I DREAM OF RAINBOWS
Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.
The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.
Even the Cullen family is about to be hit with a runaway train since they are about to find out about Edward's problems.
CHAPTER 36: TANGLED WEBS USED TO DECEIVE
After his return from his arraignment hearing, Edward lets the guards know that he wants to make his one phone call. One of the guards informs Edward that the general gathering area for the population has a phone that allows the prisoners to be able to make calls to anyone that is willing to accept their call and pay for it.
"But I'm entitled to one free call after being brought in." Edward angrily tells the man.
"That's right, Mr. Cullen, but you refused to make that call when it was offered to you. Not once, but a total of three different times before you were ever taken back to the general population."
"I know that, but I wasn't ready to make the call then, however, I am now."
"I'm sorry, but any calls that you're wanting to make now will have to be done from the phone in the general population area." And, with that, the guard escorted Edward back to his assigned cell.
Edward went without saying another word as he marched along fuming inside at the world for not going along with his wishes.
XXXXX
Bella was happily moving along in getting her plans settled in her mind so she could start taking action. She made a list of the type of home she wanted to rent in L. A. for the time she would be there. Then she made a list of all the things that she wanted to accomplish before returning to Los Angeles regarding her home in Seattle and other business dealings.
Bella made an appointment to meet with her attorney and accountant. She needed to make them aware of what was going to be happening in the near future and to bring them up to date as to the reason why.
Of course, Mark needed to be told about the traveling back and forth between the two places so he wouldn't be booking any book signing tours or whatever without clearing it with the schedule that had to do with the filming schedule.
During all of her planning and list making, Bella didn't have any sort of idea as to what her dad was up to. Bella hadn't given Edward Cullen a passing thought as she was too involved with wanting to help Emmett Cullen get this movie made. When talking with Emmett she had been impressed by his passion and sincerity of why he felt this project was worth doing.
Bella did make a phone call to Charlie to ask him if he would keep a watch on her place during the times she had to be in Los Angeles. She happily explained how her meeting with Emmett Cullen had gone and that she had signed the contract for her book to be made into a movie.
Not one word passed Charlie's lips about his current project. All he did say was how happy he was for his daughter that things were turning out the way she had wanted and that he would be happy to drive up from Forks every so often to check on her home. "But don't be surprised if I decide to show up in L. A. to visit with my little girl." Charlie told her with a happy chuckle in his voice.
XXXXXX
The Cullen family began to worry about Edward. No one had heard one single word from him, and he hadn't even checked into the office to see how business was going.
At first, they knew that Edward wasn't happy about the last bit of information that Emmett had told them and he had left in a huff. And, when he got into that mood it wasn't uncommon for him to sulk for a day or two. However, it was upsetting that he was even avoiding the business; that was very uncommon for Edward to do no matter what unpleasant issues were going on.
As the time passed and it got to the third day that no one had heard from Edward, Esme was about ready to tear the town apart to find her son. She was getting ready to head to the office to see what information or clues she could come across there that might lead to his whereabouts when she was nearly given a heart attack at the door. As she opened the door two men in suits were standing in front of her, one with a raised fist as if he was getting ready to knock on the door.
She gave a small screech and then recovered her composure enough to ask, "Who are you and what are you doing here? Are you gentlemen lost or something? This is a gated neighborhood so how did you get in if you don't live in the area? Do you live in the area? When did you move in?" She kept firing question after question at the men without realizing that she hadn't given either man a chance to answer any of her questions.
Carlisle had heard the small squeak from his wife and wandered into the foyer to see what caused her reaction. Seeing the two men standing there and hearing Esme not giving anyone a chance to say a single word, he walked over to her and whispered in her ear, "Sweetheart, calm down and take a breath. You aren't allowing these gentlemen to explain why they're here."
XXXXX
Mark was in his office a bit early after having a late meeting with Bella to discuss her upcoming schedule. She had informed him about signing the contract, so, therefore, he was awfully familiar with what would be her responsibilities regarding the movie project.
It had been decided that Mark would work around the movie schedule when it came to setting up any promotional tours where her book was concerned. And, before confirming any definite dates he would confer with her just to verify that the dates would be workable.
So, he was surprised to be informed by his secretary that two men had been waiting to see him upon his arrival into the office. Asking her if she knew why they were there she replied that they wouldn't tell her, but only stating that they needed to talk with Mr. Strollman.
Mark greeted the two men, who introduced themselves as Det. Riley and Det. Summers, and motioned for them to follow him into his office. Once the door was closed Mark wasted no time in asking, "What is all of this about?"
"Sir, we are detectives from the Seattle Police and we're investigating a charge that has been leveled against a Mr. Edward Cullen. We were informed that you have been a witness to certain criminal actions that he committed against one Ms. Isabella Swan. Is that correct? Have you witnessed any unwanted or out of line advances that could have been considered to be of an inappropriate sexual natural?"
