My Little Runaway
written by
Maddux and BrokenFirePen
Chapter Eleven
We checked Bella's room, just in case, but she wasn't there. Jasper followed me down the weathered deck and onto the sand. I turned right on the beach, south, because that's the direction we usually walked. I was reminded of that day, not long ago, when I'd frantically searched the beach and every face on it to find the unforgettable girl with the horrible bruises.
The same sense of urgency sent me into a mild panic to find her today. Now that I knew she'd overhead Jasper's conversation with me, I figured that was what had her acting so weird before she left. No wonder she wanted to get away from the house. Even so, I didn't think she would have stayed gone this long.
When we neared the public beach access, what I saw nearly stopped my heart. Tru was barking and circling a group of four men. The beach around them was deserted. Bella was at the center of the group. An older man had his hands locked around her upper arms, shaking her. I could clearly see the terror in her expression. They were dragging Bella toward the public access stairs leading off the beach.
I immediately sprung into action, and I heard Jasper, his feet pounding right beside me. Sand kicked up behind us as we flew over the beach.
Bella was crying. I went into a frenzy, but I had the presence of mind to yell, "Let her go!" I didn't even recognize my own voice. The sounds that came out of me were wild, feral – snarling.
The man who held Bella startled and looked up, dropping her behind him. She fell to the ground. I shouldered my way between the men and rushed to pick her up. A fist crashed into my face. I went down like a rock, falling backward to the sand. I shook myself, seeing stars, but I jumped up again, stepping out of punching range as I held on to my nose. I checked to see if it was bleeding; it wasn't. But my glasses were cracked.
I was furious, but Bella was more important that my pain. "Who do you think you are? You have no right to touch her like that!"
The man who'd punched me, probably in his late forties, early fifties, with graying black hair, stared at me with brown eyes that were filled with evil hate. His dark mustache twitched before he bellowed, "I'm her God damned father!"
It took less than second to hone in on the word 'father.' Bella was shaking so hard where she sat in the sand, but I turned my focus to the man who'd had his hands on her.
My eyes narrowed as I spoke to the man and stepped around him. "You do not come near Bella again. If you do, you'll have a lawsuit slapped on you so quickly, you'll rue the day you stepped foot on my beach." I bent to pick her up.
"And just who the fuck are you?" Bella's father growled.
Bella tensed in my arms at the sound of the man's voice – her father's voice. She wrapped her arms around my neck and clung to me for dear life, still shaking.
"I'm her lawyer."
I spun and left the group of men. I wrapped my arms even tighter around Bella's shaking body. "It's all right now," I whispered into her hair. "You're safe now." I sighed, relieved to have her in my arms. But I was worried that those men may have hurt her.
Jasper stayed close, but every few steps, he'd walk backwards – watchful and intent – just to make sure we weren't being followed.
Tru kept up with us, too. He didn't even need the leash that was trailing behind him in the sand. His eyes were trained on Bella.
Bella was still shivering when we got back to the house. I took her up to her room, thinking that she might like to curl up under the covers and sleep.
"Here, Bella, you're safe in your room, now. What do you need me to do? I'll do anything you need."
I sat her on the edge of the bed, but she wouldn't let go of my neck. I knelt on the floor beside the bed, still holding onto her.
"Don't let go," she whispered. "Please... don't let go."
"Okay... I can do that." I awkwardly slid her over and lay next to her on the bed. Her head rested just under my chin and she sniffled wetly into my T-shirt. I didn't mind in the least. Tru jumped up with us and curled into a ball behind Bella's knees. He was shaking about as hard as Bella was.
I took my glasses off and put them on the nightstand. They were uncomfortable smashed into the side of my head and pressing against my sore nose. But Bella there, so close beside me, felt so right.
"Do you want to talk about what happened?" I asked her.
She nodded with a quiet, "Yes," but said nothing else.
She'd been through a trauma, and I didn't mind waiting patiently until she was ready to talk. I already knew that I would do anything for Bella. I was a goner from the first instant I spotted her on the beach.
The light seeping into the bedroom slowly faded as the sun sank into lazy evening. And still Bella wouldn't let go. I marveled at the warmth our bodies created when we were so close.
"I'm sorry I was gone for so long," she began. "I just... I had to get away. I'm sorry. You and Jasper were talking this morning... and I overheard. It made me... I don't know... scared. Made me feel trapped, all of a sudden..."
