A/N: Thank you all so much for the awesome reviews!

It had been two weeks since I'd gotten out of the hospital, and those two weeks had been some of the best of my life. I loved how comfortable Bella was in my house, and the thought of her leaving terrified me. I knew, though, that she would eventually have to go back to New York. Her life, her job, and her friends were there. Just as my life and friends were here. However, after being shot and endangering my family, moving to New York didn't seem like such a bad idea.

"My flight leaves at noon on Sunday," Bella told me over breakfast in bed one morning.

I let out a sigh. I didn't want her to leave.

"I'll take you to the airport," I told her, while my mind was busy contemplating moving.

"I appreciate that. I don't want to leave, Edward, but I have to. If I want to keep my job, I have to go back," she said, sounding sad.

"I know, babe. Listen, I have an idea," I began. "I can write anywhere, and perhaps it would be a good idea for me to get out of town for a while. Why don't I come back to New York with you?"

She looked at me, curiosity in her beautiful brown eyes.

"What about your family?" she asked.

"They'll understand," I told her, hoping that they would. My folks knew how hard a long distance relationship could be. They'd done it while Dad was in med school.

That was how I found myself on a plane, sitting next to Bella on our way to New York. Mom and Dad had both agreed that maybe New York would be safer for me at the moment. Charlie, on the other hand, wasn't as pleased that I was leaving town, much less with his daughter, but he'd come to terms with it.

After our plane landed, we grabbed a cab to Bella's apartment and quickly got settled in.

"Man, I miss your house. I'd forgotten how small my apartment is," she told me as we put our clothes away.

"Yeah, I'll miss it too, but not as much as I would've missed you had I stayed behind."

She rolled her eyes, and mumbled that I was sweet but cheesy.

"Yet, you still love me."

She gave me a sweet smile followed by a sweet kiss. "That I do."

As I looked around her cramped apartment, I couldn't help but think that if I made the move to New York permanent, I would have to buy us a bigger place. Maybe a condo in SoHo or a penthouse. Or not. I could just see Bella reacting badly to that. I'd learned over the past two weeks that she didn't like it when I spent a lot of money on her.

We settled in on the couch, flipped on the TV, and stopped on an old detective movie that was playing. As she cuddled in my arms, my phone rang.

"Hey, Charlie."

"Edward. How was the flight?" he asked.

"Good."

"Good, good. I wanted to let you know that we brought Victoria in for questioning. Tanya finally came through and gave me an address of where Victoria had been staying."

I sat up, interested to know what he'd learned.

"What did you find out?" I asked, putting the phone on speaker so that Bella could hear as well.

"She is a nut job. I thought Tanya was crazy, but Victoria … well, she's something else."

"Of course she's a nut job. She's related to Tanya," I replied as Bella snickered.

"Yeah, but when I say nut job, I mean psychotic nut job," he said with a weary sigh.

Over the course of the next forty minutes, Charlie explained to us what he'd learned. Apparently, James and Victoria also went by Alec and Heidi Caius. They moved from town to town, state to state, conning people, robbing people, and leaving mayhem and destruction in their wake.

When Tanya had called Victoria, upset and in tears regarding the divorce, Victoria had taken it upon herself, with James' help, to make me pay for what I'd done. Victoria and Tanya had always been close, more like sisters rather than cousins, and Victoria had always looked out for Tanya.

At some point, after James and Victoria had moved to Port Angeles, Tanya, in a drunken rage, had wished me dead. James had taken her seriously and convinced Victoria to help him. Not that it had taken much convincing.

Victoria copped to the phone calls and emails and had told Charlie that she got the idea after reading that IT was my favorite books. She and James had planned on using scenes from my own book, but when the police had caught on, they had switched tactics.

She did, however, claim that she had nothing to do with Kathy's death. She said that James had gone off the deep end, and she had no idea where he was. He'd turned off his cell phone and hadn't returned any of her calls.

"Victoria is being charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She's willing to give us all information that she has on James in exchange for a plea bargain."

"What about Tanya?" Bella asked. "She played a part in all of this as well."

