AN: I know WIPs are annoying…and everyone always wants an update. I will admit I don't have this story prewritten besides a loose mock-up of where things are heading/what I want to happen. I feel bad that I had abandoned this story for five years, so I make it a point to update every two weeks. That means, I give myself 2 weeks to write the next chapter. Some weeks are easier than others as the character voices just come to me, practically begging me to speak for them. Other weeks, I leave it to the last day and just bang something out. But know that I will never leave you all hanging. Sorry if that is not fast enough for some—but I prefer quality over quantity. So, stick with me! And again, thank you for your continued support.

AN2: My least favorite POV...but we need to hear what's going on in his neck of the woods. Who do you want to hear from next? More Edward? Tony and his plan? Bella's take on the reunion?

CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX

JACOB'S POV:

I tipped back my beer bottle, but was startled to find that it was empty. Frustrated, I threw it across the room. I heard it ricochet off the wall and hit something else, but could care less at the moment. At least it didn't appear to have shattered—broken glass is a bitch to clean up. Reaching into the cooler next to the couch, I grabbed another beer. Who knows what number I was on; all I know is the cooler was significantly emptier than it was earlier. I just wanted to drink and forget everything. As the beer guzzled down my throat, I couldn't help but think how did everything fall apart so quickly?

That seemed to be the theme of my life these days. I know that I may not always do the right thing, but I'm not a bad guy. And yet the hits keep on coming. At first, I had thought things were going my way. I made up with Jessica, we finished our honeymoon; I secured Laurent, and the investigator was digging up dirt on Cullen. I was feeling pretty invincible. So, when I left early to meet Embry at the gym three days ago, I figured a quick workout wouldn't hurt anything. But knowing what I know now, I would never have left the house that day, because that was all it took for things to start to go south.

First, I come home to an empty house. I didn't think much of it; Jess probably ran out for an errand or something. But then as the hours had passed, and there was no sign of her, I began to get worried. I didn't want to come off as a paranoid husband, so I didn't start calling around to friends and family yet. But after twelve hours of nothing, I couldn't hold off any longer. Her friends said they hadn't heard from her, but I wasn't sure if that was the truth. Finally, I was left with no other choice than to call my mother-in-law, the woman I tried to avoid at all costs because she just doesn't seem to like me.

"Stanley residence, this is Ellen." I heard over the phone.

"Hello Ellen. It's Jacob."

"Jacob, what a lovely surprise," I heard her say, though from the tone in her voice, it didn't sound like such a surprise.

"I'm sorry to bother you so late, but I was looking for Jessica. Her phone is sending all calls straight to voicemail. She was only going to run a few errands, but it has been hours now. I'm truly starting to worry."

"That's the problem, isn't Jacob. You're only just starting to worry, when you should have been worried about my daughter all along."

I rolled my eyes at this, pleased that she couldn't see me, before responding, "Ellen, please, I'm not looking for a fight here. I'm just looking for my wife. Have you heard from her? From your attitude, I would say yes."

"She was here, but decided to find lodging elsewhere. Apparently, I couldn't offer her the support she was looking for," Ellen quipped back.

"What support was she looking for?" I asked, pleased that there had at least been a Jess sighting.

"She wanted to stay here, and I told her that her place was with you. She said you were the problem, and she needed a break. I told her that people don't get to take breaks from their spouses, and that it was cowardly to run away from problems."

"Did she explain the problem we are having?" I asked tentatively. I didn't want to get reamed by my mother-in-law, but I really was in the dark here. I had thought things were good between Jess and I after the honeymoon.

"I wasn't able to get much out of her, other than that you lied to her, and have been seeing a lawyer behind her back. Are you cheating on my daughter, Jacob? If you aren't happy sexually, then you work on it with her, not look elsewhere. That—" I quickly interjected to cut her off. I had no desire to talk about sex with her, and she clearly had the wrong idea. I had to fix this.

"I am not cheating on her, Ellen. I love her," I stated as sincerely as I could.

"Then why all this secrecy? And why do you need a lawyer?" she grilled me.

"I'm pursuing a case against Bella for sole custody of Tony. She isn't in her right mind at the moment due to her injuries, and that boy needs a secure home."

"Bella, I should have known. It's always Bella. But, wait, you said you're going against her? That's a first. Jess should be thrilled by that information that your precious Bella did something wrong."

"Not necessarily. She emphasized her displeasure in my actions, and told me that Tony will not be coming to live with us. I went ahead and met with a lawyer anyways, figuring I could get her to come around eventually. Apparently, that was the wrong move."

