A/N: Here's chapter four. I'm sorry it took so long. I just started an online forensic course and it's killing me. Hopefully my writing gets a little more accurate, but updates might take a little longer than what I want. I promise I have a plan for where this is going and I have already written out some of it. I really hope you guys enjoy chapter 4. Please leave a review when you're done.
I do not own Twilight.
CHAPTER 4:
The jangling of my keys was an absent sound in my intense concentration. I turn the keys in the slot, and swiftly backed out of the parking deck. Going in circles, I waited to see the gray tainted sky above me. Watching the clouds move, my foot kept a steady tension on the accelerator. My mind thought through everything that could go wrong.
Once the short drive was over, I checked the address on my phone. I guess this is correct. My eyes scanned the scene in front of me. While my hand moved to unbuckle the seatbelt, I looked at the cars next to mine, a Mercedes. Well her boyfriend definitely had money. The lot was filled with these types of cars and I couldn't imagine what the inside looked like. The complex was tall and based on the number of apartment, his apartment was near the top. The consistent color scheme gave me a sterile vibe about the environment. Everything was spotless; there wasn't even a speck of dust on the windows of the cars.
I glanced down at my phone to reread the apartment number, I didn't want to accidentally walk into the wrong place. Instinctively, I bit my lip as I headed up the stairs. Climbing stair after stair, I arrived at the freshly painted door. Observing the possible entrances and exits, I turned to look over the balcony. Small raindrops were forming and hitting the black asphalt ground below. You could see the whole city from this angle and it was truly amazing. The skyline was yet another reason the neighborhood was high end. I thoroughly doubted that anything suspicious went down here, but I knew not to give in to that thought. Often some of the nicest neighborhoods were fueled by the dirtiest money.
Before opening the door, I glanced down. A stack of newspapers was piling up. I guessed that the mailbox downstairs was full as well. Briefly, my hand fumbled around my bag for my gun. Holding it as steady as possible while still knowing that a murderer could be inside, I shouted, "FBI. Open up."
It was silent except for my heavy breaths. After waiting a moment more, I carefully picked the lock without making much noise. Once the door was open, I was on high alert. My eyes scoured the room for her. There was no one there, so I quickly made my way to the closet. Swinging the door open, I fully expected a person to attack, but I was left with a pile of dirty clothes. After I looked through each room, I examined the rest of the apartment. There was a putrid smell coming from the kitchen. My foot pressed on the garbage lever. The garbage was empty, so I put on gloves and opened the fridge. The smell was so repulsive that I gagged. Rotting fruit and vegetables filled the bottom two containers, while a whole gallon of spoiled milk sat on top. Turning away for the kitchen, my eyes set on the scene in the background. This side of the window had an unbelievable view that I could get lost in.
Getting back on track, I began to dig through the man's personal belongings. Pictures and bills were scattered over his coffee table. The bills didn't have anything pointing to somewhere she could stay, so I quickly made my way out. No one had been there for days, so it was no use to us.
My hand locked the door behind me while the other held my gun loosely. As the door closed, a shiver went down my spine. The dead man's apartment gave me an off vibe that urged me to check on Edward.
My hand slid into my back pocket to grab my phone and update him. Glancing at the screen, I missed 4 calls? He's going to kill me. Or…no…I can't even think that.
Immediately dialing my speed dial, he picked up, "Bella. We got her." His sentences were short and abrupt, clearly out of breath.
"Really? I'll meet you back at the office." A smile graced my face. Finally, I can look this girl in the eyes.
"Okay, bye Bella." My phone buzzed when the call ended. Slipping it back into my pocket, I placed my gun into my bag. Carefully, I descended the stairs to my car.
Taking one last look back, I turned my keys, and the car roared.
Driving sort of erratically, my heart thumped loudly in my chest. He caught her and now we got to interrogate. A smile snuck onto my lips. Interrogating was my specialty. Finding someone's weakness, their manner of speaking, and their tell for lying was one of the things I excelled at in training. That, and Edward and I worked well together, spiraling off each other's comments.
