Chapter 28
Edward
"A journalist, Bella? Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"If you recall, Slimy told Bio-Science Monthly that Harvard poached you, so if he's using the press against us, why don't we do the same?" She was on a roll. "Besides, Seth's not just a journalist, Foxy. I've known him for half my life and he won't move on anything unless we're happy with it. He's a great guy and a hugely talented writer."
She smiled at a memory of him and my jealousy instantly flared.
"Exactly how well do you know Seth, baby?"
She rolled her eyes at me.
"Like the brother I never had, Edward. Never anything else." She picked up an economics magazine and handed it to me. It was a couple of months old. "Read page fifteen."
Reluctantly, I opened the magazine and began to read. It was a succinct article on India's economic growth over the past five years. It was informative, balanced and surprisingly entertaining.
"Okay, I see your point. He is talented."
"Glad you agree," she replied, grinning before popping a sweet kiss on my cheek.
The next three days went by unremarkably. Bella prepared to return to the lab and I continued with my schedule of research, teaching and helping Carlisle manage the department. I saw Irina around, in and out of Carlisle's labs; she was her usual cool self. MJ and Nahuel were working diligently in my lab alongside Randall. I couldn't help but look at MJ and wonder about Bella's suspicions, but there was nothing odd or different about her behaviour in the lab.
On Wednesday afternoon, I got home to find a police car parked outside. I ran in to find Bella and the female police officer who was investigating the robbery drinking coffee at the dining table.
"Edward, Officer Perez just came round with some news."
I sat down next to my wife.
"What's happened?"
"We got the guy who robbed you. He's downtown as we speak. He tried to sell the laptop on eBay."
"Oh wow. Are you sure it's him?"
"He fits the description of the guy your neighbours saw hanging around on his bicycle and he wears an identical size twelve sneaker. We searched his house; we found your lingerie, Mrs Masen."
Bella shuddered.
"Dare I ask why he took it?"
"He has a fetish for lingerie; he and his wife have a large collection with photos of both of them wearing it."
"Both of them ... err, right," she replied. "Why us?"
"We're still questioning him, but it's strange. He's has a record from his teenage years for drunk and disorderly, cannabis possession and petty theft but he's no career criminal. He has a steady job at Harvard ..."
"Hang on, he's a cyclist, who's has sexual fetishes, and he works at Harvard. Edward, surely it couldn't be ..."
"James the creep and Victoria the slut from Westport Towers?" I realised. "Officer, what's the guy's name?"
"James Tracker, and his wife, sure enough, is called Victoria. You know them?"
"We bought our bikes from them when we first moved here. We stayed at Westport Towers in a serviced apartment for a few weeks."
"Not long after, there was this incident in a nightclub where James was high and tried to touch Bella on the dance-floor."
"But how would he know our new address? We're not listed," wondered Bella.
"I'll find out and let you know, Mrs Masen. We'll probably have more questions for you both."
"Thanks, Officer."
Bella took a nap on the sofa after Officer Perez left, while I took Jake and Nessie for a walk around Spy Pond. She was still asleep when we returned, so I let her be and started making dinner. Just as I put some pasta into boiling water, my phone rang.
"Randall, what's up?"
"Hi Edward, have you heard from MJ at all? She left the lab in a middle of a trial to take an 'urgent' phone call, and hasn't returned. That was three hours ago. We've looked all over, but she's disappeared."
"No, not at all. Where's Nahuel?"
"Right here with me until ten minutes ago when he went to pick up his mother from work. He hadn't heard from her either."
"I'll see if Bella's spoken to her. Can you clear up her trial and shut her station down, and if nobody's heard from her by the morning, we'll call her In Case of Emergency contact."
"Okay, see you tomorrow."
"Bye."
Hmm ... James was under arrest for breaking into our house and MJ had suddenly disappeared. I had a sinking feeling that the two were related.
"Edward?"
Bella had woken up from her nap while I was deep in thought.
"Hey, Baby. Good nap?"
"Yeah ... what's wrong? Why are you sitting there, staring into space?"
She walked towards me and turned off the over-boiling pan of pasta.
"MJ walked out of the lab this afternoon all of a sudden, and has disappeared." I pointed at her mobile on the kitchen counter. "Have you heard from her?"
"I don't think so." She checked her phone. "Nope, nothing."
"It might just be a family emergency."
"Or she could be the one who got James to rob our house," Bella bit back. "She was sitting next to us at my birthday lunch when he showed up in the cafeteria that day. She knew he was a pervert. We told her. The conniving little cow."
