A/N: WARNING!!! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SCENES OF VIOLENCE TOWARDS WOMEN! If you are sensitive to this material, please think about skipping this chapter. This is the other reason that my story is rated M.

Special thanks to my fuckawesome beta TwiDi for not flinching when she read this. Go vote for her story "You don't know anything" in the Silent Tear Awards!!!!

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Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. I just own a bunch of ticket stubs to "Twilight" and "New Moon".....

Freeze Frame - Chapter 25

~Bella~

Edward!

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. I saw Edward slowly fall to the floor, the rich red of his blood a startling contrast to the paleness of his skin. His eyes close and his body folds like a deck of cards. Suddenly, I can smell the copper of his blood and I start to lose focus.

Don't! Don't faint! Edward needs you. Don't let James win! I struggle to escape from James' grasp, but he stops me by grabbing me by my hair. He jerks me backwards; tears flood my eyes not only from the physical pain, but also the unbearable pain of being dragged away from Edward. The sheet slips away from me and suddenly my naked body is pressed tightly up against James. I can hear his hot breath in my ear and a wave of revulsion shudders through me.

"Now, this is more like it." He pants in my ear. I am acutely aware of the gun pressing into my side. The worst part is I can feel that James has become excited and the evidence of his excitement is also pressing into my body.

Suddenly, something snaps inside me. I relax against James. I have to do whatever it takes to save Edward. I can feel the bile rising in my throat and I swallow it back.

"James," I manage to calmly say. "Let me get dressed and I will go quietly with you."

James' hand becomes loose in my hair. He pushes the gun painfully into my side to remind me to stay still. I feel his fingers slide down my naked back. I close my eyes and try not scream or make a sudden movement.

"Now, why would a whore like you need to get dressed? You've already shown the whole world what you've got. Why cover it up for me? Or do you only shed your clothes for money now? Is what you do for Cullen? He pays you, so you'll fuck him?" James growls as his hand slides around the front of me and he painfully grips one of my breasts in his hand. He squeezes and twists and I try not to panic. I stand there stock still as James continues to touch me.

"As much as I would like to stroll down memory lane with you, Bella, we do have someplace we need to be." James suddenly lets me go and shoves me across the room towards the closet. "Get dressed. Now."

I take one more glance back at Edward and I can feel my heart breaking. I only hope he will forgive me for anything I may have to do to assure his safety. I couldn't live in a world where Edward didn't exist. Having Edward alive and hating me was better than the alternative. I quickly slid on some underclothes, jeans, a tee shirt and my chucks. I threw my hair up in a ponytail and grimaced as I saw my reflection.

"You can do this, Bella. Just stay calm." I whispered to myself. I noticed a pad and a pen sticking out of one my chef's jackets that was hanging in the closet. I lunged for them quickly and hastily wrote a note to Edward.

"Whatever happens, believe that I love you." ~ B.

I took another deep breath and walked out into the bedroom. James was sitting in a chair pointing the gun at Edward. A sudden frisson of fear ripped through me and I was afraid that he would kill Edward right now. James looked up at me and I blanched at the look of pleasure on his face.

"I suggest you don't fight me, Bella. I'd hate to have to put an unnecessary hole in your pretty new boy toy." James growled.

"I'm not. Just leave Edward out of this."

"Don't you see, Bella? He's a main player in all this. How much do you think you're worth to him?" James got up, crossed the room and jerked me by the arm out into the living room. "Your phone. Get your phone and nothing else."

I had to think for a minute. Where was my purse? I remembered that I had finally retrieved it from the hallway where I had dropped it when Edward and I had gotten home last night. It was in the kitchen.

"It's in the kitchen. I have to go get it." I answered. James shoved me towards the kitchen and I could feel his eyes on the back of my head. As I reached the counter I realized that there was a small paring knife sitting near my purse. From where James was standing, he couldn't see it. I only hoped that I could pick it up without him noticing. I made a big production of opening my purse and rummaging through it, angling it so he couldn't see me retrieve the knife. It fit perfectly behind my phone and I slid it into my back pocket where it would remain hidden. I knew it would be a once in a lifetime shot, but I felt a little better knowing I had some form of a weapon.

"Okay." I turned and glared at James.

"Here is what is going to happen, Bella. You and I are going to go down those stairs quietly. We're just two old friends on our way out to breakfast. I don't want you alerting anyone. If you want Edward to remain alive, you'll just come along quietly."

