A/N: Hurah! I made it for Skittle's Sunday! Anyhoo - on to my thanks, and this time, there's a lot. First and foremost, the lovely Sidekick55 who has retired as my beta since I have two shiny new beta's, and since she has to write GN so I have something to read. You, my dear, are the flip to my flippy floppys. And a shout out to my new beta's, crysross and SilentNC. You're lovely. Last, but by no means least, you. You there, who is reading this story. You make my day. My week. My month. My year. Thanks for bearing with me while I battled with writer's block (which reminds me - thanks to Mr. Horrible for helping out in that department).
Also - while I may not have made the final round of The Indie Twifics, it doesn't get you out of voting! Please, go vote for your favorite authors. The link is on my profile page.
And on with the story...and cliffie ahead.
Ch 7 – Who Dunnit
James continued to creep closer, slowly slinking forward. Rose had to strain her eyes to make out his shape in the dark, , and even then it was difficult to distinguish him from the shadows.
"James," Rose said, s, smoothing her hands nervously down her sides. "We've been looking for you everywhere."
"I can tell," he replied. His voice seemed to come at her from all angles. "You searched…what was his name? Emmett? You seemed to search Emmett pretty thoroughly."
Rose blushed, at a loss for words while James continued to inch nearer.
"Doesn't it seem a little inappropriate to be making out with someone when there's a crazy person on the loose? Especially with a girl lying dead at the bottom of a stairwell?" James tsked.
Rose ignored his question. Her hand gently traced the wall in search of the exit. "Let me take you to the common room. Everyone is waiting for us there," she said.
James was in front of her now, leaning intimately forward. The fabric of their clothes gently whispered against each other and she could feel the heat emanating from his body. He placed his hand against the wall next to her head before she could find the exit. "I like the storage closet just fine," he breathed, running his nose alongside her face.
Rose's fight or flight instincts were kicking in as she cringed away from his touch. Her mind quickly picked through her present situation, looking for a way out. On the one hand, James hadn't actually tried to attack her yet; he seemed to enjoy pushing the limits of being inappropriate and making her as uncomfortable as possible. On the other, she couldn't be sure that was all he was after. She knew she had to get out of the closet, and fast.
"I don't know what you got away with at your last hospital, but you don't scare me." Rose pushed him away from her with a brave face. "So this is how it's going to happen. You're going to walk out of this closet with me to the common room where you'll let the orderlies strap you into a straight jacket for safe keeping. You won't make a fuss, you won't run away, and you most certainly will not be licking or smelling any more people. Do you understand me?"
"But that's no fun," James said. He tried to move back in toward her, but Rose still had her arms outstretched.
"Frankly, I don't care whether you think it's fun or not. That's how it's going to be. Are you ready?" Rose dropped her arms and spun around to face the door. Unfortunately, James wasn't through with her.
***
Outside the closet, Emmett leaned against the wall with a smug grin spread across his face. He imagined the many possibilities of Rose's expression when she came out; she would either feign indifference or act completely infuriated.
The kiss was nothing like he expected. Considering how stubborn Rose was, he assumed it would take more than a moment in a storage closet to actually open her up; however, only moments after their lips met, she began kissing him back in a way he wasn't prepared for. If it hadn't been for the murdering psychopath on the loose, he probably would have let things progress a lot further.
As Emmett played a montage of the morning's events in his head, he began to realize that Rose had been in the closet for quite awhile. Definitely longer than necessary. Worry swelled up in his chest. What if she hadn't been ready for the kiss? If he had pushed Rose too far, too fast, he'd never forgive himself. And neither would Alice.
Just as he was about to check on Rose, a loud crash came from inside the closet. Emmett charged in, finding toiletries spread across the floor at his feet and one of the shelves leaning against the wall. Next to it, James had Rose positioned in front of his body with his forearm pressed up against her neck in a chokehold to keep her from moving. He smiled at Emmett, unconcerned with his new audience.
Emmett's body tensed and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Let her go," he said.
"I don't think so," James snarled back, pulling Rose tighter against him.
Rose had her hands clamped to James's forearm, struggling to break free or at least to loosen his grasp enough so she could properly breathe. As it was, her breath was coming out in short, jagged spurts. She dug her nails into his skin but he didn't even flinch.
"You're making a big mistake, James. Let her go." Emmett took a slow step forward, , positioning himself just out of arm's reach from James but still blocking the way to the exit.
"I like her right where she is." James planted his lips on Rose's cheek and then nuzzled the side of her face with his nose. "I get what you see in her, mountain man. She's a real beauty. Typically, I prefer brunettes. But she'll do nicely. Won't you darlin'?" He took a step back as Emmett took another step forward. James's eyes were focused on Emmett's every movement.
Emmett wanted to throw himself across the small gap and tear Rose out of the insane criminal's arms, but he couldn't be sure that she wouldn't get hurt. It would only take a split second for James to snap her neck - efficiently eliminating everything he dreamed of having in his life.
