A/N: Thanks so much for all your wonderful thoughts.

Short update here. It's my firstborn princess's 21st birthday, and we've got a busy day ahead! :)

Most characters belong to S. Meyer. The rest belong to me. All mistakes are mine as well.

Ch. 31 – The Angle of the Game

Edward

"These…ridiculous accusations will not affect our work nor how we handle day to day operations in our practice. As far as our patients are concerned, it's business as usual. Do we all understand?"

James sits sharp and pristine at his desk, while the remaining members of his practice gather around him. His suit is immaculately starched. There are no circles around his eyes, no worry lines over his brow. He appears well rested and eager to proceed with his life; just as he says, with business as usual.

"I agree, James," Garrett replies with an anxious, vigorous nod. He's seated on a chair across from James' desk. "Thank God, you all have great lawyers on this, who'll get to the bottom of it, make sure you're all cleared…" his eyes scan the room, meeting James' gaze, then mine, and finally finding Kate and resting worriedly on her back when she doesn't turn, "and…and then we can all go on with our lives."

James has apparently chosen the angle of playing a game within a game. For the better part of an hour, he's sat us here and pretended that every single one of the charges brought against him and the practice is a lie. It's a common angle when a criminal circle is under investigation: Cease all criminal activities, destroy the evidence, and then pretend none of it ever happened – even pretend it to yourself. Because if you convince yourself it never happened, if you convince yourself that you're a boy scout, it's easier to convince the jury.

And while I know Garrett has been kept out of the loop on everything, Kate is an integral part of the pharmaceutical op. What's more, James and I literally discussed my being brought into it. But he's playing the part so well that if I didn't know better, if I didn't have him on tape, if we didn't have evidence on what a lying, corrupt, murderous piece of shit he is, I might actually believe this act.

Nonetheless, he doesn't know that last part, so we'll pretend.

"Agreed," I nod. "Business as usual."

"Business as usual," Kate retorts mockingly. She stands with her back to the rest of us, over by the windows overlooking the city. "Business as usual. Never mind the charges for our supposed medical experiments. Worse than that is that there's a stupid little bitch out there," she spits out viciously, "with the power to put us behind bars for life."

Seated on a chair across from James' desk and to the left of Garrett, I remain perfectly still. My breathing is somewhat labored, breaths elongated, and deeper than normal, but that can easily be chalked up to the situation. Outwardly, my features remain stoic. Inwardly, scorching rage instinctively coils and tenses every muscle in my body, prepping it for a lunge I can't afford to take, not if my main goal is to keep Bella safe. And it is my main goal.

Contrastingly, with his blind love and concern etched all over his face, Garrett stands and makes his way to Kate. He lifts a hand and curves it comfortingly around his girlfriend's shoulder.

"Kate, my love-"

She jerks away from him.

"Why are you worried, Kate?" Starkly juxtaposed with the rest of our reactions, James sounds almost blandly unconcerned when he asks the question. His cool, blue eyes – eyes that haunt Bella – remain on a pattern he's tracing over a blank piece of paper. "Maria…or should I say, Isabella Swan, is a lying, little bitch. Therefore, why fret, Kate?"

Kate rounds on him and shrieks, "Why fret?"

She's dressed as fashionably as ever, though less flashy, as per her lawyers' suggestions. However, she's not pulling off innocent and thereby calm as well as James is, as well as I'm sure the lawyers want her to. Her face is sickly pale, eyes bloodshot. The lines on her forehead have aged her ten years almost overnight. I almost want to laugh, 'Oh, Kate, this is just the beginning.'

She leans over to yell in James' face as if he's a misbehaved child.

"We're facing life in prison, that's why I'm fucking fretting! I told you, I told all of you there was something off about her, something I didn't like, and you refused to fucking listen!"

Despite her bellowed accusation, James' eyes never leave his pattern.

"Let's be honest, Kate; what you didn't like about her was the fact that she was younger and more beautiful than you. Simple as that, don't pretend there was some sixth sense at play. So, how was I supposed to know that Maria wasn't who she claimed to be? It's not as if I'd ever seen her before." He continues his doodling, but then abruptly, his eyes shoot up. "Had you, Kate?"

She pulls back and straightens, her frown deepening.

"Had I what?"

"Seen her before?"

She blinks a handful of times before replying. "Of course not! I'd never met the slut until you brought her into our midst."

Despite the names she continues calling Bella, I keep my mouth shut and remind myself that my goal is to keep Bella safe. Meanwhile, Kate and James glare at one another in a private exchange seemingly meant to remind Kate of how this game will go. Deny, deny, deny. His spoken reassurance echoes his strategy.

