway. Off to the right, was a large dining room with a mahogany dining set. To the left was a living room. Directly ahead and just around the corner from the dining room was a staircase that led up to the second floor. In the back were the kitchen and the first bathroom. She heard a soft mewl from around her ankles and when she glanced down, it was Artemis, her black cat.
"Oh hey," Lizzie cooed, bending down to scoop up the cat in her arms. She hugged the cat, who began purring like crazy. "I missed you."
The cat only purred louder in response and rubbed her head against Lizzie's chin. O'Hara broke into a grin and reached over to scratch the cat's ear. The cat seemed to be in her glory getting all this attention. Lizzie saw Lassiter watching the cat warily, so she gently nuzzled the cat again and placed her on her feet again. The cat wound around O'Hara's ankles, and much to Lizzie's delight and surprise, Lassiter's.
"Wow. She likes you," Lizzie said laughing.
"I take it that's odd?" O'Hara asked curiously.
"Yeah. Artemis doesn't really take to men much but she tolerated Adam. I'm surprised she likes Lassiter. That's okay though," Lizzie said chuckling, but then the sadness crept into her eyes at the mention of Adam. "Come this way. The attic has a pull down ladder."
She led them up stairs and reached up to pull down the ladder which was cut out in the ceiling. A small chain dangled down. The ladder slid down and they carefully made their way up to the attic. It was large and big enough to stand normally. Lizzie hated tight spaces, so at least this attic wasn't that bad and people could move around and function properly.
"Here are some of the boxes," Lizzie said heading over to one of the corners. Lassiter and O'Hara followed her faithfully and they found two chairs so they could sit down. Lassiter pulled one of the boxes over between his knees and began sifting through it. O'Hara did the same. Lizzie dragged a medium sized box over and reached in. It was a photo album with the words written in a silver color.
"I found a photo album," Lizzie commented as O'Hara and Lassiter looked up. Lizzie got up and dusted off her legs. She handed the album to O'Hara and O'Hara opened it.
There were pictures of her parents smiling happily for the camera on their wedding day. Lassiter leaned over and watched O'Hara flip the pages one by one.
"My parents," Lizzie said quietly. "They look so happy there don't they?"
When O'Hara turned the next page, a photo of a woman Lizzie didn't recognize stared up at her. She was standing in front of a colonial style house, dressed in what looked like 17th century clothing. She had a white bonnet tied under her chin and was standing next to a young man. Lizzie gently removed the photo and turned it over. She could feel Lassiter and O'Hara's eyes on her.
On the back was a written date and name.
"Charity Cromwell and Samuel Hoyt, July 12th 1776," Lizzie read aloud.
Lassiter and O'Hara looked at one another as all of a sudden the house seemed to shake violently. Lizzie looked around wildly in fear. It felt like an earthquake. It got worse.
Things began falling over, and Lizzie reached in the box to grab what appeared to be a book, hoping that she could save at least one thing of her family's.
"Let's go!" Lassiter cried as they hurried back downstairs.
Pictures slid off the wall and shattered; The book shelf in the living room fell forward spilling all the books so they landed splayed; Dishes fell out of the cabinet in the kitchen, breaking into a million pieces; she heard other things shattering from other rooms but had no idea what they were. Lassiter saw the cat sitting by the small table in the hallway and he leaned down to scoop it up as he ran out the door. The staircase began wobbling as though it was on a moving conveyor belt and Lizzie just managed to get down and out of the house without incident. When they hit the driveway and turned around to look, the whole house imploded.
Gasping, they leaned against the car.
"What the hell just happened?" Lassiter panted.
Lizzie saw the cat in his arms and he gently passed the cat off to her. She snuggled the animal, burying her face into the soft ebony fur.
None of them could find a logical answer to what they just witnessed. Lizzie was at a loss for words. They all were at this point. They climbed back into the car and headed to Henry's. Lizzie was now officially homeless…and an orphan on top of that.
Henry listened to what happened with wide eyes when they explained what happened, but reassured Lizzie that she could most certainly stay with him. Artemis the cat was no problem either. The cat seemed to take a shine to Henry too, and proved that by curling up on his lap. Shawn immediately made a fuss over Artemis. Lizzie stood watching Shawn. Gus just shook his head and began talking to Juliet. Lizzie excused herself to get some air.
She stepped out onto the porch and was hit with the cool Santa Barbara night air. She inhaled deeply and could smell the brine coming off the ocean. She leaned against the railing, crossing her arms over it and watching people stroll along the beach. The sun would be setting soon, and already the sky was tinged orange and purple. She clutched the book in her hands. It was a leather bound book with a five pointed star on the cover inside a circle. She traced the star with her finger and felt a surge of energy pass through her.
Lizzie sensed someone coming up beside her. She glanced to her right and saw that it was Lassiter. He matched her position effortlessly. There was a short silence that passed before Lizzie spoke. She could feel Lassiter's eyes on her intently.
"I'm homeless, my boyfriend is killed, and I think I actually killed someone, and then someone wants me dead, nearly burying me alive," Lizzie said thickly gripping the book tightly in her hands. "Why is this happening to me?"
There was a moment before Lassiter responded.
"We don't think you killed anyone," he said. "How could you? We will find out who this lunatic is trying to hurt you and we'll put him away behind bars for good. Trust me. We will find him," he said emphatically.
Lizzie shook her head. She believed he would find this guy, but she didn't believe she was as innocent as they thought.
"I know I killed that man! I burned him alive! There's something wrong with me," She said adamantly. "I thought about him bursting into flames and he did!"
Lassiter straightened up and gently placed both hands on her shoulders, forcing her to face him. Lizzie avoided looking directly at him, and instead looked into the space off to the side of him.
"Lizzie," he said quietly. "We don't know what happened to him but rest assure you had nothing to do with it. There's nothing wrong with you."
Lizzie finally looked up into his face. He had a firm and determined look on his face, but beneath it she was shocked to see compassion. It seemed as though he doesn't use that look often but she had to admit she liked knowing she had new friends now that cared about her. She wasn't alone anymore.
"We are here for you just remember that," he said and gave one shoulder an affectionate squeeze. Lassiter released her shoulders and nodded to her in affirmation of what he said. He entered the house again and called for O'Hara. They had to go.
O'Hara hugged Lizzie before following her partner to the car. Lizzie headed back inside and told Henry that she wanted to head up to bed. Artemis jumped down off Henry's lap and followed Lizzie upstairs.
With Lizzie in bed, she stared at the book for a moment and then decided that she had enough surprises for one night. She would read it in the morning. She carefully placed the book into the drawer of the nightstand and slid it closed. She reached up and shut off the light, snuggling down beneath the covers. Artemis curled up against her back and she soon dozed off.