AN: School is ridiculous. I've written three papers in the last two weeks and read about four books. My brain is fried... But I have a chapter for you! Thanks to Frankie for being an awesome beta and doing this for me even when she had a shitload of work to do too, lol. And thank you to all of the readers who keep coming back even though I can't seem to post chapters in a reasonable amount of time. You guys are the best. :D

Disclaimer: My name looks nothing like "Stephenie Meyer." I don't own anything she owns. I figured that would be clear by now...

Chapter 24 – The Liar and the Girl with the Broken Thumb

EPOV

Bella was not looking forward to spending the evening with her family, least of all her mother. She was finally getting used to having her grandparents around all the time, even if Eleanor was still dropping hints about our sex life. It was weird, but expected at that point.

I decided to pay my aunt and uncle a visit that night as well. It was deemed a break from wedding planning by all parties involved. There was less than a week until Christmas and people had some shopping to do. We really just needed a break from pastel colors and baby's breath.

"Edward!" Aunt Esme greeted me as she opened the door. "What a surprise! Where's Bella?"

I shrugged, but hugged my aunt. "Forced home for the night by her mother for dinner. Apparently, her mother hasn't gotten enough time with her lately."

"Well, she has been attached to your hips for quite a while now," she laughed.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," I answered with a smile.

"Ah, Edward," Carlisle said, coming out of the living room. "I thought I heard your voice. What's this about Bella not being with you tonight? That's rather odd."

"No one could convince Renee to let me have dinner with them, I guess. That woman still hates me for some reason."

"Hopefully she'll come around when she realizes that Bella won't give you up," Esme said with a smile. "Now come on. I know you haven't eaten. I made more than enough to feed you tonight."

It was nice to just visit with my family. Shutting people out for so long really took its toll on me – and everyone around me for that matter. My aunt was thrilled whenever I showed her even the slightest bit of attention. Uncle Carlisle just seemed happy to have me around again. He didn't need to show affection or interrogate me about my life to show that he cared.

Also, not having Emmett and Rosalie there as well was a nice reprieve from all the wedding planning sessions. Having a nice, quiet dinner with my aunt and uncle was something I needed to do more often.

It was hours before Bella finally called. She obviously couldn't escape early. It seemed odd that she would be so tired after a simple dinner with her family, but I didn't question it. Everyone was entitled to a night of exhaustion.

I would have liked to talk to her for longer that night, but after a while it was obvious that she needed sleep. I made sure to tell her that I love her and that I'd see her the next day. She sleepily replied with the same and ended the call.

The next morning dawned earlier than I preferred. The plan was for me to work in the morning doing mostly inventory while Rose took the later shift; that way I could have the night alone with Bella and Rose and Emmett could spend their morning in bed. At least, that was what I could get out of Rose's explanation. It was probably much more detailed, but I didn't need to know about all that.

I called Bella's phone as I went through the motions of opening the shop for the day. After a few rings, I heard Bella's voice say, "Hey, you've reached Bella. Obviously. Uh, you can…"

Sighing, I closed my phone. She probably wasn't awake yet. I'd try back again later, or maybe she would just call me when she got up. She really did sound exhausted when I talked to her on the phone.

Pete joined me at Twilight about an hour later. I'd thrown myself into the inventory check to force myself to think of something other than Bella. I didn't want to be one of those guys that couldn't spend any time away from his girl. We both needed some time to ourselves.

Throughout the morning, I kept checking my phone, but she never called back. Pete noticed my frustration after a while.

"Dude, what the hell is wrong?"

I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. "Bella said she'd call me when she woke up. She's never been one to not call when she says she will. I called when I came in this morning, but I figured she was still asleep when she didn't answer. Now I'm starting to get worried."

"Maybe her psycho mom is just freaking out on her or something," he suggested. "Just calm down and try to call her again. And maybe leave a message if she doesn't pick up?"

"You're right," I said. "I'm just overreacting. It's probably nothing."

I whipped out my phone, double checking that I hadn't missed a call or a text from her, and dialed her number again. Disappointment crept in when I got her voicemail again. I left a quick message for her to call me back and tried to do some more work.