I froze. I wasn't expecting her to talk about this. I was expecting her to tell what had happened with her father.
"Bella... you don't have to worry about the things you overheard Jasper saying. I have no... expectations from you. Jasper was just doing what he does best, and that's getting a rise out of me."
Bella pulled back to look me in the eye. I imagined that her eyes were still red-rimmed and wet tear stains made her cheeks shine. She stared for a long time before she said, "Why are you so good to me?"
My fingertips came up and tested the dampness on her cheeks. I dried her tears as best I could. "What do you mean?" I asked.
"I'm nobody. I am nothing. But you took me in. You've kept me safe. You've come to my rescue more than once. What am I to you?"
I swallowed thickly. Unprepared. Completely unprepared. "I... can't answer that question for you. Not... yet."
"But... I heard you say..."
"Not today," I pleaded. "I want to know what happened with your father on the beach."
"Oh." I heard her swallow. "Just my luck what we would cross paths in a place like this." She took a deep breath. "He and his buddies were surf fishing. That's what Charlie likes: sports, his job, and fishing. He hates everything else. And what he really hates is being made a fool of. Which is, basically, what he says I've done. 'Nobody makes a fool out of Charlie Swan!' is what he said.
"I don't want to have anything to do with Charlie Swan ever again," she spat.
"I don't want you to have to be around him ever again," I agreed. "He's the one that was hurting you." It wasn't a question. Stating a fact.
Bella slowly nodded. "I think I want to change my name. Is that something I can do? Can that be done?"
"Yeah, definitely. If that's what you really want..."
Another nod. "As long as I'm not Bella Swan anymore. I want to be Bella... somebody else."
She clung to me a little tighter, and I could hear her start to cry again. Scared that this was all turning out to be too much for her, I pushed against her shoulder, laying her back so I could see her face. "Bella?"
She covered her eyes as she cried. "I've been so afraid for such a long time. The fear has been tearing me down for so long that I didn't know who I was anymore – I still have a hard time trying to figure out who I am.
"I'm just so thankful for you. Charlie... He made sure I didn't have anyone or anything – no help. There was no one I could ask for help. And he threatened me with the most awful things – I can't even repeat what he said he would do to me. But I'm not afraid with you. You've made me feel safe for the first time in a long time."
"Oh, Bella," I whispered – choked up. "I'll always do my best to protect you and take care of you."
"I still don't understand why, Edward. I have nothing to offer you. I'm just a stupid girl with daddy issues."
"Shh. Don't say things like that. Don't even think them. You're not stupid. I've seen your intelligence. And you saved yourself. You're the one that left and set off to a new and better life. You saved yourself. And that took guts."
Bella sniffled.
"You laid low and protected yourself until I came along. And I cannot tell you what, exactly, happened, but I was instantly drawn to you. I could tell you needed someone, badly. You just needed someone to care. When I first looked into your eyes, I saw your pain and fear, and I cared. How could I not? And then I got to know this beautiful, talented girl who'd never been given a proper chance at life. And I've grown fond of you. You make me feel good when we're together. You helped build up a sad, lonely bachelor who has been looking for someone to..." Love. But I didn't say love. Couldn't say it.
Bella laced our fingers together. "Thank you, Edward."
She finally pulled away a little and rubbed her hand down her arm. She flinched and her breath caught.
"What's the matter?" I found my glasses and slipped them on. I didn't miss the pained expression that flashed over Bella's face.
"My arm..."
"Let me see. Take your jacket off." I rolled and reached for the lamp while she slid her hoodie off her shoulders. The light let me see how pale and small her arms were. I didn't hesitate to push the sleeve of her T-shirt higher.
"Oh, Bella. He hurt you." I touched the sooty bruises on her skin with the tip of my finger.
"It only stings. I've had worse. Much worse..."
"But... This is something I can't tolerate. He can't put his hands on you anymore. We can get a restraining order put into place. This has to stop, Bella. We'll take pictures. We'll build a case against him. He needs to be put behind bars for what he's done to you."
"I know my... I know Charlie. He wouldn't make something like that easy. Like I said before, he doesn't like to be made a fool of."
"He'll probably be back, you know."