James and I started walking towards the front door. James stepped halfway out into the hallway, the gun still pressed to my side but not visible to anyone who would be passing by. I took advantage of the moment that he was distracted and pulled the knife quickly from my back pocket and stabbed at his arm that was holding the gun. James yelped in surprise and drew back his hand immediately. I jumped behind the door and started to shove hard, pushing him out into the hallway. The door battered up against James' wounded arm and I could hear him trying desperately to be quiet. With one final shove, James knocked the door back, hitting me in the face and causing my nose to start bleeding.

"Fuck! You fucking bitch! You stabbed me!" James howled as he slammed to door to the condo shut. He jerked me up from the floor and punched me hard. Stars exploded everywhere and I could feel my lip hit my teeth and bust open. James hit me again and I slumped down to the floor. He was enraged. There was too much blood coming from my nose. I couldn't stop it. James straddled me and put his hand over my mouth and nose and I struggled to catch a breath. Blood was pooling at the back of my throat and I felt like I was drowning. I could feel my world swimming out of focus and bucked against him to trying hard to push him off.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I could hear Edward's voice telling me to stop fighting. I closed my eyes and went in search of that voice. Edward…

***

I woke up with the taste of copper filling my mouth. My mouth was thick and swollen from where James had hit me. I had no idea how long I had been out. I blinked several times trying to regain some of my focus. I had no idea where I was. I strained to listen to see if I could hear any tell-tale noises. My hands and feet were bound with duct tape and I was lying on my side. It took me a moment, but I suddenly realized that I was inside the back of a van. It was moving. Even if I were to start screaming, no one would hear me.

I lost track of time. I had no idea how long we had been driving. My mouth was parched, my head was pounding and my heart was breaking for ever bringing this down on Edward.

The van finally slowed down and came to a stop. I heard the driver's door open and slam shut. The back doors to the van were opened and strong sunlight spilled into the back of the van. My eyes screamed in protest. I blinked several times trying to adjust my sight to the sudden burst of sunlight that came assaulting my vision. James reached for me and pulled me roughly out of the van. Then he threw me over his shoulder and all I could see was crushed shells beneath his feet. I could hear the sound boats in the distance. We had to be near Lake Michigan.

James pushed open a door and took me to a windowless room. He sat me down on a chair and sliced open the binding on my wrist. He handed me bottled water and sat in the chair opposite of me.

"Do you think you can speak?" He asked. His voice was flat. I noticed the bandage around his arm and almost smiled at the one small victory I had managed to gain during the struggle to leave the condo.

I took a long pull on the drink of water, swished it around my mouth and spit out the dried blood that had filled my mouth. Once I was rid of the copper taste, I drank the rest of the water pretty much in one gulp.

I nodded. James held out my phone to me. "Call him. Tell him you are okay."

I snorted. "Okay? I'm not okay!! You hit me! You fucking asshole!"

James shot up out of the chair, grabbed me by my hair and wrenched my head back.

"You fucking listen to me, Isabella," he venomously spat. "I can do more than that. Call him. Call your fucking Daddy Warbucks."

"You can hurt me all you want, James, but I know you won't hurt Edward. He's your money source. Tell me. Just how bad is your debt to the Volturi? They're going to kill you, aren't they?"

"Shut up! Shut the fuck up! Just do as I say." James hissed through clenched teeth. I felt the cold muzzle of the gun near my temple.

I pulled the phone up and hit the send button. I knew I couldn't let Edward hear any panic in my voice. I had to be strong.

The phone was answered by Edward immediately and relief flooded me at the sound of his voice. He was okay.

"Bella! Are you…?"

"I'm fine, Edward," I said cutting him off. "I'm just glad to hear your voice. You had me worried." I tried to sound relatively normal.

"Bella, the CSI team found traces of your blood in the apartment. Are you sure you're not hurt? If he has touched you in anyway I will fucking kill him."

"Edward? Really? You know how clumsy I get. I tripped over the sheet and banged my head against the door frame. Gave myself a bloody nose."

"You are a terrible liar, Bella." Edward groaned in the phone. I could hear voices in the background.

James tore the phone from my hand. "Time for this call to end, lover boy. She's fine. You'll receive your instructions soon." James disconnected the phone and slid it into his back pocket. He gave me some more water and then duct taped me to the chair and put a piece over my mouth so I couldn't make a noise. I could only stare hateful daggers at him. I knew I would have to wait. Edward would be doing all he could to find me. I just needed to keep my wits about me and stay alive.

~Edward~

"What do you mean you couldn't get the location?" I furiously paced back and forth in the hospital room.

