CHAPTER 20

Phoenix, AZ - 2006 (Edward)

When I landed in Phoenix, the sun was just beginning to set. I got another rental car and stopped at a florist on my way to Charlie's grave. He was buried in a large memorial garden on the other side of town. It took me quite some time to find my way. The gardens were beautiful. I don't think I had seen this many trees all in one place in Phoenix before.

It felt like I had been searching for his grave marker forever when something caught my eye. A large tombstone with a photo on it of a police officer. As I moved closer to it, I still couldn't make out the name, but I knew it was her father. He had her eyes. I wasn't expecting to see a photo of him. He was in uniform. His grave wasn't in the best condition, but I had seen worse. The two flower vases on either side of the tombstone were empty and collecting dust. I cleaned them off and separated the fresh flowers into both of them. I put some water in the vases and observed the rest of the grave. It felt strange, like I wasn't alone.

"I never expected to meet my girlfriend's father like this," I started. "I'm so sorry about what happened. I'm sure you know, as well as I, that Bella isn't capable of what she has been accused of." I was startled when a bird landed on top of the tombstone. It just stared at me. I continued. "I know you loved Renee and chose to turn a blind eye to many of her behaviors, but what kind of example were setting for Bella? That it's okay to do things like that to someone, or allow them to do it to you? She deserves better than that. I know you were trying to protect her, as she was trying to protect you. Come hell, or high water, I will do whatever I have to do to find out who did this to you. Bella will come home and I'll give her the life she thought she would never have."

The bird was still staring at me. I had never seen a bird like that before. It sort of looked funny. It was gray, black and white with a little orange spot on it's head. It also had this little feather looking thing sticking out of it's head. It made me laugh. I cleaned up a little more around the grave site while the bird watched.

When I was finished, and Charlie's grave looked cared for and loved, I started to leave. That silly bird just started walking behind me. Another bird, of the same kind, but with less black around it's face, started following it. They both followed me to my car, walking, not flying, the entire way. I felt bad for them when I got in my car, they just looked at me. I took a picture of them on my cell phone. I wanted to know what kind of birds they were. I started the car, but it didn't scare them away. They stayed put and watched me back from my parking space and leave. I made a mental note to bring bread the next time I visited.

I went straight to the hospital to see if I still had a job.

"Hey, Edward! How did it go?" Bree asked as she gathered her things to leave.

"It wasn't too bad. I'm glad to be back though. This place is starting to feel like home."

Bree laughed. "Did you get her letter?"

"I did, thank you."

"I'll admit, I read it, and I cried like a fucking baby."

We both laughed. "So did I."

"You still have a job, thanks to me. I found someone to take the shifts you were already scheduled for and they left you off the schedule last week." She looked around. "Everyone's in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner, go say hi to her really quick. I'll keep an eye out."

I glanced around and did as she suggested. I walked quickly to room 118. Bella was sitting indian style on her bed, writing.

"Hi, love."

She glanced up quickly and her entire face lit up. "Edward? You're back!" She jumped to her feet and our hands found each others in the slot in the door. I couldn't wait to be able to fucking hug her again.

"I missed you," she said.

"I missed you, too, Bella. I got your letter. I swear I'm going to do whatever it takes to get you out of here."

She smiled and nodded. "I know you will."

I glanced back to the end of the hall where Bree was standing guard. She was waving me back.

"I have to go. I'm not supposed to be here. I did as you asked, first thing. Charlie is buried here. I cleaned his grave marker, left flowers, and talked to him a bit."

Bella's eyes watered, but she smiled. "Thank you." Bella pulled at my watch on my wrist, pulling out several little gray and white feathers. "What's this?" she asked.

"That's odd. These two birds kept following me at the cemetery. I didn't even touch them." She took the feathers.

"Maybe it was Dad. Alice says people visit from the afterlife in the form of birds, or animals, or even the wind."

Hm. "I took a picture of them." I opened my cell phone and showed her quickly. She started crying.

"Those are Gambel's Quail. It's a male and female. They're native to the area."

I smiled. My girl was so smart. "Who would be the female?" I asked.

She wiped at her tear stained cheeks. "My grandma. She's with him." Her sobs became louder and I was afraid we would draw attention soon.

"Baby, I have to go. I don't want to get caught."

