This is a one-shot I wrote a couple of months ago a fic-exchange over on LJ. Thanks to Gin & Shug for organizing it, and to deemichelle for the prompt:
"AH: Edward is a cop; he moves to Forks to be their new detective. There's a mystery to be solved. How does it affect him and his 'duties' when he finds out it involves the Chief's college-aged daughter?"
I took some pretty big liberties with the prompt, and told the type of neo-noir tale I love to tell. I worked in little references to all the people I love most, including the title which is a loving nod to a very special old friend.
A special thanks to the EBs for support and encourage far beyond what I deserve. IFLY guys!!!
Lady in Red
If only I'd stayed away from her…
If only I'd stayed away from this town…
As I stood scrubbing the blood from my hands, avoiding looking at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, I contemplated how different things could have been.
If only I'd stayed away…
The stench of bleach burned my nose and it didn't entirely cover the smell of blood and sweat that filled the room. Using a brush to scour my flesh, I was careful to clean underneath my fingernails, leaving behind no trace.
I stripped out of my clothes and wrapped them in a plastic garbage bag. I'd be sure to burn them later. I stepped into the shower to rinse away any residue of death or any hair or fiber that could tie me to the victim.
The water pulsed hot over my face, dripping down my body. If only I could wash away the memory of all this, this town, her… But there she was again, filling my mind, permeating my every thought. She was beautiful, tragic - seductive, dangerous. I knew from the first second I laid eyes on her that I wouldn't be able to resist her.
2 weeks earlier
When I pulled up at the Forks' police station, I thought I knew exactly what to expect. It'd been over a decade since I'd left Forks, but I didn't suspect much had changed. I spent the first 18 years of my life despising this town. I moved to Seattle the first chance I got - straight out of school. I'd been on the police force for over 8 years, detective for 2 of them. I rose through the ranks quickly; I was good at my job.
But I also had a temper.
So when one of the guys on the force gave his wife a beating that landed her in the hospital, I wasn't one to turn the other cheek. He bullied her into not pressing charges, and I decided to have words with him. I told him to pick on somebody his own size. He had a foul attitude and things got messy. When I was finished, he was the one in the hospital.
That's fine and all, except it got me suspended from duty indefinitely. My stepfather, Carlisle, who still lives in Forks, mentioned that the local force could use some extra help. He put in a good word for me with the Chief of Police and I found myself employed once again.
Of course, that meant I had to return to Forks.
I took one last drag off my cigarette before tossing it to the ground. When I walked into the tiny station, I was greeted by a perky girl at the reception desk.
"Good morning!" she chimed. "You must be Edward Cullen."
"That's right," I replied.
"We've been expecting you," she said cheerfully.
"Alice, did I hear you say something about Edward Cu-" A dark-haired man with a mustache came out of the back room.
"Oh, hi! You're early. Welcome, I'm Charlie Swan, Chief of Police," he said.
"Nice to meet you, Chief Swan," I said, extending a hand.
"Call me Charlie," he said, shaking my hand. "I'd offer to show you around, but I suppose you've pretty much seen it all now," he said with a laugh as he motioned around the cramped space.
He led me back to his office, making introductions along the way.
"This here is Emmett," he said, motioning to large guy that looked up and waved. "Over there is Seth," he said, pointing towards younger guy. "And back there in the corner, is Billy. He's our dispatcher, and also the father of Jacob, our other deputy," he explained.
I followed him into the office and he shut the door behind us.
"So you're Carlisle's boy, huh? I tell ya, he's one hell of a doctor. Kinda surprised you didn't follow in his footsteps, actually," he said.
"So was he," I said dryly.
He sat down at his desk and motioned for me to take the seat across from him.
He opened a file on his desk and absent-mindedly flipped through it, then sighed and slapped it shut.
"So, I understand you're a bit of a hothead," he said.
"I don't-" I started.
