Author's Note: Well this wraps up ROTK with a nice little pastel bow. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks to my beta AgoodWITCH and her red pen, as well as the WC ladies who encouraged me as I wrote. Thank you for each and every review! This will be my last post for a while, but never fear, I'm stocking up on chapters for plot bunnies during the break and will probably be able to jump back in with a regular posting schedule when I do. Thanks again and I hope you like the ending!
Epilogue…30 months later
The legal process to put James Caulfield away for good began three months after he was put behind bars. Between motions, continuations, requests for changes in venue, and so forth, it was over two years after the process began that Rose and I found ourselves holding hands in the courtroom, Edward and Emmett on either side of us, their arms curled around us protectively as we prepared to testify. We were the first, only in the room for proof of presence before being led out so we would not be swayed by one another's testimony.
It had, however, been arranged that after we had testified, we would be allowed to sit in on the remainder of the trial, a reminder to the jury that well over two dozen victims fell at the hands of the criminal under scrutiny, and we were the only two that had ever escaped. Our schedules had been cleared for the foreseeable future, as this trial was expected to drag on for weeks.
My heart was already pounding in my ears when they bailiff lead Caulfield in wearing his orange jumpsuit and cuffs on his arms and legs. Edward's arm tightened around my shoulder as he glared back at me, an evil crooked smirk on his face. I swallowed and met his gaze without wavering; trying hard not to betray the panic I was feeling inside.
I could feel myself breathing a bit harder when Edward leaned over to whisper in my ear. "Are you okay, Bella? If this is too much for you, we can ask to delay your testimony. You have to be careful not to over exert yourself."
I took a deep breath before turning to look into Edward's worry-filled green eyes. I smiled as best I could, taking his hand off his lap and resting it on my stomach. "We're fine. We're a tough lot, Daddy. We can handle it."
Edward's hand caressed my distended stomach lovingly, smiling as our little boy kicked his hand on one of the passes. He looked up at me with glassy eyes, resting his hand over the place where our son had just reached out to him.
"Just promise me that if this gets to be too much, you will tell us. This trial is not worth the wellbeing of you or him." He patted his fingers over the spot twice to emphasize his point.
I smiled and held his face in my hands. "I promise. I love you, Edward."
He smiled back, leaning forward to kiss my forehead softly. "I love you too, Bella."
After the entire situation with Caulfield, we both decided life was too short. We told our bosses about our relationship, allowed them to split us up at the bureau, and never looked back. While Edward was worth his weight in gold as a profiler, he was worth so much more as my boyfriend, and about a year later, my husband.
The same had been true of Emmett and Rosalie. The bureau let me choose who to keep and that was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. In the end, I decided I couldn't lose Emmett and Edward, so I let Rose move to the same division as Edward while we ended up getting stuck with Jane on a permanent basis. It wasn't too bad though, as she eventually learned her place, especially after she made a move on Edward and got shot down and threatened to have every string at his disposal pulled to have her cut off from the bureau for good. She tried to call his bluff, only to realize he wasn't when he opened his phone and made a direct call to director Arogani. Jane kissed Edward's ass and then proceeded to be a hell of a lot more respectful to me after that as well. I wouldn't say working with her was fun, but it was tolerable at least.
Rose and I actually got pregnant only a few months apart. She ended up having to come back from maternity leave a week early to be part of these trials. Leaving little Emma behind was actually the hardest part for her. Now my only hope was that our little Parker could wait out the lengthy trial before making his appearance. My back had been hurting a lot more in the past week or so, and I couldn't help but worry he was already beginning to drop. I was supposed to have eight more weeks, which I hoped was enough time for the trail to be wrapped up, but babies didn't really pay attention to such things. All I could do was pray and hope.
Before I knew it, the bailiff stepped forward and ordered the court to rise as he introduced the Honorable Judge Clifford C. Wilson. Edward helped me lift my awkward self out of the chair to stand for the Judge to tromp in looking important before he helped me sit back down when we were instructed to be seated. For the next two hours, we sat and listened as the judge instructed the jury before each lawyer got to set out their opening remarks.
Finally, after the defense lawyer wrapped up his soliloquy, the judge asked for the witnesses that would testify to leave the room. I felt another chill when Caulfield eyed me darkly as Edward stood before turning to help me up and then guiding me down the aisle with a soothing and rubbing my lower back.
