A/N Hi guys! I am sooo sorry for such a late reply. As you know I had been incredibly busy at work and just didn't have the time or energy to give you a chapter. Not a good one anyway. Anywho when it came to finally having some time off I ended up in hospital! It turns out I had gallstones, inflamed gallbladder, infected liver, fluid on the lungs, jaundice and plenty other things. I spent two weeks in the hospital and had surgery. All is better now but I've been getting better and so there you have it. I hope to get chapters out more frequently now. Only the plus side the doctors are getting cuter, people! They were beautiful!

Also to the guest who left a very sarcastic comment about the three chapters… If you're going to leave a snarky comment at least make it more original. Also, like I've said before, these stories are for me for fun and something I love sharing with you and that's it.

Anyway, I am sorry again, but I hope you can all understand why I have been MIA lately.

Love you all and please review!

Edward froze at the door, listening for sounds coming from inside the house. His breath was hard, his heart pounding and he knew he had enough adrenaline in his body to lift a car.

Shaking his head, he forced himself to focus. Bella was in there and so was the bastard who had been stalking her for months. The bastard who had terrorized her and made her feel unsafe in her own home.

It was going to end, he knew. It was going to be over tonight.

With a deep breath, he forced himself to be a cop instead of a worried lover. Being that man wouldn't help Bella. It would only get her killed.

Quietly he let himself inside the small, dark house. Edward frowned, he couldn't hear anything, and he couldn't see anyone. He began to worry that he'd came to the wrong place and was too late, but he had to make sure.

Without making a sound Edward went from room to room, searching for Bella. As long as he found her then it would be okay. If he found her he could keep her safe.

The house was empty though, no one was inside. Edward was too late. By this point anything could have happened to her, she could be anywhere.

It was then that he saw the door in the small and dingy kitchen. His hope returned his determination to find her back in full force. Silently he opened the door, cringing when the fucker creaked like it was in actual pain.

Quickly he tip toed down the wooden staircase that he genuinely feared wouldn't take his wait. His fear vanished when he heard the labored breath coming from deeper into the basement.

That's where he found her. Bella ay on the basement floor, her wrist handcuffed to a rusting radiator.

"Bella," he breathed as he rushed towards her.

Dropping to his knees, he wrapped her lifeless body in his arms. It was then he saw the blood pouring from a gaping wound in her side. He hadn't been able to see it in the darkness.

"Edward," she breathed. Her voice was so weak Edward almost didn't hear her.

He smiled, even as tears filled his eyes. "I'm here, baby. I found you."

Bella's eyes fluttered before meeting his. Nothing had ever been more beautiful than her big brown eyes.

"I'm dying," she whispered.

No! He thought. Bella couldn't die. He'd only just gotten her back. "No, baby, you're not going to die. I'm here now. I found you. I'm going to get you to the hospital and everything will be fine. You'll see," he whispered desperately.

Bella shook her head. "No. I'm dying. You were too late. You're always too late. Why Edward?"

Pain speared through him at her quiet words and the truth that rang with them. "Why what, honey?"

"Why do you always let me down?" she breathed before her breath hitched and her heart stopped beneath his hands.

"Bella," he sobbed, shaking her lifeless body roughly. "Bella!"

A voice, dark and sinister came out of the shadows. "You're too late, Edward. She's mine."

"No!" Edward shouted at he jolted upright.

Covered in sweat, his heart pounding in fear, Edward took in his surroundings. He wasn't in the dark basement filled with death, but on his couch.

It was a dream. It was all a dream. Bella was a live and safe and out of that bastards reach.

Edward fell back onto the couch with a sigh of relief. It was then he realised that his cell phone was blaring from his trouser pocket.

Grunting, he reached roughly into his pocket and dragged out the ringing cell phone. "What?" he snarled, too unnerved to be polite.

"Edward, where the fuck have you been?" Emmett growled from the other end. "I've been calling you for a half an hour."

Edward glanced at his watch and blinked. He'd been asleep for over three hours. It only felt like minutes. "Why? What's up?"

There was a long pause. "It's Bella."

"What the fuck happened?" Edward snarled as he entered Bella's house.

The house that was more like a mansion was in a secluded area. A good place to get away from paparazzi and any overzealous fans. And yet somehow the one person she was supposed to be protected from had gotten through her security, through her alarms and gotten into her fucking house.