Ben looked at me forlornly, "Edward, the connection was severed before we could pin point the location of her call. You've got to keep her on the phone a little longer. Since Bella didn't activate the GPS function on her phone yet, it's going to take us a little while longer to find her."

I tugged at my hair in frustration, "James would know to disable it anyway. Do you think you'll be able to distinguish any background noises in the recording? Maybe we could find her that way?"

Ben shook his head. "I hope so. Otherwise, we wait until the next call. I'm going to keep tracking down any vehicle rentals listed to anyone of James' aliases."

Emmett sat quietly watching the whole exchange between Ben and me. I could hear his knuckles crack in the tense silence. Whatever Emmett was mentally preparing himself for, I was glad that he was on my side.

"He hurt her. That scumbag laid a hand on my CinderBella." Emmett said quietly.

"She wouldn't admit to it, Emmett. I'm sure he hurt her though. The only comfort I get is knowing that the police had found that kitchen knife with his blood on it. Bella didn't leave without a fight. I'm proud of her. I just hope it doesn't get her killed."

"I hope she flays that fucker alive." Emmett admitted.

"I'll do anything to give her that chance." I agreed.

"HOLY SHIT!" Ben suddenly exclaimed.

Both Emmett and I dashed to where Ben was ensconced in front of his laptop.

"What is it?" Both Emmett and I asked at the same time.

"I think I may have found a match on one of James' aliases. It appears a cargo van was rented two days ago."

"Where?" I demanded.

"A rental agency down near Port of Chicago." Ben pointed to the screen of his laptop.

I quickly looked at Emmett, imploring him silently. He nodded at me and helped me remove the IV lines from my arm. I nodded my silent 'thanks' at him. He helped me finish dressing. He and Ben did a good job shielding me from being seen as we walked past the nurses' station and headed toward the parking garage.

Once we got in the car, Emmett started laughing.

"What's so funny?" I demanded.

"I do believe that may be the first time you ever skipped out without paying your bill. How does it feel to be a rebel?"

Even Ben let loose a little chuckle. "This is wild! If working for you means more of this cloak and dagger stuff, sign me up! I never in a million years thought I'd be doing shit like this."

I looked at Emmett and Ben. I sat there silently staring at the two of them for a moment at a complete loss for words. The moment for levity just seemed to fly right over my head. Bella was out there, unprotected and I had let her down.

"Just keep working, Ben. We need to get an idea of where Bella may be." I pleaded.

Ben snapped his laptop back open, slid his headphones on and started diligently listening to the recording of Bella's phone call.

"Do you think we should tell the police?" I asked Emmett.

"No. No, I don't. I don't want them slowing down the search for Bella. Hell, we still haven't told them that we have even heard from her. Let's just see what we can find out first." Emmett maintained.

"Okay. Let's track down that cargo van." I said as I buckled my seat belt.

Emmett peeled the car out of the garage and we drove like a bat out of Hell to the Port of Chicago.

***

"Well, that got us nowhere." Emmett slammed his fist down on the top of his car. I slightly winced wondering if he had put a dent in it. I was feeling just as frustrated and angry as he was.

"I'm just as frustrated as you are. This waiting is killing me. Bella is out here somewhere. I have to find her, Emmett!"

The rental agency was a loss. We weren't able to get any information and it was looking as if we needed to get the police involved.

The police.

Suddenly, I slapped my hand to my forehead. God! How stupid could I be? There was one person who could help us the most and I hadn't even thought about him until now. I reached into my pocket, fished out my phone and started to call Charlie but my phone vibrated in my hand alerting me to a new message.

I quickly opened the message and was immediately horrified.

James had sent me a small snippet from the sex tape that he had made with Bella. Anger surged through me and I could feel the taste of it coating my throat. I was determined to rip him limb from limb.

My mission to call Charlie had come to an abrupt end. I needed to find Bella, now! I couldn't waste anytime waiting for Charlie to arrive back to Chicago. I wrenched the car door open surprising Ben.

"Anything? Anything at all?" I demanded.

Emmett came over and clamped his hand down on my shoulder. I shrugged him off immediately.

"Dude! What the fuck just happened?"

"James is fucking with me. He just sent me a message. I swear to God, Emmett, if he fucking touches her…"

"Okay! Okay!" Emmett responded, backing up slowly. "We're doing everything we can. Did he say something that would help us?"

I shook my head. The repetitive vision of Bella performing a certain act on James kept swirling through my head and I felt nauseous. I couldn't tell Emmett.

