The Woman Next Door (3 page)

“Oh, I just made a complete fool of myself,” Iris answered. “I practically accused him of being here to harm you!”

“No, he’s safe,” Elizabeth told her, massaging her temples as she defended Craig.

“You poor thing; you are in so much pain! Let me try and help.” The nurse massaged Elizabeth’s neck and upper back, trying to ease some of the tightness there. “Would you please take some pain medication now? You certainly need it.”

“I need to be alert just in case that person comes back,” Elizabeth said.

“I am going to be there, Lizzy. Take your medication. I promise I won’t let anyone harm you.”

She looked at him and then nodded, wincing from the small motion. “Okay, Iris. I’ll take the pain medication. I do need it,” she admitted.

“I know you do, honey. I’ll be right back.” Iris fairly ran from the room and was back in less than a minute with the tablets. She handed a glass of water to Elizabeth and then gave her the pills in a paper cup. “This will help, believe me.”

“Thanks, Iris,” Elizabeth said, leaning back against the pillow.

“David has your instructions all made out, and I’m sending you home with pain pills so you won’t have to go out anywhere for a while. I know you know most of this by heart, but this time you are a patient, so I want you to listen and if you have any questions, just stop me and ask.”

Craig listened intently so that he would know what to do just in case Elizabeth had a problem he wasn’t anticipating, and he stayed with Elizabeth while Iris wheeled her to the exit. “You stay right here with Lizzy and I’ll get my car.” Craig kept his eyes on Elizabeth while he ran through the parking lot. He didn’t see anyone who looked suspicious, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Someone tried to kill her and he wasn’t going to let anyone close to her now.

Elizabeth was relieved that Craig was driving a regular car instead of the telltale police car. It would be embarrassing to be hauled home in a marked cruiser, complete with the lights on top. Craig jumped out to help her into the car and just for a moment, she pretended that he cherished her. He even leaned over to fasten her seatbelt and adjust it around her slender frame. It would be nice to be so loved, she admitted to herself!

Craig headed for home and it didn’t take long for the nurse to realize that they weren’t traveling in the right direction for her house. “Where are we going, Craig?” she demanded.

“We are making it difficult for whoever did this to find you and try to do it again,” he carefully replied. “I’m taking you to my place, Lizzy. You’ll be safe and comfortable there. There is no need to worry; I promise I won’t take advantage of you. You’ll have your own bedroom.”

“Do you really think this is necessary?” she asked him.

“I do,” he answered solemnly. “I don’t want you to come to any harm.”

“Thank you,” she sincerely stated. “I have to admit that I was a little bit scared and worried he would come back. You are very kind.”

“I want to help people or I never would have pinned on a badge in the first place.”

“I feel the same way about my career.”

Her green eyes were serious as could be, and he quickly realized that Elizabeth was special.
Who would want to hurt her?
He asked himself as he drove to the gated community where he lived. Craig saw the look in her eyes when he pulled into MarWood. She was surprised when he entered and stopped at the gate. A man in uniform came out to greet them. “Hi, Lieutenant. I see you’ve brought a guest?”

“I have, Wally, and I need for you to keep an eye and ear open so someone doesn’t sneak past you. Someone hit Miss Matthews over the head yesterday, and I’m pretty sure they were confident she wouldn’t recover from the blow.”

“I won’t let anyone past this gate, Lieutenant, and if you see someone suspicious, you just give me a holler. I might be older than I once was, but I was a damn good cop in my day.” The man was perfectly serious as he looked at Elizabeth. “Miss, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. That is what I’m here for.”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth answered.

“We’ll let you know if we are expecting someone, but as of now, we are not.”

“Got it, Lieutenant.”

“Thanks, Wally. It’s good to know you have my back.”

“Anytime, sir.”

“These homes are beautiful!” Elizabeth commented as they drove into the development and wound around to get to where they were going. “They must be very expensive to afford the gate attendant?”