"As long as you keep it under control when you're on my clock," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Then it won't be a problem. I looked through your file and except when that temper's got the best of you – it's exemplary. Sounds like you've got a good head on your shoulders, and if Carlisle's vouched for you, well, then that's good enough for me."
"Thank you sir," I said.
"Alright," he said. "Now I understand you're looking to stay as a detective, like you were in Seattle?"
"That's right," I said.
"Okay, but I'm gonna pair you up with Jacob at first," he said. "He's a great cop, and it'll be good for you to work with him till you get the hang of our procedures, then you can-"
We were interrupted by a tap on the door.
Then I saw her.
She leaned in the door frame with a smile that would've stopped traffic.
"Hope I'm not interrupting," she said slyly.
"Morning, Bella," Charlie said, standing to greet her.
As she walked into the room, it seemed to happen in slow motion. She had dark brown hair that bounced off her shoulders with every step. She was wearing a black dress that hugged her body in all the right places. She had on red heels and redder lipstick. Who the hell is dressed like that at 9am on a Tuesday?
"Morning, Daddy," she said as she threw her arms around him.
"Late night or early morning, Bells?" he asked.
"What do you think?" she asked coyly.
"I don't know how you do it, staying up all night…" he said.
"You only live once," she replied.
"Oh, excuse my manners. Bella, this is Carlisle's son, Edward. He's gonna be working for me now," he explained.
I still hadn't taken my eyes off of her, but I stood and offered her my hand.
"It's a pleasure, Edward," she said as her fingers wrapped around mine.
It was a pleasure alright.
That was the first time I met her. She was breathtaking, the kind of girl that made your head spin, the kind of girl that you just know is trouble, but can't resist anyway.
Later that day I met Jacob Black. He was meant to be my mentor, which was absurd because I should have out-ranked him. But I went along with it. He didn't seem anymore pleased with the situation than I was, and never missed a chance to try to provoke me. The other two deputies weren't as bad. Emmett was big, a beast of a guy that looked more like a bouncer than a cop. Seth was smaller, but solid. He was inexperienced but smart, quick witted and eager to help out. They were friendly, but I kept quiet and tried to keep to myself and focus on my work.
As the next few days went by, I worked closely with Charlie. He was a good cop, and an honorable guy. I could see why Carlisle liked him. Bella continued to drop by the station sometimes, and I wished she wouldn't because I couldn't think straight when she was around. I had more important things to be thinking about than the way her hair shined in the sunlight, or the way her skin was the color of cream, or the way she smelled better than anything I'd ever smelled in my life. I've never been one to resist temptation, smoking, drinking – women. And Bella Swan was more tempting than any woman I'd ever met.
One night, the guys invited me to join them for drinks after work. Seth's girl, Gabi, met us at the bar down the street where Alice's boyfriend was a bartender. It was your typical small town watering hole that stank of stale beer and broken dreams. We were a few rounds in when I saw her across the room. She was with a blonde that looked equally as deadly, and they'd just walked in. A few heads turned, but I couldn't understand why everyone else wasn't as mesmerized by her as I was. Seth followed my gaze and saw them too.
"Hey Em," he said. "Your lady's here."
I prayed he was talking about the blonde one and not Bella. The things I'd like to do to that girl…Hell, the things she'd probably do to me…
Emmett looked up and waved for the girls to join us.
They were both dressed to kill and crossed the room in step with each other like choreographed vixens. She wore a vintage red dress that left little to the imagination, yet there was something classic about her and she looked like a starlet from the 1920's.
"Baby," the blonde one called out, hopping onto Emmett's lap.
Her lips were on his before he had a chance to respond, and they were clawing at each other in an obscenely inappropriate display of affection. The blonde slid down and back onto her feet and pulled at Emmett's hand.
"I wanna dance, baby," she said with a pout.
"Whatever my Rose wants, my Rose gets," he said as he obliged and took her to the small clearing by the pool tables that was being used as a makeshift dance floor.
Jacob finished his drink and took off with his girl, Leah. She was gorgeous, feisty, and looked like she knew how to handle him.
