[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer

[A/N]

This story is giving me a hard time right now. Well, to be honest, everything is giving me a hard time at the moment. It's so difficult to overcome these depressive moods, the constant feeling of not being good enough, no matter how hard I try. Anyway, it's still my goal to get this baby here finished. After that, we'll see. I'd like to try my hand at OF but I don't think I write well enough for that.

Today's update is dedicated to Leslie for being such a loyal and supportive friend. I'm happy to have you by my side.

**47**

Agent Masen's mouth curled into a half-sided smile when the judge instructed him to raise his hand.

"State your full name for the record." The judge told him, seeing how the young man straightened his back to make himself appear taller.

"Edward Anthony Masen," Edward said, his eyes moving over to the table on the side where Aro Volturi was sitting.

"Mr. Masen, can you tell this court why you've been investigating the defendant for over a year now?"

Edward nodded his head. "Yes, Your Honor, I can. I have found proof that Volturi Jewelry is nothing but a cover up for Mr. Volturi's true businesses."

"Can you tell us more about that?" the prosecutor asked, pushing his glasses up a bit higher on his nose.

"Of course, Sir, I can do that. See, I've been observing one of Mr. Volturi's shops in Port Angeles for a while now. Let me tell you, that most costumers visiting said shop are unmarried males around forty."

Volturi coughed and tightened the leather band around his ponytail a bit. "A lot of our customers like buying gifts from our collection."

"Mr. Volturi," the judge snapped. "You are only to speak when asked a direct question. Are we clear about that, Sir?"

"Yes, Your Honor." Aro Volturi murmured, looking down at his hands again. "I understand completely."

The judge frowned. Then he turned his attention back to Edward. "Did you find any evidence at the shop after you got the search warrant?"

"We found lists," Edward stated. "Of clients purchasing pearl jewelry."

"How is that any proof that Mr. Volturi has something to do with the accusations concerning Mr. King and the pictures we found at his house?"

"Well, Your Honor, the thing is that in order to sell pearls, you need to manufactor or buy them yourself first. Volturi Jewelry has its own manufactories but they don't make enough for that many pearls."

"I see." The judge mumbled, rubbing his chin. "Go on."

"I'm convinced the pearls are being used as some sort of code word. No pedophile would feel comfortable entering a shop, asking for nudes of minors. They know the police have its ears everywhere."

Volturi got another coughing fit. Then he glared at Agent Masen, like he was thinking of ten different ways to kill the man who was about to break his own neck.

"I'm convinced that Mr. Volturi here has been selling child pornography big style. The…customers enter the shop, asking for pearls, specifically fake pearls. In truth they get porn."

"Do you have valid proof for those accusations?" the prosecutor asked Edward in a voice that came out a bit too high-pitched.

"My partners and I…we've investigated seven people whose credit card bills stated that they purchased pearl jewelry at one of Mr. Volturi's stores. We found child pornography at their houses. There is no other connection between those men than their regular visits to Mr. Volturi's so-called jewelry store."

The judge shook his head. "Thank you, Mr. Masen. No further questions for you so far." He slammed his hammer against his desk. "I'm interrupting the session for a thirty minute break."

A couple of minutes later, Rosalie found herself standing in front of a sink, forcing herself to stop scrubbing her hands with the cheap, bubblegum-scented soap.

"I think your hands are clean enough now." Alice mumbled, stepping close to Rosalie to turn of the water. "God, I feel like I could pee every two minutes."

"When is the baby due again?" Rose asked, drying off her hands with a paper towel.

"In two weeks. I think Emmett is more nervous about it than me."

Rosalie's lips twitched into a smile. "He loves you very much. That's why he's nervous."

Alice sighed and pressed her hands against her lower back. "Those chairs in there are the most uncomfortable I've ever had to sit on. My back is killing me."

They walked outside where Bella pulled Rose into a tight embrace. "How are you doing?" she whispered, making Rose sit down on a wooden bench in front of the courtroom.

"If I say okay, it would be a lie." Rose whispered back. "They are going to nail Volturi down. Aren't they? All those…disgusting men need to get punished too."

Bella sat down next to Rose on the bench. "Edward is sure that Volturi is ending up in jail for a long time for dealing with child pornography."

"What about the murder?" Emmett asked, handing a cup with orange juice to his girlfriend. "He's going to get his ass kicked for that too. Right, Bella?"

Alice sipped on the juice and wrinkled her nose. "Why didn't you bring me apple juice? I hate orange juice when it's not freshly squeezed."

"You're a spoiled brat." He snapped at her. "Your Dad and your Mammy should have put you over their knees a couple of times when you were a girl."

"You're an asshole." Alice stated. "But I know you're only being one right now because you're agitated."

"I'm not fucking agitated." Emmett said. "I just wish I could kill Royce and this creeper Volturi with my own hands."

"Emmett, stop it!" Rose pleaded. "I just want all of this to be over. I need it to be over. Whether Volturi gets punished for killing Dad or not."

Edward walked by, running his hands through his copper hair to get it out of his eyes. "Mr. Hale, I'd like to have the prosecutor call you up as another witness."

Emmett shrugged his shoulders. "What for? I don't think I understand."

Agent Masen nodded his head. "You were the last person who saw your father alive."

Emmett's insides clenched. "What does that have to do with him getting murdered by this…freak?"

"A lot," Edward stated. "Anything he said, anything he did right before he left for this shift he never returned home from could be helpful."

Bella sighed. "Edward, we've been through this again and again. It's not leading to anything. Emmett was ten when his father was killed."

"He must remember something." Edward insisted. "Miss Hale too. The other Mr. Hale is useless of course, since he was only a toddler when the murder happened."

