by Carrie Carr
The ambulance arrived, and the technicians jumped out and pulled the gurney through the door quickly. Looking at Doris, they followed her pointing finger to the back of the office.
Deputy Thomas leaned over the injured man, his notebook open. "Mr. Walters, who did this to you?" He was almost sickened by the man's appearance. In his mind, no one deserved to be beaten that way. He could only hope the man could give him a good description of his assailant.
"God," Hubert groaned, barely able to understand what the deputy was asking of him. When his pain-fogged mind made the connection, he knew a great opportunity had presented itself. "Don'd led her hurd be anybore," he gasped, his words barely intelligible.
"I won'st, sir. I promise you'll be safe." The deputy strained to hear the softly spoken words. "If you'll tell me who the monster was that did this to you, I'll toss them into jail."
Hubert choked on the blood in his mouth. "By sisder. Lex Walders," he breathed, and closed his eyes.
The emergency technicians shoved the deputy aside. "You'sve gotten what you need, Deputy," one of them said. "Let us do our job, and get him to the hospital." They eased the unconscious man onto the stretcher and wheeled him from the room.
"His sister?" The shocked deputy couldn'st believe a family member could do such damage. "Guess I'd better see if I can find her."
Chapter Eight
"DISPATCH, THIS IS Unit Four." Deputy Thomas sat in his car and watched as the ambulance left.
The radio crackled. "Unit Four, go ahead."
He brought out his notebook and glanced at his barely legible handwriting. "I need a ten-twenty on a Lex Walters, ASAP." The silence from the radio was deafening. "Did you copy, Dispatch?"
Carla was the dispatcher on call. "Uh, yes. Hold on a minute." The Sheriff's Department didn'st usually use the ten codes, so she had to scramble to find her copy to see he was requesting Lex's location. "Umm, Unit Four. Did you say Lex Walters? I can always call her at home and tell her about her brother."
"Negative, Dispatch. I need to make contact with the subject, over." He shook his head at the casual use of the radio. "I've ended up in freakin's Mayberry. These bumpkins are thirty years behind." He pushed the mic to talk again. "Do you have a," he paused. "Do you have an address for her?"
"Of course. Everyone knows where she's staying. It's fourteen thirty-three Sycamore Street. Are you sure you don't want me to call her?"
Ted Thomas rolled his eyes. "Negative, Dispatch. I'm en route and will advise. Unit Four, out." He closed his notebook and pointed the car in the direction of Sycamore Street. "So, she has friends in the department, huh? Well, they're not going to help her. I can'st wait to see what kind of woman she is, considering how awful her brother looked. Poor guy."
ALREADY IN HER boxer shorts and tee shirt, Lex was lying on the bed when Amanda stepped into the room, carrying a handful of medical supplies.
Amanda sat on the edge of the bed and brought Lex's hand into her lap. "What did you do to your knuckles? They look absolutely horrible." The knuckles on Lex's left hand were raw and oozing blood, and were already beginning to bruise. Amanda covered the cuts with
antiseptic and wrapped gauze around the hand.
"Kept slamming them into the ground while I was trying to change the tire on the truck," Lex mumbled. "I feel like a complete idiot." She smiled as Amanda finished bandaging her hand and placed a kiss above the dressing. "Thanks."
"Any time." Amanda brushed the hair away from Lex's face. "You look completely worn out. Why don't you lie down while I go and fix you something to eat?"
"You don't have to do that. I'm not hungry, anyway." Lex rested her head against the pillows and closed her eyes. "Do you mind if I go to sleep?"
Amanda kissed her lover on the forehead. "Not at all. Get some rest, and I'll join you in a few minutes. I need to call Martha and tell her you made it home all right." She waited a moment for an answer, and realized Lex was already asleep. Amanda was about to place another kiss on her lover's brow when she heard a knock at the front door.
The knocking continued, and Amanda hurried down the hallway. She flung open the door to see a sheriff's deputy standing on the front steps. She assumed Charlie sent him to check on Lex. "Can I help you?"
Deputy Thomas allowed his hand to drift casually to his holstered gun. The woman who had answered the door was small, but he knew from experience looks could be deceiving. "Lex Walters?"
