CHAPTER 31 Fox Hunting
"Oh, come in." He's been here for a while. His cheeks are tempered and his feet are bare. I think his blank face is a little too smug. "You're late to the party."
The cold and vacant foyer is cast in Sam's shadow. His shoulder pressed into the wall, eyes boring into Jake's.
The air is so dry that my bottom lip cracks. I stiffly grab Jake's hand, ignoring the cuts and forming bruises. The residual blood makes our fingers sticky. I grip tighter and feel our skin slip.
The three of us step onto the doormat like we're walking through a minefield. The tight square holds us in the small safe zone, prime for the picking once the door closes behind us.
It's just Sam and now Billy waiting for us at the end of the hallway, nobody else from the pack. There's no sign of Sue or any of the other mothers. The yellow lighting lays a path for our feet to follow.
Everything seems to be happening in the wrong order. Like things are playing backward.
Seth's dripping hair threatens to fall into my eyes and make me speak up first, but I resist the urge to complain. His shivering shoulders make my guilt feel that much heavier. He takes the first step off the mat, shoes squeaking against the wooden floors.
Sam's face wrinkles as if he's heard the most annoying dog chew toy. "Not you Seth, fuck off."
Without a word, relieved to be set free, he turns to leave out the front door again. The explosion has been triggered and Jake and I are left to deal with the fallout.
Sam is abrupt and aggressive. His eyes are fiendish under his mask. His energy is wound tight.
Jake's jaw clenches. He's just come down from the fight with Paul. He was coasting the entire ride here, but the high is tanking with the tension.
"Son," Billy warns, his hand resting tiredly on Sam's arm.
"Yeah, I know, Dad— but my time's never cheap. My business is with Jake and his wife."
"Sure, sure. Let's start off with why you have Paul dangling my third in command over the highest cliff." I squeeze Jake's hand when he takes a step forward.
"Because Seth's a pussy just like you. What's taking so long? Always been in a rush to take what's mine. Hurry the fuck up." Sam's hard voice sounds bitter.
"This is the way you two are now? Fighting on sight? Show some respect and talk this out like men." Billy rolls his chair down the hall.
Jake and I stiffly remove our shoes, eyes focused on each other, sharing a brief conversation through our gaze that does little to calm my nerves. Sam has something planned for us.
How elaborate is his poison? Does he know something that Jake doesn't? Did Seth lie? Did he tell Sam's pack where I was? Did Sam see me with Edward?
We walk through the dim hall to join Billy and his demon son in the only lit room. The room we never enter unless it is serious or formal. The room I wouldn't dare enter alone.
I almost trip over my own feet when Sam starts up again, "I heard Jared's mom was here for it all, but I had to see for myself, the newlyweds in the flesh. I guess my invite got lost in the mail." His crazed eyes flare in the heat of his passive anger. He's laser-focused.
Jake's lips barely part when he answers, "You don't seem too surprised."
"Oh, I'm not. You've always been the impulsive type. I knew if they voted for you, she must already be pregnant. Congratulations. It's gotta be a boy for you to think you can cut me out clean."
They stare at one another. The brass radiator makes a tapping kink that rattles my bladder.
"There's nothing to think about. I've been made Alpha. And my son will be the next. You're not a fucking factor."
"So you say." Sam tilts his frame sideways to address my concealed figure, "And Bella, I didn't give you enough credit." His eyes are narrow as he sneers at me. "Clever, really. Jake could only be so lucky. He couldn't have done this without you." His hands begin to harshly clap over the soundtrack of my unsteady heart.
I cringe at his short cackle and applause before he's interrupted by Billy, "Sam, take a seat. All of you take a seat so I can get to the bottom of this."
We collectively shift around the table, slowly. Everyone watches the room as the tension transfers and wafts.
And there it is. My ticket to salvation, sticking out of Sam's back pocket. The leather-bound diary is halfway wedged into the denim pocketing. The red herring is here. It's bulging from the patch pocket as if it were shoved in and wedged between my lungs.
My mouth instantly fills with salt. The oils on my fingers spread and heat up at the sight. I release Jake's hand and let the thought of victory distract me.
