I do not own Twilight or its characters. Stephenie Meyer does.
Ch. 1
Phoenix, AZ., 2008 (4 years later.)
I stepped out of the SUV and stretched in the hot dry air. My friends and I had been out of the service for a little over a week. We decided to take a bit of road trip before finding a place to settle down and find a new job.
Our first stop was Jasper's old hometown in Houston, Texas to visit his parents and his grandparents. His parents retired early and decided to move back to Texas. We spent a couple days with them before moving on. Emmett wanted to head to L.A. so that was where we were headed next.
Out of habit, I surveyed the surroundings, I adjusted my hat to shade my eyes from the bright sun. We had stopped in Phoenix for a break and to pick up snacks. The market was small but bigger than in Forks. The cracked, sandy paved parking lot was about half-full.
"What do you guys think about stopping here for tonight? I bet we can find a local club swimming with the ladies who would love a man in uniform." Emmett grinned, pointing out three blonde girls walking into the store.
They were wearing short shorts and tiny tank tops. To tell the truth they didn't to entice me. I still preferred brunettes, more specifically a certain brunette.
"I'm up for a club, but I'm not going in uniform." Jasper answered with a shake of his head.
"If I have to go, I'm not getting into uniform either." I answered.
Emmett rolled his eyes. "You two need to get laid. Seriously, when was the last time you got some?"
We started walking toward the entrance.
"Fuck off," Jasper snapped as he grabbed a cart, testing the wheels before pushing it ahead.
I on the other hand ignored him and grabbed a bag of pretzels, from a display.
"Edster?"
I cringed at the nickname. I turned to scowl at him and he just grinned back at me.
"Don't call me that." I tossed the bag to Jasper, who placed it in the cart.
"Then answer the question." Emmett rolled his eyes grabbing two bags of Chex's mix.
"It's not really any of your business." I huffed.
"Dudes, when are you both going to get over them? It has been four years." Emmett groaned as if we were hurting him.
"Sorry, we aren't like you and are able to lay with anything that has breasts and a pulse," Jasper said sarcastically.
"Ouch, that almost hurt. Not my fault they all want a piece of this." He slapped his chest. "I'm going to get some brewskies." He walked off.
"Get water too," I yelled after him, I shook my head and watched him walking away.
"When did he get this way? He wasn't like this in high school." I complained to Jasper as we made our way to Produce.
"Back then Rosalie had him by the balls," Jasper snickered. He paused by the apples grabbed a bag and tossed a few inside.
I grabbed a few oranges, placing them in another bag. I was just placing it in the cart when Jasper elbowed me.
"Is that who I think it is?" he asked. I glanced up, spotting immediately who he was talking about by the heads of lettuce.
Her hair was longer but still a wavy, dark mahogany brown. She looked paler and possibly thinner. It was hard to tell since her clothes were slightly baggy. She wore a long sleeves black shirt and long black skirt that went to her ankles.
To me she was still breathtakingly beautiful.
"Bella?" Jasper called out. She dropped the lettuce, turning sharply in his direction. She looked surprised and almost panicked to see him. She recovered quickly plastering a smile on her face.
"Jasper, it has been a long time." She said softly picking the lettuce and placing it in the cart.
"Four years. We just got back to the states and out of the service. We are traveling some before we decide what to do next." He pushed our cart until it was right next to hers.
"We?" she questioned, she glanced around him and spotted me. The smile on her face dropped and a frown appeared. Her eyes flickered from anger, sadness and panic, before she wiped all emotion from them.
"Hi, Bella," I smiled weakly. I could tell she still hated me. I knew it was a far-fetched chance but I was hoping that I would be able to track her down and beg her for another chance. Not a day has gone by that I didn't regret that day in the meadow. I wished I never had listened to Emmett or let my fears get to me.
"Hi," she answered in a clipped tone.
"I though you would still be up at U-Dub. That was where you were planning to go, right?" Jasper asked curiously.
"Plans changed." Bella shrugged, not elaborating. She glanced around for something, biting her lip like she always did when she was worried. She tugged on the sleeve of her shirt uncomfortably.
