Bella could see the lights from the police cruiser flash on the trees as she approached the farm road where John's car was. She had a sinking feeling in her gut. She was too late. If she took the car now and the cops had already found it, well, she didn't want to think about what that could mean for Beverly. Suddenly, the sound of slamming prison bars echoed in her mind. She saw Beverly in handcuffs and a jail jumpsuit, spending the rest of her life in prison away from her boys.
No, she would not let that happen. Now was not the time to panic. She crept closer to the house to see if she could catch something on the police radios.
As she got closer, she saw two officers standing outside near their cruiser. They looked bored, maybe a little annoyed. That was odd, Bella thought. If they were thinking foul play, surely they would be walking around taking notes and leaving little yellow tags everywhere.
"Well, I think Murray can handle this. What do you say we get out of here and get some food? It's midnight. I was supposed to be off two hours ago." The tall officer said.
The short, chubby officer shook his head yes, and they got back in their cruiser. Bella ducked behind a tree as they drove past her.
As she came around the house, she saw Murray's cruiser parked in the driveway. Worried that he had a partner roaming around somewhere, she stayed in the shadows as she darted from the tree line to the bushes in front of John's house.
Murray stood on the porch, and John's wife was inside the doorway.
"Betty Ann, I know you are upset, but I don't think any crime was committed here."
Bella heard Betty Ann pull in a ragged breath. "You're wrong. I saw someone leaving through the back gate when I got home from church. I saw them from the kitchen window."
Bella felt her chest tighten. John's wife had seen her.
"Maybe that was John, Betty. It sure looks like he did not want any confrontation when he left. Maybe he was afraid you would try to talk him out of leaving."
Betty Ann started bawling. "He was kidnapped, Murray, I know it."
Murray sighed. "I know this is hard to hear, Betty, but you and I have known each other most of our lives. If I thought there was any chance something happened to John, I would have all of Clallam County out here looking for him. Gotta look at the facts, Betty Ann. The first is he left a note telling you he was leaving town. He grabbed all the cash out of the safe, took the spare car keys, and cleaned out his closet." He paused for a moment. "His car is gone, Betty. Now, I will be the first to admit we don't see a lot of crime around here, but the facts don't add up to anything other than him leaving."
They hadn't found John's car yet. This was excellent news.
"Betty, this may be a good thing. You can make a fresh start."
"I know all about the cheating and all the other things he was up to, but deep down, I loved him," Betty whispered. There was an awkward pause, and Betty said, "Thank you for everything, Murray. I appreciate you coming out and doing what you could."
"You bet Betty Ann, my mother, and the church ladies will be out tomorrow with food. You hang in there." With that, Murray walked down the porch stairs and out to this cruiser. He sat with the engine running for a few minutes before backing out of the driveway and down the road. Bella heard the front door shut.
Bella was in the clear now, but what would stop Betty Ann from looking for John's car? She had seen Bella, and judging by the sound of her voice, she did not agree with Murray that it was John she saw in the backyard.
Bella waited until the lights went off in the living room before she crawled out from under the bushes. She again made sure she moved quickly but stayed hidden. She could not risk being seen again.
Once on the street, she headed for the farm road to get John's car. Overhearing the conversation between Betty Ann and Murray was helpful in many ways. She knew what the keys in her pocket were for.
She slid the key into the lock and got in. She had never been in a car this nice before. When she got it out of the garage, she didn't have time to appreciate the leather seats and fine craftsmanship of the foreign automobile. She fired up the engine and listened to it purr for a moment.
"Alright, Bella, where are we taking this thing?" She asked herself as she ran her hands over the smooth leather steering wheel. "We could get to Seattle and leave it at the airport." The drive to Seattle would take a few hours. That was time she didn't have. Where is the closest bus station?
She pulled out onto the farm road with the headlights off. Once she turned onto the main road, she flipped the lights on and pounded on the gas. The tires squealed as she sped off to Port Angeles.
Bella pulled into the parking lot of the Port Angeles Bus Terminal. The lot was almost abandoned. She pulled into a spot on the far side of the parking lot, away from any parking lot lights or lights from the building. She did check to make sure she left nothing in the car. For good measure, she opened the glove compartment.
"John, you fucker." Bella said as she pulled the items from the compartment. There was a black velvet box that Bella opened. It had a beautiful tennis bracelet. A gift, no doubt, to be pulled out at any time to smooth over any number of sins he might commit. There was also a full box of condoms and a little black book. When Bella flipped through it, it was filled with names and phone numbers stretching coast to coast.
Bella tossed the condoms back in the glove compartment, dropped the bracelet and black book into her purse, and climbed out of the car. She slammed the door so hard the car shook. She was suddenly filled with anger.
