A/N Thanks for concern, Carter is doing really well. The condition is rarely diagnosed that quickly, he was 2 weeks old. He's now one month old today and thriving. There may be typos here, sorry. No time to edit.

It's Murder

Chapter 11

EPOV

By the third night and no call, I was going insane. Carlisle suggested I channel all my pent up frustrations at the rehab clinic, and at first I dismissed this suggestion rudely, but thinking it through, I needed to be back to full speed as soon as possible. My leg seemed fine to me, but I realized my father was right. It had to regain it's former strength so I was confident it would not suddenly let me down in an emergency, should one appear.

Marcus tried to pretend everything was fine and three days without contact was nothing, but even he could no longer laugh it off and joke about how Bella was probably 'finally earning her salary' by catching up with the two agents, and simply spending time getting to know what they had achieved so far, to report back with.

"She would never leave me hanging like this. Something is wrong."

"Edward, relax. There's no reason to suspect that. Maybe she wanted a break from you moaning about your leg. Maybe she thinks absence makes the heart grow fonder and this time apart will lead to an 'explosive' reunion if she makes you miss her more."

I felt my right hand twitch. It so wanted to raise the stick I was using to help me walk normally, and smash it across his face.

"Send me in or I will tender my resignation and go in anyway. I have to locate her and find out for myself that she is safe and sound. I don't even care if she has resurrected the romance with Riley any more. I just need to know she is alive and well. I can face anything if that's the truth."

He drummed his fingers on the desk.

"That may not be a bad idea. To tell you the truth, we are a little concerned that all three of them have gone off the radar. Often one agent who has been under long term and is yet to make any progress with their assignment will just become complacent and delay contact for sometimes extended periods without anything being wrong, but I agree. Not Bella. She would contact you even if not us. Even Rose... Women are generally better at reporting in regardless and Rose has never failed to keep us updated weekly before, even when nothing is happening. Maybe we should send you in."

"Today," I urged. I had done all the required training years ago, like Bella, last time we toyed with transferring to the UC unit. My false identity had been in place, ready and waiting, since then. She had been sent in simply as Bella Swan,seeing she was merely to observe, make contact if it was safe to do so, then come home. There had been no need for a fake id and cover story.

Trickier for me but it was all setup anyway.

There was nothing more that needed to be done prior to my appearance in the city they were in. I had not been told where that might be; it was strictly a 'need to know' basis and I hadn't needed to know.

" Rose's real name is Rosalie Hale but she's called Rose King at the moment," Marcus told me. Coincidence, surely.

"She's the supposed widow of Royce King, former financier so with you being Edward Anthony Masen now, dotcom millionaire, it's conceivable you 'knew' him. That will give you a reason to already know Rose."

I blinked a little at Rose's real name because once upon a time, I dated a Rosalie Hale but I dare say this is an entirely different person. The Rose I knew was a fashion designer, not an agent of any kind. Anyway, my concern began and ended with Bella.

Marcus made a few calls and I went home to pack a bag and collect my, well, Edward Masen's, passport and papers from the safe, and I arrived at the small private airfield an hour before my flight was due to leave.

"Italy here I come," I murmured. I knew Bella had been quite delighted to be in that country especially as she'd had plenty of time to explore the art galleries and tourist points of interest while looking for the others, even though not once in her excitement had she let slip where she actually was.

On 'my' own private plane it was safe to reread the confidential files again as we flew. As I suspected, Riley had been sent in to infiltrate a large human trafficking ring, but Rose was merely there nearby as his contact. She was not supposed to be directly involved, just someone on the spot to watch his back and pass on anything he told her if he couldn't make direct contact himself. She was little more than a go-between. In theory.

The story was that she was his cousin, so nobody would think anything of them having the occasional dinner together, as cousins did. And being just cousins, they were both free to begin relationships with anyone who may be useful.

