Chapter 23

After her short re-cross examination, Bella stepped down from the stand and took her seat next to her mother.

"Sweetheart," Renee started.

Bella shook her head, silencing her tearful mother. Renee felt extremely guilty. She had no idea that one little visit to the bitch who led the attack against her daughter would backfire on them later down the line. All of the disbelieving looks she received in the courtroom proved it.

The mother and daughter sat in complete silence through the rest of the DA's witnesses' testimonies. The witnesses included Bella's doctor, who testified to the extent of Bella's injuries and the tough future she still faced due to the beating. Charlie and another officer also testified about what was found at the crime scenes, as well as the information they obtained from questioning the suspects and the witnesses: Vanessa and Quil. Of course, Vanessa was interviewed because of her admission that she witnessed the attack. Quil was put on the stand because he was the one who found Bella in the car. That was, undoubtedly, a very emotional testimony.

"So, Mr. Ateara," Nora began, "you were the one who found Ms. Swan. Is that correct?"

Quil nodded. "For the record, please, Mr. Ateara," Nora requested.

He cleared his throat. "Uh, sorry. Yes, I am the one who found her."

"How did you know to go to Ms. Wind's residence to search for Ms. Swan?"

Quil adjusted his tie uncomfortably. "Well once we concluded that Bella was missing, we all decided to search for her-"

"'We' being…?"

"My friends and Bella's father, Chief Swan."

Nora nodded, so he continued. "I wasn't really sure where to look so I just started driving around, looking for any clue. Then as I was walking I started to think about anyone who would want to harm her and the first person who came to mind was Emily, just because of the previous incidents and their encounter at the beach the first night Bella was back. I realized that I was making my way to Emily's house anyway so I continued walking that route. When I got there, my suspicions were confirmed."

Nora nodded. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, when I got there, I saw Emily's car. On the surface, nothing really looked off but I just got this feeling. So I moved as close as I could to the gate and when I looked closer," he stopped as he began to choke on his words. Quil had to hide how exactly he was able to find Bella – because of the enhanced smell and all – so the next part wasn't exactly true. But the emotions he experienced were.

Nora nodded again. "Take your time, Mr. Ateara. I know this has to be extremely difficult for you – to be the one who found your friend in such a dire condition."

Quil nodded. "Yeah, it was difficult. I've never seen anything like what happened to her. She looked completely different," Quil said as he got lost in his thoughts. He stared off into the distance and Bella felt a twinge of guilt as she watched him. She knew that what happened wasn't her fault but to see Quil struggling with it made her want to take those feelings away from him, just so he didn't have to deal with them anymore.

"Do you need a moment, Mr. Ateara?"

Quil cleared his throat again and shook his head. "Uh, when I looked closer, I saw hair…I saw a good amount of hair lying right outside of the trunk door. It seemed like it got caught in between the door and the trunk by accident. That's when I knew that she was inside."

Nora looked on at Quil sympathetically. "I know this part is going to be tough but can you tell me what you did next?"

Quil nodded. "As soon as I saw the hair I knew what I had to do. So, I hopped over the fence and went straight to the car. I was able to open up the trunk – I think it got stuck somewhere – and uh," Quil coughed. "Bella was lying there…she was lying in a pool of blood," Quil covered his mouth and closed his eyes as he remembered what he had been trying so hard to forget.

"She was unconscious. She was bruised. Her pulse was really weak. I thought about calling the police but I realized that taking her to the hospital was more important at the time. So I picked her up, put her in my car, and drove to Forks Hospital."

Of course, he couldn't tell the court that he ran all the way from the edge of La Push to Forks Hospital, so he had to throw in that little lie about the car. But in the scheme of things, it didn't matter much.

Nora nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Ateara. No further questions."

When Bo admitted that he had no questions for Quil, Quil walked off the stand and out of the courtroom. Bella was tempted to go after him but was interrupted by the judge.

"Well, this has definitely been a very long and emotionally trying day, so we will proceed with the defense's witnesses at 7:30 tomorrow morning," she said as she banged her gavel, signaling the end of the first day of trial.

It seemed like everyone stood with a collective sigh.

"Bella, I'm sorry," Renee said.

"Mom, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that this girl hurt my child and I wanted to confront her!"

"Well Mom, you shouldn't have done it!"

"Okay, okay," Charlie said as he made his way in between Bella and Renee. He didn't want this to force them into an argument – it wasn't worth it; Emily wasn't worth it.

"Honey, I know you're upset with your mother for doing that," Charlie turned to Renee, "which she shouldn't have," he said to Renee while she rolled her eyes. "But I don't think it'll have much weight in this case. With all of the evidence against the girls and all of the testimony today, I highly doubt the jury would even blame your mother for confronting Emily. Telling by the looks on their faces, I'd say they're completely on your side."