"As long as we keep our heads, Kate, we'll be fine. They have no proof."

"Because there's nothing to prove," Garrett says.

"Exactly," James nods, eyes still on Kate. "Not for the supposed murders, or the supposed attempted murders, or the supposed drug trials, or whatever else they want to add next. We did nothing. Therefore, there is nothing."

It's obvious that from this point on, James will not so much as speed much less make the amateur mistake of admitting to anything between now and the trial. He may be a psychopath, but he's not a stupid psychopath.

"This is Alec's work," he continues, now turning his cool, blue eyes to me. "He's been an envious bastard for years, never satisfied…and he got worse when I took Tony under my wing. He wanted to be my right-hand man, but he was always too…impetuous, too hard-headed, couldn't follow simple instructions," he scowls.

"Then, maybe if you'd made Garrett your right-hand man, none of this-"

"Katie, stop," Garrett hisses with surprising force, his tone mellowing and turning apologetic when Kate stops. "Katie, I understand you're upset, but James doesn't need to hear any more unnecessary accusations."

Kate nods once tightly.

"As I was saying, the lawyers are going to prove that this was all Alec's work. The lawyers told us that David Silvers from Horizon Pharmaceuticals is missing too, and everyone knows that those two were involved. David must've gotten Alec involved in those drug trials with the rest of the guys at Horizon Pharmaceuticals, and when the two were caught, they cut some deal to save themselves and blamed us for everything. Of course, the fucking feds jumped at the opportunity to bring the entire practice down."

Ahh, so that's how they're going to play it.

"But if it was Alec and David behind everything, why would Maria, I mean…Isabella Swan," Garrett corrects himself, "accuse you and Kate of murdering her parents and attempting to murder her?"

Now Kate goes to Garrett and kneels in front of his chair.

"Think about it, darling," she coos. "If Isabella's parents were truly murdered, it was obviously David and Alec who did it, but how can the government justify cutting deals with two people who committed such horrific murders? They're pinning it on us so that their informants appear less monstrous and therefore more believable before the jury. What's more, Isabella apparently cut some sort of deal with the government as well and therefore agreed to lie for them. Garrett, the FDA has had a grudge against us for years, you know that, all because James, Tony, and I have had the nerve to speak out against their bullshit regulations. This is the perfect way for the government to bring our entire practice down! Turn Alec and David and have them accuse us of what they've been doing – the drug trials, the murders – and then get sweet Isabella Swan to testify before a gullible jury and corroborate their story."

All the while, Garrett gazes at her, nodding and completely enraptured by her explanation, by the manner in which the entire story will apparently be presented before the court.

"Makes sense."

"Yeah," I agree.

"Or," James taps his chin, "perhaps they've all been working together all along – Alec, David, and Mar- Isabella," he corrects himself, nostrils flaring.

"Tony, what are your thoughts, buddy?"

My thoughts? You're both a couple of impressive liars, I'll give you that much. But you're still going to rot and not just because of the evidence but because none of you stand a chance once Isabella gets on that witness stand. Those are my thoughts.

"I think…I think if we're careful, we've got a good case. I'm just a bit concerned about what kind of evidence the feds might actually have."

"Tony, Tony, Tony." James shakes his head reprovingly and sighs. "Haven't you been paying attention? The feds have no real evidence because there is no real evidence."

"Ahh, that's right," I smile.

He chuckles quietly. "I've spoken at length to the attorneys and they've assured me that whatever the feds have can be repudiated in court. When you pay lawyers enough, there's very little they can't do."

"Good to know." I quirk a brow a suppress a scowl. "And the…supposed witnesses?"

James doesn't answer immediately. Sighing again, his eyes pan away, staring thoughtfully at the wall.

"That might be a bit…tougher to work around. You know what I wish, Tony?"

"What?"

"I wish I knew where Maria…Isabella," he snorts, "was right now."

It takes every ounce of self-control in my possession not to react, not to lunge, not to glare murderously, not to shout at the top of my lungs…to instead just sit there and appear minimally concerned for myself.

"What good would that do at this point?"

"At this point? At this point, I want to…to talk to her, to find out how…when…anyway," he meets my gaze, "it's probably not a good idea, right?"

"Probably not," I say, shaking my head.

"And it's probably never going to happen, not easily anyhow."

You fucking bastard. You will never find her, never speak to her again, not while I live and breathe.

"James, I'm sure that wherever she is, she's well-protected."

"Well-protected," he echoes. "Yeah, I suppose she is that. But you never know, Tony." He exhales. "You never know."

A/N: Thoughts?

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