Rose had never met anyone she needed to get closer to, so her personal life had apparently remained much as had been at home; playing free and easy with any man who appealed to her when he crossed her path.

Riley had been in two 'relationships' with women who were family connections of Aro Volturi, the head honcho. This way he had managed to gain Volturi's trust, though it had taken years; the whole time he had been there. So this meant he was quite possibly merely playing it safe and taking no chances of being caught making contact with Marcus.

Rose was a different story. If she was merely his cousin, there was no reason for her to have gone AWOL. Her job description did not include getting deeply involved with Volturi's organization for any reason. She had been supposedly completely safe and away from the action. Watch, meet up, report in.

Marcus assured me normally she had always followed her brief to the letter and had bailed if anything dangerous touched her life even peripherally. Why not this time as well?

"Mr Masen, welcome to Italy," my driver greeted me. As far as he knew, I was simply a too rich self indulgent multi-millionaire with too much spare time on my hands. He was probably sneering at me under his breath.

My townhouse was luxurious and my first thought was that Mom would have loved the furnishings, but that was immediately eclipsed by my desperate need to find Bella. The doorman placed my suitcases in the extravagant dressing room and left. I grabbed my overnight bag and went downstairs, where my driver was still waiting.

The landlord of Bella's studio apartment let me inside her room once a little cash exchanged hands, and I sat down on the bed she had slept in for the last six weeks. The room was small and cramped but contained everything she needed, and Bella had been used to living this way in the past, so it would not have been anything new.

The view from her tiny balcony, however, was somewhat superior to her view in Boston. A lone cushion was tossed on the floor next to the railing and an empty coffee cup sat beside it. I knew this was where she had sat to make her nightly phone calls to me.

"Where are you, my Bella?" I asked , as I stood holding onto the balcony rails, looking down over the busy marketplace below. She had no doubt stood right here, many times, watching the busy folk below as they purchased their loaves and cheeses and fresh fruit and olives.

There was no sense of urgency in their actions. Both women and men stopped to exchange pleasantries with one another, and the small cafes were all full of a mix of tourists and locals sitting outside on chairs at small round tables as they sipped their coffees.

"Well hello handsome," a voice said, startling me. I turned and smiled at the young woman on an identical balcony beside this one.

"Hello yourself," I replied, forcing a warm smile onto my face. Bella's neighbour.

"So, have you taken over Bella's lease? Please say yes," she giggled.

"Sure," I replied. I would do that. "My name's Edward Masen, may I ask yours?"

I grinned in a hopefully flirtatious manner but her face dropped.

"Oh the famous Edward who she called every single night like her life would fall apart if she didn't hear his voice on a regular basis. Damn, I was hoping you were her brother or something."

"I do have several brothers who are joining me here soon," I offered, needing her to befriend me.

"Single, are they?"

"Definitely. Single and looking for trouble," I winked.

"We should become friends," she decided. "I'm Claire, by the way."

"Lovely to meet you, Claire. Would you like to join me for lunch? I'm new to this city but I'm sure you know a good place to dine. You could help me get to know this wonderful place."

"Sure. A real meal would be pretty awesome around now. I'll just get changed."

She waved the thin paintbrush in her hand at her paint splattered clothing and I realized I had hit gold. An American student here on a visa, doing the whole starving artist cliche before going home to start her no doubt much more boring real career.

"This is Bella's favourite place to eat," she informed me as the waiter handed out menus. I watched as she glanced at the meals listed, then looked me over, assessing that I could easily afford the most expensive dish.

"I'd just about kill for a nice juicy steak. All this bread and cheese and pasta, not to forget the cheap wine is fine but God, I miss meat."

"Then let me buy you a steak," I replied.

We ordered her steak and my pasta and I sipped the wine the drink waiter offered and nodded my approval.

"That's like, fifty bucks a bottle," Claire said in awe.

"A hundred and twenty actually, but who cares?" I replied as he filled her glass.