"So far."

"What do you mean 'so far'?" Charlie asked Bella.

"Well there are the other testimonies tomorrow. Who knows what other surprises the defense has up his sleeve?" Bella asked as she looked at her mother, who sighed dramatically.

"I highly doubt any of his surprises will be enough to get a not guilty verdict, sweetheart," Charlie said. "You need to have faith."

Bella sighed and nodded.

"Now let's all go get something to eat," Charlie said.

"Sue's already on it," Billy said as he rolled out of the courtroom. "She already cooked everything last night. All we have to do is heat it up!"

They heard a collective "Yeah!" from the wolves and everyone laughed. Paul and Bella looked at each other and she shook her head a little.

About half an hour after leaving the courtroom, Paul and Bella went to get something to eat before going to Bella's new home in Forks. It wasn't the one she purchased before. That one was fixed up for another family, and all of the furniture that the council bought for her was taken to this home in Forks. It was closer to Renee and Charlie than the other house was, which Bella was happy about.

They now lay in Bella's bed, Bella slightly on top of Paul, Paul's right arm around her shoulders, and his left and her right hands intertwined. Their breathing was calm, steady, and in sync as Paul's heat seeped into Bella's skin.

"I'm so proud of you, baby," Paul said as his right hand stroked her soft hair.

"Thank you. I was pretty proud of you until you went all crazy and tried to attack the defense."

Paul chuckled. "Sorry, beautiful. I was angry the whole time so when he accused you of lying I just went off. I promise I'll behave myself tomorrow."

"But tomorrow is going to be even more difficult, Paul. The testimonies will be from the defense's witnesses. If it's going to be too difficult for you, you probably shouldn't go."

"What?" Paul asked as he looked down at her. "You don't want me to go?"

She sat up and looked at him intently. "Of course I want you to go, Paul. I want you to be there but if it's going to be too hard for you, you shouldn't have to put yourself through that."

Paul looked up at her and smirked. He grabbed her face. "That's just like you – to be so worried about me when you should be the one fussed over."

Bella had a mischievous look in her eyes. "Well, it's also because I don't want you going crazy in the courtroom and blowing my case," she said as she twisted his nipple.

"Ouch, girl!" he exclaimed as he grabbed her hand and bit her finger.

"Ow, stoppp," she cried. He laughed and kissed her fingers gently.

"I'd never jeopardize your case, silly girl. I can control myself, and I will. Because I know you need me there and even if you didn't I'd still be there. I know I'm going to want to throttle those bitches tomorrow but as long as my girl is sitting next to me, I'll be okay. And I'll make sure that you are, too."

She blushed and smiled. "That was sweet…but, you still deserve to be punished for that little outburst today," Bella said as her face inched closer to his.

Paul smiled and licked his lips. "Oh yeah? How?"

Bella put her legs on either side of Paul and sat right above his crotch. "I," she started as she went into the drawer of her bedside table, "hold you," she said as she pulled out a pair of handcuffs, "in contempt of court, sir," she finished as she cuffed one of his wrists to her bed frame.

All that could be heard throughout that house for the rest of the evening were Paul and Bella's laughter and moans.

Paul's hand rubbed Bella's thigh continuously as they sat, as closely as possible, in the courtroom early the next morning. The courtroom wasn't full yet so they sat huddled together while Bella whispered in Paul's ear and kissed his blushing face. It wasn't often that he blushed so she took pride in her ability to make him do it, just with a few simple whispered words.

"Ewww, break it up, lovebirds," they heard as Leah slid into the pew next to Bella. "I thought Sam and I were supposed to be the ones all over each other."

"No, that's not until you're married and back from the honeymoon. Then after like a week, knowing you, you guys will be out of the honeymoon phase."

They all laughed as Leah plucked Bella's thigh. "Very funny."

"So, you guys ready for today?" Sam asked.

Bella nodded. "I got Paul to agree to behave himself." Paul grinned at the memory. "Yeah…"

Leah and Sam both rolled their eyes and shook their heads. "Gross," Leah murmured.

The courtroom began to fill quickly, and soon the second day of the trial began.

Unfortunately for the defense, the only witnesses he had were the defendants.

Serena and Desiree's testimonies went by with no problems – they were both extremely regretful. Valerie's testimony showed just how much she didn't really care about what she had done. She thought it would be fun and agreed to do it. Though they pled not guilty, all three admitted to their actions, which brought Bo to his wits end. The only person not admitting to anything was Emily.

"Ms. Wind, what happened the morning of July 6th?"

"My friends and I were driving around and we saw the lights on in Bella's house so we decided to stop by. She was in there alone and we started to taunt her about the words on the walls. Then, when she tried to leave, my friends attacked her."

Bella scoffed and Desiree shot up from her seat. "That's not true! She was in on it too!"

