Heres the update thank you soooooooo much to my reviewers and my readers as a whole
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TALA POV:
Hey Em. Where is he?" I asked when Emily opened the door to her house. Emily had a dazzling smile on her face and seemed oblivious to my dismal attitude.
"Oh my God! What happened to your eye? Oh my God and your throat!" Her smile vanished and frantic fingers flew over my injuries as she exclaimed her alarm.
"Um…I got in the way of some firemen and they knocked me down." This was the worst lie I've ever uttered and was surprised when she seemed to relax.
"And the throat?" she asked nervously.
"A piece of wood flew off the building and cut me," I responded automatically. At this her eyes narrowed in disbelief. I'd have a lot of explaining to do when everything went back to normal and everyone discovered the restaurant had never been set ablaze. "Listen Emily I really need to talk to Paul."
"Paul's out on patrol like he is every morning lately. Everyone was so surprised when you didn't come home last night. Must have been one helluva fire! Wait a minute. Tala were those the clothes you left in?" she didn't say it as an accusation. She sounded almost sorry for me, like she thought my clothes had been singed by the made up fire.
"No they aren't."
"Oh. Well baby come inside! That's the lightest jacket in this weather; do you have a death wish?" I laughed at the irony in a dead voice as I side stepped her into the house.
"Look who showed up," Emily said. At first I thought she was talking Kim and telling her I'd returned, and then I saw her: Adrian.
"What the hell happened to you?" she asked hoarsely.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded unceremoniously.
"She came last night. Looking for you. Didn't Paul tell you? I mean the boys said they'd find you to let you know. Granted they didn't come home last night but I assumed they stayed to help with the fire or found something that needed tending to." Emily informed me.
"They uh found me but…wait they didn't come back?" I knew they hadn't told Emily what they had seen when they found me but I figured that was just common courtesy.
"Nope. What did they say to you?" Kim jumped in; staring at my wounds with something resembling adoration.
"Not much. It's strange though that they would leave you guys to fend for your own at night," I hoped my panic didn't show in my voice.
"Well if it was an emergency they had no choice." Emily murmured serenely.
"What happened to you? Wait lemme guess, after my visit you started longing for the old days and got into a bar fight," Adrian snapped.
"The bars are closed, your reappearance is having very little effect on me, and what happened to me is none of your business."
"Mad because you're losing your touch?" she questioned, sounding much more Latino then I remember. I gritted my teeth as she pointed to her eye mockingly.
"Why don't you test me?" I threatened, taking a step towards her. I savored the brief look of terror that flooded her face. "Obviously you haven't completely forgotten what I'm capable of you ungrateful little brat. Now shut up," I instructed, turning my attention back to Emily.
"Oh look! I just got a text from Sam! Looks like they'll be back in a minute; Sam was just being careful adding more patrol." She squealed in delight. It's a weird feeling when your stomach plummets and your heart soars at the same time. I was so happy everybody was ok, but I didn't know where my earlier strength had gone. Paul was coming; I'd have to face him.
My attention wavered as I watched the flickering fire next to Adrian. I wondered why I wasn't entirely overjoyed that my sister had returned. Maybe because she wasn't my sister; or at least she wasn't the girl I remembered. The last thing I wanted was this judgmental alien of a girl watching the blowout sure to come.
"But really Tally. What did happen?" Kim insisted.
"Tally?" Adrian snorted in repulsed incredulity.
"Wait did I just say?" I asked her angrily. Though she looked like she was going to say something else she wised up and shut it.
"Nothing Kim. Problems at the fire," I lied smoothly. I noticed Adrian raise her eyebrows and I remembered her uncanny ability to know when I'm lying. Kim seemed displeased with my answer and seemed keen on questioning me further but she didn't get the chance; the front door opened.
~*~
PAUL POV:
I didn't know what I would say when I saw her. I rolled my shoulders briskly and felt the strain on my newly selected white shirt.
"Are you relaxed enough?" Sam asked skeptically. There was no question that Tala was inside. We could all detect her scent, mainly because she seemed to be bleeding. Not to mention my pull towards her would never seize.
"I'm fine," I promised, yanking open his door. Oh God.
"What happened?" I cooed feeling ever bit like a little bitch. I should not forget about last night and simply melt upon seeing Tala hurt. When I gravitated towards her she seemed much more weary than normal, as if she was waiting for my explosion. I cradled her face in my hands, turning it carefully to the side and examining the purple bruise that extended from her temple to across her eye and cheek.
