THE DARK LUST

– Chapter Six –

Wednesday
22 September 2010
07:05 Hours

Yawning deeply, Edward shrugged into a charcoal-grey suit jacket, adjusting his navy striped tie as he gazed moodily into the mirror. He'd slept like total shit last night, staring at the ceiling for hours on end, unable to stop his mind from replaying the encounter with Bella over and over and over again.

She was hiding something, Edward was one-hundred percent certain of that. She'd sidestepped and evaded every question he'd asked, stealthily refusing to provide anything more than her first name. None of the details she'd given him added up. What he wasn't quite so sure of, though, was if her trail of deception would lead him to an answer in this case, or if following her down this path of lies would lead him to something . . . else.

There was something about Bella—something unexplainable but undeniably there—that intrigued Edward in a way he'd never felt before. Her face, her body, her movements, her smell . . . even her voice struck a chord in him, reverberating somewhere deep down inside and making him buzz with an energy he could barely contain.

She was complete sensory overload. So much so that he'd had trouble focusing on what he needed to around her, letting himself get so discombobulated in her presence that he hadn't even given her his card before he'd left. Though, he had to admit, dragging the half-cocked Newton out of the house as he did might have had something to do with his frazzled state of mind as well.

Still, Edward wanted to see Bella again. Alone this time, without any distractions or interruptions. He needed answers—real answers to the dozens of new questions he had. Where was she from? What was her last name? Was she here alone, or with friends, or a partner? What was her connection to the Uleys, and what was up with that voicemail that appeared to contradict her story, causing her to go from bold to uneasy in flash? Were violet eyes genetic, or did she wear contacts? Was her skin as smooth as it looked; did her lips taste as sweet as she smelled?

What the hell?

No, Edward chastised himself. This was not okay. Shaking his head in an attempt to purify his thoughts, Edward leaned forward toward the mirror to look himself directly in the eyes. "Focus, man," he told his reflection. "Head in the game, and nothing else."

With a final nod to his own determination, he turned away and retrieved his wallet, badge, and keys from the top of his dresser before making his way out to his tiny kitchen. Breakfast was a quick bite of last night's leftover takeout and then he was out the door, heading to work.

Morning traffic was its usual slog, getting Edward to the station at 7:55 a.m. in an even worse mood than before. He dropped his stack of case files on his desk and headed straight for the coffee stand. Newton found him there as Edward was stirring a heaping teaspoon of sugar into an extra-large ceramic mug.

"Hey, Cullen," the young detective said quietly. Edward grunted in acknowledgment but didn't look up. Determined to say what he needed to, Newton cleared his throat and carried on. "Listen, man. You're, um, not going to tell anyone about what happened yesterday, are you?"

Edward finally glanced over to his colleague, still annoyed by Newton's odd behavior yesterday but feeling sorry for him at the same time. The kid looked as tired as Edward felt. "I don't see why I should," he replied, bringing the steaming mug of coffee to his mouth and taking a much-needed sip.

Newton's tight, worried expression sagged in relief. "Okay, good. Thanks, man. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. I'm so fucking embarrassed as it is, the last thing I need is the commander or any of the guys getting wind of it all."

Edward nodded, his sharp gaze raking over Newton's unusually-disheveled state. The young detective was new to this role, but he usually had his shit together. The kid's dark-rimmed eyes and sloppy suit were out of character enough to catch Edward's notice, and to convince Edward to take it easy on him, at least for now. "Don't worry about it. Did you end up remembering anything later on?"

Newton shook his head, his expression going dazed. "Not a damn thing. It's like the ten minutes we were there is just a void; there's nothing there at all."

"Hmm," Edward mused, wondering exactly how a phenomena such as this could be achieved. Aerosolized drugs? Yet other than the brief moment at the front door where his entire focus had zeroed in on the woman and he was sure nothing else mattered but her, he hadn't had anywhere near extreme of a reaction. He filed the thought away for more consideration later. "That is strange. Well, let me know if anything does come back to you. In the meantime just take it easy on yourself, okay? Don't let this eat you up. It's fine."

Newton let out a gust of breath and opened his mouth to thank Edward again, but was interrupted.

"Cullen!" the commander barked from the end of the hallway. The steel-haired man caught Edward's gaze and jerked his head toward his open office door. "Get in here."

Edward muttered a quick goodbye to Newton and carried his coffee to the commander's office, stepping inside the dimly-lit, cluttered room and stopping before the heavy oak desk. Charlie shut the door and came around to stand behind his chair, eyeing Edward sternly.

"You look like shit, Cullen. You and Newton, both. Just what happened at the Uley residence yesterday?"

Edward took a slow sip of coffee in an attempt to gather his thoughts. He didn't want to lie or withhold information from his commander, but he was overcome with the strangest compulsion to keep Bella to himself. For now, at least.

"Nothing much, sir. The family is out of town, but there was a young woman there who claimed to be housesitting. She confirmed ordering pizza and engaging with the victim, but didn't offer much to help the investigation, unfortunately."

"That's it? I thought we might actually have been onto something here. Did you verify her story?"

What story? Edward thought irritably, still annoyed and confused by Bella's odd behavior, but he kept the lack of details to himself. "I'll be looking further into things as soon as possible, sir."

Charlie nodded, his sharp gaze narrowing as he regarded his detective thoughtfully. "Is there more here, Cullen?"

Of course. Edward should have known he couldn't fool the commander, not even for a second. He took another sip from his mug and let his eyes wander away from Charlie's scrutiny, honestly wishing he had something worthy to say. Even his half-truths held no substance. "I wish there was, sir. As I said, we found a woman there who claimed to be housesitting, but she was . . ."

The words died in Edward's throat as his gaze focused on a framed picture across the room. He had never paid much notice to the decor in Charlie's office, but now it held his full attention. Breathlessly, he stepped closer to the cluttered bookcase, leaning in to get a better look through the dusty glass. His pulse thudded sharply as recognition took hold of him—the face was rounder, softer and gentler, her eyes a deep brown to match her hair—but the image smiling back at him was undeniably the woman he met yesterday.

"Sir," Edward asked cautiously, trying his hardest to maintain a calm exterior. "Who is this?"

"Eh?" the commander replied, surprised by the sudden change in subject. The older man moved away from his desk and came up beside Edward at the shelf. "Oh, that's my daughter, God bless her soul. She went missing sixteen years ago, gone without a trace, just shy of her twenty-first birthday. Same age as I was when we had her."

A shock of ice flooded Edward's veins, settling into his spine. Impossible. He'd met this woman yesterday, he knew without a doubt he had, and yet she didn't look a day older than in this faded photograph. This had to be a mistake.

"I'm sorry to hear that, sir," Edward said quietly. He was almost afraid to ask for fear of confirming his bizarre suspicions, but he knew that he must, and he forced the words out. "What was her name?"

The commander smiled regretfully. "Her name was Isabella, but we all called her Bella."

Ohhhhhh, things are picking up now! *evil smirk*

What are you all thinking, friends?

XO