"Bella, there could still be an alternative explanation."
She patted her tummy.
"It's down to MJ. I just know"
We didn't discuss it further that night. Bella rescued dinner. After we ate she took me to bed, using her perfect mouth to bring me to the edge, before pulling back, climbing on top and riding me to ecstasy. She fell asleep on top of me and we stayed that way, until we were woken all of a sudden by a ringing phone.
"What the f...? Who's calling at four AM?"
I looked at the display.
"Jenks."
"Sorry to wake you ..."
"But it's important?"
"Yep."
I put him on speakerphone. Right on cue, Jake and Nessie burst through the bedroom door, keen to see what we were up to, and jumped on the bed.
"Okay, what's happening?"
"You asked me to look into your associates, and for a long time I was focussed on Mrs Masen's lab partner, Irina Pushkina, also known as Irina Kasparova. I'll tell you about her later, but right now I need to tell you about Mary Currie."
"What about MJ, Jenks?" interjected Bella.
"Mary-Jane Currie, age twenty-three, born and raised in Connecticut, went to Duke University, Fulbright Award winner and now, Professor Masen's PhD student."
"We know this, Jenks."
"This you won't know ... Mary-Jane Currie was, once upon a time, Mary-Jane Brighton."
Bella and I sat in stunned silence for a moment before Bella let out a stream of expletives so blue the dogs hid their heads under the duvet.
"What ... she's his sister?" she asked, after a minute.
"Step-sister. Alec's stepmother had her when she was seventeen. She and Alec grew up together in the same house from the age of six. Alec's father adopted her officially a year after marrying her mother. She was Mary-Jane Brighton until she was eighteen, when she legally changed her name."
"So 'Currie' is her original surname?"
"No." There was a long, loaded pause. "The name on her birth certificate is Maria Jana Kasparova."
"Kasparova ... as in ... Demetri Kasparov of Eclipse Pharmaceuticals, Sergei Kasparov, Irina Kasparova ..."
"Yes, Mary-Jane's mother Ana is Demetri Kasparov's niece, the daughter of his older brother, who died in a car accident around forty years ago. Ana grew up in the US."
"Irina was married to Sergei Kasparov, so does that mean she knew MJ before?" Bella's voice started rising in pitch and trembling. "Did she lie to us ... That whole thing about hating Demetri and wanting to stop him ruining Eclipse and ..." She burst into tears.
"Mrs Masen, Mrs Masen, I'm sorry ..."
"It's okay, Jenks, it's not you. Bella's pregnant."
"I c-cry at e-everything."
"Irina doesn't know about Mary Jane's background. Apart from business, Sergei and Demetri had nothing to do with each other. If she told you that she's trying to stop the corruption at Eclipse, that's true. I'm sure that the first time she met Mary Jane was at Harvard."
"Why did MJ change her name to 'Currie' then?"
"I'm not sure. Perhaps because she didn't want to be linked to the Brighton family, who are major benefactors at Duke University, her stepfather's alma mater, or to the Kasparov family, who are well-known as being the founders of Eclipse Pharmaceuticals? In their Connecticut social circle, maybe having a sweet, All-American sounding name like 'Mary-Jane Currie' was more acceptable than a Russian one."
"So if she grew up with Alec, and her great-uncle is Demetri Kasparov, presumably she knows Aro Volturi very well."
"Yep. She and Alec adore the man. She speaks almost fluent Russian and Italian."
"Jenks, MJ has gone missing. Nobody's heard from her since the afternoon." said Bella, her tears having dried up as quickly as they appeared.
We explained about the robbery and James's arrest.
"Knowing of the connection as we do, it seems likely that she was the leak of information to Volturi and the one who hired this James person. You need to think about your security while she's unaccounted for."
"Do you think she's dangerous?" asked Bella. "I mean, she's managed to fool us for almost two months."
"In that respect, yes."
"But she's not infallible," Bella pressed. "Hiring James was stupid, if she did do it."
"Maybe we could ask Carlisle and Esme if we could stay at the beach house for a few days."
"No, Edward, I don't want to leave home right now. We have Cub's scan tomorrow and I have an appointment with Dr Evans, and I want to see Riley this weekend when he comes home ..."
Shit, she was starting to cry again.
"Okay, Baby, we'll think of something."