"Yeah," she sighed. "But I'll deal with him when that time comes." She pushed her sleeve down and wrapped her soft hoodie back around her shoulders.
I marveled at Bella's strength, her bravery. She wasn't going to let her bully of a father scare her. Yet something else I admired about her.
"He hit you." She raised her small hand and almost touched my nose. "Are you okay? Here I've been crying my eyes out, and you're the one hurt."
"Shh. I'm just fine. It'll be sore for a while, but that's okay. I'm glad we got to you before they took you away from me."
I sighed and stood. "Let's go downstairs. I'll take pictures of those bruises, and we can let Jasper know that you're okay."
She nodded but hesitated to move. "Thank you for coming to look for me. I'm glad you got there when you did." She leaned forward and pressed the side of her face to my chest. Surprised by her actions, my arms automatically came around her, like they were always meant to hold her, like she was always meant to fill my empty spaces.
I breathed her scent in deeply. "I'm so glad that you're okay. I was worried about you..."
Her arms threaded through mine until they knotted around my back. She squeezed me with a hug. It made me hungry for more of her hugs, her touch.
"Can we please talk about this?" she murmured into my shirt. She tilted her head back so that her eyes peeped up at me. This. Scared, trapped, she'd said. That's how this made her feel. And I may have felt a little of that. But I was beginning to feel so much more for her. Could I talk about how much I wanted her while she was wrapped around me like this? I was just coming to the conclusion that I could be around her without hyperventilating...
"Tomorrow," I croaked. "Let's talk about it tomorrow."
She lifted the corner of her mouth in a less than enthusiastic smile, but nodded.
Downstairs, Jasper was serious as he questioned Bella about her father. I busied myself with a digital camera, but paid close attention to their conversation.
"He's a Provost Marshal, part of the Military Police Brigade."
"What's that?" I asked.
Jasper explained, "They provide Garrison Law Enforcement and protection for the Fort Bragg community." He looked back to Bella. "So, why was he here?"
"Fishing. From what I gathered, he had the weekend off, and he and his buddies came here to fish. They were drunk. Like always."
"How did you end up running into them?" Jasper asked.
"I wasn't paying attention." Her eyes wandered over to me. "I had other things on my mind." Her gaze dropped back to her lap where she was knotting her fingers together. "He spotted me when I wandered too close. He probably recognized me by my hair. I think I should cut it off."
I inwardly groaned. Bella had great hair. Soft and long and feminine. I really hoped she wouldn't cut it.
"The other men that were with him, did they not try to stop your Dad from hurting you?"
Bella shrugged, she wouldn't look at either of us. "They're dirty old men and I never have liked them."
We all fell quiet and I took the pictures I needed for evidence. If I ever did have to present a case against Charlie Swan, I was damn well going to be prepared.
Bella nibbled at her dinner, mostly pushing the grilled chicken and wild rice around her plate. She soon went to her bedroom, with Tru keeping watch at her side.
"I'm going to make that man's life a living hell."
Confused, I stared at Jasper. "What?"
Jasper took a swig of his sweet tea, crunching on a chunk of ice. "You heard what I said. I've got friends in high places around base. It won't take much to get the information I need. That jackass is not gonna have a leg left to stand on."
I shivered in my seat. Jasper was dead calm. Dead serious. Deadly.
"Just... be careful," was all I could say.
The next morning I was back in my business suit. Jasper was back in his Army uniform, looking all business.
The weekend had been really good, actually, considering the bad things that happened. It wasn't the nightmare that it could have been. I could also tell that I'd been missing my brother in my life. I smiled to myself, remembering some of the better moments of the weekend.
"Come back to visit when you can, Jasper."
He grinned. "You may regret those words..."
I shook my head. "No. I've missed you. It was nice getting to spend some time with you."
"Well, I'm glad you're not here all by yourself anymore. And I'm glad that you've got that little watch-mutt, too. He'll keep you informed if any strangers come around." Jasper picked up his large, green canvas duffel. His hand was on the door as he said, "Oh. And tell that girl that you love her, would you? I think she needs to hear it. From what I've seen, she's not had a lot of it in her life." He stared at me from over his shoulder.
I stood back and tilted my head as I looked at Jasper. He was dead serious again.
"Love's important, little bro. Girls need lots of it."
And with that, Jasper slapped his hat on his head and marched out the door.