45

Jasper cracked his knuckles, his eyes focused on the front door of the Forks Police Department. He needed to go inside, get his mission — for the lack of a better word — over with, but the last thing he wanted was to have to look Eric Yorke in the face. The urge to punch him would be undeniable, and he really didn't want to lose his job today.

"Cullen, get your panties out of your asscrack and get inside already," Garrett ordered through the small ear piece Jasper was wearing. He rolled his eyes, but pulled his keys out of the ignition and threw open the door. "About fucking time."

"I didn't see you volunteering to deal with this son-of-a-bitch, Cap," Jasper muttered, looking around the area before pushing the door to his truck closed. His eyes landed on the black sedan across the street, with tinted windows. He almost laughed, the cliché stake-out car, but instead, he raised his middle finger.

"Nice, Cullen. There is a lady in the car with me, dickhead."

"You two bicker like a couple old women," Kate laughed. "Can we please do this? I would like to charge this motherfucker sooner, rather than later."

Jasper closed his eyes for a moment before he turned and headed inside. The same pudgy woman was sitting at the front counter, her bright red hair pulled up into a messy bun, and she still had a pencil poking out of it. She started to smile as she tilted her head backward, but then seemed to stop when she saw him. Clearly, she wasn't a fan of Jasper.

"Little out of your jurisdiction, aren't you, Detective?" she asked.

Jasper put on his best smile, the one Alice called his shit-eating smile, as he placed his hands on the front of the counter. "I'm just here to make peace, ma'am. I was hoping I could have a few minutes with Captain Yorke. You know, extend an olive branch, one law enforcement officer to another."

She sighed, but he knew she was going to help him. "He's in his office. Straight through to the back, but no fighting, Detective. We're all on the same team here."

"Of course we are," he said, biting his tongue to keep from laughing. The last thing they were was on the same team. While Jasper wasn't sure where Newton and Crowley landed, Yorke sure as hell wasn't team Bella. If he had been, she wouldn't have spent eight years in the hands of a monster.

Jasper gave her another smile before he rounded the front counter and made his way through the station, ignoring the glares coming from the three officers that were gathered around the coffee and donuts. Thankfully, neither Newton nor Crowley were there. He stopped outside of Yorke's office and raised his hand, knocking his knuckles on the thick wood three times.

"It's open," the man called from inside, but when Jasper turned the handle and pushed it open, he groaned. "Not today, Detective Cullen. I don't have time to deal with you and your insubordinate attitude."

"I'm just here to talk," Jasper said, putting his hands up in defense. "May I come in, sir?"

"Are you going to behave?"

"Oh, yes sir, of course I am," Jasper replied, smiling.

Yorke raised an eyebrow, but gestured for to take the seat in front of his desk. Jasper closed the door behind him and settled into the chair, crossing his legs at the knee. For a moment, the two men just stared at each other, both trying to appraise one another.

"How's the girl?" Yorke asked, and it took all Jasper had not to climb over the desk and slam him against the floor for not using her name.

But he didn't, because he had to play nice to get what they needed. "Bella's doing great," he replied. "She's, um, still working to believe she's actually Bella. Years of Sam Uley beating it into her that she was a nothing, a nobody, has been hard to undo, but she's strong, and getting stronger every day."

"That's good," he said, nodding. "Gonna take a lot of time and, of course, patience considering what she's been through. Poor girl. Makes me sick just thinking about it."

"Me too," Jasper admitted. "You may not have heard, but we arrested the Tribal Council."

Yorke tensed, but nodded. "I've heard. Still can't believe they . . . Well, I suppose I can, but still hard to grasp, you know?"

Jasper tilted his head to the side. "Yeah. I mean, who in the right mind would sit back and let those little girls suffer like that? It's disgusting."

"It is," Yorke agreed, placing his hand on top the pile of paperwork on his desk. "Not to rush you, but I have a lot of work ahead of me today. Why are you here, Detective Cullen?"

Jasper smiled softly before uncrossing his legs and leaning forward, placing his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. That way he wouldn't smack the shit of the man. "I wanted to apologize."

"Apologize?" he asked, and Jasper nodded. "Why?"

"Why?" he questioned, shrugging his shoulders. "I was out of line when I pushed you against the wall that day. Bella's important to me, to my family, and I don't like to see her hurting. When the media got ahold of her story, I saw the way it hit her, and I took my anger out on you, Captain Yorke. I shouldn't have done that."

