12

Bella laid on her stomach in the middle of Esme's bed, propped up on her elbows with her legs crossed at the ankles. Esme had let her know she'd gotten to work okay, and Bella had replied that she wished she was hiding under her desk with her legs wrapped around her head and her tongue buried deep in her pussy.

She was waiting for a reply back — anxiously.

Bella was startled when the door to Esme's room opened and Carlisle hurried in. His eyes were wide, and there was a look that had her feeling anxious for an entirely different reason.

"He's gone after his mom," Carlisle muttered.

"Who? My Dad?" she asked, scrambling off the bed.

Carlisle nodded.

"Oh, Jesus fucking Christ," Bella groused and following him out of her room and across the hall.

Edward was pacing back and forth, his phone pressed against his ear. He crumbled to his knees. "No, leave her out of this!"

But Bella wasn't sure what her father had said as the phone dropped from Edward's hand and hit the floor hard. Carlisle was immediately by his side, holding him in his arms. Bella knelt in front of him and picked up the phone, bringing it to her ear.

"Dad?"

"I told you to stay away from that boy, Bella. You should have yielded my warning."

"Dad, leave her alone. Please, just . . . just leave her alone."

"Her death will be on your shoulders, Bella. Your shoulders."

And with a loud, resounding click, Charlie ended the call. Bella fell forward, placing her hands on her on the floor as she shifted her eyes over to Edward and Carlisle, who was holding his boyfriend tenderly.

Instead of comforting him, knowing nothing she said in that moment was going to make a difference, Bella stood and picked up her phone, calling the only person who could help — she hoped. The call rang twice before she heard a click, followed by an awkward, "Hello?"

"Sam, it's Bella."

"Oh, hey, Bella. How'd you get my number?"

"Dad gave it to me a few years ago, you know, just in case."

"Oh. Well, is everything okay?"

Bella looked down at Edward and Carlisle, both of whom were staring at her with wide eyes. "No."

"What's wrong, kiddo?"

"Look, you may not believe me, but Dad went a little crazy."

There was a pause before he sighed and said, "What'd he do?"

"He just called Edward Masen from his mom's cell phone, threatening to kill her."

"He what? Why would he go after her?"

"Because he's mad that I'm dating her son."

"You're dating Edward Masen?"

"Yep."

"Oh, okay." But there was something about the way he said it that peeked her interest, not that this was the time nor the place. "How long ago did he call?"

"Like two minutes. You have to get over to her house, Sam. You have to stop him from hurting her."

"I will, Bella. Where are you and Edward right now?"

"At a friend's house."

"Okay, listen, I'm going to call Jared and have him meet me there. Stay there. Do you hear me? Stay there."

"Sam, he's dangerous."

"Yeah, I know, kiddo. I'll call you when I know something."

"Sam —" But he hung up before she could get another word in. "He and Jared are going to your house."

"Let's go. We'll meet them there." Edward stood with Carlisle around him. "I can't stay here."

"Yeah, I know." Bella shoved her phone into the side pocket on her leggings before she looked at Carlisle. "You can't go."

"What? Why not?" he asked.

"How are you going to explain to the police that you're with us?"

Carlisle frowned.

"I'll take care of him," Bella promised, holding her hand out to Edward. "Let's just hope this whole thing isn't going to blow up in our faces."

"Call me the minute you know something," Carlisle said. "I'm going to go to the hospital, keep my eye on Esme. You know, just in case."

"Thank you," Bella whimpered. "Just thank you."

Carlisle nodded and looked over at Edward, bringing his hand up to the side of his face. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Edward choked out.

Bella and Edward hurried out of Carlisle's bedroom, downstairs, through the living room, and out to his car. While Edward started toward the driver's side, Bella knew he wasn't mentally stable enough to be behind the wheel of a car, so she grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop.

"Give me the keys."

"What?" he asked, yanking his arm out of her grasp. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not, Masen. You're barely keeping your shit together. Just give me your fucking keys, and let me drive. Since I'm the one who got us in the middle of this mess."

Edward sighed and dropped his keys into her hand. "You didn't do anything, Swan."

"Didn't I?" she asked, running around the front of the car and climbing in behind the wheel. Once Edward was in the car, she cranked the engine and started back toward town. "I was the one who came up with the plan to be each other's gay beards. I was the one who refused to go out with Jacob fucking Black. Maybe if I had, maybe if I'd just pretended to be straight for a while, my father wouldn't be losing his ever loving mind right now."

"Maybe, or maybe my father would be the one killing her," Edward whispered. "She takes it, you know? Every hit, every insult, every degrading, snarky remark because he's made her feel like she deserves it. I've begged her to leave, offer to take her away from here, to start fresh somewhere, but she . . ." He dragged his hands over his face as she drove past the city limit sign. "He cornered me this morning."