The judge banged her gavel. "Order, order! Counselor, control your client or she will be removed from the courtroom!"

Bo was able to placate Desiree enough to get her to take her seat, but she was still seething.

"What were you doing while the attack was occurring, Ms. Wind?"

"I was acting as the lookout. I didn't touch Bella."

Paul was trying his hardest to keep his control. If it weren't for Bella holding on to his arm tightly, he would leap over that stand, grab Emily, and pull her outside. He didn't believe in violence against women, so he would phase and let his wolf take care of her. His wolf didn't care about gender…well, except when it came to his mate, of course.

Bella wasn't having such a splendid time, either. She dug her nails into Paul's arm…she needed somewhere to take out her frustration. She couldn't believe that Emily was sitting on that stand, lying so boldly! Well, a part of her could believe it – a huge part, really.

With no further questions, Bo thanked Emily and took his seat.

"So, Ms. Wind," Nora started, "you acted solely as the lookout?"

"Yes ma'am," Emily replied.

"So your fellow defendants, the victim, and the witness to the crime, Vanessa Scott, are all lying?"

Emily nodded. "For the record," the judge said. "Yes, they are," Emily responded.

Nora nodded. "Okay, so if you weren't involved in the attack, how did Ms. Swan end up in the trunk of your car?"

"Well, Desiree took the keys from me and the three of them hauled her into the trunk. I drove the girls home and then went to my own home."

Bo had to prevent Desiree from standing back up. She was absolutely furious.

Nora paced back and forth. "So let me get this straight. You, not having had anything to do with the attack, allowed the girls to put a bleeding, unconscious, and beaten Bella Swan into your trunk, and then you just drove home and left her in there without calling the police or an ambulance?"

Emily nodded. "That is correct."

Nora laughed humorlessly. "You don't really expect us to believe that, do you? You want us to believe that you just stood back and watched, even though both Ms. Swan and Ms. Scott testified that you attacked Ms. Swan, and that Ms. Swan was found in your car?! You expect us to believe that you're innocent?"

"I didn't do anything wrong."

"What do you mean you didn't do anything wrong? Even if you didn't beat her up, you watched as your friends did, you allowed them to put an unconscious Bella Swan in your car, and you left her in your trunk without saying a thing! How is that not wrong?"

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!" Emily yelled, seemingly reaching her breaking point.

"You hate Ms. Swan, don't you, Emily? You hate her; you just hate that that outsider waltzed her way into your tribe and took one of your men, don't you?"

"Shut up," Emily said.

"You do hate her, correct? You hate that the man you so badly wanted didn't want you because he would much rather have Bella Swan! Isn't that true?"

"SHUT UP!" Emily yelled.

"He doesn't want you, Ms. Wind! He doesn't want you; he just wants that beautiful, mixed race young woman and that made you so angry! So damn angry that you had to beat her up, you had to try to kill her so that she couldn't get a man from YOUR tribe!"

"YES! YES, OKAY? YES! I HATE HER! I hate her so much! That bitch took what belongs to US! She doesn't belong here; she never did! So yes, I beat her ass, and I hoped to Taha Aki that we killed her!"

The whole courtroom was bustling with this revelation.

"Order in the courtroom! Order!" the judge yelled as she continuously banged her gavel.

"Why wasn't I good enough for him? Why wasn't one of us good enough for him?! That bitch deserved everything she got! And I wish that she had died! Even more, I wish that her slut of a mother had died when my mom beat her ass, too!"

Gasps, shouts, and growls erupted around the courtroom, while Bella and Renee sat staring at Emily from their seats.

"Officers, remove the defendant!" the judge yelled as she banged her gavel over and over again.

Emily's voice could still be heard long after her unwilling departure.

After a minute, everyone calmed down. The judge sighed. "I think after that display, we need a fifteen minute recess." She banged the gavel once again. She was getting tired of doing that.

Bella was shocked still in her seat. Her heart raced and her body shook as she processed Emily's words. She wanted to kill her. She wanted her dead. Deep down, Bella knew that – it was obvious, otherwise Emily wouldn't have beaten her up – but to hear it, to see it, to feel it in her intense outburst of honesty and sureness, conjured up a completely different feeling in Bella's bones. Someone wanted her dead.

She felt Paul's shaking hand squeezing her own. "She can't hurt you anymore," he whispered. "Especially not as long as I am around."

Bella wanted to nod but couldn't find it in herself to do so. This was all just too much.

"Um, I'm going to go to the bathroom." She stood up.

"I'll go with you," Paul said as he stood as well.

Bella looked up at him weirdly. "Ummm, no." She left no room for argument. Leah smirked and followed behind her.

"I guess it's a done deal now," Jared said as he stared straight ahead.

