13

The room had been stunned into silence as Leah's request lingered. She seriously thought Bella would travel thousands of miles with her — alone. Anxious and terrified at the mere thought of being alone with her, Bella shook her head, her arms trembling and her legs feeling like lead weights had been strapped around her ankles, but before she could cry or scream or fight to escape the room, Emmett rushed into the kitchen with a silver revolver clutched in his meaty hand.

"Someone's coming up the drive."

Bella scrambled into the living room and peered out the front window, inwardly groaning when she spotted the beat up pick-up rambling up the drive.

"For fuck sake. It's Newton again," she muttered under her breath as she turned and rushed to the door, stepping out onto the porch.

He'd shown up twice after she first arrived on the ranch. The first time, it was to welcome her to the area, the second was to drop off some paint she'd ordered but hadn't picked up yet. Both times, Bella kept him out of the house and away from Alice, and had thought she'd made it clear he wasn't welcome here. Clearly, she'd been wrong.

Mike pulled to a stop next to Edward's mustang and climbed out, glancing at the sleek black car with curiosity, but quickly turned his attention to her. A cheesy, creepy smile spread across his face and she was once again reminded of the fathers of the boys in her graduating class, the ones who relived their glory days through their sons.

"Hey, Anna," he said, stopping at the base of the steps leading to her porch. "Nice evening, isn't it?"

"Guess so," she said, shortly. "What do you want, Mike? I didn't have an order that I forgot to pick up, did I?"

Mike laughed. "No, no, nothing like that. I, um, I was wondering if you'd like to, maybe, join me for dinner."

"Oh." Bella shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, bringing her hand up to the back of her neck, but before she could let him down gently, the door to the house opened and she looked back to find Edward stepping outside. "What are you doing?"

Edward simply smiled, though, and slipped his arm around her waist as he turned his attention down to Mike. "I'm sorry, but Anna can't have dinner with you."

"Who are you?" Mike asked, almost demanding. There was a tone to his voice that scared Bella and she struggled with the urge to run and hide.

"I'm Edward. I'm Anna's husband," he said, tightening his arm around her. "And you are?"

"Oh, um, I'm Mike . . . Mike Newton. I know Anna from town. She, uh, never mentioned that she was married."

"Not like we're friends, Mike," Bella scoffed. "I've come into your store a handful of times. Why would I discuss my private life with you?"

"No reason," he said, his eyes flickering from her to Edward and back. "I'm sorry to interrupt your evening. I . . . I'll just . . ."

Mike turned on his heel and hurried to his truck, climbing in behind the wheel. Bella could feel his eyes on her as he started the truck and backed up. Finally, he looked away and left.

"Does he come out here a lot?" Edward asked, pulling her attention back to him.

"No," she said, quietly. "A couple times when I first arrived, but I thought I made it clear he wasn't welcomed here. I guess not."

"Hmm." Edward hummed and shifted so that he was standing in front of her. "Are you okay? Tell me what you need me to do."

"I don't know," she whimpered, blowing out a heavy breath. "I know we need the information that Leah has about the Sandman, but I cannot be alone with her, Edward. I can't do it. I just . . . can't."

"Shh," he soothed, keeping his arm around her waist, but bringing his other hand up to her cheek, cradling her face in his hand. "That's never going to happen, Bella. Never."

"But —"

"No," he said more forcefully. "I will not put you in that position. I love you too damn much to even consider it, Bella."

Nodding, Bella closed her eyes, feeling her tears slid down her face. "I love you, too."

Edward led Bella back into the house, stopping next to Jasper and Emmett, who were standing just inside the front door. "Do a background on that Newton guy. Something feels off about him."

"Will do, boss," Emmett said, giving Bella a look before disappearing into another room.

Edward pressed his palm against Bella's back, encouraging her to move forward. She sighed inwardly and reentered the kitchen, where Ben, Angela, Tyler, and Rose were still seated around the table and Leah, Jake, and Seth were standing along the wall.

"Ben, Angela, Tyler — Go with Rose. She'll bring you up to date about the Sandman. I'll be there in a few minutes to give you your assignment," Edward said. "Jasper, go with Leah to her room. Help her pack her stuff."

"All right." Tyler stood and led the other two and Rose out of the kitchen without another word, though all four of them looked at Bella before they left. She wanted to scream at them to stop, to leave, to make everything better.

