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Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight SM does.
Chapter Songs: Alive – Shihad, Run - Shihad
I woke in the morning feeling exhausted and as though I hadn't slept at all which was fairly close to the truth.
Edward and I met the others downstairs to discuss the finer points of our plan to visit Laurent.
"Jasper knows what we need and what to ask Laurent for so I think we definitely need him there" Emmett stated.
"I agree Em, I think too it'd be good if you could be there just in case" Edward told him.
Just in case, I didn't like hearing those words, I knew what that meant.
"You'll come too Ed?" asked Jasper.
He nodded "Yes."
"I'm coming too" I stated causing everyone to look at me.
"No love" Edward told me.
"No way Bells, you girls definitely need to sit this one out" Emmett added.
"Excuse me?" asked Rose peeved.
"It's just not safe Rosie" Emmett told her softly.
She glared at him, "Not safe? Well why are you going then? What happened to Laurent can be trusted we don't need to worry about him?"
"Yeah" piped up Alice, "We agreed last night we would do this as a group."
"No baby" Jasper replied. "We don't want to overwhelm Laurent by all showing up at his door."
Alice pouted back at him.
"Please love, just stay here. We won't be long I promise" Edward told me with scorching eyes. "I need to know you'll be safe just in case. If James shows up for some reason or another it'll throw a spanner in the works if you are there."
I couldn't argue with him when he looked and pleaded with me like that.
"Okay" I sighed still not happy with the arrangement.
After discussing their game plan as Emmett called it they left to see Laurent.
"I'm still pissed off they didn't think we were capable of going with them" Rose told us.
"I know" replied Alice, "Jasper thinks that I can't handle myself, he worries far too much."
"Stupid idiots" answered Rose causing us all to giggle.
Edward's Point of View
We pulled up outside Laurent's place in my Volvo, "Good his car's in the drive, he must be home" Emmett observed.
"Okay so just to clarify things here we have agreed that Jasper will do the majority of the talking here?" I asked.
Emmett and Jazz nodded in agreement, sure Em might be agreeing now but knowing him at some point he wouldn't be able to let Jasper have full control of the situation.
Jasper was definitely the most level headed out of the three of us; his father was a Major in the army when Jasper was growing up in Texas so it was inevitable that some of his father's knowledge would rub off onto him.
He was good at staying calm and talking to people in such a way that they wanted to open up to him, hopefully that would work to our advantage.
"Right" said Emmett rubbing his hands together, "Let's do this."
We got out of my car and walked up the narrow path to the front door. I knocked on the door three times and we waited.
Laurent opened the door and a smile crossed his face when he saw us.
"Hello Edward" he greeted me, "Jasper, Emmett, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
"Hello Laurent" replied Jasper politely, "We were wondering if perhaps we could talk to you about something."
"Of course, of course! Please do come in" he replied opening the door wider for us to enter the house.
"Thank you" Jasper replied.
"Now can I get you anything? A drink, a beer perhaps?" Laurent asked us playing the good host.
"Oh thank you Laurent but perhaps not just now" Jasper replied.
"Of course" he answered still smiling, "Come on through to the living room."
We followed him down the hall to the small but tidy room and sat down on the sofa.
Laurent looked at us expectantly, "I have a fair idea of what you want to talk about but just to be sure, how can I help?" he asked.
Jasper took a deep breath, "We wanted to have a talk to you about James" he told him.
"Ah my suspicions were correct" he smiled.
Jasper smiled back at him, "Are you two still friends?" he asked. Good Jasper, I thought, checking to see if indeed Laurent could be trusted with what we were about to ask.
"No most definitely not" he replied shaking his head and grimacing. "James is not the kind of person that makes a worthwhile friend unless of course trouble is what you are looking for" he told us.
Jasper nodded, "I'm not sure if you are aware but he has been causing a lot of trouble lately. He's been harassing Bella Swan."
Laurent looked at me, "Bella, Edward's girlfriend?" he asked.
"The very same" replied Jasper.
"I hadn't heard, but please do tell me. I hope that he hasn't hurt her? She seems like such a kind person" he said.
