The New Girl

Chapter 22

Elizabeth

Three rings went by before I hear a man greet me on the phone. "This is Harold Shaw, how may I help you?"

"Mr. Shaw, this is Elizabeth Scott, you called me?" I say with urgency.

"Oh thank goodness you picked up, you need to come to the police station right away."

My breath catches. "What? Why" I sputter out.

"I'll explain when you come here. Just hurry."

"I will. Thank you." I hang up to the phone and look at a very worried Tristan.

"Elizabeth, what's going on?" he asks.

I shake my head. "I don't know. He just said that we need to get to the police station right away." I say, my mind still spinning in confusion.

I can see Tristan's jaw clench. "Let's go then." I nod and hurry into the passenger seat. "Just the local one, right?" he asks.

"Yeah." I answer and he's off.

All I can think about is what is happening. I know it has something to do with my parents. That was obvious, I was just scared about what the situation was. How serious it is. Tristan must have sensed my stress and reaches over to squeeze my hand as he drove. It helped a little bit, but the herd of buffalo in my gut still ran wild.

We pull up in front of the Kensington Police Department. I swallow hard before getting out. Tristan comes over and takes my hand, leading me inside.

We walk through the doors and I see Mr. Shaw sitting in a chair along the wall, his hands crossed over his bowed head. I walk over to him and stand there awkwardly before saying, "Mr. Shaw?"

He jerks his head up, looks at me in shock for a second before replacing his expression for a tight smile. "Hey there," he says standing up. We shake hands before getting right to the point.

"So what happened?" I ask.

He exhales sharply and runs his hand over his bald head. "Elizabeth, this isn't going to be an easy thing to swallow. Do you want to sit down before I tell you?" he asks.

I shake my head. "I'll be okay, just please tell me." I say, although him telling me that made my anxiety go up another 10 notches.

He sighs again before saying, "I don't know how to say it any other way besides, your father is most likely going to jail for your mother's murder."

I'm frozen in shock. I take the nearest seat and Tristan helps me into it, sitting next to me, stroking my back. Murder? My dad is an asshole, but I'd never known that he would go so far.

I look up at Mr. Shaw. "Why?" I whisper.

He takes the seat beside me. "He was home, drunk, and your mother came home. He told me that they started arguing, about what he can't remember. Needless to say it escalated pretty quickly, and he beat her to death." I looks at me with a sad expression. "I'm so sorry Elizabeth. I may have to defend him in court, but that doesn't mean that I'm with him. You seem like a good kid, clean record despite the independence put upon you at such a young age. And sorry doesn't change that, but I really am."

I start to cry as I look at him. "Where is she?" I ask.

He gives me a sad smile. "She's at Mercy Hospital, about a half hour away from here. She died 10 minutes after she arrived."

I try and take deep breaths, dragging long breaths in and out. Tristan all this time has stayed silent, gently stroking my back and shoulder. I need to know the whole story. From him. My father. Someone I'm so disgusted to be related to.