A/N Twilight series and all recognisable characters are owned by Stephenie Meyer. I just love messing with them.

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CHAPTER NINE

Previous (BPOV)

"I cried like a baby for nearly an hour."

Leah grinned at me with genuine approval. I was shocked by the change it brought to her face, the warmth and affection that brought her eyes to life.

"Forgive the cliche question from psyche 101, but how did it make you feel?"

I smiled at her, the lightness that had begun this morning and built over the day drifting above me like a helium cloud.

"It felt good."

~ * ~

EPOV

Alice tossed a heavy manilla file in front of me with a low thump. She hopped up onto the edge if my desk, delicately crossing her legs and folding her tiny hands over her child-size tailored skirt suit.

I took a sip of the burning hot lava Emmett was trying to call coffee and raised an eyebrow questioningly at Alice. "New client?"

"Yes, she's coming in at ten. Angela de Luca, formerly Angela Webber. And I'd brace yourself - something tells me this is going to be a difficult one."

"How so?"

"The file is right in front of you, Edward."

I rolled my eyes. "As you're so fond of telling us all, you apparently know everything. So why don't you just give me the Cliffs Notes version?"

She sighed and scooped the file back off the desk, pulling out a medical report and several X-rays. I glanced at them briefly, enough to see a variety of broken bones and the word 'contusion' appearing with disturbing regularity in the handwritten notes. "Domestic abuse case, trying to get away from her husband. Well, soon-to-be ex-husband."

I frowned, furrowing my brow in mild confusion. "Sounds like a straightforward security detail. Why haven't you handed this off to Emmett already?"

"I'm not stupid, Edward - of course Emmett will be involved in protecting her, but it's more complicated than that." Then lower, under her breath, "Which you'd know if you read the file."

"Complicated how?"

"Well, for one thing her husband is Felix de Luca."

I choked on my coffee a little. "Shit," I breathed. "The Senator's son?"

"The one and only. He's using every one of his daddy's dirty little connections to drag the divorce out and get away with terrorising Angela." She gestured towards the medical documents. "She has a full file of medical evidence that he beats the shit out of her, but he always ends up with an airtight alibi on the rare occasion the police have bothered sniffing round when she ends up in the hospital."

"Airtight how?"

"Always prominent members of the community, usually more than one. Never public occasions, always private events - but half the cops are in Senator de Luca's pocket and they never investigate too deeply. I'd really love to know what kind of dirt the de Lucas have that gets that many people to lie through their teeth for them." Her voice was disgusted and her eyes flashed. "It looks like Felix even paid some guy to claim he was having an affair with Angela and he was the one who'd beaten her. He's in jail now and the court transcripts show he was oddly cooperative through the whole process."

"Can we prove Felix paid him off?"

Alice shook her head. "Not yet, but Jazz is working on it. A deposit was made to an account in the Caymans the day before the guy went to the police and 'confessed', apparently overwhelmed with remorse." She gave a delicate snort, expressing her contempt and disbelief. "Just over a million dollars - not bad for less than eighteen months in jail."

I arched a brow. "Tell Jasper to keep digging. I doubt official channels are going to work with this one, so our best bet might just be to find something on de Luca dirty enough to get him to back off." I remembered the brief scraps of information I'd heard on Felix, then added, "Or at least get his father to make him back off." Senator de Luca would probably slaughter his own son to avoid negative publicity.

Alice nodded, flicking absently through the file. "That what Jazz and I figured," she mused. "But I was also thinking I'd follow him, or at least follow Angela and wait for him to show up and harass her. Or worse," she added darkly. "The de Lucas are good at covering their trail and just in case Jazz can't find anything we need a back-up plan."

I peered at her over the top of my coffee mug. "Does Jasper know about this plan of yours?"

"I'm a big girl, Edward," she snapped. "I've been doing this just as long as you have. It will be perfectly safe; I'll use my long lens camera and stay way out of his range."

"If the rumours are right about Felix he's borderline psychotic with a serious anger management problem. And, well, this..." I swept a hand over the medical file detailing Angela's injuries. "He's also bigger than Emmett, which makes him about seven times bigger than you."

"I know it's somewhat risky, but I'm fast and I'll be watching him. If he gets suspicious I'll be able to cut and run before he can even see me, let alone catch me."

I gave a pointed stare to the five inch heels she was wearing.

She huffed. "Fine, I'll wear flats when I'm following him around." She said the word with disgust and let out a light shudder. "But no tennis shoes. And, for the record, I can still run damn fast in heels."

"I don't like this plan, Alice."

"What choice do we have? If Jazz can't find anything on Felix then we have no leverage. The de Lucas are good at hiding things - damn, do you have any idea how much public scrutiny a Senatorial nominee is under let alone the checks performed once they're appointed? Jazz is good but he's not a miracle worker."

I didn't say anything, but I knew she was right.

"And I'm the best photographer we have, and the best at sneaking around."

I snorted, muttering, "Can't deny that one."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously but she continued as if I hadn't spoken. "From what Angela said he's volatile and has little self-control - if won't take long for him to lose his temper and screw up. Then we'll have it on film and can use it against him."