"You don't want to do this," Emmett said again. He slowly inched from side to side, searching for a good angle, looking for a weakness in James's grasp. "You're not getting past me, and I won't let you hurt her. Can't you see that you're blocked in? You have nowhere to go."
"Who says I want to leave?" James smirked. He adjusted his grasp on Rose's neck. "Just one...quick...twist..." His hands drew tighter around her throat with each syllable, causing Rose to buck wildly, desperate for air.
Emmett realized it was now or never. He'd have to risk hurting Rose of it meant saving her life. With one swift, calculated lunge, his fist found its target. There was a resounding crack as James loosened his grip just enough for Rose to break free. He doubled over, holding his side where Emmett punched him.
Emmett sank down next to where Rose had dropped to her knees. Her hands barely supported her weight as she dragged in deep, raspy breaths of air. "Are you okay?" Emmett asked. He held her head gingerly in his palms.
Rose nodded slightly, her throat too sore for speaking.
Emmett stood back up and crashed his colossal fist into the side of James's head, knocking him unconscious.
***
Back in the common room, everyone was finally accounted for. Lauren had been in the bathroom attempting to shear off the rest of her hair and effectively giving herself a choppy mullet when Jasper and Mike found her.
Except for Carlisle and Esme, who sat in a far corner attempting to stay out of earshot, and James, who was still unconscious facing the wall handcuffed to a wheel chair, everyone was grouped in the center of the room.
Rose sat between Bella and Alice while Jasper and Emmett stood in front of them, strategizing. Her eyes were unfocused as she struggled to suppress the memory of the storage closet. Every time she took a breath or attempted to swallow, however, the reminder was painfully present. She diverted her attention to Emmett and Jasper's conversation in hopes of distraction.
"Why don't I take my Jeep into town and see if I can't bring the police back?" Emmett offered.
Jasper shook his head. "It's no use. When we were searching for James, I noticed a tree fell down in the middle of the driveway. I'm guessing it was struck by lightening. Besides, I think we better stay put. It's too dangerous to be riding around with this wind."
"It's also dangerous having James roaming free with all the patients," Emmett replied.
"He's in a straightjacket. He can't exactly roam," Jasper said. "And...not to play devil's advocate here, but we don't actually know whether or not it was James that killed Jessica."
"What do you mean we don't actually know?" Emmett asked angrily. "Who the hell else could it be? He's already shown he has the capacity for murder by nearly strangling Rose to death."
"I'm not saying he isn't capable, but it could be any number of people. Just because James is the easy one to pin it on, it doesn't mean we shouldn't at least explore all the possibilities," Jasper said.
"He's not wrong," Alice agreed. "We don't even know if Jessica was actually pushed. For all we know, she could have fallen down the stairs."
"Oh, I doubt it was an accident," Jasper replied.
"Are you kidding me?" Emmett had to struggle to keep his voice down. "That fucking psycho was about to kill Rose before I walked in. And now you're trying to say it wasn't him?"
"I didn't kill her…" James's groggy voice cut clearly through the room, drawing all conversation to a halt. "The girl at the bottom of the stairs…I didn't kill her."
Emmett moved to stand up, prepared to go and put James back in a state of unconsciousness, but Jasper put his hand on the big man's shoulder, gently shaking his head. "Don't let him get to you."
"I didn't kill her," James said a third time, "but I know who did." He turned his head over his shoulder but wasn't able to make eye contact with anyone. "The person who did it is right here in this room, too."
"Do you want a matching gag to go with that straightjacket?" Emmett asked, trying to harness his rage. "Of course the killer is in the room, because you're in the room."
"Calm down, Emmett," Alice said. "There's no point in getting all riled up. Jasper, what do you mean you don't think it was an accident?"
"Only that the stairs are nowhere near her room. Besides, every time Jessica managed to get out, she always went to the employee locker room to look for Mike. I think someone took her there and pushed her, but it could have been someone other than James. Whoever it was really only needed a moment alone with her." Jasper's hypothesis hung in the air around them.
"Then we still might have a murderer on the loose," Alice said after a few seconds of silence.
"This is ridiculous," Emmett said. "James is the logical killer in this. Why are we trying to place the blame on someone else?"
"What makes him more logical than anyone else?" Rose replied, speaking for the first time since she had been rescued from the closet. Bella lifted her head from Rose's shoulder with surprise.
Rose shrugged. "James is the easy assumption to make. It might make us all feel better to think it's him, but it would be careless to not consider every option. Don't get me wrong; he's dangerous, but we need to protect the patients, and we wouldn't be doing a very good job of that if we just made the easy assumption."
"James?" Alice asked. "How do you know who the murderer is?"
"I was at the base of the stairs when the person pushed her," he replied, keeping his head faced toward the wall.
"Well that's convenient," Emmett scoffed. "Why don't you just tell us who it is then?"
James continued to stare at the corner silently, refusing to share his knowledge.