Seth chuckled and agreed. "Yeah, she pretty much sealed her coffin, if it hadn't been sealed already."

"With an outburst like that, I don't see her getting out of jail anytime soon," Charlie added.

"I agree."

The remaining people on Bella's side of the room looked up to see Bo standing beside their seats. "Honestly, I'm not quite sure why they decided to plead guilty. And I know I'm supposed to be the enemy here, but I want to inform you guys that this case has disgusted me as much as I'm sure it has disgusted you," he stated.

Charlie nodded. He knew that Bo was a good guy, but he wasn't sure if he could forgive him so quickly for the way that he spoke to Bella the day before. "Thank you, Bo. I know you're just doing your job."

"It's unfortunate when my job is supposed to help people like Emily get away with their crimes. But I'm confident in the fact that the jury will put the defendants away for their vicious crimes. And quite frankly, I'm overjoyed about it."

The guys smelled the honesty on him. They nodded.

After the closing statements, the jury was released to make their decision. Because Charlie's place was the closest to the court, and they expected the jury to come to a decision rapidly, everyone retired there to get something to eat. Luckily, Renee had just gone grocery shopping so there was nearly enough food for everyone. The ones who were still hungry went out to get something else to eat, leaving a few people and an empty fridge in the Swan's home.

Renee was fussing over the emptiness of their fridge as the others sat in the living room in front of the television. Bella felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Quil gesturing to go outside. Luckily, Paul was one of the ones who left to get something else to eat so there were no arguments or growling.

Quil and Bella walked side by side in silence.

"So how are you feeling?"

Bella shrugged. "Yesterday was difficult…so was today. It was more difficult than I thought it would be, of course, with that revelation that was made."

Quil nodded. "I can imagine. Look, I just wanted to talk to you about that. You know Emily is never going to be able to lay another hand on you, right? We're not going to let that happen again, ever."

Bella smiled up at Quil as they walked. "I know, Quil. And thank you, by the way."

"For what?"

"For being who you've been for me throughout this whole thing. Who would've thought, huh?"

Quil laughed. He knew exactly what she meant. "Yeah. Who would've thought?"

She smiled. "I hope that you're going to be okay, too. You know if you ever want to talk about it-"

Quil nodded. "Yeah, I know."

They smiled and walked in companionable silence until they heard rapid footsteps behind them. Before she could turn around, Bella yelled as she was lifted off of her feet.

"What's wrong with you, Quil? Trying to steal my best friend?"

"Oh please Jake, you know I'm about to jump ahead of you on Bella's friends list," Quil said with a wink. "Besides, I thought Em and I were your best friends," he said with a fake pout.

Jake laughed and pulled Bella closer until Paul grabbed her. "She's mine so both of you can back off," he said as he took off at a run back to Bella's place.

She laughed and screamed the whole way there.

After an early afternoon romp, or what the two decided to call, "an early afternoon freak off session", they returned to the court with a summoning call from Nora.

As soon as they walked into the courtroom, they got a number of sideways glances and smiles from the wolves.

"Hey, we didn't have time to shower," Paul said innocently as he and Bella took their seats.

The courtroom became completely quiet once the judge walked in and took her seat.

"Before we get to the verdict, I have something to say," she began. "Today we live in a day and age in which people would like to think that this is post-racial America – but there are cases like this one that show us that no matter how much we wish for a post-racial country, at this point, it is still out of our reach.

"Cases of such blatant hatred really test my patience as a judge. But then I remember that it is my job, as well as the jury's, to make sure that defendants like the ones we have seen in this case get the punishments they deserve." At this point, she turned her attention to the four perpetrators.

"I am simply disgusted by the actions you four took against this young woman because of your petty jealousy and prejudice. I have to say though, in light of the information released during the trial, I am not surprised that you guys turned out the way you did. It's a shame that the actions of your mothers' had to be repeated twenty or so years later by you. Your mothers set awful examples for you, but alas, that is no excuse. Although at least two of you expressed remorse, all four of you must face the same consequences for your horrific actions. You tried to kill this young woman. You beat her up and then dumped her in the trunk of a car and left her there for hours. You showed blatant disregard for human life and because of that, there will be consequences you have to face." She turned her attention to Bella.

"Young lady, I am so sorry that you have had to endure this vicious attack. I am confident that the jury will make the right decision and ensure that you receive justice."

On that note, the judge ended her speech. "Jury, have you reached a verdict?"

The foreman stood. "Yes, your honor. On the count of attempted murder in the first degree, we, the jury, find the defendants: Emily Wind, Serena Mitchell, Valerie Fox, and Desiree Row guilty."

Gasps of shock, joy, and sadness went up around the courtroom as the decision rolled off of the foreman's tongue. Paul pulled Bella into his arms and she smiled softly into his warm, safe chest.