Damn you, ever-nagging plot bunnies ... I just can't get this one out of my head. I am focusing on one story, but I wanted to get a foundation on this new one. So, here we go ... This will be similar to Buying Love, Friends with Benefits, Mafia Princess and The One That Got Away, with shorter chapters and more frequent updates: Monday/Friday updates with Tuesday/Saturday teasers.
Chapter Three
EPOV
After Carmen left with Bella, I sat in the empty conference room trying to come to grips to the hollowness I felt. It wasn't until Marcus came back that I flew into action, calling my contact at the Seattle Police Department, Detective Emmett McCarty, to meet with Carmen and Bella at Harbor View Medical Center.
Emmett and I played football in high school. We were close in high school, but drifted apart when we went to college. After my breakdown, when I began working for legal aid, I ran into him at one of the precincts. He'd arrested one of my clients. We got to talking and exchanged numbers. Whenever I needed a cop, I called him and he pulled through. Every time.
I also made a reservation at a hotel near the office, using my name. Bella and I were traveling for business and needed adjoining rooms. I didn't know her last name, so I used my birth name as her surname, Bella Masen.
Yeah, I was adopted by the parents from hell. Okay, not from hell, but definitely from purgatory. Alice and I were the accessory children for Esme and Carlisle Cullen. Esme was a home maker, housewife, and chair to numerous charities. Carlisle was a decorated state senator, who was running for congress in this election. From what Alice told me, Carlisle had a good chance of winning.
When we were kids, Alice and I had everything we could have ever wanted. We were loved, protected and cherished. However, if we made a mistake, it was hell. I got a speeding ticket and I was forced to sleep in my car for a month. Alice got a C on a midterm and she was grounded for the rest of the academic school year. Our parents only expected perfection. Mom was more lenient than Carlisle, but she was still strict. So, an adoptive son with mental health issues?
Not an option for the cookie-cutter, perfect Cullen clan.
Hence, my parents disinheriting me and giving everything to my sister.
Bitter much, Cullen?
Shaking off my anger, I sent a text to Carmen and told her that I had Bella and I in the Hampton Suites a mile away from the office. I also told her that I was picking up my clothes and trying to find Bella some clothes as well since she probably only had the clothes on her back. I dialed up my sister, praying she'd pick up. To my relief she did, "Hello? Edward?" she squeaked.
"I'm so glad you answered, Ali," I said, driving to my apartment. "I need your help."
"I can't help you financially, Edward. Not anymore. Dad is having my bank accounts monitored," Alice snarled.
"I'm not talking about money, Alice. I'm fine," I shrugged. Mostly. "Anyway, I have a client who is a victim of domestic abuse. We're getting her out of her house and she has nothing. Do you think you can donate some clothes to her? Think of it as a tax write off, charitable donation."
"That I can do. I'll swing by my condo and pick up some clothes that are no longer in style," Alice said.
"What, from last season?" I teased.
"Yes," she snorted. "I have an image to portray as the daughter of Representative Cullen. Whatevs. Oh, and do you know how they are explaining your absence? You're in rehab."
"Great. Everything thinks that I'm crazy and a druggie," I deadpanned. "I'm on drugs, but magic happy pills." I pinched my nose, parking my car in front of my apartment. "Thank you, Alice, for your help. If you want to drop off the clothes at the Hampton Suites near my office. Is Jasper going to bring them?"
"No. I'm coming myself. I want to see you, big brother," Alice murmured. "I miss you and I need to see you. I need your strength to finally stand up for myself and get out from Mom and Dad. I'm sooooooooo done!"
"What happened, Alice?"
"I'll tell you when I see you, Edward," Alice replied. "I love you and I'll see you tonight." We hung up and I went up to my apartment, packing for at least a week's stay. On my way to the hotel, I picked up some essentials for Bella: tooth brush, tooth paste, hair brush, shampoo and razors. I checked in for us and made sure that everything was set up. Leaving the hotel, I drove to Harbor View and parked next to Carmen's SUV. I sent her a text, sitting down in the waiting area. I waited for an hour before Emmett came in. He nodded to me and we went back into the treatment area, following a nurse.
"Do you know her husband?" I asked Emmett as we navigated the maze in the emergency department.
"If it's who I think it is, then yes," Emmett replied. "The guy's a piece of work. He works in narcotics and he's known for his brutality. He's got numerous excessive force complaints, but somehow they disappear." We entered Bella's room. Her hair was clipped back and a female doctor was working on a cut along her hairline. "Mrs. Black?"
"Swan," she murmured. "My name is Isabella Swan. I never changed my name after I married my husband." She looked at Emmett, her eyes narrowed. "You're not going to hand me over to him, are you?"
"No, ma'am," Emmett said. "If Detective Black did this, he will pay for his behavior."
"Mr. Cullen has documentation of my injuries, thanks to my neighbor, Rosalie," Bella said. I handed him the flash drive. I'd saved all the information onto my laptop, encrypting the file.
"I also have my medical findings, verifying her injuries and corroborating her story," the doctor said. "Dr. Jane Volturi, emergency department attending physician."
"Nice to meet you, Dr. Volturi," Emmett nodded. "Now, can you tell me about your marriage, Ms. Swan?"
Bella nodded and she described what could be easily compared to hell. Her husband had taken her under his wing after both of her parents had died. He wined and dined her while she was grieving the loss, but when she said yes to his marriage proposal, his behavior changed. She was deprived of food, water, and access to the outside world. He would lock her in their apartment, in a room where there was a bed, a toilet and rags for clothes. Somehow, she'd managed to open the locked room and got free, but was too terrified to leave, until she met Rose. That's when they began documenting her injuries.
When Bella became pregnant, she was determined to free herself from the torture of her husband but he'd been so brutal with her that she lost the baby. When they went to the doctor, Jacob, her husband, had explained it away as she fell down a set of stairs. The doctor believed him and took care of it. However, as Bella was describing all of this, she was so cold and detached. Her eyes were empty and her face was devoid of all emotion. Carmen, who was as prickly as a cactus, was crying as Bella described her living conditions and her husband's brutal treatment of her.
"Do you want to press charges against him?" Emmett asked as he finished taking her statement.
Bella glared at him, anger and rage pouring off her in waves. "I want him to pay for what he did to me. I know he's not done brutalizing women and innocents." Her hands were clenched into tight fists but they were turning bright red. "I want to press charges and then I want him to experience what I did, times ten."
I moved so I was next to her, taking her hand in mine. I was shocked at how hot it was. "We'll make him pay, Bella."
She blinked toward me, her chocolate-colored orbs swirling with anger, rage, and power, and she smiled. "We will, Edward." It was a terrifying smile graced her face and she took a breath, her head falling back onto pillow. Her eyes fluttered shut and she gripped my hand. That unexplained warmth surrounded me and something inside me that needed protect her.
But I needed to protect her from more than just her husband or ex-husband or whoever. This was something more than that. I just didn't know what it was, but it was an inherent need to do so. Nothing could happen to Bella, or me.
A/N: Edward is feeling protective over Bella. He's recognizing something within her and something within himself. What is it? When will it come to fruition? Only time will tell. Leave me some loving!
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