Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and all recognizable characters and situations contained therein. All original content contained in this story is property of the author. Story is rated M and may contain graphic language, violent content, mild to moderate drug use, descriptions of domestic violence, and sexual situations.
A/N: I just want to say thanks to everyone reading this story! You guys are awesome, I really appreciate all the reviews! Thank you all!
**Later That Same Day, PPOV**
I had talked to my dad about 20 minutes ago, and in just about 15 minutes, he, Chief Swan, and Jason Haver, the freakin President of the North Western Regional Boxing Association, are going to be at my house. To say I'm a little freaked is a bit of an understatement.
Bella and Jasper had come into the living room to wait with me until they got here. Jasper had a duffel bag on the coffee table in front of him, and is nervously tapping his feet on the floor. Bella meanwhile is sitting quietly in the recliner, a bottle of the nutrient shake in her hand, and a worried look on her face.
Walking into the kitchen I grab myself a glass of water, and go back out to sit next to Jasper on the couch, "So uh, you gonna tell me what you got in there?"
He picks up the bottle of water he had next to it on the table, "In that bag, I have everything we'll need to take those fuckers down for good. Leave it at that until everyone gets here. I don't want to go through the explanation twice."
I nod, "Okay, well, whatever it is, it sounds good."
He smirks at me a bit, "Oh believe me, it is."
Bella looks at him nervously, picking at the t-shirt that is painfully loose on her thin frame, before asking, "Jas, do you think we're safe?"
He looks at her for a moment, thinking about it before saying, "I think we're in the safest place we can be Bella. Carlisle wouldn't think to look for us here, Emmett may have accused you of cheating with Paul, but deep down, he knows better. He'll be watching your dad most likely though."
Bella nods, "That's alright, Dad coming down to La Push is nothing new. He spends most of his free time here anyway. All his friends live down here."
Jasper tilts his head, nodding slightly as he replies, "Well that's good, at least it won't look suspicious."
She shrugs, starts to say something, but the knock on the door interrupts her. Dad walks in with Mr. Haver right behind him, and Chief Swan behind him along with a couple of other men, one of whom is clearly a plain clothes detective, probably with the Clallam County Sheriff's office, the other is flashier, I would say he's also a plain clothes detective, but this time I'd say he's with the Los Angeles Police Department. Embry Call's mother is also with him.
Mr. Haver comes up to me, and I shake his hand, "Mr. Haver, thank you for coming."
He nods gravely, "Well in cases such as this I have no choice. I want to first say that these are very serious accusations that you are making. I hope that you have some very compelling evidence."
Charlie takes over, clearing his throat, "Ahem, Mr. Haver, I have to say that my daughter's face should be compelling enough. That being said, these detectives are here in official capacity, I'm just here to support my daughter."
He gestures to the local detective, "This is Detective Frank with the Clallam County Sheriff's office,", Then to the other one, "and this is Detective Christian from the Los Angeles Police department, they've formed a joint task force in this investigation along with the Seattle Police department, but Seattle is letting Frank handle it."
Detective Frank steps forward, along with Officer Call, "Miss Swan, we'd like to talk to you first, the crime against you is the most compelling in the scheme of this. Would you prefer to talk in private?"
Bella shakes her head 'no', as she answers, "No, I'd rather talk here."
He nods, "Okay, first I want to assure you that we are taking your accusations very seriously."
Charlie interjects, "Her accusations? Look at her face, you think that happened on it's own?"
Detective Frank takes a breath, before responding, "No, Chief Swan, I think it's assault, and I want the culprit caught, and put in jail, but I have to work each case from every angle, you know that Charlie. I know she's your daughter, but you need to let me do my job."
He turns back to Bella, "I need to take a report…"
Detective Christian cuts him off, "Actually since the crime perpetrated against Miss Swan took place in my jurisdiction I am the one who needs to take a report."
He steps forward, "I received the reports made by Chief Swan and Officer Call. This is just going to rehash everything that was in them, I'm sorry for the redundancy."