But before Yorke could utter a sound, Jasper continued to speak, "I just don't understand how anyone could look at Bella Swan, know what Sam Uley did to her for eight long, long years, and put her out there like that? I mean, you know what he did to her, don't you?"

And again, before Yorke could speak, Jasper continued, "After he butchered Charlie and Renee Swan, practically in front of her, he locked her in the trunk of his car and drove her to Bainbridge Island, where he then took her into an underground basement and locked her inside a wooden box. Can you even imagine how scared she had to be at eight years old? How terrified she had to be when he carried her past her dead parents, threw her in the trunk of his car, and drove away?"

Yorke swallowed thickly. "No, I can't say I can."

Jasper frowned. "He raped her that night. He stole her virginity, robbed her of her existence that night. When he was done, he locked her inside that box. For a year, she lived like that. Only taken out of that box when he wanted to fuck her," he added, shifting his eyes to Yorke, who cringed at the choice of his words. "The little girl with him, who we now know is his little sister, she would sneak down and talk to Bella, but he took her away from her, too. She watched as he beat that little girl to death. We don't even know who she was. She doesn't have a name, nobody cared enough about her to report her missing, like they did Bella Swan."

"I mean, if we'd known," Yorke fretted, his eyes shifting to the door to his office.

"Of course," Jasper said, nodding and waving his hand in the air as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs at the knee again. "Not like anyone came to you the day after Bella Swan was kidnapped, and told you Sam Uley was your best suspect, right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't push too fast, Cullen," Garrett warned.

But Jasper tilted his head to the side. "You didn't know Harry and Sue Clearwater had taken their girls, Leah and Emily, to the tribal council, had them stand inside that room and tell those men how Sam Uley held them down raped them, over and over and over."

"Of course not," Yorke whimpered, his chin trembling. "I would have done something had I known."

Jasper nodded. "I mean, yeah, sure you would. You wouldn't stand by and let Bella Swan suffer through eight years of torture because you refused to believe an old Indian man, right? I mean, that would be reckless. One might even say criminal."

"You should leave," Yorke snarled, standing up so quickly his chair flew into the shelves behind him.

"Should I?" Jasper asked, laughing. "I don't think I should, and you know why I don't think I should?"

"Why?" Yorke gritted out through clenched teeth.

Jasper smiled and stood up, leaning forward so that he stood just inches from Yorke. "Because you're going to tell me why you ignored Ephraim Black when he came to you the day that sweet, beautiful little girl was stolen from everyone who loves her, and you had better have a damn good reason, or I might be inclined have a little conversation with the media myself."

Yorke crumbled backward into his seat. The tears in his eyes tumbled down his face, and for the first time, Jasper saw true regret. Too bad it was eight years too late for Bella Swan.

"I don't know why I didn't believe Ephraim Black. I don't. I just . . . When he came to me the next morning, Newton, Crowley, and I had been working thirty-six hours straight. We were tired, and hadn't gotten a lick of evidence to lead us to Sam Uley, or to anyone to be honest. Charlie and Renee were good people, Cullen. Damn good people, and I just couldn't fathom how anyone could hurt them, or that little girl. I remember seeing them down on the square over the fourth of July. Bella just . . . she laughed and squealed. Charlie dotted on her, her and Rosalie, but especially Bella. They were happy, and in one night, Rosalie lost everyone she loved."

Jasper tilted his head to the side. "Then why didn't you listen to Ephraim Black? He stood in front of you and told you how Leah Clearwater and Emily Young had been raped by Sam. Did he stand here?" Jasper stood up in front of the desk. "Did he tell you how the tribal council called those little girls liars? Blamed them for letting a sixteen year old boy rape them?"

Yorke nodded, more tears sprinkling down his face. "He did."

"We're coming in, Cullen," Garrett murmured in his ear.

"Then how could you not help them?" Jasper asked, leaning forward and placing his hands on top of Yorke's desk.

"Because it happened on the reservation, it wasn't our jurisdiction, Cullen. I couldn't go after Sam Uley for Leah and Emily. I couldn't!"

"Bella Swan was in your jurisdiction," Jasper snarled, pushing away from the desk. "You could have saved her years of abuse, years without Rosalie, years of being alone. You should have done more for her," he added before he turned and opened the door to Yorke's office. "You're just as guilty as Sam Uley is for what he did to Bella Swan. I hope you burn in Hell, Captain Yorke."