"The fi—something happened," she stammered remembering that the Pack knew that the fire was a complete lie. I tried to find anger. I wanted to be furious with her. But how can I be mad at her when every move I've made lately has been to push her away?
"Tala what happened?" I demanded. I wanted to know who hurt my girlfriend; and then I wanted to kill them.
"Oh look the TV is working!" Kim declared. I turned around just in time to see an old picture of Tala appear in the corner of the TV. 'Leave her alone for one night and the next thing I know she's on the news…'
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TALA POV:
"Holy fuck Tala is that you on the news?" Kim screeched.
"I freaking knew it!" Adrian said smugly as my picture popped onto the screen. There is just no way this is happening. It's impossible. I looked up at the ceiling; looking for God in this mess. 'When I get up there I'm kicking some ass' I thought towards the sky.
"Thanks to La Push local Tala Wesleyan the infamous serial killers and rapist that have been washing through Washington have finally been caught. There dumping ground was also located; turns out that the killers: Garrett and Ian Lesan have slaughtered over five more then the suspected eighteen strippers. There has been talk by the DA of actually not allowing the dumping ground into evidence because Garrett Lesan has announced the whereabouts of the bodies was extracted from him by force by Ms. Wesleyan. Since technically she is retired from the FBI all evidence could be dismissed. Let's hope the undercover mission leaves us with enough evidence to convict. In other news…" The room was silent, even Adrian at a loss for words.
"Damn it," I raged. I kicked the side of the couch uselessly as the others stared at me in shock. I dug my cell phone out of my purse and quickly dialed Kevin's number.
"What?" he asked ungraciously.
"You gave them permission to put my picture on the air? What the hell was that? It's been like an hour since all this shit went down how do the news casters already know? What do they mean the evidence won't count somebody needs to tell Lesan to man the hell up and deal with his broken nose—" I ranted.
"Listen Tala it wasn't my decision. You made it clear you didn't want to work for the FBI again so there was no harm in putting your picture up. I knew that you would do something like that if I left you alone with the suspect! Do you know what this will mean if they manage to discard the dumping ground?"
"Well…he hit me first" I exclaimed childishly. Not only was it a complete lie, it really didn't matter at all. The more truthful reply would have been 'Well someone who looks a lot like him hit me first.'
"Besides even if I'm not legally still working for the FBI I can still be a decoy. I didn't carry any weapons and the FBI can't be blamed for my actions towards Garrett. It's perfectly legit," I reasoned.
"Yes, yes I know. It'll be fine. Don't worry about it." I rolled my eyes before I could remember that he couldn't see me.
"Now try to get some sleep. Good bye." That man was either totally unaware who he was dealing with or quite ballsy. When I hung up the phone I knew I had to turn around.
"I think…I'd rather you have been a stripper," Paul said in a distant voice. Maybe it was the dazed look on his face, maybe it was everyone else's flabbergasted expressions, maybe it was my lack of sleep. Either way I burst into laughter. I clutched at my sides as my chortling continued and eventually had to slump against the wall for support.
~*~
PAUL POV:
That girl had lost her fucking mind. Nothing was funny but she continued to giggle like a bitch on heat for a good two minutes. I couldn't help feeling a little relieved that she wasn't stripping on the side but I wasn't lying when I said I'd rather that have been the case. Just the thought of Tala being within a thousand feet from a rapist/killer made me sick to my stomach.
"Since when do you work for the cops?" I couldn't believe the disgust in Adrian's voice. "How can they even let you work for them with your record?"
"Charlie got me involved with them. You don't have a record unless you are caught," Tala said coolly. "It's not even that big a deal."
"What happened to you? You used to say that if people were stupid enough to stay weak then they deserved what came to them. You said the cops were nothing but nuisances."
"I—grew—up," she hissed through clenched teeth. "Now shut up."
"No Tala you just turned your back on your past! Is that why you've done a complete one-eighty? Is that why you can barely stand to look at me? Is that why you're trying to make yourself fit in with these people? Ignore it all you want but what we went through won't just disappear!"
"Adrian I am warning you shut up," Tala said in such a dangerous voice even I felt threatened. As Adrian contemplated whether or not to push the issue I slowly maneuvered myself between the two sisters. It seemed like the smartest move.