~SIN 6~
Bella almost doesn't recognize Emmett in his off-duty clothes: a pair of ripped jeans, a white tee-shirt with "McCarty Security Systems" emblazoned on the front in bright green letters, and a pair of ultra sexy Ray-Bans. Compared to the bundle of nerves in her hotel room peephole last week, Emmett is free and easy and pure confidence.
"Busted down any doors lately?" he teases as she greets him.
"Nope. Haven't run into any stubborn bailiffs who wouldn't let me in!"
He peels off his sunglasses and stares her down. "You have to know I'd take a bullet for him any day of the week." His comment rankles her, and he makes no apologies.
"I didn't realize that was part of your job description."
"It's not," he answers.
"Your loyalty is certainly admirable, Mr. McCarty—"
"Emmett."
"Emmett…but I'm not a bullet."
He huffs. "You sure about that?"
If she'd known Edward's "friend in the security business" was going to be his pissy pit bull bailiff, she would've refused his offer to sweep her place for bugs and cameras, even if it meant that Edward wouldn't visit her at the house.
"I don't know where you get off—"
"Not here, that's for sure."
That's the last straw. "Are you judging me?" She folds her arms over her chest. "Or are you just judging your friend? Because either way, I don't think this arrangement is going to work."
She steps back and throws the heavy door in Emmett's face, bracing herself for the loud rattle of the figurines on the bookshelves. Instead, there is a soft thud, and four oversized fingers wrap around the oak door, keeping it from closing.
"Now, who's busting down doors?" she scoffs.
Two fingers forming a peace sign tentatively dance through the door opening. "Truce?" Emmett offers.
"Why should I?" she fumes, though she has to admit, his little dancing peace sign is starting to soften her. "You're an arrogant—"
"Competent."
"Judgmental—"
"Loyal."
"Exasperating!"
"Great-looking."
"What?"
"Just sayin'," comes the voice through the open crack.
"Oh my god, you're impossible!"
"To stay mad at. Can we please start over?" He pokes his face bravely into her house and bats his dark brown eyelashes at her. "C'mon. Edward'll kill me if I don't get this done."
"Ugh…fine."
Emmett pushes open the door and steps inside. "Nice place you got here."
"I suppose you're going to want to look all around."
He chuckles. "Yes, it's usually easier to find things that way."
"Maybe you should just stop trying to charm me and get to it."
"Maybe," he laughed. "Let me start by removing the not-so-hidden camera I found at the base of the driveway, and we'll work from there."
"Another camera?" Bella fumes. She'd only seen the videos from the one angle, and Jake had taken that camera down after the hearing. "He's been spying on me...all this time?"
"Who knows? Maybe...probably. They're a dime-a-dozen, low-end, Radio Shack do-it-yourself crap. Don't worry; this is child's play."
Child's play for you, maybe, she rails, as the unwelcome feeling of being victimized shatters her sense of well-being.
"I'll handle it, Bella."
She has to admit, the arrogance that grated on her only minutes earlier is now providing her with much-needed faith. She watches with fascination and a grudging respect for Emmett's skills until he looks up from his work, catches her staring, and winks. Still an ass.
She closes the door and does her best to put Jake, his stupid cameras, and Emmett McCarty out of her mind.
Fifteen minutes later, he knocks again, and Bella pulls open the heavy door. Emmett slips inside before she can change her mind.
"I'm ready to debug the interior."
His face still holds the trace of a smug grin, but she doesn't really have a choice. She can't rewrite the past two years, can't undo whatever Jake's seen or heard, but if there's something else is in here, she wants it out. Now.
"Have at it," she says, leading him into the living room. Emmett moves around the space like a graceful cat, and she can't help but admire his meticulousness. Every surface is brushed by his fingers and carefully examined by his laser-sharp focus. With an ease belying the heft of the queen bed frame folded inside, he lifts the sofa with one hand, using the other to confirm that nothing is embedded beneath the fabric.
