It's my second cup of coffee and my third cigarette. I'm on edge; there isn't enough caffeine or nicotine in the world that could settle my nerves right now. I've all but lost my mind since I ended that phone call earlier.
I pace the floor, hoping that moving will help me to think straight, calm down. Someone pounds loudly on my front door; this had better be him! I hurriedly stub out my cigarette and race to the door.
"This is bad, Lauren. This is so fucking bad." He pushes past me, pulling on his hair.
"Do you have any idea the state you've put me in? I'm a fucking wreck!"
He grabs my pack of cigarettes from the table, lights up and walks across to the bar and pours himself a glass of whiskey.
"Hello? You just called me, freaking the fuck out, saying that something went wrong? Are you going to tell me what happened, or are you going to get drunk?"
He gulps down the contents of the glass and pours another. His hand trembles as he brings the cigarette to his mouth.
"I hit him."
"What?" "You hit who?"
"Edward! I hit him!"
"What do you mean you hit him? You weren't supposed to let him see you, let alone get into a fight with him."
"Fuck…" he grabs his hair and pulls hard. "I hit him with the car, Lauren!"
I'm sure I could not have heard correctly.
"I don't know what happened. He just jumped in front of the car."
My mind scrambles to make sense of what he's saying. He rambles on, but I can't understand a word that he's saying.
I watch him in abject confusion, he's pacing and muttering, soundlessly it seems to me.
"I told you to get proof." I whisper.
"What?" he turns on me. "You can't be serious."
"I told you to get proof." I grit through my teeth. I cannot believe that he fucked up so badly.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I tell you that I may have possibly committed vehicular homicide, and you're worried about whether I got the goods on Edward's girlfriend! You're sick, lady!"
"I told you to get proof, not to plow anyone down with a car!" "Oh my God! Edward!" I jump up as I suddenly realize the ramifications of what he's done.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know? Where did you leave him, you imbecile?"
"I don't know! I left him at the park with her and that kid."
"Kid? What kid?"
"A toddler. A little boy?" I can't be sure."
My stomach lurches. "A boy or a girl?"
"It looked like a little boy, all right!"
"What did he look like?"
"How the fuck should I know? I wasn't focusing on him."
"What color was his hair?"
"Dark…. almost black."
Bile rises in my throat and my stomach lurches uncontrollably. "Oh God."
I grab my keys and rush for the door. He blocks my path.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"To see if they're all right! They could be badly hurt!" I wrench open the door, and he slams it shut.
"You're not going anywhere near that park. The police are most likely swarming the place by now. And you're hysterical. You'll raise suspicion and get us both tossed into jail. I'm not going to jail, Lauren."
"Take your hands off me! He could be dead!"
I slide down the door and collapse on the floor.
"How did this happen? What did you do?"
"Don't get all 'what did you do to my Edward?' on me. You sent me there. You told me where he was and what to do."
"I didn't tell you to kill anyone!"
"It wasn't my fault! He jumped in front of the car. I thought he saw me in my parked car, so I sped away. It wasn't my fault."
He races after me when I get up to retrieve my phone and tries to snatch it from my hand.
"Who are you calling? I swear to God, Lauren…."
"Shut up. I'm calling the hospital to see if he's been admitted. If he's there, they have to give me information. I'm still his wife."
"You can't call the hospital and tell them you're his wife, Lauren. How long do you think it would take before they trace the accident back to you if you do?"
"I didn't hit anyone. You did."
"Then ask yourself…how fast do you think I'll rat your ass out about everything else? Don't decide to grow a conscience now, Lauren."
I'm waiting for the receptionist to answer.
"St. Lucien's, where may I direct your call?"
I exhale shakily and glance at James before I answer.
"Patient Information."
I'm driving to Edward's place. I'd been informed that he hadn't been admitted, and I feel sure that if he's not at the hospital then he'd be at home.
I stand in front of the door, trying desperately to calm myself, and finally raise my hand and knock.
He's standing in front of me, and I feel like my prayers have been answered. There are no visible signs of injury, not a damned hair out of place, well, no more than usual. He's still as gorgeous and capable of making my heart leap, even when he's scowling at me as he is now.
"What do you want?"
"Can I come in?" I brush past him.
"What are you doing here?"
"I had to see you, Edward."
"What for?"
"I…I just…. we left things in a bad place the last time we saw each other. I want to clear the air."
"Bullshit."
"It's true. Things have gone off the rails with us, and I'm not happy about that. I want to call a truce."
"Off track… a truce? Lauren, have you lost your fucking mind? We're way past calling a truce. What you did the other day was unforgivable. Get out." He grabs my arm and ushers me to the door.
"Wait…how's Josh doing?"
He looks at me incredulously.
"You haven't asked about him in months."
"I know that. That's why I'm asking now. I miss him, Edward."
He narrows his eyes. He takes a step back and points at me.
"What?"
"Josh was nearly killed yesterday."
I gasp, and cover my mouth with my hand. He didn't say a thing about hitting Josh; I hadn't even considered that he might have been hurt.
"Oh my God!" He pales visibly,
"Is he…is he going to be all right, Edward?" I feel myself tearing up.
"No…no," he shakes his head at me. "You're going to stand here, look me in the face, with those fucking crocodile tears? You fucking did this! I'm sure of it!"
"Edward…"
"Bella was right. I should've listened to her." He turns away from me and runs both hands through his hair.
"What does she have to do with any of this?"
He grabs me and slams me against the wall. I cry out in alarm.
"You tried to kill me, Lauren, and in the process you damned near killed my nephew. You're going to be sorry you missed me with that car."
"Edward, let go. You're hurting me!"
"You hate me that much?" He shakes me. "He's just a little boy! How could you do that to him? My God!"
"Edward! Let go of her!"
My head whips around at the sound of a female voice and I see her racing towards us.
"Edward, stop…stop it!" She softly implores, taking hold of his arm, and pulls him away from me.
"I can't believe you'd think that I'd do anything to hurt, Josh! I snivel. I love that little boy. You know that, Edward!"
"You make me sick! You will pay for this. As sure as my name is Edward Masen. You. Will. Pay."
"Edward." I whimper. He turns his back and disappears up the stairs.
"What you did to Josh broke him. He loves that boy more than life. Are you happy now?"
"You know nothing about Josh and Edward." I wipe roughly at my eyes. "That car should've hit you."
"That was the goal…. wasn't it?" She shakes her head and stares at me. Suddenly, she freezes.
"What?"
She looks at me confusedly for long minutes, then without saying a word, she takes off after Edward.
"Edward! Edward! Please… You have to believe me!" I run over to the stairs and yell. Neither of them returns.
I flee from his house and rush back home.
I gather all information I have that relates to Isabella Swan and toss it into the fireplace. I take one last look at the photographs of her and Edward together. It twists my gut to see the way he looks at her. He's never looked at me like that.
James silently watches me.
"Give me the file you have on Jacob Black and the photos you took of Bella and Edward yesterday."
"They're in the trunk of my car."
"Go and get them, and after you do that, get rid of the car. Remove all tags and stickers. Destroy that license plate. A Florida plate is clearly distinguishable. Get rid of it, then get lost."
"Lauren, what the hell happened? Did you see, Edward?"
"Do what I said." I turn up the furnace and watch as everything turn to a pile of ash.
"Lauren…."
"James! We don't have time! Edward is suspicious. We have to get rid of everything that links us to that accident. That means the paper trail, the car; you, everything!"