Witness

Chapter eight

It was December. I was flying home to spend the holidays with my parents. I had a lay-over in Colorado and was just trying to find a quiet comfortable corner to snuggle into while enjoying my vending machine snacks.

"Excuse me…but is this…?

I looked at the photo cradled in her palm. I gasped and took a step backwards. Her hands reached for me.

"Please, wait…we're not going to hurt you. We just want to talk."

It was then that I noticed the man walking slowly towards us. He was approaching cautiously, as if he was afraid I would bolt. I glanced around and was comforted by the nearby crowd of people. I had been searching for a private area, now I was grateful I had yet to find it. My eyes narrowed as I glanced at the photo once again. It wasn't a group picture that I just happened to be in, but a close-up and personal snapshot. It was the picture of me in my high school graduation cap and gown.

"Why do you have a picture of me?"

The relief that I had engaged them in conversation was obvious. Both of their shoulders sagged and they each took a slow, deep breath. A small smile spread across the man's face, as the woman's eyes filled with tears.

The man motioned towards some vacant chairs by the wall. I nodded, and began walking over to them. The couple was older, more like the age of my own parents. I didn't recall ever meeting them, yet somehow they had an intimate picture of me. My eyes were alight with happiness in the photo. I remembered how excited I was, thinking at the time, that the forced separation from my best friend was almost at an end. I was curious how they had come into possession of the one and only photo I had ever sent him. I decided to listen to their explanation.

I set my bags down and quietly nursed the bottle of soda in my hand. The gentleman softly cleared his throat. I glanced up, giving him my full attention.

"Our son has been missing for five years…we recently found some messages and this picture…the side wall of his closet…there was a loose panel…we never knew…it wasn't until we finally decided to pack away his things..."

My brow furrowed as I tried to make sense of his ramblings. The woman was busy rustling around in her bag. She pulled out some folded papers and held them out to me. Hesitantly, I leaned forward and took the papers into my hand. Unfolding them, I noticed first the addresses in the headers. My email addresses, both at my parents' home and the one I had used while attending college were jumping out at me. I could feel the lump in my throat forming as I tried to hold back the tears. Silently, I read the words we had written so long ago. All the messages were here. He had kept them all.

"Miss…miss?"

I shook my head slightly. The worried expressions on the two people in front of me brought me back to reality rather quickly.

"I'm sorry. Yes, that is me in the picture and these are our messages to each other. But...I'm confused. You said he is your son, but his parents died when we were in high school. I don't…"

The woman's small hand rested gently on top of mine.

"We were fortunate enough to adopt him later that year. He was so sad when he first came to us. The psychiatrist recommended that he have parental support during his period of grief. We couldn't just send him off to college. The decision was made to keep him back a year. He was so angry. He wouldn't speak to us."

Her voice cracked and the tears that had welled up in her eyes began to flow. Her husband draped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. His gentle voice continued her story.

"It wasn't long after the decision had been made, that he came to us with his plan for concurrent enrollment. Neither of us understood his desire to stay up with his peers. Of course, we had no idea of your existence. It was a rough year. His emotions were on a roller coaster and he was studying all of the time. We tried to encourage him to go out and have fun, but he was determined."

My mind processed their words as images flashed across my thoughts. It was easy to imagine him sitting on his bed with a book in his face, ear-buds in, unaware of the world around him. I knew that once he set his mind to something, he would move mountains to accomplish it.

"So, what happened? Where is he?"

A sob broke out of the woman's throat. She began to tremble. The man's saddened eyes met mine.

"We were hoping you could tell us. When we found your messages and picture, we hoped he had left to finally meet up with you. We had no idea where you were currently, but those first messages told us where you had initially met. We decided to travel to your hometown, hoping that someone would recognize your photo. We thought if we could find your parents…maybe… We hoped and prayed that they would tell us where to find you, and our son."

Their grief was thick in the air. My chest tightened as I realized that I had been their last hope. The reality of their son's disappearance fell on us all like a restrictive blanket. Fighting the tears and overwhelming feeling of hopelessness, I forced myself to breathe deeply.

I began to tell them of my own efforts to find their son. We all smiled when we realized that their first stop would have also been at the high school. I could imagine the look on the secretary's face when they showed her my picture. I briefly wondered if it would have taken them as long as it did me to convince her to give them information about a former classmate.

We spoke the entire three and a half hours of my layover. When the call was made for our connecting flight, they decided that they didn't need to continue on. They had accomplished what they had set out to do. Even though the outcome wasn't as they had hoped, somehow being able to fill in some of the missing pieces gave us all a measure of peace. We quickly exchanged numbers and promised to stay in contact.

The last time I spoke with Edward's adoptive parents they told me that they had hired a private investigator to assist them. They wanted to inform me that he might be contacting me. He did, in fact, quite a number of times. At first, he was simply asking questions about the times I had spent with his employer's son. I found myself reflecting more than I had in a long time. The more we talked, the more in depth his questions became, and slowly I was able to recall even the smallest, seemingly insignificant details. His responses of "Really", or "Hmm" always left me contemplative afterwards. I began to feel like I was missing something. Finally, I couldn't take his evasiveness anymore, and demanded that he share what he had learned.

"Obviously, I do not have all of the answers yet. However, I do think we are getting close. From all of the information I have gathered so far, it appears that your friend and his parents were running from something or someone."

