Online Predator Chapter 68

"Umm, excuse me, ma'am," Charlie said as he approached a young woman on crutches, "but do you know where I could find William Black?"

"And why exactly are you asking after him?" She hobbled forward, moving slowly because of her broken leg.

"Can I give you a hand?" Charlie asked.

The young woman gave him a once over, focusing on his red eyes. "No, that's okay," she said, "I'm okay."

She made it over to a nearby park bench and sat down.

"Can I sit next to you?" Charlie asked.

"I don't mind."

Charlie joined her.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Esme," she said, unable to hide her blush.

"I'm Charlie." He smiled at her.

Esme didn't say anything else, she just stared at her hands on her lap.

"How did you break your leg?" he asked.

"Oh, that," Esme tried to dodge, "I fell out of a tree."

Charlie's gift spiked. "Really?" he asked. "Aren't you too old to be climbing trees?"

"Well, maybe," Esme said, "I'm only twenty-two, but maybe."

Charlie knew she didn't fall out of a tree, but what had happened? He could tell she wasn't going to give him the answers, so how else could he get them?

"Why are you asking about William Black?" Esme redirected the conversation.

"I'm just trying to track him down," Charlie said. "Do you know him? I notice this town's relatively small."

Esme paused before answering.

"I know him," she said, "I'm friends with his daughter, actually."

"Oh, really?" Charlie said, "he got married then?"

"Yes," Esme said, but then she caught herself, "why do you want to know?"

"I need to speak with him about something important."

"That doesn't sound very convincing," she said.

"Let me ask you something," Charlie said, "I saw you look at my red eyes, but you don't seem too worried about them."

"Well," Esme said, "they're more of a muddy red than blood red anyway."

She knew, she had to.

"Are you scared of me?" Charlie asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"If you were here to kill me," she said, "you would have already. What I want to know is this, why are you out here asking about William Black?"

Charlie could tell that now was not the time to lie.

"If you know what I am," he stared carefully, "then you must know what he is too." Esme nodded her head. "Well, my friend was actually the one who helped William and the others get away."

Esme's eyes widened, but she was still hesitant to trust this vampire.

"My human daughter," Charlie explained, "mated to a vampire and he is being… hunted, I guess you'd call it. All I know is that she's in danger and there's going to be a big fight. When I heard about the wolves, I thought that maybe they could help, but, I don't know."

"What do you mean?" Esme pressed.

"I was so sure my goal was to come here and get backup," he said, "but I couldn't find the other two, and now, William Black is here, but so are you."

"I'm sorry," she said, "I don't think I understand."

"I don't know how this works," Charlie said, "I'm new to all of this, but… I have a gift, I have to solve things, I need to know the answers, and for some reason, you're the answer, but I have no idea why. That's what I still need to figure out."

"I'm only human," Esme said, "and I'm injured at that. There's no way I can help with the fight."

She was adorable, simply adorable.

"What do you think you're doing with my girl," a menacing voice said, looming over the pair on the bench.

Charlie's anger flared, but before he could stand up, Esme had jumped up, broken leg and all, and was in this man's arms.

"Royce," Esme said, "it's nothing, this man was just asking for directions, that's all."

"Is that right?" Royce asked, still in fight mode.

Charlie wasn't a fighter, only if it was worth it. He felt the urge to protect this woman, but he held off.

"That's true," Charlie stood up and took a step back. "I asked her back there and she was showing me, but she needed to take a break, so we were sitting on the bench."

Charlie could tell that Royce didn't believe him, but none of that mattered. Royce scooped Esme up, grabbing her crutches and walked away. It was then that everything lined up in Charlie's mind, the broken leg, the heavily applied makeup, the slight blue tinge he could see underneath. Esme hadn't fallen out of a tree, he was sure of that, she was being abused, and most likely from this man.

His anger boiled, he wanted to chase after them and kill this man, but he couldn't. There were people out and about and he needed to be sure. He kept his senses trained on them and when they got too far away, he followed slowly in their direction. When they got to Royce's car and were inside, they started speaking.

"What have I told you about going out on your own?" Royce's voice was sharp.

Esme wisely didn't reply.