When Rose came in for her shift, I was still in a state of lethargic frustration.

"Where's everyone's favorite half-dolphin and why do you look like someone ran over your puppy?" she demanded.

"Bella's not answering her phone…"

"He's been moping all day," Pete added as he wiped down the counter.

"But Bella always answers for you. Like, it's creepy how quickly she answers for you," she said. "Why the hell is she not picking up?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be freaking out, would I?" I snapped.

Rosalie sighed and sat next to me. "Edward, it's going to be fine. I'm sure it's nothing. Why don't you just stop by her house later or something? That way, if she's not there, Charlie can tell her when she gets back. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if that bitch just stole her phone or something and dragged her out of the house for the day."

"You're probably right. I'm just freaking out about nothing. Damn, she's probably going to think I'm smothering her or something," I chuckled quietly.

"Damn right, she is. Now, go talk to her dad and get your mopey self out of my sight," she said, practically pushing me out the door. "You make me sick!"

"Like you wouldn't be freaked out if Emmett stopped responding to you all of a sudden," I countered as I headed out.

"Touché," she laughed.

I tried not to freak out as I headed over to Bella's. There had to be a logical, simple, harmless explanation for her not responding. I couldn't start jumping to conclusions and worrying about worst-case scenarios right away. She didn't need me smothering her if she just forgot her phone at home or something.

"Edward," Charlie said as he answered the door, obviously surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to check what Bella was up to," I said. "She said she'd call me at some point today, but she never answered her phone. We were supposed to hang out tonight."

"That's really weird," he said. "Renee said Bella was spending the whole day with you."

My brow furrowed. "I've been at work all day."

He shrugged. "Maybe she heard wrong. But that's definitely not like Bella to not answer her phone. Here, why don't you go upstairs and check her room. Maybe she left it somewhere on accident."

I gave him a small smile before heading up to her room. Her phone was nowhere to be seen. But what I did find shocked me.

Sitting on her bedside table, where the drawing I'd given her usually sat, was an envelope with my name on the front. Curious, I opened it. I pulled out a letter, noting that there was something else in the envelope. I looked inside and gasped when I saw the drawing folded up. Remembering the letter, I quickly opened it in the hopes that it would explain why she would ever want to give it back to me.

Edward,

I refuse to do this anymore. This charade needs to end. We both know this was never meant to be. I have finally come to accept that. You need to as well. It was fun while it lasted, but everything must come to an end.

I have met someone else. He is a wonderful man who can provide for me. He will be able to give me everything that I need and I will never worry about not having everything. You could never do that for me.

Please understand that you will always mean something as the man that saved me. However, I will never know you as the man I loved.

Truly,

Bella

I stumbled into her bed, stunned by the words I read. It couldn't be true. I refused to believe it. There had to be some kind of mistake.

Reading through it again, I knew it was her handwriting. There was no arguing that. But it sounded nothing like the Bella I knew, the Bella I loved.

"No," I whispered to the empty room. "She didn't write this."

I pulled out the drawing and carefully left it unfolded on the bedside table. The frame was missing, but the drawing still belonged there. I wouldn't take it with me.

The letter was still taunting me. I stuffed it in my pocket, but the words still pulled at me.

I will never know you as the man I loved.

Shaking my head, I hurried down the stairs. Charlie was waiting in the living room.

"Find anything?" he asked.

"Not what I expected."

"What do y-"

"Where's Renee?" I asked.

"At some spa weekend with the girls. I didn't bother asking too many questions," he said, confused once again.

I swore softly and ran my hands through my hair. "Listen, I need to go check on something, but if you see Bella, can you please tell her to call me?"

"Of course," he said immediately. "What's going on, Edward?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "But I need to find out."

I rushed out of there before he could ask me anything else. There was only one other place I could think of that she would escape to, so I headed to Alice and Jasper's. As I knocked on the door, I silently prayed that I wouldn't wake little Xander from a nap or cause any unnecessary worry for Alice.

Thankfully, Jasper answered the door.

"Hey," he said, sounding just as surprised as Charlie had. "Where's Bella?"

"Damn it," I hissed. "Well, that answers one question. She's not here. You haven't seen her today?"