"GRRRRR." She growled as she kicked the tires and wheel well, leaving a huge dent. Bella, get your shit together, someone is going to see you. She chastised herself mentally. She took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down. She needed all her energy to run back to Forks and finally get rid of John once and for all.
It was after two a.m. when Bella made it back to her house. She had to take a long detour around a large group of campers that blocked what she thought would be a straight shot home.
She stood in her driveway looking longingly at her back door. This was not what she wanted to be dealing with tonight. In a perfect world, she and Edward would be curled up together by the fireplace, talking and laughing and kissing the night away. She could almost picture it.
Bella closed her eyes momentarily to let herself indulge in the thought. But she also knew thoughts like that would get her in trouble. This was not a perfect world. There was a dead body in her trunk. Edward didn't feel that way about her, she was sure, and oh, she was a vampire.
She made a deep sigh and grabbed her car keys from her bag. She walked toward her car and, for good measure, opened the trunk.
Yup. He was still there and starting to smell. She wasn't sure if it was her vampire senses or not, but John had overstayed his welcome.
Bella slammed the trunk, got in the car, cranked up the radio, and, for the second time, headed to La Push.
She hadn't thought much about a good drop-off point for dear John, so she drove until she came across some high cliffs. She pulled into what looked like a gravel parking lot of sorts and got out to take a look around. She walked toward the edge of the cliffs and peered over the edge. The ocean was at least 200 feet below. And finally, Bella had a bit of luck. It looked to be high tide.
She walked back to her car and opened the trunk. She looked around nervously. She drummed her fingers on the trunk as she thought through the options. While she had not seen another car since she pulled out of her neighborhood, she did not want to risk her car being spotted by campers or a late-night fisherman. On the other hand, she could not risk being seen fireman carrying a stiff corpse wrapped in a blue tarp down the road either. And if she carried him, she would have to leave him somewhere to come back for the cinder blocks. She could leave the blocks tucked into some underbrush, but there was still the matter of tying them to him.
"Why are you so uncooperative?" She whispered into the trunk. "Problematic asshole in life and turning into a problematic asshole in death." She slammed the trunk shut.
She returned to the car and decided that here was the best option. She would lean on her senses to keep her safe.
She pulled her car forward toward a small outcropping of trees. They would provide some shadow and cover. She backed the car up as close to the edge as she dared. She wanted John to go over the edge, not her car.
She got out and opened the trunk for the last time. She quickly tied the three cinder blocks she had brought around John's body. First his neck, then around his waist, and the last one around his ankles.
She dragged him out of the truck and tossed him over her shoulder. She looked around, focusing first on the tree line that was providing her protection, then out to the water.
Once she was sure the coast was clear, she grabbed John's ankles, gave one good wind up, and sent him sailing in the ocean below.
It felt like hours before she heard the splash. She leaned over the edge to ensure he did not get caught up in the rocks below—no sign of the blue tarp anywhere.
A massive wave of relief washed over her. It was finally over. Beverly was safe. The cops had believed her note, and it looked like she was done with this whole mess. Later today, she would check in with Beverly.
On the drive back to Forks, Bella worked on her cover story. She would tell Beverly that she went to John's. He was there smoking his cigar on the back porch. She said to him that if he didn't leave town, she would rat him out. She would make sure everyone not only knew about Beverly and the beating but all the things he had ever done or said to her. She threatened to out all of his shady business dealings, too. Bella had no idea if he had shady business dealings, but the kind of guy he was, it was a good bet he did. Beverly would believe it.
Things had gotten a little physical. He had thrown a few punches, and she got in a few shots herself. If anyone saw her on the road, that would explain the bloody clothes.
Once John realized how serious Bella was and was afraid of all the evidence he thought she had, he agreed to get lost once and for all. Bella watched him clear out his closet. She demanded any cash he had on hand to be given to her so she could pass it along to Beverly.
She followed him to Port Angeles and watched him board a bus. She even bought him the ticket. She didn't ask where he was going because she didn't want to know. She would tell Beverly she wanted to be able to look her in the eye and tell her honestly she had no idea where his sorry ass ended up. But that she could promise her he was not coming back. He ran like the coward he was.
Bella let herself in the back door. It was ten after five. She was exhausted. She decided she had earned a hot bath and a good book by the fire. In a few hours, she would hunt. She needed her strength back, and if she was going to see Edward tonight, she needed to take care of any temptations that might be there.
Typically, being around humans was not a problem as long as she kept herself fed, but she had also not felt these feelings since she turned. She had done enough wrong lately. She owed it to Edward to keep him safe.