Fourteen

Leah never wanted Seth to get involved in her marital drama, but she supposed it had been foolish for her to think he wouldn't. Seth, although still a kid in Leah's eyes, was too smart, too cognizant for his good. He would make a good detective, even better than his sister, Leah would reluctantly admit.

Or maybe it was his personality that made him great at convincing people to drop their guard. He had the smile of a trustworthy guy with a pure heart of gold and a tendency to keep his mouth shut. Maybe that was why Leah had, unfortunately, subjected herself to one of the most uncomfortable, infuriating conversations she had in a long time. Both in her private life and her professional.

She wished her mother hadn't run off an hour earlier to meet up with her friends for the weekly mani-pedi's, leaving her alone with him.

"So, what's up with you and Sam?"

Leah looked up from the Tuesday edition of the Chicago Tribune, raising an eyebrow. Seth was sitting across from her, devouring his third bowl of cereal—Where did all of that go? Leah complained mentally— pausing only to stare at his sister expectantly. After realizing that she would have to respond at some point, Leah put the paper down and let out a tired sigh.

"It's complicated," she said.

Seth rolled his eyes. "We're not on Facebook, big sis. You can't just say that."

"Well, I did," Leah retorted, "And that's that—"

"Sam didn't miss the wedding because of the flu, didn't he?"

Leah gave her brother an annoyed up before picking up her paper, mumbling under breath about annoying little brothers.

"Oh, come on, Leah, you can't ignore me—"

"What is this, an interrogation?"

"I'm just working on my future career," Seth innocently said before shoving a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. "That's all."

"That's all," Leah replied, deadpanned. She turned to the second page of the paper. "I can't believe this..."

"So, is that a no or is that a yes?'

"Why can't you mind your business, Seth?"

"Because you're my sister. Your business is my business."

Leah narrowed her eyes. "Bullshit."

"So...?" Seth carried on. "Look, I'm going to keep asking until you give me a full answer. Unless of course, you want me to call mom and ask myself—"

"You're a devious little shit, aren't you?"

"It takes one to know one," Seth said, grinning and giving his sister a wink. He ducked and chuckled when a ball of paper toilet went his way. "So...?"

Leah sighed. "Sam and I are going through some things."

Seth sat up. "Uh oh." He took another bite. "Define some things?"

"We're getting a divorce."

He didn't seem as surprised as Leah thought he would be. But then again, Seth, although he would never admit it to anyone, wasn't Sam's biggest fan; Leah never bothered to ask why.

"Why?"

"We're getting a divorce."

"Why?"

"Because we are."

"That's not a reason," Seth pointed out, reaching for his orange juice. After a couple of gulps, he said, "You know, it'll be easier if you just told me everything." He leaned forward and dropped his voice. "What did he do?"

"What makes you think he did something?"

"Oh come on, I know mom knows," Seth said. "She's no longer gushing about Sam to her friends. Like: oh, did you see who my daughter's married to? A detective who's five seconds away from getting a promotion."

"Oh my god, Seth," Leah whined. "She doesn't say that."

"Does, too."

Seth leaned in and dropped his voice. "Does this have anything to do with Emily?"

"What do you know about Emily?"

"Uh, that mom hates her now," Seth said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "She said something about a bastard baby- and..." He gasped. "Wait, no."

Leah's interest suddenly jumped a tenfold because her brother had that look on his face; the look of realization. "No, what?"

"It explains so much!"

"It explains what?"

"I dunno. They've been acting weird towards each other for a while. Nothing bad or anything, but weird," Seth explained. "I heard her mentioning something a while back about going on vacation together. I assumed she meant all of us..." His eyes widened as he gulped. "Oh my god, I should've known!"

"No one knew," Leah reasoned, "Not even me, and I'm a goddamn detective." She closed the paper again and set it aside. "And please don't beat yourself over this. I know you."

"That asshole—!"

"Don't call him that."

"Well, he is one," Seth bit back.