“The HOA fees are pretty high, but security is worth the extra each month. When I go to bed at night, I like to close my eyes and sleep, not stay awake worrying if one of the criminals I put behind bars is trying to break in and shoot me. MarWood has judges, doctors, several police officers and some other people who feel a need for security. There is one woman who lives here because she was attacked in her apartment and raped. She refuses to leave her house, and she trusts Wally to keep her safe. If Wally doesn’t know someone, or isn’t expecting them, they don’t get past the gate.”

“You think I am in serious danger, don’t you?” Elizabeth felt tears sting her eyes and she quickly blinked them away.

“Now, don’t cry, Lizzy! I promise I will keep you safe.”

“How could something like this happen? Do you think that someone just got the wrong house?” she asked hopefully. “Like the house number thing… I saw it on television once; the bad guys were to go to 116, but at 119 the nine flipped into a six, and they shot a house full of innocent people thinking they had the correct house!”

“That could be except for one thing; what is your house number?” Craig asked her.

“542; oh! The numbers don’t turn into something else, do they?” She was disappointed.

“No, they don’t, and I checked the street name, too, wondering if there was another Cricket something, like avenue, park, court… Cricket Street is the only Cricket in town.” There went her lower lip, trembling as if she were going to cry. “We’ll figure this out, Lizzy.”

“I’m scared,” she confessed, bursting into tears.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promised as he pulled into his garage and parked. Once the car was safely off, he pulled her close to wrap his arms around her and comfort her. “I promise I will keep you safe, Lizzy.”

“I believe you,” she replied, trying to stop her tears.

“Good. Let’s go inside and get you settled in.” He put down the garage door and then opened the door that led into the laundry room.

“This is a nice space for laundry,” Elizabeth told him, noting the brand new red appliances. There was a deep sink for doing hand washables, too, and a spot for folding towels and clothing. There was also a place to hang clothing until it could be put away. This laundry room was the one she longed for in her own home someday.

“I just had the washer and drier delivered and I haven’t had a chance to do laundry yet,” he admitted. “Do you like the red?” he wanted to know, happy to have something to discuss other than who was trying to hurt Elizabeth.

“I love the color,” she insisted. “When I imagine redoing my laundry room, I picture it like this,” she told him, smiling. “What have you done with the rest of your house?”

“I’ll show you around,” he said. “In fact, you are my first visitor who isn’t family. My Mom and sister have been here.”

“Did they help you decorate?”

“Nope. Mom would use nothing but antiques and my sister is into contemporary modern, and I hate that. I’m more traditional,” he explained.

They walked into the kitchen and Elizabeth gasped in pleasure. The cabinets were a rich wood and they went all the way to the ceiling. The countertops were granite, and the backsplash was made of glass. But what truly surprised, and pleased, her were the appliances. They were black and not the stainless steel that most people seemed to want these days. “This is so well done, Craig. Did you redo it?”

“Yes, I did. The previous owner had stainless steel everywhere—the appliances, the countertops, and the backsplash. It looked sterile, not like a home. And, the cabinets were ugly, so I hired a contractor, and I picked all of the finishes myself.”

“It’s beautiful. I don’t care for the stainless steel, either, and I love that you brightened the room with accessories and the backsplash. It is so pretty in here.”

“Thank you, Lizzy.” Craig was grinning ear to ear as he led her into the formal dining room. It wasn’t finished yet, and she gave him several good ideas for finishing it. He wanted it to be ‘formal’ without being ‘stuffy’ and Elizabeth understood what he was saying.

Elizabeth loved the living room, too, but Craig told her it had yet to be redone. He was using old furniture and buying a new sofa that complimented the space was on the list of things to do. He told her that saving some money was a priority at this point, and she nodded in understanding. That was the same way she made improvements to her home. She didn’t believe in charging things she could live without until she could pay cash for them.

“I haven’t done much to the bedroom yet,” he told her. “My bed seems to fit, but the closet in there needs some help.”

“Let me see,” she bossed. “Often, it’s not that expensive to buy some shelving and turn a closet into a large storage area.” Elizabeth followed him into the bedroom, and when she pulled open the closet door her eyes fell on one object… a wooden paddle!