The wait was torture. Rose paced the floors, griping that they took her phone away in the courthouse and wondering how Emmybug was doing while I lie on my side on the small loveseat upon Edward's insistence and watched Rose pace while he sat in a chair at my feet, rubbing them gently. There were parts of pregnancy that sucked, the swollen legs and ankles were just one little aspect. The docs didn't like it either, especially since my blood pressure had been running a little high. Edward was right to be concerned, high blood pressure could be very dangerous during pregnancy, but I had to do my best to be here. I wanted the jury to be reminded that there were victims, and unless the doctors flat out told me no, or I went into labor, which we needed to hold off for another several weeks before it would be safe for the baby, I was going to be right here, every day, no matter how much of a pain in the ass the uncomfortable seats in the court room were.
Rose was called in first. She was gone a really long time, so long in fact that court adjourned after they were finished with her testimony. She was a sobbing mess when the bailiff brought her back to the room. Emmett and I ran to her and held her close, trying to calm her as she nearly hyperventilated. She wasn't allowed to tell me about what was said, but I distinctly heard her mumble, "he's the devil," between gasps. Very little ever rattled Rosalie Hale-McCarty, so her emotional state left me reeling.
Once we calmed her down, Edward, Emmett, Rose, and I made our way out of the courthouse, our husbands shielding us from the compressing sea of reporters and photographers, hoping for any sound bite of heart rending picture they could capture. Once we were past the worst of it, we made a dash for the cars…well as much of a dash as a waddling pregnant woman can make. Edward kept his eye on me as we made our way home, starting a warm shower for me before rushing downstairs to sort out supper while I did my best to strip out of my clothes and hose. Making a pregnant woman have to wear hose and dress shoes in her 8th month should be against the Geneva Convention.
I sighed as I stood under the warm spray, reminding myself that I couldn't stay in too long and risk overheating. I had to admit, I was really looking forward to the point after delivery when I could take a bath again with a glass of wine and a coffee chaser. I missed my vices. It was worth losing them all for my little boy, but it was still going to be nice when I could indulge a little again.
When I finished toweling off and slipping into a robe, I left the bathroom and shuffled through the house to find my handsome, caring husband sitting a large colorful salad in the middle of the table. He looked up and smiled before pulling out a chair for me to sit in. Our meal was quiet and Edward's eyes on me the whole time was more than a little frustrating, but at the same time, I was grateful that he cared so much.
We tucked in early, Edward snuggled up to my back and I struggled to get my body pillow just right in order to support my stomach and rest between my knees. I smiled as I felt him kissing my shoulders before burying his nose in my hair and drifting off into a steady, even breathing pattern.
My night was restless, and while I wasn't anywhere near ready to face that courtroom, I was definitely ready to get out of bed when morning dawned. I dressed again in the same maternity suit with a different shirt underneath. I could only hope that if the jury did notice, they would be understanding that I just didn't have the money to spend on a half a dozen tailored maternity suits for this trial that I would never be able to wear again. Even when I went to have another baby, I wouldn't wear those doggone things unless I had no other recourse. I never really minded wearing a suit before, but these maternity ones were a pain in the butt, tummy panels always threatening to peak out and further remind the world that I was a whale. Thanks, but no thanks.
When we reached the court house, the DA pulled me into a conference room for one last briefing before I took the stand. I was anxious, but I had to do it. I was trembling as I walked into the court room and took the stand, my eyes flitting for the briefest of moments toward Caulfield and his evil smirk before I locked eyes on the lawyer before me and made a point to never look his way again.
Retelling my story was painful. I had always prided myself on being strong and being able to deal with anything, and yet what I endured with Caulfield had broken something inside me, and that weak link led to me crying more than once on the stand…well that and pregnancy hormones. In truth it was a wonder they could understand a single word coming out of my mouth.
I chanced a glance at the jury, most of which looked on me with pity, but there were a few stony faces that made me worried Caulfield might somehow get out of this after all he had pulled. My testimony took the whole morning, the lawyer for the defense trying hard to find some kind of flaw in my story, but failed. There was no flaw to find, because it was straight up truth.