"How's Alice?" Jasper asked eagerly.
I knew he was still love with Mary Alice Brandon as I was with Bella.
"I'm afraid I don't know. We aren't in touch any more. Last I heard, she was still in New York," Bella answered apologetically, shrugging her shoulders.
"One too many shopping trips?" I tried to joke but it came out horrible.
"Um…" Bella trailed off, her eyes widened slightly again as she spotted something behind me. She let go of her sleeve and grasped the cart until her knuckles turned white.
Before I could turn and look I was bumped in the shoulder hard as someone moved past me. The guy was shorter than me with a leaner built. He was wearing a dark colored suit that screamed that he had money. His blond hair was slicked back with oil and he had piercing blue eyes that were slightly blood shot.
He walked up to Bella and slung his arm over her shoulder, she flinched and stiffened. Bella's eyes dropped to the floor, my heart and stomach followed as worry sunk in. My mind went on high alert because Bella has always has been shy, but not to this extent. She was acting as if she was intimidated and I didn't like that one bit. Who was this guy?
"Isabella, are you going to introduce me to your friends?" He made it sound like he was asking, but I could tell immediately from his demeanor it was more of a command than a question.
Bella shook slightly, and he clenched her shoulder tightly. He caught my eye and loosened the hold slightly, but didn't let go. Out the corner of my eye I saw that Jasper had switched from friendly mode to Marine mode instantaneously. He picked up that something was wrong too.
"This is Tyler Crowley and Austin Marks. I went to high school with them. They were just saying hello," Bella said nervously.
Her lying about our names only made me more suspicious. Was Bella in trouble? If this creep has been abusing her, he was good as dead.
"Alec Volturi, Isabella's fiancé," he smirked at the two of us.
I glanced at Bella's finger to see an ostentatious, ugly looking ring on her finger. The Bella I knew would've hated something like that, she would never want something so flashy.
"Please to meet you. I hope you're taking good care of our friend." Jasper had a cold smile on his face.
"I give Isabella only the best. Don't I, dear?" Alec met Jasper's eyes, before giving Bella a slight squeeze. Bella's eyes tightened before answering.
"Yes, of course you do," Bella answered meekly. She didn't meet mine or Jasper's eyes, but looked down to our feet. I knew she was lying through her teeth.
I was about half-second from punching this joker's in the face and getting Bella the hell out of here.
"We should be on our way. Our son is waiting for us." Alec pulled the cart away from Bella.
She had been leaning on it, so when he moved it, she stumbled. I reached to grab her to keep her from falling, but she pulled away from me sharply. I felt a sting of rejection. She didn't want me to help her.
"Have a nice trip." Bella gave us half of wave with a forced smile before she hurried after Alec.
I immediately tried to follow and Jasper grabbed my elbow.
"Bad idea." He insisted speaking lowly.
I wrenched myself free of him and started around him. I couldn't shake the feeling that Bella was in trouble.
"Edward, don't. I'm serious. You need to cool down before you do anything rash. You could make things worse not better. I'll follow them and give Peter a call to see if he can look up this guy," Jasper promised.
I sighed heavily and nodded in agreement. Jasper moved quickly after them.
"Where's he going? And what's wrong with you?" Emmett came up from behind me. He was carrying a case of beer and another case of water bottles. He placed both in the cart. "Hello, Edward? What's going on?" Emmett waved a hand in front of my face.
"We just ran into Bella." I told him, pushing his hand away.
His face appeared shocked and he looked around to see if she was still here. "Really? Where is she?" he asked, glancing back at me.
"She just left with her fiancé," I scowled.
He tried to pat me on the back but I shook him off.
"Sorry, man, but you had to know that it would happen. At least you can move on now that you know that she's happy. I found three honeys that…"
I cut him off. "That's the thing, Em. She's not happy. He's hurting her, I know it." I growled.
The smile dropped from Emmett's face and he grew serious. "You saw him hit her?" he glowered.
"No, he didn't exactly hit her. As soon as he touch her shoulder she flinched and looked uncomfortable."
Emmett furrowed his eyes and he ran a hand through his hair. "Did she tell you that he hits her?" he asked. I shook my head. "Not verbally, but both their actions spoke volumes."