"Not yet, but that's what we are afraid of" replied Jasper.
"He's been threatening her" I jumped in unable to stay quiet any longer. "He eyed her up at the Halloween party and then bailed her up at Riley's last night. A while ago Bella was attacked on campus, they found and charged the person responsible but we can't help thinking that James was involved."
"I did hear about that, the attack I mean" he answered sadly, "Such a terrible thing to happen. I can see why you think James may be involved and I must say that I agree with you."
"You do?" asked Emmett incredulous.
"Yes, it has James written all over it. I still believe he had something to do with Miss Smith's disappearance too" he added. "That played a big part in my decision to distance myself from him, my suspicions of his involvement in that."
We looked at him in shock, I was expecting him to be helpful but not to this extent.
"We also think that" Jasper told him.
"You are worried he will do the same to Bella" Laurent stated.
I nodded my mouth suddenly dry.
"I can see why you would be concerned. I presume then that you came here for my help?" he asked.
"Yes" stated Jasper.
Laurent nodded, "I will do anything I can to help" he told us.
"Thank you" I told him, "Bella means so much to me; I won't let him hurt her."
"We will not even give him the chance to do so" Laurent reassured me. "Now tell me what you need."
Jasper explained to Laurent that we had been to the police and that they had informed us that without proof they could not re-open the case of Stacey Smith.
"We need proof of any kind, perhaps a photo with the bruises he gave her, anything" Jasper told him.
Laurent looked thoughtful for a moment, "You may just be in luck, in James's haste to move out he left some things behind. I never looked through them because I thought he would have come back for them if they were of any importance."
"Could we take a look?" asked Jasper.
"I think that would be a very good idea" Laurent answered. "I will go get the boxes, meet me in the kitchen and pull all the blinds, just in case he got wind of you coming here. We need to take precautions."
Jasper nodded and we did as Laurent asked. Within a few minutes he returned with a box. "There are two more, just in the hall closet" he told us.
"I'll help you" Emmett told him and they left the room to grab the other two boxes.
"Do you think...?" I began to ask Jasper.
"Yes, he really does want to help" he whispered, "We can trust him."
I nodded, Jasper had always been good at reading people and he had never been wrong about anyone.
Emmett and Laurent returned with another two smaller boxes. "Who would like to do the honours?" asked Laurent with a small smile after handing us each a pair of gloves to wear just as a precaution in case any of the items were used as evidence.
"You please" Jasper said indicating to the boxes.
"Of course" Laurent replied opening the box.
Most of it was just junk, a base ball glove and hat, both worn and old, a few magazines and old letters and receipts. We checked each item meticulously.
"Jackpot" Emmett said suddenly. He was holding up an envelope of photos, he eagerly took them out of their packet and began to sift through them.
Amongst them were a few photos of Stacey, in most she was covered up hiding any possible bruises. But then we found two that would be of interest.
"Holy shit" exhaled Emmett, "Look at her arms and neck in this one" he told us holding it up.
It was a photo of Stacey and James, she was sitting beside him, outside on a bench, he had his arm around her with a smile on his face. Her expression was strained, you could see the fear in her eyes and on her arms and neck were dark bruises.
"Oh yes, that was here, we had a barbeque one summer's evening and James asked me to take a photo of them both. She told me the bruises were the result of a fall of her bicycle. I never believed her" Laurent told us sadly.
The second photo was much the same as the first. "I think you should take those to the police" Laurent told us. "I am certain that they will be interested to see that. If only I had looked in the boxes to begin with perhaps he would have gotten caught when it happened"
"I was concerned he would come back for them however. He did not like people touching his things."
"You did nothing wrong Laurent" Jasper told him.
We continued to search through the boxes, "This looks like a journal" I told them holding up a worn looking book.
Laurent nodded, "I think you are right Edward, I did see James multiple times scribbling in that book. I am surprised he left that behind, although these days he is using drugs so much more heavily than before I think perhaps he has become careless."
I flicked through the book; most were drawings, scenes of trees and other wildlife. But halfway through the journal the mood changed, there were drawings of a girl. Violent images with angry words etched into the paper.
