“I’ll stop for now, Catherine, but if there are any more displays like today’s, you won’t have a butt left. Is that clear?”
Catherine quickly nodded, but her mind was already working on a plan to get rid of that unsightly bush.
* * *
Craig Johnson was happy to see the end of his shift. It had been a long and trying day starting with the funeral of one of the most respected police officers in town. Bud Billings died of cancer, a cancer he managed to hide from all of them for several months until the pain got so bad he needed hospice care. Then he got the call from Mr. Huffy, asking his help with a situation before his wife got herself into serious trouble. Mr. Huffy thought that a police visit was called for, and Craig did his best to put fear into the women. He hadn’t expected to find himself attracted to their neighbor, but he was, and she was all he could think about the rest of his shift… even when his head needed to be on the murder they were trying to solve. He expected to work late after they got the call from the crime scene, but it was one of those rare times when they were waiting for information from out of state and there was little he could do at this point.
It gave him time to go see Elizabeth and deal with her temper. Another police officer would have arrested her, and Craig was going to impress that upon her cute little rear. He pulled up in front of her home, happy he was driving his own vehicle. His dark eyes scanned the yard, and he smiled when he saw the undisturbed burning bush. He certainly didn’t want to arrest Hubert’s wife. His Dad would not be pleased if he did something like that, and he doubted Hubert would be pleased either. Craig walked up the sidewalk, wondering if Elizabeth was prepared for him to arrive. He rang the doorbell and waited. There was no answer. He knocked, wondering if her doorbell was broken. Still, there was no answer. Craig was ready to leave, but first he peeked in the window of her garage door. Her car was there. The little brat was hiding from him!
He marched to the front door, knocked and rang the doorbell. When she didn’t answer, he tried the door and found it unlocked. Now he was alarmed. What if someone broke in and harmed her? He called her name and started searching. He found her in the kitchen, and quickly called 9-1-1 as he knelt beside her on the floor and felt for a pulse. It looked like she’d fallen off a rickety old stool and hit her head on the counter when she fell.
It didn’t take the paramedics long to arrive, and they immediately started an IV and readied her for a trip to the hospital. “I know this woman,” one of the paramedics said with a frown. “It’s Elizabeth, and she works in the ER at River Crossing.”
“Yeah, she’s the best. Let’s get her there so they can help her, John.” The other man seemed concerned, too, and Craig stopped them for a moment.
“Do either of you know if she has any family I can contact?”
“Her contact information will be on her employee records at the hospital.”
Craig nodded, and then grabbed her purse, her keys and her cell phone to bring along to the hospital. He locked the door behind him, and put his light on top of his car so that he could follow the ambulance and keep up. He felt guilty for some reason he couldn’t explain. Had she fallen when he rang the doorbell the first time? Was she so frightened of him that his arrival made her forget she was on a stool? What was she trying to do? There was nothing lying on the floor to indicate she’d dropped it, and the cabinet doors were all tightly closed. Why had she been on the stool?
Craig wasn’t surprised when the ER personnel snapped to attention when Elizabeth was brought in. Craig was told to have a seat in the waiting room, and it was several long minutes later when a young man wearing a white coat approached him.
“Are you related to our Elizabeth?” the man asked him, and Craig surmised he was a resident doctor. “Her boyfriend, maybe?”
“No, I just met her today and was keeping an appointment with her when I found her lying on her kitchen floor, an old stool lying on its side beside her. How is she doing?” He took out his ID and his badge so the doctor would feel he could confide in him.
“I think someone hurt her, Lieutenant,” the man said, his expression angry and his blue eyes flashing with temper. “I don’t think she fell from any stool; her injuries are not consistent with that. She has a bump on her head, like someone hit her with something.”
Craig scowled. Not what he wanted to hear… another mystery? Angry woman falls from stool just made more sense. “May I see her now?”
“Yes, but keep it brief, and if she starts getting agitated, the interview is over.”