"She's been arrested," he assured us." She admitted to breaking into your house and keying your car. The District Attorney wants to charge her with conspiracy to commit murder as well, but I'm not sure the charge will stick."

"Did she know that James and Victoria were planning on killing me?" I asked.

"She says no, and at the moment, we have no way of proving otherwise. We are currently gathering all the information we can about James Hunter. Victoria has given us a list of places that he frequents, but I want you two to be careful. We don't know where he is or how dangerous he is. I'm begging you both to be extra cautious."

We promised that we would watch our backs before saying goodbye to Charlie.

"I'm going to call my folks and let them know," I told Bella.

"I'll order dinner. What are you in the mood for?"

I shrugged, telling her to surprise me.

"Hi, Son. How was your flight?" Mom asked after greeting me.

I told her it was good, and then let her know what Charlie had told us.

"I always knew there was something wrong with that family. I just knew it! But you be careful. I don't want you or Bella getting hurt."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Oh, I didn't have time to tell you that I talked to Eleazar," she said.

"Oh, yeah? What did he have to say for himself?"

Mom let out a hmph. "Stupid man claims that he made a mistake. That it was a one-time thing and that he lost his mind for a moment. I told him he was stupid and that Tanya was your ex-wife and a crazy lady. I told him that if he didn't stop seeing her then I'd tell Carmen."

"Bet that went over well," I said with a grin.

"Well, seeing as how Carmen chose that moment to come home and overheard me—let's just say that she slapped him a few times and kicked him out."

"That's what he gets."

"Too right," Mom agreed.

We chatted for a bit more until she wanted to speak to Bella. I handed the phone over to Bella, glad that she and my mom got along so well.

The doorbell rang while they were still talking, so I went to answer, paid the delivery guy, and got our Thai food plated.

Bella smiled her thanks at me as I handed her a plate of food.

"I promise, Esme. We'll be safe. Uh huh. Did you want to talk to Edward again? Okay, well we'll talk to you later," Bella said, hanging up the phone.

"What did Mom want to talk to you about?" I asked as I took a bite of food.

"She just wanted to see how I was handling everything. I really like your mom, Edward. You're so lucky to have her."

Her eyes were a bit sad as I asked her if she'd heard back from her mom yet. She'd called and left messages for her mother before heading out to Forks.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "It's like she's avoiding me. I called again yesterday while you were in the shower and left a message telling her that I'd reconciled with Charlie."

I set down my food and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, pulling her close.

"I'm sorry, babe," I told her.

We'd been in New York for over a week, and there hadn't been any sightings of James that we knew of. Then again, New York was a huge city. He could be watching us and we'd never know it. Victoria had given up all she knew about him, and thanks to her, they'd located an old accomplice of his. The guy had told Charlie that James used to have a cabin in upstate New York. Charlie had contacted the New York State Police, and they'd sent out a team to locate the cabin.

I'd spent most of the past week cooped up in Bella's small apartment while she went to work. I'd written a bit, but I was suffering from writer's block and cabin fever.

"Can I come with you to work today?" I begged as I lay in bed, watching her get dressed.

"Is it bring your boyfriend to work day?" she asked, pulling her hair into a ponytail.

"I'm going crazy stuck in the apartment. I need to get out, interact with people," I whined.

Laughing, she agreed, and thirty minutes later we got off the subway and made our way to Volturi Publishing.

"Morning, Sam," Bella said to the security guard as we entered the building.

She scanned her ID then had me show him my license.

"This is Edward Cullen. He's visiting with us today," she told him.

I followed Bella over to a bank of elevators, and within a few minutes, we exited onto her floor.

Over the course of the first few hours, I was introduced to one person after another. I met so many people that I couldn't remember anyone's names.

A little after eleven, Bella had to go to a meeting, leaving me to fend for myself alone at her desk. I set aside my laptop and took a good look at her desk. Everything was neat and organized. All of her pens and pencils were in a pencil holder. All her Post-its were stacked neatly on top of one another, and her calendar was neatly penciled in. Her apartment wasn't nearly as neat as her desk.

