a/n: Twilight characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. The plot and characterization is mine.

"Thou art a disease that must be cut away." ~ Coriolanus

Chapter 7 – Cut Away

Bella would not allow herself to panic. She was trained to handle precarious situations, but now that her father confirmed someone was following she moved in autopilot. Driving through town she did nothing to show her pursuer she was onto him. Pulling into a spot in front of her apartment building Bella reached under her father's seat and pulled out the locked gun box.

"Bella, you can't have that in here—," Charlie started to protest.

"You can have a concealed weapon in Illinois if you have a valid Firearm Owners ID Card. Mine is in my wallet," Bella began to open the case, "Dad, start taking Ellie into the apartment, I'll follow you into the entry and then exit out the back and pursue him. Get her into the apartment and lock the door."

Charlie was shocked at his daughter to say the least. He knew what she did for a living, but the realization that she was nursing a 9mm Glock in her hands made everything become more real. For once, he had to turn over the situation to his daughter and not play the part of protector. The situation unnerved him.

"Bella, let me check him out," Charlie pleaded.

"Dad, if there is one person I want protecting Ellie right now, it's you," Bella looked her father in the eyes and said calmly, "Her life means more to me then my own, surely you understand that?"

"And both of your lives are more important than mine," Charlie whispered.

Bella kissed him gently on the forehead, and he knew this was his little girl's way of saying that she was well equipped to take care of the situation.

Ellie looked on from the backseat, suddenly aware that the light mood from earlier had disappeared. Her grandfather walked around the car and unbuckled her. Instead of letting her walk to the front door like her mommy would usually do, he furled her into his arms. Ellie did not protest like she normally would for not being treated like a big girl, even at four she could feel that something was wrong.

Bella followed close behind. When they entered the building she threw her keys to Charlie who ran upstairs with his granddaughter. Bella waited until she heard the click of the door and the deadbolt in place before she moved from the entryway.

Bella took the hallway to the back exit. None of the other residents in the building were out, and she was thankful she did not see any in the back lot. She quickly checked her gun to make sure it was loaded and the safety was off. Lowering her arm to her side, she hedged out the back door and around the building.

Under the cover of night, Bella made her way through a few of the adjoining apartments backyards before she came to the street. If the perp was trailing her, his attention would be focused on the driver side of the vehicle to the apartment building. She crawled along the curb, keeping her body low to the ground a half back from where he was parked.

The street was quiet, this was part of the original draw to move into the area. For low income housing, the residents took pride in the appearance of their buildings. Even though it was still early in the evening, most were in their homes, finishing up dinner and relaxing.

The street being so quiet made Bella's job slightly more difficult. She did not want to make any sudden sounds that would alert her pursuer to her position. Instead she held firm, not afraid to drag herself across the debris in the filthy gutters.

As she drew closer, Bella recognized the small sticker on the back of the vehicle and immediately knew that he was driving a rental vehicle. It puzzled her, a rental car was traceable, and even if he used fake identification on the rental agreement, the clerk that checked him out could identify him. That immediately lessened the likelihood he was dangerous. Bella did not lower her defenses, but she did want to know the skill she was going up against.

Scraping across the gritty pavement, Bella pulled up alongside the rear of the car, making sure she was in the passenger-side mirror's blind spot. She rose from the ground cautiously, and from a quick scan of the car there did not appear to be any weapons. The most sophisticated device happened to be a Canon Mark III camera with 200mm lens, the type that Bella would use when she was on a stakeout.

Pulling her gun to ready position, Bella moved herself from the ground and leveled the weapon through the passenger side window at her pursuer. Before he could react to her movement she yelled at him.

"Get the fuck out of the car, keep your hands where I can see them and move slowly," Bella did not back down from her stance and her eyes were glued to the man in the car who did not look as scared as she wished he would. The man had a loaded gun leveled at his head and he nonchalantly opened his car door and stood in the street like this was an everyday occurrence. His indifference unnerved Bella, and her reaction was gauged appropriately.

