STRUGGLES

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. She also makes the banners for each of my stories.

It also indicated just how fortunate they were that Emmett had discovered the evidence he had at Bella's and Frank's home. This evidence fell in line with the coroner's report about what had happened to Frank Harrison.

Now all he needed to do was to get the facts of what had happened on that fatal day that brought the couple to the ends that faced them in those final hours.

CHAPTER 31: OH! NORMA THE END IS APPROACHING

Bella finished drinking the water and put the plastic cup back on to the bedside table, but, the whole time she was hesitant about continuing to talk with this stranger. And, as that word 'stranger' entered her mind, she quickly dismissed it. How could she, in all honesty, call him a stranger; he had been the one to make her feel safe and secure during the time of her mental retreat from the real world around her. She had wanted to escape so she would never have to deal with facing Frank's threats and viciousness ever again. Or, have to deal with Norma's jealousy.

That was one thing Bella could never understand; why would Norma be jealous of Bella? Norma, in a manner of speaking, had quite a bit more freedom of movement than Bella did. True, Frank thought he had to rule his sister with the same iron hand that he did his wife, but, still, he was more lenient with Norma. Although, why, Bella wasn't quite sure, however, she did suspect that it was because Norma had her own place and was out of Frank's reach, but, it didn't stop Norma from involving herself into Frank's marriage with Bella.

Due to the fact that Norma did reside at a different location and out of reach, to a certain extent, Bella felt it allowed Norma to associate with whom she pleased and to be able to come and go as she chose. Frank's self-imposed authority that he thought he could exert over Norma was only assumed when Norma allowed it. And, Bella knew the only reason why she let him keep that impression was to keep the peace. Frank had a habit of treating his sister the same way he treated his wife when Norma did come within his reach, but, not as badly as he did Bella, most of the time.

It was as she reached this point in her thoughts, that she looked over to see Edward was watching her as he was patiently waiting for her to continue. And, as she was still questioning herself as to what else to tell him, Edward spoke up and insisted that she tell him what happened on the day she and her husband had their fight.

"What if I don't want to talk about it, or, perhaps, I don't remember much about that day, especially what happened later in the evening?" Bella asked Edward without looking him straight in the eye. Her gaze roamed around the room without ever glancing at Edward as he stood watching her.

As the time stretched without anything further being said, by either Bella or Edward, she finally looked at him to see how her question was received. It was then that he did tell her, "Mrs. Harrison, I don't believe one single word that just came out of your mouth. You had perfect recall about everything else, so, to suddenly not remember what happened that fatal day would be hard to believe.

"Now, I'm not saying that it's unheard of for such a thing to happen, but, it would be unusual in a case like yours. So, I'm going to ask you once more to tell me everything that happened that last day you and your husband were together. Everything from the time you got up to the time that the day ended for the both of you." The whole time he had been speaking, his look had never wavered from watching Bella: her body language, her nervous glancing at him and then around the room, the different expression, though each one fleeting, that crossed her face.

As the silence stretched out once more and the tension of who was going to give up first thickened, Bella finally nodded once and began speaking. She told Edward about how the morning had gone before Frank left for work and how it had ended that night. "The conversation we had included me asking about going to the beach with my friends and he asked who was going. I told him, and he agreed that I could go under two conditions; that I had the house completely cleaned and that I wore, what was in his opinion, appropriate clothing.

"I explained to him that the house had been completely cleaned the day before. That the furniture had been moved and cleaned under and then put back in their place because he had a certain way that he wanted everything placed. All of the windows had been cleaned, inside and out. Everything was taken care of except for the breakfast items that needed washing from that morning.

"He had asked me how I had managed to get everything done and I commented that Rosalie and Angie had helped, but, only as far as helping to move the furniture and putting it back in its place.

"After looking at me and reminding me about how he didn't want anyone, but, me doing the housework, and, then agreed that I could go as he left the house.

"After spending the day at the beach, I went home and got ready to go into ISABELLA'S. It was a long evening, but, enjoyable. I always enjoyed being in our, Jasper's and my, restaurant. It was the only place that I was able to relax and be at peace; truly at peace and feel happy. Never did I suspect that there was going to be any problems waiting to greet me as soon as I stepped inside my home." It was here that Bella paused to take another drink of water and took the time to catch her breath.

After taking a deep breath and then slowly exhaling it, Bella continued, "As soon as I had walked in the house and closed the door, I turned around only to be met with a surprise of a fist making a connection with my chin. Frank was enraged and kept hitting me over and over. But, at the same time, he kept shouting obscenities at me and accusing me of not listening to him and just doing as I damned well pleased. And, I had no idea why he was saying these things, let alone behaving as he was. I had no idea what had caused him to become so enraged.

"It was then that he said he would make sure that no one would ever look or see my face or body again. And, that was when he went into the kitchen coming back with a knife and started walking towards me. I ran upstairs to our bedroom and locked the door, but, it did no good as he kicked the door in and kept coming at me.