"No, I'm her partner, Amanda Cauble. Is there something we can do for you?" A small kernel of fear began to spread through her stomach. "What's wrong?"
He removed his hat. "ma'am, I must speak with Ms. Walters. Is she at home?"
"Yes, but she's resting. Are you sure I can'st help you?"
"I'm afraid not, ma'am. May I come in?" He stepped across the threshold and into the entrance hall. "Where is she?"
"In the bedroom," Amanda answered, pointing. "But, as I said before, she's resting." She watched as the deputy started down the hall carefully. "Hey, wait a minute."
Turning around, he held up one hand. "Please stand right there against the wall, ma'am. I don't want to have to restrain you." The deputy unclipped his gun, but left it holstered. He stood in the doorway of the bedroom and looked inside. "Lex Walters? I need to ask you a few questions," he directed to the woman lying on the bed.
"Hmm?" Lex rolled over and wrapped her arms around Amanda's pillow, breathing deeply. Strong hands grabbed her arm and flipped her onto her stomach, causing her to wake with an unwelcome jolt. "What the hell?"
The lawman jumped on the bed when she moved, and proceeded to place his knee in the small of her back. He grabbed her wrists and cuffed her hands behind her. "Ms. Walters, I'm placing you under arrest for assault."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Lex yelled, grimacing as his knee found her kidney. "Who the hell are you?" She twisted slightly to look over her shoulder. "I've never seen you before."
"No, you haven'st. But you'sve been named by the victim as the assailant in an assault, and I'm taking you in." He roughly jerked Lex to her feet, not caring how she was dressed.
Amanda stood in the doorway, outraged. "Stop it! Have you lost your mind?" She started into the bedroom, and he reached for his gun.
"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to stay where you are," he ordered. "Don't make me do something we'll both regret." The deputy grabbed Lex by one arm and dragged her to the door. "Let's go."
Lex struggled slightly, but the look on her lover's face caused her to stop. "You want to at least tell me who I supposedly assaulted?" she asked, as he led her through the house.
He stopped at the front door. "Like you don't know."
"Wait. It's raining out there. Can I at least put her coat on her?" Amanda asked, meeting Lex's gaze. Her eyes showed confusion, so she knew this man was dead wrong in his assumptions. "Don't worry. We'll get to the bottom of this," Amanda assured her lover in a quiet voice.
"Make it quick," the deputy countered. "I want to get to the office before my shift ends." He watched as the woman took a heavy black coat from the closet. "Hold on, ma'am. I need to check the pockets." Pushing Lex against the wall so he could keep one eye on her, he quickly searched the pockets of the duster. Deputy Thomas brought out a small cell phone and handed it to Amanda. "I don't think she'll need this."
Amanda accepted the phone. "Can'st she at least put on some clothes?"
"No time, ma'am. If you want to bring a change of clothes to the lockup, we'll give them to her after she's been processed." He draped the coat over Lex's shoulders and turned her to face the door. "Let's go."
"Who said I assaulted them?" Lex demanded, as her bare feet splashed through the mud, to the waiting patrol car.
Standing on the front porch with tears in her eyes, Amanda watched as the deputy none-too-gently forced her lover into the back seat of his car. She heard Lex's question, and was shocked at his answer.
"Your brother, Ms. Walters. He was able to identify you before they took
him to the hospital."
After watching the patrol car leave the drive, Amanda rushed into the house and grabbed the phone. She hit the familiar speed dial and waited impatiently for an answer.
"HELLO?"
"Martha, thank God. Is Charlie there?"
The housekeeper looked over at her husband, who was polishing his boots. "Yes, he is. Did Lexie make it home?" The strangled sob on the other end of the line caused her to panic. "Amanda? What's wrong?" Her phone beeped as another call started to come through. "Hold on, there's another call." She didn'st want to quit talking to the obviously distraught woman, but being the wife of the sheriff, she couldn'st ignore an incoming call. "Hello?"
"Mrs. Bristol? This is Carla in Dispatch. I need to speak to the sheriff."
Martha turned to her husband. "Charlie, I have the dispatcher on the phone--and Amanda's on the other line, mighty upset." She handed the phone to him and waited patiently to find out what was going on.
