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Thanks to Bronzehairedgirl for a wonderful beta.
Doubt: Charlie
by silly bella
I wasn't sure what to make of things. For the second time in a little over a year, Bella had run off, and both times were somehow related to Edward Cullen. And in-between, his absence had left her an empty shell. Then, to find out, as I had this morning, that she had jumped off a cliff? I know what she said about it. She brushed it off. Just swimming with Jake. I wasn't sure I could buy that. What else could I think after the last few months?
Although I wanted desperately to believe her, I couldn't shake my mind of the memory from my early days on the force. It still shocked me. The boy had rigged his father's hunting rifle and killed himself. It topped my list of horrible crime scenes, worse even than the most gory wreck I'd ever seen. It was open and shut, suicide, not murder. He was so young, just nineteen. Only a year older than Bella. Not even a year, since her birthday was less than six months away.
He'd been missing for three days, his parents frantic the whole time. Even when I arrived to tell them the news, they still had hope until they saw my face. I'll never forget his mother screaming, staggering against her husband as he looked at me helplessly, tears in his eyes. It takes a lot to make a man like that cry, but he'd lost his only child. It destroyed them. They'd had no idea why it happened until after he was dead.
If she had died, at least I would have known why: him.
There were things I didn't know. When had she jumped off a cliff? And why would she think that might be fun? Could she possibly be telling the truth? Or was she hiding how she really felt? What would happen if he left again? Or if he broke up with her? Would it be something besides a cliff, then? Something more final?
Regardless, I needed to pay more attention. I was her father: it was my responsibility. I would do a better job taking care of her. I had to.