Chapter 29 – Conviction

"Dad…hey, sorry if we disrupted anything inside," I said as innocently as possible.

"Bella, I'll ask again, what the hell is going on here?" Charlie said sternly as he glared at Edward.

"I'm sorry, sir. I saw Bella and Jacob out here, so I decided to stop and talk to them," Edward explained. "It's my bad, I should have kept going."

Charlie narrowed his eyes at him. "The Cullen's just moved back, so you must be here visiting them, right?" he asked evenly.

"Uh…Yes sir."

Charlie took a step closer to him. "You listen to me, son; I want you to stay away from these two while you're in town. We don't need a repeat of what happened the last time the three of you were here together."

"Dad, you know that wasn't his fault," I cut in.

"No, it was all three of your faults…and your father's," Charlie growled while pointing at Jake. "Even so, you all need to stay away from each other."

I crossed my arms in front of me like a sulking child. "If you wanted us to all stay away from each other, then why'd you invite Jake here today?"

"He said he had something he had to give you; he practically begged. Besides, I've known him his entire life; he's practically a son to me…or at least was at one time."

"Yeah, we're a family," Jake added smugly.

"Jacob, shut the hell up!" Charlie snapped at him unexpectedly. "I'm trying to speak to my daughter; please give us some space…both of you," he demanded, so Jake and Edward moved to opposite sides of the porch and pretended not to listen to us.

"Dad, I understand you care about Jake, but…"

"Look, I'm not blaming Edward," he cut me off, "but he was the one you were crying over, and it was his house that I had to pick you up from to take you to that hospital. Now, I'll always be grateful that he called me to let me know what was happening, but I still don't want him anywhere near you right now or ever. Your relationship was toxic, and I won't have that happen to you again. You've been doing so well at school, and I won't have either of those boys screwing you up."

"Dad," I bit my bottom lip anxiously, and then I took a deep breath. "I've been dating Edward for a few months now. We practically live together at SPU," I finally admitted, hoping he'd see that I was already functioning healthily with Edward in my life. He wasn't going to hurt me again, and I needed to make my dad see that too.

I watched as my father's face turned several different shades of red as he grasped what I had just told him, and then he grunted. "Bella, get in your truck right now."

"Huh?" I asked confused.

"I have to show you something," he said, and without giving me a chance to protest, he started walking there. "Now!" he called to me, so I gave Edward a quick kiss and then ran after him.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I got into the passenger side of my truck so my dad could drive.

"I'll explain when we get there," he grumbled.

"Okay…Why aren't we taking your car?"

"Because I came with Sue. We won't be gone long; I just need you to understand something."

"Dad, I really don't care what you have to show me; there's nothing you can do to change my mind about being with Edward. I love him," I said brazenly.

"Just trust me," Charlie said strangely. I was surprised by how calm he actually was – I was expecting a little more shouting and maybe a few threats - but the fact that he had some mystery thing that he was so sure would change my mind about Edward made me a little nervous. With everything we had been through, I hated that we were going to have to face more drama, whatever the hell it was.

When he pulled into a particular parking lot, I just became more confused. "Why are we at the police station?" I asked with a mix of worry and frustration.

"Follow me," he replied while getting out of the truck. We went through the station and then to the fenced area out back. He led me to what looked like a covered hunk of mangled junk, and then he pulled off the cover to reveal exactly what I thought it was - a hunk of mangled junk.

"Why are you showing me this?" I asked baffled.

"This is the car we found up at Coyote Bend the other day," he said evenly, making my heart jump. "Does it look familiar to you?"

"Should it?" I asked disturbed. "Did someone die in this thing?"

"Strangely enough, we didn't find a body and there were no injuries reported at any nearby hospitals to potentially match this accident. A different car slammed into this one as it came around the bend, and when they got out of their car to see if anyone was injured, they found this empty. The first responders on the scene labeled it as a hit and run, but it's being investigated further because of the unusual circumstance."

"Wow…Okay?" I said, still clueless as to why he felt the need to bring me there and show me that.

"You don't recognize this car?" he asked surprised.