Moving around the front of the vehicle, always make sure he was in sight; Bella came behind him and pushed him up against the door. She did not have anything to restrain his hands, so she put the gun down her pants to frisk him, not wanting to risk having him knock the weapon away. She felt him slightly tense, and when he tried to turn his head toward her to speak, she used her body to slam him back into the vehicle while she continued to feel if he had any weapons on him.

For his part James was in a state of shock. He did not expect Bella to realize he was trailing him. Charlie with his years on the force made sense, but he certainly did not expect this behavior from Bella.

Nothing in Esme's stupid little paisley folder could have prepared him to be straddling a car while being treated like a criminal. He was not physically a small man, but even with Bella's small stature he knew that he could not just run. She was well trained. James knew that Bella Swan was hiding much more then Esme Cullen could have imagined. She was not the meek woman that her mother-in-law described her as, there was nothing calm or demure about her.

James noticed a set of headlights coming down the quiet street. He contemplated using this as a distraction, hoping that the prospect of being discovered would throw Bella off. Before he could move, she slammed his body against the car once again and forced his hands over his head. The headlights cut out and he could hear someone coming near.

"Here Bells," he heard and felt Bella pull his arms behind him and wrap duct tape around his wrists. Then she put a piece across his eyes and mouth. When that comes off, James thought, this is going to hurt like a motherfucker—.

James did not even have a chance to finish his thought before he felt two sets of hands force him toward where the other car had parked. He was shoved into what he imagined was the backseat and then his feet were bound to each other.

A muffled voice came from outside the vehicle, "I'll search his car, and you call up to Charlie and let him know everything is all right."

After about fifteen minutes of silence, James heard the doors to the car open and it began to drive off without a word from either lady.

The silence unnerved James. With his eyesight gone his other senses were on higher alert. He could feel the presence of more then one person. He imagined it was Bella and the mystery lady who showed up with the damn duct tape.

Sitting in his own personal solitude, James tried to assess where he went wrong with the evening. Obviously his first mistake was underestimating Bella Swan. Replaying the events of the last hour he tried to assess where he could have prevented himself from becoming a hostage. He realized that there was not a single moment that she was not in control of the situation.

He followed them to the kiddie restaurant, and became slightly nauseated by the massive amount of children running around. When the Swan's went MIA from their table, he high tailed it back to his car. He saw their quick get-a-way. That was the obvious sign they knew something was up, but James chalked it up to the kid needing to change her diaper, it never crossed his mind that she was almost five years old and probably potty trained.

Tailing them back to the apartment, she did not drive erratically or try to lose him. Again, James mistook Bella's calm demeanor as dismissing his actions. He was dying for a high speed chase, maybe jumping through a few traffic lights, but the Swans appeared to be law abiding citizens who upheld every traffic law known. There was hardly any excitement in that.

When she finally came up along side his car with guns a blazing, he almost had a heart attack. Charlie Swan welding a gun, now that made sense. Bella Swan handing a gun, that was just crazy.

Yes, James knew that he went wrong when he underestimated Bella Swan. He knew not to make that mistake again, unfortunately it was too late. He was now being held captive in the back of a rather stinky old car with horrid shocks. At least they did not decide to really go all out in this abduction and throw him in the trunk.

The car drove for about fifteen minutes before it stopped. Absolutely disoriented, James heard the doors open and he was pulled from the backseat. At first he tried to resist hoping that he could cause a scene if anyone was around. But even making his body limp did not stop the two petite women. They lifted him up and dragged him to what he imagined was an elevator by the sound of the ding when a door opened.

He heard the telltale signs of the door closing and the felt the climb upwards. The odd sensation took over once again with his lack of sight. He imagined it took only several minutes to reach their destination when his captors dragged him out of the elevator and down what he imagined to be a hallway. The air had a fresh scent of sawdust, and roughness of the hallway suggested it was cement and no carpet had been laid.