Leah raised an eyebrow at her brother, steaming away in his seat, gripping his spoon as if it had offended him. She wasn't used to seeing him mad. It just seemed wrong.

"Leah—"

"What's done is done," Leah said. She was tired of feeling upset. "Now, hurry up with your breakfast. You have a 5k to run in under 25 minutes."

A look of despair quickly replaced Seth's anger. "But why?" he complained. "I only have a do a mile-and-half run for the police test?"

"Because I said so."

"Jacob, promise me something."

"Anything."

"Let me do the talking."

"Leah—"

Leah raised her hand, silencing her partner. Both were sitting inside of Jacob's car, parked along the side of Rosalie's other downtown office. The building was only five stories high, made out of brick. It didn't seem like a place Rosalie would conduct her affairs, but maybe it was. It was inconspicuous.

The captain knew about this meeting but chose not to get involved by refusing to hear the details. The reason was never discussed, but Leah had a sinking feeling it had to do with Sorio and the Deal, both of which was fucking over this police department (among other things)— it was disheartening, but like Jacob had told her, it could have been worse. Their captain was still letting the detectives their jobs without much interference.

"I know Rosalie from way back," Leah said, glancing out of the passenger window, checking out the other side of the street for some suspicious figures. This wasn't her first rodeo, meeting up with people residing on the other side of the law; there had been times when their suspect's "friends had surprisingly ambushed she and her team." But so far, the coast was clear. "I know she operates, and I'm sure Edward would prefer a mere human to lead the meeting. Maybe it'll bring his guard down."

"And he won't if I talk?"

"You are a six-seven shapeshifter with a grudge against vampires," Leah reminded her partner, patting his shoulder. "And you do a horrible job hiding it. He'll pick up on it, and his walls will go right back up, and we won't get squat from him. Trust me, on this, okay?"

"Okay," Jacob wanted to fight it, but he eventually just sighed, glancing out of his window and at the building. "Fine, but if he does anything—"

Leah found Jacob's concern endearing, but this wasn't the time for this. They had a job to do. "You're going to be right next to me, Jacob. I'm sure he won't make a move." "Promise me you won't talk."

"Fine."

"Jacob."

"I promise."

The detectives managed to walk onto the fifth floor, the last floor, without a problem. It was a private, according to Google, owned by Hale and Associates, LLC. Leah had done some research on the building, just in case she had to use incriminating information against Rosalie if she got out of line, but much to his disappointment (but not surprised), everything seemed legit— at least, the lawyer did her homework. Not many people in her field, working for a certain facet of society, did.

The floor was everything Leah expected, laid out like a corporate law office. There was a receptionist, of course, by the name of Marie, a pretty young lady who was working for Rosalie as a "favor." The detectives caught the eye of some associate lawyers who wisely didn't say anything to them beyond the general pleasantries. Leah was expected to be bombarded by Rosalie's partner-in-crime/paralegal, Alice Brandon, but she assumed that she was out in the world, collecting information for her boss' most important yet scandalous clients.

They were led to one of the back rooms by a man who claimed to be yet another receptionist but looked like a stereotypical mobster with a nice suit. But he seemed relatively professional enough to the point that the detectives mutually decided while walking into the room that held their "guests" not to ask about him unless they had no other choice.

And there was Mr. Edward Masen. It was about time Leah met the man who had caused damage to the Dahlia case. She wished she could arrest the man for merely visiting Bella and obstruction, and it killed her to know that she couldn't do it.

But she wasn't here to express her irritation for the man who was sitting across the table, right next to his legal representation, Rosalie. Both dressed to the nine in suits that most likely cost more than her monthly income. They looked like they were both attending a corporate meaning rather than an under-the-table "conversation" with two city detectives. Both extremely confident.

She glanced at Jacob, hoping her partner wouldn't be offended by the others' obvious relaxed state. He needed to remain his cool, and from the smug look on their perp's face, it wasn't going to be easy. "Good morning, thank you for meeting at such short notice," Leah began, sitting down.