The stool next to me now empty, Bella slid into place and turned her attention to me.
"So, how are you enjoying Forks?" she asked in her velvety voice.
"It's enthralling," I said sardonically.
"You just need someone to show you a good time," she said.
"And where do you think I could find someone to do that?" I asked.
"You never know. You'll just have to keep your eyes open," she said.
"Do you always play with men like this?" I asked.
"What's the matter, don't you like it?" she asked.
"Listen, you ever get tired of playing games and wanna play something real, you let me know," I said, calling her bluff as I slid my card across the bar to her.
She laughed.
"You're fun, but I don't think you could handle me," she said.
She slid down from the bar and sauntered off, I'm sure hoping I would follow her. I watched instead as she grabbed the arm of some schmuck down the bar and pulled him out to dance with her. He looked like an overgrown frat boy in his wrinkled khakis and baseball cap. There was no way a girl like that was into a guy like him. She was playing a game. Girls like that are always playing games. And if I wasn't so damn intrigued, I would have been annoyed.
I rejoined the conversation with Seth, Gabi and Alice. Her boyfriend, Jasper, kept our glasses full and chimed into the conversation intermittently. Eventually, Seth and Gabi called it a night, but with the whiskey flowing freely, I was in no rush. Besides, she was still there, and I would glance at her swaying on the dance floor, and was in no hurry at all.
But eventually her drooling frat boy was pawing all over her and I didn't care to stick around and watch that particular scene. I stumbled out of the bar and somehow made it back to my apartment and into my bed. I don't know how long I'd been asleep, but it was still dark when I awoke to the ringing of my cell.
"What?" I snapped into the phone. Whatever bastard was calling at this hour better have a damn good reason for it.
Silence at the other end.
I was just about to slap it shut when she spoke.
"Edward?" she asked timidly.
Bella. My blood surged hotter at the very sound of her voice. I sat up in bed, wiping a hand over my face, blinking myself awake and wishing like hell she was in my bed instead of on my phone.
"Bella?" I asked. "What time is it? What's up?"
"I need your help," she pleaded.
I was on my feet and pulling on my pants in an instant.
"What's going on?" I asked. "Where are you?"
"First Beach - La Push," she answered.
"The beach? What- never mind, I'm on my way. Look for my car, I'll be there in two minutes," I said.
I was still inebriated as I sped through the streets of Forks towards La Push. When I arrived, it was still dark, so I grabbed the flashlight from my glove compartment.
"Bella!" I called out, wandering through the woods as I made my way to the beach. "Bella!"
"Over here." I heard her say softly.
I turned quickly, and saw her curled up sitting on an old tree, trembling.
"What happened? How did you get out here?" I asked as I took off my jacket and threw it around her shoulders.
That's when I saw the blood.
It was streaked from her hands to her elbows, across the front of her dress. I knelt down to her, tilting her head up to look at me. All of the coyness was gone and she looked -- scared.
"Are you okay? Tell me what happened. Where are you hurt?"
"It's not my blood," she replied.
"Then whose blood is it?" I asked. "What happened?"
"It was an accident!" she cried out, tears flowing freely down her face. I knelt down next to her, wrapping my arm around her. "Things got out of control. We were both drunk, and it just – he got pushy, and I got scared and –"
"Who?" I asked.
"The guy from the bar, Mike Newton," she answered.
"Where is he now? What happened?" I asked.
She looked up at me with desperate eyes and grabbed my hands.
"We came down here just to mess around, maybe go swimming," she explained. "Then we were in the woods, and he started getting rough. I told him 'no', but he wouldn't listen."
She squeezed my hands as she told me what happened.
"He had me pinned against a tree, and we struggled, and I was just trying to get him off of me," she said, her voice escalating. "I shoved him, and he fell back, I think he tripped – and – and-"
"And what?" I asked.
"He hit his head," she said. "There was blood everywhere. I panicked."