"Who? Your father?"

Edward nodded.

"What'd he say?"

"He said your father had paid him a little visit, made it clear I wasn't good enough for you. Dad said you were a hot piece of ass and implied that your pussy was tight."

"Eww. I mean is it, but you know, eww."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Edward scoffed, dropping his hands to his knees and balling his hands into fits. "He told me to heed your father's warning, and I told him to shove it up his ass. Well, not in those words, or I doubt I'd be sitting here right now, but you get the idea."

"Yeah, I have an idea."

Two minutes later, Bella parked Edward's car across the street from his house. There were two black and white patrol cars parked in front with their lights flashing red and white, and an ambulance parked in the driveway. They shared a look before they climbed out and fought their way past the crowd of spectators waiting to see what was happening the Masen house.

Edward grabbed Bella's arm, drawing her attention to him. He pointed to the backseat of one of the cop cars, where her father sat. Even from the distance, she could see the wild, unhinged look in his eyes, the danger that filled each feature. His hair was a mess, his face red and sweaty, and he was staring right at her. He smiled — a creepy, eerie smile that had her stomach dropping before she turned toward the front of the house.

Thankfully, Elizabeth Masen appeared to be okay. She had the same beautiful auburn hair that Edward had and vibrant green eyes, only she had two black eyes, a busted bottom lip, and bruising on the tops of her arms that Bella suspected had been there for at least a week, if not longer. She was standing with Sam Uley, a tall, muscular man from the Quileute reservation. He had long black hair that had been pulled out of his face and braided down his back. Standing next to him was Jared Cameron, another Native American from the reservation. His hair was short, though, and he wasn't as tall as Sam.

"Mom!" Edward yelled, drawing all of their attention to him.

"Oh, Edward, thank God you're okay." Elizabeth met her son half way, wrapping her arms around him. "He said you'd been in a car accident. I thought you were hurt!"

"What? No, Mom, I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"I'm a little shaken up, to be honest." Elizabeth Masen leaned away, her eyes flickering to Bella. "Oh, dear, you must be Bella. He kept saying that you were in the car with him, that . . . that Edward had hurt you. I had hurried into the kitchen to grab my bag, because he said he would take me to the hospital, and when I came out, he had my phone. I asked for it back, and he . . . Well, he became aggressive, I'm afraid."

"I am . . . I am . . . I am so sorry," she cried, wrapping her arms around her torso.

"You didn't do anything wrong, dear." Elizabeth reached for her, but then pulled her hand back to herself. Instead, she laid her fingers on her chest, just over the neckline of her T-shirt. "I don't understand anything that's happened here, to be real honest. One minute he was telling me that my son had been hurt, and the next he had me against the wall, this look in his eyes that . . . Well, I've seen that look a few times."

"If you're okay, who . . . who is in the ambulance?" Edward asked, his eyes shifting from his mother to the emergency vehicle. "Did . . . did Dad hurt you?"

"No, no, no, of course not," Elizabeth was quick to say, her eyes flickering to Sam. "Dad . . . Dad came downstairs, saw him with me against the wall, and, well, I guess he'd been drinking a little tonight, and he lunged at Chief Swan, who pushed him out of the way and he fell back and hit his head on the edge of the coffee table. They said he should be fine, just needs a few stitches, but he's . . . Well, he doesn't want to go to the hospital."

Edward nodded, giving Bella a look before he turned and started walking toward the ambulance with Elizabeth following closely. Bella took a step to go after him, but when she felt Sam grab her wrist, she stopped and looked back at him, gently easing her wrist from between his fingers.

"Please don't grab me," she whispered.

"Sorry." Sam paused before saying, "I can't help but notice the bruising on your face and neck, Bella. Who did that?"

"I'll give you two guesses, but you'll probably only need one."

"Jesus Christ," Sam swore, gripping the back of his neck. "Did you know that he'd been suspended from the police station last month?"

"What? No, why? What happened?"

"I shouldn't be telling you any of this, seeing as they are still investigating him, but over the last six months or so, he . . . he's changed, Bella."

"Changed how? I mean, I think I know, but I'd like someone else to confirm it."

"He's become aggressive, argumentative, belligerent even. A month ago, he'd busted a drug deal across town, a couple of lowlifes who he caught selling to junior high kids. He was pissed. Hell, we were all pissed, Bella, but while he was questioning them, trying to find out who had been supplying them with drugs, he . . . Well, he lost his shit on them. He almost killed both of them. It took me, Jared, and Old Man Quil to get him off those two assholes. I've never seen your old man talk like that to anyone, much less beat on them. Brass didn't have much choice but to suspend him, pending an investigation. They've agreed not to press charges, but they won't let him come back until he's been cleared by a psychologist and attends mandatory anger therapy classes. It's been three weeks, Bella, and he hasn't gone to one session. They're losing their patience with him, and this little situation isn't going to help."