Elizabeth saw the paddle and her green eyes turned to look at him accusingly. She was abruptly reminded that the man intended to spank her for slapping his face, but it hadn’t occurred to her that he might use a wooden paddle! She was positive that would hurt more than she could handle.

Craig looked past the redhead and his eyes spotted the paddle. “That is from my college fraternity. My sister and I were arguing about putting it up. I told her ‘no’ but she was determined to have it her way. I caught her just before she was going to hammer a nail into the wall of the room I have set up as an office. I took the paddle and bent her over my arm and gave her a couple of whacks. She agreed with me that the paddle didn’t need to be hung on the wall.” Craig chuckled and noticed that Elizabeth was blushing. “Don’t worry, Lizzy. When it’s time for your spanking, I’ll give you fair warning, and I have no intention of using this paddle on you.” Her sigh of relief was audible and he chuckled again.

Craig’s cell phone rang. “Johnson.” He listened for a moment, and then said, “What have you got?” He listened some more. “Okay, keep me informed.” He clicked his phone. “They found a partial on the stool in your kitchen. They’re going to run it and see who they come up with.”

“Do you think it will work?” she asked him.

“It’s hard to tell, Lizzy. I’m going to show you to your bedroom now, and I want you to lie down and rest.”

“No! I don’t want to!” she argued.

“It’s what your body needs right now and as a nurse you already know that.”

“I do not take naps!” she forcefully stated. In the next second he picked her up in his strong arms and carried her down a hallway and into a bedroom that was as pretty as could be. “Put me down!” she hollered.

“I will just as soon as I pull down these covers so I can tuck you in.”

“You can put me in this bed; you can tuck me in; but you can’t make me stay in bed, however. I’ll just keep getting up!”

“You sound like a bratty toddler trying to get out of her nap, and let me tell you, my cure for that is a warm bottom. If you get out of this bed before lunch is ready, I’ll put you back in bed with a stinging backside.”

“I do not have to listen to anything you say!” she argued. Craig didn’t say anything else, but he put her in bed and pulled up the covers before leaving the room. As soon as the door clicked shut, Elizabeth jumped out of bed. The door opened in the next instant, and Craig put his hands on his hips and glared at her.

“I do not want to take a nap!” she pouted, even as she backed up a couple of steps when he entered the room and shut the door behind him. “You wouldn’t dare!” she gasped as he reached for her.

“I warned you what would happen, didn’t I?”

“I didn’t think you would really do it, Craig! Don’t you dare!” She tugged on her arm, trying to free herself, but he had a tight hold on her and she was unable to escape his grip. “I’ll go to bed if you really want me to!” she said, capitulating and sacrificing her pride.

“Oh, you’ll go to bed, all right. But, you’ll do so with a stinging butt.” He sat on the side of the bed and tugged her down across his lap, and then his hand smacked the seat of her jeans, leaving a stinging handprint. “I think you’ve needed a spanking for a long time, haven’t you, little girl?”

“No! I am not a little girl, and I don’t want a spanking!” she insisted, but Craig ignored her and continued to spank her, the swats stinging like crazy. “Ouch! Ow! You’ve made… Ouch! Your point! Stop now! Ow!”

Craig spanked her again and again for good measure. “You do not tell me when to stop a spanking, Miss Elizabeth. I’ll stop when I am ready, and when I feel you are remorseful! You aren’t even close to being sorry!”

“Yes, I am!” she screeched when he spanked her again as she was trying to talk. “I am!”

“You are not. You’re too busy having a tantrum.”

“Please stop! I’m sorry! It hurts! Please, Craig! I am truly sorry!”

Craig was sure she’d had enough. He had no doubt she was stinging right now, and that was what he intended. He didn’t want to be harsh with Lizzy when she was recovering from a concussion. She also needed to rest, and while he didn’t consider things of that sort to be important on a daily basis, Elizabeth needed extra care and extra rest right now.