As soon as Emmett had said Bella's name, Edward had been on his feet and heading for his car. After he'd rattled off Bella's address he'd filled Edward in on what had happened. Someone had been in Bella's house and had slaughtered her small dog.

He'd been in her house. He could have taken her, he could have killed her. Anything could have happened and it was pretty fucking clear in his mind that her security, her alarms would have been useless.

The interior of the house was lovely, with its high ceilings and its tasteful decoration. It didn't have Bella's touch, anyone would have known that. She had always loved color and this place didn't have that.

Or it hadn't, he thought as he entered the living room and say blood spattered walls and furniture. "Fuck."

The living room was packed with people. Some were dusting for finger prints; others were taking blood samples to determine whether all of the blood was from the canine or someone else. Others were taking evidence of the message left on the wall.

Soon.

Over his dead body. Edward would never let the bastard anywhere near her, he vowed as fury spread through him. He preferred the anger that flowed through his veins, it was better than the debilitating terror that had threatened to overtake him.

He could use anger. He could use his fury at the situation to help him, but fear would only handicap him.

"Where is she?" he snapped as one of the officers that was standing around doing jack shit in his opinion.

"She's in here, Edward," Emmett called. "In the kitchen."

With a murderous glare to everyone in his line of sight, Edward stalked in the direction of Emmett's voice. On any other day he would have been impressed by the sheer size of the house, tonight he couldn't give a fuck. He just wanted to get to Bella.

He found her sitting at the dining room table, that bastard Whitlock sitting beside her, gently smoothing down her long hair. It was matted, he noticed. With blood, he thought with horror.

Ignoring the warning glance that Emmett gave him as he passed his friend, Edward marched straight to Bella and tugged her around to face him. Bella jumped under his touch, but he didn't stop.

When she was fully turned to him, Edward bent down so he wasn't looming over her and made an effort to calm his rage. He would only scare her.

Softly he ran his hands over her exposed arms and legs, making sure that she wasn't harmed. She was freezing, he thought. "Get her something warm to drink. And some clothes," he ordered, to who he didn't know nor did he care.

"Already on it," Emmett replied from above him.

Edward nodded as he took her icy hands and held them in his, trying to warm them with his heat. "Bella," he whispered when he took in her glassy eyes.

She wasn't as out of it as he had thought. Bella's dark eyes shot to his and he felt himself breathe completely for the first time since he'd gotten the call.

"They killed my dog, Edward. The bastard slaughtered my dog," she whispered as she squeezed his fingers.

"I know, baby. I will find the son of a bitch. I promise you that."

"How?" she demanded desperately. "He was in my house, Edward. All this security and alarms mean nothing, because he got into my house."

"I know," Edward replied softly. "You know me, Bella. You trust me to do my job, right?"

Bella looked into his eyes for so long that he started to wonder whether she did or not. Finally she replied, "Yes. I do."

Raising their joined hands he pressed a kiss to her frigid fingers. "That's my girl. Just remember that. I will find the bastard and I will make him pay."

Bella nodded shakily. "Okay."

Getting to his feet, Edward turned his eyes on Whitlock. "And where exactly were you tonight?" he demanded. He didn't even try to hide the suspicion in his tone. If anything he wanted it to be Whitlock. It was two birds with one stone in his mind.

Bella opened her mouth to protest but before she could speak a childlike voice drawled from behind him, "Just what exactly are you accusing my husband of?"

Edward spun round and came face to face with a small woman with short black hair and huge blue eyes. She barely hit five feet and the tight jeans and t-shirt she wore couldn't hide the compact little body that she had.

Her words hit him. "Husband?" he demanded.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Yes, my husband. He was with me, if you must know. We got a call from Bella after she called the cops and raced over here. Now get out of my way," she ordered briskly as she stormed past him to hand Bella a steaming cup of hot chocolate.

Husband, he thought. Whitlock was married to the small woman who was currently wrapping her small arm around Bella's shoulder and giving her a reassuring squeeze.

Edward, in spite of everything, wanted to smile. He remembered the day he found out that Bella had moved on and was in a relationship with her new manager. Then again it wasn't difficult since it was all over the television and magazines.

That day Edward had developed an irrational and intense hatred for Jasper Whitlock.