He paused, as if he was waiting for me to confirm his theory. My stomach turned upside down at that moment, warning me not to divulge anything. I didn't understand the feeling, but I remembered Edward's warning to never doubt myself. Keeping my current expression frozen on my face, I tried not to react. Finally, he huffed and continued with his report.

"Unfortunately, his parents didn't escape."

I gasped. I wasn't sure if it was his harsh words, the unsympathetic tone of his voice, or the sneer on his face that caught me off guard. Suddenly a sharp chill ran down my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck bristled. His eyes narrowed at my response, so I quickly tried to pass off my reaction as one of unbelief. He obviously knew that I had kept in contact with Edward; he had seen the messages. But he didn't know how much I knew, and I wasn't about to clue him in.

"Are you saying that you think the plane crash wasn't an accident?"

I started questioning him...needing to know how much he had discovered and what he intended to do with the information. I began to worry that the Cullen's efforts might actually be placing Edward in danger. What if our search actually leads the bad guys to him? What if he was somewhere safe, and we were actually the ones endangering him? But, what if he was already in trouble? What if they, whoever he was running from, already had him?

I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths. A strong sense of protection enveloped my thoughts. My heart began to race as I realized that they wouldn't still be searching if they knew where he was. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more it rang true inside of me.

Mr. and Mrs. Cullen had been manipulated into trusting someone who was not out to save their son. This private investigator was not just out to find Edward, but to hurt him or to turn him over to those that wanted him dead. I was convinced that this man sitting in front of me, would do anything necessary to accomplish his task. I was positive that he was dangerous and that I needed to tread carefully. If he saw through my charade and believed I knew more than I was saying...I took another deep breath. Trying to stay in character, and not give anything away, I closed my eyes and allowed a tear to escape.

"Please..."

The detective nodded silently and stood up to leave. He must have been convinced with my performance.

"I'll be in touch."

That was four days ago. I had been racking my brain, going over everything that I had told him over our many conversations. I hadn't slept more than a few hours, and could feel my body dragging. I was due on shift in a few minutes, and I really needed to get it together.

I was sitting on the bench in front of my locker, trying to force it all to the back of my mind. It should have been easy. I have been repressing these thoughts and worries for so long now, one would consider me an expert. But nothing was working today. I feared it was due to the lack of sleep. For some reason, I just couldn't seem to fight back the tears this time.

"Why is this happening? I don't know what I'm doing anymore. What if something happens to the Cullens? It will be all my fault. I should have warned them...I should have…I don't know...I just can't do this by myself anymore..."

Suddenly, a warm arm wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me close. I stiffened at first, then relaxed when I realized it was my dear friend, Alice.

"Shh...it's okay, Bella. You are not alone. You never have been."

I pulled away slightly, looking up into her eyes.

"What...oh no...did I say all of that out loud?"

She nodded and smiled. Squeezing my shoulders gently, she tried to comfort me. We sat in silence for a few more minutes, then I started to get up. She asked me where I was going, and I informed her that my shift was just starting. She motioned for me to wait and then took out her phone.

"Rose, I'm taking Bella to my house. You will need to have someone cover her shifts for the next few days. Yes...it's time."

Now, I was really confused.

"Grab your stuff...I'm driving."

If I hadn't known Alice since college, I would have been a little freaked out and refused to go anywhere with her. However, I had shared a dorm room with her for most of our college years and was familiar with her strange ways.

She picked up her bag and turned towards the door. I knew it wouldn't do any good to question her until I showed her I was willing to follow her directions. So, I picked up my bag, threw my wallet inside, and closed my locker. Once we were inside her car and traveling down the road away from the clinic, I spoke.

"Alice, what is this all about?"

She turned to look at me for a few minutes, then focused her attention back on the road. I thought she wasn't going to answer me. I huffed my frustration, then turned away and stared out of the window. We had traveled for almost thirty minutes, when she pulled the car off the main road and into a private driveway. Once we were far enough down the lane that cars wouldn't be able to see us from the main road, she brought the car to a complete stop.

"Bella, we've known each other for a long time. Don't you think it's strange that you have never met my husband?"

My brow furrowed as I thought about her question. I guess I never really thought about it. She would mention him sometimes when she talked about fun things they did together. I knew of his existence, but hadn't ever met him. Was that weird?

"I remember hearing you cry yourself to sleep almost every night in the dorm. Back then, I tried to let you know that I was there if you needed someone, but I also tried not to push."

I nodded silently. I appreciated her friendship and the silent support I always felt from her.

"Bella, I've watched you carry this burden for far too long. It's time for a little push."

I tried to swallow, but the lump in my throat made it nearly impossible. I started shaking my head side to side. My eyes closed.

"I wish I could tell you, Alice. I really do! I just...it's dangerous...I don't…"

The sobs I was trying to hold back, exploded from my throat. My entire body started shaking uncontrollably as tears flooded my cheeks. Alice was next to me in a matter of seconds, wrapping her arms around me with comfort. She held me close and just let me cry until it was completely out of my system. When the trembles began to subside, she pulled back slightly. Her fingers gently grazed my cheeks, wiping the wet path of tears away. She waited until my gaze met hers, then she whispered the words that would forever change my life.

"Bella, you need to meet my husband. I know Jasper can help you. He is a United States Marshall."