Elizabeth felt dizzy when he lifted her and then put her in bed. Her butt was burning and she was so embarrassed she didn’t know what to do with herself.

“Do you think you can go to sleep now?”

She nodded, wanting to be left alone.

“Good,” he whispered, and then he bent down and kissed her on the cheek.

Elizabeth couldn’t believe the man. One minute he was spanking her so hard that her poor butt was on fire, and in the next minute, he was kissing her tenderly! One little kiss hardly made up for the stinging bottom she had. Elizabeth fumed, but she also fell asleep within five minutes.

Craig peeked in on her and smiled when he realized she was asleep. While she was resting he would try to get some work done. Forensics sent over a report on his fax machine and he didn’t recognize any of the names the partial matched. Still, he concentrated on investigating the men and searching for anything that could lead to the man who attacked Elizabeth. Craig did not believe this was some random attack. He believed that Elizabeth saw something she didn’t realize she was seeing at the time. What he needed to do was get a court order so that he could compare his list to the list of patients seen in the ER the last few weeks.

Craig went into his kitchen and prepped some veggies for a stir-fry for their lunch. He took out some chicken tenders and then cut them into thin strips. He wouldn’t start them until his houseguest woke from her nap. He washed his hands, and then he went to check on Elizabeth. To his shock, her room was empty!

* * *

Elizabeth didn’t mean to get lost when she woke and decided to go for a walk. She needed some time to compose herself and think about her feelings. Craig Johnson spanked her and there was nothing that could change that fact! Did he care about her? She didn’t know. She didn’t have the best instincts when it came to men. The Domestic Discipline sites she belonged to claimed that a spanking was an act of love. If that was the case, he must love her a lot because he certainly spanked her thoroughly… until she said ‘sorry’ at least a hundred times! But, Elizabeth was forced to admit, she did not feel abused. She felt much loved when he tucked her into bed.

All of a sudden, she looked around and realized she didn’t know where she was! How was she to find her way back to Craig’s house? She tried to remain calm as she looked around for someone she could ask, but no one seemed to be home.

* * *

Just as he was planning to leave the house to go and search for the redhead, his cell phone rang. “Johnson.”

“Lieutenant, this is Wally. That little gal you are trying’ to protect is out walking by herself. I don’t think that is such a good idea, even if this
is
a secured neighborhood.”

“Where is she, Wally?” The man answered, and Craig thanked him and took off to find her and bring her home, and then he was going to give her a real spanking! He jumped into his car and quickly drove to the other side of the housing development, looking for Elizabeth.

* * *

Elizabeth spotted the man when he started following her. At first, she wasn’t concerned, but when she turned to go down another street, he followed. And soon she realized that he was following her for real. She didn’t know what to do. She was terrified and wondered if whoever broke into her house and attacked her had followed her and Craig here. She said a little prayer, hoping that Craig would try to find her. She knew she was a pain, but she really needed his help. Just when she was sure the man was going to grab her, she saw Craig’s car come around the corner. Elizabeth ran out into the street, mindless of the fact he could run her down if he so chose.

“Elizabeth! What do you think you’re doing?” he growled at her, jumping out of the car.

“Oh, God! Craig, that man has been following me! I was so scared, and I didn’t know what to do. Thank you for coming!”

“Is she your guest, Johnson?” the man asked with a puzzled look on his face.

“Yes, sir, she is. She thought you were going to hurt her, and I’m sure that make her appear suspicious,”

“Young lady, I put men like that in prison. I’m Judge Weatherby, and you are?” he asked, smiling at her.

“Oh dear, a judge!” Elizabeth moaned in embarrassment. “My name is Elizabeth Matthews, sir.”

Craig explained that he brought Elizabeth to the gated community to keep her safe, and then he listened to the judge scold him for permitting her to walk the streets in broad daylight.

“Judge, I didn’t tell Craig I was going for a walk. I’m sure that if he’d known, he would have forbidden me to leave the house. In retrospect, it wasn’t very smart.”

