Chapter 24: Bang! Bang!

JPOV:

"Hello little brother." Becca slurred.

I stared in disbelief at my sister who stood before me wearing clothes that had seen better days. Her hair was a mess and bruises ran up and down her arms and around her neck. Just one look at her and you knew something terrible had occurred.

"Becca. Where have you been?" I asked anxiously. When I caught sight of the gun in her hand, I suddenly felt a tornado of emotions swarm over me.

"Do you really care?" she snickered.

"Of course I care." I replied automatically.

"Why? From what I've gathered you've sent my son off to live with my ex husband and uncovered my shady secret. I'm sure by now Dad has disowned me and you and dear faithful Rachel are to inherit every penny of Dad's fortune."

"We feared you were hurt or worse, dead. Dad made the decision to send Bryce away."

"I bet he did." She laughed hysterically.

Warning bells were going off in my head as she swung the gun back and forth in front of us. I wasn't sure how to defuse the situation and when I heard Bella drawing close to us, I knew things were about to go from oddly scary to nothing short of a nightmare.

"What's going on?" Bella asked as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

I didn't dare turn and look at her. I needed to keep my eyes on Becca and the gun. She wasn't in her right mind and I feared seeing Bella would only increase her madness.

"Oh great it's Bella to the rescue. You have some nerve standing there acting so prim and proper." Becca lifted the gun and looked at Bella with a purpose that sent chills up and down my spine.

"Uh?" Bella frowned and took a steady step back while I stepped in front of her, blocking Becca's view of her.

"Becca what happened? Who did this to you?" I demanded.

"Did what to me? Oh these? They aren't so bad. I actually enjoyed it."

Her words sickened me. How could she possibly enjoy someone hurting her? What the hell was going on with her?

"You can't mean that. Give me the gun and we can go inside and talk about where've you been." I pleaded.

"I'm afraid I can't do that Jacob. I came here to warn you that Edward knows the truth about your farce marriage." Becca revealed with a seriousness that gave me a slight heart attack.

"What are you talking about?" I choked out the words that felt like jagged ice in my throat.

"I've been helping Edward gather evidence against Bella. " She replied simply.

"What the hell Becca! Why would you do that!" I cried out in total shock.

"Why wouldn't I? The bitch walked into our lives and took over as Dad's personal nurse and adopted daughter. Even if she hadn't married you, Dad planned on leaving her a small fortune for her kindness. Why should she get a penny of his money? It's not fair Jake and if you think that she won't take your inheritance once you two divorce, you're a bigger fool than Dad." She declared with venom in every word.

"I don't know about any of that and I don't care about it. I am married to Bella because I want to be. I care for her." I sighed in disgust as she held the gun firmer between her hands and aimed it past me.

"You can't possibly care for her Jake. You might lust after her but you don't love her. You've never loved anyone since Lauren fucked you over. You and I are a lot alike in that we've learned early in life that there is no truth in love or happily forevers. We take what we can get and when we no longer desire it, we walk away. I know that Bella agreed to marry you to try and keep Charlotte from the Cullens and once she gets full custody of her daughter, she plans to divorce you. Afterwards she will receive a hefty spousal support check until Charlotte is of age. Why would you give up everything for her? Look at her! She isn't worth it Jake. Let Edward have the kid. Keep your money." She screamed frantically.

"I can't do that Becca. I care for her and Charlotte. I will not let Edward take them away." I answered firmly.

"Is this about getting even with Edward? Oh come on! When are you going to wake up and realize that he didn't force Lauren to spread her legs for him. If you want to hurt someone then go after Lauren. Edward dislikes you, sure, but this is about his family Jake. He is trying to protect his child. You should understand why he would want to do that."

My mouth hit the floor as I stared in total disbelief. Did she really think that load of shit was going to make me feel sorry for Edward and simply step aside?This line of crap didn't sound like anything my sister would say on a normal basis. Nope, it sounded a hell of a lot like Edward Cullen. When had Becca and Edward joined together? Were they lovers? Or worse, was Edward somehow blackmailing my sister to get her to betray me?