“I understand,” Craig said, wondering if the young man had feelings for the pretty nurse. He entered the small exam cubicle in the ER and saw that three nurses were standing there, doing their best to take care of Elizabeth.
“Nurses,” the young doctor said. “We have other patients who need our care, too.”
“Honey, you put on your light if you need anything at all,” the oldest of the three women said in a motherly tone of voice.
“I will, Agnes. Thank you,” Elizabeth answered quietly, her eyes closed. Her eyebrows were drawn together as if the light were painful.
“Your meds will be up soon, Elizabeth,” another nurse tried to console her.
“Yes, I know the routine.”
The nurses left, staring at him curiously, but Craig wasn’t concerned with that. “Miss Matthews?”
Her green eyes flew open as she looked at him. “You?”
Chapter Two
“I’m the one who found you, Miss Matthews.” Craig stood beside her bed, trying to come up with all of the questions he needed answers to.
“Elizabeth, please, Lieutenant,” she whispered.
“Thank you. I’m Craig Johnson. Please, call me Craig.”
“Okay, Craig. I didn’t do this on purpose,” she assured him.
“Can you tell me what happened?”
“No, I really can’t. I got out a stool, as I wanted a casserole dish that I don’t use very often, so it is kept in the top cupboard. I wanted to bring in food tomorrow to put in our break room. I was setting up the stool, and suddenly there was a blinding pain and my head exploded and everything went black.”
“Someone hit you,” he stated. “Do you have any idea who would do something like that?”
“No. In spite of how it looked earlier, I don’t go around upsetting people. I try to be a good friend, and the only person other than Mrs. Huffy that I’ve grown angry with lately is one of our patients’ daughters.”
“We were all angry with her,” the doctor interrupted. “I finally had security take her out of here, and we called Adult Protective Services. She was abusing her father,” he added. “Elizabeth caught her in the act, and stopped her.”
“She was threatening him and holding his nose and mouth closed so that he couldn’t breathe. I pulled her away from him, and she started lying for all she was worth. I threw her out of his cubicle, and it got really nasty.”
“How long ago was this?” Craig asked, writing down the details in the notebook he carried at all times.
“At least three months,” the doctor answered for Elizabeth, and then asked, “Do you think that after all this time the woman would retaliate?”
“I don’t know, Doctor, but I can promise you I am going to investigate and find out what is happening. Will you be admitting Miss Matthews?” he asked, his tone conveying that he thought it was best.
“Yes, we are waiting for her room to be prepared.”
“No, I want to go home!” Elizabeth stubbornly insisted.
“You need to stay with us until we make sure you haven’t suffered injury, Elizabeth.”
“No! I’m not staying. Hand me my clothes right now.”
“Here we go!” The doctor rolled his eyes, something he would never do with a patient who wasn’t a beloved coworker. “Elizabeth, be reasonable, please. If I thought you would be fine at home, I would let you go, but I’m not convinced, so you are staying, and that is final.”
“You a
re not my boss in this matter, Doctor! I am going to leave and you have no legal basis to stop me!” she argued, raising her voice.
“I do have legal basis; I believe that someone is trying to harm you, and I am insisting that you stay here with an officer outside your door, or I’ll transport you to jail until I’ve finished investigating,” Craig threatened.
“Stay here, Elizabeth, and let us take care of you. The thought of you in a jail cell makes me sick to my stomach!”
Elizabeth wanted to cry. She glared at Craig. “Why are you being so mean to me? I truly am sorry I slapped you!”
“That has nothing to do with this, Elizabeth,” he gently stated. “I simply want to keep you safe, and if you remain here, I can do that.”
“Okay,” she sighed, with a look of defeat. “I’ll stay tonight.”
“Good girl,” he praised her, and then smiled warmly. “I have another question; do you normally leave your front door unlocked?”
“No!” She appeared startled. “That is such a foolish thing to do!”
“Your front door was unlocked when I arrived tonight,” he told her, and could see that she was shocked.