"I would have to agree. I tried to get her to see reason, but she has no interest in returning home. And when I wasn't sympathetic enough, she said she would find other accommodations. I'd be prepared for a long absence Jacob, the number of suitcases she had was telling."

I groaned, making my way into the bedroom. After opening up drawers, and looking into the closet, I could see that Jessica's things were indeed missing. "Lovely," I snarled.

"Don't get snipping with me. I'm just the messenger. Cut that attitude, and figure out how you are going to fix this Jacob. I don't want any scandals to mar the lovely wedding this town is still talking about."

Of course, Mrs. Stanley would only be concerned about her image and the way the town perceived her. Doesn't matter our marriage is falling apart; as long as nobody rains on her parade, who cares. "If I could find her, I would get right on that Ellen. Any ideas of where she was heading?"

"She didn't say. I think she questioned my loyalty, and if I would give you the information. Have you tried to track her cell phone?"

I made my way into the office to do just that. When I moved the mouse to awaken my sleeping computer, I noticed my email account was up. Every message between me and Laurent was opened, which wasn't how I left it. "Shit" I cursed under my breath, but obviously not quiet enough because Ellen heard me.

"What? What's wrong? Where is she Jacob? Somewhere bad? Is it seedy? Is she alone?" she fired off at me.

"Nothing, Ellen. I just realized I have another problem. I haven't even tried to track her cell phone yet. I will see if I can find her, and I will let you know. I plan to do whatever it takes to get her home. I love her."

"See that you do Jacob."

I hung up on the shrew, and started to close the email windows. Jess must have seen these—that's how she found out about the lawyer. I let out a long sigh, then opened up the Find My iPhone app on the computer. It seemed that Jess had made her way back to the Seattle area, but she still was on the move. The question now was, do I go after her, or give her some time to chill? I decided to leave her be for now. She obviously wanted some space, so I would allow that. But I would continue to blow up her phone with messages, so she could see that I am being the worried concerned husband.

I didn't realize that it would be three fucking days and I still would have not heard from her. I continued to try her cell phone, but got nowhere. It was annoying. She was my wife, and should answer to me. How am I to win her back when I can't even talk with her? Which is why I'm sitting here on the couch, drinking my sorrows away.

The ringing of my cell phone brought me out of my recollections, and I quickly answered it, "Jess, is that you?"

"Uh, no, Mr. Black. It's James Hunter." When I didn't respond, he continued, "the private investigator Laurent hired?"

"Oh yes, Sorry Mr. Hunter. I didn't look at the caller id before answering. I've been waiting on a call from my wife. Please, continue."

"Well, Edward is back in Chicago, and at work, so it's time for me to skedaddle. I think I'm going to head to Washington to see what I can get on Bella. I know you say there isn't anything to find, but sometimes we are blind when it comes to the people we are closest to."

"I understand that Mr. Hunter. I just don't want anything fabricated. Bella is my closest friend; I don't want to tarnish her reputation."

"I can understand that. I will present you with all of my findings. Its not like they need to be broadcasted in court—you can use them as leverage and possibly settle if it's anything scandalous," he said, making a valid point.

"I doubt there will be, but thanks. Let me know what you find."

"Will do, Mr. Black. Talk to you soon."


A day later, I finally was able to get through to Jessica, but that conversation didn't go as I had planned.

"Baby, please, where have you been? I've been worried sick!" I started, when the phone actually connected.

"I'm sure you have been. But I wasn't ready to talk to you quite yet," she quietly responded.

"I know you're upset; I just don't understand why you had to leave? You're blowing things out of proportion."

"Really Jacob? I'M the one blowing things out of proportion? Why don't you go and look in the mirror before you judge others and their actions?"

"I know you saw the emails. So, I got a lawyer to look at my case—what's the big deal?" I hedged.

"The big deal is that I told you I didn't support this Jacob. And you came home after that fight and apologized and said you were going to put me first Jacob. Me, your wife. And yet I find out that our honeymoon was really just so you could interview lawyers. It was never about me. It will never be about me. And I have enough self-respect to recognize that I deserve more," she ranted at me.

"Seattle WAS about us baby. I just went to see a couple lawyers while I had some hours free when you were at the spa. How I spent my time really doesn't matter, does it? Would sitting in the hotel room watching bad tv really have been time better spent?" I pressed, hoping to show her that she and the time we spent together was important to me.

"The spa? Of course—the wonderful gift you gave me. Not to pamper me, but to distract me, right? So, you could go do what you wanted to do in the first place."

"That wasn't why I got you time at the spa baby. You're my wife, and I wanted to spoil you."

"Don't lie to me Jacob. I'm tired of turning a blind eye to these things. No more. I'm done." Her voice sounded so defeated. I did not like that.