"No, man. I haven't heard from her since yesterday afternoon. Neither has Ali as far as I know."

"Do you think you could ask her? She's not napping or anything, right?"

"Sure, yeah, she's just trying to keep Xander from breaking everything in the place," he chuckled. "Ali, Edward's here!"

Seconds later, Alice came out holding her son in her arms. He had gotten bigger since the last time I saw him, but he was still so small.

"What's up, Edward? I thought Bella said you were supposed to have a dinner date tonight," she said.

"Well, so did I," I said bitterly. "The only problem is, that doesn't seem to be in the plan right now…" I sighed and tried to gain my composure. I really didn't need to get angry around the baby.

"What are you talking about?" Jasper asked.

I pulled the paper out of my pocket and held it out to him like it was on fire. "Read this. It seems to explain everything."

He cocked an eyebrow and quickly scanned through the words. His scowl deepened as he read through it again before looking up at me.

"This is a 'Dear John' letter," he stated. I nodded, unable to answer any other way. "This is a 'Dear John' letter for you. From Bella."

"So I gathered," I snapped.

Alice quickly rushed into the other room with Xander while I glared at the floor, coming back a minute later with just a baby monitor and closing the door behind her. Then she exploded.

"What do you mean she's breaking up with you? She didn't talk to anyone about this! She fucking loves you more than the fucking sun! The Bella I know would never do this!"

"Then you read the letter and you explain it to me," I challenged her.

She snatched it away from her husband and quickly read through it. Her shoulders relaxed as she finished. "She didn't write it."

"What?" Jasper asked, stunned.

"Bella did not write this letter," she repeated. "Sure, it's her handwriting and whatever, but she didn't write it. She loves Edward and God knows she never talks like this. She did not write it."

"Good," I said. "I was hoping I wasn't imagining things."

Alice looked at me oddly for a few seconds before nodding. "I see you've gotten over whatever insecurities had your balls in an inaccessible jar for three years."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, Alice."

"So, if Bella didn't write this, who did?" Jasper asked, getting back to the matter at hand.

"I don't care," I replied. "I would rather know where she is and that she's okay before I start worrying about who is sabotaging us."

"I hate to admit it, but this whole scheme stinks of Renee and James," he said. "They were almost attached at the hip after the engagement was announced. They planned everything and forced Bella to come along."

"I don't care if he's your brother, man. If he's done something to her, I'm going to fucking kill him," I seethed.

Jasper nodded, obviously agreeing with my anger. "I'll be right there with you."

Alice scoffed. "Men. Always taking it way too far. You don't have to kill him. You just need to rip off his dick and chop it up into tiny pieces while he watches. Then you let him go and let him suffer whenever he wants to ruin some other girl's life."

I cocked an eyebrow as I watched her sit there, calmly sending a text. "Remind me to never get on your bad side." I pulled out my phone, checking it again just in case Bella happened to get back to me. Of course, there was nothing. I sighed and tried to reign in my anger. "Jasper, I need to find her. You can come with me if you want, but I'm going to see that piece of filth you're related to."

As I headed out, I heard Alice assuring her husband that she would have Emmett and Rosalie look around town for her. A few seconds later, Jasper fell into step beside me.

"We'll take my car," he said. "It's easier than giving you directions while you're like this."

"Fine," I said.

While we were in the car, I decided to call Bella's phone again, just in case. She didn't pick up. I let her voicemail message play through so that I could hear her voice. It was pathetic, but I didn't care. When the beep sounded in my ear, I knew I needed to say something. Even if she never heard it, it was the only way I had of communicating with her at that moment.

"Bella… I love you. I can't lose you. Please come back to me," I said before closing my phone yet again.

"We'll find her, man," Jasper insisted. "We have to."

I nodded, but couldn't say anything.

When we finally pulled up to James' apartment building, my entire body tensed. I spent the last three years hating everyone like James. Every time Bella came to me complaining about one of these guys, I wanted to take her away from all of it. She didn't deserve the treatment she got from those assholes. But now that I finally had her – and she was happy with me – someone was trying to ruin that too.

I wanted to beat the shit out of something, and James seemed to be the most likely candidate at the moment.

