Treasured Heart

Chapter 19

A/N: Sorry for the delay folks. RL gets in the way sometimes. I'm going to say from now until the end of the story that updates will be on Sunday or Monday. We've got about 6 chapters left, maybe 7. As always, thanks for reading and reviewing, and a huge thanks to my beta, Heather.

"Here," Edward said as he came into our stateroom almost a week after we'd been back on the ship, holding a package of Oreos out for me to take. "You looked like you could use some of these."

The man knew me well. While Oreos weren't the cure for everything, they were a definite comfort food for me, and I loved that he knew me so well.

"Thanks," I told him as I took the cookies from him and opened the package, pulling out a couple.

"How are you holding up?" he asked as he sat down on the bed next to me, stealing a cookie out of my hand and popping it into his mouth.

I shrugged as I twisted the top of my Oreo off.

"Okay, I guess. I'm not as excited about my work as I was before. I don't know if it's because our goal has been achieved in finding the Treasured Heart or if it's because the Treasured Heart is gone."

Edward wrapped an arm around me, pulling me into his side, and I rested my head on his shoulder, the cookie in my hand forgotten for the moment.

"I think it's probably a bit of both. The Treasured Heart had been seen as this almost unattainable goal, and then you found it. I think the adrenaline of finding it has worn off, and now we're dealing with the aftermath. Granted, the brooch being stolen certainly doesn't help."

"Yeah, I think you're right," I said quietly. "Has Jasper heard anything from the police or the FBI?"

"Not that I know of, but he's been busy dealing with Aro as well as the French government. We can go pay him a visit in a little while if you want?"

"Yeah, let's do that, but let's eat some more cookies first."

So, the two of us sat on our bed, eating cookies and watching a movie on Edward's laptop for the next hour.

Full of cookies and more relaxed than I had been, Edward and I made our way toward Jasper's little office on the ship and knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" Jasper's voice called out, and I cracked the door open and poked my head in.

"Got a minute?"

"Of course," he said, and soon, Edward and I were seated in the chairs across from Jasper's desk.

"Have you heard anything?" I asked right away, and Jasper sat back in his chair.

"Nothing concrete yet. It looks like the video footage on the security cameras was tampered with, and Dr. Uley's keycard was stolen and used to enter the building later that night. As far as Black goes, I've let my suspicions of him be known to Agent Charlotte, who is working the case, but I don't know how they plan to pursue him."

"That's why he's got me poking around in Black's life," Rose said from the doorway, and I looked at her as she shut the door behind her and leaned against the wall.

"Have you found anything tying him to Marcus Caius?" I asked her, and she shook her head.

"Not yet, but I've found some discrepancies in his finances," she told us. "He grew up in one of the poorest towns in Oklahoma. His mother didn't have much money, and there was no money for him to go to college. After high school, he worked various fast food jobs and was struggling to survive. Then, all of a sudden, when he was twenty, eighty thousand dollars showed up in his bank account."