"What are you saying Jess? You're done? You can't be done. We're just getting started."

"And that's the problem Jacob. We never should have gotten married. Who were we kidding?" she laughed, but there was no joy behind it.

"Baby, I love you, but I have no idea what you are talking about. Why don't you come home, and we can talk about this rationally?"

"It's too late to talk about things rationally Jacob. I don't think you are capable of being rational."

"You're being unreasonable baby. I'm sorry that I feel so strongly about this case, but I know deep down inside it's the right thing to do. As my wife, you should be supporting me, not abandoning me," I spat, getting upset. If she was here in person, I could sway her more. I didn't have that advantage over the phone. I know getting angry with her wasn't the answer, but I was just too pissed off with how she was acting.

"I am not the one being unreasonable here. I need time Jacob. If I come home now, I know I'm going to rush into a decision that I can't take back. I need to figure out what is best for me right now—and presently that's not at your side."

"What decision? What are you talking about?"

"If I want to divorce you Jacob."

"Excuse me?" I bellowed. Things couldn't be that bad, could they?

"You are not the man I married. I'm trying to figure out if you have duped me all along. Or if I simply allowed myself to be blinded by the fact that Bella will always and forever come first. This marriage can't survive three people in it. Or four, since you are incapable to seeing that Tony is not your child either."

"Are you hearing yourself babe? You are truly delusional. I married you Jess. YOU. Not Bella. Doesn't that say where my loyalties lie?"

"If that were the case, then you would have stopped pursuing this case when I told you that Tony will not be coming to live with us."

"Which is the wrong decision—"

"It is not wrong. You are the only one who can't see that you are wrong. Me, Sam, most of La Push—they all side with Bella here. You don't have a case. How you even managed to secure a lawyer to fight for your side baffles me. Though, considering he wants to fabricate evidence, maybe it really shouldn't baffle me. This whole situation sickens me Jacob. And I want no part in it. So, I will not be coming home. I don't know how long I will be gone, but maybe you should take this time to focus on what is important to you before everything crashes and burns. You've already lost your best friend; do you really want to lose your wife too?"

"I'm not losing anything. You will come to your senses once you've had ample time to calm down."

"Guess again, asshole. I am not the one that needs to come to their senses. In the meantime, don't call me—like I said, I need time and space to get you and this situation out of my head. I'll contact you when I'm ready." And with that, she hung up on me.

Pissed off, I dialed her again, only to find that she had turned her phone back off. And I still had no more information regarding where she was staying. "FUCK!" I roared, which echoed through the empty house. This was completely ridiculous. I was always taught to go after what I believe in—why am I being punished for that? I couldn't focus on Jess and her mini-temper tantrum right now.

I decided to distract myself by going back to work the next day. I wasn't due for another couple of days, but sitting around day drinking wasn't really helping me distract myself. The boys were surprised to see me at the garage, but we had enough orders that they appreciated having an extra set of hands. And I loved getting my hands greasy tinkering around on restoration jobs. I zoned out, and focused on the jobs lined up, and forgot about my outside life for a while.

Those distractions only lasted until I made my way home later that evening. You never really notice how quiet a house is until you're alone in it. Not that Jess was a very loud person. I mean, she was a chatterbox. Maybe that's why the quiet was getting to me. When my phone rang, disrupting that quiet, I was pleased for another interruption.

"Hello?" I asked the caller.

"Mr. Black, it's me, Mr. Hunter."

"Hello Mr. Hunter. I didn't expect to hear from you again so soon. Have you made it to Forks?"

"I arrived yesterday sir. I just wanted to confirm Bella's address with you. Would her place of residency be 130 Spartan Avenue?"

"Yes, that's her house. Do you need to know the address for where she works as well?" I queried.

"Uh no, not right now. The reason I'm calling is to ask if Bella could be residing anywhere else? She isn't home—and hasn't been in the last day or so."

"What?" I asked, surprised by this turn of events.

"Yea, I've been parked outside the house now for the last 26 hours—and no one has come and gone. Now might be a good time to enter and do some snooping if they are truly gone, but I was just wondering if you might know where they are?"

"You're going to break into her house?" I asked, not feeling okay with this information.

"Well actually, I was hoping you had a key and I would just visit with you. If I find things once inside, then I came about them fairly."

"I, uh, I don't know if I'm really comfortable with that idea, Mr. Hunter. I'm not really her favoritest person right now, and my being in her home would make her more uncomfortable at this time if she were to find out. But I am concerned that they are not home. They really don't have anywhere else to go. Maybe her friend Angela's, but that's a stretch."