"What do you want?" James said when he answered the door. "It's late and I'm busy."

We were clearly interrupting something. He was only in a pair of boxers and his hair was thoroughly mussed. I would have gone with a more innocent conclusion if I didn't see two girls moving around further inside.

"Where's Bella?" Jasper asked, getting right to the point.

"Isabella? The bitch that dumped me for this piece of trash?" he answered, gesturing to me. I glared at him, but somehow managed not to hit him.

"Yes, Bella. My best friend. Where is she?"

"I haven't seen her since your wife's party. I thought she was too attached to the hobo to let him go. I'm not sure what she ever saw in you, pal, but she must have finally gotten tired of you and moved on to better things. Lord knows she'll spread her legs for anything if she did for you," he sneered. "Maybe she'll come to her senses and realize she should have married me when she had the chance. Now she'll just be a whore for the rest – What the fuck?"

Listening to him talk about her like that reminded me just how much I really hated him, despite the fact that I'd never officially met him until the party. But knowing that was how he really acted was just too much. My anger boiled over and I launched my right fist into his face.

My only regrets were that I hadn't done it sooner and that I couldn't do it again

Jasper rolled his eyes, but pushed me back away from his brother. "Calm down, man. If you keep that up, we'll never find out where she is. Let me handle it."

"Fuck, Jasper," James sputtered, clutching his nose. I hadn't broken it, but it still had to be pretty painful. "How can you associate with a piece of shit like him?"

"First of all, he's been through more in his life than anyone I know, so he's entitled to lash out every now and again. Second of all, he's a better guy than you'll ever be. And lastly, Bella loves him and he loves her just as much, if not more. I'd say that's good enough," he said calmly. "Now that we've got that out of the way, are you going to tell us where she is?"

"I told you. I haven't seen her. I think Renee mentioned something about taking her to meet one of my old college buddies, though, Laurent Braddock. He's into some pretty kinky shit, from what I've heard. Why don't you just talk to Renee before you flip your shit?"

"She happens to be out of town at the moment," I hissed. "How convenient."

James shrugged as well as he could while he made sure his nose was still functioning. I saw a trickle of blood heading for his top lip and I smiled to myself. "Well, keep me out of it. My hands are clean of that bitch. She was frigid then; it's amazing she's putting out now. Someone else can deal with her."

I pushed passed Jasper and aimed another punch at James' face. It connected perfectly over his eye. I rammed him into the wall behind him.

"Don't ever talk about her that way again," I said, my voice icily calm. "She is a wonderful woman and she deserves more than anyone can ever give her. You are just a no-good, egocentric rich kid who will never appreciate anything you have. Stay away from her or I will come back for you."

He looked stunned. I had no way of knowing if he took my threat to heart or not, but I knew I needed to back off.

"I'll be at the car," I said, walking past Jasper.

He nodded and stayed to talk to his brother, giving me time to gain control. I needed to keep a level head in order to get through this. I paced in front of the building as I tried to sort through my thoughts.

I couldn't lose Bella like I lost my parents. I couldn't deal with that.

Visions of that night passed through my mind.

"Edward, when are you going to find a nice girl and settle down?" my mother asked with a laugh. "This job you plan on getting is great, but you need a family."

"Give him time, Lizzie. He's still in college. Let him have his fun," Dad responded.

"I'm going to pretend that you two aren't fighting over how I'm living my life right now," I said, rolling my eyes and trying to get comfortable in the back seat.

"Hey! I'm on your side," Dad argued.

"You know we just want you to be happy," Mom said.

"I feel like I'm in the middle of an afterschool special or something…"

I felt the car jerk as Dad tried to avoid the other car, but the subsequent crash was inevitable. My head smacked into the top of my seat and I felt the debris of the broken window scratch across my face.

When the spinning in my head finally let up and I was able to look around, my stomach dropped.

"Mom? Dad?"

I could see their figures in front of me, but the dashboard seemed much too close to their bodies.

"No…"

Nonsensical words fell from my mouth as I tried to get out of my seatbelt. I tried calling to my parents, needing them to answer me. Finally, I got free and scrambled forward.