"Are you coming with me, Bella?" Leah asked, stepping away from Jasper as he tried to corral her toward the staircase. "Just you and me, right?"

No screamed inside her head, but she found herself until to respond. Leah was dangerous; she was enjoying her little game, enjoying torturing Bella with snarky little comments and sly insults. Leah was too far gone to save. Bella knew it, even if nobody else did.

"Jasper," Edward murmured, tilting his head toward the stairs.

Nodding, Jasper manhandled Leah, who struggled against him, up the stairs and out of sight. Bella blew out a relieved breath, though her shoulders still felt tense and rigid. Once they were gone, Edward sighed and curled his fingers around the top of the wooden chair at the table.

"Seth, Jake — I'm sorry that I couldn't help her. I wanted to, but . . ." Edward shook his head. "You have to make a choice. I have a contact, a colleague, who has a compound in the Denali National Park up in Alaska. He . . . he specializes in rehabilitating abuse victims who need more intensive therapy. Mostly women like . . ." Edward cleared his throat. "Women like Leah."

"What do you mean intense therapy?" Jake asked, his eyes full of fear and fright.

Edward hesitated before saying, "Sometimes, when a person has been through what she has, her mental health is altered to a point where she's lost her grasp on what's real and what's fake. Leah needs help from someone who won't put up with her bullshit, someone who will keep her from hurting herself, or someone else."

"Will she ever be better?" Seth asked. "Will she ever be the same Leah she was before?"

"No," Bella murmured, drawing everyone's attention to her. "No, Seth, no. That Leah's gone. She's dead. They killed parts of her soul every time they raped her, every time they made her cry or scream or . . . or beg for more," she cried, bringing her hand up to her throat. "She's gone forever."

"He did all that to you, and you're okay," Seth argued.

"I'm not okay," Bella scoffed through the tears. "I'm fucked up, and what's worse is that it's my fault. I let myself be treated like that because Leah needed me, and Alice needed me, and Elizabeth needed me. I lost my identity, my innocence, because I wanted to be the hero," she whimpered. "I'm not okay, Seth, and I never will be again."

"I'm sorry," he said, dragging his hand through his hair. "We shouldn't have let you go after Leah. We should have . . . Fuck, we should have killed him ourselves."

Bella didn't argue with them. She hadn't understood the power that men like Carlisle Cullen had until she found herself under his control. Still, they could have overpowered him, taken him out themselves, but they didn't. They didn't fight for Leah, fight for Alice, or for Bella. They let her do the fighting, let her die for the sake of justice.

"So, how are we getting to Alaska?" Jake asked.

Edward frowned and slipped his arm from around Bella. "You're not going with her."

"Wait. What?" Seth asked, his attention shifting from him to Bella and back. "Why aren't we going with her?"

"Because she will never be one hundred percent open to the process with you and Jake hovering over her all the time." Edward paused. "Look, I know it's hard to let her go. She's your sister, Seth, and your fiancé, Jake, but you cannot fix her. She needs more than you'll be able to give her. I'm sorry."

"But . . ." Jake shook his head. "What am I supposed to do? She's everything to me. I've loved her since we were twelve years old."

"Then let her go," Bella murmured. "Let her go get the help and support she needs, Jake."

"Yeah, yeah, of course we will," Seth groused. "We'll settle somewhere alone, or maybe hook up with Sam and Emily. We can't go back to Forks, not ever, but we'll settle somewhere so that when she's ready, when she's better, she'll have a home to come to."

"I hope so."

Jasper and Leah came downstairs a few minutes later with her bag clutched in her hands. Her eyes immediately locked on Bella, her lips curving upward. Seth and Jake might believe that she's going to be saved, that she'll come out the other end happy and healthy, but Bella didn't agree. Leah didn't want to be saved. Leah was forever lost.

"This is your chance to say goodbye," Edward told Leah, gesturing toward Seth and Jake. "I'll give you a few minutes."

"Do I get to say goodbye to you, Bella?" Leah asked, not even bothering to glance at her brother and fiancé.

"No." And without another word, Bella turned and walked into the living room. Her heart was racing her, but she tried to stay strong, to keep from losing her shit again. Rose, Ben, Tyler, and Angela shifted their attention to her. "He'll be another minute or two."