Walking into the office, my light attitude dropped seeing Edward's face. I could tell, without asking, that we were going to wait until tomorrow to ask he questions. His gun and badge were on top of his desk, just inches away from his hands. Watching him for a second longer, his steady tapping of his foot reassured me that we were leaving.
"We heading out?"
"Yes," his tone worried me. It was short and slightly annoyed. But then, he plastered a fake smile after observing my dismay.
Because we took different cars earlier this morning, I had to wait to ask him about it. Edward wasn't usually in a bad mood. I switched the gear in park and turned off the car. He was already walking towards me. I scanned him carefully; his facial expression lost that usual glow. He seemed almost distant.
He followed close behind me as we walked up the flights to our apartment. Turning back briefly, our eyes met. His eyes lack their usual depth, but I continued knowing that he wouldn't tell me anything until we got home.
My hands rummaged around my bag until I felt the cool metal. Inserting the key into the lock, my heart thumped strangely with anxiety that I couldn't place.
I took a step forward and then suddenly remembered that I need to put my key on the hook. My body pivoted around but I turned too quickly. Losing my footing, I brought both of us to the floor. A large thud shook the apartment as his body hit the ground.
"Ouch, Bella."
"Sorry," I pushed up to get off of him. While in a plank position, I frozen, but only for a moment. He winced. "Are you okay?" Once I was finally up right, I extended my hand.
His hand grasped mine and I used leverage to pull him up. I waited patiently for him to speak, but he was taking too long. I glared at him until he gave me a solid answer. His habit of hiding injuries scared me. "I'm fine."
"You winced. What happened?" My teeth bit my lip. "Come on Edward, just tell me." I pleaded, but I knew that it would take much more to get him to tell me if there was an issue.
"There's not much to tell, Bella," he rolled his eyes, "when I took her down she got in a few kicks first." His words were in a nonchalant manner, which worried me even more. In the past he had tried to ignore the pain and I didn't want to find out it was bad later, I had to know up front. I swear that man could get stabbed and say it was just a scratch.
"Where?" My tone was strong enough to let him know I was going to be pushy until I saw the damage.
"It's just a bruise. Chill out." He rolled his eyes again and then focused on me.
"Where?" With a sigh, he caved in and pulled up his shirt slightly. At first all I could see was his well-built chest, but then he pulled it up slightly more. His pale skin had a purple bruise the size of a baseball on his abdominals. "Edward!"
"What?" He let go and his shirt fell back to its original space. "It's just a bruise."
"You need ice. That's twice this week."
"Twice what?"
"Twice you took the hit for me." My eyes glanced over this jaw which was healing nicely. The bruises were yellowing, almost gone. He crossed his arms when I handed him the ice pack.
Muttering something like "it's just a bruise" under his breath, he pressed the compress to his torso.
"Better?" I smiled.
He rolled his eyes and muttered a "sure."
Slouching on the couch, I watched as the television program rattled on about some useless cooking show. What I was really doing was waiting for Edward to fall asleep, so I could go visit Jacob. Jacob had been on my mind all day without my acknowledgement. I never really new what a crush felt like, but I was sure it was something like this.
Glancing down at Edward, I knew he would give me a look if I told him I was going back to the hospital and, honestly, I wasn't up for one of his lectures. I don't think he was either.
The time ticked by and with each second I thought about Jacob sitting in a hospital bed all alone. He doesn't have anyone with him. He's probably bored. Ugh, why won't Edward nap faster, I want to leave.
About thirty minutes later, his eyelids fell. Once his breath was completely smooth, I put one of my feet on the ground. Moving as slowly as humanly possible, my heart pumped ferociously in anticipation. I continuously checked Edward as I moved away. Once my body was completely off the leather couch, I tiptoed into the kitchen.
Grabbing my key, I wrote a little note for Edward, making up a lame excuse to go out.