"Can you give me that address? I can do some sleuthing and find out where they are. And I guess I'll just have to find another way into the house then. Maybe they left a window unlocked then."

"Mr. Hunter, I didn't think private investigators engaged in breaking and entering. I thought you followed people around. And dug up dirt."

"Where do you think the dirt comes from, Mr. Black? You have to actually get inside to find it," he replied quite nastily.

"As long as this doesn't come back to bite me in the ass, whatever. I've got to go," I replied hastily, hanging up.

Where was Bella? She just got out of the hospital, and last I heard was recovering at home. Was she back in the hospital? Did something happen? With the way this week has been going, I would believe it. Frantically, I grabbed my coat, and headed straight there. When I got to the hospital, I headed to the ICU nurse's station. Lucky for me, I knew the woman working there. Unlucky for me, she hates my guts, because she's the one that yelled at me for creating a scene with Cullen.

"Hello, ma'am. I was wondering if you could tell me if Bella is here? She isn't at home, and I was worried she might have relapsed, and no one told me." I figured I would try to be as respectful as possible to save my image.

"You're really going to ma'am me? I'm 28 years old, not fifty," she scoffed, clearly not pleased to see me. "And why would I share medical information with you? You are not family, and Ms. Swan removed you as her emergency contact, so you have no right to such information."

"Does that mean there is information to give then?" I pressed, ignoring the main part of her message.

"I did not say that," she replied, crossing her arms in a defensive stance.

"Can you please cut the crap, Oliva." Thank god for name tags, or I never would have been able to recall that bit of information. "I know you don't like me, but I am concerned for my friend. As I said, she isn't at home. She just recovered from a coma, so she really shouldn't be anywhere else but at home. So, if she isn't there, she must be here, right?"

"Don't get snippy with me Mr. Black. She isn't here. But that's all you are getting from me. Obviously, if she wanted you to know, she would have told you herself, wouldn't you think?" she sneered. "Now, if you wouldn't mind, I have a job to do and you being here is keeping me from doing said job."

She walked away from me. I tried to follow, but she ducked into a patient's room. I already was drawing attention by loitering out in the hallway, so I turned tail, and left. But seriously, if Bella wasn't here, then, where was she? I decided to swing by her house myself. It's not that I didn't believe Mr. Hunter, but maybe it just looked like nobody was home. However, upon my arrival, I could see that he was right—besides the porch light being on, the rest of the house was dark.

Frustrated, I went home. I sat back on my trusty couch, and helped myself to a beer. Beer seemed to be my only friend these days. I must have drunk myself into a stupor, because I woke up the next day sprawled out on the couch. Looking around, I saw that my buzzing cell phone sitting on the coffee table was the noise that drew me from my slumber. Rubbing a hand down my tired face, I groggily answered, "Hello?"

"Mr. Black? It's Mr. Hunter."

"Am I your new best friend Mr. Hunter? I certainly didn't think I would be hearing from you so much," I said, then realized that was rude. "I'm sorry, Mr. Hunter. I just woke up, and am not brain to mouth filter hasn't quite kicked in yet."

"I understand. I just wanted you to know that I located where Bella is," he said, but didn't continue.

"You did? She was at Angela's then?" I asked, relieved that the mystery had been solved.

"Negative. Seems that she and the boy have joined Edward in Chicago."

"What?!" I said, jumping to my feet. "You must be mistaken. There's no way."

"I overheard Angela reminding her husband that he needed to swing by and pick-up Bella's mail on the way home from work. He then asked how long Bella planned to stay in Chicago, and if she would be back for the baby's birth."

She went to Chicago to be with that asshole? If this didn't prove she was out of her mind, I don't know what else will. I must have been silent longer than I realized, because I heard Mr. Hunter trying to get my attention by continuously calling my name.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to understand what you just told me. I didn't think this was a possibility."

"That's okay, Mr. Black. I just figured you would want to know. And I wondered if you changed your stance on going inside Bella's house? You might be able to find out more information regarding why she decided to relocate."

I had mixed feelings about going inside Bella's house, but this new information truly threw me for a loop. I needed to understand where my friend's mind has gone—and unfortunately, I think the only way I am going to get that information is if I do some snooping of my own. "I have to get to work, but I can meet you there on my lunch break. Will that suffice?

"I can putz around 'til then. Maybe see what I can garner from the lovely inhabitants in town. What time should I meet you at the house?" he asked.

I faltered for a moment, wondering if this was the right course of action. But I couldn't afford for anything else bad to happen this week. I needed data, and I needed it now. "I will be there around 1pm." I was going to get a win for Jacob Black. I was going to turn this string of bad luck around, and then everyone would see that I was in the right here. I'd show them all.