"It's our pleasure," Rosalie said, shifting her attention to Jacob. She looked at him for a bit and said, "Interesting."

"Interesting?" Jacob questioned, leaning forward until he caught Leah's disapproving gaze. He stopped and then retreating, forcing out a professional grin. "Thank you for coming here."

"I believe you know my partner, Detective Black," Leah said, and then, as she folded her hands on the table, "So, let's get straight to business."

Leah honestly wasn't expecting much from this meeting. She knew Rosalie; she knew the lawyer had coached Edward until Kingdom Come on what to say when facing the victims. She and Jacob were here for answers of course, but they were here to observe. Jenks had wanted to see how Edward and his lawyer would react to the accusations. That was all.

"Let's, Rosalie challenged.

Edward hadn't said a word but didn't seem worried. Confident, more than anything, which annoyed Leah to no end. But she supposed she couldn't blame him. Rosalie Hale was sitting right next to him.

"What would you like to start with, Detective?" Rosalie asked.

Leah glanced at Jacob, making sure he understood his "role" during this moment. He had promised her to keep quiet, but she already accepted that he was bound to say something. Just hopefully nothing too unhelpful. "How about we start with obstruction?"

"Obstruction?" Rosalie let out a soft chuckle. "My apologies, Detective, but my client has done no such thing."

"Oh, he's just been a model citizen the entire time, then?" Leah challenged, now looking at Edward who had tensed up in his seat, proving that he wasn't too happy about this accusation. He seemed like he wanted to explode, maybe even confront Leah, but then he glanced at Jacob who was more or less snarling at the vampire and relaxed his stance.

Leah looked between Edward and her partner, fascinated by this development. It was as if something happened between them that she—nor Rosalie—had known about.

Edward sat up in his chair, offended. "Excuse me."

"Mr. Mason, please," Rosalie implored her client, putting on her game face. Leah wondered if the lawyer was putting up a front or being sincere. Because based on their conversation the day before, Rosalie had unofficially confirmed that her client had, indeed, obstructed an investigation. She wondered what game the lawyer was playing, and if Edward knew about it. "My client has obstructed nothing."

"Really, so would you call it then?" Leah challenged. "Visiting a medical examiner in the middle of the night, requesting her to disregard the autopsy. And wa-la, a couple of months later, a certain judge has granted a stay on said autopsy."

"I call it an issue between you and the courts," Edward replied coolly.

Leah leaned back her seat and examined the man across from her. He was a pretentious, over-confident man. A far from the respectable man Bella had described Edward to be. But then again, he was a high-ranking member of the Cullen family. He had to be cocky; it was like a defense mechanism for mobsters.

"Okay, let's carry on," Leah began, pulling out her note pad. "Mr. Masen, I am sure you are aware of the investigation into the murder of one Jessica Stanley, correct?"

Edward crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "I thought this wasn't supposed to be an interrogation?"

"This isn't," Rosalie insisted, giving Leah a pointed look. "Carry on, Detective."

"It's not," Leah insisted. "At this moment, although they have been accusations regarding your involvement in the injunction, you have not been declared as a primary suspect in the murder."

"At least," Jacob added, "Not yet."

"All we want to know if you have some insight."

"I didn't know her," Edward said.

"Oh c'mon, Masen," Jacob said. "We all know that's a lie."

"Well, for one, she worked for Alistair who has been servicing your boss for decades," Leah added, "And we know that your boss and Jessica have been involved. Intimately."

"Then why are you not after his boss?" Rosalie challenged. "This has nothing to do with my client."

"We're not accusing him of murder," Leah reminded Rosalie. "We only want to know if he had known Jessica. We aren't even accusing any members of the Cullen family," and then, "Edward, I know you don't want to go through this. But it's either you talk to us, or you talk to the feds, and I'm pretty sure you don't want the latter."

"Bullshit," Edward said.

