May not get this done tonight. It was - Work, Urgent Care(for hours), Drugs, Home. At least I will be feeling better soon.
For those who are re-reading. Don't feel bad. I forgot I killed Eric, too. I was like WHOA, who wrote that! LOL
"The morgue? Wh-what?" Edward was completely shaken. His heart rate picked up and I could feel his body trembling; trying to hold in his tears.
"Yeah, seems he was found ten days after he got home in his apartment. The heat in his building broke and was overheating. There was a smell coming from his apartment and the neighbors were complaining. The landlord knocked and then let himself in. Eric was in bed, his body was already starting to decay. I'm so sorry, Edward." Jake lowered his head to offer his condolences.
I could only imagine the sight that Eric was when he was found. I did an internship in a morgue back in College. Bodies that had sat for that long in excessive heat were not a pretty sight.
"So does this mean he is cleared?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Well, no. It just means that I will have a team of guys go out to New York and meet up with the detectives there to go through all of Eric's personal effects and his apartment to see if there is anything that will aid in the case here."
I nodded and Edward buried his face in my shoulder. I could feel the moisture from his eyes as it absorbed onto my shirt.
"I will be in touch. I need to get a team set to leave to New York." Jake excused himself from the room.
Carlisle and Esme came closer to Edward and me. Esme ran her hand up and down Edward's back and Carlisle held my hand that was wrapped around Edward.
Even knowing that Eric may have been responsible for what happened to Edward, it still hurt to know he died. I didn't hurt because Eric meant anything to me. I hurt because Edward hurt.
Three day's passed before Jake came back.
He was carrying a massive file and a very saddened look on his face.
"Edward, how are you doing?" Jake asked.
Edward shrugged. "Okay I guess. I am up to holding two pounds. Bella says that is good." He looked to me and smiled.
"Well, I guess that is pretty good. So Edward, I need to talk with you and we may want to do it alone."
Edward looked between me and Jake. "I think I would rather her stay. If that's okay."
Jake sighed and set the file down that he had carried in. "I guess so." Jake pulled a chair up and sat next to the bed. "So, I was advised that Eric died two days after he got home. I say he knew he was dying. He left a note, well it was half written. I'm thinking he thought he had more time. In this note he explained everything he knew and he was more than willing to share it with us all. I wish he had the time to finish it, because I believe he had more knowledge to share."
I swallowed the lump in my throat. Edward was rigid in my arms.
"What did it say? Did he admit he did this to me?" Edward asked.
"Not exactly, but he did admit something…"
Jake cleared his throat. "I'm so sorry Edward." You could see the soft man under the hard cop exterior.
Jake opened the file and pulled a piece of paper out. "I figure I might as just read what he had written and saved.
"Edward, I wanted to tell you this before I left for New York, but I was unable to. I even tried to be slick and postpone my flight, but no matter how hard I tried, I wasn't able to get time alone with you.
"It rips me apart that I know I should have tried harder. I should have risked my life to save yours. You are my best friend. You have always been my best friend. I'm sure at times I've failed you, and in this moment, I know I did one more time.
"I hate what Tanya did to you and I hate to say that Alice was in on it as well. The night I left, I saw her come out of your room. She said that she was putting your laundry in there, but I knew she had done that earlier in the day. I knew she was lying. I just didn't know then what she was lying about, but now I do. I slowly in my head put two and two together on the long flight home. I heard her on the phone talking about stocks and selling and it made no sense. She isn't into that, but you are. I think it was all a ploy to get to your money. I know you will say that makes no sense, but look into it, bro.
"I feel weak. I feel like I'm slowly losing myself. As I write this, I know I should be heading to the ER, but I can't find it in me to survive. I know that you may not make it due to my failure, so I can't fight for my own survival.
"Alice told me before I left I was to keep my mouth shut. It took me a day before I tried to call you, but your phone was off. I figured she had already gotten her way. I shouldn't have waited to try and contact you, but I suppose the thought of her killing me too was enough of a scare. But now, since I know I am dying anyways, I have no reason to hold back. I wish I knew what of mine she got to and poisoned so it could be easily tested.
"Edward, I'm so sorry again. I have failed you. At least I know that with this, she will be looked into as a suspect. Even in my death, and maybe yours, we can get justice." Jake cleared his throat. "The rest was purely written for you." Jake handed the paper over to Edward and I looked over his shoulder as he read it.
I love you, and I am not afraid to say that. We have been best friends for such a long time; I hate to know that we will be apart now. Maybe in death we will be best buds again. I hate to think you will leave this world just as you found such a lovely woman in Bella, but sometimes things happen. You are a great guy. There is so much more I would love to say to you, dear friend, but I am tired now. I'm going to lay down, but maybe tomorrow I will add more to this. Goodbye, my dearest friend.
Edward sniffled and whipped the tears from his face. He handed back the paper to Jake.
"So, now what happens?" Edward asked through his tears.
"Well, it already happened, but Alice's charges were updated. Before she was locked up just for hindering the investigation, now the charges were updated to include attempted murder and murder. She will be in court tomorrow morning."
Edward laughed, but not in a funny kind of way, but more in a way of disbelief. "Well, I guess I need to tell my parents, huh?"
"Edward, don't feel that responsibility is yours. I will be contacting your parents. I want to see if they can assist in getting a reason out of Alice."
Edward nodded, but didn't respond.