"Edward, are you sure about this? Are you sure you're not jealous and want an excuse to run to her rescue? Her reaction could be just seeing an old boyfriend again." Emmett said in quiet tone.
"No, I know what I saw. I'm not the only one who thinks it. Jasper saw it too. He's followed them and is giving Peter a call. It also doesn't explain why she introduced as Tyler Crowley and Austin Marks," I growled.
"Alright, let's check out then go find Jasper and see if he found out anything." Emmett agreed in defeat, but still didn't seem to believe me.
Since I had met her, Bella had always seemed to attract male attention, whether she wanted it or not.
Bella had been in Forks for about a month, and in that time she had a group of boys that dogged her every step. The worse of the bunch was Michael Newton.
It was the end of school and I was waiting for her by her locker to return some notes to her. I missed Biology the day before due to an appointment and I had borrowed them to catch up. She approached with Newton walking next to her talking about what he talks best — about himself.
"So, Bella, I'll pick you up at seven on Friday?" he tossed me a smirk.
I rolled my eyes. I was sure Bella was going to shut him down. Or at least I hoped she did.
"I can't." Bella stated. "Can I have my books back, please?" She reached for the books that Newton was carrying.
He raised them out of her reach. "Not until you agree to go out with me, babe." I suppose his smile was supposed to be charming but instead he came off looking like a jerk.
I grabbed the books from him, which was easy to do since I was taller than him by several inches. His head snapped to me and he scowled. I tucked the books under my arm and just smiled innocently.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Newton. But we have plans for Friday."
His head snapped back to Bella who was now blushing bright red. I winked at her behind his back.
"Well, then how about Saturday night?" he demanded.
"Ahhh…" Bella started and suddenly Alice was by her side.
"She can't, she's having a slumber party with me and Rose." Alice bounced excitedly.
"We feel if it is our duty to inform Bella of the boys of this school. Like how you're about this big." Rose smirked holding up her pinky as she came to Bella's other side.
"That's a lie," Newton hissed turning red.
"Not according to Jessica Stanley. She said sucking on a straw from McDonalds was better than you." Rose smiled evilly.
"You, Bitch!" Newton snarled.
A large hand came down on his shoulder. "What did you just call my girl?" Emmett growled.
Newton glanced at him then stumbled backwards into Jasper.
"Watch it," Newton bellowed as he turned around only to cower away again.
Jasper had said nothing but just silently stared back at him. Jasper wasn't as big as Emmett, but his presence could be just as intimidating when he looked defensive or pissed.
"Bella, call me when you get tired of these losers." Newton walked away in a huff.
"So I'm Alice, the bitch is Rose, but only friends are allowed to call her that. The ox there is Emmett. And the strong silent one is my… I mean he's Jasper." Alice blushed slightly.
"Nice to meet you. Thank you for your help." Bella smiled shyly.
"So will you come Saturday, please?" Alice batted her eyes and pouted.
Bella looked hesitant as she bit her lip. "Sure," she finally agreed with a smile. Alice's face lit up with a smile.
"Yay! I live on Elm. It's the only pink house. Arrive about six and bring your favorite movie." With that she skipped away with the others trailing after her.
Bella watched her with an amused smirk.
"So that was Alice. You will soon learn that she has more energy than a nuclear reactor," I joked.
She laughed as she opened her locker.
"Your books and your notes." I held out her stuff. I slung my backpack back over one shoulder.
"Thank you and thank you for helping with Mike. No matter how I say it, he doesn't get it that I'm not interested." She took the books and notes from me. The books she placed in her locker and she pulled out a three ringed binder to place her notes in.
"No problem. I was happy to help." I nodded. "Say, maybe we can do something Friday so it doesn't look like you lied to Mike." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. I've wanted to ask her out, but I heard her say she didn't date, so I didn't want to seem like I was just like the others.
"You want to go out on a date?" Bella paused. She pulled her lower lip in her mouth biting it and her eyes grew big.
"Forget it, I don't know what I was thinking. I know you've said you don't date. Sorry." I started backing away as I spoke then turned to leave.