She nodded.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm good. I'm happy they found each other. These are happy tears. I feel better now."

I smiled and squeezed her only hand that remained in the slot in the door. "I'll see you soon. I love you."

"I love you. Thank you, Edward."

The next few weeks passed quickly and before I knew it, it was time for Bella's evaluation. I know she was nervous about it, but I told her to just be honest and she should be fine. The doctor was appointed by the court and had no ties or relationships with any of the involved parties. I worked on the day of her evaluation and she was out of her room for nearly six hours. I never even got to see her.

I had a missed call from Jenks and I called him back on the way home.

"Hey, Edward," he answered.

"Hey, how did it go?"

"I think it went well. We won't get the report from the doctor until at least the end of the day tomorrow, but even Bella seemed to think it went well."

"That's great. Keep me posted, okay?"

"Sure thing. I'll call you as soon as I get the report back. When I get it, I'll have to have it filed with the court and then they will likely move her back to the penitentiary. From there, we start working on the appeal, and keep our fingers crossed."

I took a breath and blew it out. "Okay, sounds good."

Within two weeks, Bella was a new resident at the women's state penitentiary and I was no longer working at the hospital. She was worried about going back to the penitentiary but she knew it was a step in the right direction. Today was the first time we got to see each other. There were regular visitation hours on the weekends and although we weren't supposed to touch, we would actually be face to face.

I was escorted to a large room, it looked like it probably served as a cafeteria during meal times. There were a lot of visitors and it was loud. Prison guards were spread out all over the place.

Bella was brought in a few minutes later, cuffed only at the wrists. She was wearing a dark blue shirt and pants, both of which looked entirely too large. She sat down across from me and the guard returned to his post.

"Hi," she smiled.

"Hey." It was so fucking hard not to touch her, but I knew I couldn't. If they suspected we were exchanging drugs, or anything else, it would be the end of our visits. "How are things going?"

She exhaled a deep breath and her eyes instantly teared up.

"I said I wasn't going to cry," she half heartedly laughed and looked away. "It's horrible. I share a cell with one scary lady. We have bunk beds. I sleep on the top because she's fairly large. We also have a toilet and a sink that are combined. The sink is practically on top of the toilet. Who thought of that? It has to be the most unsanitary thing I've ever seen. We also have our own little desks. She's weird and mean and we don't talk much. I just pretend like she isn't there." She wiped the tears from her cheeks. "It's so invasive. There's no privacy. We use the restroom in front of each other. There's a community shower. Women stare at me. My body looks like a 12 year old compared to theirs. It's humiliating."

I reached for her hand, but retracted quickly. "Bella, that isn't true. You are very much a woman. You're beautiful. They're probably staring because they're jealous."

She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. "How are things with you?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"They're okay. I was in Los Angeles last week working, but it's hard being away. I worry about you, a lot."

"I'll be okay. It's just a serious adjustment and the food here is terrible."

I couldn't stand to hear her talk about the conditions she was living in. It physically made me ill. I could never survive what she has.

We talked briefly about the progress with the appeal. She was meeting with Jenks later in the week. She said he always sounds very positive. Jenks told her that Renee hired a defense attorney.

"Really?" I asked. Since I had been in Los Angeles I hadn't really caught up with him this week.

"Yeah, he says that's a good thing. She must suspect charges will be filed against her, which means she's probably guilty of something."

"I'll have to catch up with him. We have a meeting scheduled later this week, he wanted to go over a few things with me, said there were some new developments."

"That sounds good."

I nodded.

"Um, Edward? I have to tell you something. Please, don't get mad and do anything crazy."

I looked up at her. What the hell could she have to tell me? "What is it?" I asked.

"Before you got here...just at the start of visitation hours. I had a visitor. I thought it was going to be you, but it wasn't."

"Who was it?" I asked.

"It was Jake."

"What?" I said loudly. A prison guard approached us and stood closer to us. I lowered my voice. "What the fuck? Why was he here? Did you talk to him? What did he say? What did you say? Bella, you cannot talk to him!" I said angrily.

I made her cry. Damn it.

"Baby, I'm sorry. It's just that I don't know what his intentions are and you have to be careful with what you say."

"I was," she cried.

"Tell me what happened," I said more calmly.