Could I fall into his side or feign a fainting spell to swipe it? Could I get Jake to start a fight to cause a distraction? I'm nervous enough to throw up on the table. Who am I kidding? I don't know how to pick a pocket.
We don't sit until Sam does. He and Jake are finally at eye level with their dad and cautiously separated by the sacred relic, the table. A raft in the middle of the black hole in the center of the room. Its depths are only as deep as their willingness to go fishing.
"These two are funny." Sam snorts in disgust. " I just got off the docks yesterday and a big ass ship didn't come to port. So I got to scratchin' my head and immediately thought of you, Miss Bella. I know you know Michael Newton. You're now married to my brother. You know Edward Cullen. What a coincidence or would you call it irony?" His eyes are round with feigned confusion.
The vomit is lodged in my throat.
"What do a childhood friend and a frequent customer at Bella's job have to do with anything?" Jake casts his fishing rod for me. It's pitched into the darkness. His voice shields me from my own defensive reply, as we wait for a strong bite.
"That's what we're calling him now, a frequent customer. Really, Bella, you deserve a round of applause. You've even got Jacob fooled. Either my brother is stupid or you've got everyone wrapped around your finger. I guess that's how you got the baby…"
"What are you getting at?" I can't take it anymore. His open accusations are constricting my breathing.
"Honorable, to give Jake a baby before Emily could sneeze. All to ensure he becomes Alpha. Everybody knows you fucked your way to the top, but come on. If the elders knew about your relationship with Edward Cullen and how you've been selling us out—"
"What the hell are you talking about? Sam this is—" Billy's voice breaks the eye contact between Sam and me.
Sam waves his hand toward his dad warning, "Just a minute 'dear father', I'm getting to it… Where were you yesterday? Maybe Jake knows but this time I want Bella to answer."
We have a staring contest, playing chicken with one another. He's turned me to stone once again. Just like in the diner that night, I'm asked a question I don't know how to answer, but I'd be a fool to give the response he expects.
What do you think you know? How much have you found out and how much of it will be a lie? How much can I clean up without giving him what he wants?
My silence is deafening. I've taken a breath too long to answer.
"Uhm, still nothing," He goads. "I'll give everyone a hint. Bella took a trip to Port Angeles yesterday all by herself. And I found out Mr. Swan is up from deckhand on a third-rate subsidiary, to boatswain on a Voltaire ship."
"I haven't talked to my dad in months. Didn't know anything about that."
"Really!" Sam leans across the table, his darkness digging into my weathered resolve. "Yet you've been seen with Edward Cullen more times than I can count on one hand."
"He comes to find me whenever he wants to get in touch with Jake." I stare into Jake's eyes, it's the truth. I don't have a relationship with Edward. That's not what this is.
"Everybody already knows that. He finds Bella neutral." Jake stares deeply into my eyes as Sam slouches back into the chair's frame.
"But explain why you went to Port Angeles yesterday. If you say there's nothing between you and the Cullens, then who were you with and where?"
"I go out there all the time. A lot of us do. Well, I should say everyone from Fork's High does. That's where we go to burn off some steam." Goddamnit, Bella, lie better or shut the hell up.
"Try again because nobody believes you. Did you make some sort of deal with the Cullens? Are you snooping around for them? That's their thing. They like to make deals that don't involve money."
My heart sputters at the mention of the word.
Did someone hear me talking to Edward?
Did Edward go back on his word and tell someone about our deal?
The paranoia is getting to me. The ledger is so close. How many times has my future been within arm's reach?
I'm turning red. The blood is rushing to the top of my skull. I can feel a layer of sweat all over my body.
"The shit just gets better. I'll give it to you, Bella. You almost had me! I thought I had a turncoat in my pack." He throws a wicked smile at Jake, playfully adding, " I thought she was just some dub innocent girl from the bottom of the fish tank. Be careful lil' bro, she might set you up next."
"My wife has nothing to do with your scheme. And this will be the last time you fucking accuse her of betraying our bond to cover your ass. Dad told you to stop trying to grift off their ships. How could she even know what you planned on doing? Why would Bella care who you stole from? Stupid she is not, but you on the other hand…"
"I'm not stupid, Jake. I see everything that's going on! I have eyes and ears everywhere."