He turns to Jasper, "You're Jasper Whitlock?"
Jasper nods, and he asks, "And you witnessed the assault?"
Jasper takes a breath, "I didn't see the start, I don't know what started it, but I saw him standing over her. She was on the ground, she wasn't even screaming at that point. I honestly thought she was dead."
Chief Swan winces, his face turning pale at the thought, Officer Call puts a hand on his shoulder. Detective Christian just nods, "Okay."
He turns back to Bella, "Did anyone witness him actually striking you?"
She shakes her head, a look of fear and dismay on her face, and I can't help what pops out of my mouth, "This is bullshit! You're going to tell us that you can't do shit to him because no one saw it. What about her FACE?"
He looks dismayed, but tells the truth, "I'm sorry, there's just nothing we can do, the odds of getting a conviction are so slight that the DA won't touch it with a ten foot pole."
Jasper interrupts, "And what if I told you we have video evidence?"
The detective almost gasps, but controls himself barely, "Do you?"
Jasper nods, "I have video of everything that has been going on at the Cullen Estate since just after the first fight. I mean that, everything. I even have footage from the suite that Carlisle had set up for Bella and Emmett in Seattle."
Bella swallows, "What do you mean, everything Jasper? How did you get it?"
He runs a hand through his hair, and both detectives take out tape recorders, and switch them on, as Jasper starts to talk, "I had been unhappy with the Cullen's for a long time. My girl treated me like a walking purse hanger, Carlisle was never going to give me a chance to go pro, I was frustrated. So I waited, I bided my time, and then one day I saw Carlisle go into his office with a stack of compact discs."
He cuts off and takes a sip of his water before continuing, "I waited about 10 minutes, and then decided to pretend to have to talk to him about some insanely expensive item Alice wanted me to buy her that I could not afford. Alice is Emmett's younger sister, my former girlfriend."
Detective Christian interjects, "So you lived with the Cullen's, yes?"
Jasper nods, "Yes, I was also on their payroll. My sister and I went to live with them when they hired our uncle as Emmett's coach, I was one of his sparring partners too. Anyway, I went in very quietly, he wasn't there, I noticed that the far wall looked funny, and I surmised that he had some sort of room hidden behind the door. I waited until the next time Mr. and Mrs. Cullen went away, they took Edward, Emmett's younger brother, and my sister Rose with them, and I waited for Alice to go to sleep, and then I went back to the study."
Detective Christian asks, "What did you find?"
Jasper answers, "At first I almost went crazy trying to figure out how to open the room up. I pulled books off the shelves, pulled on antlers, everything. Then I noticed a bulge in the wallpaper. I had remembered seeing it before, and Carlisle ranting to me about lazy mexis who couldn't be bothered to do a job right, and that he was planning to have it fixed asap. The switch was behind it. The wall slid open, and you really would have to see it to believe it, but I shit you not, he had a screen and a recorder for every room in the house. He also had them in the guest houses, and out by the pool. When I say every single room, I really mean every single room."
Bella lets out a low moan, and her Dad's head snaps around to look at her, a red rush coloring his face. Detective Frank is the first one of the other cops to get it, he clears his throat, "Obviously we will be taking possession of the tapes Charlie, I promise nothing unnecessary will see the light of day."
Charlie nods, and Bella whispers out, "Thank you."
Jasper continues, "I knew they were there, I learned to just accept it because I didn't want him to know that I knew. Originally I thought about using them as leverage to get my own position, but I still at that point wanted to earn it so I didn't do that. I just reminded myself that one day something would go wrong, and I'd be sitting on easy street."
Detective Christian asks, "So you intended to one day blackmail Carlisle Cullen."
Jasper shrugs, "I won't say the thought never crossed my mind, but I wasn't plotting or planning to in any way. So, I found the cameras, and when Emmett told Bella and me that we only had 20 minutes to clear out of the premises I grabbed my stuff out of Alice's room, and grabbed a duffel bag, I knew where he kept the stuff, and Emmett was good enough to keep his family in the family room. He actually thought I was a threat. Really I think he knew that I'd be able to convince Rose to leave if I really wanted to. He knew he had lost Bella, if only for the moment, he wouldn't take the chance of losing the girl he'd been screwing behind his brother and Bella's backs too."