"Let's just say he got his point across." I answered.

"Um… Edward. I think I've got something!" Ben quietly said from the interior of the car.

I leaned in and he handed me the headphones.

"Here… listen. Those boats that are going through? They blast a certain signal to the Port captain as they leave. Most boats are on a pretty tight schedule. They have to be in a building somewhere right near the mouth of the Port."

I listened to the recording on the headphones, my heart aching at the sound of Bella's voice. Ben had pin pointed the sound of the boats in the background. I jerked the headphones off and handed them back to Ben.

"Good work, Ben! This is the best we've got. At least it gives us an idea of where they may be!"

~Bella~

I kept pulling against the tape that James had used to secure me to the chair. My mouth was dry again and I needed to go to the bathroom.

I kept trying to scoot the chair across the room so I could kick at the door to alert James that I was becoming desperate. Finally, he opened the door and laughed as he realized that I had moved from my original position. I was seething.

James unceremoniously ripped the tape from my mouth and I let out a small shriek of pain.

"About time. I need to use the bathroom." I uttered.

"Okay. But be quick. I brought you something to eat. Can't afford to have my little 'nest egg' withering away on me." James said as he sliced through the tape.

I rubbed at my wrists trying to get the circulation to return. My arms had been behind my back for almost 15 hours now and I stretched them forward trying to relieve the ache.

James escorted me to a small bathroom. I moved to shut the door and he slammed it back open.

"No way. You do what you have to do, but I'm right here watching you."

I groaned my disapproval. "Can you at least turn your back? What the hell do you think I'm going to do? Throw soap in your eyes? Attack you with toilet paper?"

"You always had such a fresh mouth, Isabella. Which reminds me… perhaps lover boy needs a quick refresher on how sassy that mouth of yours can be?"

Immediately I started to panic. "What are you talking about?"

James let an evil grin spread slowly across his face as he pulled out my phone.

"James! What are you doing?" I screeched.

"Sending Edward my version of a Hallmark card. You know I only care to send the very best. And you are one of the best when it comes to sucking cock, Isabella."

I lunged for James trying to grab my phone from him.

"No! No! You can't possibly… Please!" I pleaded.

James shoved me backwards and I fell to the floor. Tears started to flood my eyes and I finally felt myself losing control.

"James… please. I'll do whatever. Just don't… don't do that to Edward." I cried.

"Do your business, Bella. I need you to pull yourself together. You have another phone call to make shortly." James turned his back and I pulled myself up, took care of my needs and walked slowly back out of the bathroom to the chair and table in the center of the room. Somehow I got the feeling that I may not make it out of here alive.

I picked at the sandwich that James had brought for me. I was more grateful for the water though and drank almost half of it on the first pull.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you? Why me? Why, James? What did I ever do to deserve this?" I finally asked, some of my bravado returning.

"Oh, Bella. You were easy pickings. Sweet and naïve; a young girl fresh from the sticks. I like girls like you. Making you change. Watching you whore yourself out. It's a game for me."

"The money isn't a game though, is it? The Volturi will come after you no matter what, James. I don't know how you expect to survive. They will find you."

James shifted uneasily in his chair. "But that's where you are wrong. See, I have a new fish dangling on the hook already. She's the one who gave me the code to Edward's alarm in his loft. I just need a comfy little cushion of money. Then I'll take her and her money to Europe where we will live the lifestyle I've become accustomed to. I actually have to thank Edward for my latest conquest."

The realization that he was talking about Lauren hit me like a ton of bricks. As much as I didn't like that bitch, she was an innocent who had been played like I had. I had to warn Edward somehow.

"Are you done?" James pointed at the half eaten sandwich on the table.

"Yeah. Forgive me for not being super hungry. I don't normally have to deal with being beaten and kidnapped on a daily basis."

"Such a smart ass, Bella. Watch that mouth. It's going to get you in trouble."

I snorted. "More than this? That's rich."

James slapped me really hard and I could feel the blood welling up in my mouth again.

"Don't push your luck, Isabella. I really don't have to keep you alive. I could very easily slit your throat and feed you to the fishes outside." He whispered angrily in my ear.

I took another sip of water, wincing at the copper taste in my mouth. I refused to look at James to let him know that I was steadily becoming terrified. I wasn't going to let him see my fear.

James shoved my phone at me along with a piece of paper.

"Here. These are the instructions I want you to give Edward. Read it, don't say anything else and I just may let your boyfriend live."

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