James was heaved around a sharp corner hitting his back roughly against a wall. He yelped in pain before he was lifted and thrown onto a metal folding chair. Esme owed him a hell of a lot more money if he was going to take this kind of abuse.

A hand ripped the duct tape from his mouth. "Fuck!" James yelled in pain.

"Who the hell are you?" Bella demanded.

"Just a guy who was abducted for no good reason," James replied. He heard some papers shuffle around and cried out in pain when a punch was thrown to his stomach.

"Yeah, I am sure you don't know who I am. You know, with this file folder holding all of these pictures of me and my family," Bella took that opportunity to slap James in the face. It certainly was not her normal interrogation technique, but when he came after her and her daughter she felt the need to test out some new methods.

"If you want to walk away from this, you better start spilling some shit," a new voice came to the room that James did not recognize, "I have seen her mess up some guys who were not even tied up. You make a much nicer target."

"Let's start simple and see if you can handle it from there. Every time you lie to me, I will punish you. And trust me, I know when scum like you lie. What's your name?" Bella sneered.

"James."

"Alright James, who sent you here?"

"No one," James grimaced as Bella landed a kick to the side of his head. His teeth rattled from the blow, and blood started to trickle down his scalp. The worst part was not even the beating, it was not knowing what to expect with the stupid duct tape over his eyes blocking his view.

"Let's try this again, who sent you here?"

"Esme Cullen."

"Funny thing is that I probably could have told you that with the crap you have in this folder. But I wanted to see how honest you were going to be with me James," he heard the venom in her voice, "So far, not so good."

There was silence for a moment while footsteps circled his chair. Bella continued, "Now I know the telltale signs from your body when you lie. Keep that in mind. Second question, is she in Chicago?"

"Yes," James gritted through his aching teeth.

"Where is she staying?"

"I don't know," James felt a hand come to his face cupping his jaw. He could feel her breath on his face and knew she was inches away. Obviously content with his honesty, she let go of him.

"What were you going to tell her?"

"Where you lived so she could talk to you."

He felt the kick come to his side, and he immediately started to wheeze from the pain, "You are a slow learner James. That isn't all you were going to tell her. Otherwise you wouldn't have sat outside in a car with binoculars and a camera. Stop lying to me."

"I was going to tell her about the kid," In all his life James Damon had never been frightened of another person. He tracked people down and handed them over to his clients. Never once had he been discovered, and never had he been attacked in his pursuit. As much as he was enjoying the challenge that was Bella Swan, he did not like that his ass was being handed to her on a silver platter.

"And you were going to give her photos of her, weren't you?"

"Yes," James cringed. He heard something crash on the floor and steps come toward him once again.

"Oops, it looks like your camera broke," She threw something onto his lap with force and James yelped in pain, "And the memory card is mysteriously going to be snapped in half. How unfortunate."

"So here is the deal," the voice James did not recognize spoke up, "We don't really have a need for your useless body. But while we take care of a little business, you are going to hang out here."

"If you are lucky and we let you go, you can tell Esme where I live, but you don't say a word about the child," Bella snarled.

"And before you get all cocky and think you can weasel more cash out moneybags Cullen with your little tidbit of information, know this: we know who you are and where you live," the unfamiliar voice said, "You are going to deliver Esme to Bella and then you are going to walk away from this job."

"You wouldn't hurt me," James smirked.

His jeering was short lived as he was pushed from his chair and something blunt hit him in the head.

"Like hell I wouldn't. Right now I have gun at point blank range from your head. If you don't think I am dangerous, then you need to be quickly educated."

Of one thing James was absolutely certain; Bella Swan was manic. He could not understand how Esme would want to even associate with this woman. As far as he was concerned, Washington State was fortunate they rid themselves of her five years ago.