"If you put me in touch with the police officer who's looking into the robbery, I'll update them on your behalf. They may be able to help. In the meantime, be vigilant."
-cc-
Bella
James sang like a canary as soon as he was challenged in the interview room, and identified MJ as the person who paid him to break into our house. She only wanted the laptop. When it didn't contain the files she wanted, she tossed it back at him angrily. The manager from the bar where they met to do business confirmed James was telling the truth by showing Officer Perez the CCTV.
MJ's black Mini Cooper was spotted at a car park at JFK Airport in New York, and she was spotted on CCTV in the international departures area, but there was no record of her leaving on a flight, which suggested that she had a fake passport. Still, we were all convinced she had skipped the country, so worried less that we were in danger.
We had Cub's ultrasound and my check-up with Dr Evans; both went well. Riley came home for the weekend with Embry in tow and introduced him as his boyfriend. They appeared ecstatically happy and Riley was doing great at NYU. We spoke to Bree almost daily now; she was around my age when she had Robbie, so we often talked about parenthood.
Bree was still nervous, but the more we talked to her, the more she came out of her shell. She and Uncle Jeff were now also in touch with Jenks regularly, so she knew about MJ and Irina. Usually we phoned her, but just as we were cleaning up after dinner, a week after MJ's disappearing act, she called us.
"Hi Bree, this is a nice surprise."
"Good evening, Bella. I'm not disturbing ye, am I?"
"Not at all. How are you?"
"Ach, I'm all right. I went out with Uncle Jeff and his boyfriend for lunch in Park Slope, and then we picked Robbie up from school and took him for ice cream. It was good."
The fact that she had been out of the house, and enjoyed it, was huge.
"Sounds brilliant."
"Aye. Anyway, I've been doing some reading this evening, going through my old research books for the first time in a long time, and I came across something odd. Is Professor Masen there?"
"Yes, sure." I looked over at Edward, who was sitting at the other end of the kitchen counter, half-listening, half reading the BBC news website. "Edward, Bree wants to talk to you."
"Can ye put me on speakerphone, Bella? It's not for his ears alone."
"Done."
"Hi Bree, what's happening?" asked Edward, coming closer to the phone.
"Professor, when I was going through my research, I found some annotations in the back of my November 2005 book, made by Aro. They don't pertain to my research, but they are very interesting."
"Oh?" Edward and I were both intrigued. "Pray tell."
"I think Aro might have made them when talking on the phone to someone in my flat or when he got an idea. He has a habit of grabbing the first piece of paper that he sees and scrawling all over it when he makes notes."
"Yes, I remember that from when I was his undergrad."
"Well, the heading he's given to these notes is 'Target Labs' and under it, he's written the names of several universities, and names of people, several of whom I recognise, but several I don't. I thought you might."
"Could you give us an example?" I suggested.
"Here's a few... 'Kings College ... Siobhan Macleod ... Lesbian, liberal, Nessuna possibilità!'That means 'no chance!' Next is 'UT Southwestern ...Thomas Sudhof et al ... no commercial drug targets but getting famous for synaptic work.' This was written before Sudhof moved to Stanford."
"Are his notes basically a list of neuroscientists, where they work and what he thinks of them?" I asked.
"Bella, I think it's a list of who he thinks he can keep in his pocket to further his career and bank balance. I thought the Oxford list might mean something to you, Professor. The only names I recognise on it is Professor Gerandy's."
"What exactly did he write about people at Oxford?"
"'Gerandy ... old fart ... no bribe ... won't move until death!'"
"That last part was almost true. Gerandy only retired because his heart attack nearly killed him," interjected Edward. "Sorry Bree, continue."
"'Doug Banner ... going to be made Faculty Head ... gambling problem ... keep sweet for future possible move to Oxford. Wants Eclipse stock options in wife's name.' Next is 'Luis Molina ... expensive divorce ... put in contact with Eclipse Microbiology dept.' I didn't recognise either of those names."
"Son of a ... he's known Banner and Molina for years."
"Who are they?"
"Doug Banner is head of the Biological Sciences Faculty at Oxford, and Luis Molina is Head of Microbiology and a senior Council member," I explained.
"And Volturi's had them in his pocket for nearly a decade!"
"Bree, can we get a copy of those notes? We need to have Jenks investigate this because Banner is the one who's referred us for disciplinary action at Oxford."
"Of course, Edward. I'll scan and email it over."
"Maybe that's the other reason Volturi wants your research books so badly. Those notes incriminate him quite spectacularly."
