Chapter 1

"Please, oh please!" She screamed, her voice almost hoarse. "Please let me go!" Of course, no one answered her. She wasn't even sure there was anyone to answer her.

Bella surveyed her surroundings, or at least tried to. The dark room revealed very little, even to her trained eyes. All she could see was the silver chain attached to her ankle by a thick metal cuff. She followed the chain to the wall above the thick mattress she was perched on.

There was a very small metal grate high in the wall opposite her that allowed in a little yellow artificial light. Probably from a street light, she thought.

She felt her body, praying that her clothes were still on and was very happy to find she was still completely dressed—coat, scarf, hat, and boots even.

She was grateful for that small blessing since it was freezing in her cell. Frigid air blew through the metal grate. Her streetlight theory was confirmed since it was much colder at night than the day.

Bella had woken suddenly a few minutes before, hurting all over as if she'd lost a wrestling match with her brother Emmett. He liked to keep her on her toes, a habit that had helped her on more than one occasion when it was her turn to work the jail.

Her head was also groggy, as if she was hungover or drugged. She barely remembered the party she'd been at, but knew she'd only had one Cosmo and it wasn't the type of party to have anything illegal.

The pain eventually settled in her ankle, and she'd discovered the cuff and chain. She tried to remember her training, but couldn't stop herself from temporarily losing it.

Her screaming did nothing but use oxygen and make her throat hurt.

"Please!" she shouted again, slumping down on the bare mattress. She put her head in her hands and sobbed.

Her tears eventually dried and her training kicked in, bringing her to her feet. She rubbed her arms for the friction and tested the length of her chain. Not even enough length to reach any other wall. There was nothing else within her reach other than the mattress, and she wondered what the hell had happened to her.

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Edward stood looking at his reflection in his bedroom window. His soon-to-be ex-girlfriend moaned and rolled over in the bed behind him. A lot had happened in the past few months, changing them both. Jessica had changed for the worst, though, sinking her claws in and becoming way too possessive and needy.

He almost wished he had never received the promotion to detective. Jessica snored and rolled over, mumbling his name, her fingers searching his side of the bed. He turned and walked downstairs before she woke up fully.

He'd been trying all last week to break the news, but didn't know how. He knew it had to be soon; she would eventually discover the real reason he'd stopped having sex with her.

Edward was a good detective; therefore, he was a good actor and liar. He figured he could keep her happy until he figured out how to end it like the gentleman he was.

He still loved her in a way, but his promotion a year ago had changed her. She became snobby, wasting his money on this expensive house first of all, then a car, then clothes and jewelry. It was all she cared about anymore—prestige and money. Moreover, he couldn't be one minute late to anything without her demanding to know who he'd been with. Her catty possessive groping in public was getting embarrassing.

Edward fixed Jessica breakfast, something he'd occasionally done over their three-year relationship. She'd just never realized he only did it when he was feeling guilty about something.

Jessica finally roused herself from sleep and, finding Edward gone, went in search of him. The smell of bacon and eggs met her nose at the top of the grand front staircase. The coffee joined in and she was pulled into the kitchen.

She was slightly disappointed to find Edward already dressed for work. Who, that had seen his hard body naked, wouldn't have been disappointed anytime he was dressed?

Edward Cullen was her own personal demi-god—uncontrollable reddish brown hair, mischievous green eyes, a sexy smirk, and a body that was hard in all the right places, and soft in the others.

She padded silently up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, breathing in his glorious scent. She was slightly disappointed that he wasn't wearing the cologne she'd bought him, but tried not to nag him about it this time. Instead, she snuggled into his back. Her five-foot tall body only came to the middle of his back, but it seemed to her as though they were a perfect fit.

Ah yes, a perfect fit. Especially since he'd finally made detective—and had a nice new paycheck. Gone for her were the long nights of waiting for him to come home or the phone call that would shatter her life. Thank God she'd never received that call.

Now, even if she did get that call, everything was already paid for, thanks to a large bonus Edward had received. She smiled to herself and squeezed him tighter. She had her cake and could eat it, too.

"Good morning baby," she purred. She wanted him to know what kind of mood she was in, just in case he decided to be a couple hours late for work. He turned in her arms and handed her a full plate. She sighed, giving up her fantasies of a morning in bed. He'd been too damn busy lately and she was definitely horny.

"Morning Jess," Edward answered, faking a smile and a quick peck on her lips. All that food would go to waste, he knew.