"Thanks, Jake," I said with a forced smile. I knew this had to have been hard on him.
"I'll be in touch." Jake left without another word and Edward collapsed the rest of the way into me and broke down.
Weeks past and Edward was released into my care, at my home. Alice was charged with murdering Eric and attempted murder of Edward. Almost everything that was needed was in Eric's note. It was a dying declaration and the judge let it in.
Alice tried to say that it was Eric that was doing the killing, but when the ADA asked why he killed himself, she had no answer. Personally, I thought it would be stupid to be trying to kill someone for a reason, but then to kill yourself as to not get caught. Kind of defeated the whole point of even trying to kill them.
Upon discharge, Edward called his accountant. He told me that Tanya handled most of the finances when it came to his day trading business. All he knew was they were never high in the black with what she showed him, so he assumed he wasn't making much. It turned out that Tanya was changing numbers to skim off the top. The accountant faxed Edward the real numbers and he was nearing a million in revenue. As far as he knew he wasn't even one-hundred thousand in revenue. He was doing almost ten-fold better than he thought.
Edward was content once he knew why Tanya wanted him dead, but he still couldn't figure out Alice, and she wasn't talking. At all!
Carlisle and Esme tried to talk to her and she told them both to fuck off. It was a major shock to them both at her hatred toward her family.
Emmett and Rose came back into town and also stayed with Edward and me. When Edward called his brother to inform him of the development of Alice, shocked didn't even describe what his reaction was.
Emmett and Rose were given the same lovely parting from Alice. They were equally as shocked.
It seemed Alice had everyone fooled.
After weeks of back and forth from the Cullen family and the District Attorney, we started to get answers, we just didn't get them from where we expected.
The once – I didn't have a partner – Tanya Cullen, decided to open up for a reduced sentence.
She explained that she was skimming the money for a year, since the start of his career as a day trader. It was before they even got married. She never actually planned to marry him, but he asked and she felt as if it was expected so she said yes, with the intention of a divorce to follow once she felt she had enough money.
She didn't think he would ever notice the skimming since she started from the beginning, and she was right; he didn't notice.
She said that about six weeks before Edward got sick; Alice walked in on her one day and saw the bank account information that held the money she was skimming.
At that time, Alice demanded to be let in on the skimming or someone would pay.
She said that was how this all got out of hand….
"Alice told me that I had to let her in on the whole money scheme or she would tell Edward that I was stealing from him and she caught me. I had worked far too long to let her come in and ruin it for me. We agreed she would get twenty-five percent of what I took and I would get the rest. I figured I would keep at it for a bit longer to get to the amount that I had wanted."
"And what was that amount?"
"Three million. Edward was getting better and better at his trading, so it may have taken about a year to get to the million mark, I didn't see it taking another two to get to the three million mark. Three weeks after Alice found out, I sent her a payment of one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars."
"Enter exhibit F, Tanya Cullen's bank statement showing the transfer of funds to Alice Cullen." The ADA nodded at Tanya. "Please continue."
"Alice was unhappy with the amount. She demanded more. I told her I didn't have more for her. She called me a liar and told me I would pay."
Edward squeezed my hand tight. We were in the court room gallery with Carlisle and Esme in the row in front of us.
"This is the hardest part," Edward whispered into my ear.
"Do you want to go?" I asked back.
He shook his head no. We had heard the same story when Tanya pled guilty to embezzlement and attempted murder after the fact. She was looking at a fifteen year prison sentence.
We both looked back up to Tanya on the stand. She was silent, eyes locked on Edward and me.
"How did she say you would pay?"
Tanya cleared her throat. "She told me if I wouldn't give her more, then she would take it all from me. Soon thereafter, Edward started to get sick. I confronted her and she told me it was my fault and if I didn't keep my mouth shut, I would go down for it all. For the money and for killing Edward.
"I tried to get him help, stay by his side, but when it came down to it, I could steal, but I couldn't kill or stand by and watch him be killed. When Edward was brought to Chicago, Alice worried everything was falling in on our plan. Everyone thought she was a good person, but I saw the real her."
"What happened next?" the ADA asked, trying to push her along.
"Uh, well she told me I needed to confess and admit I was alone in it or the same thing that was happening to Edward would happen to me. She told me if I did that, she would get the money and get me off. She then told me what she had poisoned him with so I could confess." Tanya dropped her head to her hands. "I feared her and I didn't want to end up dead, so I did what was asked of me."
I looked over to Edward and he had a tear in the corner of his eye. Every time he had to hear this story it brought tears to his eyes.
To find out the woman you loved, never loved you back and then to find out your baby sister wanted you dead was too much for him.
Tanya continued with the rest of the interactions with her and Alice.
"She came to see me a few weeks after I was arrested. She told me that she would finish the job when the time was right. I wanted to warn him."
"Why didn't you?"
"I didn't want to die."
The questioning continued. Alice's public defender asked a few wrap up questions, but really wasn't doing that good of a job defending her.
The Cullens cut ties with Alice financially and she wasn't able to afford a private attorney. Unfortunately for her, what she could get was a crappy, just out of law school defender.
At the end of it all, I kissed Edward and we left the court room together.
There was at least another week of witnesses before the jury would be excused, and we would be there for the whole thing.
Who also forgot about Alice's involvement? *raises hand* It was SO long ago since I wrote this.. clearly. LOL