"He said he had been talking to Renee. He knew you were in town. He wanted to know what was going on and why I was trying to blame her for what I did. He kept telling me that Renee did everything she could for me, that she did what was best considering the circumstances. I told him I didn't do it and I asked him to leave. That was it."

"That ass hole."

"I don't know what his intentions were. I think he was just trying to get information."

"He probably was. Renee is probably using him."

"I want this to be over, so badly," she said solemnly.

The two minute warning came over the intercom. Visitation hours were almost over.

"It will be over soon, hopefully. Just remember, when you get out of here, everything will be different. I'll make sure of it. You'll get to do and experience everything you mentioned in your letter to me. I promise."

Her eyes lifted to mine and a small hesitant smile spread across her face. "You would marry me?" she asked.

I scoffed at her silliness. Had she learned nothing of my feelings for her in the past few months. "In a heartbeat," I responded.

She smiled. "I love you."

I loved hearing those words and seeing her smile. It made it all worth it. "I love you, too." I stood to leave. "I'll see you next Saturday, okay?"

She nodded and was led away by the prison guard.

I learned later in the week that a lot had developed with Bella's case. No wonder Renee hired an attorney. Apparently all of the evidence obtained at the scene had never so much as been tested or processed. The prosecutor didn't even think it was necessary since Bella was caught holding the knife and she was accepting the plea. Jenks obtained all the evidence from the scene and sent it to the lab for testing. They even took a blood sample from Bella shortly after she was arrested. Jenks sent it to the lab as well.

"But Edward, here's the real catcher..." Jenks started. He laid photos out that were taken at the scene as well as some of Bella, only in a bra and panties, that were taken afterwards. I wasn't prepared for the scene photos and I had no idea why he had half naked photos of my girlfriend.

"I don't understand," I said.

"Look Edward," he pointed to some of the photos of Bella. "This is Bella at the scene, covered in blood." He pointed to another photo. "This is her after a shower at the station during booking. These full body photos are always taken in murder cases. There isn't a scratch on her. Look at her. Her skin is perfectly white and clean. There's not so much a bruise or red mark. You would think with the amount of damage done to Charlie, she would have a few cuts, bruises, something. Charlie clearly tried to defend himself. Look at Charlie's autopsy photos..."

I felt my stomach turn.

"He has small cuts all over his hands and bruises on his forearms. He tried to defend himself. If Bella did this, there would be evidence of a struggle on her body and there isn't. Now, here's the best part..." He turned around in his chair to his computer where there was a scene photo. He zoomed in on Renee who wasn't even the object of the photo, but happened to be standing nearby in the background. He zoomed in on a cut she had on her right hand.

"What if that is just blood from the scene and not an actual cut?" I asked, as it was hard to tell.

"Look at this picture, she is talking to an officer, she is holding that hand and a drop of blood is running down her wrist."

"Holy shit." I ran my hands through my hair. "I knew Renee had something to do with it , but I didn't think she actually did it."

"Yeah, with what we have, we probably won't even need to ask for a jury trial. The Judge will likely throw out the charges all together and dismiss the case. The prosecution will have to try to indict her again."

Jenks continued to show me mountains of evidence. He even deposed Charlie's partner on the police force. Apparently Charlie and him talked frequently about the troubles in his marriage. Charlie even told him just before he was murdered that he found Renee researching various chemicals online that were undetectable in the human body and had little odor or taste. He advised he attempted to speak to the prosecution shortly after Bella was charged, but he was at the scene, he saw Bella with the knife in her hand, he didn't know what else to think.

I wanted to physically hurt Renee. How could she do this?

"I've got more depositions lined up, even one of Dr. Cline, but with what we have here, I think we're good to go. There's no point in waiting. If she is granted a jury trial, we continue collecting evidence, but I feel certain there is at least enough here to get her released, at least temporarily."

That was the best fucking news I had ever heard. I was so disgusted with Renee. How could she do this to her own daughter? She deserved to be where Bella was. She deserved to lose everything. She deserved to suffer.

****Author's Note: Getting closer...! Thanks for the reviews! 3 Some of you that read Repentance have asked about the sequel...it's in the works. I have no idea when it would be posted, how long it may be, etc. It's in the very early stages, but I'm hoping to make something of it.

Twitter: AllOrNothingKR