Chapter 45 - Without Bella

EPOV

My cellphone rang for the fifth time in as many minutes and I finally glanced at it instead of blindly hitting ignore. Emmett the display read again. If Bella was in labor, he would have sent a text before calling me. I hit ignore again. Whatever he wanted could wait.

"Was that Bella?" Juniper Lawrence asked. She was one of a client and had scored a role in the upcoming horror movie, The Ghostly Nun. This would be her first major role, and it was my job to ensure she understood the contract obligations.

There were three other clients who got roles in the movie. I had meetings scheduled with them next week. Their meetings would be brief, no longer than a half hour. Juniper's was scheduled for two hours, and we'd only been going over her contract for twenty minutes.

"No," I replied. "It was a friend who went shopping today with her. If it's urgent, he'll text me."

Juniper and I had just turned back to the contract, when my cellphone ran again. I sighed and picked it up, giving Juniper an apologetic grin.

"It's Alice," I said, putting the cellphone back down. "She's also shopping with Bella."

Thirty seconds went by and my cellphone beeped three times. What in the world? Picking it back up, I saw two messages as it beeped a fourth and fifth time. "I'm sorry," I said. "Looks like I have to deal with whatever is going on."

Juniper waved it off. "Read the messages. It must be important to warrant all this effort," she said. "And you did tell me Bella could have the baby any day now. You are about to become a father."

I opened my texting app. '911' caught my eye from the preview of Emmett's message. I opened it. He was direct, telling me to call him immediately. He could wait a few minutes longer.

I read Rosalie's message next. "Call us now," was all it said.

Alice's message was the same as Rosalie's but she added, "…and why aren't you answering your goddamn phone."

"If you'll excuse me," I said, excusing myself and walking from the conference room. Once I was in my office, I dialed Emmett.

"Is Bella in labor?" I asked without preamble.

"No. Are you sitting?"

"Why should I be sitting?"

"She's been kidnapped… by Jacob," he replied.

My knees gave out as dread washed over me and time slowed to a standstill. I soon found myself on the floor. There were so many questions running through my mind. Which one did I ask first?

"Edward?" someone called from the doorway.

I ignored whoever it was. Through clenched teeth, I asked, "Are you sure?" I was hoping I hadn't hear Emmett correctly and that this was some cruel joke on his part. But he wouldn't use Jacob's name in the joke. He went out every day with Bella to protect her from the bastard.

"Positive. And her phone is off."

Her phone was never off. And it being off meant no one could find her through the finding friends app.. But that didn't mean she'd been taken. Her phone could have died.

"I'm heading to the car to get the GPS device for the tracker you bought her."

A necklace, if I recalled correctly, was what Emmett suggested I purchase for Bella. What was happening to Bella? To the baby?

"Mr. Cullen?" my secretary asked. I couldn't remember her name at the moment, but I knew she would forgive me. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head. I wouldn't be okay until I had Bella in my arms.

"Edward, she still has the tracker," Emmett said.

"Don't hang up," I shouted in the speaker. "Tell me everything you know." I was close to tears.

"I can't tell you much, Edward," Alice said.

"Alice, please. I need to know."

"Are you sitting?" she asked.

Sitting? "Why should I be sitting?" I was kneeling on the floor, but I wasn't about to say that. "Did something happened to Bella?" I stood and moved behind my desk, sitting in the leather chair.

"I don't know what happened, Edward."

"What? How could you not know?" I demanded. My door was wide open and my secretary and a few associates stood outside it. "How did Jacob manage to get to Bella? I thought he was going to leave her alone."

"Honestly, I don't know. I didn't even know she was gone until Emmett yelled a profanity. Rosalie and I looked down the aisles near us for her and nothing. I don't know what the note—"

"What note?" I asked, not caring that I cut her off.

"I don't know where it came from or what it said. But it's pretty obvious it was from Jacob or Emmett wouldn't say she's with him."

I slammed my left hand down so hard on the mahogany desktop that the keyboard and mouse jumped. The picture of Bella and me on top of the Eiffel Tower fell over. Picking it up, I gazed at Bella. Her eyes were bright, reflecting the lights from below.

"Where was Emmett?" I asked.

"He was with us, ever vigilant."

Could I blame Emmett? No. He was good at his job or I wouldn't have hired him.

"She must have been lured away," Rosalie said.

They must have the phone on speaker mode.

"That's my thinking. The farmer's market was busier than usual today, so it wouldn't have taken much for her to get lost in the crowd." Alice sighed. "Edward, Rosalie and I were both keeping an eye out for Jacob, too. I didn't see him."

No one saw him because he wasn't there, I thought. My lawyer brain was working, trying to come up with some explanation of what might have happened. Rosalie beat me to the punch.

"Someone must be working with him. I doubt it would be Royce, or whatever his name really is. Bella wouldn't go with him willingly nor would she with Jacob, even if he signed over his rights. Emmett would have heard her scream."

Alice didn't say anything for a moment. "I did see a young boy about five or six. Maybe a child asked her for help." Again she fell silent. "But, we can't go speculating about what happened. Only Bella can tell us."

A fact I knew well. "Emmett just done talking with Detective Hedley. Edward, we're heading to your office."

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked, ignoring what she said about them coming to me. "I can come to the market. Help canvas the area."

"No! Stay at work. Right now, you need to stay calm. Keep your cellphone near you in case Bella calls. Seattle PD is on their way to help. Hopefully the FBI will help too," Alice said.

There had to be something I could do. "How about calling the press? I could make a statement. Plead with Jacob to release Bella. I need something to do."

"I think that would be a bad idea," she said. "We'll see you soon. We can talk more then."

They hung up on me.

What in the world was I going to do?

"Mr. Cullen, are you okay?" my secretary repeated question from earlier, moving into my office.

"No, I'm not," I answered. "Bella has been kidnapped."

Her eyes went wide as she said, "My God. Is there anything I can do?"

"Have another lawyer finish up with Juniper. Prepare the boardroom. And, and, and…"

"Strong coffee," she suggested.

"Yes," I breathed. Though I was more in the mood for a stiff drink to calm me, but it wasn't the time. I had to stay alert and focused. Bella, as Emmett suggested, might call. And I was the person she would likely call. "The police are on their way here. See to anything they might need."

"I will. And how about you? Is there anything I can do for you? Call you parents, perhaps?"

My parents. Charlie. Someone had to call them. "Call Charlie Swan. He's Bella's father. The number is in my contacts. I'll call my parents."

I was close to tears when Mom answered the phone. "Edward," she answered. "Alice called. Is there any word on Bella? Your father and I can be there in three hours if you need us."

It didn't matter to me if Alice called, at least they knew. And Mom sounding so worried broke the dam and tears spilled down my face. "Mom, I can't lose her," I sobbed. "I love Bella with all my heart and then some."

"I know you do, Edward."