One look was all I needed to know they were gone, but I couldn't admit it.

"Please," I muttered as I looked between them. "No…"

"Edward?" Jasper's voice knocked me out of my memory.

"I'm fine," I assured him, forcefully wiping a tear off my cheek. "Did he say anything else important?"

He shrugged. "He hasn't seen her since the party. He saw Renee once last week and they talked for a little while, but she was on her way to get her hair done. It couldn't have been more than a three-minute conversation. I really don't think he has anything to do with it."

He flexed his hand as we made our way over to his car. I smirked.

"Where'd you get him?" I asked.

Jasper looked sheepish as he started the car. "He may not be able to see well for about a week," he muttered.

"Good," I said, nodding. "He deserved it."

"Damn right, he did," he said. "What are we going to do now? All we have is a name," he added after a while.

For a while, I didn't answer. Then I thought of something.

"That's all we need," I said finally, "but we can't do anything until tomorrow. It's too late tonight."

He nodded. "It's fine. I'm sure she's okay. We'll find her, Edward."

I nodded, but couldn't find the will to respond to him.

Alice was pacing around the room when we walked in. She had her son in her arms as she tried to stay calm. I sighed and took Xander from her as I passed her. I needed something to take my mind off Bella, and Jasper and Alice deserved some alone time.

"Come on, little guy," I whispered. "You need to see someone other than your momma for now."

I took him into the mock-nursery they'd formed out of their old office. It seemed like Xander had everything his little heart could ever desire. I grabbed the stuffed animal from his crib that looked the most worn so far. It was a little lion cub that was softer than most of the baby blankets I'd seen lying around.

"I had a bear when I was your age," I said, teasing the baby in my arms with the lion cub. "I carried that thing everywhere and wouldn't let it go. I called him Ba since I couldn't pronounce the word bear for a long time." I smiled and watched Xander's little arms clasp around the lion's neck when I put it within reach. "My momma made the mistake of letting me take him outside once and he got all dirty. When she tried to wash him, I wouldn't let him go. I thought she wanted to take him away. She knelt down in front of me and told me that when she gave him back to me, he'd be perfect again. She didn't understand that he was still perfect to me, but it didn't matter. She just wanted to keep me healthy. So when your momma wants to clean your lion, trust her. She'll always bring him back."

The little boy in my arms stared up at me in wonder. He reached out to touch my face, so I leaned closer. His fingers covered half my eye as his palm covered my cheek. As I watched, his face became more peaceful as he fell asleep, his hand slowly falling from my face.

"I want you to have a little cousin," I whispered. "I want you to have someone to play with and teach and protect. I want you to be able to know your Aunt Bella. She deserves to see you grow and to spoil you more than your parents want. She should get to see you grow up." I leaned down and kissed the top of his little head. "She should be here with me. She shouldn't be taken away from what makes her happy when she's barely had time to experience it. It's not fair."

I sat down in the rocking chair in the nursery after I put Xander in his crib and watched as he curled his body around the stuffed animal. I couldn't bear to go home then and I didn't want to impose on Jasper and Alice too much. They deserved to have the time to themselves rather than having to worry about me.

The rocking chair was comfortable enough. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back, closing my eyes.

Two hours later, I woke with a start, sweating and panting. Sleep was not going to happen again that night. Worst case scenarios of where Bella could be played on a loop in my dreams. There was nothing I could do for her in any of them.

Taking controlled breaths, I leaned over and held my head in my hands. I couldn't let my emotions take over. Yes, I was scared for Bella and about what she could be going through. But if I started freaking out, so would everyone else and our chances of finding her dropped fast. I needed to stay calm.

Before I knew it, I heard Alice and Jasper moving around in the living room. They must have gotten Xander out of his crib and everything without me noticing. I stretched, feeling my muscles protest my uncomfortable sleeping position.

They both looked up as I walked in the room.

"No hope that this is all a bad dream and she's just in the bathroom, huh?" I asked with a weak smile. They both fumbled for a good answer and I nodded. "Yeah, I kind of figured."

"We'll find her, Edward," Alice said. "We have to."