Chief Swan turns red again, this time in anger instead of embarrassment, while Bella just snorts out a breath of disgust. Jasper finally reaches across and pulls a disc off the top of the pile in the bag, "Anyway since I had had all my stuff in a bag anyway it was easy to head into Carlisle's study and grab all the discs and be out way before the 20 minute time period that Emmett had so graciously allowed us.", he hands the disc to Detective Frank, "This is the disc you detectives will want to see first. It's from the cameras in the pool area from that morning."
Detective Frank takes it, and Jasper goes back into the bag, and pulls out a bag with bloody gauze and needles in it, he puts it on the table along with 5 discs and another baggie of vials, before turning to Mr. Haver, and saying, "And this is what you want Mr. Haver. Those vials have Carlisle and Emmett's fingerprints on them, the needles too, the gauze and the needles both have Emmett's blood on them."
Jasper pauses, and indicates the first disc, "You guys need to understand that Carlisle isn't just overly vigilant, the man is certifiable, he should NOT have a license to practice medicine anymore, he is seriously nuts, I mean the man is dangerous. This disc is from the hotel room where Bella and Emmett were supposed to stay after the fight. He would have had to check in and gone straight to the room and rigged this whole thing before even going to the venue the night of the first fight. The question is why? If Emmett had won and Bella had gone back with him all Carlisle would have had is footage of the two of them doing whatever they were doing, what could he have hoped to do with that other than use it to humiliate and blackmail one or both of them somewhere down the line? Em lost though, and this is what you got."
He takes the disc over to my tv, "Paul, have you got a dvd player here?"
Nodding, I get up and take the disc from him, inserting it into the dvd player and grabbing the remote. Turning I go back to the chair and sit down turning the TV on and hitting play on the remote as the screen comes up on a large ornately decorated hotel room.
Bella gasps, as the screen shows a battered and bruised Emmett sitting in a chair with his head hanging down, and his father in front of him pacing the very ugly, and probably very expensive carpet. He stalks back and forth like an agitated cat, before turning to his already beaten down son, and yelling, "What in the name of all that is holy WAS THAT? Tell me Emmett, did we NOT train? Did we NOT prepare for this fight? Did I NOT spend exorbitant amounts of money to get you the best trainers, the best foods, the best equipment? To be beaten by that, that, HEATHEN! You should be ashamed at that showing Emmett! I am ashamed for you! We did this the way you wanted to do it, obviously that didn't work! No. Tomorrow is going to be different. We're going to do it the way I said to do it from the beginning…"
I can't help the chuckle that escapes me, the man just called me a heathen, what does that even mean? The next thing I see is Cullen actually showing some spine, shouting "I'm not using PED's Dad! It's illegal! It's cheating! Even if it wasn't, I'll get caught! Don't you remember the testing we did!"
His father just smiles at him, an insane grin, as he says, "Didn't I tell you son? One of my affiliated practices starting on Monday is going to be the new testing company used by the North Western Regional Boxing Association. Dr. Marcus Volturi, an old, OLD friend of mine is going to be the new chief testing doctor. Hell if you want you can even go back to your nasty old habit of smoking a blunt at night when you go out. Your tests will always come back clean."
Mr. Haver gasps in shock, exclaiming, "That son of a BITCH!"
Jasper pauses the playback, as Mr. Haver turns to address my dad, "Mr. Dixon, I just want to assure you that the NWRBA did not have any knowledge that Dr. Volturi and his practice were in ANY way affiliated with Carlisle Cullen! Emmett is going to be stripped of his title, the whole fight is going to be stricken from the record! Emmett Cullen will NEVER box again, and I WILL be reporting this to the state medical boards both in Washington, and in California!"