"This is Sheriff Bristol." He listened for a moment, and closed his eyes. "Damn. Has he already gone to the house? That's just great. You tell him I'm on my way, and she'd better not have a damned scratch on her. Thanks for calling, Carla." Charlie hit the button on the phone. "Amanda? Calm down. We're on our way into town. No. I'm going to drop Martha off at your house, so she can keep you company until I get this sorted out." He handed the phone back to Martha. "She wants to talk to you. Our temporary transfer arrested Lex a few minutes ago."
"What?" Martha grabbed the phone. "Amanda. We'll be there in a few minutes. don't you worry, Charlie will take care of everything." She looked at her husband. "Right?"
"I'm not sure. Once she's been arrested, I have to let them process her. And unless the charges are dropped, she'll have to stay in jail until the judge sets her bail."
"This is ridiculous. Why did the idiot arrest her?" she whispered, covering the mouthpiece of the phone with one hand.
"Hubert was beaten up in his office this evening," Charlie answered, pulling on his boots.
"So? The man's a weasel; it's about time someone put him in his place." She couldn'st bring herself to feel sorry for the man who had tormented Lex for so long. "What does that have to do with Lexie?"
The sheriff clipped his holster to his belt and slipped on his coat. "Before he lost consciousness, Hubert named Lex as his assailant." He grabbed Martha's coat. "Come on. Let's go get this taken care of."
The small voice on the other end of the phone continued to cry. "She's," Amanda bit back a sob. "She's not even wearing shoes, Martha. He dragged her out of here in her shorts and tee shirt. What are we going to do?"
"Amanda? We're leaving. You try to stay calm, and we'll be there in no time." Martha hung up the phone and shook her head. "Poor girl, she's so worried." She accepted her husband's help with her coat and allowed him to escort her out of the house. "Did you know that sorry excuse for a deputy took Lexie out in her pajamas? She wasn'st even wearing shoes."
Charlie opened the passenger door and helped her into the car. "The little turd came over from another county, and he thinks he's working in some big-time department. I'll have a little chat with him when I see him."
LEX FELT A simmering anger, and her cheeks burned with embarrassment as the deputy shoved her through the Sheriff's Department. She stumbled, and would have fallen except for the uniformed woman in front of her.
"Lexington? What on earth is going on here?" the woman asked, glaring over Lex's shoulder at the deputy. She had gone to school with Lex, but at present was one of the women deputies in charge of the jail.
"I wish I knew, Ginny. This guy dragged me out of bed and arrested me. He tells me Hubert's been beaten up." Lex felt a hard shove between her shoulder blades as she was pushed into the jailer again. She turned her head and glared at the man. "Watch it, asshole," she growled, barely being restrained by the woman officer.
The deputy pushed her again. "Shut up, lady. I saw what you did to your brother. You don't deserve any kindness." He gestured to the woman in front of them. "You want to process her? I've got a load of paperwork to finish up."
Ginny watched as the arrogant deputy left the room. "I'm sorry, Lex, but I'm going to have to take your picture and fingerprint you." She looked into the face above her. "If you give me your word you won'st make a fuss, I'll take those stupid handcuffs off of you."
"I swear to you, Ginny, I'm not going to cause you any trouble." Lex closed her eyes as the woman stepped behind her and unlocked the metal cuffs. "Thanks. Those damned things were cutting off my circulation." She rubbed her hands over her wrists, trying to ease the pain.
"What happened to you there?" The jailer pointed to the bandage on Lex's left hand.
Lex looked at the floor, embarrassed. "I got a flat tire on the way home tonight, and kept slamming my hand against the pavement because of the stupid jack." She realized how it seemed. "Hey--"
"Don't say another word, Lex. Please. Let's get you finished up, and I'll put you in the sheriff's office for the time being." Ginny realized Lex's lack of decent clothing. "Unless you want to be put in the jail dressed like that?"
"No. Thank you, Ginny. I appreciate all you'sve done to help." Lex submitted to the humiliation meekly, hoping Amanda was faring better.
CHARLIE STOMPED INTO the building, a grimace marring his features. He stopped at the booking desk. "Where is she? You didn'st put her in the lockup, did you?"