I showed Laurent, Jazz and Em. Laurent shook his head sadly, "That's Stacey he used to draw her a lot. In the beginning those pictures were lovely; he showed them to me once, that was before things changed however."
I added it to the pile to take to the police.
The box unearthed nothing else so we moved on to the next one. There was nothing of any help in the next so we opened up the last box hopeful we would find something else.
Laurent picked out a wooden box, kind of similar to a jewellery box but bigger.
"Hmmm it's locked" he muttered showing us.
"Is there a key anywhere in there?" asked Jasper.
"Nope" replied Emmett.
"Well we will just have to break into it then" Laurent replied getting up and walking down the hall. He returned with a small hammer
He wrenched open the box, bypassing the heavy lock. He gasped when he saw what was inside.
"What is it?" Jasper asked curiously.
Laurent gulped. "My suspicions were right!" he said in horror. "You were all right."
Jasper looked at me with wide eyes and then Laurent tipped the contents of the wooden box onto the table.
"Fuck" Emmett exhaled looking down.
Jasper jumped up from the table and vomited into the kitchen sink.
"Fuck he did do it." I whispered.
Laurent looked up at me horrified, "We must go to the police immediately."
I nodded in agreement, "Let's go now."
Laurent grabbed a bag and placed the evidence inside. We quickly ran to my car and piled inside heading straight to the police station.
Bella's Point of View
"They've been gone for ages" Alice remarked looking at the clock, "That must mean they found something."
I glanced at her; she must have seen the worry etched into my face.
"Oh honey don't worry everything will be just fine" she reassured me sitting down beside me and putting her arm around me.
"I hope so" I whispered.
"It will Bells" Rose told me sitting down on my other side and I lay my head on her shoulder.
Finally after a tense few hours we heard their key in the lock. We all jumped up to greet them as they walked into the living room.
I stared at Edward trying to read the emotion on his face. "Bella this is Laurent" he introduced me.
"Bella it's wonderful to meet you. I wish it was under better circumstances."
"And you" I replied as he shook my hands.
"What happened?" asked Rose seeing the haunted expressions.
"Sit down" Jasper told us gently. "I'll tell you everything."
We all sat down quickly, Edward beside me with his arm around me and Laurent opposite us on a chair.
"Obviously Laurent agreed to help us since he's here with us" he started, smiling at Laurent.
"Thank you" I told him in a small voice.
He smiled at me "It is my pleasure Bella."
"Laurent told us that he agreed with our theories and that he too believed James played a part in Stacey's death. He said that he would help in any way he could to help us. He informed us that James had forgotten a few things when he moved out suddenly and that he had never looked through them as a mark of respect for James's hatred of people touching his things" Jasper told us.
"Laurent agreed that we should look at what was in there in case there was anything that would be of any help to provide to the police as evidence. We searched through the boxes and found some photos showing Stacey's bruises and a journal with some disturbing pictures and things he had written" he continued.
"We found something else too that cemented the idea that he had indeed killed Stacey so we decided to go to the police immediately."
"What was it?" asked Alice. "What did you find?"
Jasper looked at Edward, Emmett and Laurent, their expressions pained. Edward nodded once.
"We can't not tell them" Emmett said quietly.
Jasper nodded and took a deep breath. "We found a locked wooden box, Laurent broke it open to see what was inside" he paused.
We all stared at him waiting, "Inside was..." he stopped to breathe again.
"I will tell them" Laurent said patting Jasper on the back, he nodded in agreement.
"Inside was a knife, covered in dry blood, it was the knife he killed her with and some photos of her after he did it" Laurent said sadly shaking his head. "It was so horrible."
All you could hear were gasps.
I stared at Laurent unable to process what he just said. I felt frozen, unable to speak. I felt Edward rubbing my arm to comfort me.
Just then there was a knock at the door. We all froze staring at one another.
"I'll get it" Emmett told us, "Stay here just in case."
He got up from the sofa and walked out into the hall, we heard him greet whoever was at the door and after some murmuring he returned with a slim envelope.