Leah's attention was primarily on Rosalie's body language. Though she hid it quite well, the lawyer was becoming frustrated, not with the detectives, but with her client and his testy answers. She must have expected Edward to be smoother and not so defensive.

Leah loved defensive. "Defensive" usually meant guilty. "Bullshit? If we'd thought you had something to do with it, we would have arrested you."

"Not with the Deal, you would have," Edward said, and then, "Ah, I know where this is heading. You want me to take a plea, and—"

"Why don't you want Jessica's autopsy to be complete?" Leah asked, cutting the man off. "It's a simple question."

"That I don't have to answer," Edward said.

"I mean, we can issue a subpoena, if you like," Leah offered. It was more like a threat, and Rosalie and Edward knew it. "But then you would have to testify, or else you get sent to Cook County for contempt."

"They would never send my client to Cook County," Rosalie retorted confidently.

"Then how about Alcatraz?" Leah suggested. She shifted her attention to Edward. "I'm sure they'll be able to accommodate to your kind."

Edward's glare was a heated one. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You're a smart man, Mr. Masen. I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about," Leah quickly said. In the back of her mind, she knew she was butting heads with a goddamn vampire, a mobster one, at that. A man who could probably kill her in a snap of a finger. But she didn't care if she was some mere human. A criminal was a motherfucking criminal.

"Jessica Stanley," Jacob said.

"Like I said," Edward grumbled. "I didn't know her."

"But you've met her before?"

"Detective," Rosalie warned.

"It's a simple question," Leah argued. "I'm just trying to wrap my mind of why your client would do such a thing for a girl he didn't know. Mr. Masen, did your boss order you to handle Jessica?"

Edward's response was an abrupt, violent rise from his seat.

The detectives only looked at him, expectantly.

"Edward, sit," Rosalie ordered through gritted teeth. Though it seemed, once again, she was angrier with her client then the detectives. She then straightened up in her seat and gave the detectives a forced, professional smile. "Detectives, we have the Deal on our side."

"Yes, in regards to the Chicago Police Department, but not to the feds," Leah reminded the lawyer, but she was pretty confident that Rosalie already knew that. "All we want is your cooperation, Mr. Masen."

"I'm not a rat," Edward gritted out, and then, he turned his attention to Jacob, who was still glaring at him. "Oh, you'd love to see me behind bars, wouldn't you?" He taunted. "Your people never did like mine. Shame, isn't it?"

"It has nothing to with your kind and everything to do with you guys being assholes," Jacob snapped, despite his Leah's looks of disagreement. "I wouldn't act all high and mighty if I were you. You ain't immune to the law. You're just a vampire, not a goddamn god."

Leah and Rosalie shared the same exasperated look.

Edward sucked his teeth and turned his attention to Leah. "Perhaps, you should calm down your partner."

"Perhaps, you should shut the hell up, Mr. Masen," Jacob snapped. "And be grateful that the only reason why you're not behind bars right now is because of a bullshit covenant."

Leah tried not to roll her eyes. This was exactly the reason why she wanted Jacob to keep his mouth shut.

To express her annoyance without making a fool out of herself, she did what was probably one of the most childish things of her career and pinched her partner's thigh as hard as she possibly could. The man was rock-solid, but he seemed to have gotten the point.

"Gentlemen," Rosalie chastised.

"And Ms. Hale, I sure hope you don't plan to hide your client behind the Deal."

Edward snorted. "It's a straightforward covenant—"

Rosalie gave her client a look before continuing, "Yes, Detective Uley, like my partner's said: it's a straightforward covenant."

"No covenant is black and white," Leah said. "I thought a fine lawyer like yourself would've known that." She pulled her business card from her pocket and handed it to Edward. "You know you people have a code of silence. But if you value your freedom, give me a call one day, will you?"

As fully expected, Edward didn't take the card. It was no matter, Leah concluded, but Rosalie had her number. She might not have gotten much from Edward in terms of details about the Dahlia case, but she knew that Rosalie now understood that she wasn't playing.