"So, what, you're just going to wait for him to beat the crap out of her and then take pictures?" I asked incredulously.

"Don't be an asshole! Emmett will be with her and besides, Felix does plenty of stuff that will qualify as harassment without actually hitting her. The second he does get physical with her I'll make an anonymous call to the cops, so she'll be safe. Her townhouse has huge windows so I'll be able to catch whatever goes on inside, and you can persuade her to put cameras in the rest of the house so we don't miss anything."

"She still lives with him?"

"No," Alice said, shaking her head. "But the last couple of times he beat her it was at her place. The time before he grabbed her off the street when she was shopping."

I thought her plan over, drumming my fingers on the desk as she patiently waited, already knowing what my answer would be. Alice was right - her plan was the only one that made any sense, and it's not like she hadn't followed dangerous men around before and snapped their pictures.

And she was fast, even in stilettos. And sneaky.

But I couldn't deny that this felt case different. I'd only glimpsed Felix a few times at public events and seen him in the media a few more, but he gave off the impression of a rabid animal. Feral and barely restrained.

Yet the alternative was to just wait until he did something bad enough to his wife that even the cops couldn't overlook it. Unacceptable.

"Fine," I eventually said lowly, ignoring the smirk of triumph that flitted over Alice's face. "But you have to keep an open channel with Jazz or Emmett the entire time you're out. And you have to take your gun."

"But -"

"No buts, Alice," I growled. We all had licences to carry a concealed weapon, but Alice barely every used hers. She knew how to handle one but she still hated guns.

"Fine, I'll take my gun," she eventually snapped, folding her arms. "Jasper probably would have insisted on it anyway."

I smiled. "True. And you are the one who has to tell Jasper about this - you know how he reacted last time you went out on assignment after Vorobyov."

"Don't worry, I can handle Jazz."

I laughed and shook my head, pulling the rest of the documents out of Angela de Luca's file and starting to read through them before she arrived.

~ * ~

A few minutes before ten the office door let out a soft jingle as it opened, cold Seattle wind rustling paper throughout the office. Alice was perched behind the reception desk, filling in until we found Jane's replacement, and I heard her soft birdlike voice greeting the woman who I presumed was Angela de Luca.

An even softer voice responded, so low I couldn't make out what she was saying. Alice replied quickly and I picked my name out, before the other woman murmured softly and began making her way over to my desk.

I didn't look up at first, re-reading the court transcript on the guy that Felix had paid off to discredit Angela. Her footsteps were slow and hesitant, a little out of synchronisation as if she were limping. I didn't look up until she was a couple of feet in front of me.

My eyes widened as I took her in and my hands clenched into white-knuckled fists, but otherwise my face was carefully schooled into a neutral expression. She was looking down at her feet, avoiding my eyes as she murmured, "Mr. Cullen?"

The date on the medical report showed that Angela had been last admitted to the Emergency Room nearly a week ago, which made me wonder what the fuck she must have looked like then. She slipped off a pair of oversized sunglasses; it was rainy and overcast outside - clearly she was not wearing them to avoid the sun.

Dressed in a a modest grey pant suit and low heels, Angela was slightly taller than average the average woman, probably 5'8" or 5'9". She was slenderly built with a soft, serious expression and a gentleness to her eyes that somehow made the bruises worse than if she'd looked bitter. She had long straight brown hair gathered into a simple pony tail down her back.

The colour of her hair reminded me uncomfortably of Bella and I fought to push the comparison aside. I couldn't think about Bella beaten and broken like that.

Angela stood across from me, her bruised faced blatantly obvious despite her attempt to disguise it with cosmetics. It was a good attempt - it implied she had practice as this - but the swelling and darkened skin was still discernible. It made me wonder how bad it looked beneath the concealer.

The double bruises under her eyes reminded me that he'd broken her nose as well as fracturing her cheekbone. The medical report had detailed three broken ribs, severe contusions, a concussion, a sprained ankle and a broken wrist. I could see the white cast at the edge of her long-sleeved jacket and she moved carefully, favouring her right side as she moved.

"Please take a seat, Mrs. de Luca."

She flinched at that, and whispered, "Please call me Ms. Weber."

"Of course." She lowered herself into the chair opposite me slowly, wincing a little and still not making eye contact with me.

I glanced at the paperwork and wondered how the hell this woman ended up here. Her father was a minister, a well-respected church leader in her hometown - not an attention-seeking evangelist nor a publicity-hound pimping his daughter out for increased internet subscriptions. She'd gone to an Ivy League school on scholarship and volunteered at a soup kitchen every week since she was fifteen.

On paper, she'd appeared simple and clear. In person the impression was even more obvious. I was adept at reading people and I knew that Angela was a good person. How the fuck did she end up with a monster like Felix?

She stared down at the table like a frightened animal. I cleared my throat and spoke. "I've read your file and spoken to Alice, so I just have a few questions."

She glanced up at me, giving me a brief flash of soft grey eyes, then tilted her head back down. "That sounds fine, Mr. Cullen.