Grinning, I picked up a cube picture frame that was sitting on the desk. It contained pictures of us as well as pictures of just me. I set it down, then stood up and stretched. My back cracked, and I figured I could use a bathroom break and some coffee while Bella was in her meeting.

I headed down the hall toward the bathrooms that Bella had pointed out to me earlier and made my way inside. I was surprised to see three guys hanging out, washing their hands. Apparently, the men's restroom was a popular place.

They all stopped talking when they saw me and kind of stared. Ignoring them, I headed into the stall. Thankfully, they were gone when I came out.

Leaving the bathroom, I tried to recall where the break room was. I didn't want to wander around aimlessly, so I stopped at the desk of a young woman.

"Excuse me? I'm sorry to bother you, but could you tell me where the break room is?"

The young woman barely even acknowledged my existence as she pointed down the hall I'd just come from. Thanking her, I headed back down the hall, past the bathrooms until I came to a small room that smelled like coffee.

I peeked my head around the open door and saw the room was empty.

I walked back to Bella's desk with my cup of coffee, stopping to take a look out the windows that lined the walls. Volturi Publishing had a fantastic view of the city. As I gazed out the window, someone came up behind me and cleared their throat. I turned around and found myself face to face with a scary looking woman.

"Mr. Cullen? I'm Bree Volturi, CEO of Volturi Publishing. Had we known that you were going to be stopping in, we would have made arrangements."

I shook her hand, instantly disliking her. "I'm not here on an official visit. I'm here visiting my girlfriend."

When Bella and I had officially become a couple, we had discussed whether or not to let the publishing world know. Some publishing companies had rules in place against editors fraternizing with the authors, but Volturi didn't. We'd scoured over her contract and spoken with Marcus about it. He'd been quick to assure us that it was fine for us to have a relationship and that he couldn't have been happier for the two of us.

However, Ms. Volturi's eyes widened and an eyebrow raised. "Your girlfriend works for us?"

I nodded, not liking the look in her eye.

"I see," she said in a cold voice. It looked like she wanted to say more, but she was interrupted by the ringing of her phone.

The minute she turned her back, I started walking back toward Bella's desk. Something about Bree Volturi set me on edge. Seeing as Bella wasn't back from her meeting, I pulled out my phone and gave Marcus a call.

"Edward, my boy. How are you?"

"Good. I'm over at Volturi waiting for Bella to get out of a meeting, and I just ran into Bree Volturi," I told him, keeping my voice down as I hunkered down at Bella's desk.

"Yeah, I'd heard that she'd been made CEO. She's a piece of work."

"So I've gathered. She wanted to know what I was doing here, and I said I was visiting my girlfriend. I didn't give her Bella's name, but she didn't look too happy when she realized that my girlfriend worked for Volturi."

Marcus let out a sigh. "From what I understand, Bree is making a lot of changes and pissing a lot of people off in the process. When you and Bella started dating there was nothing illegal about it, however, Bree may have changed the rules since then. Watch your back, and tell Bella to do the same."

I thanked him and hung up, waiting impatiently for Bella to get out of her meeting.

A few minutes after noon, Bella stomped over to her desk, and she looked furious.

"Let's go," she snarled, grabbed her coat off the back of her chair, and shoved her arms through the sleeves.

I followed her out to the elevator where we rode in silence to the lobby. I followed her as she stormed down the street before she stopped in front of an Italian deli. I barely missed getting hit by the door that she swung open with force, and I slowly walked in after her. Something in her meeting had obviously not gone well.

With our orders in hand, we sat down at a small booth in the back. I waited until she'd taken a few bites and calmed down before I asked what had happened.

"Bree Volturi is what happened. She's making all kinds of departmental changes as well as contractual changes. She's decided, even though she knows nothing about editing, that each of us editors will be taking on even more projects. Normally, we work with one or two authors at a time on their books. Now, Bree wants us working with up to five authors. It's just not feasible," she growled.

"Yeah, I ran into her while you were in your meeting," I told her. "She didn't seem too thrilled that I was there, much less to visit my girlfriend."