"Edward," she called.
I looked over my shoulder.
"Yes." She smiled shyly, blushing.
"Yes?" I questioned in case I didn't hear her right. I turned around and my backpack slipped down my back slightly.
"Yes." She nodded.
LB
I impatiently waited as we went through the slow checkout line. With the annoyed looks I was getting from Emmett, I'm sure I was getting on his nerves.
Once out of the store, I spotted Jasper leaning against the trunk of our car. He was smoking a cigarette and talking on his cell phone. He had sunglasses covering his eyes so I couldn't see his eyes.
I hurried ahead of Emmett to get to see if he found anything out. He hung up when he spotted me. He slipped his phone into his pocket and turned to face me. His face looked grim, which couldn't mean anything good.
"Well?" I asked irritably.
"I followed them until they got into their car and left. I just finished talking to Peter. He should hopefully get back to me soon." Jasper answered in a curt voice. He seemed to be more upset than before.
"So you think this Alec guy is hurting Bella too?" Emmett reached us with the cart.
"I don't think. I know so. He practically shoved her into the car and slammed the car on her leg before she could get it completely in. When she cried out, he called her a bitch." Jasper answered coldly.
"And you just let them drive off?" I growled, Emmett placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Do you think I wanted too? It took everything in me not to level the guy, but I had to consider the baby, too. Until we knew that he was safe, I didn't think it was smart to chance a confrontation. In order for him to be arrested, Bella would have to place charges." Jasper was exasperated. "Even if I succeed of getting Bella away from him, he could go after the baby in anger before the police could catch up to him."
"Fuck," I mumbled because he was right.
"There's a baby too," Emmett's eyes darkened.
"He said they had a son." Jasper nodded, he was looking at me for my reaction.
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. I knew Bella's first priority would be the baby over herself. We had to get them both away from this guy.
"Edward, I promise. We won't leave here until we know that she and the baby are safe. Maybe we can approach her when he isn't there and convince her to let us escort her and the baby to Charlie." Jasper removed his sunglasses and met my eyes.
I nodded and took a deep breath. "I know that you're right. I'm sorry. Just the thought of anyone hurting her..." I pulled off my hat and roughly tugged at my hair.
"I get it." Jasper gave me a small smile in sympathy. He glanced over at Emmett.
"Emmett, you're in, right?" Jasper asked.
Emmett's arms were crossed over his chest and his mouth was in a thin line. He was staring at something over the horizon.
"Emmett," I called, nudging him. His head jerked and he snapped it back to us.
"Is he hurting the baby too?" his eyes were hard and cold.
"Not sure." I shrugged, feeling slightly cold inside. If he was hitting his fiancée what would stop him from hurting a baby? I was already ready to kill him for laying a hand on Bella, but if he brought that abuse to innocent baby; there would nothing and no one that would be able to save him from me.
"I'll kill him." Emmett muttered menacingly.
"The best thing would be to get Bella and the baby safe, even if we want to kill him. We have to be smart about this." Jasper smirked darkly, but was the voice of reason.
"Right, mission save BB." Emmett nodded, cooling his temper slightly.
Jasper's phone rang and he pulled it out. "That was quick." He mumbled opening and pulling it to his ear.
Too quick. The look on Jasper's face told me that I was right.
"Let's get this loaded while he's on the phone." Emmett suggested.
Jasper stepped aside so we could open the back of the SUV. We opened the coolers that we had filled with ice before we got to the market.
We placed the beer and water in one and the fruit in the other.
"Maybe we should get milk or juice for the baby?" Emmett closed the lid and looked back to the store.
"We should wait. He might have allergies or might be too young. We don't know how old the baby is." I answered thoughtfully.
I closed the door as Emmett returned the cart. Jasper finished speaking on the phone and pocketed his cellphone. I tried to catch his eye, but he avoided eye contact. He waited until Emmett was back before speaking.
"I got an address and from what Peter could tell me about Alec wasn't very good. Seems Alec is a suspected drug dealer. I say suspected because no one has been able to prove that he is guilty. He is the son of Aro Voturi, the suspected leader of a drug ring in New York. Uncle Caius was arrested and is serving time for selling meth.