I'll be back soon, needed to get some Advil for a headache. -Bella
Awaiting the click from the doorknob, my lips formed a smile. I silently hoped that I would continue to be this happy, even if it was because of some guy I just met. My normal gate turned into a hoppy skip as I made my way to my car.
Buckling up, the smile was plastered on my face and it wasn't going to leave anytime soon. I should get him something. I panicked at the thought, I had no idea what a guy would want. Obviously, I wasn't going to get him a gift-gift, but something to release him from constant boredom. What do men read? I didn't think Jake was the type to read the same books as Edward, but then again I didn't really know him. Food! I'll get him food. Hospital food was never really good, I was sure he would like something a little different.
Stopping at my favorite Chinese restaurant, I got a variety of different things. Biting my lip, I became worried that I wasn't doing the right thing. I stopped thinking about anything, except him and the hospital.
My knuckles knocked on the wooden door in front of me. Awaiting his response, a pit of nerves formed in my stomach. I waited there patiently. I didn't want to intrude, but I really wanted to see him. On the edge of losing my mind, a nurse saw my resistance and motioned for me to enter.
As the door opened, I got to look into the room. He was sleeping peacefully, the tension in his face absent. His eyelids slightly fluttered leaving me to wonder what he was dreaming about. Stepping inside, the nurse followed me in. I moved around and leaned up against the wall. Swaying slightly, I realized that I was staring, I looked crazy. I needed to leave.
Just as I considered placing the food down and leaving, the nurse conveniently slammed the door shut. She gave me a subtle wink as Jake woke up.
"What the hell!" He sat up immediately, his eyes adjusting to the light. Slowly peering around the room, he finally looked towards me. "Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry for my language." His eyes were strangely remorseful.
"I'm sorry I woke you."
"Actually, I woke you, but this very pretty lady had come to visit and it felt like a shame for you to not see her." The nurse spoke up, her face beaming with joy. I gave her a small smile and then turned my attention back to Jake. Before he spoke another word, the nurse had left, giving us privacy.
Jake's gaze stopped at the brown bag I was holding. "I kinda got you some food, because…" I didn't really have a good reason except for the fact I really, really, liked him, "I just wanted to do something nice." He gave me an award-winning grin and stared deeply into my eyes. "I would have gotten you a magazine or book, but I didn't know what you liked."
"Thank you Bella." His words were more sincere than I would have expected for the gift of Chinese food. I placed the brown bag on his tray table and started pulling out the small boxes and listing the names.
"You put a lot of effort into this."
"I didn't know what you liked." I handed him a pair of chopsticks.
He chuckled, "I'll eat practically anything." I couldn't help but to stare at his smile. It was so bright and full and like nothing I've ever seen before. No one I had ever met had the same energy as him and I loved it. A small grin graced my lips as well.
"Here," I put a random container in front of him and grabbed one of my own as I pulled on the edge of the chair. Moving the seat next to his bed, I plopped down and the material squeaked.
Picking up a noodle with my chopsticks he spoke, "So Bella, do you have to ask me questions about the stabbing?" I choked. What the hell! I hadn't told him anything about the case. My expression hardened.
"Oh, you're probably wondering how I know you're a cop, well actually more than a cop. You're FBI." I put on an innocent expression showing that I didn't know a thing he was talking about, but he didn't buy it. "When you left the first time, your jacket swung up and I saw your badge. That, and no other police officer has talked to me to take a statement so, well, I'm guessing you're on my case." Completely stunned, I sat silently, no one had ever picked up on something that fast.
"Um, yeah, but I don't have any questions. Actually I wanted to keep you out of this. I'm not exactly sure how much you remember about the incident and I don't want to bring up bad memories." He tensed. "I'll eventually have to take your statement but at the moment I just want to get to know you."
He smiled in response and shoved a large helping of rice into his mouth, "This is really good."
For a while we were completely silent, both of us enjoying our food. While most people would feel as if this silence was uncomfortable, I loved it. I was so relaxed sitting with him, which doesn't usually happen. It felt as if I had known him forever. Looking down at my watch, anxiety rushed through me. It was almost 12.