"YOU need to leave my house right this second before I call the police. You are out of your mind if you think I believe anything you or Edward Cullen say." I started to slam the door but she managed to slip inside before I could block her entrance.

"I will shoot her if I have too." She shouted as she pushed her way in the house, moved past me and walked towards Bella.

"Bella leave. Go!" I cried out as I tackled her from behind and we both slowly fell to the ground however in that moment that's when I heard it, the distinct shot of the gun.

"Bella are you okay?" I looked up and saw that Bella was lying on the floor a few feet away from us. Her head was turned away so I couldn't see her face. An enormous rush of fear filled my heart as I jumped off of Becca and raced to Bella's side. Turning her over I saw blood squirting out of the corner of her head. I couldn't tell if she'd been shot or not.

"Heelllpp mmmeee..." Becca gurgled from behind me.

Hearing my sisters voice made me realize that Becca wasn't up on her feet nor was she reacting to possibly shooting Bella like she came to do. Turning my head I looked at her and realized that she was still lying down face first and blood surrounded her. What had happened exactly?

"Becca are you shot?" I called out while lifting Bella up into my arms.

"I...it...hurts Jake." She grumbled as I walked past her to put Bella safely in the living room and away from Becca. Charlotte came running up to me with crocodile tears in her eyes.

"Mommy!" Charlotte mumbled as she stared at the blood that seeped out of her mother's head.

"It will be okay Charlotte. Go get me the phone." I ordered gently as I made my way back to the entryway where Becca remained immobile on the floor. Gently I rolled her over onto her backside and saw the hole in her blouse where the entry of the bullet entered her. Blood gushed out of the wound.

"Phone." Charlotte's hands shook nervously as she gave me the phone before running back to the other room with her mother.

"911 operator..."

"Yes, my name is Jacob Black. There's been a shooting at my house. I need an ambulance please."

I stared into my sisters face as she grew deathly pale with each second that passed. Holding her hand I prayed she would survive somehow. I loved her and it was clear that she was demented with jealousy but that didn't stop me from feeling angry. She betrayed me and for that I would never be able to forgive or trust her but that didn't stop me from hoping that she lived to see another day. Especially if it helped me prove once and for all that Edward Cullen was a manipulative bastard who didn't deserve to share the same oxygen as the rest of us.

XXX

Dad and Alice joined me with Charlotte in the waiting room while we waited for news on the condition of both Bella and Becca. Bella's head wound appeared to be from hitting the edge of the stairway step when she clumsily slipped and fell whereas Becca had been shot in the stomach. Our greatest concerns for Bella at the moment was the fact that she was suffering from a concussion and hadn't woken up. The doctors warned us that when she woke up she would probably be sick to her stomach and perhaps even a bit disoriented. However, they saw her making a full recovery quickly.

Becca on the other hand was in surgery. The surgeon warned us beforehand that the bullet lodged in her intestine was severe enough that once removed, she could bleed out faster than they could replace the blood. There was also a slim chance of infection and other things to consider.

Dad signed the documents giving them permission to do whatever they felt was necessary to try and save her life and with the understanding of all the possible outcomes. He looked like he had aged ten years in the past hour. I could tell this whole ordeal was taking a lot out of him and with his own health deteriorating I begun to wonder just how long the doctors gave him to live out the rest of his life?

"It's going to be okay Jake. Stop pacing. You're making my stomach hurt." Billy grumbled with a weak smile behind his scolding.

"Why hasn't she woken up yet? If it was just an ordinary bump to the head, shouldn't she already been awake and alert?" I replied with a frustrated sigh.

"I'm sure she is just resting." Alice offered while holding Charlotte in her lap. The child had passed out after twenty nonstop minutes of crying for her mommy.

"I don't think so." I sat down, running my hands through my hair roughly before looking across the room just in time to see Carlisle Cullen speaking with a nurse.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me." I swore softly as I stood up abruptly just as he made his way directly toward us.

"Hello Jacob. I was just getting ready to leave and heard that Bella was admitted into the hospital. What is going on now?" Carlisle demanded but with a polite smile glued on his face.