Jasper interjects, "There's more…"
He presses the play button again, and Emmett just stares at his father blankly, before saying, "I don't want to win that way Dad."
The look on Carlisle Cullen's face is pure disgust, as he snaps, "Have I taught you nothing? Winning is winning, and winning is EVERYTHING! We've been going over this and over this since you joined peewee football 15 years ago! Being good doesn't cut it in this world son! Do you think if you keep losing, and you let your face get beat to hamburger again and again and again that that pretty little fiancé of yours is going to stick around?"
Bella gasps at that, and on the screen Emmett looks like he's been slapped, the video is actually so clear that you can see the triumph on Carlisle's face as he continues, "Why do you think she was so eager to go home with Charlie after the fight tonight? She could barely look at you! And after your mother and I spent so much money on a suite for the two of you! Ungrateful little hick, she's lucky she's a beauty."
Bella lets out an anguished cry, "That's not true at all! How could he think that!"
Jasper pauses the tape, and Charlie is by her side in an instant as he cups her shoulders in his hands, soothing her, "Carlisle was full of shit Bella! He was using Emmett's insecurities against him in order to get him to agree to what he wanted."
My heart gives a lurch as tears start to flow down Bella's bruised face, as she whimpers, "I don't understand how he could be so cruel to him! He's his father! He's supposed to love him no matter what!"
Her sadness gives way to anger, as she near shouts, "I never gave a DAMN about the Cullen's money! It didn't matter to me who Emmett Cullen was to other people, to me he was just Em! I loved him for him, the rest was just what it was! It didn't matter to me whether he won or lost, all that mattered was him being happy."
Jasper chimes in, "Bella, your dad is right. Emmett's insecurities have everything to do with Carlisle, nothing to do with you. Carlisle was just hitting him where he knew it would hurt the most, and it worked obviously."
He stops the dvd and hands it to Mr. Haver along with the rest, "You'll want to watch the rest, there's not much, but I don't think the rest of us need to watch it. The others are all from the training facility on the Cullen property. There's a lot of footage to sort through, Carlisle is on those discs repeatedly injecting Emmett with steroids. The sound is crystal clear too. "
Jasper looks worried now, "Mr. Haver, I hope that my being involved in the Cullen camp doesn't mean that I will also be banned from the sport. I hope to go pro myself one day…"
Mr. Haver shakes his head, "No, you are not to blame for any of this, you were not in a position to make accusations, I can appreciate the tough spot you were in. Thank you for bringing this all to light, and giving us the evidence that will enable us to rid our sport of this garbage."
The detectives nod, and Detective Christian speaks first, "Yes, thank you. We will get a warrant for Emmett Cullen's arrest as soon as we review the tapes with the District Attorney. I would say 3 days on the outside and I think we'll also be getting warrants for Carlisle Cullen as well. Mr. Hale, you say that Cullen had cameras in the bedrooms? The bathrooms?"
Jasper nods, "Yes, he had them everywhere, you'll see when you watch the tapes, they're all clearly marked with where they're from."
Christian appears deep in thought for a moment, "Yes, that's going to be a big help, we'll not only nail him for distribution of a controlled substance, we'll get him for criminal voyeurism as well, he'll do two years easy for that one."
Bella speaks, "What about what he did to Emmett? There has to be something you can charge him with for that! He may as well have killed him! He made him use that stuff!"
Jasper speaks up quietly, "Bella…Emmett agreed to take the drugs… Carlisle didn't shoot him up against his will. It was his choice... Even after he knew things were getting bad between you, after he started up with Rose trust me, he knew he was bad, but he never suggested to Carlisle that maybe it was enough. He just kept taking them."
Bella goes silent…Damn, she really loved him… What if she goes back to him? I know there's really nothing I can do if she chooses to go. What happens if Cullen stops the drugs, would he be right back to normal? Could Bella resist him if that was the case?
None of the thoughts I was having were really important in the moment. Bella and I were friendly, I was doing her a favor. That's all…