"No… How could anyone recognize it in this state? Why?"

"It didn't have a license plate, but we ran the VIN number and found out it was registered to Carlisle Cullen," he said slowly. "Bella, this is the car that Edward used to drive when he first moved in with the Cullen's….It's also the same car that was involved in your mother's accident."

I scrunched my brows, but otherwise had no idea what to think about that. "I don't understand, you said this was the car you found at the accident up there the other day? How could it be the same car?"

Edward never said what happened to that car, but I sure as hell never saw him drive it again. What the hell was going on?

"We don't have any answers right now. I spoke to Carlisle the other day, and he claimed this car was stolen from his shed some time when they were living in Alaska."

"They kept it after the first accident?" I asked slowly.

"We had it checked out at that time, and since we never found anything that would prove he was at fault in the accident we never took the car from them…but this is definitely the same car."

"And it just showed up there this week…At the same place my mom died?" I asked anxiously.

"Okay, just calm down," Charlie said, sensing that I was starting to panic. "I don't want to upset you; I was planning to protect you from all of this shit by keeping you far away from it, but you have to understand… Edward…he's no good for you."

I shook my head. "He had nothing to do with this. If the car went missing while the Cullens were in Alaska, then he was either with them or in Seattle at school."

"And that's what Carlisle said, but the truth is we just don't know. If he was in Seattle then he could have easily come here at some point and done it."

I huffed. "And why would he? Why would anyone steal a car from someone's shed, and then abandon it in the same place that it was involved in a traumatic accident almost three years before? It just doesn't make sense."

"Bella, I'm not saying I believe he is behind this, I don't even know what this is, but…it's obviously about him. His car, the accident he was in, and it just coincidentally appears the moment he gets back in town…Something is very wrong here."

"Have you asked him about it? Does he even know any of this is happening?" I asked, getting even more upset that Edward didn't confide in me if he did know.

"We've only spoken to Carlisle so far…I didn't even know Edward was in town, but I'm sure they will be speaking to him next. The verification that the VIN number matched only came in yesterday, so this is all just going down right now. It's the most horrible time to be retiring," he grumbled at the end.

"Dad, I don't get any of this, but I do know Edward had no part in it," I said slowly.

"Even so, trouble seems to follow him, and that's something you don't need in your life."

My chest tightened – He was right about Edward and trouble, I was starting to worry he was a magnet for it.

I bit my lower lip. "I may not need trouble in my life…but I do need Edward. I love him, and I'm going to stand by him…no matter how hard it gets."

Charlie huffed. "Well I can't just stand by and watch you go down a dark path with that kid again."

"I went down that dark path because I lost him," I said doubtlessly. "I know it makes me sound weak and maybe even a little pathetic, but being with him makes me feel stronger, and I know we can handle whatever this is if we just stick together."

My dad stared at me for a moment, and then he nodded. "Look, I don't like him… Hell, I don't know him so I guess that's an unfair assessment, but… I do know that love is the strongest emotion humans are capable of, so it would make sense that you feel stronger with him if that's how you truly feel."

Uh…

I never expected words of support from my dad so quickly, but I'd definitely take them - They were words of support, right? I didn't just imagine that, did I?

I smiled. "So…you trust my judgment when it comes to Edward?"

He took a deep breath. "I really wish you could have made a clean break from all that crap that happened to you, but…I can see that you care about him, and I'm not going to get in the way of that… But if he hurts you again, so help me god…"

"He's not," I said confidently. "I don't know what's going on with all of this," I said pointing to the car. "But he didn't do anything wrong."

"I trust you…so I'll trust him. Unfortunately, I'm not on this case anymore, so I have no idea what's going to happen there."

I nodded. "I understand. Thanks dad," I said emotionally before giving him a hug. I knew he'd accept Edward eventually, he'd have to, but I never thought he'd be that supportive. Despite the new drama unfolding around us, I was so grateful that I'd have the two men I loved the most in my corner. I was positive that it didn't matter what the world threw at me from then on out, as long as I had Edward and Charlie, nothing could really hurt me….