A few minutes later, Edward led Leah into the living room with Seth and Jake right behind them. Shifting his eyes to Bella first, he addressed Ben. "You and Tyler are going to escort Leah to Denali. Marcus is expecting you in three days. I'll arrange for Liam's team to meet you at the boarder tomorrow, and then Ced's team will meet you the next day. Liam should be able to help you get across the board without any trouble."

Edward turned to Angela. "I want you to go with Rose and Emmett. Once Ben and Tyler get Leah settled, they'll meet up with you."

"Okay," she said, though Bella could tell she wasn't comfortable being separated from her team.

Bella and Edward followed Leah, Ben, and Tyler out of the house and stood on the porch while they loaded into the car they'd arrived in. As they drove away, Bella had hoped to feel relieved that she was gone, but relief didn't come.

—BR—

Seth and Jake were gone first thing the next morning. Bella hated that they hadn't said goodbye, but she couldn't blame them. She wasn't their friend anymore. She had pushed everyone away, kept everyone at arm's length to keep from getting hurt. Everyone but Edward, at least. Seth and Jake needed someone to hold their hands and tell them that Leah would be okay and Bella couldn't do that.

"Am I still going to work with Jasper?" Alice asked as she and Bella sat at the kitchen table. Edward had headed to the barn to talk with Emmett and Rose before they left with Angela on their new mission. He was sending them back West to Utah to meet up with another member of Eclipse. Garrett had picked up the trail of someone close to Sandman, or so they hoped. Bella wasn't optimistic.

"Do you want to?" Bella asked, quietly. Aro had gone to lay down after breakfast. She worried about him, about the toll that taking care of Alice was having on his health.

Alice shrugged her shoulders, though her cheeks pinked just slightly. "I don't know."

"If you want to work with him, I'm sure Jasper would love to have you help him," Bella murmured. "He's a good guy."

"I know."

Alice slipped away from the table and walked back upstairs. Bella quickly cleaned up the breakfast dishes and headed out to the barn. Edward, Rose, Emmett, and Angela looked back at her, only Edward smiling when she stepped inside.

"Can I come in?" she asked.

"Of course," Edward said, reaching for her. "Where's Alice and Aro?"

"In the house."

He nodded and turned back to the others. "Ben and Tyler should be crossing the border in the next couple hours. They called in a couple hours ago, said Leah hadn't said a word since they left. Not sure if she's resigned to what's happening, or if what. Told them to text me when they cross and I'll alert Ced's team that they are on their way. The faster they can get to Denali, the better."

"Flying would have been faster," Angela groused. "But I know why you couldn't do that. Can't stay under the radar that way."

Edward nodded, shifting his attention back to Bella. "Got plans for today?"

Bella shook her head. "I, um, kind of wanted to get back on my laptop. Do some research. Help with finding Elizabeth."

"Okay," he said, smiling and turned back to Rose, Emmett, and Angela. "Let me know when you've figured out your plan."

"We will," Rose said, tilting her head forward, but not meeting Bella's eyes.

Edward placed his hand on the small of Bella's back and led her out of the barn and back into the house. As they settled with their laptops, Bella couldn't help wonder what plan Edward was talking about and why he felt the need to keep her out of everything. Hadn't she proved herself?

Hours passed in silence. It wasn't awkward or weird, just silent. Just Bella and Edward sitting around the table, doing what they do. She could imagine their future like this, where she wasn't the sad pathetic victim and he wasn't her savior.

Emmett, Rose, and Angela flittered in and out of the house. Aro and Alice did the same, spending part of the day out in the barn and then watching videos on YouTube. Alice loved YouTube and it was one of the few times that she laughed. It was during those moments that Bella could almost see the young, carefree girl she used to be.

"Oh, my God, Nonno, play it again!" Alice laughed. "Bella, come watch this. It's a baby elephant trying to walk for the first time. It's so cute!"

"One sec," she said with a smile just as Edward's cell rang. She turned back to him as he answered it with a lazy, "This is Edward."

His eyes widened and he leapt out of his seat so fast that Bella automatically flinched. "What? . . . Is he okay? . . . Okay, okay, do not leave his side. We will be there as soon as we can."

Edward ended his call and dropped his phone onto the table. Exhaling a deep breath, he fell back into his chair and shifted his eyes to Bella. Somehow, she knew what he was going to say before he said it.

"Leah attached Tyler when he was taking her to the bathroom. She's . . . she's gone. Ben can't find her."