47
Jasper stood in the back of a crowded courtroom with Garrett next to him. They were waiting for Eric Yorke to be brought into the courtroom. Them and almost fifty other law enforcement officers from the area, including Newton and Crowley, who were seated in the row just behind where their captain would soon be waiting to offer his plea. Jasper wanted those two standing next to him, but they hadn't been able to find any proof that Newton or Crowley had any knowledge that Eric Yorke had ignore vital information referencing Sam Uley.
Newton turned and looked right at Jasper, nudging Crowley who also turned toward him. Jasper raised an eyebrow, almost daring the two to start something. Of course they didn't. Cowards like them never did.
"Assholes," Jasper muttered under his breath.
"That they are," Garrett agreed.
The door to the back of the courtroom opened, and Eric Yorke was lead into the room in an orange jumpsuit, his wrists and ankles chained. He looked up, his eyes landing directly on Jasper, who stared him down until the man turned away, like the scaredy-cat he was. Tired and overworked, no leads, those were his excuses for why he ignored Ephraim Black, why he let Bella Swan suffer for eight long, terrifying years at the hands of child rapist, pedophile, and psychopath. Tired and overworked. Jasper would never understand how he was too tired, too overworked to stop a monster like Sam Uley. Their jobs were the save the little girls from the monsters who preyed on the, to stop the Sam Uley's of the world, but Yorke had been too tired, too over-worked. It was complete and utter bullshit.
As the guards left Yorke at the defendants table, another door opened and this time Judge Phil Dwyer waltzed in. His eyes shifted around the courtroom, landing on Jasper and Garrett first, then Kate, and finally Yorke and his attorney, a kid who looked like he might still be in law school. He had a panicked, frantic look on his face, and Jasper wondered if he took the case by choice, or if he was told he had to defend the former Captain of the Forks Police Department. Former because when the news broke about his arrest, he was placed on unpaid administrative leave by the Forks City Council.
Once the bailiff had called the court to order, Judge Dwyer cleared his throat, and said, "Eric Yorke, you have been charged with obstruction to justice, aiding and abetting the kidnapping and sexual assault of Isabella Swan." He looked up, his eyes shifting around the courtroom once more before he asked, "How do you plead, sir?"
Every head in the courtroom turned toward Eric Yorke as he opened his mouth and with an air of regret said, "Guilty, your honor."
Newton and Crowley scrambled to their feet and hurried out of the courtroom, right passed Jasper and Garrett, who shared a look before they followed. When they stepped into the corridor, they found both men leaning against the wall, their hands curled up into fists. They turned and looked at them, the anger in their eyes struck Jasper hard. The angry glares they usually looked at him with was different than this. This was a look of betrayal, treachery, and duplicity, a look that Jasper knew had nothing to do with him or Garrett and everything to do with the man inside that courtroom.
"Not now, Cullen," Newton gritted through clenched teeth.
Jasper folded his arms in front of him, tilting his head to the side. "You really didn't know, did you? I mean, you really didn't know."
"Of course not!" Crowley exclaimed, drawing the attention of a group of people down the hallway. He shook his head, and when he spoke again, his voice was much softer. "Of course we didn't know. We would have never left that girl in Sam Uley's grasp."
"Her name is Bella," Garret said before Jasper could, and when Newton and Crowley looked at him, he added, "She's not just some girl. Her name is Bella Swan. She's person, gentleman, a fucking person, so give her the respect she deserves by calling her by name."
"I'm sorry." Crowley put his hands up in surrender. "I don't mean any disrespect. Honestly, I don't, but if you really think we knew that Ephraim Black told Captain Yorke about Sam Uley and we ignored it, I take that personally." He gestured to Newton. "We take it personally."
"We may not be big city cops," Newton added, causing Jasper to look at him. "We may not spend all day, every day dealing with the worst scum on the planet, but we're not fucking idiots. We didn't have any leads: no prints, no DNA, no witnesses. We've. . ." He paused, blowing out a thick, emotional breath. "We never gave up on finding Bella. Never, but you know the statics, the odds of finding her alive after the first twenty-four hours. I have daughter who is about to be eight, and the thought . . ." Newton shook his head, turning away them. "The thought of someone putting their hands on her like Sam Uley did Bella makes me so fucking angry."
"We feel betrayed," Crowley said, reaching over and placing his hand on his partner's shoulder. "He was our Captain, and . . . and finding out that he just . . . It makes us livid, Cullen, very livid."
Before Jasper or Garrett could say anything the doors to the courtroom opened and the four men moved out of the way as the fifty plus law enforcement officers filed out of the room, rage and repugnance in their eyes. Once everyone had walked out, the four entered the courtroom, standing in the back as Kate talked with the boy representing Yorke. The kid sighed before he nodded and left, throwing the four of them a pleading glance on his way past.
"So?" Garrett asked, causing Kate to sigh. "Please tell me he didn't release him on bail."
"Judge Dwyer set his bail at a million dollars. I doubt he's getting out any time soon," Kate replied, picking up her brief case. "His attorney would like to sit down and discuss a plea deal, though."
"And you told him to go suck a dick, didn't you?" Jasper groused.
Kate smiled. "Not in those words. We have no intentions of letting Eric Yorke get away with his role in the abduction and sexual assault on Bella." She shifted her eyes to Newton and Crowley. "Or anyone else who sat back and let that sweet, beautiful little girl live in Hell with a monster for eight long, miserable years when they could have saved her from a lifetime of pain and heartache."
Newton and Crowley both opened their mouths to defend themselves, but Kate simply put her hand up and walked out of the courtroom. Jasper and Garrett shrugged their shoulders before they followed. Whether Newton and Crowley knew or not, it didn't take away from the fact that they were horrible detectives, and if Jasper had it his way, he'd kick them to the curb.
