A/N: I decided to try something a little different and write a crossover. I've already put up several Twilight stories, but never any ND/HB. Since I've written a few of these over the years, I thought I would try to incorporate the two together and create a mystery that hopefully all of you will enjoy. Please review and let me know how you like the story. I always enjoy reading what other people have to say.
Corporate Malice
Chapter One
Edward POV
It was a beautiful sunny day in Chicago. I was on my way to work this morning, and I just couldn't focus on the clear blue skies or even the traffic around me. Usually, I love my job at Volturi Pharmaceuticals, but today I just didn't have my mind on the job. I was worried about my girlfriend, Bella.
I ran my hand through my already unruly bronze hair as I thought about Bella. We had been dating for several months now after being introduced at work. We just clicked with each other from the first time we met. At first, we were just really good friends. We shared jokes with each other and spent time talking about anything and everything during breaks and lunches. This eventually progressed to us going out on group outings with other friends of ours. Of course, we weren't really going out as a couple on these outings. We merely went out to see a movie or hang out at a dance club in town. It was another way to spend time together outside of work.
Eventually, the nights that I drove back to my empty apartment after work seemed dull. I would walk around not knowing what to do with myself or just sit on the sofa in front of the television aimlessly changing channels without anything ever catching my attention. I knew something was missing from my life, but I couldn't really pinpoint what that something was at the time.
I'm not really sure what made everything click in place for me. It might have happened one night when I was over at Jasper's place. Jasper Whitlock has been my best friend ever since college, and I go over there from time to time to have some male bonding time. One night I was over there and his new girlfriend, Alice, shows up at the door. I watched them interact all night and realized that my life was devoid of that kind of love. That's when I realized that it didn't have to be.
It took me two weeks from that moment for me to get up the guts to ask Bella out on a real date. I was so nervous when I finally did ask that I was afraid I might throw up in front of her. Luckily, I managed to contain myself and was elated when she agreed to go out with me.
Our first date was the typical dinner and a movie that has become so cliché over the years. As much as I wanted to do something over the top and completely different, I knew that Bella wouldn't care for me spending lots of money on her. I ended up taking her to a nice restaurant, but not one that was so fancy that your meal would cost well over one hundred dollars. We had such a great conversation during that dinner that I knew from that point on that she was the one for me. Later, we went to see a nice romantic comedy that was in the theatres. Overall, our evening together was one of the best in my life, including that goodnight kiss.
Since then, Bella and I try to spend as much time together as we can. We still have our individual living spaces, so we don't actually see each other every night after work. Bella made up her mind that she needed at least two nights out of the week to just stay at home and do household chores like cleaning and washing her laundry. As much as I didn't like not being able to see her every single night, I knew she was right. I would never get anything done in my own place if she was around me every evening. The remainder of the time we spent at each other's apartments or out with friends.
The main reason I was worried about her this morning was because she didn't show up for dinner last night. We had made plans before leaving work yesterday. I suppose with most people it might not be a big deal if you don't show up once. However, Bella always showed up when something was planned or at least called to say that she was running late or couldn't make it. I haven't seen or heard from her since yesterday when I left work. It was out of character for her and made me worry. I just hoped that nothing was the matter.
As I pulled into the parking lot at work, my eyes scanned the vehicles already there hoping that one of them belonged to Bella. I couldn't see her car in the parking lot, yet. Of course, that made me worry a little more even though it was still early in the morning. A lot of people don't arrive until right around eight o'clock and it was only seven thirty. I told myself that I shouldn't be so paranoid as I got out of my silver Volvo and walked inside the building, swiping my badge at each entrance until I finally ended up in the chemistry lab where I worked.
In my state of worry, I had somehow failed to notice all of the hysteria and confusion that was around me. I looked around and saw most of my fellow coworkers, minus Bella, assembled into a small group near the front of lab. There were police officers and medics hanging around near the front office for Jane Aswad, our lab manager.
I spotted Jasper and walked over to the tall blonde. "Hey Jaz, what's going on?" I asked quietly.
Jasper turned his clear blue eyes to me and spoke softly, "They found Jane murdered this morning."
"What?" I asked in shock.
Jasper sighed. "Alec came in this morning to see her. He found her on the floor in her office with a bullet through the head."
I closed my eyes at the news. I hear about murders happening all the time on the news, but I never thought something like this would happen in my own workplace. I looked around to see if Bella had come in during the few minutes that I had been standing with Jasper. I just wanted to hold her to me and protect her from this grisly mess that I was now witnessing first-hand.
Jasper looked at me with a calculating expression. "Dude, what are you so worried about? It's not like we can't get another manager. Hopefully we'll find someone who isn't incompetent."
I shook my head at him. "It's not Jane I'm concerned about. I haven't seen or heard from Bella since yesterday at work. You haven't spoken with her by any chance, have you?"
Jasper shook his head quickly. "Hey Allie," he called.
Alice wasn't her typical bouncy self as she walked a few steps over to us. I couldn't help but to smile as I saw them standing together. Alice barely reached the five foot mark in height compared to Jasper, who was well over six feet tall like myself. She had short, black hair that was currently in a spiky hairdo compared with Jasper's honey blonde locks. Even with their differences in appearance, anyone could easily tell how in love they are with each other. They weren't as showy about it as others, but their love was definitely one that was lasting.
"Have you seen or heard anything from Bella?" Jasper asked her.
I watched as Alice shook her head before turning back to me. "The last time I saws her was yesterday before I left work. I know she still had some more work to do when I walked out the door in order to get everything tested for release."