She savoured it in her mouth before swallowing, her eyes closed. I got the idea. This was the best wine she had ever tasted.

"Do you approve?" I asked as she finally took a second sip.

She kept her eyes open this time but made no effort to swallow it before she was ready to in order to answer me.

"A nice little drop," she murmured, "pressed from grapes grown on the western side of the hill, by barefooted peasants with really tiny feet so as to not bruise the fruit."

I laughed. I quite liked her.

"So, I came here to see Bella, obviously, and your landlord tells me she hasn't been home for a week."

"Oh, she's gone off with that Barbie doll," Claire replied, waving her hand down her own body, sculpturing out a large rack and tiny waist in the air. "Rose. I can't say I like her much."

"Rose King?" I checked.

"Yeah. Apparently she and Bells are friends from way back. Grew up together, shared all their teenage drama and secrets, bff's and all that shit."

Not entirely accurate; Bella told me she met Rose when she moved to Boston, as an adult. Alice was the girl she grew up with.

"So, where did they go?" I asked casually.

"Rose got her a job at the place where she works herself. I think Bells was running out of cash, though looking at you I'm surprised you didn't send her some."

"Bella is very independent, she wanted to do this trip by herself," I replied. "I did offer to come with her and finance the whole trip but it wasn't what she wanted."

"And you had the broken leg," she reminded me.

"Of course. I always intended joining her here once it mended, as a surprise. Now I just need to find her. Where does Rose work?"

I admit I had visions of the two women waiting tables or working in a bar so I was taken by surprise at Claire's reply.

"Up in the hills, at Aro Volturi's Palace of Pleasure."

Fuck. This was very bad. Neither of them were authorised to go near the place, let alone work there.

"What does Rose do there exactly?" I asked, hoping against hope she was merely the receptionist.

"She's a Dungeon Mistress, whatever the fuck that is. Don't tell me, I don't think I want to know. Bella sure thought it was funny. The two of them got a lot of laughs over it. She said it was the perfect job for Rose. Rose said it would be only Dungeon Mistresses just oversee the shit that goes down there, they don't get to fuck the clients themselves."

What the heck was Bella employed to do there?

"It's quite easy to get hired. The Aro guy comes into town a lot, looking for new recruits. His clients like Americans, it seems. He offered me a job as a Submissive and I was tempted and all. He said it didn't matter that I had no previous experience, training was provided. Living on my measly allowance from my Father doesn't exactly let me live the high life. But when his lacky explained just what a Submissive was, I decided I liked dry bread and cheap wine after all."

"And Bella took a job there?" I replied in shock.

Claire shrugged.

"To each his own. I knew it wasn't for me. No rich fucker will ever get to slap me around with a riding crop to get his jollies. I was surprised Bella was interested, but I did 'accidentally' overhear Rose tell her a friend of hers worked there. Someone named Riley. She said it was the only way to get to talk to him because he lives in at the castle."

There was no way I could eat anything now. A lump appeared in my throat and my heartbeat faltered. I placed a small pile of money on the table to cover the meal and wine, and Claire frowned and handed a note back to me.

"Don't be too generous. They'll expect a tip that large every time you come in if you do."

"Keep it yourself," I replied. "And get them to bag up my meal and take it home with you for later if you want. I have somewhere I need to be."

xxxx

"Nobody gets in without an appointment," the rather overly large man at the gate repeated again.

I'd tried sweet talking, baffling him with bullshit, demanding he let me in with the 'do you have any idea who I am and how much money I am worth and how very important that makes me' line, and he'd even sneered at the bribe I'd offered him.

I was about to double it; triple it, and only paused because of the contemptuous look on his face.

"Don't insult us both, Sir. It's more than my job is worth. I'd be happy to allow you to book an appointment with Gianna if that's what you wish, but nobody gets in here otherwise."