When he'd seen him yesterday morning in the recording studio he'd wanted to rip his throat out and laugh while he did it. He'd hated it when Rosalie had reminded him that Jasper was protective of Bella, that he'd been looking out for her when in his mind it was Edward's place.

But now he knew he was married...

"How are you doing, Bella?" the little woman asked as she rubbed her arm up and down, trying to use friction to warm Bella up.

Bella's smile held no humor. "I'll be better when I can get the hell out of this house and into a hotel."

The woman scoffed. "No way, you're coming to stay with us. We'll get you a nice hot bath and then we'll toss Jazz out of the house for a couple of hours and watch a movie. How about that?"

Bella smiled as she rested her head on the woman's shoulder. "That sounds nice, actually."

Edward watched on as Whitlock wrapped his arm around both women before looking up at Edward with cold, furious eyes. "How did this happen? I hired the best to keep her safe. This shouldn't have been possible."

Edward met his eyes, letting him see that his rage was something that they shared. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

With that Edward gave the three a little privacy as he pulled Emmett into a corner. "What the fuck happened? I though Whitlock got enough heavies to keep her safe."

Emmett lowered his tone to match Edwards. "I questioned every single person when I arrived. No one saw anything. No one has a clue as to how anyone got past them."

Edward scowled. "Inside job?"

His friend shrugged his shoulders. "Doubtful. From the look of the background checks that Whitlock had done these men are professionals. They're good, Edward."

Edward cursed. "Which the means so is this bastard. It also means that he must have been watching the house for some time. Whoever it is knows their schedule, it's the only way he could get past every single one of them without being noticed."

"And knows the security codes," Emmett added. "Bella isn't safe here. The question is where can she go that she will be safe? It's one thing her going with her friends but is she even safe there? And if the press gets wind of this they'll be on her like flies around shit. She won't be able to hide."

"Well, they know nothing for now and I want to keep it that way. The longer this is kept quiet the better our chances are of keeping her safe."

Emmett nodded as he checked his watch. Edward took in the dark circles and rumpled clothes; he wasn't the only dragged out of his sleep he knew. "Luckily, Bella has a lot of fucking security. Cameras everywhere, so we should be able to get the little prick on camera."

"Good," Edward growled. God help him, he thought, because when he got his hands on whoever was terrorizing Bella, they would wish they had never been born.

"How long is this going to take?" Alice Whitlock muttered impatiently. She had never been known for her patience and after the call they'd received from their friend earlier tonight she was on edge.

"I don't know, sweetie," Jasper sighed as he ran a hand over her back.

"We've been here for over an hour. Bella is covered in blood, cold and exhausted. She doesn't need to be here."

"While I agree with you do realised I'm sitting right here," Bella drawled from in between them.

Alice smiled. "You're pretty hard to miss since you look like an extra from The Walking Dead. How are you holding up?"

Bella sighed. After discovering the blood written words she'd screamed bloody murder. That, luckily, had the security team rushing inside. From then on it had been a blur, she remembered calling Alice, she remembered her and Jasper rushing into the house, but it was all hazy. The only clear thing had been Edward.

Bella had heard his snarling voice as soon as he'd entered the house. He had growled and ordered, but when he'd knelt at her feet, taking her blood covered hands in his without hesitating, she'd felt safe.

The thing about Edward was that while he may have been the worst boyfriend, he was a damned good cop. Bella could still remember the night's he would stay awake, the hours he would put in to catch the bad guy. He didn't just switch off at the end of the day.

If anyone could catch this whack job, it was him. Bella knew believed that more than anything.

"Where's Passion Fruit?" she whispered thinking of her little cat that was probably terrified.

Jasper chuckled. "We don't know, sweetie. The cat will turn up when it's hungry."

Bella scoffed. "The monster killed Mango. What's to say that we won't find he's done exactly the same to my cat?"

Alice frowned. "I'll ask them."

"Edward, you're going to want to see this," Emmett growled from behind me.

Edward had left Bella alone with the Whitlock's while he went to check on everything else. He'd looked on in revulsion at the mess the fucker had made of Bella's dog. The only bright side was that Sandy, a member of the crime scene guys, had found blood on the dog's teeth. Sandy couldn't wait to get back to the lab and try to cross match it. Hopefully this bastard was in the system.