"Where is he? We need to call an ambulance," I said.
"He was already dead," she whispered.
A cold chill shot through my body as I realized what had happened.
"We need to call this in," I said, reaching into my pocket for my cell.
"No!" she snapped, reaching for my phone.
"Why not?" I asked, confused.
"I – I panicked," she said. "I moved the body. I tried to hide it, but he was too heavy for me to move very far. But – but no one will believe it was an accident, especially now that I've moved the body and – you have to help me!"
I looked into her pleading eyes, full of despair, and there was no way I could deny her.
"No one will ever miss him," she said. "Please, help me."
I nodded once as I quickly assessed the scene and tried to determine the best course of action. Plenty of people had seen him drunk tonight. His car was there at the beach. Cause of death was probably trauma to the head. I looked over at the cliff and knew immediately what we were going to do.
She led me to the body, and just as she said, there was blood everywhere. I had her wait in my car while I cleaned up the scene. I did what I had to do. I took Mike Newton's corpse to the edge and tossed him over. Hefting his corpse caused me to break into a cold sweat. Cliff-diving was a popular recreation around here. And since everyone had seen him drunk earlier, it would be easy enough for people to believe his death was the result of a drunken cliff-diving accident.
But death is messy, and though the body was now gone, remnants of his bloody death covered me, saturated my clothing, my hands. When I went back to my car and joined Bella, she was waiting for me anxiously.
"What are we going to do with his car?" she asked.
"Leave it," I said. "His body will probably be found, but the head wound will be attributed to the fall. There's no need to hide or dispose of the car. Everyone will think it was an accident."
"It was an accident!" she said.
"You know what I mean," I explained. "You need to get out of those clothes, and then shower to get any trace of him off of you. I'll take you home so you can change, and I'll take the clothes and get rid of them."
"Plenty of people saw me with him tonight," she said.
"We'll alibi each other," I replied. "We met up after we left the bar, and were together at my apartment the rest of the night. Got it?"
"Got it," she agreed.
I kept cool around her, but on the inside I was a wreck. I took her home and then went back to my apartment to clean up. We were both covered in a dead man's blood, and I knew we'd never look at each other the same way again. Even though it was an accident, she'd killed a man, and I'd used my knowledge of forensics and police procedure to cover it up. It was all against my better judgment, but where Bella Swan was concerned, I would never be rational.
The next day Mike Newton's car was discovered abandoned at La Push. A few days after that, his body washed ashore. As I expected, the medical examiner ruled it an accident. Everything seemed to be playing out according to plan, until the afternoon that Jacob Black brought it up.
"I'm just saying, it's awfully convenient," he said snidely.
"Convenient?" I asked.
"Yeah. From what I hear, Bella Swan owed that guy nearly 10 grand," he said.
"What? How? For what?" I asked.
"You don't know much about her, do you?" he asked. "She's got a nasty coke habit, has for years. Newton kept her in powder in exchange for certain favors."
"That can't be true," I said, not wanting to believe it.
"But it is," he said. "And from what I hear he had cut her off and was demanding she even up with him. So, I'm just saying it's awfully convenient that the same night she's all hugged up with him at the bar, he winds up dead. Yet, she claims to have been with you, and nowhere near him. Sure did work out well for her, now that her debt's been erased."
I stared at him in disbelief, and a sinking feeling building in my gut.
"You know, she also used to rip off guys," he continued. "She'd drug 'em and rob 'em. Kinda makes me wonder what running a drug panel on Newton might show up. The only thing is, I don't think she'd be strong enough to get him over the edge of that cliff. And even if she did, how would she have gotten herself home?" he wondered aloud, though it was clear he already knew the answer to those questions. "But, I suppose that's all just conjecture, because she was with you, right?" he asked knowingly.
"What are you going to do with this information?" I asked, swallowing hard.
"Me?" he asked with a smirk. "Nothing. Thing is, I happen to like Mike Newton a hell of a lot more dead than I ever did alive."
THE END