"This is between the pack and our elders. You're a complete jackass and I'm so glad Dad is here to see it."
"Your wife's a fucking liar and I'm here to expose it! Did you tell her I was skimming? Has she been listening to our phone calls? I know you're not that reckless with your pillow talk. Only a Cullen would know the exact container Voltaire's cargo was supposed to come in yesterday. So who knew we were waiting on it? Who else could've found out, but someone with inside info? So what gives, Bella? Did Cullen give Charles Swan the waybill so he could lift it without a paper trail? Jared showed me the ship manifest. It's like the ship was never scheduled to dock here, instead of the container being rescheduled for a new destination, the whole ship was. I can't explain it right because it doesn't make any sense. You must be working for the Cullens. You fucking live here now. It has to be you!"
"I'm not working for anyone. I didn't do anything. If you don't understand what happened to the ship, how could I?" My voice shakes under the pressure.
"Go ahead and try, Bella. I wanna see you lie your way out of this one. How on earth did you pull this off?"
"I'm a fucking high schooler, not some sort of mastermind with connections. I waitress at the diner–"
Jake cuts me off, his presence overpowering my terror. "Enough! Don't try to insert Bella into your bullshit. You did this! You threatened the survival of this tribe the moment you decided to steal from them! You didn't even tell me what you were planning until the night before the drop."
"How the fuck did they know I had the ledger?"
"They didn't have to, dumbass. Cullen probably redirected all his shit once he found out the ledger was compromised. You better be grateful they didn't wait for the ship to arrive and kill whoever showed up to pry the container open."
" Don't give me that self-righteous bull shit. Anybody would have taken the ledger. All that money in the palm of your hand? Every move, every penny accounted for before it even happens."
"You and this fucking ledger. Give it up! The book is useless. They know it wasn't lost or destroyed. They know it's in the wrong people's hands. You have no 'master plan' or look into the future. You didn't outsmart the Cullens. Leave the prophesying to Old Quil. The Elders are sick of your get-rich-quick business model."
Sam can't seem to stop shaking his head, "Who would take the chance in redirecting a whole container mid-route or redirecting a ship for that matter, right before its last drop?"
Jake raises his voice above Sam's, "Father, he is not fit to lead this pack! He is not fit to be my beta. Release him of this rank! He's fixed on everything that we will suffer for in the end. His greed will wipe us out!"
Sam reaches into his back pocket and tosses the ledger on the table. "I'm forced to pay for the sins of my bloodline while my brother reaps the benefits! I deserve all of my desires. I'm the one who is looking out for the power of this tribe."
There it is.
As if it's screaming with Jake and Sam, the ledger sucks me into a heated back and forth. The book shrills in urgency. I can't hear above its presence.
Hurry up, before the pages relax on the table or disappear again. You need me. You have nothing without me. You did all of this for nothing, all the pain and anxiety will be for nothing if you don't reach out now.
I have to return it. My sanity depends on it. I'm hearing voices. A sickness that threatens delirium at the sight.
My ears whistle and echo as Sam unravels, "You just wanted to be Alpha. You want to be me! You think you're smarter than me? You and this bitch think you're better!"
"That will be the last time you call my wife a bitch! I am better than you. I am smarter than you. The tribe belongs to the spirits and that's why you will fail every time."
"And you are not above them. If you don't bow to me, you are resisting grace. Obey the natural order. Mom gave birth to me first."
"If you were doing this for the tribe, the honor would come before your desire. You were born first but you were not chosen to be Alpha."
"This is my shit! You bow to me!"
"Grace is for the humble and not for the prideful. I am the chosen one. Save yourself the embarrassment and step down quietly. For the last time, Dad has made his decision."
I can't take it anymore. I reach for it. Fingertips fused to the spine as I claw it across the table. Like talons have grown and carried my kill, my mouth waters in anticipation.
As it reaches the space before me, I notice the room has gone silent.
Jake is staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face. His lips are slightly parted, eyebrows bunched together. His forceful breathing separates us.