Alice looked around with a confused expression on her face. "Shouldn't she be here by now?" she asked.
I glanced at the clock and saw that we had been milling around watching the police move through the lab that an hour had already passed. Bella still hadn't shown up.
"She didn't make it to dinner with me last night and never called to say that something tied her up," I told them. "And now she's still not here this morning, so I'm beyond worried. It's just not like her to not call someone."
Both of them nodded their heads. Jasper finally questioned, "Do you think you should mention it to the police?"
I firmly shook my head at that idea. "I don't want to bother them with their investigation. Even if none of us liked Jane, she still deserves to have her case solved by them. I don't want a killer on the loose. Secondly, I know that I have to wait for at least twenty-four hours before I can file a report with them."
We all stood there watching until the police finally finished taking all of their pictures and waved for some people to come in there and take the body to the coroner in order to obtain an autopsy. I was glad that the police kept us back far enough that none of us were ever able to get a really good view of Jane. I really didn't want to have an image of a dead body in my head for years to come.
Once the body was carried out, the police walked around and wrote down each of our names and a means of contact in case they had any questions for us regarding the case. After that was finished, the detectives all left.
The group of us slowly dispersed back to our benches where we worked. As I headed toward the back of the lab where my bench was, I was glad that I had a job that would be able to keep me busy today. I really needed to be able to do some work that would help me focus on something other than Bella possibly being missing and knowing that our manager was now murdered.
I sat down at my bench and worked for a few hours doing nothing but paperwork for some recent testing I had done on one of our new potential products that we were planning to sell. The FDA had given us approval after our initial submission for the new product, but I was required to submit the final reports of our stability testing so they could approve the expiration dating that would be put on the product when it was manufactured for the public.
When I finished with all of my paperwork, I saw that it was nearing lunchtime. My eyes once again scanned the entire lab looking for Bella even though I knew that I wouldn't find her. I made up my mind to go find Carlisle before he left for lunch and talk to him.
Carlisle Cullen was my uncle and also happened to be the plant manager for the building I worked in. I moved in with him and my cousin, Emmett, when my parents died in a car accident while I was in high school. I thought of him as my second father and knew that he would be able to give me some good advice for any situation.
I walked toward the front of the building where his office was located. I hoped that he hadn't gone to lunch yet. I was relieved when I saw him sitting behind his desk talking on the phone. He saw me standing in the doorway and motioned for me to come in.
I stepped into his office and closed the door behind me before taking a seat in one of the chairs facing his desk. My fingers drummed against the arm of the chair as I waited for him to finish his phone call. Finally, Carlisle said his final remarks over the phone and hung up before looking up at me.
"What can I do for you, Edward?" he asked.
I looked at the father figure sitting before me. He was in his early fifties but didn't look a day over thirty-five. His blonde hair had yet to start turning grey, and his skin was fair and wrinkle-free. I knew that any movie star would love to look like that without having to get treatments from a doctor.
I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "I need some advice because I just don't know what I should do."
"Okay, why don't you tell me what the problem is?" Carlisle prodded.
"It's Bella," I responded. "She was supposed to come by for dinner last night and never showed up. I haven't heard anything from her since I left work yesterday," I explained. "I was concerned but thought that when she came in this morning, I would hear that she had car trouble or fell asleep on the sofa last night. But she hasn't come in today, and none of her other friends have heard from her."
Carlisle sat back in his chair with a thoughtful expression. "You do know that the police will find this coincidence very suspicious if you file a missing person report."
"Bella wouldn't harm anyone!" I said angrily.
Carlisle sat up and placed both hands flat on his desk. "Look, I'm going to be straight with you because I see you as a son. I know that Bella wouldn't harm a fly, but that doesn't mean that the police won't look upon her as a prime suspect. Now, I'm certainly not opposed to you filing a missing persons report. It might be helpful for them to be on the lookout for her regardless of whether they consider her a suspect or not. After all, we can always find a way to clear her of any suspicions," Carlisle explained calmly. "There is one other thing that you might consider though."
"What's that?" I asked calming down a little after hearing Carlisle explain himself.
"Have you ever thought about hiring a private detective?" he asked.
I shook my head because that thought had not crossed my mind.
"Since a private detective is working for you, they wouldn't be tied up trying to solve a murder mystery at the same time. All of their efforts could be put into the search for Bella," Carlisle told me.
"That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea," I responded slowly.
"Edward, make sure you keep Esme and I informed of everything going on," Carlisle continued. "You know that we love Bella, too."
"Thanks for the advice," I told him as I stood up. Carlisle gave me a fatherly hug before I left his office.
I decided that I would make use of my lunch hour. I headed out the door and got into my car. I picked up a quick sandwich from a nearby fast food place and drove quickly to a park that was close by.
Bella and I would come out here to have lunch together a few times a week. It was a nice getaway from the work environment. There were never many people here, so we were able to have quite a bit of privacy with one another. The privacy was what I was looking for today.
Ever since Carlisle mentioned the idea of hiring a private detective, I remembered a newspaper article that I read a few months back. I'm not sure how it suddenly came to mind with everything else going on right now, but I was thankful for it.
The article mentioned a young detective who was very successful at solving cases that even the police had trouble with. It was also helpful that she lived in River Heights, which wasn't that far away from Chicago.
I pulled out my phone to dial information in order to get her number. I just hoped that she wasn't going to be busy on another case. I felt that I could use all the help I could get in order to find Bella.