“Well, no harm has come to you, and I certainly wouldn’t have permitted anyone to hurt you, I guarantee that.” He looked at Craig and said, “I like her, Johnson. She defended you when she knew she was the one in the wrong. I find that admirable when all I do most of the day is hear people blame everyone else for their wrongdoings.”

“She is a very sweet young woman,” Craig admitted. He’d been impressed with her defense of him, too. Most of the women he’d dated would have thrown him under the bus, but not his Lizzy. “Thank you for keeping an eye on her, Judge Weatherby.”

“It was my pleasure.” The judge smiled at them. “I need to get on home before my wife sends out a search party. She would do it, too.” The smile on his face said that he wouldn’t mind if she did.

“You come with me, little girl. You are in some big trouble,” Craig warned Elizabeth as he opened the car door for her.

“I’m sorry, Craig. I didn’t think that it could be dangerous. I just needed to clear my head. No one has ever cared about me… And you, well, you are different.”

“Is that a good thing? Or are you still pouting because I spanked you?”

“I’m not exactly pouting, but I am wondering why you care so much what I do?”

“You are special, and I feel as though I’ve known you forever.” It was the truth.

Elizabeth nodded. “Like perhaps you recognized me even though we didn’t meet until yesterday?” she questioned, looking at him with a serious expression. He was pulling into his driveway and then into the garage.

“That is exactly how it feels, Lizzy. Does that shock you?”

“Sort of… I mean, I never thought it could happen, too, but it has… Just like Grandma with Grandpa. He met her on a Thursday and they got married on Saturday! Her parents had a fit, too!” Elizabeth giggled. “They just celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary, and they are still madly in love with each other.” All of a sudden, Elizabeth realized how her words sounded. “I didn’t mean to imply that we would be married, Craig. I was just talking…”

“I was listening,” he said, pulling her from the car and kissing her.

It was like an explosion within her body! Elizabeth kissed Craig back, forgetting about anything and everything. She simply couldn’t get enough of his lips, and she wanted him, all of him, in a way she’d never wanted a man before. “Oh goodness!” she whispered when he let her breathe.

“Sweet goodness,” he corrected her. “Lizzy, I don’t normally react this way to someone I’ve just met and barely know. It’s as though you belong to me already. Two days ago I would have said it was pure nonsense that two people could instantly fall in love, but now that it has happened to us, I am sure of my feelings. It’s as though I’ve known you forever, Lizzy.”

“Grandma and Grandpa are going to love you, and Mama and Daddy are going to think we’re nuts.” She giggled when he chuckled. They went inside and she noticed that Craig had been busy. “Want some help?” she offered, suddenly hungry.

“Sure, you can get me a wooden spatula,” he told her, and if she’d looked at him she would have seen the serious look in his dark eyes.

“Want me to start stir frying the chicken first?” she offered, only to have him take the wooden spatula from her hands and then smack it against her bottom! “Ow! What are you doing?” she screeched, trying to jump out of reach, but he kept his hold on her, and gave her rear another sound spank.

“I am spanking you for leaving this house by yourself, and for not bothering to say one darn word to me, young lady! If Wally hadn’t called me, I wouldn’t have had the first clue where to start looking.” He spanked her again, and then again. “I want you to think before you do something, Elizabeth! I didn’t just meet you to lose you!” He gave her three more spanks, and then he released her, walked over to the sink and scrubbed the wooden spatula so that he could use it to cook their stir-fry. “You can get out a couple of plates for us.” His voice was perfectly normal.

“That was totally unnecessary and not one bit fair!” she accused, glaring at him.

“It was totally unnecessary for you to scare me out of my mind,” he countered.

“I wasn’t trying to frighten you!” she argued.

“If I thought you did it on purpose, you would still be getting your pretty fanny spanked,” he said, and the look in his dark eyes assured her that he was very serious.

“But, I already said I was sorry, Craig. I didn’t need a spanking to remind me that I was foolish. I’m not used to being stalked, or whatever this person is doing!”