"I suddenly remembered that he kept a loaded gun underneath his pillow and that was the side of the bed where I was trapped. Before he could get too close, I quickly grabbed the gun and threatened him with it. But, my threats didn't seem to stop him. He just kept coming at me swinging the knife from hand to hand and saying what he was going to do to me.

"Once he got close enough, he leaped forward and I felt the pain in my side as the knife was jammed into me, however, before I could react he had pulled it out and was bringing the knife up to my face and that's when I fired the gun; not really taking notice of where it was aimed.

"He fell, well, really, we both fell together with him slightly on top of me. I managed to get out from under him, but, never moving him from the spot we had fallen. Stumbling over to the phone in our room, I called the one person I knew I could count upon, my dad, and all I could manage to say was 'help' before the darkness overtook me. After that, I have no knowledge of what was happening until I woke up here in the hospital."

To say that Edward was totally stunned by all that Bella had revealed would be an understatement. He remained silent since he had no idea what to say. The horrors that his client had gone through, that she had endured protecting those she loved and had gone through all of it silently was amazing. He knew of no other woman that would have been able to do it and still keep their mouth closed; to suffer such treatment in silence and taking steps to keep the knowledge of her abuse from her family as much as she had done.

Edward shook his head as if making himself return to the present situation, but, he still didn't know how to respond to what Bella had revealed to him. He did know that if everything she had just told him came to be known by the police, it could both help her and hang her. It all depended on how the District Attorney wanted to see the facts.

Next, Edward had to decide how to tell the others what he learned from Bella and just how much he was going to reveal and to whom. He knew that not everyone needed to know the whole truth, but, certain ones did need to know since they were the ones that were going to be instrumental in helping clear his client of any charges of murder.

It was as he reached this point in his thoughts that a memory flashed quickly to mind. So, he asked, "Mrs. Harrison,-", but, before he could continue with his question, Bella interrupted him by telling him to call her Bella. She did remind him that he had been doing that for a while now, so, why change his habit to a more formal means of addressing her now?

"Very well," he responded with a smile, now that he had her permission to call her by the name that her family and friends used, "you mentioned that you were told about your husband's death by one of your nurse's and twice by Norma Harrison.

"Now, I'm very much aware of what your old nurse, Alma Johnson, said and how you responded to that bit of information. I was present when all of that transpired, so, I don't really have any questions concerning that incident and why you reacted the way you did from the shock of what she told you.

"However, you mentioned that Norma Harrison had been here upon two separate occasions and spoke with you. But, Bella, there isn't any record of her ever having been here to visit with you. You've had a guard posted outside your door from the moment that you were brought to this room and no one has been allowed in without being recognized by the guard.

"That being said, would you, please, let me know when Norma Harrison was here and what was said?" Edward requested of his client.

Bella's brow wrinkles for just a moment as she took a little time to think about what Edward was asking. Then her expression cleared as she began to answer Edward's question, "She came two different times, but, made pretty much the same statements both times. Telling me that I was going to be charged with Frank's death and that she would be benefitting from both situations."

"Do you know what she's talking about benefitting from all of this?" Edward paused after asking since he saw Bella shaking her head no. "Okay. Let me ask if you and Frank had any insurance?"

"Not that I'm aware of any insurance. Of course, a lot of things like that Frank excluded me and handled all of it on his own by making those type of decision without expecting me to offer an opinion. There could be some insurance policies. But, I'm not sure of anything else she might be talking about."

"Okay. Now, I need for you to tell me when Norma had been here."

"I've lost track of time, so, I can't really tell you exactly when she was here the first time, but, she was here again just a short time ago." And, before Bella could say anything else, she saw that Edward had a shocked look on his face.

It never occurred to him that the strange nurse could be Norma Harrison coming and going. Using the nurse's uniform as a means of getting close to Bella and creating havoc with his client's emotions. This woman seemed to be at the root of all of the situations going on: Frank's death, Alma Johnson, possibly, Det. Asher's failure to conduct his investigation in a correct manner and wanting to rush a conviction upon Bella Harrison and creating a mental instability within Bella. He was beginning to see that the main thread throughout everything was Norma Harrison.

With those thoughts quickly taking root in his mind, he turned to look at Bella and told her, "Bella, there are still some things that we need to discuss, mostly, things I need to inform you about. However, I need to get some of this information over to our investigative team, so we can get to work on bringing the evidence to light.

"However, if anyone, and, I mean anyone, no matter who they are, tries to question you about anything, I want you to remain silent except to tell them to talk with your attorney which is me.

"I need to go and get things started and I'll be back shortly." So, after telling Bella this Edward left the room and headed down to talk with Emmett and Charlie.

A/N: All of the facts are starting to come to light and Edward is seeing that Norma Harrison is having a place in each area of what's been happening. The missing pieces seemed to have been what Bella knew and wasn't saying at the time. Now, what is going to be the next steps that need to be done by all involved: Edward, Carlisle, Emmett, Charlie, Capt. Jenkins and Norma Harrison?

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