They ate in relative silence, making small talk about things they'd already discussed. Jessica was content, almost purring again as she revised her morning plan for tonight when he got home from work.

Edward was wondering when they'd run out of real things to say to each other.

Had it been as sudden as it seemed? Was it gradual, merely a cooling down of a hot coal fire? Had he really been that caught up in the transition from patrol to detective?

"Oh, Eddie, I won't be in much today, I have a shopping date with Lauren in the city. Then drinks tonight," she giggled. "Won't be back until late, so don't wait up, honey." She skipped to his side, kissed his mouth, and went upstairs to get ready. She was already imagining his surprise when he trudged in from work and found her waiting for him. Maybe he'd be so pleasantly surprised that he'd take her right there in the foyer. Just in case she'd place a few big pillows underneath the foyer table.

Downstairs, Edward grabbed his briefcase and left for the station.

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The light outside the metal grate was changing. It slowly dimmed and turned gray as the streetlight went out. Bella sighed and plopped down on the mattress, worn out from terror and from pacing all night. She had a brief doubt of the cleanliness of the mattress, but really didn't want to sit on the floor.

She'd been afraid to go back to sleep and fought against the remnants of the drug in her system. Her eyelids were heavy and her thoughts became more and more confused. It had gotten difficult to remember.

That's all she wanted to do right now—remember. Maybe if she could remember, she could figure out who had kidnapped her and why. She couldn't think of any obvious reasons; she wasn't important to anyone but her family and they weren't famous themselves.

Her father Charlie was the chief of police back home in Forks, but it was such a small town that nothing had ever happened for someone to hold a grudge against him. Their jail was kept full of drunk drivers and people who didn't pay their ticket fines.

Renee, her mother, was too scatterbrained and innocent for anyone to feel threatened by her, and her baseball player husband was strictly minor league. He wasn't the best player out there, but he hadn't lost any high stakes games that she knew of.

Emmett was a Seattle officer, always one to follow in Charlie's footsteps. Of course, Bella's apple hadn't fallen that far from the tree, either. Dispatcher was definitely the less dangerous route, though. It wasn't her fault that the job had evolved into part time jailer as well. Seattle was big and busy and they needed more observant people in the jail.

Bella was definitely more of an observer than a participant, in her opinion at least.

The light outside the metal grate turned into full daylight as Bella lost the fight with her heavy eyelids.

When she woke up again, her watch was beeping her backup alarm. It was time for her to get up and get ready for work. She was a heavy sleeper and had to have two or three alarms to wake up.

She bolted up in bed, fully awake in spite of her too few hours of sleep. She was supposed to be at work at eight. She'd definitely be missed; she was the head dispatcher. Edward would be sure to notice she wasn't there.

Ah, dammit. Detective Cullen had been looking for an excuse to fire her for years. Now that he was detective, one unexcused absence on her part gave him the right to petition for it.

Bella let her head droop down onto her drawn up knees. Cullen hated Bella with a passion, and she didn't even know why.

It had been an almost instant dislike on his part, the moment five years ago that Emmett had introduced his little sister at the police station Christmas party.

Bella had just turned 21 and was finally getting to drink. Her father wasn't too strict on her, but he definitely discouraged her from breaking any laws, so she'd waited until it was legal. Alice and Rosalie had begged her to go out with them for her first time, but Emmett had insisted that she be somewhere safe to test her limits.

Emmett's bright idea was for her to wait for the Christmas party. After all, what safer place was there to get drunk than a police station? Hope no one on duty decides to drink, Bella had snickered to herself.

Of course Bella got drunk. The mixed drinks tasted so good, and she downed them so quickly. The effects hit her all at once. She wasn't clear on what had actually happened, but she vaguely remembered running her hands through messy bronze-shaded hair. Edward Cullen was the only one at the department who had that color hair.

How long would it be before someone realized something was wrong? Emmett and Rosalie were on vacation and would be gone a week. Alice sometimes went months without visiting her, caught up in setting up her fashion design company in Tacoma and Jasper was busy being a rookie in the Seattle juvenile division.

Edward would be relieved to be rid of her and her smart mouth, and might not think she was in any danger until it was too late. If he even really cared.

There was no one to worry about her for at least a week because, despite having lived in Seattle for four years now, she'd yet to make any other real friends there. She'd just have to pray she survived for a whole week.