What had seemed like three years by the time I stepped down from the podium, ended up only being three hours. The judge dismissed the court for lunch as soon as I was near the door. I tried to eat, but it was nearly impossible to swallow past the bowling ball trapped in my esophagus.
After lunch, it was Edward's turn to take the stand. The DA said Rose and I were allowed to return to the court room for the remainder of the trial. We stuck to each others' side as we walked up to the front row and took a seat. I stared anywhere but toward Caulfield, not looking his way, but still feeling his beady eyes on me. It made the bitter bile rise so high in my throat I could taste the metallic tang on my tongue. I swallowed hard to suppress the urge to vomit all over the courtroom and focused on being strong for my husband.
The second Edward took the stand, his eyes zeroed in on me. Even in the hot seat, I was still his first priority. I smiled and mouthed 'love you' to him just as the bailiff approached and made his take the oath. All of my attention was focused on him as he spoke, my heart nearly shattering into a million pieces by the pain of his memory.
"Dr. Cullen, could you please detail to the court the sequence of events on the day in question after Agent Swan-Cullen entered the house?"
Edward took a deep stabilizing breath, his eyes trained on me as he spoke.
"I was already anxious for her to be going in there…and before the defense can ask, no we were not together at that time. She was just Agent Swan. We were watching in the van as we covered the empty house, and there seemed to be nothing there. I remember hating her going into the basement without backup, but we didn't think we had much choice. We had taken every precaution that we could. It's not often we send an agent in with six forms of surveillance and tracking sensors on them. The basement seemed clear and Agent Swan said she was exiting the premises and gave directions to expand the search to the other leads we had in a hope to find Dr. Hale. Thankfully, we had received the report she had been found alive at the Conservatory in the park. Agent Swan-Cullen said she was leaving, and my father, a consultant on the case, left us behind to bring her back to our temporary HQ and went on to check on Dr. Hale. Moments later, the screens went blank. We lost all feeds on her, audio, video, and GPS."
He stopped to take a breath, his hands wringing together in his lap. "Agents Uley, Johson, and I rushed inside, and down to the basement, but there was nothing there except Agent Swan's gun, flashlight, the audio that had been taped to her chest, and her shoes. There was no sign whatsoever of her or the suspect."
Edward paused and did not continue as he stared at me and swallowed hard, the haunted look in his eyes making my heart pound in my chest. Eventually, the DA persuaded him to continue.
"What was your next course of action, Dr. Cullen?"
Edward shook his head a little and glanced away from me to the lawyer and then back to me again before looking down at his hands.
"We called my father and the rest of the unit back and then we searched everywhere, the house, the yard, we knocked on the neighboring houses, there was no trace of them at all. We saw no signs of struggle, no signs of Agent Swan being dragged away from the house, which we knew had to be the case, because she is well trained and would never have gone willingly with him, especially after hearing Dr. Hale was safe. It didn't make any sense. Feeling frustrated and convinced that the other surveillance equipment was our best chance in finding her, I camped out in the van for the next several hours, watching the blank monitors for any signs or hints of her whereabouts."
"We had more or less reasoned that there must have been some kind of jamming signal, since Agent Swan was communicating with us moments before her signals all went dark. Our one hope was to cut the power to the block and hope that in doing so, it would interrupt the jamming frequency and give us another clue. It took a long time to convince a judge that we needed the warrant and were even at the right place, but eventually he signed the warrant. An hour later, the power went down on the whole block and a single signal came through. It was the video link from the FBI pin Agent Swan had worn on her vest, but it didn't tell us much. It was in the dark with a tiny sliver of visual."
Edward swallowed and cleared his throat, his Adam's Apple bobbing hard above his tie.
"At first nobody could make out what it was, but after staring a few minutes, I figured it out. I didn't even say anything, for fear that we would lose feed before I found it. Several agents and my father followed. I ran down the basement and began walking across the large tiles of the floor, looking to see if I could find where it was. I examined the angle of the stair risers in relation to the flooring, and found what I thought I saw. Using my fingers, I tried to pry up the heavy ceramic square, but I couldn't. Agent McCarty then left and returned with a crowbar, claiming that while the neighborhood was out of power still, we had lost signal. The other agents were searching for a generator that might have been activated."