"You know what," he said, "you're acting like a little bitch and you know what happened to the last person who did that, I took everything from her. Don't test me, Esme, or I'll do the same for you. I know just how much you want a child. I've killed one before and I'll do it again."

This man needed to die, Charlie knew that much, but something was still telling him to hold off, but why? They drove off and Charlie followed them, he wouldn't leave Esme alone. He wasn't sure what it was, but his focus had changed, he no longer cared about finding William Black and the wolves, his new mission was to help Esme escape from Royce, and probably kill him in the process. Royce had done this before, he'd admitted to that, he had killed a child, he deserved to die, and Charlie was feeling thirsty. It was a win-win in his book.

They arrived home and Charlie stayed in the shadows. Night fell and he was still there, just sitting and waiting, it was the hardest thing he'd ever done. Royce was abusing Esme, but there was still something there, a gut instinct that told him to wait. If he was anyone else, if it wasn't for his cop instincts and his gift, it'd already be said and done. Royce would be dead and Esme would be safe in his arms, and he'd do whatever he could to make sure no other harm ever came to her.

That thought, although true, took Charlie aback. Wasn't Carlisle his mate? Jasper had seemed certain, and Charlie could admit that he felt something towards the man, but this woman, this human, Esme, there was something there. No one, other than his daughter, did he care for this much, did he want to protect, did he want to fight for, no matter the cost. This Esme was important, forget the wolves.

They went to sleep, together, in the same bed, Charlie didn't like that, but they were both dead to the world, at least for now. Because of that, he left his hiding spot. He didn't go far, just enough down the street so that he could still hear them and be there to save her if need be. He was standing in the middle of the road, looking up at the stars, when he was discovered.

"Did you find them?" Carlisle asked from behind him.

Charlie kept his gaze upwards. He didn't know what any of this meant or where Carlisle fell into all this. He loved Esme, he was quickly realizing that, but what did that mean?

"Did you find them?" Carlisle asked again.

Charlie turned to face him. "Why do you want to know?" he asked. "Why did you come for me? I know you don't approve of this."

"You're my mate," Carlisle said.

"Am I? I don't know if I feel that way about you."

Charlie saw the pain cross Carlisle's face. Whatever this was, whatever was going on, he could see that Carlisle felt something towards him.

"How do you know?" Charlie asked. "You know, about who your mate is and all that?"

"I feel strongly for you and-"

"Let me ask you this," Charlie interrupted him. "Would you kill for me?"

"No, I'm not a killer."

"Either am I," Charlie said, "aside from the one life I've taken to try human blood, but I want to kill someone and I'm going to kill them."

"Wha-what are you talking about?" Carlisle stammered. "Whatever it is, you don't need to kill over it. Does this have something to do with the wolves? I won't let you kill them."

"I don't care about the wolves," Charlie snapped.

"What do you mean? I thought you came to find them, to recruit them, to get them to help you fight."

"Plans change, Carlisle. I don't think you've ever experienced it, maybe you have, but I know how rare this is. I don't think it ever happened in my human life, not to this extent, but hey, maybe it's a vampire thing, I have no idea, but…" He took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. "All it took was one thing, one person, and… I don't know, everything just… I don't know."

"What's going on?" Carlisle asked. "Just explain it to me and we'll work it out."

Charlie turned and looked back up at the stars. He wasn't sure what to do. He looked at the facts. He cared for Esme, he loved her even, she had to be his mate, otherwise it made no sense to him. Carlisle also cared for him, but Charlie wasn't sure in what capacity. If he looked at the facts, it didn't seem like Carlisle liked him in a mate way. Carlisle let him get bit and almost killed, even just before he'd said 'I feel strongly for you', no love, no nothing, it didn't sit right. But what did telling him about Esme get Charlie? Charlie didn't want to lose Esme or be forced not to kill Royce. That man needed to die, no doubt about that.

"Who do you want to kill?" Carlisle asked.

"Royce," Charlie answered without thinking.

"Royce who?"

There was something in Carlisle's voice. Charlie turned back around. Something didn't seem right, something was off, but what?

"I don't know," Charlie said.

"Do you know what he looks like?" Carlisle asked.