"Fine, so if I do what you ask, how do I know you won't hurt me?"

"Do you have any choice?"


Leah walked out of the room with Bella in tow. She was already on her way home when Charlie called her with a frantic message of someone following them and Bella going to check it out. When she saw Bella frisking the guy against a rental car, she went into her training mode from all of the self-defense classes, racing to her trunk and grabbing the first thing she found that could restrain him—a roll of duct tape.

Bella had the guy under control and together they threw him into the back of Leah's car. They both made quick work of checking on Charlie and cleaning out the guy's vehicle. While Leah drove away from the apartment building, Bella was going threw a file folder looking slightly irritated.

When they pulled up to a stop light she could see the contents of the folder. There were pictures of Bella with various members of the Cullen family. There also appeared to be a typed biography and interview questions. Leah wanted to know who the joker in the back of car was, and what he was doing following Bella. She already had a pretty good idea of who hired him.

With their hostage in the backseet, Leah took them to the only place that she could think of, the 12th floor of her law offices. Although her firm only occupied two of the floors, her boss owned the building and was in the process of renovating the 12th for a design business that was going to move in.

Leah knew they did not have long to take care of business; the contractors would be back in the morning to continue their build and the last thing she wanted them to find was a bloodied body in the suite. Looking back over James, she saw that Bella really did a number on him. She was not sure what they exactly taught her in the police academy, but even Leah was a little freaked out when Bella went all Rambo on him.

"I have to go into my shift. Should I call in?" Bella looked back as they turned out of the area they were keeping James.

"I can take care of him while you are gone," Leah looked at her with some concern, "Are you okay Bells, you really did a number on him."

"Oh please, I didn't even hit him full force. The nicking his scalp was an accident. I was more trying to shock him then hurt him."

"Well, you could have fooled me. I see you have been working on your roundhouse kick."

"I've been channeling Chuck Norris lately. But you know I do worse when apprehending perps on the street. Although my bite is pretty good, this time I was using more of my bark."

"Fair enough. So, I am going to drop him off and tail him tomorrow. Hopefully that gives Charlie enough time to clean home before you get back from your shift. I'll sit with him while he gives her the address, and then I will have to move him."

"Do you think we will have enough dirt on him by then?"

"Yeah, I called in a favor with my assistant, Gianna, to do a little overtime and start a background check. She is also working my connections on the west coast to find out a little bit more about his operation. Last resort, we bribe the sucker."

"I am so sorry Leah, I didn't want to pull you into anymore of my crap."

"I knew what I was signing up for when I picked you up in Forks. You and the kid keep my life interesting, that's for sure."

"Hey, didn't we want to buy a new house?" Bella joked.

"Yeah, yeah," Leah sighed, "But it looks like we will be homeless for a bit while we look for a place."

Leah figured that this course of events was really a blessing in disguise. She made good money as a divorce attorney and wanted to upgrade housing for the last year. She wanted to move before Ellie started kindergarten to put her into a better school district. Bella wanted this too, but her pride in taking care of her daughter and contribute to the housing fund made her reluctant.

As far as the turn of events over the last twenty-four hours, Leah looked at this as an omen to surpass Bella's stubbornness' and to put to rest Esme's meddling once and for all. Of course, the two of them had to take care of James before they could do anything else.

Bella made her way to the elevators while Leah walked back to where James sat. She stood before him and ripped the duct tape from his eyes.

"Holy shit!" he screamed through the pain.

"Damn, it looks like half of your eyebrow is on here," Leah examined the tape with slight interest.

"You couldn't use a handkerchief like normal kidnappers."

"Didn't have any pretty little handkerchief's in my car. Plenty of duct tape though," Leah grabbed the roll and held it up for James to see, "I could always put it back on if you criticize my abduction techniques."

"No, you are a fine kidnapper," James mumbled.

Leah walked out of the room for a few minutes and came back with a wet towel and water bottle. She walked up to his chair and started to wipe the dried blood from his head.