"Agent McCarty started prying the ceramic tile, only to realize that the tile under his foot was also reacting to his efforts. He took a step to the side and tried again, bringing four tiles connected by a metal rebar frame up from the floor. It had a handle on the underside and had a hidden hinge that allowed it to swing back and reveal a large metal trap door. On the top sat Agent Swan's pin. How it managed to stay there and lead us to the door, I'll never know, but without it we probably would not have found her."
His eyes were boring into me, and being his wife, I saw all the things he wasn't saying out loud. I'd heard bits and pieces of this story before, but never in one long sequence. The jury had no clue how panicked and desperate Edward had felt, but I did. I saw it in every gesture, every breath. My heart ached for him, knowing he was pondering what would have happened had they not found me when they did.
After another long pause, the DA stepped in again. "What happened after that Dr. Cullen?"
He took in a deep breath and smiled sadly. "The trapdoor was sealed, but Agent McCarty, me, and the two other agents with us worked together to pry up the door. Once we broke the seal, it was relatively easy for Agent McCarty to open the door. We were all shocked when Agent Swan was standing on the stairs leading up in nothing but her underwear yelling for McCarty to hand her a gun. Instead, Agent McCarty pulled her up while aiming his weapon down the hole. I took Agent Swan, wrapped her in my jacket as she tried to tell me things we needed to know through chattering teeth. Agents McCarty, Uley, and Johnson went down after Caulfield while I tended to Agent Swan. Other agents went down the back door Agent Swan informed us of that came up in the shed and they apprehended Caulfield while I got Agent Swan to the ambulance."
The DA shot me a look before moving between Edward and I to block his eyeline. "What else did you discover after the apprehension of Mr. Caulfield?"
Edward cleared his throat, his voice growing strong again. He was back to the vetted profiler I knew and loved. "Agent Swan shared some information that Caulfield used to taunt her while in captivity. With warrant in hand, we discovered the bodies of twenty-eight individuals buried under the flower gardens in the rear of the house. The location had once been a foster home in which Caulfield and lived, and true to form for a psychopathic individual burned and eventually abused in the foster system, he took out his revenge on the man who took his innocence and the wife who did nothing to stop it. From Agent Swan's debriefing, we discovered that Mr. Rosenbloom, original owner of the residence at which we discovered the bodies, utilized the bomb shelter below his home to molest his young wards. I believe Caulfield internalized the trauma and then turned it on his aggressor, but taking his revenge did not slake his anger, so he strived to provide for himself the perfect life, collecting women in search of the perfect bride to complete his mental picture. When they did not live up to his standards, he killed and disposed of them."
The lawyer nodded and crossed the room looking cocky. "And in your professional opinion as a world renowned Psychologist and Criminal Profiler, do you feel that the evident supports your theories?"
Edward nodded gravely. "Yes, sir, I do."
He asked a few more questions before passing Edward on for cross examination. The lawyer didn't have much to go on, save the repeated mention of a romantic relationship with me. Edward was honest, and from the looks on the jury's faces, they weren't swayed from his credibility thanks to that detail. Emmett was brought in next before the court adjourned for the day.
I took my husband home that night and insisted he let me baby him for a change, not that he didn't fight tooth and nail. After we cleaned up our rather large steak supper, we made love before falling asleep in one another's arms, incredibly grateful to have made it out the other side together.
For six more weeks the trail drug on. It was uncomfortable and frustrating, and while all I really wanted to do was go home and put my swollen blimp-like excuses for feet up, I was there every single day, all the way through closing arguments. The sequestered jury went into closed deliberations. We expected it to take a week or more, but to our great surprise, they came back with a verdict the next afternoon.
The morning the verdict came in, I woke up feeling achy and exhausted, having not rested well thanks to a little boy who was enjoying using my bladder as a trampoline. My back ached as we walked up the many stairs that led to the courthouse, and only got worse as the morning wore on while we paced in the room we had been given to wait in away from the media and prying eyes.
Around ten in the morning, I felt my first twinge in my lower abdomen. I shrugged it off as Braxton-Hicks contractions. When I'd had five more before noon, I was starting to think I might need to tell Edward, but decided to wait. They were getting stronger though, and my overprotective husband was starting to notice.