"Rose and Emmett called last night to say they hadn't seen her and neither had the guys at New Moon Pizza, but everyone's on the lookout for anything," Jasper said. "The police can't do anything at this point, but we'll find her before they need to."

"I'm going to see Charlie," I said, standing up abruptly. I needed to get out of there. I needed to do something.

Jasper nodded. "We'll meet you over there in a little while."

I hurried over to Bella's house, almost getting excited before I remembered that she wouldn't be there. By the time I knocked on the door, I was worse off than before. Charlie looked about the same when he opened the door.

"I take it you still haven't seen her either," he said.

I shook my head and he sighed, letting me in. nothing in the house had changed, but it felt different to me, foreign and cold.

"Any idea what's going on yet?" he asked.

I pulled the letter out of my pocket and handed it to him. "This was waiting for me in Bella's room yesterday. There's no way she could have written it, but someone wants me to believe she's gone."

He skimmed through the letter quickly. "No. This isn't Bella. This is something Renee would do, but not Bella. She loves you too much to ever give you up."

"Have you heard from Renee at all?"

"No, but that's not unusual when she takes off like this. Why? Do you think she might have something to do with this?"

"I have to at least consider it," I said. "Think of how often she's tried to convince Bella to let me go. She is so set on getting Bella married off to a spoiled rich kid that she won't even look twice at me."

He nodded. "I was hoping she would come around, but it doesn't seem like that will ever happen. I'm sorry, son. I don't believe she has anything to do with this, but I will agree that she will never like you."

"Well, right now it's between her and some guy named Laurent Braddock," I said.

"How do you know Braddock?"

"I don't. Jasper and I went to see James last night and he mentioned the name. He said Renee had mentioned something about introducing him to Bella."

Charlie swore loudly. "Renee is insane for ever thinking that," he said through clenched teeth. "That man is scum. Worse than scum. I can't even come up with a proper word to describe him. I don't want my daughter anywhere near him."

"What are you talking about?"

"From what I've heard, he's involved in some bad stuff."

I nodded. "Yeah, James mentioned something about him being a little… adventurous."

Charlie scoffed. "That's putting it lightly. I've listened to him talk about business deals he's made. From the sounds of it… he's involved in human trafficking."

My jaw dropped. "What? No."

"Yes. That is why we can't let this go any further if he's involved."

"Right. Okay. I need to make a call," I said.

Hearing Charlie say that reminded me of the thought I'd had the night before. I pulled out my phone and called a number other than Bella's for the first time in two days.

"Hey, Ed. I was thinking about calling you soon. One of my buddies wants a new design but didn't know who to go to."

"Hey, Garrett. Listen, we can talk about the tattoo a different day. For now, I need you to do me a huge favor," I said.

"What's wrong? Does this have anything to do with the last huge favor I did for you?"

"Not directly…. This is much more important. I need an address for Laurent Braddock," I said.

"Ed… you know I can't do this too often," he hesitated.

"Garrett, Bella's missing. No one has been able to get in touch with her since the night before last, her mother is out of town, and her ex-fiancé is still an asshole as well as completely unhelpful."

"Are you sure she's not just-"

"Garrett," I said. "Bella is the most reliable person I know. She told me she'd call me when she woke up this morning and she loves me. Then she leaves me a letter on her bed to break up with me without telling anyone? No. I don't buy it. And I can't lose her, Garrett. I can't. Please."

He sighed. "Okay, Edward. I'll call you back when I have it."

"Thank you, really. Listen, your next piece will be on the house."

Garrett thanked me and promised to call back as soon as he could.

"So?" Charlie asked when I hung up.

"Now we wait," I said. "I called someone about getting information on Braddock. He said he'd call back soon, but it might take a while." He nodded, but didn't say anything. "I'll be in Bella's room."

For an hour, I sat alone on my girlfriend's bed, clutching her pillow to my chest and wishing she was there. It didn't matter that I was acting like a prepubescent girl. The signs kept pointing to Bella being in trouble. I couldn't ignore this and I couldn't lose her.

Finally, my phone rang. I whipped it out to see the caller ID, hoping it was Bella. It wasn't, of course.

"Garrett. What did you find out?" I asked.