"Why are you doing this?"

"We don't want anyone to see that you had the crap beat out of you," Leah sneered before softening for a moment, "And despite the whole throwing you in the back of a car and holding you hostage, we aren't bad people."

"Could have fooled me, I've never been beaten like that before."

Leah cocked her eyebrow, "Never been beaten like that at all, or never been beaten like that by a girl?"

"I have never been beat like that, period. But I would have thought you knew that with all the stuff you supposedly dug up on me."

"I'll know a hell of a lot more in about an hour when my researcher drops off the pile of crap she found on you," Leah threw the dirty rag on the floor and pulled the cap off of the water bottle, "It's good to know people. Now open up so I can give you some water."

James greedily drank the water and rested his head back against the seat. He was given his instructions, and tomorrow morning he would lead Esme into what appeared like a trap. Of course, if he failed to do his part of their plan, he feared the consequences. If he was right, and the kid was Bella's, there was no doubt in his mind that she would do anything in her power make sure she was safe. James was not naive enough to exclude her pulling the trigger to the gun she so eloquently introduced him too.

For the first time in his life James admitted he was scared. Bella Swan had already caused him to defecate a little in his pants once tonight, he did not want a repeat performance.


Ellie was in bed when Bella arrived back at the apartment. She found her father in the living room quietly taking down family photos and putting them in a plastic bin he found in the bathroom.

"Bells, thank goodness you're okay," and in another uncharacteristic Swan family move, the father and daughter embraced again for the second time in one day.

"He isn't armed, looks like he is just a private investigator who messed with the wrong momma," Bella smirked, "I have to get ready for work, do you think you can take care of Ellie's room?"

"Don't worry Bells, you know I'm always here for you."

Bella went into Ellie's room and sat at the edge of her bed. She had to get ready for her shift, but with all the madness of the evening, she just wanted to hold her daughter.

This week was always stressful enough, now with Esme and Edward trying to track her down, she wanted to break down. If they found her daughter, everything she worked for would be done. That was the only thing keeping her from breaking down.

Once again Ellie's soft snores brought Bella home. She nuzzled her hair with her nose and smelled the sweet fruit fragrance. Bella had never understood why Edward would constantly sniff her locks when they would sit together. She once asked him when they first started dating in high school.

Edward's answer was simple, "I always want to remember your smell."

A young Bella thought the answer was odd. Who wanted to remember a smell? But now nestled into her daughter, she felt the need to commit this distinct smell to memory. Her princess shampoo had a floral tint to it. Doing a mommy move, she bent in and made sure her daughter's breathe smelled minty toothpaste fresh. All clear, grandpa Charlie made sure she brushed her teeth before she went to sleep.

Slowly sitting up from her bed, Bella gave a sad smile to the room. This was Ellie's nursery, and it grew with here into her first big girl bed. Although she was sad to see the crib go, Bella loved being able to snuggle with Ellie when she was falling asleep. She would never admit it to Leah, but she probably spent as many nights next to her daughter as she did in her own bed.

"Goodnight my little love," she whispered before sneaking out the door.

Bella went to her room to put on her dress clothes for work. She stepped out into the living room with some suitcases and handed them to her father.

"Hopefully this will help get you started. Just make sure you are there when she wakes up so she isn't startled, okay?"

"You know I'll take care of her Bells," Charlie sighed, "How do you know you can trust this guy not to tell Esme?"

"I am good at my job Dad, I think was persuaded."

"Do I even want to know how you achieved this?"

"Probably best if you don't know," Bella bent over and gave her Dad a kiss, "This is not how I imagined this week."

"I know sweetie, I wonder if Renee ordered you a bit of a distraction."

"Mom would never inflict the Cullen's on me as a distraction," Bella looked down at her watch, "I have to go Dad, are you sure you don't need me."

"Go into work kiddo, I have some packing to do."