"It was a courier, it's for you Bella" he told me frowning at the envelope. "There's no return address on it or anything."
I held out my hand for the envelope, Emmett handed it to me and I opened it with shaking hands.
There was a folded piece of paper inside, I unfolded it and took a deep breath.
Isabella
Did you really think that getting the law involved would help you now?
Now you know my secret you have made things a lot more dangerous for you and your friends. I suggest you begin to see things my way before someone gets hurt.
Remember I warned you, I ALWAYS get what I want, you will be no exception. This will all end soon...
I was trying not to completely freak out; panic was washing through me in waves. I began to gasp for air; a full blown panic attack was imminent.
"Bella what's wrong? What does it say?" Edward begged.
I handed him the letter with shaking hands, everyone was watching Edward as he read the letter. He dropped it immediately running his hands through his hair.
Laurent picked it up and read it aloud for everyone to hear.
"We need to leave" Edward said in a strained voice, "We have to get Bella out of Seattle before" he stopped unable to finish.
"Yes, that would be the wisest thing to do" Laurent confirmed, "I think I perhaps will leave town for a while, go and stay with a friend in California. James will catch wind of me helping before long and then I will not be safe either."
"Thank you for helping us" Jasper told him, "For getting involved in this even though this could affect you."
"It's no problem at all, he needs to be stopped. I hope this time we succeed" he told us earnestly. "I hope to perhaps that although these are horrible circumstances we can perhaps be friends?"
Emmett nodded and gave him a half smile, "I think Laurent that after this we definitely will be."
"I'm glad, stay safe Bella. All of you be careful" he said making his way to the front door.
I was still freaking out; Edward was holding me close and telling me things would be okay.
"We should leave tonight" Jasper said suddenly breaking the silence for the first time since Laurent left.
"I agree" replied Emmett, "Where should we go?"
They looked at Edward, "Port Angeles" he said simply. "Mom and Dad will help in any way they can, the security at the house is like Fort Knox."
Emmett nodded "We should travel in two cars, ones that aren't so obvious, Edward's and Jasper's would be good."
Rose nodded in agreement, "The other cars would draw far too much attention to us, plus the windows in Ed and Jazz's cars are dark that will help."
"Emmett and I will go pack bags for ourselves and Edward, Allie and Rose you go upstairs and do the same. Be as quick as you can" Jasper said.
"We will, I'll pack a bag for you too Bella honey" Alice told me.
"Thank you" I managed to gasp out.
Within ten minutes everyone was reassembled in the living room, ready to leave. Jasper informed us that he had received a call from the Police just a few minutes ago and that James had managed to escape as they stormed his house to arrest him.
"We need to be vigilant" he told us, "Call each other if we see anything suspicious, like someone following us." Emmett was going to be our cell phone correspondence with Alice in the other car.
Emmett and Jasper threw the bags into the cars. Edward was going to be driving Emmett and I while Jasper would drive Alice and Rose.
We sped out of the town limits quickly with Jasper's car leading the way.
Before long Emmett said the words that we had been dreading since we left.
"I think someone's following us" Emmett said turning around in his seat to get a better look.
"Are you sure?" asked Edward checking the mirrors.
Suddenly the car sped up following us closer.
"Jasper is a genius" he said suddenly pulling a pair of binoculars out of his bag. "I wondered why he made me pack these, now I know!"
He stared out the back windows and into the car behind us. "It's James. Edward I'm calling Alice then the police."
My heart started to race, Edward put his hand on my leg.
"Love, don't panic, it's going to be fine" he told me soothingly.
"Alice he following us, get Rose to call the cops now!" Emmett barked into the phone. "Tell Jasper to keep driving and don't stop!"
"Rose has the police on the phone, she gave them the co-ordinates on the GPS and they are on their way." Emmett informed us. "They told her as soon as we hear the sirens or see them to pull over."
Within five minutes we heard sirens, lots of sirens. Edward pulled over suddenly following Jasper's lead. James sped past us up the straight tree lined high way.
We watched anxiously as one car chased him towards another speeding cop car in the opposite direction. James's car swerved, he lost control. His car began to fish tail, still going too fast, wildly out of control until he smashed head on into a power pole.