"Edward, this guy is sketchy," he replied. "He changed his name about six years ago from Larry Matthews. He has a few charges on him from before he changed it, but nothing too bad. Bar fight, speeding ticket, consistently late rent…. But he's been a person of interest in some prostitution and human trafficking investigations. It's weird. He has an apartment in the city, but he had a house under his old name. He never sold it."

"Give me both, Garrett," I said, grabbing a pen and paper from Bella's desk.

I copied everything he told me for both addresses. I knew where the apartment was, but I would need directions for the other.

"Edward?" he said when he was done.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

"I will. Thank you."

Jasper and Alice were downstairs when I hurried down to tell Charlie what I'd learned. I quickly explained the situation to them. They were confused by what to do with the two addresses, but I was convinced he would be at the old house. The apartment was too public and too close to home. Looking up the location of the other one confirmed my suspicions. It was located in the middle of a rural, forested area about an hour away.

We decided to split up. Jasper would pick up Emmett before heading to the apartment, just in case. They would call once they knew if she was there. Charlie and I would head out of the city. Alice – and Rosalie when she found out, I'm sure – was disappointed that she wasn't allowed to join in, but she understood that it wouldn't be a good idea.

The car ride was tense to say the least. For the first half of the ride, we waited for the call from Jasper and Emmett. When they confirmed my suspicions, I tensed further. I had no idea what to expect when we got there.

The house was almost a mansion. It was well built and beautiful. I hated it.

I closed my eyes and took a few controlled breaths so that I didn't run into the place guns ablaze.

"What if she's not here?" Charlie asked.

"I sure as hell hope she's not here," I said, getting out of the car.

Charlie followed me up to the door, waiting after I knocked. There was no answer, but there was definitely someone in the house. I could see I light on in one of the rooms toward the back. I knocked again just to be sure no one was going to answer. When no one came, I tried the doorknob.

"Unlocked," I muttered, amazed.

"Sounds like an invitation to me," Charlie replied.

We walked into the house slowly and quietly. I called out once to see if anyone could hear me. The entire place was empty, or so it seemed. We followed the one light we could see and found an open basement door. Of course, that led us down the stairs.

What we found was disturbing. I'd read about the basics of BDSM just to understand what people saw in it, so I recognized some of the items in the room. But I gathered that this went above and beyond the norm. There were toys and devices stored all over the room and I could only guess what most of them did. Behind some kind of bench thing, was a man. He was clearly unconscious and his nose was dripping blood. Charlie looked over and grimaced.

"That's Braddock," he muttered. "Someone got him good."

I studied the body further and noticed the bruising forming on his face. There was a certain angle a punch had to be at to cause that kind of bruising. I knew it well.

I looked around the room to find another door, a hallway, anything. In the back corner, I saw a door that blended into the wall. It was open slightly. I pushed it open to see a figure huddled toward the far side of the small room.

"Bella?" I asked quietly, hopefully.

Her head whipped around. "Edward," she breathed. Her gaze fell to her hand. She was holding it to her chest like she was in pain. "I tucked my thumb. You told me not to tuck my thumb."

I hurried over and pulled her into my arms. "It's okay," I said, smiling. I felt a tear fall down my cheek. "It's okay, baby."

"You said you'd never forgive me if I tucked my thumb in a decent fight, and what did I do? I tucked my thumb," she mumbled.

"Shh," I said, kissing the top of her head. "I lied."

She looked up at me with a small smile. "So where does that leave us? The liar and the girl with the broken thumb?"

I chuckled and held her close. "Together."

"You're such a cheeseball. But you're my cheeseball," she said, snuggling into my chest. Her breathing evened out seconds later and she was asleep, safely back in my arms.

AN: So, yeah... Remember how Bella fell asleep all peaceful-like last chapter? That was a cliffhanger in disguise, lol. Thoughts on the aftermath of that? Please leave a review! Double digits get a teaser for the next chapter.

Next chapter: Bella's POV of the kidnapping.

Also, we are getting to the end. The next chapter is the last official chapter, but I will have an epilogue. Thank you for sticking it out this long and I hope to see you through the end!

-Kaylee