24

Once more Bella found herself sitting alone in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in her hands, a throbbing in her head. Charlie was still down for a nap, and while Bella hated to admit it, she was thankful for the break. It wasn't fair that Charlie was being held captive inside that house, her entire world had been ripped away from her. She deserved a normal life, but nothing about their lives were normal.

"Oh, hey," Carlisle said, stopping in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Hey," she murmured, pulling her knees up to her chest. "Just fresh coffee. If you want some."

Carlisle nodded, but sat across from her instead. "Never been a huge coffee fan."

Bella tried to smile. "What do you do, Carlisle? For a living, I mean."

He frowned. "I was supposed to be starting a new job in Portland, at the hospital. I'm a doctor."

Understanding washed over her and she found herself nodding. "And you didn't because of us."

"Not in the way you're making it sound," he clarified, placing his hands on the table. "When I walked out of the house and saw you standing there, I just . . ." Carlisle shook his head and smiled. "I couldn't believe it, Bella, and I couldn't leave you. Or Charlie. I missed you."

"I missed you, too. So much, Carlisle," Bella whimpered, tightening her arms around her legs. "But I had to protect her. You understand that, don't you?"

"I do," he whispered, shifting his eyes up to hers. "But I should have protected you."

Bella shook her head.

"You asked me to take you to Port Angeles that afternoon, but I didn't want to waste the day chaperoning you and Alice. So I lied and said I had a date. But when you didn't come home, I knew something horrible had happened to you. I should have been there, Bella. I should have fucking been there."

"Maybe, but —"

Before Bella could finish her thought, the door to the kitchen was thrown open and Edward, Jasper, and Garrett hurried in. There was a look on their face, one that had her scrambling to her feet.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Edward's face crumbled as he reached for her. "She's gone, B."

"Who's gone?" she whispered, shaking her head.

"Charlie," he breathed.

"What? How?" Bella scrambled past them, through the living room where Kate, Emmett, Rose, and Jacob were standing, up the stairs where she found Alice kneeling next to the door to her bedroom. "No, God, please, no!"

Bursting into the bedroom, she found the bed empty. Charlie's shoes, which Bella had left on the floor next to the bed, were gone as was her coast. Falling to her knees, she screamed.

"Your mom and dad took her out," Alice whispered, causing Bella to look back at her. "I found this."

Alice held out a note, which Bella took. She recognized her mother's elegant handwriting instantly. "Bella, don't be mad, but we took Charlie out for ice cream. We just want a chance to know her. We will keep her safe."

"We have to go get her," Bella whimpered, scrambling to her feet, but when she turned, she found Edward standing in the doorway. "He found them, didn't he?"

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "There was an explosion. I didn't know they were gone until the call came in. I'm . . ."

"He killed her." Bella crumbled to the ground, her heart breaking. Marcus Volturi had taken the only reason she had to live away from her. He'd killed her daughter, because if Marcus couldn't have Bella, nobody could.