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Chapter 32 – Judgment

ROSE

I pulled up the calendar of rulings and charges from Judge Caius' court. I had found that every time Alec Volturi had been paired with Judge Caius, a guilty verdict had been found, and it usually involved a huge settlement, much large than your average compensation. I was surprised their activities hadn't been called into question before.

I took home eight boxes of files that night, flagging all of the ones that involved excessive settlements. There were a few that had obviously been misruled. I red flagged those for sure, as they definitely needed to be addressed first.

In the end, after looking back on five years of rulings, only a third of Judge Caius' eight hundred cases looked legit. I also noticed that the other two-thirds of mishandled cases all involved someone from the Volturi law group or their affiliates.

Basically, it looked like someone had bought off our judge and hung our boys out to dry. This was going to be a tough case to prove. I needed the help of a clean judge. I needed another benchwarmer to look over my findings and back me up. Otherwise, I'd just look like a crazy person stirring up trouble.

I called Demetri in and asked him to get the financials and spending habits of Judge Caius confirmed for me. I wanted any new properties recorded, such as new cars, houses, sudden vacations, jewelry for his wife, etc. I wanted to know when it all was purchased. I told him he would only have to look back a little more than five years to be able to find the differences. I gave him the approximate date it appeared the Judge went dirty and sent him off. If anyone could find dirt on a person, it'd be Demetri.

It was time to call a friend in to help.

The phone rang three times before Margaret answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, Margaret, it's Rosalie Hale." Margaret and I had met in physical therapy. She really encouraged me to not give up when I learned that my scars would never go away. There were other ways to be a force to be reckoned with as a woman, and it didn't need to include beauty. We became close friends during that time, and we'd kept in touch ever since. She became my role model and the reason I fought for the truth.

"Oh, honey, how are you doing? You sound upset. Is everything alright?" she asked worried.

"I'm fine, but I've been doing some digging, and I don't like what I'm finding."

"Well, what are you digging for, dear?"

"I had a girl named Tanya Denali come in. She was supposed to have been raped at the age of fourteen, at a hotel her family owned and where she lived, by a Dr. Edward Cullen."

"Oh, that must have been devastating for her."

"One would think, but she wasn't raped. She admitted to me that she'd lied and accused Dr. Cullen, so she could obtain a large settlement. There was a very dirty lawyer involved, Alec Volturi. I have a feeling he was involved in several mishandled cases, and I'm almost positive the judge who handled the case was in on the scam, because when I brought the miscarriage of justice to his attention, he told me to drop it or he'd come after me."

"Tell me, who is this bastard that dared tangle with the Ms. Rosalie Hale?"

"Judge Caius."

Margaret groaned. "He's a slimy bastard. What do you want me to do?"

"Well, he pissed me off, so I grabbed his case files for the past five years and ran down them. Only one third of them seemed clean. I know this is a serious accusation, but I think he's been bought. I've sifted through all of his rulings, and not only has he convicted innocent people, but he awarded excessive settlements that were outrageous. I suspect he got a cut for his rulings in favor of the Volturi firm's clients. I have the files all marked and highlighted. Would you like to see them?"

"Five years, that has to be quite a stack."

"It is, and I sent Demetri out looking at his financials. The money would have to show up somewhere."

"We're going to need more help. You mind if I bring in a few people?"

"Only if you're sure you can trust them."

Margaret let out a tired sigh. "We've got a mess of work ahead of us, don't we?"

"Yes, we do."

"Well, I've got your back. I'm going to talk to Judge Mason and Judge Talbot. Both are honest judges and good friends. I think the three of us should look over Judge Caius' rulings together. If we go after Caius alone, they'll try and paint us as man-haters, but if we get Mason and Talbot on our side, they'll have nothing on us."

"Thank you, Margaret. I knew I could count on you."

"Honestly, honey, it's you that we're counting on. It's people like you that really do keep the city safe."

"Thank you, that really means a lot to me."

"I'll see you tomorrow, plan on lunch at your house with a few guests. We'll want to see these stacks of misjudgments."

The next morning, I had my maid, Denise, prepare a large lunch. I knew Margaret wouldn't let me down and would bring help.

What I didn't count on was Emmett Cullen showing up.

I was sitting in the presence of three judges, a district attorney and two lawyers. They had split the piles, the judges taking the guilty judgments and the lawyers taking the innocent. They were all combing through the files, most of them with disgusted looks on their faces. I knew they were all seeing what I had seen.