This information stunned Mark to the point that he didn't answer any of their questions right away. And as he thought about it, he really didn't know what to say since Bella hadn't mentioned bringing any such actions against Edward Cullen.
True, Mark had seen Mr. Cullen behaving in a very unprofessional and offensive manner towards Bella upon their first meeting in L. A. when they had first gone there to discuss and to sign the movie contract.
As time seemed to stretch into an uncomfortable silence, one of the detectives cleared his throat before asking, "Mr. Strollman, did you or did you not witness any sexual harassment that Mr. Cullen conducted toward Ms. Swan?"
"Det. Summers, I'm not sure that I want to answer any of your questions without consulting with someone."
"Why would you need to do that? Either you witnessed something, or you didn't."
"First, of all I'm not sure that I like your attitude, especially since you only informed me of who you are, but I've seen no badges to verify the truth of who you might be. And, as I informed you, I'm not going to be answering any questions until I have time to consult with someone.
"Det. Riley and Det. Summers, I suggest that you leave me your contact info and I'll get back in touch with you when I can. So, with that being said, I do believe that we're through for the time being."
Without another word being uttered, Mark opened his office door to indicate that it was time for the detectives to leave. They looked at each other and then left. As Mark closed his door he rushed over to his desk and dialed Bella's number. He wanted to know what the hell was going on. But there was no answer, he had forgotten that she was going to be working and wouldn't be taking any calls.
XXXXXX
"Sorry to have startled you." One of the men said and then introduced himself and his partner as Detectives Sinclair and Page of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Of course, this information caused Esme to almost have a panic attack as she believed they were there to tell them that something bad had happened to Edward.
Det. Sinclair seeing what reaction his introduction had caused was quick to reassure both Carlisle and Esme, especially Esme, that they were there only to ask a few questions concerning an investigation they were conducting.
"Questions? What kind of questions and about what?" Carlisle asked while Esme was still recovering from the shock of assuming that something bad had happened to one of her sons.
"Well, Mr. Cullen, we would be happy to explain further, but is there somewhere that we can all be a bit more comfortable?"
"Of course, forgive my lapse of manners." Esme says as she managed to recover somewhat from the shock she had received in the last few minutes and led the way back into the living room off to one side of the foyer.
As everyone took a seat and was beginning to get comfortable, Esme offered refreshments, but the two detectives quickly refused which led Carlisle to clear his throat bringing the attention back as to why the detectives were there in the first place.
"It has been brought to our attention that an extradition request has been filed due to charges that have been filed in Seattle against Edward Cullen. And, at the same time we were informed that Mr. Cullen was guilty of the same charges here in L. A. and that all of your family were witnesses to the ill treatment against a Ms. Isabella Swan."
At the mention of Bella's name both Carlisle and Esme jerked to attention due to the shock of that information. They both were wondering how the hell something like this could be happening and no one, not even Emmett not be aware of it.
Quickly recovering himself, Carlisle looked at the detectives and asked, "Can you possibly return in an hour's time? By then we will have all of our family members here to where we might be able to get this whole situation resolved."
"Yes, sir, we can, but I must inform you that we can only deal with the charges that are pending at this moment here in Los Angeles. The charges that have been filed in Seattle is a different matter. We have no control over those charges."
"Can you tell us what specifically those charges are?" Carlisle asked as he looked at each of the detectives.
"The charges are sexual harassment." Was the simple answer given.
"Sexual harassment?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Det. Sinclair, or, Det. Page, you said an extradition request has been submitted to Los Angeles and from the little that I know of such matters, that does mean that the request has to go through the court system. Am I correct?"
"Yes, Sir."
"So why hasn't Edward been arrested and being held in custody?" Carlisle asked of either of the detectives.
"He has been arrested and arraigned in the court. At the moment, he is being held without bond. And, that is why we are investigating the report of the same actions taking place here in L. A. by Mr. Cullen with the same woman being involved.
"We are contacting all of the witnesses that have been listed to see if charges need to be brought against Mr. Cullen here as well."
"As I suggested earlier, please, give us time to get the rest of the family together, and then we'll all speak with you in one sitting." Carlisle said in a dismissive manner, not meaning to appear as being rude.
"Very well. That would definitely save us some time and trips to speak with the others, so we'll return in an hour." So, the detectives rose and said their goodbyes for the present time then let themselves out.
Carlisle and Esme sat in stunned silence for a moment before Carlisle reached for his phone and began calling Jasper and Emmett for them to come over immediately as there was an extreme family emergency.
As he got off the phone, he looked at his wife and found tears rolling down Esme's face. She continued asking over and over the same two questions, "Why? Why is this happening"
A/N: Charlie has really put the cat amongst the pigeons and there is looking to be a big backlash. How is Bella going to react to all of this mess once she finds out? What's going to be Charlie's excuses? What will be Jasper's and Emmett's reaction once they hear about Edward's problems? Then we have yet to know how Alice and Rosalie will react once they hear of this as well.
Thanks for reading and looking forward to hearing from you.