"Oh fuck" exhaled Emmett.
I couldn't believe what was happening, what I was seeing in front of me. I watched as the police cars came to a halt beside the wrecked car, they stepped out guns raised.
One was on his radio no doubt calling for an ambulance, another got back into his car and drive back towards us.
As he reached us we stepped out of the car.
"Miss Swan?" the Officer asked me.
"Yes?" I replied timidly.
"I will need you and your friends to answer a few questions for us" he told me.
"Yes, of course" I answered in a shaky voice.
I took a deep breath and told him what had happened after we left home to drive to Port Angeles; I showed him the note James had sent me today.
After questioning us all in turn, he turned to me and said in a kind voice, "It's all over now Miss Swan; I can confirm that the ambulance officers have pronounced James Walker as dead."
I sank to the ground, I felt so relieved tears began to stream down my face.
Edward sank to his knee beside me, "It's okay now love, it's all over. You're safe" he said kissing my hair.
I don't really remember driving back home, someone must have made the decision to turn back and not carry on to Port Angeles.
I had come so close to the very worst kind of danger but somehow that wasn't what was bothering me the most. It was the fact that my friends and Edward had come so close to being hurt or worse, I couldn't make myself think the word.
Poor Edward, he had gone through so much being with me. I felt certain he would be sick of all of the drama and hassle we had gone through to get to where we were today.
"Bella love we're home" Edward said to me softly stirring me from my thoughts.
"Oh" I exclaimed looking out the car window, sure enough he was right.
He got out of the car and walked around to my door, opening it for me and helping me out.
"Are you okay Bella?" he asked me putting his arm around me.
"Yes" I said in a small voice.
"Do you need anything? Are you hungry?" he asked me softly.
"I want to be alone with you" I told him looking up at his glorious face.
He led me upstairs to my room with my bag slung over his other shoulder.
"Please talk to me Bella, let me know what you are thinking?" he begged and the strange part was he looked worried.
I sat down on the bed next to him and sighed "I feel terrible that you and the others got put in danger because of me" I mumbled.
"You could have been hurt or" I paused, "Or worse. I would have never been able to forgive myself."
"Bella love none of this is your fault" he told me gently, "Please don't blame yourself for any of this."
I looked at him trying to blink back the traitor tears threatening to turn me into a blubbering mess; he looked so concerned about me.
"I hate that I have put you through so much since we started dating. First Jake, now this" I looked at my feet not able to meet his eyes. "I would understand if it is all a bit too much for you" I mumbled.
"Oh Bella, is that what's worrying you the most?" he asked.
I nodded in confirmation.
"You mean the world to me Bella and I would do anything for you" he told me passionately. "I love you Bella, nothing will ever change that."
I looked into his sparkling green eyes and smiled for the first time today, "I love you too Edward" I told him kissing his gently on the lips.
We stayed upstairs a while longer, talking calmly about what had happened. It made me feel better to get it all out so I could move past the whole ordeal.
When we headed downstairs, Rose, Emmett, Alice and Jazz where all there. Rose was in the kitchen making dinner with Jasper's help while Alice and Emmett where watching a sitcom on TV.
Alice jumped up from the sofa when she saw us walk into the room; she walked over to me and hugged me tightly. I smiled when she pulled away, "Are you okay?" she asked me concerned.
"Yeah, I think so, I just needed some time to get my head around it" I answered.
She nodded understandingly, "Come and sit with us" she said gesturing to the sofa where Emmett was sitting smiling at me.
I went and settled down on the sofa next to Alive with Edward on my other side, none of them bought it up again while we sat and watched the TV, it was nice to just carry on as we normally would.
When we settled around the table to eat, I decided I needed to say just one more thing to my friends before closing of the compartment in my brain that contained the memory of the James ordeal.
"Thank you" I said, they all looked at me.
"For what Bells?" Rose asked me.
"For everything, for putting yourselves in danger to help me. Thank you" I told them sincerely.
"That's what family is for little sis" Emmett said kindly with a smile.