"Yeah, tall, well-styled, dark hair, a huge asshole… Shit, I mean, he's an asshole, I don't know what his asshole looks like…" Charlie growled and stepped away. Esme made his emotions run high, he was starting to see that, and Carlisle definitely didn't do that to him.

"Is this him?" Carlisle asked, showing Charlie his phone.

It was the same man, Charlie's growl intensified.

"Charlie," Carlisle said, "this is important, you need to tell me what's going on. Why do you want to kill him?"

"Because he hurt what's mine."

"Rosalie's yours? Are you sure?"

"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked.

"Rosalie, my daughter," he said, "this man, Royce King, he used to date Rosalie when she was fourteen, he killed her unborn child, he put her through hell, even now she still struggles, it's just… If this has nothing to do with her, then what is going on? Is this just because of your gift? You have to solve this case?"

"No."

Charlie had to kill Royce, he had to. He'd go in there, kill Royce and save Esme, but what about Carlisle? If he was alone, this would be simple, but Carlisle was here and he was strong and he might try and stop it all from happening. What did he do? Did he leave and come back later? What was he supposed to do?

"Can you give me Rosalie's number please?" he asked Carlisle.

"Why?"

"That's not what I asked," Charlie crossed his arms against his chest, "it's either yes or no, Carlisle."

"Fine." Carlisle got his phone out and dialed Rosalie's number, handing it to Charlie.

"Can you give me some privacy please?"

Carlisle didn't want to, but he did anyway.

"Oh my god, Carlisle," Rosalie said, "where are you? You really need to get back here."

"Umm, this is Charlie."

"Oh, sorry," Rosalie said, "is Carlisle okay?"

"Yes, everyone's fine, but I need to ask you a question."

"Okay."

Charlie could hear Rosalie's hesitance from here.

"Can I kill Royce King?"

There was a sharp intake of breath on Rosalie's end.

"He has a new girl," Charlie explained, "she has a broken leg, he's beating on her, she…" Charlie wondered how he could say this without Carlisle figuring it out, hopefully he wasn't listening. "I need to do this, not for you, but… Read between the lines, please."

It took a couple of minutes before Rosalie replied.

"I think I understand," she said, "for me, I'm not going to give you permission, I'm not putting this on my plate, but I don't care if you kill him, but make sure it's what you want. If it's something you have to do, do it. …And, Charlie, thank you for asking. And, once this is done, you and Carlisle need to get back here. Nothing's wrong or dire, but… Just get back here."

"We will." Charlie hung up the phone.

A moment later, Carlisle came back and Charlie gave him his phone back.

"So?" he asked.

Charlie needed a moment to think, so he looked back up at the stars. This whole Royce thing, it had nothing to do with him, only now, just now, with Esme, but Rosalie, and even Carlisle, it was more their fight.

"What do you suggest?" Charlie asked him.

"You haven't told me what's going on yet."

He's going to find out soon enough, Charlie realized. Either soon, when Charlie killed Royce and then pulled Esme out. Or later on, but if Esme was his mate then it's going to come out sooner or later. He had to tell him, there was no way around it.

"The girl he's beating on," Charlie said, "she's my mate, I'm 99 per cent sure of it."

"Excuse me," Carlisle said.

"I'm going in there," Charlie said, "and I'm going to save that sweet innocent woman, I frankly don't care what you do. If I have to kill Royce to do it, I will. She is the most important person to me right now and I'm not going to sit by and let that man lay another hand on her."

Charlie walked back towards the house. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but by the time he got to their bedroom and he laid eyes on Esme, it all became clear, Royce would be killed.

Carlisle stepped in behind him and took in the same scene. Esme's face was visible, and both vampires could see the fresh bruises on her face.

Charlie went to step forward, but Carlisle stopped him.

"You get the her," he said, "I will deal with Royce."

Charlie faltered.

"Get her out of here before she wakes up and sees." Carlisle's voice was off, his eyes were black, his face was angry. Charlie had never seen him like this.

Charlie stepped forward and carefully scooped Esme up, taking her to the door, trying not to wake her. When he got to the threshold, he turned back, just in time to see Carlisle not only kill, but obliterate Royce King.