Bella looked sharply at me. "Does she know that we're dating?"

I shook my head. "I had a feeling she was going to ask me, but she got a phone call. Why?"

"I think she wants to implement a no-fraternizing rule. She looked less than pleased when she'd learned that Angela and Ben were engaged."

I knew a little about Angela and Ben. They were both friends of Bella's and worked at Volturi. Angela was an editor like Bella, while Ben worked in the sales department.

"I guess even if Bree does initiate a no-fraternizing policy, it wouldn't affect them, would it? I mean, they've been together since high school."

I shrugged, not really having a clue. "No idea, but the company could say that once Angela and Ben knew about the rule they would either have to stop dating or one of them would have to leave."

Bella frowned, not liking that idea.

"Hey," I said, reaching across the table to grasp her hand. "Try not to dwell on that at the moment. If that happens, we'll deal with it because it could affect us as well."

A month had passed since I'd moved to New York with Bella. The New York State Police had raided James' cabin and found cryptic notes and maps pinned to the walls, but they had no clue as to his whereabouts.

I had a feeling that he was in the city, biding his time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. As such, I never let Bella go anywhere by herself, and my constant hovering was putting a strain on our relationship.

I took her to work every day, then I killed my time writing on my laptop at a local coffee shop or a bench in a nearby park. When lunch rolled around, I'd usually meet her outside her building or I'd bring food to her, but not today.

"Edward, I'm just going down the block to the deli with some co-workers. I'll be fine," she argued over the phone.

"But—"

"No, Edward! No! I love you, but you are smothering me! I'm not going to wander off by myself, but I'd like to have lunch with Angela and Ben. Alone!" she shouted before she hung up on me.

I sat on the bench and stared at my phone in disbelief. She'd hung up on me! I knew that I had probably taken things a bit overboard, but I hadn't realized that it was upsetting her so much.

Deciding to give her time to calm down, I didn't call or text her until a little after two. I wasn't all that concerned when I didn't hear back right away. I knew that she had some conference calls to make. However, when I hadn't heard from her by three-thirty, I started to get a bit worried.

I packed my laptop away and headed toward her building, greeting Sam as I walked in. I waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive and, once inside, wished it would go faster. Finally, it stopped on her floor and I got out.

"Angela?" I asked the young brunette with glasses.

She nodded. "Hello, Edward."

"Is Bella around?" I asked.

"She should be. We all came back from lunch at one and then she had some conference calls. After that, she had a meeting with our boss, Sallie. She should be back any minute if you want to wait at her desk."

I thanked Angela and weaved my way through the desks before stopping at Bella's. I sat down in her chair and began waiting. I hadn't been there more than ten minutes when a woman in her fifties approached Bella's desk.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

I looked up at her. "Yes?"

"Who are you?" she asked.

I quickly explained who I was and that I was waiting for Bella to come back from a meeting.

The woman frowned as she looked at me. "She never showed for our meeting. I was hoping you knew where she was."

I shook my head trying to quell my panic. Bella wouldn't not show up to a meeting with her boss.

Pulling out my phone, I tried her again, only this time it went straight to voicemail.

I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself. It wouldn't do anyone any good if I panicked.

"What's going on?" the woman, who I assumed was Sallie, asked.

I shook my head as I dialed Charlie's number and walked a ways down the hall until I found some privacy.

"Hey, Edward."

"Charlie, I can't find Bella!"

There was a pause. "What do you mean you can't find Bella?"

"I mean I can't find her. I'm at her office, and she was supposed to have a meeting with her boss, but she never showed. Bella wouldn't just blow off something like that. No has seen her since lunch," I said a bit hysterically.

"Edward, calm down. I'm going to call the police and send them over, but I need you to stay calm. While you're waiting for the police, see if you can't talk to her co-workers and find out when exactly they saw her last."

I agreed, and as soon as I hung up the phone, I went back to Angela's desk. She told me that they'd all walked back from lunch together, and that she'd passed Bella at her desk a little after two, where she'd been on a conference call.

