A/N: Thanks to my old team and to Sherry who I would be lost without x x
Chapter 7
"Bella… Bella?" Sam said, "Are you listening?"
"Hmmm," I said, looking up from the glass of wine in my hand, the same one I had been nursing for the past hour. Emily had poured it for me after the kids had gone to bed, saying it would help me sleep, but I knew that nothing was going to help me sleep tonight. Edward was gone. My marriage was broken, and my kids were without a father.
"I was telling you that I had called around to the boys," Sam continued. "No one has spoken to or seen Edward for a few days, but I can't get a hold of Paul. I'm gonna try him again in the morning. If I have to, I'll head to his house and speak to Rachael."
I sighed. I didn't like Paul. He was shady, and if I thought for a minute, he had something to do with the reason Edward had left; then I was going to kill him. I honestly had no idea what Edward saw in him. He was a con man and a sleaze, and it wasn't as if Edward was short on friends. Why did he persist in keeping him around?
"Jacob is running a trace on his cards and sending his information to the borders." I nodded. Jacob was a friend of Sam's. I liked him. He was a genuinely nice guy, but we didn't see him a lot because his job kept him busy. He was a cop and often worked a lot of extra hours. Sam joked that he had married his job because he couldn't find a woman.
"I also called Alistair…" Sam said, hesitantly. Alistair was Edward's boss over at Nevada Construction. "He, uh, he said Edward no longer worked for them. That he hasn't worked for them for a while."
The glass slipped from my hand crashing onto the floor. The glass shattered as the contents bleed out onto the wood. "What?" I whimpered. "What do you mean he no longer works for them, and hasn't for a while?"
"I'm sorry Bella. He got fired or laid off a few months ago."
I stood and ran my hands through my hair. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Well, where's he been going everyday?" I asked, confused. It didn't make any sense. I had been making him lunch everyday. He had left every day in work clothes and wouldn't come home until his usual time. Where had he been going? What had he been doing? And with whom? I shook my head as the most-appalling thought came into my mind.
It was so appalling that I felt sick. My legs started to give way. Sam rushed to my side and wrapped his arm around my waist, holding me up. "Bella?" He asked, concerned.
"You don't-" I gasped. "You don't think he found someone else? Do you?"
Sam spun me around to face him. "Bella, you know that Edward only ever had eyes for you. He loves you. Whatever this is, we'll figure it out, together."
"Loves me?" I cried bitterly. "He has a funny way of showing his love."
"I know," Sam said, as he pulled me against his chest, hugging me tight. "I can't understand it. I can't help but think he's in trouble. I don't know why he wouldn't come to me for help."
The idea of Edward being in trouble brought on another dose of nausea. What kind of trouble would make you flee from your family?
"I have to sit down," I whimpered.