"Aye, you might be right. I'd better go through the rest of my books. See what other gems he's scribbled." She laughed musically and it was wonderful to hear. "Talk to yous later."
"Bye Bree, and thank you."
Edward hit the 'off' button on the phone and turned to me. His eyes were hard and his jaw rigid with anger.
"You call your friend Seth, I'll call Jenks. Volturi and his cronies are going down."
-cc-
The next day, as fate would have it, the Proctors' Office at Oxford contacted us for a date for our provisional disciplinary hearing. It was to be in three weeks, a week before Thanksgiving. It didn't leave us that much time to prepare, but actually, we weren't going to need it. All of a sudden, things were coming together swimmingly. Jenks, Max and Seth were having a field day, uncovering a litany of secrets and lies.
The Proctors at Oxford were supposed to be independent of the faculties at Oxford. When Jenks checked them out, he was satisfied that they were not being bribed or influenced by Volturi, Banner, Molina or anyone else. That gave us the confidence to form a plan.
We were going to go to Oxford a couple of days before our hearing, and lodge a formal complaint with the Oxford University Personnel Office, through Edward's contact Tia. We intended to highlight Volturi's harassment of me and history of affairs with students, as well as Banner and Molina's issues. There was still the possibility that they could take my degree away after the hearing, but my academic transcripts and references were fantastic, and I was prepared to take all my exams again to prove my abilities.
We weren't telling anybody about Seth's involvement. He was thrilled with the amount of material we had given him and believed he could write a series of articles about Eclipse and Volturi that would sell to major international newspapers. Any article he wrote would not be published until well after our hearing with the Proctors. I had put Seth in touch with Irina, who was thankful to have the contact, although she was not ready to publish the information she held about the inner workings of Eclipse. Jenks confirmed that all the information Irina had given us was true and accurate.
The only thing that worried me as the days ticked along was MJ's disappearance. Even though we were all convinced she was out of the country, the fact that she was out there somewhere, utterly loyal to a man trying to destroy me and Edward, made me jumpy. She had proved that she wasn't above voyeurism and criminal activity to do his bidding, and that made her dangerous. Jenks was watching her stepbrother Alec and Volturi in Oxford, and Max was watching out for her in case she was still Stateside.
We were two days away from leaving for Oxford when I finally got a phone call while The Fox was out having drinks with Carlisle and Randall.
"Jenks."
"She's in Oxford. She came into Heathrow on a flight from Rome, and had flown into St Petersburg from New York two weeks ago. She has a Russian passport in her birth name which is why we didn't spot her on the way out of the States."
"Well, at least we know where she is."
"You are going to have to be extra vigilant when you come over here, Mrs Masen. I hope you don't mind, but I've taken the liberty of speaking to Mr Swan about extra security for you and Professor Masen while you're in Britain."
"You think it's necessary?"
"Yes, absolutely."
The fact that he did not hesitate in his reply sent a shiver up my spine.
"What aren't you telling me, Jenks?"
He sighed.
"Max got hold of a psychological report on MJ, written following incidents with a classmate at Duke."
"What incidents?" I asked warily.
"Her classmate started dating a boy MJ liked. She followed them, filmed them having sex, put holes in the girl's diaphragm, spiked her drinks with ipecac so she threw up ..."
"That's fucking terrible. How did she not end up arrested?"
"It was her first offence and the victim didn't want a fuss, so she got off with a warning and agreed to see a therapist. They did do a full evaluation of her mental state and concluded that she had poor stress responses and sociopathic traits. She struggles to empathise with other people and does not feel remorse easily when she does something wrong. Once she identifies someone as an enemy, she doesn't let go."
Well, shit.
"So what kind of security detail are you planning?"
"Your father authorised two security officers and a car 24/7 for your five day stay. I'll meet you at Heathrow with them and talk you the details on the way to Oxford."
I hated the thought of it, but I wasn't going to argue, and I knew that The Fox, being fanatical about my safety, would be all for the extra protection.
"Thanks. See you in a couple of days."
-cc-
Hello!
A short chapter, but it's the first time in over a year that I've given you two updates in two weeks, so hopefully you won't mind. The next chapter will probably be in two weeks, maybe three.
A big thank you to moonwinks for clarifying the terminology around the Fulbright Program. MJ has a Fulbright Award but as she's not an established academic, she shouldn't be referred to as a Fulbright Scholar. Sorry for getting it wrong!
CC xxx