Angela was extremely worried and demanded to know what was going on. I knew that Bella trusted her, so I quickly filled her in. Needless to say, Angela was now as scared as I was.

Thirty minutes went by before a detective by the name of David Beckett showed up. He introduced himself and informed me that he was an old friend of Charlie's. He explained to me that Charlie had told him all about James and how dangerous he was.

"When was the last time you spoke to Bella?" he asked me.

"A little before noon. We had a tiff. She felt I was smothering her. I didn't call her again until around two, but I didn't get an answer," I told him.

We spoke a few minutes more before he left to talk to Bella's colleagues. While he was doing that, I paced around the sitting area and watched as another cop came off the elevator. He had something in his hand, and upon a closer look, I saw it was Bella's phone.

I made my way over to him, demanding to know what was going on.

"Sir, you need to calm down and take a step back," he warned.

Reluctantly, I did as he asked. I watched as he spoke to Detective Beckett and then they motioned me to follow them.

When we were inside a conference room, the other detective slid Bella's phone across the table.

"Is this Bella's phone?"

I nodded as I looked at the phone with the purple design on its cover.

"It was found in the stairwell," he informed me. "We believe that she may have been taken."

I was not going to cry. Last time Bella had gone missing, it was because some guy had tried to mug her. Maybe this was the same thing, but in my heart I knew that James had gotten her.

"We found blood in the stairwell as well," Detective Beckett said, causing my heart to lurch.

"Oh, God! You don't think she's dead, do you?"

They both shook their heads as they explained that it was a minimal amount of blood. Not enough for them to think that she had been severely harmed.

"Hunter has taken her because he knows how important she is to you. We've dealt with criminals like him before. There's a good chance that he's going to call you and offer an exchange. You for her. Or he'll ask for a ransom. Hunter will do whatever it takes to get to you."

I nodded, already knowing that.

"Here's what we're going to do. We'll put a trace on your cell, so when he calls, we can try and pinpoint his location. Keep him talking as long as possible."

It has been sixteen hours since Bella had been taken. Sixteen excruciating hours, and not one fucking phone call. There was nothing I could do except wait and that was the hardest thing to do.

I'd gone back to Bella's apartment just in case she managed to escape and show up there. I was sitting in the dark, miserable and terrified, when the buzzer to her apartment went off, scaring the fuck out of me.

"Who is it?" I barked into the intercom.

"World Delivery. I have a package for Edward Cullen."

I hit the button to let him in then grabbed a knife from the kitchen. I didn't know what was going on, but something didn't feel right. He knocked on the door, and I cracked it open, the knife hidden behind my back. I took the package that he offered me and closed the door.

I set the small box down on the coffee table and called Detective Beckett.

Within minutes, he showed up and carefully opened the package. Nestled inside the tissue paper was a human ear. A small ear with an emerald stud in it. The same kind of earring that I'd given Bella just days ago.

Bile welled up in my throat, and I barely made it to the bathroom before losing everything in my stomach. My beautiful Bella. He'd harmed my Bella, and I was going to make sure the fucker paid.

"Edward? I need to take this to the lab to have it tested. We don't know for sure that this ear belongs to Bella," he said once I came out of the bathroom.

"I bought her those earrings," I choked out.

"I know that I've told you this before, but I need you to remain calm. Is there someone who can stay with you?"

I nodded. My family would be landing at JFK within the hour.

"Good. What you need right now is a strong support system. You will get through this. So will Bella. Let me get this analyzed, and we'll have a better idea of what's going on," he told me, giving my shoulder a squeeze.

An hour and a half later, I was sitting on the couch with my Mom's arm around me. My entire family had shown up, baby Emma included, as well as Charlie, Emmett, and Rose.

Charlie had headed straight to Detective Beckett's precinct the minute they'd gotten in, and we'd yet to hear from him. I knew that it would take the lab time to gather information, but I was dying for any little bit of information.

Finally, my cell phone rang, startling all of us.

"Hello?"

A/N: Yes, yes. An evil cliffie. The next chapter is going to be from BPOV. I think it's time to hear what she has to say.