Emmett on the other hand had gone to check the security footage that had been recorded tonight. Edward knew as soon as he heard his friend's voice that it wasn't going to be good.

Following his friend to the office where Jenson Jones, Bella's head of security, had logged them into the main computer, Edward prepared for the worst.

The office was large, like everything else in the damned house, with a huge oak desk taking up most of the space. Filing cabinets lined the walls as well as multiple television screens. As he closed the door behind him, Emmett motioned to one showing the back of the property.

"Look here," Emmett ordered as he pressed play.

With narrowed eyes Edward watched the stone wall for minutes, wondering what was about to be shown when two gloved hands appeared. "Shit," he muttered as he watched a man climb over the wall and land gracefully at his feet.

The figure on the screen was broad shouldered, tall, and completely covered in black from head to toe. There wasn't a part of him, and it was definitely a him, that was exposed.

"I know," Emmett murmured at Edwards's growl of frustration. "I've already got guys checking footage of the surrounding areas and checking the back of the property. If he even left a shoe print they'll find it."

Edward nodded as he folded his arms across his chest. Despite Emmett's reassurances he was still furious. This man knew where Bella lived and had easily came into her home. His dream kept flashing through his mind; Edward arriving too late and finding Bella dead, her attacker still there.

He mentally shook his head, he had to get his head in the game or he was useless to everyone.

"It gets worse," Emmett warned Edward as he watched the hooded figure on the screen evade every single member of security.

It was worse than Edward had thought. Not only had he gotten onto the property but he seemed to know exactly when one of the men went of his rounds and easily evaded detection. This meant that the bastard had been watching for a long time, waiting for his chance to get to Bella.

"He knows the routine, how can this get fucking worse?" Edward growled.

Emmett sighed, knowing this wasn't going to go well. "Jenson," he ordered.

Edward tensed as he watched the hooded figure make his way across the property... and straight up to Bella's back door.

"Fuck me," Edward snarled as the man, pressed in the alarm code and walked through the door as casual as anything. It was like the bastard had no fear, no worry that he was surrounded by trained professionals. That he didn't care that he was breaking into a woman's home in the middle of the night.

"How did he get the code?" he snapped, at who he didn't know.

It was Emmett who replied. It was Emmett who was the only one brave enough to approach him with such restrained violence in his voice. "We don't know, Edward. The company has been called and all the codes have been changed and will be changed daily from now on."

Edward shook his head; jaw clenched so hard that Emmett worried it would shatter. "Not good enough. It could have easily have been Bella and I won't tolerate that."

Emmett flinched. "Then you're not going to like this," he warned his friend.

Edward's breath hissed out as the screen switched to show the man making his way calmly through Bella's house. He walked through the kitchen and the halls without hesitation, showing that he knew the layout well.

"Shit," he hissed as he watched the trespasser begin to climb the stairs. "No way. No fucking way."

Edward had never known such rage as he watched the mystery trespasser make his way calmly to the bedroom he knew had to be Bella's. The screen flickered for a moment and then a dark room appeared on the screen. A dark room with books covering the walls, a guitar on the small comfortable seat by the windows and a sleeping Bella in the large bed.

"Fuck," Edward growled as his fists tightened.

Even though he'd seen Bella, he knew she was safe; Edward couldn't control the overbearing fear that beat at him. It was stupid, a waste of time, he knew but the thought of her being hurt stole his breath and all but floored him.

He stood there, feeling helpless, as the trespasser calmly made his way around the room. He touched her things which would have been a good thing had he not been wearing gloves. Shit.

Edwards breath still as the masked figure turned slowly towards the bed, towards Bella. Slowly, he stepped closer and closer until he eventually hovered directly over the sleeping Bella.

She's safe, he had to tell himself. She's downstairs with her friend and Jasper fucking Whitlock drinking hot chocolate. You weren't too late, she's safe. He repeated this over and over as he watched, helpless as the man stood over her. For a long time he just stood there, he didn't touch her, he didn't even come any closer, and he just stood there looking down at her.

For some reason Edward found this even more frightening. Or at least he thought that until a gloved hand reached out and gently stroked back Bella's long dark tresses. The action was both possessive and tender and cause a red haze to come over Edward.