I reluctantly agreed and he let me into the small annexe in the forecourt. A tall Italian girl

took down my contact details and made a booking for the next day, once I convinced her my business here was urgent and not the usual type of booking for a session in the dungeons.

"I wish to meet with Aro Volturi himself. I have a business proposition for him."

There was only one thing I wanted from him, and I didn't care how much it cost for me to buy her. I would not be leaving this place tomorrow until I had his newest trainee Sub firmly in my grasp. And when I got her home, there would possibly be violence involved. I hope she's ready for the touch of my leather belt against her soft, fair skin! How the fuck could she have done this?

I somehow made it back to her little garret without killing anyone, and took my frustration and anger out on the flimsy sticks of furniture in her room. The chair snapped way too easily, but the chunky, much scratched little table took quite a few blows against the wall before it broke with a shriek of tortured wood.

"Bella, I could strangle you with my own bare hands right now," I cried out in despair. "And Rose, you are so dead. How could you let her do this? You must know why Aro is always looking for new recruits. Young women do not last long in that particular career once one too many Doms have bashed the living crap out of them."

I tried desperately to block out what else Doms did to their Subs, after the beatings. They mistreated them in the vilest ways possible. Even if she survived, she would be traumatized, violated, destroyed.

I grabbed my cell phone and made a call.

"Emmett, get your arse on the next flight to Milan, Italy. Get some sleep on the plane, I need you to be ready for action. Text me the flight details and I'll meet you at the airport. Thanks Bro."

In around eight to ten hours, depending on how soon the next flight left, my brother would arrive and have my back.

xxxx

That night was the longest night of my life.

I spent it pacing the small floor area in Bella's room; draining every bottle of cheap alcohol she had stashed under the kitchen sink unit. I tore out so much of my hair I probably sported several bald spots.

Claire ventured in to keep me company and to share the better quality wine she had bought with the money I gave her, but she didn't stay long. I had a feeling I had scared her, with my ranting and howling in agony.

Finally I fell onto the bed and passed out but even that oblivion refused me any comfort. My dreams were full of images of my gentle little Bella, beaten, raped and broken by a succession of men whose faces I couldn't see. I was watching from the corner, frozen like some marble statue, unable to save her. When I did break free, I killed them all; tore them limb from limb; ripped off their heads, and the dungeon floor was awash with their blood.

xxxx

"Edward! Could you please answer your cell? It's been ringing for ages. Everyone in the complex is complaining."

I felt a hand on my shoulder as I opened one eye. My head throbbed and I gazed at the girl who stood by the bed, wondering where the fuck I was and who she was, more to the point.

"Hello, this is Claire, answering Edward's phone," she was saying into my cell phone in her hand.

She pushed it toward me.

"It's your brother, Emmett. He's waiting at the airport for you?"

My brain clicked into gear and I shook my head in an effort to clear it.

"Emmett. I'll be right there. Hang on. I just need to take a shower and wake myself up properly."

"Maybe I should drive you," Claire offered.

"It's okay. I have a driver," I replied, tossing the cell onto the bed.

She looked around the room.

"Bella's going to lose her security deposit," she sighed.

"Bella has far worse problems than that," I replied, stripping my crumpled, sticky suit from my torso and stepping into the small shower in the corner of the room. Claire pretended not to look, while checking me out with a sneaky sidelong glance. Too many women had seen me naked for me to care.

"Wow," she whispered, looking away, her cheeks blushing.

"Remind me to introduce you to Emmett when this is all over," I stated. "Could you lay out my clean suit? It's in the black bag hanging on the door."

I dressed hurriedly and left the room where Claire was making an effort to tidy up, and got into the car.

"Airport, thanks."

Emmett didn't seem too bothered to have been kept waiting but that was possibly due to the two beautiful women he was seated between at the coffee kiosk. He hurriedly entered his details into a phone and handed it back to the taller one on his right before getting up and walking towards me. As always, he had chosen the blond.