"Good day," Leah told both Rosalie and Edward.

"Good day," Rosalie responded.

Edward didn't say a word.

"That asshole did it. He's the one who ordered Sorio to stop that autopsy. Did you see how he reacted? I know Rosalie's livid with him. He practically incriminated himself."

"Who you telling? Fuck, you know what really pisses me off? The fact that if that asshole was anyone else, we could have hauled him to Cook County and slap like, ten charges on him. Obstruction, menacing, harassment…"

"I still don't understand why they're getting special treatment," Leah complained, glaring through the windshield. In the distance, she could see a police car driving past by, blaring its sirens. "The law shouldn't pick and choose who to apprehend."

"You know why."

"How does Paul even do his job?"

"His job technically doesn't exist, remember?"

"Oh, I remember," Leah said, crossing her arms. "I just don't get it. At the rate we're going, we can't change anyone with a connection to Jessica's murder. I just… so, let me get this straight: because of a Deal signed back in the sixties, we can't touch anyone?"

"Yeah, sounds about right," Jacob mumbled.

"And you're alright with this?"

Jacob rolled his eyes as he put on his seatbelt. "Of course not."

"How is any of this legal?"

"Dubiously legal," Jacob said. "Like I told you before, the supernatural technically doesn't exist under the law."

"But there's an entire criminal underworld—"

"Leah, like I said, we have to pick our battles," Jacob grumbled. "Damn it. We can barely handle the crimes involving humans."

"It's practically vampire open-season and the police department ain't doing a damn thing about it," Leah snapped. "Like we're supposed to sit back? Is that what you're telling me?"

"It's complicated."

"Why does it have to be?"

"Ask the superintendent," Jacob challenged, shaking his head. He refused to look at Leah. "And it's not just vampires, Leah. My people aren't saints either... it's just the ones we are dealing with right now. The ones responsible for Jessica's murder, they're all just happened to be vampires."

"Why can't we just do police work?" Leah asked, dropping her arms, feeling hopeless. "Why we have to deal with politics?"

"Because we're public servants, Leah," Jacob said, finally putting the key into the ignition. "Politics are everywhere, and that ain't gonna change."

On Thursday, Leah and Jacob went to the Cook County Circuit Court in downtown Chicago in hopes of running into the wife of Carlisle Cullen, Mrs. Esme Cullen, nee Platt. The matriarch of the Cullen family. The trophy wife, according to everyone who didn't know her.

Leah learned throughout the week that Esme wasn't as she seemed.

"Esme Cullen, do you know her?" Leah had asked Riley the night before, under a dingy, badly-lit train overpass. Although Riley was technically a member of Victoria's gang which despised the Cullen's with a passion. He had to have known the wife of his leader's arch-nemesis.

And he apparently had. "The smartest person in the Olympic coven," he whispered.

"Even more than Carlisle?"

"Let's just say if she really wanted to run shit, she would have done so a long time ago," Riley had said. "People are loyal to her, perhaps even more than Carlisle."

"How is that possible?"

"For one, she ain't an asshole," Riley had said. "At least, relatively speaking."

Both of the detectives were currently sitting in the lobby of the courthouse, looking out for the matriarch. They had to remain as inconspicuous as possible even though they were pretty sure Edward had mentioned them to the woman. They had arrived at 10:00 am and planned on staying there until they saw her.

If they were going to approach Esme, they had to be smart about it. Non-confrontational. Not aggressive. Leah had to be the one doing most of the talking because Jacob, being Jacob, would probably make an unconscious snide remark about vampires. And the vampires would rile him up about shapeshifters— it would be way too messy.

Leah told her partner this, and although Jacob seemingly wanted to dispute the claim, he ultimately agreed to go along with the plan.

"Well, what do you know," Jacob remarked. "We get breaks after all."