His twin sister Jane has been locked up in an asylum for a killing an ex-boyfriend. She pleaded insanity. The police had found her ex-boyfriend in a hot tub fried from a plugged-in radio that she had tossed in. She was writing satanic symbols in chalk on the ground near-by, mumbling to herself." Jasper paused.
"How did Bella get involved with him? Why didn't Charlie put a stop to it?" I hissed.
"There is more." Jasper sighed reluctantly. "Alec was a suspect in Chief Charlie Swan's murder. There was a home invasion three years ago. Charlie was shot and killed in his home. At the time of the invasion Bella was visiting with her infant son. Investigators couldn't find proof that it was Alec, however, they did find a Santiago Diego, with the gun involved in Port Angeles. Coincidently, Santiago is believed to have worked for the Volturi family, but he hasn't talked."
"Santiago Diego?" Emmett snickered at the name, until both Jasper and I both gave him unimpressed look. "But seriously though, why would Bella stay with someone that killed Charlie?"
"She's probably scared and terrified. He most likely threatened to take the baby from her. She might not have had anywhere else to turn to. I know her enough that she would've been too worried to turn to anyone else for help. It may explain why she didn't give him our right names. " I frowned sadly, she was protecting Jasper and me. "This could be more dangerous than what we've thought. I'm going to do whatever it takes to rescue her and her son, but I don't expect either of you to involve yourselves. So if you want to back out, now is the time to do so."
"Not a chance in hell. I'm in. I would never rest easy, backing out when she needed help." Jasper shook his head in determination.
"Count me in. Bells needs us, so I'm not going to back out either." Emmett nodded. He spotted something behind us and frowned slightly. "Shit, I forgot about them."
I turned to see the same three ladies that entered the store before us heading in our direction. Their hips were swaying and each carried one bag.
"Tanya, Kate, and Irina. Ladies, I'm afraid, I'm going have to disappoint you. We had a change of plans." Emmett smiled apologetically.
"Such a shame, sure we can't change your mind handsome." The tallest one with strawberry blonde hair came up close to me. She brushed her fingers against my bicep and pushed her breasts up trying to get me to look at them. I kept eye contact and tried not visibly shudder.
"Sorry, something came up." I shook my head.
She pouted and reached down into her shirt. She pulled out a small, white card and tried to hand it to me.
"In case you change your mind?' she purred holding it out.
"We're leaving the area tonight." I made no move to take the card.
She shoved the card into my side pocket of my shorts.
"I insist." She turned and walked away; the other two girls followed behind her.
I shuddered in disgust as the other two snickered. Why was it always me?
"We should get going and see if we can find this place? Hopefully, we will get a chance to approach her." Jasper clasped me on the shoulder.
"Please, the sooner we are out of Phoenix the better." I slipped into the passenger seat as Jasper got into the driver's seat and Emmett the back. I pulled my dog tags out from under my shirt and glanced at Bella's ring. I had kept the ring with me when I was overseas, I couldn't wear it on my dog tags then, but I kept it on me whenever I could — in a pocket or close to me. I held it making a silent promise that once she was safe that I was going to make her mine again, because I was still hers. I would be anything she wanted me to be to her son too. I would do my best to love him, because he was a part of her.
A/N:
So they're pretty sure that Bella is in abusive relationship. Why hasn't she escaped from it, especially since she has son involved? They're guessing it is because Alec had something to do with Charlie's death and she is too scared to try to leave again. Alec is involved with some pretty shady stuff as you heard.
You will hear from Bella next to get some answers.
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Preview:
"You're coming with us, Bella, whether you like it or not. I don't want to do the hard way, but I will throw you over my shoulder myself and get you out of here. I rather you come willingly. But you aren't staying here." Emmett stated firmly.
"He will just come after us and kill the three of you." I shook my head.
"Let the mother fucker try. In fact, I welcome it. If he comes anywhere near you or that little boy I will kill him first. But I'm not going down without a fight and neither should you." Emmett smirked with confidence something that had been beaten out of me a while ago.