"No, sir. Deputy Thomas asked me to take care of things, so after I followed the booking procedures, I placed her in your office. Poor Lex is barefoot and half-naked."
"Thank you, Ginny. I'm glad you were here to take care of her."
"I've known Lex most of my life, Sheriff. And I can tell you, she was as confused and upset about this whole mess as any of us were."
"Thanks." Charlie hurried to his office and opened the door. Lex sat in his visitor's chair with her arms wrapped about her body. Half-dressed and shivering as she was, she looked almost as miserable as when he had picked her up on the road, soaking wet and covered with mud from head to toe. Eyeing the bandaged hand, he gave his head a little shake. "Lex."
She stood and studied his face carefully as he entered the room. Lex didn'st need to be a mind reader to understand his tone. She raised her injured hand. "Jack," she said in explanation.
"You should have told Martha and let her clean that at the house. If we'd seen you were hurt, you wouldn'st have had as easy a time getting away."
Lex couldn'st believe Charlie. He was concerned over a few skinned knuckles when there was a lot bigger trouble facing her. "Well, actually, between the mud and the cold rain, I didn'st notice how bad it was until I washed up."
Charlie put his hand on her shoulder sympathetically. "We'll get this all straightened out."
"Is someone staying with Amanda? I'd hate for her to be alone at a time like this."
"Martha's with her. They're probably on their way here."
"Thanks, Charlie. God, what a bitch of a day it's been."
"That it has. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to put you in a cell for tonight; but I'm going to wait until you get some decent clothes on."
"I understand. I don't want you to get into any trouble."
"I don't care about me. But if it comes to light you received special privileges, it could hurt your case."
"My case? Do they actually have a case against me, Charlie?"
The sheriff went over to his desk and sat. "I don't know. But I guarantee you, I'll double-check everything. I hate to ask you this, but--"
"I didn'st do it. I'm not certain what Hubert's up to, but I swear to you, I didn'st go anywhere near him tonight." Lex began to pace back and forth around the office. "Either he didn'st see who did it, or he did, and figured this was the perfect opportunity to get back at me."
The door opened and Amanda and Martha stepped into the room.
"Lex!" Amanda dropped the sack she was carrying and raced into her lover's waiting arms. "How are you?"
"I'm
fine. Confused and pissed off, but fine."
Amanda used one hand and caressed Lex's cheek. "You look tired." She turned her head to make eye contact with the sheriff. "What next, Charlie?"
"I'm afraid she'll have to stay in the lockup overnight." He addressed Lex. "The prosecutor will have to study the charges and see if there's enough evidence to hold you. We'll meet with the judge, and have him set your bail."
Martha couldn'st believe what she was hearing. "This is the most ridiculous load of bull puckey I've ever heard. Has someone talked to Hubert? Maybe the deputy misunderstood him."
Lex knew better. "I doubt it. Hubert will use any opportunity he can to screw with my life. I wouldn'st be surprised if he paid someone to beat him up, so he could blame me." She didn'st realize how tired she was until Amanda led her to a chair and pushed her into it. "Thanks." She perked up some as Amanda dropped onto her lap.
The knock on the door caused the people gathered in the room to fall silent. "I'm sorry to bother you, Sheriff, but I thought you might want a copy of Deputy Thomas's report." The gray-haired woman stepped into the room and placed a manila folder on Charlie's desk. She turned to Lex. "Hang in there, hon. It'll all work out."
Charlie had been watching Lex try to hide the chills, which caused her to tremble. "Sarah? Could you please escort Lex to the ladies room, so she can get dressed? I'd hate for her to sue the county for letting her catch pneumonia."
Amanda stood, although she hated to lose even a moment's contact with her lover. "Go ahead. We'll be waiting for you when you get back." She escorted Lex to the door and picked up the large paper bag she had dropped. "Here. Boots, socks, jeans, and that old ragged flannel shirt you love so much."
"Thanks." Lex kissed her. "Be back in a flash." She looked at the uniformed woman standing in the door. "Thanks, Sarah. Think we should bring back coffee for everyone?" She continued to talk to her as they moved out into the outer office. "How's your husband doing?"