"Jake?"
"Yeah?" His voice was muffled from the noodles still in his mouth.
"I have to go, but I'll see you Friday right?"
"Of course, I've already planned out what we're going to do." My heart fluttered.
Smiling in response, I turned to open the door to leave. "Wait, I don't have your number, how am I supposed to know where to meet up?" I knew that he would be out of here by morning and I had no other way to get in touch with him. That, and I just really wanted his number.
"Do you have a pen?" Reaching into my purse, I found a standard black pen. After I handed it to him, he wrote rapidly on the restaurant napkin.
Attempting to hand me the number, he sat up and winced.
"Let me." I came closer and grabbed the number. My heart was still going at a thousand miles per hour. He eased back into the bed and I smiled.
"I'll see you tomorrow Bella." I reveled in the way he said my name. Walking out of the room, I was almost giddy with excitement. I wanted to look back, but I knew it was getting late and I would have a tough time explaining why it took me so long to get Advil.
My feet kept betraying me on the way to the car. I was more focused on tomorrow than where I was heading, which caused me to stumbled quite a few times.
Once I reached the car, I opened the mirror and stared at the smile on my face. I hadn't been so happy in forever, but I would make that change, Jake would help me change that.
My foot hit the gas and the car lurched forward. You need to calm down or you're going to crash. I still had so much excess adrenaline from seeing him.
As I drove home from the hospital, I had his face in mine. His beautiful russet skin, his clear lively brown eyes, and that damned smile wouldn't leave my thoughts. Before I recognized it, I was at my apartment door humming a blissful tune.
The door opened. I had to stop it before it slammed and woke Edward up. Glancing around, I half anticipated for him to be lounging around, but he wasn't in the main room. The light that was usually around his doorframe was nonexistent.
I moved back to the note that I wrote earlier. Under my ugly chicken scratch, he wrote in his usual elegant font, "I hope your headache goes away. I was going to stay awake to wait for you, but you were gone for a while. I'm going to assume you're with Jacob. I'm happy for you." While I read it, I could practically hear his voice. Suddenly, I felt a little guilty about the headache lie, but he wouldn't mind. My heart soared once I realized that Edward understood that I really liked Jacob.
I awoke the next morning slightly groggy from going to bed so late. Each time I closed my eyes, I was too excited to relax or sleep. So, instead I made myself something to eat and watched a movie.
Tilting my head both directions, my neck popped, which is when I felt a strain in my shoulder. Ugh, I must have slept wrong. I tried to massage the area out, but I settled for seeing if a shower could fix it.
The wooden door squeaked as I pushed is open. Even though my eyes were still adjusting to the light, I could see Edward sitting on the kitchen stool with a cup of coffee in his hand. He was wearing khakis and a dark green button up shirt. How can he look put together at this god awful hour?
"Good morning Bella." His voice and tone had returned to normal thankfully.
"Good morning. How's the bruise?" My feet shuffled against the cold ground as I made my way to the bathroom.
"Still there, more purple than yesterday." I was happy that he was actually sharing the information instead of hiding it from me.
"I'm going to shower and then we can go to the office." My mind traveled back to yesterday. Yes! We have an interrogation.
As I got into the warm water, I massaged the knot out of my shoulder, but I was too distracted by the interrogation to focus on the pain. I wonder if she'll confess or say why she stabbed. She's probably upset about her boyfriend's death. A tinge of sympathy traveled into my thoughts. She was a killer, but my past showed me how hard it was to get over death.
As my attention wavered, I stepped out of the bathroom. I didn't completely remember stepping out of the shower, I was too entranced in my thoughts.
"Ready?" He asked without turning to me. Placing his mug back on the counter, he grabbed a stainless steal cup and held it in my direction.
"Yeah." A smile formed on my face. This was going to be interesting, to say the least.
A/N: Hey guys. Again, I am so sorry for how late this is, but I'm almost done with my forensic course and after that I'll have way more time to write. I really hope you enjoyed this one. As always, please leave a review!