“But, I locked it! I truly did, Craig. I live alone and I don’t take chances!”
“Who else has a key?”
“I think you need to stop with the questions, Lieutenant,” the doctor said softly. “Elizabeth is in a lot of pain.”
“Dave is right, Craig. I can’t think right now; I’m sorry.”
“You just rest. I’ll check on you later,” he promised. On the outside he was cool, calm, and collected, on the inside he was seething and wondering who would hurt her. It was obvious that whoever it was wanted to make the attack look like an accident. Craig promised himself that he would get to the bottom of things. He called to have an officer come and guard Elizabeth’s room, and once she arrived on the scene, he went back to Elizabeth’s house and used her key to let himself inside. This time he looked for details.
Elizabeth’s house was neat and clean, and with a welcoming air about it. Nothing seemed to be disturbed in the living room. He checked her home office and her bedroom, and nothing appeared suspicious. In the kitchen, he studied the crime scene with trained eyes. He then called in a CSI team to process the scene. He wanted to know why someone struck the pretty woman. Nothing jumped out at him, and once the team arrived, he told them what he could. They promised to call him with their findings.
While they were doing their thing, he went next door and rang the doorbell. Mrs. Huffy answered, giving him a mean look as soon as she saw him. “What is it you want, Lieutenant?”
“I need to ask you a few questions, Mrs. Huffy.”
“About what?” she demanded.
“That is no way to speak to the man, Catherine,” Hubert said quietly. “Please come inside and have a seat, Craig.”
“You know this man, Hubert Eugene?” Catherine asked in a high-pitched voice.
“Yes, I do. His father is a member of the lodge, and I’ve known Craig since he was born.”
“How are you doing, Hubert?” Craig asked, offering his hand, and knowing that the man was liable to be pissed off at him within seconds once he asked his questions.
“I’m fine. What brings you here?” Hubert asked.
“Hubert, this is strictly protocol, but I have to verify some facts. Miss Matthews was attacked in her home this afternoon, and I need to make sure Mrs. Huffy was nowhere near her.”
“Oh my goodness!” Catherine exclaimed. “Is she badly hurt?”
“No, but she was hit over the head and has a bad concussion. She is in the hospital.”
“That poor girl,” Catherine stated, shaking her head. “See, Hubert Eugene, this is what I thought would happen when that tree was permitted to grow wild! If I could see past our fence, I might have seen the person who did that!”
“Catherine, I think Craig is here to ask if you attacked Elizabeth.”
“Me? Me! I’m not a violent person, Lieutenant. No, I have been here all afternoon,” she assured him. “You can ask Hubert.”
“Yes, she has been here ever since she and Elizabeth argued this morning. I wouldn’t lie to protect her, either. I love Catherine, but I wouldn’t tolerate her hurting another human being.”
“Thank you for being straightforward with me. I figured I could eliminate you, ma’am, but I had to ask.”
“Understood.” Catherine nodded. “I feel terrible for Elizabeth. She wasn’t forced, was she?” There were tears in her eyes at the thought of someone harming Elizabeth in that manner.
“No, they wanted it to look like an accident. If you see or hear anyone over there, just let me know.”
“We will,” Hubert said.
After Craig left, Hubert turned and put his arms around his wife and simply held her while she cried. He knew that she was feeling guilty for the awful things she’d said to Elizabeth earlier, and he was thankful that he could absolutely verify Catherine’s whereabouts.
* * *
Craig got a few hours of sleep and then went directly to the hospital to see if Elizabeth remembered anything at all that would help him get to the truth of the matter. He met the doctor in the hallway outside the elevators, and the man stepped in front of him to stop him. “I want a word with you, Lieutenant. I want to know why Elizabeth slapped you yesterday? Did you refuse to take no for an answer?”
“Actually, I was at her residence on a call, and something I said irritated her and she slapped me. No, I didn’t hit her over the head, either. Has she remembered anything more?”
