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Chapter Four.
"Theo. Chase," Bella gasped before running into the room where Chase was sleeping, picking him up and running down the stairs and out the door just in time to see Edward shielding Theo with his own body, while Charlie stood in front of them, his service gun drawn and pointed to a bleeding man on the floor.
"Theo," Bella screamed, running over to the pair where Edward pulled Bella down.
"He's fine," Edward hissed. "Now stay down."
"All clear, Mr. Cullen," Edward's driver called out. "The bullet hit his neck. He's gone."
"Your driver carries a gun?!" Bella hissed as she stood up, the weight of what happened hadn't sunk in yet.
"Thank god he does," Edward spat back, gently rocking Theo, who had a tight grip on his suit.
"I can take him," Renee muttered, reaching out for her grandson from Edward. "And Bella, come take Theo and Chase away. Chase's still sleeping and Theo doesn't need to see this."
Unable to find a fault with her reasoning, Bella accompanied her mother back into the house, but opted to put both boys together in her room.
"I'll stay with them," Renee whispered, looking at her sleeping grandchildren and then without a word, Bella left the room and walked back to the porch when the magnitude of what happened hit her.
Bella's body began to tremble in shock.
There was a would-be criminal lay dead on the floor, his blood already congealing on her lawn.
Her eyes became teary as she looked at into the lifeless eyes on the now dead man; his own weapon still held in his hand.
"Andre Lincoln," Charlie murmured, reading of the man's driver's license, having already dug out his wallet. "He's dressed to the nines: sharp suit, expensive shoes, and a tie; none of which are cheap. What was he doing in Forks and why Bella's house? Is he one of yours, Cullen?" Charlie spat accusingly.
"No, he's not, but I know who he is. That license is a forgery, and by the impeccable quality of it, I can tell you who did it for him. His name is Landon Riclen. He's a former Marine who went rouge several years back. He makes people disappear."
"And his target?" Charlie sneered. "You, Mr. Big-shot Billionaire?"
"No. The target, if I had to guess, was Bella, Chief Swan," Edward stated, walking over to the body.
"Why?" Charlie whispered hoarsely, his skin ashen.
"Because the last person who spoke to Mr. Riclen was your daughter, Rosalie, and if I am not mistaken, the big envelope that she handed him was filled with fifty thousand large ones."
"My sister tried to kill me?" Bella gasped out, her eyes searching Edward's.
"I don't think he meant to kill you. I think she sent him to intimidate you. If she wanted you dead, she would have paid more," Edward said.
"Dear lord!" Bella whispered.
"This isn't going to stop. That is why I want to get you out of here as soon as I can," Edward stood, slipping his hands into his pants pockets.
"We'll have to wait for a while. Don't we have to give statements?" Bella stuttered.
"Yes, but you can give in those at a later date. I don't like the idea of you being in danger. I don't like that I don't fully understand what is going on, but, right now, I need to get you to safety. Go with him," Charlie nodded towards Edward. "He knows what is going on; the boys and you will be safe with him."
"Dad…" Bella whispered.
"Don't, 'dad' me, Bella. Get the boys. Pack enough clothes to last you a while and go with him," Charlie whispered before gently kissing her head.
"She just needs to get the boys. I packed some things for them already." Renee broke the moment, gently rubbing her daughter's back.
"Okay. Just, please, don't be angry with me," Bella whispered, looking at her parents.
"Never, sweetheart. Never," Renee smiled before pulling her daughter into a warm and long embrace.
Thirty minutes later, Renee clung to her husband as he held onto her just as tightly as the car carrying their daughter and grandchildren drove away.
"Are we doing the right thing?" Renee asked him later that night, after all of the police officers had left.
"I hope so," Charlie grunted. "He shielded Theo. If that man got a shot off before he was taken down, Theo would have been safe."
"There might be hope for Edward after all," Renee murmured and Charlie nodded in agreement.
After a two hour journey, Bella was staring at what would become her new home.
"It's massive," she whispered, holding the now awake Chase in her arms.
Chase, unlike Theo, wanted nothing to do with Edward and had clung to his mother from the minute he woke in the car. Theo, feeding off his brother's mistrust, also pulled away from Edward and had spent the past two hours playing games on his mother's phone.
"It was my great-grandfather's home. I inherited it when he passed," Edward said to her, coming to stand by her side.
"Do you have to get your children?" Bella asked cautiously.
"No. They'll spend the night with my parents. It will give you an opportunity to get settled. Plus, there are still some things I want to talk to you about," Edward said. "First, some dinner. It's been a long day."
"Edward, please go and get your children. We can talk after they all go to bed," Bella pushed. "It wouldn't feel right for me to enter your home for the first time as your wife and their mother with my own children and them not be with us. I don't want them to think that their presence was not wanted. I don't want them to feel like they are unwanted."
"The woman speaks sense, Edward," a posh female voice, wafted over to them. "But the children are inside and so is your father. Now, can you explain to me why this woman thinks that she is your wife?"
"Because, Mother, she is my wife. Esme Platt-Cullen meet Isabella Marie Cullen, my wife."