—SfH—
Ben sat in the driver's seat of his black Kai Sorrento, shifting his eyes to the rear view mirror to look at his beautiful daughter. When he and Angela learned they would never be able to have children, he worried how she would handle it. She'd always been amazing with children, yet after three years of trying, and failing, doctors confirmed their biggest fear: he was sterile. He'd never felt more like less than man than he had in that moment. He'd failed his wife, failed to give her the child she so desperately wanted, needed, longed for.
They grieved, and there were times when he wasn't sure if they would survive. But they did, somehow, and decided if they couldn't have a child of their own, they would try to adopt. Ben hadn't been prepared for how quickly they would find the love of their lives. A simple call, an abandoned baby, and they were suddenly given the chance to be parents. The moment they saw Vanessa in the nursery at the hospital, Ben knew she was meant to be theirs. She was tiny and fragile, delicate and beautiful, so beautiful. But now? Now, they may lose their daughter because her biological father was a monster. How could someone like . . . someone like him create someone so beautiful?
"Are you sure we should be doing this?" he asked, causing her to sigh when she looked at him. "I'm not saying we shouldn't, but should we?"
"We should," Angela said, nodding. "Look, I'm scared, too, Ben, I am, but . . . When I think of how scared she must be, how lost she must feel without her . . ." Angela turned and looked into the backseat, where Vanessa was sleeping in her car seat. "I think about how I feel if I were Bella, and I can't just sit back and let her suffer more than she is, or has been, I guess."
"I know, but . . ." Ben trailed off as he changed lanes, getting ready to take the next exit. "I don't want to lose Vanessa, Ang. I'm terrified that they're going to take her away from us. I mean, Tanya said we shouldn't do anything without the court ordering us to."
"Yeah, well, I love Tanya, babe, but she's not a mom. She doesn't understand what it's like to feel that loss," she whimpered, bringing her hand up to her mouth. "I'm sorry."
Ben pulled of the interstate, and pulled into the parking lot of a gas station. He parked and turned toward his wife. "Don't apologize, honey." He reached over and placed his hands on the side of her face. "No matter what happens, we are in this together: you, me, and Vanessa. I love you, Ang."
Angela smiled weakly, turning and pressing her lips against the palm of his hand. "I love you, too, Ben."
Forty-five minutes later, Ben and Angela had dropped Vanessa off as Angela's fathers house and were parked in front of a large white house with a huge wrap around porch. Felix had offered to keep Vanessa at their house, but she tended to have more attachment issues when he kept her at their house, than when they dropped her off with him. Felix dotted on his granddaughter, and had voiced the same concerns Ben had, but supported them in their choice. Or so he said. Who really knew how he would feel if Vanessa was taken from them?
Tanya climbed out of her car, a sporty red Camaro, at the same as they did. She frowned and turned toward the big white house with the wrap around porch. It was the kind of house Ben had always wanted to raise their children in.
"It's not too late," Tanya said, drawing their attention back to her, and when neither replied, she added, "You're taking a huge risk! I already have motions drafted to stop any attempt they make to gain custody of Vanessa."
Ben and Angela shared a look before he wrapped his arm around his wife and said, "We need to meet her. We need . . . I don't know . . . we need to see her in person, meet her. She's Vanessa's birth mother, Tanya. She was thrown in the trash, but that little girl, she's mourned the loss of her daughter, and we . . ." He shook his head. "We won't victimize her, not like he did."
Though Ben could tell that she didn't agree, she motioned for them follow her up the front path to the wrap around porch. She threw them another look before she knocked on the door. Ben tightened his arm around Angela just before the front door opened, and they found themselves face to face with a tall, thin blond man, who resembled Detective Cullen.
He shifted his eyes between Tanya then to Ben and Angela before he smiled and said, "You must be the Cheney's. It's . . . it's nice to meet you. My name is Carlisle Cullen. Um, please come in," he added, taking a step backward and waving them into the large white house.
"Thank you," Tanya said, tilting her head toward him before she stepped inside and Ben and Angela followed.
Detective Cullen, a tall curvy brunette with dark eyes that reminded Ben of Vanessa, though they were shaped a differently. Next to her was a woman with long caramel hair. In the middle of the room was a woman with fiery red hair, her arms folded in front of her protectively. Ben assumed she was Bella's attorney, this Maggie Thornton Tanya had told them about. She had a reputation of being a real ball buster, which didn't help ease Ben's nerves.
"I'm Tanya Richmond, and before we continue, I want it noted that Mr. and Mrs. Cheney are acting against my advice."
"Duly noted," the fiery red-head said, tilting her head to the side. "I'm Maggie Thornton, Mr. and Mrs. Cheney. I'm representing Bella, who is taking a moment or two to . . . collect herself. She's been through a lot, so please give her the chance to warm up to you. She's . . ." Maggie trailed off, shaking her head as she looked away, taking a deep, shaky breath. "Well, just give her a chance. Please?"
But before Ben or Angela could reply, their attention was pulled toward the stairs. An older man, tall and thin, with dark hair and eyes was leading a boy with wild auburn hair and bright green eyes, who had his arm wrapped around a tiny, fragile girl with long brown hair. Her skin was pale, thin, almost translucent. Her head was down, and there was a frailness about her that Ben had never seen before in someone so young.
They stepped off the bottom step, and the young, fragile girl tilted her head up, and Ben felt his heart clench in his chest. She was indeed beautiful and delicate, and exceptionally fragile. But mostly, it struck him how much she looked like Vanessa. Her eyes, her lips, her nose.
Though he had been nervous, scared even, he knew Angela was right: they couldn't sit back and let Bella suffer because they just happen to be the ones who adopted her daughter. And it scared him, because this little girl could take his little girl away.
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