I clenched my fists under the desk. With her head down the resemblance to Bella was highly unsettling. "Has anything new happened with your husband since you called us?"

"No, there have been no further...incidents with since I last spoke to Alice."

"So he hasn't tried to contact you at all since you were discharged from the hospital?"

She shook her head, then hesitated. "Well...my phone rang twice last night but no one spoke when I answered. But it could have been a wrong number."

I frowned, leaning forward slightly and steepling my hands. "Does that happen a lot?"

She shrugged, making fleeting eye contact with me once again. "On occasion. The number is private so I never know whether it is him or not. When we were still living together I used to suspect he would call me and stay silent just to check that I was home."

"Since you moved out does Felix call you to talk?"

She swallowed and nodded. "Well, he calls me to shout," she whispered, so quietly that I had to strain to hear her.

I made a brief note on her file to get her phone tapped and to chase down the records of whoever had been calling her. Jasper had a useful contact at the phone company that could tell us if Felix had been the private number or not. Unfortunately the information would be useless from a legal standpoint, but it would give us more unofficial leverage against his family.

"What's the security system like at your townhouse?"

"I have an alarm that's triggered by the doors or windows opening when it's armed. Deadbolt on the front and back door, locks on all the windows."

"How did Felix get in? Does he know the code?"

She shook her head. "No, he surprised me when I arrived home as I was opening my door. It was dark and my hands were full of bags, so I didn't notice he was behind me until I'd disarmed the system and unlocked the door." Her voice shook a little at the end and her eyes glistened with unshed tears which didn't fall.

"We're going to upgrade your security system and put some CCTV cameras around your property so you can see if he's hanging around. We're also going to put a guard on you at all times so this won't happen again."

She nodded, asking, "Who?"

"Emmett McCarty will be your main bodyguard until this situation is resolved." I gestured to the far corner of the office where Emmett was lounging, talking lowly on the phone. Angela's eyes widened a little when she saw him, but she seemed somewhat relieved at his appearance. Nearly three hundred pounds of muscle can do that, even with a brute like Felix in the picture.

I continued. "But I think you need someone with you around the clock, just in case, so I'm going to contact a security firm I've worked with in the past. Is that okay?"

"Yes, thank you," she murmured. Then her brow furrowed a little and her eyes flicked up to meet my gaze, again so briefly. She reminded me of a timid rabbit. "But...what about Felix? I don't know if he'll stop even if I get the divorce. And I tried to get a restraining order, but..." She trailed off and looked scared.

I looked down at the paperwork. "Back in 2006, right? That's the only time you've told the police that Felix does this to you."

She nodded as if he voice had been swallowed up, looking scared as if he was going to jump out from beneath the desk and beat the shit out of her again.

I'd read that part of the file with disgust for Felix's contemptible existence. Following a particularly bad trip to the hospital Angela had given in to an unusually persistent and surprisingly uncorrupted police officer and told a very diluted version of the truth. The officer had persuaded her to file for a restraining order, but it had never been granted. To be honest, I was sceptical of whether it would be any use - I had no doubt that he would have just ignored it.

That had been when Felix had paid off that asshole to claim he'd hit her because she'd tried to end their affair. Three weeks later Angela retracted her statement to the police and then had ended up back in the hospital. She'd been admitted with a multitude of broken bones and injuries before falling into a coma that last ten days. The medical file listed the reason as 'automobile accident' but it didn't take a genius to figure out that the injuries were clearly abuse-related.

"He has someone in the hospital who he pays to alter my medical records," she said, a slight hint of anger in her voice now. "And after I tried to get the restraining order and he made everyone think I was cheating on him, he somehow got my therapist to tell the police that I was delusional and had a history of self-harming."

I scowled at the depths this piece of shit was willing to go to, pinching the bridge of my nose. "We're going to do more than get a restraining order, Ms. Weber," I growled. "My associates are digging into your husband's past and business dealings to find some insurance. We're going to find enough leverage so that your father-in-law will make him back off."

She looked confused. "How? He's too connected and the de Lucas know how to keep everything in the family." She looked sad, hopeless. "I really don't think you'll find anything."

I sighed, knowing she was probably correct. Fuck, Alice really was right about this one. "I know," I admitted. "But we're also going to have our photographer shadowing Mr. de Luca, as well as tapping your phone. Hopefully we'll end up with enough evidence that he's a controlling abusive fuckwit that he'll be forced to back up."

She smiled slightly at my profanity, but didn't look convinced. "I don't know if he'll back up, Mr. Cullen. His father can barely control him at all and he gets angrier every time I refuse to come home."

"We will keep you safe. Worst case scenario we'll have to hide you, move you to another state and change your name." She flinched at that. "It's not ideal, but we've done it before and we know how to keep him from finding you. Either way, I promise we'll keep you safe."

Her eyes slowly flitted back up to meet me, the ghost of a smile twitching at the corner of her lips. Silently she just nodded, for the first time since she'd walked through the door holding my gaze for more than two seconds. "Okay," she whispered.

I sighed and leaned back in my chair, running my hands compulsively through my hair. I stood and offered her a hand. "Come on, I'll introduce you to Emmett."

~ * ~

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