I bit my lip and closed my eyes as one more hit hard at 1:22 in the afternoon, just as the bailiff came in to tell us that the jury had returned with a verdict. I wanted to cheer and cry at the same time…but in the end I reasoned first time deliveries always take a really long time. Everyone talks about it. I might have another twenty-four hours or more before our little boy popped out, so surely another hour or so to hear the verdict wouldn't hurt. Right?
The jury entered and the foreman handed the piece of paper to the bailiff who then took it to the judge. The judge read it and nodded before returning it to the foreman to read aloud. The pain that hit in that moment was hard, making me lean forward to brace myself on the seat in front of me as Edward leaned down by me, whispering in concern.
"On the count of first degree murder of…"
The man's voice was drowned out by the whooshing in my ears as another pain hit, making my eyes flash white. I managed to hear a distant "guilty" through my pain. I would have cheered, but I was just beginning to be able to breathe normally.
"On the count of…" I struggled to breathe as I felt a popping sensation in my stomach seconds before the warm liquid flowed down my legs to pool at my feet.
I felt my tears welling in my eyes as I grabbed Edward's arm and hissed. "My WATER just broke. We have to go to the hospital NOW!"
Edward looked around in a panic before looking up at the judge as the foreman continued on. The judge cracked the first smile I had seen in over a month and nodded before nodding toward a bailiff at the back of the room who came to help us. Just as the door closed behind us, I heard the loud echo of the fourth "guilty." He was going to be put away for a very long time, having been convicted of every single charge, he was never going to be a free man again.
I paused with another contraction as Edward knelt beside me. "Holy Shit, Bella. These are less than three minutes apart. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
I gasped and gripped his arm tightly until finally the contraction passed. "It takes forever to deliver your first. I wanted to know before I left."
He smirked at me and shook his head as the guard beside me went ash white.
"That's not entirely true, Ma'am. My firstborn was delivered less than three hours after my wife's first contraction. You might deliver sooner than you think. Can I please call for an ambulance for you? Between the media and everything else, it would be much safer."
We both nodded, Edward rubbing my back lovingly as we waited. Five minutes later, the bailiff came back, leading me to a side door where an ambulance waited for us. As luck would have it, three camera crews were waiting, having seen the ambulance and having a hunch.
"Agent Cullen, Why are you being taken away in an ambulance?" "Dr. Cullen, is your wife in labor?""Agent Cullen, Did the stress of the trial make your water break?" "Dr. Cullen, would you like to share the verdict with us?" "Agent…"
The door closed, leaving me alone in the back of the ambulance with a medic and Edward. Another contraction hit hard, making me bend over and gasp. I felt so much pressure between my legs, it was like I needed to push it out of the way. The female EMT made me lay back on the gurney and then cut off my hose and underwear, warning me she was going to check my progress and then gasping and looking down with wide eyes.
"Jack! This baby is already crowning. I think we should deliver before we get enroute!"
My eyes grew wide and teary as I stared at a shocked Edward. He shook his head quickly before leaning over me, holding my hand.
"It's going to be okay, Bella. I'm here. Parker's going to be fine."
The other EMT got out of the front and came around to the back, the lady covering me so nobody would get a show when he opened the door and stepped inside with us. Ten minutes and a handful of pushes later, Parker Masen Cullen was born…on the side street of the courthouse…with now seven camera crews waiting like hawks outside the rig. When Parker let out his first cry, you could hear the clamor of excited voices.
The female EMT, I now knew was Denise, held up a blanket to retain our privacy as Jack went back to the front to drive us to the hospital. I held little Parker as he looked around with wide eyes, while Edward leaned down next to us and cooed at him between kissing me on the forehead and telling me how amazing I was.
Three hours later, Parker and I both were declared perfectly healthy and were resting in my private room when Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, Carlisle, and Esme all arrived with balloons and flowers and stories galore..not the least of which was the final conviction of Caulfield. The judge handed down sentencing immediately…death by lethal injection. We would never have to worry about James Caulfield ever again.
The grandparents went first, cooing down at a happy Parker before he was passed around to the rest of the crowd. Two hours later, we were alone again, just the three of us, feeling much lighter knowing that we would never have to worry about 'The King' ever again.