Chapter Seven

Charlie

It wasn't ideal leaving Bella out in the wild of nowhere in this blizzard with no idea how long it would be necessary but it would give me some much needed thinking time. What was I going to do with the little bitch now? There was no way she could stay in Forks any longer, the chance of her telling lies about me, ruining my status in town, was just too great and not to be even considered. No, she had to go and as quickly as possible.

Cody my nephew in Cleveland was a possibility, he had two brats of his own and he was very strict with them, so he wouldn't take any crap from Bella and he owed me after I got him out of that trouble with a loan shark a few years ago. The more I thought about it the better it sounded. I would tell people in Forks that she had decided she wanted to live with him because he had kids her own age and she'd gone so quickly so she could start her new school after the Christmas break. She hadn't made any friends here, didn't like Forks and missed her mom so it was better for her all round. Of course, I would be gutted but put on a brave face, sacrificing my own happiness for hers. Yeah, that should get me some sympathy and it would stop any stupid questions and leave me free to continue my life as I preferred, as a bachelor.

I almost never got back to Forks, it was snowing so hard I couldn't see shit and had to rely on my memory of the road. Now that could have been a real problem, me injured or even dead and Bella imprisoned in a cabin in this blizzard with no one knowing she was there!

As it was I got back in good time for work which was just as well as it was a busy night with several fender benders and by morning I was exhausted. I got home and went straight to bed but the phone woke me about two hours later. It was Alice Cullen yet again, didn't that girl have something better to do with her time? Surely she should be in class?

"Oh, Chief Swan, it's Alice Cullen, I was ringing to talk to Bella if she's feeling better."

"She isn't here Alice. I was going to let everyone know later. Bella's gone to stay with some relatives, as I'm sure you must have realized she wasn't very happy here and she's planning on staying there, they have kids her age. I decided it would be better for her to go before the weather closed trapping her here."

"Oh, I'm surprised you got to Seattle and back in this weather, I heard flights were being delayed or cancelled."

She sounded like she didn't believe me but didn't have the guts to tell me so to my face.

"Anyway, I was sleeping so if you'll excuse me."

I didn't give her time to say anything else I just cut her off. That snooping little bitch could think what she liked, Bella could have left any time in the past couple of days, sick with the flu or not, I wasn't going to tell her anything.

Well, I was up now so I might as well sort things out before Alice Cullen began telling tales around town. I rang the school and managed to get an appointment with the Principal later in the day after explaining things to his secretary, then boxed up Bella's things. Luckily I had some empty cartons in the spare room, and put them filled, in her closet. I would send them on once I had spoken to Cody and arranged things.

I made extra sure to grab all the things she would have taken with her and bagging them up, the CD's, books, her camera, the photographs of her mom and her journal although to my knowledge she never wrote in it and I did check from time to time. I would hide them in the basement for the time being and take them with me when I picked Bella back up.

Alice

Now I was sure there was something wrong, Bella hadn't said anything about leaving, not to anyone as far as I could tell. Her friends, the few she had, said they had never heard of any other family, they had assumed the Chief was her only living relative. Besides which she had been too sick to come to the phone so how come she was suddenly well enough to travel and in this weather?

I decided to check out the house the next time Chief Swan was absent and overhearing that he had an appointment at the school I decided that was the perfect time for my snooping. I told Jasper what I was doing and he offered to go with me.

"I think you are jumping to conclusions but I'll keep watch for you and if you find a group of young girls chained in the basement I'll help you liberate them."

I stuck my tongue out at his flippant remark but I was glad to have him with me.

When I came back out Jasper looked at me questioningly and grinned when I shook my head.

"No bodies in the basement I take it?"

"No, nothing. Bella's room is all packed up ready to go, there's nothing personal there, so it looks like she took it with her. It's not much of a room, though, it doesn't look like a teenage girl's room at all, really old fashioned."

"I hate to break this to you Alice but bad taste is not a crime. Did you find anything strange at all?"

I frowned,

"Kind of I guess. Well, something weird anyway. The house is really clean and tidy but there's a bucket in the basement that smells like a toilet."

"A smelly bucket? That's your smoking gun?"

I rolled my eyes, he could be so infuriating at times!

"Yes, OK, I admit defeat but only because I could smell Bella had been in the house until recently and there are no signs of anything strange going on."

"Did you find any signs that she had been ill?"

I hated to admit it but I nodded,

"Maybe, there was an almost empty tissue box, and some cold remedies in her bedside locker, throat lozenges too."

"So maybe Chief Swan decided that as she had been sick she might as well skip the last couple of weeks of school and go straight to her relatives. Maybe she was so quiet and nervous because she didn't like it here with her dad. Maybe the relatives are from her mom's side of the family and have kids her own age. You are jumping to conclusions Alice with no solid evidence of anything wrong. Come on, let's get out of here before the Chief gets back and finds us hanging around."

In the end, it wouldn't have mattered if Bella had stayed, the snow was so thick that school closed early the next morning for the holidays. A lot of students living in outlying areas wouldn't have been able to get through anyhow and the boiler had shut down and refused to restart so the school building was like a refrigerator. If anything Bella had left just in time, she would never have made it to the airport otherwise.

Charlie

This weather was a bitch, I couldn't ship Bella out and I could hardly leave her in the cabin much longer. So, what was I going to do with her? Bringing her back would make me a liar now I had told everyone she had left Forks. Shit! That girl was gonna crucify me one way or another. Why did that stupid bitch Renee go and get herself killed? It was almost like she wanted to ruin my life, she'd always hated it that I had made good here in my hometown.

When I got off duty it was late and still snowing although the Christmas lights switch on was still going ahead, folks in Forks didn't stop for bad weather or the town would have been a ghost town by now. As I was officiating I couldn't get away until later which would give me more time to decide what to do about the kid.

Hopefully, I had finally stopped Alice Cullen from snooping, besides what could she do? She was just another school kid even if her foster dad was the town doctor. I would just have to bring Bella back and keep her hidden away in the basement until the weather broke, that would also give me time to talk to Cody about taking her in. He was always short of money so if I offered to pay him he'd be only too happy to help me out, and I'd remind him he owed me big time.

I went home and grabbed the boxes from Bella's closet, they could go down in the basement with her. Food and water wouldn't be a problem, I could get fresh to her when I emptied the pail, something I would have to do now she was gonna be down there for some time. There was a load of old blankets in the spare bedroom closet, she could have them too and the old table lamp from there too, anything else I could sort out later.

As I put my gun away in the safe I noticed some pills the old doctor had given me before he had his heart attack. He said he thought they were an illegal sedative he had "found" on a patient at the clinic. Personally, I suspected the nameless patient had been his own son who was a class A scum bag who peddled drugs to supplement his burglary and pimping in Port Angeles. His son died just after him saving me the bother of talking to him about them and I'd just thrown them in the safe. They might come in handy, though, to keep Bella calm and quiet when I wasn't home to keep an eye on her.