"On your own again, back to where it all began
The phone don't ring and the tears they fall
But you carry on and on and on"
- On Your Own, by: Green River Ordinance
Hourglass
Chapter: 9
-Bella POV-
I walk back inside and am intercepted as I try to return Emmett's cell phone to him.
Jessica Stanley in all of her gum popping glory is sitting at the registration desk and calls out to me as I approach Edward and Emmett.
"Bella, I need you to come fill out Rosalie's registration paperwork." She snaps her gum as she talks and smiles at the guys wantonly.
"Sure." I walk up and grab the clipboard with Rosalie's paperwork on it. Just as I'm about to head back to my seat she whispers, "Hey, Bella, you're not dating either of those guys are you?"
"No, I'm not," I say flatly, staring at her like she's an idiot.
"Didn't think so." Her smile is so big it flashes all of her teeth and she pops her gum again.
I roll my eyes at her as I walk back to my seat and plop down between Emmett and Edward. Sighing heavily, I begin to fill out all of the necessary medical and insurance forms for Rose.
Once they're completed, I set the clipboard in my lap and lean back, resting my head against the wall.
"Please just let this be a bad dream," I say to no one in particular and glance up at the infomercial that is playing on the tiny T.V. in the corner.
"Afraid not," Edward replies and nudges my shoulder lightly.
"You wanna tell me a little more about this Royce character so I can start looking for him?" he asks me quietly after a minute.
"Besides the fact that he's a fucking monster and I hope he dies from slowly spontaneous combustion tonight?" I growl out.
Edward ignores my rant and then proceeds to pepper me with questions. "Where's he from? Where does he hang out? Where do his folks live?"
"Uhm…" I blink, replaying all of the questions he's just asked and trying to make my mind remember everything and anything to do with Royce.
"His parents died when he was young. He was raised by his grandparents, Mary and Jameson King. He's uh…named after his grandpa. He grew up in the Seattle area, but they—his grandparents and he—moved to Port Angeles when Royce was a sophomore in high school. He graduated from Port Angeles' high in 2004. He usually hangs out in Port Angeles. The nightlife in Forks doesn't exactly meet his standards, and he has dealers in P.A. So, that's where he usually is if he isn't here… Sometimes he goes to Sequim though, it really depends," I trail off.
"Oh, and uh…his grandparents are really wealthy. I'm not sure what they do. Rosalie never really wanted to talk about them, but I know that they're uptight and wealthy."
When I'm finally finished, I look back and forth between Emmett and Edward's faces. Edward is scribbling into a little notebook and Emmett is staring at the floor with a furrowed brow. I choose to ignore his facial expression and glance back to Edward.
"Does that help?" I ask worriedly.
"Yes and no. It's good to know a bit about his background. It gives me a general idea of where to look for him. But I need specifics. Names? Addresses? Phone numbers? That sort of thing."
"I don't have my cell phone with me, but Royce's number is in it. He hangs out with Ronnie Slatkin a lot; he's from P.A. I believe his first name is Laurent, but Ronnie is his alias." Edward continues to write as I talk.
"Ronnie has a girlfriend, Victoria Rex. They usually hang out with Royce." I sigh as I try to think of any more information.
"Wait a minute, Ronnie and Vicki, isn't that the name of the couple that got busted with drugs at that strip joint in P.A. a few months ago?" Emmett asks no one in particular.
"Now that you mention it, I think it was," Edward replies.
"Yeah, that's them. Royce was involved, too. But his grandparents paid a lot of money to get the charges dropped and made sure his name wasn't printed in anything," I confirm.
"This guy just keeps getting better and better," Emmett growls sarcastically as Edward jots down more notes on his pad.
A minute passes, and I'm startled by the automatic door sliding open. Charlie strides into the room with purpose, his wild brown eyes frantically searching for me. As soon as our eyes lock, mine well up with tears and I run to him. He catches me in his embrace and I cry into his neck as he holds my shoulders and rubs the back of my head.
"What are we gonna do?" I ask. My voice is raspy and choked off as I talk through my tears.
"I don't know, Bells. I really don't know," he murmurs as he tries to comfort me.
"Have you found him yet?"
I know I shouldn't hope, but I do. God, I do. I'd give anything to have his ass in jail right now.
"No, we're sure he's left town. He could be on his way up to Canada right now for all we know. But we're on it, Bells. We just don't have the men to do a full-fledged search." Charlie's voice is regretful but determined. He wants Royce locked up as badly as I do.
We hear a throat clear behind us, and I move to stand beside Charlie as I lean into him. He wraps an arm around my back, bracing some of my weight as I lean into him and I see Emmett and Edward standing in front of us.
"I'm sorry, Chief Swan. I don't mean to intrude, but I wanted to formally introduce myself and offer my services to help search for Mr. King. My name is Edward Cullen," Edward addresses Charlie.
"You're Carlisle Cullen's boy? The detective?" Charlie asks, surprised.
"Yes, sir. That's correct," Edward affirms.
"We'd be lucky to have ya on our team, son. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot the Forks P.D. can do right now outside of city lines. We put out an A.P.B for Royce, but nothing's turned up yet." Charlie and Edward talk strategy and cop lingo, and I finally allow myself to breathe a little easier for a bit.
Charlie sounds genuinely grateful for Edwards's assistance, so it makes me hopeful that Royce will be captured soon.
I chance a glance over to Emmett and notice his posture is a little less stiff. He looks relieved at how well Charlie and Edward are getting along. If I'm being honest, I am too. I was worried Charlie would think Edward was stepping on his toes, but that isn't what this is about. This is about catching Royce and getting justice for Rosalie, once and for all.
Something behind Emmett catches my eye and the automatic doors open again. I'm not at all prepared for what—or who—I see. When our eyes lock, my body stiffens and I'm filled with pure homicidal rage. I see red.
His smirk is twisted, and if the redness below his nose or the dilation of his eyes is any indication, he's done a bump before coming in here.
Standing there in all of his fucked up, evil glory is the devil himself.
Royce King.
Thank you for reading, you're all lovely.
xxoo,
Missy