Chapter 31 – Reassurance

I was ninety five percent sure Edward was innocent, but when Charlie and I pulled up to the Cullen house, and I saw Edward pop his head up from Emmett's jeep engine, my five percent doubt immediately faded completely. His adoring smile and sequential concerned frown said it all, and I knew I'd never waver on my belief in him again.

The moment the car stopped, I practically jumped out and ran to his waiting arms.

"What's wrong?" he asked fiercely; as if he was ready to jump in front of a bullet for me if necessary. "What happened?"

I just held him tighter. "Someone hung Renesmee," I cried into his shoulder.

"What?" Edward asked confused. "I don't understand; what do you mean?"

I was acting like a broken little girl again, and that was unacceptable so I took a deep breath and found the will to pull back enough to explain everything.

Needless to say, Edward was shocked. He looked over at Charlie, and then back at me. "You know I had nothing to do with this, right?"

"Of course," I said confidently.

"Well…no offense or anything, but…why is your dad here if you know I'm innocent?" he asked slowly.

"I insisted on coming," Charlie spoke up and covered for me. "She may be sure about you, but I'm not ashamed to admit that I still have my concerns. To be honest with you, there just hasn't been enough time for me to fully trust you with my daughter just yet. And even you have to admit, all of the evidence points to you."

Edward sighed. "I suppose so, and I do understand that trust takes time and work. But I swear to you, Mr. Swan, I wouldn't hurt Bella like that - I didn't do anything with that car, and I'd never mess around with Renesmee. Actually, I'm quite upset about it. Apart from the obvious threat against us, I love that thing - I don't even know how a clay statue could be hung from a tree without it breaking. It almost broke when I moved it to my dorm room…. Gah, what the hell is going on!" he said frustrated.

"Do you have any ideas, any thoughts at all as to who would want to harass you like this?" Charlie asked, suddenly shifting into cop mode.

Edward shook his head. "Not really. I mean, I can think of a few people who strongly dislike me, but to do something like this…"

"Okay, let's start with the people who dislike you," Charlie suggested.

"Obviously Jacob Black…And then there's Professor Aarons, and well…the entire football team from our senior year at Forks. Oh, there's also this jerk from my economic class at SPU."

Charlie huffed. "Okay, well I'm going to have someone talk to Jacob and the professor…Anyone else you can think of?"

"No…But I guess it would have to be someone who knows enough about my past to come up with the whole car thing, and the statue for that matter. And it must be someone who is upset by my relationship with Bella because both things are connected to her as well…. So I think its Jacob," Edward said, though there was a touch of humor in his voice.

"I just can't see that kid going all the way to Seattle," Charlie said, mostly to himself.

"Holy shit!" Edward shouted abruptly, making me jump. "I know who it is."

"Who?" I asked anxiously.

"I don't know why I didn't think about him sooner. It's James!"

"James? You're old friend?" I asked confused.

"Well…he was more of one of those shady types of 'friends' then an actual friend friend, but yeah."

"Okay, now why do you think this guy is behind everything?" Charlie asked with a mix of disbelief and curiosity.

"I saw him," Edward replied unexpectedly, "in Seattle. I was heading across campus to Bella's room, and I saw him. He walked past me and he was with some woman with bright red hair. I couldn't see her face, but I saw his. I turned to look at him again, because I wasn't sure it was him or not, and then they disappeared into a crowd so I shrugged it away and figured it wasn't him… I mean, James isn't exactly the college type of guy, so…" He shrugged.

My dad shot him a frustrated look. "So you think this guy is behind all of this because you may or may not have seen him walking through campus?"

"But then," Edward continued, "Emmett said he also saw him drive by here a couple days ago. Em was out here working on his jeep, and the car drove by slowly so Em looked up and saw him. This house is way out in the boonies, so why would James just drive by for no reason? Em waved at him, but then the car sped away. He said he may have had someone with him in the car, but he couldn't be sure. I didn't put the two together until just now but it's obvious - James went to school, and broke into my room, and stole Renesmee, then he came here looking to do some other shit but was seen so he changed his mind."