As soon as Emmett clears the matching armchair, Bella sinks into the cushions and closes her eyes, fighting away images of Jake sitting in his apartment wearing headphones and monitoring her conversations...or worse. A rustling sound wakes her from her unpleasant trance, and she opens her eyes to discover Emmett sprawled under the length of the coffee table.
He peeks his head out. "Bella, if you don't mind, could I have something cold to drink please?"
"Sure. Lemonade okay?"
"Yeah, anything."
As she walks into the kitchen, it hits her that he's banished her to shield her from the truth—he's found something that bastard somehow planted. Bella's blood curdles in her veins, but she won't waste another brain wave on Jacob Black, nor will she ever allow him access to her home again. He can wait in his damn car for the kids on alternate Saturdays, and she'll take her sweet time sending them out.
"Just finishing up in here," he informs her when she returns with his drink.
"I guess you better do the rest, seeing as you've found something."
At least he looks sheepish as he reaches for the lemonade. "Honestly, Bella, unless he lives within five hundred yards or has been spending his days and nights in a surveillance van, I don't think he's heard a thing."
"That's something, at least. I'm just gonna sit here and pretend there isn't a man going through every inch of my house looking for bugs planted by my ex-husband to spy on me. Okay?"
"Or...you could just focus on the positives," he suggests, then downs the cool drink.
Weary to the bone, she asks, "And what might those be?"
The cocky grin returns. "One, you have the best security man in the state of Washington on the case. Two, Edward Cullen cares enough to send the very best."
With that, Emmett takes off silently to upend the rest of her house, leaving Bella to count those blessings. Yes, she supposes, even allowing herself a wry grin, having Edward Cullen in her life is something to appreciate.
Emmett reappears almost an hour later. "Playroom?"
Bella nods and leads him down the cellar steps. Pulling a key from above the door jamb, she turns around to warn him to be respectful of her space, of her choices, of her life. Before she can get a word out, he places a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry," he says, his voice completely devoid of the cocky attitude he's exhibited since his arrival. She knows instantly she can trust him as Edward does. Bella simply nods and unlocks the door. To his credit, Emmett doesn't raise an eyebrow at the wood cross on the wall or the whipping bench, or even the sawhorse set up in the middle of the room. She hasn't had a man like Emmett in this room before—unyielding, stubborn, utterly unshakeable. She can't even picture him strapped to her restraints; it just doesn't compute.
Bella leans against the wall, absently watching him work. She'd be shocked if Jake ever managed to set foot in this room, but she's still relieved that Emmett is checking things over.
"Mind if I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"What is it with you two? How does one breed this kind of loyalty?"
Emmett pokes his face out from behind the saw horse. "He saved my life," he answers as easily as if she'd asked his name.
The wheels in her head are grinding on that, but she doesn't feel comfortable pressing him. Their détente is far too tenuous. She can't resist asking what's been on her mind since he arrived.
"What do you have against me?"
Again, he answers so easily she almost thinks she's misheard him. "You're dangerous for him."
His accusation knocks her back in her chair like a battering ram. The last thing she'd want is to harm Edward. "I'm not," she tells him as evenly as her shaky voice allows.
Emmett stands up, brushes off his knees, and places his hands on his hips. "Do you have any idea what he's been like for the last year and a half?"
She does. She has a real fucking good idea, thanks very much. How much easier it might've been for her to have known he was suffering too. All this damn time…
"I'm not the one who told him to wait so long," she finally bites back, hearing how hollow her words are even as she throws them in his face.
Emmett's hands slide from his hips, and he softens his tone. "Bella, Edward Cullen is a good man. Please don't hurt him." Looking up suddenly to the cabinet where her whips and crops are stored and the furniture expressly designed to restrain, Emmett shakes his head. "Shit."
His head snaps up when he hears her response. "I won't."
A/N: I apologize for the delay in posting...was out on the town (of Salem, MA- yep, home of the witch trials) with Discordia all day yesterday!
A lifesaver to boot, Judgeward? Sigh... Hope you enjoyed this glimpse of my favorite Judge through the eyes of his loyal (civil) servant! Now that her home is swept clean, anything goes! See you all next Friday! XXX ~IDH