Royce had been all but forgotten at this point, sitting off to the side by himself. "You sure are trying to pin the blame on James. Maybe it was you. After all, you did walk in here with blood on your scrubs. I see you've changed out of them now. That was fast. Trying to hide the evidence?" Royce sneered.
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard yet," Emmett balked.
Jasper attempted to diffuse the building tension. "Alright. Let's not start accusing everyone. I think at one point or another we've all had an opportunity to get Jessica alone, so we could go on like this all night. When was the last time anyone saw her alive?"
"I checked on all the patients this morning when I got in, so right around 10 a.m.," Rose said.
"Anyone else see Jessica this morning?" Jasper asked. There was silence. "Well, that narrows it down then. I guess we're looking at it happening sometime around the time James got out, but that still leaves plenty of us free to have gotten to her."
"Hey, wasn't Royce missing too?" Emmett asked.
"Iwas in the bathroom," Royce said defensively.
"You were also gone a really long time," Alice responded.
"You know, if we're opening this up to speculation, we'll have to nail down the location of every patient after the lights went out," Emmett pointed out.
Jasper leaned back into his chair with an exasperated sigh. "I think I should probably go take a look at the body."
"You aren't going to see much in the dark," Alice said. "I think we should try to locate some candles or something. Laurent, - "
"Oh!" Ben exclaimed, interrupting Alice. He slapped his hand to his forehead. He began rummaging through the forgotten picnic basket, pulling out four candle sticks and setting them into the candelabra that had been meant for Rose and Royce's lunch. "I forgot! I have taper candles."
"You're kidding me, right?" Alice asked. "We've been walking around in pitch black this whole time, and you've had freaking taper candles sitting in that basket? How did you not think of this sooner?"
"Pardon me for being a little pre-occupied with concern for my safety while there's a psycho murderer on the loose," Ben retorted.
"Maybe it's time we had lunch," Jasper suggested, noting everyone's irritable dispositions.
"Would anyone happen to have a lighter or matches?" Ben asked. "I think I left them at the restaurant."
Jasper shook his head. "It sounds like a kitchen trip is in order."
"I could actually use a bathroom break," Angela said.
"We'll go in groups. Laurent, Emmett, Ben -- go to the kitchen to scrounge up some food and matches. Does anyone else need to go to the restroom?" Jasper asked.
Nessie raised her hand. "I do."
"Anyone else?" Jasper waited, but no one else seemed interested. "Okay, Angela. You and Nessie go to the bathroom, but come straight back. The rest of us will stay here with the patients. Emmett, after you get back we'll go to the stairwell and see what we can find."
Emmett nodded and led Laurent and Ben out the door. Nessie, Jacob and Angela followed after.
"How's your neck feeling?" Bella asked as Jasper walked off to calm some of the patients. Rose's neck was starting to reveal heavy bruising, even in the dark.
"I'll be fine," Rose said, and then she sighed. "I can't wait to try to cover it up with makeup though."
"Don't worry about that," Alice said, gripping Rose's hand in hers. "I'm a wiz with the makeup. And in the meantime, we can get some pretty scarves to cover it up." She smiled at her reassuringly.
"How are you doing?" Rose asked Bella.
Bella shrugged her shoulders. Before she could answer, footsteps came running down the hall toward the common room.
Ben jogged into the room. "Forgot the candles," he said, his reddened cheeks visible even in the dark. He leaned down and picked up the candelabra then hurried back out to catch up with Emmett and Laurent.
"That kid's a mess," Alice said, shaking her head.
The girls lapsed into silence as Jasper worked his way around the room with the medicine cart. He had grabbed it on his way back with Lauren. It was dangerous for both the patients and the staff in this situation for the med schedule to be disrupted.
Just as Jasper finished force feeding Billy his pills, Emmett walked into the room pushing a cart piled with their lunch with one hand and stuffing a sandwich in his mouth with the other. Laurent and Ben followed behind, each holding candelabra that cast long, flickering shadows across the room.
"Soup's on!" Emmett declared with his mouth full.
Laurent began handing out the sandwiches to the patients as Emmett took a seat across from Rose. He pulled a plate from beneath his own and put a sandwich on it for Rose, setting it on her lap.
"Where's my sandwich?" Alice asked, looking pointedly at the other three sandwiches sitting on his plate.
"On the cart," he responded with a smirk.
The corner of Rose's mouth lifted slightly into a weak grin. "Thank you," she said quietly. Emmett nodded and continued shoving half a sandwich into his mouth haphazardly, crumbs falling lightly onto his shirt.
Rose took a small bite out of the corner even though she wasn't hungry, but swallowing proved to be too difficult. As she leaned over to set it down on the coffee table, Jacob tore into the room, barking wildly. His leash trailed behind him, Nessie nowhere in sight.
Emmett leapt out of his chair, spilling his sandwiches on the floor, and grabbed Jacob's leash. "Nessie? Angela?" he called, peering out the door. There was no answer.