Captain Eric Yorke stood up when he saw Garret and Kate in the doorway, his eyes flickering from them to Jasper, and back. He sighed, almost in defeat. "You set me up."

Jasper shrugged his shoulders. "Someone had to make sure you went down. What can I say? I volunteered for the job."

Jasper bypassed Kate and Garrett, as the latter began to read Eric Yorke his rights. Newton and Crowley stood in the back of the station house, their eyes locked on their captain, their leader. Walking past the pudgy woman with the bright red hair, Jasper hurried outside, climbed into his truck, and started the drive back to Seattle, back to his family. Back to save Bella Swan.

—SfH—

James winced as he sat back down on the side of his hospital bed, his hand automatically coming up to rest on his abdomen. He took a deep, calming breath just as the door to his room opened, and he smiled. Standing in the doorway were his girls. Rosalie had her arm looped in with Bella's, who looked terrified.

"Hey," he murmured, his eyes filling with tears. "You okay, honey?"

She nodded, her eyes darting around the room before she stepped inside, standing just next to the door. "Are you okay?"

James grinned. "I'm getting there. Harder to bounce back when you're an old man, Bella."

Bella smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Are you sure you're ready to go home?" Rosalie asked, hurrying over and wrapping her arm around him as he stood up.

"More than ready," he quipped, his hand still gripping his side. "The bed here sucks, and if I ever see lime green Jell-O again, I'll vomit. It won't be pretty. It will be green, because of all the lime green Jell-O they forced me to eat."

"Ew," Bella grimaced.

"See? Bella agrees," James laughed, thought he winced again. "Gotta stop doing that."

"I know, but —"

But before Rosalie could air anymore of her concerns, Tia hurried into the room, which startled Bella. She let out a soft scream and ran over, hiding herself behind Rosalie, who released James and turned, wrapping her arms around Bella. James frowned, hating how timid and scared Bella was. The Bella he remembered was full of smiles and laughter, told knock-knock jokes and made farting noises with her armpits, which James of course taught her. Like any good uncle would have.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tia said, slowly as she lifted the blue folder in her hands and gestured toward James. "I was just bringing Mr. Swan's discharge papers to him. Or to all of you, I guess."

"Thanks," James said, walking over to her and taking the folder.

Tia's eyes flickered to Bella before she turned back to James. "Your follow appointment with your primary is in two days. Do not miss it, Mr. Swan."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, noticing the way Tia kept looking over at Bella. He cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to him. "I'm good to go now, right?"

She nodded, and gestured toward the hallway. "Transport is waiting with your chair." Tia paused, her eyes shifting back to Bella for a moment before she said, "If you need anything, please don't hesitate to call," she said, looking back at James. "Any of you."

James nodded. "Thank you. Right now, my girls and I would like to go home."

Tia smiled, though it seemed almost as timid and nervous as Bella's before she turned and walked out of the room. A tall woman with long, straight blond hair with light hazel eyes stepped into the room with a wheelchair. She was dressed elegantly, professionally, and James suspected she wasn't one to perform transports job on a day to day basis.

"Mr. Swan, my name is Irina. I'm the Chief of Staff," she said, smiling as she looked from him to Rosalie and then to Bella before turning back to him. "It would be an honor to escort you and your family downstairs."

"Oh, um, okay," he said, looking over at Rosalie, who shrugged. "Thanks?"

Irina smiled. "Carlisle Cullen is a dear friend. He called, told me you were being released, and asked if I would personally ensure your safety."

"Well that was nice of him," James muttered, unsure of what else to say. He walked over and sat in the chair. "I guess we're ready."

Irina pulled the chair out of the hospital room, and turned him toward the elevator. James folded his arms, his hand resting on the wound on his abdomen. As the elevator doors open, he felt a hand reach out, coming to rest on his shoulder. Looking to his left, tears filled his eyes when he saw Bella standing next to him, her hand on hand on his shoulder. He smiled as he reached up and covered her hand with his, silently reminding her that no matter what, James had her back. He almost died fighting for her once, and he'd do it again.

Thank you for all the AMAZING reviews. Couple notes. The use of italics for the he, him, his etc is done for a reason. I know it can be distracting, but it's done for a reason, just like when writing from Bella's POV, I never use her name in her narrative.