Jake, I have to take it… it's the only way… I'm doing this for us.
"Go ahead, read it," Sam plainly demands.
Billy's untrusting eyes scour my stricken face from across the table.
I refuse to peel open the little black book, my fingers still attached to the waxy cover. "It doesn't belong to us."
"What did you say?" Sam's menacing voice draws me out of my subversive thoughts.
I stiffly turn to Jake for help. I plead, "We have to give it back. It doesn't belong to us." Back me up. Trust me without question. It's the only way I can save us. It's the only way the voices will stop.
"I said fucking read it!" Sam's intimidating voice heightens my urgency.
"Dad, if you can look away while he kills their men and takes souvenirs at the tribe's detriment, please allow us to return the ledger and right our wrongs."
"She's clearly working with them! She knows something. Can't you see I'm not the one that is putting this tribe in danger? Look at what he has brought into this home." Sam's intimidation tactics don't move Billy.
He's slow to respond, clearly thinking through conflicting arguments between his two sons. The internal conflict that I've brought into his home has magnified a deeply rooted rivalry that he's refused to acknowledge in my presence.
Sam won't let it go. His snake-like tongue flails, and his fangs leak, "How much influence do you think Jake will have after I tell everyone what you've done? How you and your father are working for the Volturi. Do you think your precious baby boy will have a real chance? He will never be accepted in this room! We don't tolerate betrayal within the tribe, especially from an outsider. Rats don't survive around here."
This sickness kicks back up again. I feel crowded and open all at once.
"Is that a threat?" My existence is a liability that a lot of people wish to be eliminated. This is a direct attack on my son's existence that I'm not sure Jake alone can protect us from. He can't be with me at every waking moment.
What have I done?
Physically cold from the thought of him harming my son and ruining Jake, rip the seams of my composure. I'm being pushed into a corner, pushed to my limits where I'm forced to spar my way out.
The threats have to stop before I kill someone myself. "This is the second time today you've done it so bluntly. The first would be earlier today when Paul threatened to kick me in the stomach. I don't like threats."
How much do I know myself?
My voice comes deeper than I've heard it before. "I can do the same. I can tell Edward that you have the ledger and you refuse to give it back. That you planned on using it to rob them. That you turned on the pack and made your own gang that's a third of its original size. That you acted alone, against the elders and the new Alpha. That he should give the Volturi your name as the lone person to blame. I'd like to see who's still willing to stand behind you when they find out. Let's see who has the bigger problem when everyone knows everything. We both know who the real threat to the tribe is. You happened way before I got here." My head has tilted on an axis and I can feel my eyes looking up at him from my lowered sights.
I'm fighting darkness with darkness. The wicked treachery consumes me and licks at the soles of my feet. I focus on pulling it back in and burying it beneath the dirt.
"I try to be nice. I always follow the rules. I think my good intentions win in the end, but I'm not above telling the Cullens how you came into possession of their property. It would be a complete truth, wouldn't it? Now that you've revealed why you wanted it in front of everyone who matters. Do you really think I'll let you drag Jake down with you?" I almost don't recognize the depth of my anger.
"There she is, the true Bella; the real Bella. I presume the reason my brother chose you."
"Sam, stop this, now." Billy's fatigued body has folded in on itself.
"And we're supposed to believe she didn't sell us out. There's no use in me wasting any more of my time. I see now, that my own father has been conned by a two-dollar whore from Forks. When she takes this place down to the nubs, I can't wait to see my own father begging me on his knees…" Sam abruptly gets up from his seat and heads for the door.
Billy's heartbroken expression makes the strongest man in the tribe look defeated in the face of Sam's savagery.
Before he is entirely out of the room, Jake slowly declares the unexpected from over his shoulder, "After this, I realize we will never speak again as brothers, but Sam, I want you to know. If you ever touch my wife, I will kill yours."
Jake stares deeply into my eyes, the conflict and criticism clearly waiting for me.
Life is kicking my ass, but I still wanted to drop this for anyone who's still here. I wanted to hold on to this for a little longer, but I think I'm just a little rusty and decided to pull the trigger. Trying to get back in the grove… Love all of you and thank you for reading!
