A/n: I have to give a major shout out to my beta, Bnjwl. I just simply adore her and the way she "gets" the madness of my brain. Without her this story would not be near what it is without her little touches throughout the pages. I FLOVE YOU, BB:)

There is no abuse in the chapter but there is some forthcoming info on "Operation Rescue Edward"...this is it for now...

BPOV

Ch22

There was a knock on the door that startled all of us. "I bet that's Jacob." I said and stood to see who it was.

"Hey Jake, come in." I said when I saw that it was him that stood on the other side of the door.

"How is he, Bells?" He asked as he took in the room, along with the people in it.

"Not good, Jake." I pointed to a chair for him to sit in. "He's in a coma with a brain injury, a punctured lung and that's all we know so far." I didn't feel comfortable telling these already grieving people about the black and blue state of his body.

I fought back my own tears as I recalled how he looked when I walked into that exam room earlier this morning. He literally was marked from head to toe. I've seen rough cases before but this was Edward that I had to witness in that state.

First, I had wanted to hold him and kiss him, to offer him whatever comfort I could. But then the rage flew through me and I wanted to tear that bitch apart, limb by limb.

How she could do this to someone like him Abuse was something I will never understand. It's why I continued to do the job that I do.

"Bells, I've got something for you." Jake's voice pulls me from my memory and reminded me of where I am and why.

"Shoot." I hastily reply.

"Are you sure this is a secure area?" He asked with a curious look around.

"Um, I'm guessing that it is not. Let's take this meeting elsewhere," Carlisle said with a nod to his office door.

We all stood and filed out of the room as we followed Carlisle down a long hallway to a conference room. Once we were all seated, Jake pulled a file from his briefcase and laid it out on the table.

"It appears that Ms. Denali has had her fingers into a lot of pies over the past few years. She's all but drained Edward's accounts yet her own separate account holds close to ten million dollars. From the word on the street, she's got some experience with blackmail. Bella and I have a close friend whose ex-fiance was a victim of this himself." Jake said as he started to lay out bank statements, documents and cell phone records.

"I found a safety deposit box registered to her but the contents are unknown. We have to find out what's in that box because I believe whatever it is, might give us the answers to what she has on Edward."

"What could he have possibly done that she could blackmail him with?" Esme questioned.

"I did a background check on Edward, he's squeaky clean. No outstanding debts that he himself incurred, no outstanding loans or anything of that nature. So, it has to be something that she's involved in as well, would be my guess." Jake said but hesitated, I knew he had information that he most certainly held back.

"Just spit it out, Jacob. We don't have time to waste." I said harshly.

He eyed me and then looked across the table to Edward's family and took a deep breath. "When I talked to my informant, he told me that Tanya bragged about the fact that she had slipped Edward a roofie and taken pictures of him in some rather compromising positions with an assortment of people."

Carlisle growled as Esme grabbed his hand only to have a sob escape her mouth.

"That bitch!" Alice exclaimed. "I knew she was no good." Her voice was full of venom and pure hatred.

I felt exactly the same way.

"So, what do we do now?" Esme asked through her tears.

Jake rubbed the back of his neck with huge hand before he looked at me for assurance.

"I'm setting up a sting operation. I think, I'm not absolutely certain yet, but I've heard some buzz that she's been on the prowl for a hit man."

Everyone single one of us gasped at the final comment that Jake made. "But why? Why kill Edward now?" I asked, unsure that I wanted to hear this answer.

"It isn't Edward that she wants dead." His voice was like a knife that sliced through the already thick air.

"Who then?" Carlisle asked, as if he already knew the answer.

"You." Jake replied, with a long slow breath.

"If I'm dead, Edward gets control of his money." Carlisle spoke with a blank stare on his face and Esme broke down once more.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before Carlisle's phone began to vibrate on the table.

He slowly picked it up and read it all the blood drained from his face.

"We need to go and see Edward, they are taking him into surgery in half an hour. The lesion in his skull has to be removed before any permanent damage is done to his brain. I'm going to have to assist, having been the only one on the team to have done it before." His voice was full of fear and sadness.

We all quickly stood up to exit the room.

"This is where I leave you folks, I can't be seen with any of you. Bells, I'll be in touch as usual. How are you doing on security?" Jake's voice was in full on work mode.

"I've contacted the head of security, Sam Uley, he's got a twenty-four hour guard outside the door with strict instructions that she is not allowed in his room or on the hospital premises." Carlisle stated.

"I know Sam, he can be trusted, I'll give him a call later, if that's okay that I discuss minimal facts about the case?" He questioned Dr. Cullen who readily agreed.

"Yes, yes, whatever it takes to keep him safe and out of her clutches." His voice was shaky at best.

"Bella, please come with us to see him." Esme asked as she moved towards me, her hands taking mine into hers.

"I promised him I wouldn't leave him, so as long as it's okay with all of you, then I would really like to see him." I answered, as I tried to keep my own emotions in check.

"Of course, dear." Esme said with a small glimmer of something besides sadness behind her eyes.

Jake hugged me then left the room as we stood there for a full five minutes before we left the room as Jake had instructed us.

We walked onto the elevator and I was thankful we were alone when Alice spoke up, "Thank you, Bella, for helping my brother. He'd probably be dead by if weren't for you intervening."

I just gave her a weak smile and a head nod, unable to speak for fear of my own tears.

I couldn't allow myself to think about what would have happened to my Edward if he hadn't let me help him.

He was so brave. I just hoped we weren't too late in trying to save him.

A/n: Trust me that this is just the TIP OF THE ICEBERG on what that evil skank has on Edward...more to come soon...

LOVE YOU ALL for the SUPPORT You have all shown this fic. It means the world to me that so many loyal and so many NEW readers have jumped into this one. It truly is my most fav fic that I've written...honestly, it's pulled at my heart in a strange way. I love this Shatteredward HARDCORE (sorry, I can't remember which reviewer dubbed him with this name but I love it, so remind me and I'll give you proper credit;))

See ya soon wipes tears...Kyla