Boy...this was a tough one for some reason, not sure why. I guess it was just one of those chapters.
Rosalie finished pulling back on her jacket when she heard the door to the basement open, she just couldn't catch a break from this woman. Rosalie pushed open the exit door, more than a little surprised by how easily it opened. It lead to the narrow back alleys of down town Houston, they could go on and on to anywhere. She kept the door open, letting the cloudy Houston light in on the eerie basement, giving the Agent a clue to where she was and it wasn't long when she came around the last pillar.
"One of the forensic specialists said you'd be down here.", Odair said, coming up behind Marshal Hale, "Find anything interesting?"
Rosalie shrugged, trying to subtly adjust the new equipment she had on. It was a little too tight for her liking. "On my way down, I was thinking...how did they get out so easily, because we know they came in through the kitchen...which wasn't as guarded as it should have been."
Agent Odair nodded, "right, right... how did you figure the basement though?"
"It just came to me really...plus, you never leave the way you came."
Agent Odair nodded, stepping out of the basement and looked up and down the alley. "good work, but I doubt we'll find anything out here...", thunder rolled across the dark skies, "Let's head back, I've seen enough."
Rosalie nodded, and closed the basement door as they decided to just walk around to front than go through that damp basement again. Rosalie was too aware of the badge sitting on her chest, dangling as she walked...she was all too aware of the oath she took, the power of authority...the right to use that power the right way. She worked her entire life to get to this level, and here she was...staining that silver star with corruption.
Bella checked her phone as she got onto the beltway, the traffic was heavy but it was moving. She saw that she missed nearly half a dozen calls...all from Rosalie. Bella set her phone down on her lap, to focus on driving and to just calm her anxious heart...it was not unheard of for people to have heart attacks before the age of thirty.
Bella could admit she was a little more than nervous, Rosalie could be calling just to ask her to meet her somewhere...set her up. She could be calling for a number of reasons, but Bella was sure she would end up in court and behind bars by the end of the day. Mind still in a paranoid turmoil, Bella quickly weaved her way over to the fast lane, ignoring the mad honking as she did. She was cutting it close, but she didn't exactly care. Once she was ahead of the traffic pack, she took a deep breath and picked up her phone again...her thumb lingered over the call button for a brief moment.
She pressed the phone to her ear, it rang for about three times before Bella heard the unmistakable click of the phone being answered. There was nothing said over the line for a few seconds, maybe even minutes Bella couldn't exactly be sure, but she didn't know what to say to break the silence...she didn't know what Rosalie wanted.
"Isabella?",...another long and tense pause, "Bella...Baby are you there?"
Bella let out a big sigh of relief, hearing Rosalie call her 'baby' again, seemed like forever ago...too long. Bella hadn't realized she was crying until her vision blurred, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand that held the phone.
"Bella? Honey I can't...really talk right now but-"
"Rosalie", Bella interrupted, "I am so sorry...a-and I-"
Rosalie cut Bella off this time, "We can talk later baby...at home."
Bella swerved back into her lane, and shifted in her seat not sure if she heard what Rosalie said correctly. "Home? Are you sure? I wouldn't mind a, um, coffee shop...somewhere public?"
Rosalie sighed deeply over the line, "No home is fine. I'll see you when I get off...okay?"
Bella nodded, then remembered Rose couldn't see her. "Okay."
"Okay...I love you."
A large smile came upon Bella's flushed face, and her foot got a little heavier on the accelerator as all the tension in her body completely went away, the dark skies and light rain had nothing on the rays of sunshine she was seeing. "I love you too. See you at home tonight."
Bella put her phone back down in her lap and drove to her sisters house, the smile that hasn't been on her face all weekend wouldn't go away.
Bella arrived to Esme's, discovering that her sister was already home but it was still too early for her niece and nephew to be home. Using her spare key Bella entered Esme's home, she smelled something good in the air, so she went to the kitchen. She found two large Olive Garden bags sitting on the counter and Esme was pulling out a bottle of wine from the freezer.
Bella rolled her eyes, she never understood wine. "Hey Esme, how was your interview?"
"I was hired on the spot like always, where did you go?", Esme closed the freezer and took out a single wine glass. Bella sat at the kitchen table, back to the window.
"I went to work, pretty crazy morning. Whats in the bag?"
Esme picked up the two bags and went to join her little sister at the table, she set one of the delicious smelling bags next in front of Bella. "We need to talk."