"Sam . . ." Bella shook her head, her eyes shifting back to the police car where her father was still staring at her — staring at her in a way that had her shivering in fear and unease. "I'm scared, Sam. There's something . . ." She tore her eyes away from her fathers. "He locked me in my room."

"What? When?"

"Last night, when Edward dropped me off after a date," she lied. Kind of, sort of, not really. She had been on a date, just not with him. "Dad . . . He's been pressuring me for months to go on a date with Jacob Black."

Sam grimaced. "That little douchebag? He's like a miniature man whore. You can do so much better than him."

Bella laughed. "Trust me, I know, which is why I've been saying no for months. When I started dating Edward, he . . . he went off the rails, Sam. Like seriously off the fucking rails. He cornered me at school, threatened me if I didn't agree, ignored every single time I told him no, that I have a boyfriend. Then last night, he corned me against the front door and there was . . . I don't know, a look in his eyes that scared me. Still scares me. I managed to get upstairs to my room, while he yelled obscenities at me. He never talked to me like that, Sam. He's barely even cussed in front of me until a few months ago. Then, he came busting into my room with my phone in his hands, and he . . . he did this before locking me in my bedroom," she said, gesturing to her face and neck. "He never, ever treated me like this before, Sam. Never, not even when I was throwing a fit, and you know, the kind of tantrums I used to throw."

Sam grinned. "They were some good ones. Made me really consider if I ever wanted kids."

"Right!" she exclaimed. "I think . . . I think there is something seriously wrong with him. I mean, first he . . . he attacks me, then Edward's mother? I just . . . Am I totally and completely off base?"

"No," he said, slowly. "But I don't know if that's going to change anything. He's looking at some pretty serious charges, Bella."

"I know, and look, I'm not making excuses for him, because I'll never be able to forgive him for putting his hands on me like that, but if there is something wrong with him, we should know, right?"

"Look, I have to take him down to the station and book him on trespassing charges, assaulting Edward's father. You, if you're going to press charges."

Bella sighed.

"He hurt you, Bella."

"I know. I just . . . I'll think about it, and let you know later. I just can't . . . He may be an asshole, but he's still my father, and if there is something wrong with him, I don't know, okay? I just don't know."

"Guess that's fair, but for the record, I think you should press charges. A father should never, ever put his hands on his children like that, Bella." Sam reached out and placed his hands on her arm, ignoring the way she tensed. "I'll talk to the D.A. See if we can have him evaluated by a professional, see if there is a reason for his sudden, irrational behavior."

"Thanks," she murmured.

"You have some place safe to stay tonight? You can come to the house. I'm sure Emily would be okay with it. She hasn't gotten to feed you in a while."

Bella laughed and looked over at Edward, who was holding his mother as they stood at the end of the ambulance. "Thank you, but I think I'm good." She looked back at Sam. "Keep me updated on him?"

Sam nodded. "Probably a few days."

"Do you think there's something wrong with him? Or, am I just . . . just looking for, I don't know, and a reason to excuse his behavior?"

"Honestly, Bella, I don't know. I mean the man who brought me into law enforcement, who trained and mentored me for the last decade would never go after a perp the way he did, even lowlife drug dealers peddling their shit to kids. He would have said they should still be afforded basic, human rights. And the Charlie Swan who bragged about you getting an almost perfect score on your SAT and talking about how you could get into any school you wanted, would never, ever want you to be with someone like Jacob Black."

"He told you about my SAT scores?"

Sam nodded. "He talked about you a lot, Bella."

"I don't . . . I don't know what to say, because up until a few months ago, I might have believed you, but now . . ." She shook her head, taking a step backward. "No, now I don't think he gives two shits about what, or who, makes me happy."

"And Edward makes you happy?" Sam asked, and the way he said Edward caused her to tense. "Sorry, I guess I never thought you would be interested in someone like Edward Masen."

"Why not? He's . . . he's very sweet, and loving and kind," she rambled.

"I'm sure he is, Bella." Sam leaned toward her, his voice dropping as he said, "But he has a dick, and you always struck me as the kind of girl who wasn't into people with dicks."

Bella took another step backward. "What? I mean . . ."

Sam grinned. "Don't worry about it, Bella. Your secret is safe with me."

"I'm just not ready for people to know," she lied. Honestly, she didn't care, but Esme hadn't been ready for people to know, and that meant she wasn't, either.

"Hey, like I said, your secret is safe with me, Bella." He took a step backward. "I'd better get him down to the station. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to call."

"I won't. Thank you."

Bella wrapped her arms around herself as Sam turned and walked over to his squad car, slipped behind the wheel, and drove away from Edward's house. All while Charlie Swan stared at her from the backseat.

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