They saw her at noon, and she was everything that had been described to the detectives. She was walking out of the elevator, surrounded by people who could be assumed to be her guards, all dressed in suits, all wearing dark sunglasses, all ignoring the curious looks from some of the passerby's. She seemed perfect, Leah mused as she watched the other woman's every move. So graceful... she looked like a society lady in her dress and mannerisms. She was speaking to another woman, from what Leah could tell a personal assistant of some sort.

"Mrs. Cullen!" Leah called out as the woman. She wanted to be low key, but thankfully, most of the passerby's had already freed the hallway, courtesy of the news of a sample dessert giveaway right outside of the Courthouse.

Esme must have heard Leah, but she stopped and looked her away, a bit taken aback. She watched closely as Leah stood up, followed by Jacob, both waiting for the group to approach them.

They eventually did with Esme standing in the middle, admitting a neutral vibe; she wasn't as high-and-mighty as Edward.

"Mrs. Cullen," Leah politely greeted with a slight nod.

Esme didn't immediately reply. She looked from detective to detective, curious but not standoff-like. "I am sorry," she said, "Have we met?"

"No, not personally," Leah replied. "I am Detective Uley, and this is my partner, Detective Black. From CPD."

Esme raised an eyebrow. "Ah," she said as two of her guards stepped forward, tense and ready to act. Leah stood her ground while Jacob stood up next to her, tall and defiant. The matriarch held her hand up, signaling her guards to stay put. "I would love to sit and chat with the members of the esteemed Chicago Police Department, but I must be leaving."

Leah pressed as the matriarch began to walk away. "About Jessica Stanley."

Esme was only a few feet past the detective when she turned around. She stared at Esme, with her mood shifting from pleasantly-neutral to defensive-neutral. "If you have any questions, Detective, you will have to speak to my lawyer."

Leah was hoping she would say that. "Who is?"

"Amun Husseini," Esme replied. "Now, if you do not mind, I have somewhere to be. Good day."

Leah said nothing under the woman turned back around and walked away. One of the guards glanced back with a warning glint in his eye. But Leah wasn't fazed. "Good way, Mrs. Cullen," she said, and then, "Jacob, you got the name?"

"Amun Husseini," Jacob said. "Yeah, I got him."

"Any luck on the injunction?"

"Sorio that jackass refuses to relent," Jenks complained a few hours later. "I got two more weeks until I'll have no choice but to bring out the big guns."

"You mean the feds," Leah said, sitting down in front of the prosecutor. "I think they're already looking into it."

"No, they're looking into the murders. Sort of," Jenks clarified. "Give it some time. They'll expand their investigation. Oh— how could I forget? How was your meeting with Edward and Esme?"

"Edward's an asshole," Jacob said, deadpanned.

"Of course, he is. He's in the mob," Jenks replied. "Anything else?"

"He did it," Leah said. "He's the one who convinced Sorio to issue the injunction. Of course, he didn't actually say it, but you can tell by his demeanor."

"He was a bit testy," Jacob added.

"As I expected," Jenks replied, nodding. "You see, that man likes to put up a front. He's the cool and collected one until law enforcement gets involved." He smirked, and then, "And the misses?"

"We ran into her at court," Leah said. "She's everything you've described her to be. By the way, Esme is represented by one Amun Husseini. If you want her to talk, we have to go through him."

"Just as I suspected," the prosecutor said, leaning back in his seat, crossing his arms. He had his thinking face on. "You've heard about Paul's task force, right?"

"Yeah, everyone's talking about it," Leah carefully replied. "I mean, everyone."

"And you both are going to join in?"

"We were asked," Jacob said. "We're considering it."

"Good."

Leah exchanged a look with her partner before asking, "And about Edward and Esme...?"

"I'll pull some strings," Jenks decided. "Get a subpoena or two. But you know I can't do anything until we have concrete evidence."

"No one's talking," Leah reminded the prosecutor.

"Of course, no one's talking," Jenks said. "Except for the kid. What's his name again?"

"Riley," Jacob responded. "Riley Biers."

"Yeah, him." Jenks nodded. "Oh, I'm going to subpoena him too..."