Snarling he strode towards the wall and punched it. Without pausing he struck the wall again and again until skin broke and blood was splattered on the wall. His blood. Edward didn't know why he felt such satisfaction in hitting something so hard until he bled, but he did.

It was Emmett's growling voice and beefy hand over his that stopped his outburst. Without thinking Edward raised his bloody fist, about to attack his friend.

"Go ahead," Emmett snapped. "If you think it will make you feel any better, then go ahead. Take a swing at me."

Grunting, Edward stalked away from his best friend and partner. The temptation to ram his fist into someone's face was too strong and despite his rage at the bastard, at the useless security and his own impotence, he knew he didn't want to hurt his friend.

"You have to get your head together, Edward. You're no good to anyone, especially Bella, if you're too focused on your own bullshit. You have to be a cop, Edward."

Even though he knew he made sense, Edward resented Emmett's calm words. Turning back to him, he glared at his oldest and most trusted friend and wondered whether or not he should have punched him when he had the chance. He still might.

"Fuck you, Emmett. When its Rosalie in the kitchen covered in blood, scared and hounded by a fucking lunatic then you can stand there and tell me to be a fucking cop."

Emmett stood there and glared at his friend. "Bella isn't your wife, Edward. She isn't your girlfriend. Hell, you haven't spoken to her in years. Now, if you can't get your head in the game then you need to walk away because your no good to anyone. Especially her. So make your choice now." With that he turned his back on Edward and continued to watch the footage with Jenson.

Edward tried to take deep breaths, resisted the urge to beat the living shit out of his partner. Emmett was right; Bella wasn't his wife or his girlfriend. Edward had let her walk out of his life years ago and had been too stupid to realize that he'd just lost the best thing that had ever happened to him. It was something he always regretted.

But he was wrong when he thought just because she didn't wear his ring or was labeled as his girlfriend meant it changed the way he felt. He loved her. He had fucked up and let her walk away from him for his own selfish reasons, but he had loved her. He had loved Bella for years and he wouldn't let her be harmed and he wouldn't let her go. Not again.

So he would take Emmett's advice and be a cop.

"Not long now, Bella," Jasper promised as he took his seat beside her. He was tired and pissed off and all he wanted was his wife and friend out of here and get some sleep. He wouldn't be forgetting the sight of his friend terrified and covered in blood anytime soon.

Over Bella's head, Alice met his eyes and smiled tiredly. She'd had a long day and the last thing he'd wanted was to drag her out of bed but she'd insisted. Bella was her friend, too. How many women would be friends with the ex? He was a lucky bastard and he knew it.

"That's good," his wife smiled as she rubbed her hand up and down Bella's blood splattered arm. It made Jasper feel sick just looking at it. What monster would hurt a defenseless animal?

Luckily Bella seemed too out of it to realize she was still covered in Mango's blood. A thing he was grateful for. She loved that dog, fretted over it as if it were her child. Now his guts and blood covered the floors and the walls.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Not long and we can get you out of here."

Bella looked up at them with a small smile. "I'm okay, guys. I promise. I just want to get into a shower and a bed." She turned to Jasper with a playful smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I think considering everything I've been through I should also get to have an hour in that hot tub of yours."

Jasper grinned, knowing that she couldn't care less about the hot tub but needed them to stop tip toing around her and act normally. He would give her that. "We'll see about that."

"Yes, we will."

The three of them looked up to see Edward looming over them. Jasper took in the detective. So this was the man who he'd silently competed with when he and Bella were together. The man he could never make her forget. At one time he would have resented the man, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Jasper had loved Bella and would have married her if she had loved him the same way. If that had happened, if she didn't have the memory of this man haunting her then he would have never met Alice. Alice was the greatest thing to ever happen to him. She had shown him what it truly meant to be in love and to be in a partnership. Yes, he had loved Bella and had wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, but it wasn't until he met Alice that he realised what love truly was and that he'd never felt that way with Bella. He should thank the man really.

Alice, his wonderful wife, glared up at Edward. "How much longer until we can take her home? She's tired and in shock. We need to take her home. Now."

Edward frowned down at her. "Bella won't be going home with you."

Jaspers head snapped from his wife to the detective. "What do you mean?"

The detective didn't even glance at them; he looked down at Bella with determined eyes. "Bella's coming home with me."

A/N So what did you think? Let me know!