“She hasn’t said, but her headache and the swelling is still with her,” he admitted, glaring at Craig.
“The bastard got her a good one, then,” Craig said. He’d been on the receiving end of blows of that nature a few times, and he remembered the killer headaches that plagued him. He hated that Elizabeth was suffering. “Look, Doc, we are on the same side. It’s my duty to protect her.”
“She seemed to think you had a reason to be upset with her.”
“It is just a minor disagreement, and I’m not out to hurt her in any way. Do you know of anyone else who might have it in for her? A former patient, another doctor… another nurse?”
“I racked my brain trying to think of someone, but Elizabeth is well liked by everyone. She is fair and honest, and she works harder than anyone in this hospital to carry her share of the load. She has a smile for everyone.”
Craig cleared his throat. His first assumption, that the young doctor had a thing for her, was growing stronger. “What about her temper?”
“She has one, and sometimes she’s quick to take offense, but she always apologizes when she is wrong. Man, I don’t know anyone who would hurt her like that! Do you think it could be random?” he asked.
“It could be,” Craig admitted, and then said, “I promise I won’t give up until I find out.”
“Good. Keep me informed.”
“Can you keep her another day?”
“Wish I could, but the insurance would have a fit. I don’t like her being alone.”
“She won’t be,” Craig insisted, and the other man smiled.
“I’ll patch you up after you tell Elizabeth that bit of news.”
Craig chuckled, and then went hunting for Elizabeth, but her room was easy to find. The young police officer was standing there, sipping a cup of coffee. “Any problems, Officer?”
“No, Lieutenant. Quiet as could be.”
“Good. You go on home and get some sleep. I’ll take over now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Elizabeth was sitting on the edge of the bed, brushing her hair as gently as possible. “Damn, damn, damn!” she muttered.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?” he asked with a sympathetic tone of voice.
“Yes, it does. I don’t think I’ll be able to work today.”
“Maybe for a couple of days, if your head is like mine.”
“Someone has done this to you?” she asked.
/> “Twice, and both times it was because I was getting too darn close to the truth. Doc told me he is going to release you… against his will.”
“David is overprotective. His wife and I are good friends,” she explained. “Did you find out any more about who did this to me?”
“Not yet, but I do know it wasn’t your neighbor, Mrs. Huffy.”
“Oh, I already knew that. She would talk my ear off until she gave me a headache, but she’s not violent.”
“I believe you are right about that,” he agreed, smiling at her.
“What?” she asked, looking at him suspiciously.
“I am pleased to learn that you aren’t as bratty as I first thought, Elizabeth. Everyone I talked to has a nice story to tell, and even Mrs. Huffy is concerned for you, and was sick to think someone harmed you.”
“The woman can be very nice, but she is too nosy for words,” Elizabeth said. “You were right, though. I was out of line to call her names. I will apologize for that as soon as I can. I hate my temper!”
“Then I’ll help you learn to control it.”
“I’m not sure my butt could handle your help,” she admitted.
“I think your butt will help you remember,” he said.
“Craig, do you believe me when I tell you I’m sorry for slapping you?” she asked him once again.
“I believe you were sorry the second after you did it, Lizzy. And, you are forgiven. You still have consequences to face, but not until you are completely recovered and feeling much better.”
“I couldn’t handle that right now,” she told him.
“I know that. Let’s get you packed up and I’ll take you home.”
“I have clothes here somewhere,” she muttered, and then said, “Would you look in that closet?”
“Bingo,” he stated when he found the bag the ER had put her things in. He placed it in the small bathroom for her and then helped her walk in there. “If you need help…”
“…I’ll call a nurse,” she finished for him.
“Okay.”
A few seconds later a nurse came into the room. “Where is Elizabeth? Who are you? And where is the police officer that was out in the hallway? I’m warning you, I’m trained in karate, and I’ll hurt you if you move. Elizabeth?” she called frantically, keeping her eyes on Craig.
The Woman Next Door Page 2