Of course he didn't want to make a terrible scene at his place of employment nor did he want to seem uncaring in front of witnesses. I just wanted to rip his head straight off of his neck but instead I pressed my lips together and gave him an equally cool smile back before I answered.

"Bella slipped and fell. She bumped her head. They are keeping her for observation."

I didn't feel that it was any of his business that my sister showed up with a gun and with the intentions of killing Bella. His son was the responsible party for this evening but of course he wouldn't want to hear about that. He was living in the land of denial when it came to the despicable truth of his son.

"Oh." He frowned deeply as he looked over at my father and at Alice. I noticed the softening in his cold eyes when they landed on Charlotte.

"Would you like me to go take a look at her?" He offered with a slight look of genuine concern.

"No. She wouldn't want you to check in on her." I replied honestly but politely.

"I see. I wish things weren't like this between us. I really do care for my granddaughter and only want what is best for her. I know that Bella has been forced to endure a lot over the past four years and she has been remarkably strong. However, everyone has a breaking point and I just would hate to see Bella lose everything that she has fought so hard to hold onto."

His words sparked my temper to the point of no return.

"Yes, she has endured far too much and yes, she has fought with all her heart to keep her daughter safe and healthy without any help from you or your son. So why do you think it's your place to remove Charlotte from a mother who has been gracious, compassionate and selfless? How do those qualities make her unfit to raise her own child?" I replied with seething anger in my tone.

"I know you love Bella, Jake, and I understand why you feel it's important to stand up for her when she needs you but I promise you that if it were up to me we would try and somehow share custody with her. However, Bella refused to give us any rights to our own granddaughter. She left us with no other choice but to go this route."

"Did you ask yourself why? It's not personally you and your wife she is worried about but more so about the son you raised. He is capable of doing things you couldn't even imagine."

"I know you see Edward as the antichrist but seriously Jake, he isn't as bad as you've created him in your mind. He has issues. We all do but he is Charlotte's father and he deserves to have an opportunity to get to know his own flesh and blood." Carlisle argued.

It was a waste of time to argue with him about Edward's evil intentions behind wanting custody of his was like talking to a brick wall. Luckily we were interrupted when Rachel arrived.

"Oh my God Dad. I'm so sorry for getting here so she going to be okay? I can't believe this is happening to Becca." Rachel came rushing into the ER and went straight to Dad and threw her arms around him.

Carlisle looked strangely at me before Dad managed to get Rachel out of our listening range so he could explain everything in private.

"What did she mean by Becca? I thought your sister was missing." He asked curiously.

"She showed up this evening. She is in bad shape at the moment." I replied curtly.

"What happened Jake? Why are Bella and Becca both in the hospital?"

I wasn't sure how much I should say without him using it to his advantage in court later this week. Things were starting to look bad for our home environment once again. We weren't having much luck these days and I was starting to think we might have been better off moving away from Forks.

A doctor approached Dad and I watched as his body slumped slightly as the doctor grabbed a hold of him to prevent him from falling. Ignoring the conversation we were having I rushed over to his side and held him up as the doctor gave me a comforting look before my father made his announcement.

"She's dead Jake. I'm sorry. They did everything they could to save her but it wasn't enough." Dad replied with a numb tone.

Rachel walked up and overheard Dad and a second later I found myself once again dropping to my knees to check on my other sister who was passed out on the floor.

Dad moved away while I tended to Rachel. I suspected he needed a moment to compose himself before he would be able to help us any further tonight.

It took me several minutes to get her conscious and up in a chair before Dad rejoined us.

XXX

Billy's phone rang.

"Hello."

"Sir, your package will arrive shortly after midnight as planned." A male voice answered.

"Good. Very good. Make sure no one sees it arrive or you won't receive one penny from me." he replied sternly.

"Yes sir. I understand."

Ending the call Billy put his phone back into his jacket he made his way back to his children who were both holding one another and weeping for a sister they once loved very much.

XXX

A/N: Yea me! I got a new chpt posted within a week of the one. Hope you are enjoying the story and would love to hear from you. Also don't forget to hurry and nominate your favorite Non-cannon stories on .com! Have a wonderful weekend and hopefully this weekend I will have the chance to write another update.