"What's happening? Why the urgency?" he asked with a grin as he forced me into a manhug.

"You are not going to believe what Bella's gotten herself into," I sighed, grabbing his bag from his hand and turning back to the door I'd just entered.

"Bye ladies. Call me," he said with a grin, then followed me out.

"So you found her. Where is she?"

"Bella is currently being trained as a submissive in Aro Volturi's Palace of Pleasure," I informed him snappily.

"I always wanted to go there," Emmett replied eagerly. Then he caught the murderous look I was giving him and sobered. "I mean...before this happened..."

"Oh, we are going there. I have an appointment to meet with Aro himself in an hour and you shall be my bodyguard in case things get sticky."

"Yes!" Emmett said, punching a hand into the other palm. "This sounds like fun."

"I'm hoping it will just be a quick financial transaction, no need to spill any blood," I replied.

"That would be a little boring, but if it goes down that way, can I stay for a guided tour of the place?"

"Once I have Bella safely out of there, you can do whatever you want," I assured him.

xxxx

"Mr Edward Anthony Masen and friend " the tall thickset Italian announced.

Aro Volturi rose from behind his desk and stepped forward, his face beaming. No doubt he had already had someone check out my credentials. My fake persona was somewhat famous you could say. He'd played the stock market successfully for years so had come to the attention of many people. Naturally, he was an eccentric recluse, so there were no photographs anywhere of him.

"Welcome, friends. How can I assist you today?" He was a smaller, slighter figure of a man that I had expected. His friendly yet bland features made it hard to accept this man ran one of the largest people trafficking trades in the world. His many Palaces of Pleasure were staffed by girls snatched from streets, cruise ships, nightclubs, around the globe, and imprisoned into a nightmare world of drugs and prostitution.

"I'm looking for a companion to take home with me to my estate in America. Various friends have recommended your girls to me, so here I am. Price is no object for the right girl."

His eyes positively glowed, and he rubbed his hands together.

"Lovely. I do have some girls looking for private placements, shall we say. Would you care to elaborate on the type of girl that appeals to you? All our ladies are highly trained and very good at their...hobbies. Maybe a blond?"

"I prefer brunettes. And while I appreciate the time and effort that goes into training your girls, I'm looking for someone a little less experienced, shall we say? Someone whose training I can finish off myself?"

"Well, I do have a trainee as it happens, but I'm not sure she is the girl for you. She's rather spirited and isn't responding to training as well as I had hoped. But by all means, look her over and see what you think. Caius, bring Miss Bree out here, please."

He turned and looked me over, ignoring Emmett, no doubt dismissing him as my employee.

"Bree is a strange one. She seemed very keen to join our little family here at first but alas, she doesn't seem to like the training aspect of things. It's such a shame. I had high hopes for her. So young, so pretty. I had envisioned many years of having her here with us. But, of course, I'd never force a girl to stay against her will. If she truly doesn't want to be one of us, of course she can leave. But of course, here have been expenses. I'm sure we can come up with a reasonable figure for the amount of compensation I deserve for all the trouble she has caused me. I was anticipating maybe seven years of service from her, so those earnings have to be taken into consideration. However my loss is your gain. Maybe she would respond better in a more private situation. I hope she pleases you."

I nodded, unable to speak. I could feel Emmett bristling at my side, clearly now aware just how places like this were actually staffed. I placed a hand on his arm and he calmed. There was no time for heroics here. I had to put Bella's life and safety first, not try and be a superhero and save them all. There was no chance of that.

Caius dragged a small, slightly built brunette into the room. She fought and writhed against his grip and her long tangled hair fell over her face. I felt my brother hold me back as I took a step forward, and my vision spun crazily.

"Bree, be polite, say hello to Mr Masen," Aro said merrily. He nodded and a dark figure stepped from the shadows and lashed a whip across her back when she failed to respond.

"Young people today," Aro sighed. "No manners."