I was expecting Demetri back anytime now, so I was surprised when Emmett stood nervously in the doorway.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Ms. Hale, but Alice wanted me to come help hang some pictures."

"Who is this gentleman, Rosalie?" Margaret inquired smiling.

"This is Emmett Cullen. His brother was wrongfully convicted and sent to a mental institution. The file is in there."

"Can you give it to me?" Margaret asked. I quickly pulled it out, and she started reading it out loud to the other judges. "Rosalie, you realize this man here was accused of rape."

Emmett blushed bashfully, looking at his shoes.

"Well, from what I know of him, I doubt he would do such a thing, not to mention that his brother was also sure of his innocence. Emmett had checked into the hotel room with another woman that night and discarded a used condom in the trash bin that Tanya Denali later emptied as part of her job cleaning the room."

It didn't go unnoticed that Emmett flinched when I said the word condom. "Emmett, do you find the word condom offensive?"

His eyes popped wide, as did his mouth, and then he looked at the judges and me. "I'm sorry, I mean, I didn't…it's just…" He let out a huff. He looked up at us timidly, "That's kind of a private word, you know, that's only used in privacy, with someone you…ah..." He scratched the back of his neck. "It was just surprising to hear you say it so casually."

"Mr. Cullen, does the word vagina offend you as well?" Margaret asked, and Emmett visibly flinched.

Judge Talbot started chuckling. "How about penis, you have one of those, don't you?"

Emmett's face twisted up in displeasure.

"Alright, enough tormenting the poor boy, go ahead and help my sister with her picture hanging," I said dismissing him.

He gave us all a little nod and thanked me, before he hurried out of the room.

"You're letting an accused rapist hang pictures with your sister?" Judge Mason asked.

"I interviewed the supposed victim, Tanya Denali, and she outright admitted that she lied about the rape and was only looking for a financial settlement, one over which she's upset that her parent took and plans on suing them for as soon as she turns eighteen in a couple of months."

"Ah, so you're the nosy little bitch getting into other people's business," an angry voice snapped behind us.

We all looked at the doorway to see a uniformed officer.

"Carson?" the female lawyer asked confused. "What are you doing here in Ms. Hale's home?"

"Shut up, Stacey, or you're going to be first to go," he said pulling his gun from his belt. "You just couldn't leave well enough alone could you, Ms. Hale?" he said raising his gun, pointing it right at me. I was silently praying that Demetri would get home fast. I had to keep Officer Carson talking if we were going to make it.

"If you're talking about Judge Caius' cases, I would call them anything but well enough. I wouldn't even call what he did half-assed."

Carson smirked at me. "I heard you were a fiery one. I was told I should bring you back to Mr. Volturi for entertainment."

I stood slowly, leaning hard on my cane, playing up my injuries, so I'd seem like less of a threat. "So, Officer Carson, tell me, what made you turn dirty?"

"Who said I was dirty? From where I'm standing, you're the dirty ones. You're the ones planting evidence in the files and bringing up false charges," he said smirking.

"We both know that's not the case."

He looked me up and down, making my skin crawl. "Maybe Mr. Volturi will let me have a turn with you. It looks like you were pretty once," he said stepping forward to touch my face. I stood still, because I wanted that bastard closer.

Once he touched my cheek, I gave him a knowing smile. I whipped my face away from his hand and stabbed the end of my taser-tipped cane into his foot. The jolt sent him tumbling to the ground, and I gave him another shock in the cheek for good measure. "Keep your filthy hands to yourself!"

"Ms. Hale," Emmett called as he rushed down the stairs. "Are you alright?" he asked looking down at the officer on the floor.

"Yes, would you please find his cuffs and restrain him, while we find a clean cop to turn him in to."

Emmett looked up at the judges, and they seemed to be nodding in agreement with me, so he moved quickly. Officer Carson was starting to come to by the time Emmett clicked the final lock. He was smart and took Carson's utility belt and emptied his pockets, just in case he had a spare handcuff key. Emmett was right to do it, because he found three spare keys on Carson and set his belongings in front of the judges.

Our investigation was proving to be much more dangerous than we'd originally thought.

EDWARD

I was sleeping with Bella next to me. She was stretched out topless beside me, and it was all I could do to keep myself under control. Her little budding nipples were teasing me, and I just wanted to taste them a little. I wanted to feel the little buds in my mouth and roll them against my tongue.

