Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. Edited by Sjdavis84 and StillDreaming85.
WARNING: This story contains mature themes and is intended for mature readers.
EDWARD CULLEN.
I don't know what I was thinking holding onto Alice's dead body, but the thought crossed my mind before I even had the chance to brush it aside.
It was sick, and it was twisted, but it would work. It had to work, because failure wasn't an option.
Heidi turned out to be more than I, or my family, for that matter bargained for. Regardless of my father's wishes, regardless of my obligations to the family, there would be no way that I would tie myself to her. She disrespected me, she disrespected my niece, she disrespected my mother. At the rate Heidi was going, she would be lucky if I didn't hand her over to Victoria, or better yet, make her disappear all together.
But right now I didn't have the time to ponder over Heidi. My mother was keeping her in her place and I was very grateful to her for that.
My problem right now was making sure all our tracks were covered, we couldn't have anything coming back to us.
Jacob cleared up the little issue with the DNA from his side, replacing the hair that was found in my brother's apartment and on Alice's equipment, with a Jane doe's.
Jacob was an old family friend and a connected guy. A man of almost sixty, he held a very high position within the FBI, which gave him access to more areas, and greater power to cover up evidence and twist a situation around.
However, when it came to my father's case, Jacob was powerless to help because the evidence was presented to the NYPD'S highest officials. I had to hand it to Charles, he knew exactly how to bring my father down. But there were many loopholes in the case, loopholes that both the judge and the jury either ignored or chose to overlook.
"Are you going to tell me why the hell you're keeping Alice's body in a freezer?" My brother asked.
"When the time is right, you'll know," I said.
"What are you, into fucking the dead now?"
We arrived at Anthony's apartment to assess the damage. Everything, and I mean everything, had been trashed.
My brother had a taste for unique and unusual artwork, mainly early century South American and tribal African pieces. He had been to auctions all over the world to make his collection and now it was nothing but broken ancient ceramic scattered all over his floor.
"Motherfuckers," he cursed, taking pictures with his phone of the broken art.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm going to sue their sorry asses. Some of this stuff is irreplaceable." My brother was almost on the verge of tears. He was very attached to his art, me personally, I couldn't see the appeal to this crap.
"Get what you need and let's go. Send a cleaning crew in to fix this place up," I said, kicking some of the shards with my shoe.
"Have some respect," he said, bending down and picking up the broken pieces.
"You and me, we need to talk, so hurry the fuck up," I said, slowly losing my patience with him.
"Yeah, yeah. Motherfuckers, look at this," he said, walking further into the trashed apartment, picking up pieces as he went along.
~DINY~
We were back in the underground. It was better for Anthony to stay here for a week, maybe more, until things died down.
I was downstairs in my father's office, now my office.
My brother had been avoiding me all night, maybe he knew what was to come. I sent for someone to collect his ass, making sure I blocked the door after he dragged himself in. Anthony wasn't going to leave this room until I got my answers.
"You wanted to talk, so talk," he said, pacing the floor.
"Can you sit down. Stop moving back and forth, you're making me dizzy here," I said.
"What do you want Edward?" He spat out bitterly, slumping down on the chair in front.
"Why the fuck would you do something like that?" I asked, trying my best to keep my temper in check.
"Brother," he said, leaning forward on his elbows. "You and I both know that I do a lot of fucked up things. What exactly are you referring to, specifically?"
"The girl, Anthony. Why the hell would you hand her over to Victoria?" I couldn't and I refused to let myself think of what must have happened and is continuing to happen to her there right now.
My fingers gripped the edge of my chair to the point that my knuckles had turned white. Gripping onto the leather was the only thing I could do now to stop me from reaching for my gun and killing my own brother right here right now. I wouldn't kill Anthony, not yet anyways.
"What's the big deal?" He said. "What else was I supposed to do with her?"
"You could have taken her back to the estate," I shouted. "Why there, why did you take her there? She's a fucking child, Anthony and you fed her to the lions."
"And it's a damn good thing I fed her to the lions brother, otherwise we would all be keeping dad company now," he roared back at me.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" I continued to yell as I lost it and knocked over the contents of the desk.
"What the fuck is your problem? What does it matter what happens to her? She's Charles's blood, or have you forgotten that? Well, she's a used whore now," he chuckled.
And like that, I saw black. I had him down on the ground before he even knew what was happening. I knocked him down while he was still sitting in the chair.
My fist collided with his face, his neck, his back, wherever I could reach. He deserved this, he deserved a lot worse.
I didn't stop until he was knocked out unconscious.
I got up and wiped my hands clean before leaving him in there. Maybe he would die in his unconscious state and save me the trouble of having to do it later.
I made my way down to the bar and pulled a bottle of scotch off of the shelf, taking it back to my room.
I kicked my shoes off and undid my tie. I threw myself on the bed with the bottle in hand.
My brother did have a point, why did I care what happened to her? She's not my responsibility, she shouldn't be my problem.
It was my brother's fucked up decision that landed Isabella where she was now. If Anthony would have let me handle things the way they were meant to be handled and kept to the original plan, she would have never had to be with us much less where she is now.
Anthony fucked up, yes he did, but he had handled it. He had gotten her out of sight. If he would have left her in his apartment, it would be a Cullen family reunion in Sing Sing right about now.
But none of that could explain why this was bothering me so much. Why did I care what happened to her? She should be dead. Anthony should have killed her long ago.
She was nothing but another woman, someone that I wanted, but yet I was forbidden to reach out and take. unless I go ahead with my earlier thought, the same thought that had me questioning my own sanity, but then again that was the reason I was holding onto Alice's body after all.
Alice was the same height and weight as Isabella, and if I pulled the right strings, the plan will go down without a hitch.
Everyone would win. Charles would suffer, it would be the ultimate payback, I would free my brother of the burden that he thinks Isabella to be, and I would be able to get rid of Heidi.
I reached into my pants pocket and fished out my phone, well aware of the time and not caring. I called my brother in law. He was the one that spoke to everyone for me. My brother, my father and myself, we never spoke to anyone directly. If anyone wanted something, if they needed anything, it was always someone who spoke with someone who passed the message onto Emmett and even then, very few had access to Emmett.
"Edward, it's three in the morning," Emmett groaned.
"I need you to call Dimitri, I need to see him, it's very important, no later than tomorrow afternoon, you got that?"
"Got it."
There was one thing I had to do first. I had to get Isabella out of that place.