"He does know our history, doesn't he?" I said quietly.

"Unfortunately. He knew about the accident, and Renesmee, and he also knew I was going to SPU. It's gotta be him."

"But what would his motive be?" Charlie asked, wavering between believing him and still being skeptical.

"I don't know," Edward answered. "James would do anything for money; maybe he's planning to set me up for something and then blackmail me. Maybe he's just pissed because I refused to give him any money before so he's trying to ruin my life. Maybe he's just fucking psycho. It could be anything, but I'm fairly certain he's behind it. It's the only thing that makes any sense."

"Okay, I'll have the guys at the station put out an APB and bring him in for questioning," Charlie told him. "If he is behind it he's going to be stopped, and if he isn't then we'll know to look in another direction. Either way I think it's best to talk to your family about all this so they know to be careful. Who knows what this guy will try next."

Edward nodded, and then he pulled me back into him and dropped his head onto my shoulder. "I'm so sorry this shit is happening," he mumbled. "The last thing I wanted to do was bring more misery and stress into your life."

I smiled and massaged his neck. "It's not your fault, and I'm sure we can handle it. Besides, this is worth it," I assured him while kissing his hair.

"I doubt your dad thinks so," he said as we both looked over at Charlie heading towards the house to speak to Carlisle and Esme. "And I hate laying this crap on the Cullens too. I doubt they would have ever taken me in if they knew this shit would happen."

"Oh stop. They love you and will always stand by you, just like me," I said confidently.

"Be honest, you doubted my innocence," he said with a knowing smirk.

"No I…" I took a deep breath. "Okay, I did…fractionally, only because I couldn't fathom how anyone else would have access to Renesmee."

"It's okay," he said understandingly. "You can't help how you feel. Eventually though, eventually I'll earn your complete trust."

"I do trust you completely," I argued. "I just…I had a weak moment."

He smiled and cradled my face in his hands gently. "Then we're going to have to work on making you stronger."

"I already am stronger, thanks to you," I cooed.

"Oh, for crying out loud! Get a fucking room," Emmett shouted at us from the underside of his jeep. I didn't even know he was there. "I never heard anything so cheesy in my life," he said while rolling out, and then getting up and storming off towards the house.

"I love you!" Edward shouted after him, making me giggle.

"Me too!" I added. "You're my hero Emmett!"

Emmett paused at the house porch, and then looked back and smiled widely at us.

"Oh, you took it one step too far, and now you've gone and blown up his fucking head," Edward grumbled playfully.

"Don't worry little brother!" Em shouted. "I'll take care of your stalker for you!"

"Great," Edward said while rolling his eyes. "And I'm sure he will too. If anyone can track someone down its Emmett."

"Well good…that is unless this guy is really dangerous," I said, suddenly concerned again.

"James is a lot of bark and not a lot of bite. I'm not too worried, but it's been a couple years since I've interacted with him so who knows how he is now. Just to be safe I think we should stick together until we go back to school. I should have never let you go to Charlie's alone this morning; I really don't know what I was thinking."

"Oh come on, how were you supposed to know this would happen? We can't be joined at the hip every second of every day."

"True, but that car thing alone should have been enough for me to realize things were about to get worse. I just really can't believe this shit is happening. As if we haven't been through enough already."

I wrapped my arms back around him. "Let's see…The crap in high school tore us apart, and I pretty much ran from that Professor Aarons drama…maybe this latest mess is the universe's way of testing our strength together. Once we make it through this, I doubt there will be anything we can't overcome."

"God, I hope you're right," he said somberly. "I'm glad you're so optimistic because I really don't think I would have handled this very well without you."

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too," he replied tenderly. "It's the only thing I'm sure of anymore."