Bella opened the bag and pulled out it's contents, salad and bread sticks, with a side of shrimp fettuccine. "We do."
Esme set down her wine glass and studied her sister, "Your mood is a lot better?"
Bella nibbled on a bread stick, "Rosalie called me today..."
"What did she want?"
Bella paused, swallowing the food in her mouth before answering. "I'm...going home today."
Esme downed the rest of her wine, "I don't think that's such a great idea...it could be a trap."
"Rosalie wouldn't do that.", Bella argued, getting up to get a bottle of water from Esme's refrigerator, then went back to sit down. "I trust her...she wouldn't set me up."
"You don't know that Belle. All weekend she has had you in this depressed and paranoid state of mind...then all of sudden...she calls and you go running? Blind!"
Bella was a little taken back by Esme's rant, she looked a little upset too. "But I thought you liked her? You're the one that kept telling me that everything was gonna be okay...what changed?", Suddenly, Bella wasn't so hungry anymore.
"I just think you should be a little smarter about this Bella.", Esme told her gently, eating a forkful of her salad.
Bella stared at the bottle of water sitting next to her food with a small amused smile on her face, "Funny you say that Esme,that I should be a little smarter...isn't that why you're here in Texas? Because you should have been...a tiny bit smarter?"
Esme set her fork down slowly, sighing quietly. "This isn't about me right now, I'm just trying to look out for you Isabella Ryan. I like the Marshal, but I don't trust her."
"Yeah but your judgment is not recommendable."
Esme glared at Bella, pushing her food away slightly. "When will you let Atlanta go?"
"When the bullet falls out of my neck. it's pretty deep so it may be a while."
Esme had nothing to say to that, because she never knew that Bella was actually harmed in the jewelry store where she left her. "Bella how many times do I have to apologize to you, I didn't know it was going to happen like that!"
"But it fucking did and you saved your own ass didn't you?!", Bella's blue eyes were staring intently into Esme's eyes, "You had a choice..."
"I had to Bella.", Esme stated sadly, downing her second glass of wine, "I knew you could handle yourself."
Bella chuckled and picked up her bread stick, taking a bite from it. "what do you want Esme?"
"I'm really starting to miss the depressed and paranoid you...you know why I'm here."
Bella pretended to think, "If I cared...I think I would have remembered...remind me?"
Esme grinned slowly, "I bring you into my home, and this is how I get treated...by my own flesh and blood."
"Just taking back the flesh you owe me."
There was silence between the two of them for a while, Bella was waiting for Esme to tell her what she really wanted...it wasn't here to reconnect, she knew she wanted something. Esme was simply enjoying her third glass of wine and her food before it became too cold. When she was ready to speak, she looked at her little sister...that same dark and alluring smile on her face. "You remember the Sicily family don't you? The ones who murdered our parents?"
Bella rolled her eyes and sighed loudly not really in the mood for this particular conversation."Yes."
"Well they were taken over by the Volturi family a couple years ago."
Bella shook her head, not understanding. "So? good for them?"
"So.", Esme looked slightly annoyed that Bella wasn't taking her seriously. "Like I said before they are coming for us, I talked to our brother a couple of weeks ago-"
"Oh that's reassuring, he is the reason I am in this mess...and the reason the mafia is here.", thunder and lightening crackled high in the sky, Bella leaned forward pushing the food out of her way with the back of her hands, "Okay, look. Suppose I was remotely interested with this bullshit...why now? What have we done for them to come after us?"
Esme swished the wine around for a moment, then looked at Bella as she crossed her legs at the knee beneath the table. "I did Ray a favor in Colorado. He needed someone gone, so I made it happen...didn't know it was a high class member of the family."
"well...who was it? It can't be that bad. Maybe it was someone they hated and you pussies are over reacting?"
"Caius Volturi."
..."Fuck."
Okay folks...what we are dealing with here is a soup sandwich with no goddamn bread, right? wrong.
We have now identified three obstacles./
1. Ray-Esme and Bella's brother.
2. The authorities.
3. The Volturi ( Yes I managed to drag those losers into this).
The cliffy was horrible, I know. But my fingers were starting to give up on me. Also, does this seem like a soap opera of some sorts to anyone else or is it just me? * head scratch *
One last thing guys, there is a middle man somewhere in here. Not everyone is who I am selling them to be. Just something to keep you interested. THANKS FOR ALL THE LOVE!
-MonsterG