"You are useless yourself." Jasper snapped. "If people like you and Swan were doing their jobs right..,"

"It's enough, Jasper." Charlie stated calmly, walking towards them. "Your father was a good man. I wish, I could only be half as good as him."

xxxx

"State your full name for the record." The judge instructed Charlie who was chewing a bit on the outer corner of his moustache.

"My name is Charles Philipp Swan. I'm the Chief of Police down at Forks."

The prosecutor stepped closer to the witness stand. "Mr. Swan, is it correct that the victim, Officer Jasper Hale, used to be your partner at the time he was murdered?"

"Yes, Your Honor, that's correct."

"Can you tell us when was the last time you spoke to him?"

"Yes, I can. It was in the afternoon, the day before he got killed, at around five p.m. I think."

"What did you speak about?"

"The Game that was on the night before. Then he told me he had a fight with his wife."

"Did they fight often?"

"Not more than other couples. I assume she was mad at him for working another holiday."

"Did Officer Hale tell you about what he had been fighting with his wife?"

"No, he didn't. But I think it was about money again. A small town cop doesn't make that much and the Hale's had three kids. Money was always an issue."

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Swan." The prosecutor told Charlie. "No further questions so far." He turned to the judge. "Your Honor, I'd like to call up another witness."

Emmett's voice was raspy when he vowed to speak the truth and only the truth. The truth here was that it was pointless to call him up as a witness. He had only been a stupid child when the murder happened. A child that had been forced to grow up so fast that he never had gotten rid of childish behavior completely.

"Mr. Hale," the prosecutor began. "What do remember about the last day of your father's life?"

"Nothing," Emmett mumbled. "I've already told the police that it was just like any other day."

"Mr. Swan just told us that your parents had a fight. Do you remember any of that?"

"I'm not sure. They always sent me to my room when they were having a fight."

"I see, Mr. Hale. Would you say that your parents were fighting a lot?"

"Not really. Dad was…he loved Mom so much. But on that day he was angry at her. I think it was partly my fault."

"Why do you think that, Mr. Hale?" the judge asked. "Were they fighting about you?"

"More about what I had done." Emmett rubbed his forehead. "I played pirate and flushed one of my mother's earrings down the toilet."

The judge scrawled down something on a piece of paper in front of him. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Hale. No further questions."

When the judge instructed Aro Volturi to take a seat in the witness stand again the man frowned. His mouth was pressed together like he was trying somehow desperately to calm his nerves.

"Mr. Volturi, did you ever meet the victim Officer Hale in your life?"

"No, never, Your Honor." Volturi responded.

"Did you know his wife, Lucy Hale?"

"In the biblical sense?" Volturi smirked a crooked grin. "The answer to that question would be, yes."

"Lucy Hale has stated in her suicide note that you forced her to work as a prostitute."

"That's a lie, Sir. I never forced any woman to sell her body. Lucy did it for the money."

The prosecutor flipped through his folder. Then he placed a Polaroid picture in front of Volturi. "Do you recognize the ear-ring in this picture?"

"I do. That's one of ours. What does that have to do with the case?"

The prosecutor's mouth twitched. "I don't expect you to remember, Mr. Volturi. Let me help you freshen up your memory." He turned to the Jury. "Page seventeen, exhibit 5D."

Aro Volturi's yellowish skin color turned paler when the prosecutor put a sheet of paper on the desk in front of him.

"Your bookkeepers work very precisely, Mr. Volturi. This document states that Mr. Hale purchased a pair of pearl-earrings a week before his death. He paid cash. Isn't this your signature on the receipt, Mr. Volturi?"

"Yes, it is." Aro Volturi mumbled. "So, yes, I met Hale. Doesn't proof I killed him, Sir."

Taking the picture away from Aro's shaking hands, the prosecutor spoke up again. "You did kill, Officer Hale. The question is why. Did he found out about your dirty businesses?"

"He was a stupid small town Deputy. Like I said before and I hate repeating myself all the time. I had no reason to kill him. He didn't matter."

"But Lucy Hale mattered to you, didn't she? We have phone records from Tennessee and Texas. You really seemed to have trouble letting go of that poor woman."

He leaned over to Aro, resting his hand on Aro's desk. "Was Lucy Hale such a good whore? Did it cost you a lot of money to lose her?"

"No," Aro Volturi whispered. "But I still wanted her back. I told her husband that he could buy her stupid earrings and other crap to cover her up as a lady, but she was still nothing but a little hooker."

"What did Officer Hale respond to that?" The judge asked. "I can imagine he was furious about the way you spoke about the woman he loved."

"He was an idiot. Only an idiot falls for a whore. Only an idiot claims another man's son to be his own."

"You loved her too." The prosecutor stated. "Let's put this straight. You killed Hale because you were jealous. Were you in love with Lucy Hale, Mr. Volturi?"

"I've never been in love with a hooker in my entire life. I'm a married man."

"That didn't keep you from sleeping with Lucy Hale. Maybe you'll get away with this murder. But your ass is still going to rot behind bars for a long time."

"You have to understand," Aro whined. "I had to kill him. As long as Lucy was with him, she'd never come back to me."

"So, you were in love with her." The prosecutor snapped. "And Hale was in your way to get back together with your mistress."

"He was in my way." Aro Volturi said, releasing a deep breathe through his mouth. "But not in the way you think he was. I never cared about Lucy. She was only a whore, nothing more."

"Then why," the prosecutor asked. "Then why did you want her back so badly? Why did you follow her traces through three different states?"

Aro put his face in his hands. For a moment it seemed like he was about to start crying now. "Because she took something from me when she left me, something money can't buy. When Lucy turned her back on me, she took my son with her."