I smacked myself in the face, trying to get myself to stop looking at them. She was fast asleep and needed her rest. I lightly powdered her flesh once more; trying to convince myself I wasn't touching her because I was a sick bastard, but because she actually needed medical attention. Yeah, that was it, medical attention.

I might have gotten a little lost in what I was doing and nuzzled her breast a little. In my defense, she didn't seem to mind.

I pulled myself away from her and headed into the main cavern. It was pitch black, but I had become very familiar with the cave and made my way to the covered entrance. I listened to the pirates' minds for a while. Most were settled down for bed. Only a couple remained awake, but they were on the far side of the island, which was good, because I really needed a cold shower right now.

I made my way by moonlight to the falls and stripped down. I was thankful for the icy shower that was not only effective in getting rid of my erection, but also in cooling me on a hot humid evening. I checked on Jake's mind and the pirates' minds as I showered, making sure they stayed a good distance from the cave. I didn't want anyone disturbing my family.

My family.

I smirked at my twisted mind. I was crazy if I thought they were mine. Bella was sweet, but still not my wife, and Jacob would never be my son, no matter how badly I wished it. Once we returned to civilization, it would all be ripped away from me. I would lose it all.

I sat down on a rock and rested my head in my hands. I'd lose them once we were rescued. I'd lose them and be forced to return to that so-called mental hospital.

I looked up at the sky and wondered if Bella would mind if I stayed here on my own. She wouldn't be able to bring me cookies, but I just couldn't stand going back to that place. Of course, living here alone on the island wouldn't be the same without them.

My pitiful thoughts were interrupted by screaming. It took a minute for me to realize that the screaming wasn't within earshot, just in the pirates' minds. Apparently, the pirates that were awake had found the male mountain lion, and he was not pleased to be woken up. In fact, he was downright pissed.

The screaming in my mind was hurting my head so much that I grabbed my clothes and ran to the cave. I threw on my boxers and snuggled tightly next to Bella, trying to drown out the screaming by listening to her breathing, but it was hard to hear over the painful cries for help.

"Edward, honey, what's wrong? Why are you crying? Did you have a nightmare? Why are you so cold and wet?" she asked running her hand through my wet hair. "Honey, please, speak to me."

"The pirates," I mumbled out.

"Are they coming?" she asked worried.

I shook my head no. "The mountain lion found them. They're..." I couldn't finish. I just gripped my head, wishing it would stop.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry," she said wrapping her arms tightly around me. She kissed my temple and started to sing. The screaming was still too loud in my head to make out the song, but I tried to focus on her voice, and finally, it warped from a hum to words I could understand.

The screaming finally stopped. Three pirates were dead and two were injured badly. One I was sure would die in the next few hours without medical attention. They weren't voicing their pains verbally, but their pain was voiced mentally.

"Is it over?" she asked me softly.

I shook my head no, "Some of them are hurt, and they're still very loud." I let out a sigh. "One is dying a slow, painful death. It's horrible to listen to."

"Can you save them?"

I looked at her as if she was nuts. We barely had enough medical supplies for ourselves, and here she wanted to use them on the likes of a pirate who would just as soon rape her or sell her and Jake into slavery.

"It'll stop in time. He doesn't have much longer."

"But can you save him?" She looked at me with those innocent doe eyes. My Bella, my girl with a death wish, who was always charging head first into danger, I couldn't lie to her.

"Yes, I can save them. I can fix them and stop the pain."

She sat up and nodded her head at me as if something was decided. She passed me my pants and my shirt. I looked at her as if she was insane.

"Bella, they can't know you're here."

"They won't," she said defiantly. "You're here alone on the island, and you want to stay here, because you're wanted in the states. Let them know you were once a doctor, you heard the screaming, and you came as fast as you could. They'll check out your doctor's bag and see you're what you say you are, and then you'll save their shipmates, making new friends. If they offer you anything in payment, please ask for toilet paper."

I laughed a little at her plea for toilet paper. I had to admit, I did miss that stuff. I scratched my furry chin, "And maybe a razor to get rid of this?"

She smiled, kissing my nose. "Whatever you want, doc, just be careful," she said kissing my lips softly. "I'll be waiting for you. Take your recorder and check in on us. Play it so I'll know you're okay."

The dying man screamed in my mind again as someone tried to help him. I flinched at the sound of his pain.

"Go!"

I kissed Bella quickly and hurried out into the night. I would go and do what I could, but as I ran, I begged God to keep my family safe, praying the whole way that he was listening.

A/N: Thanks for reading and please review!