14

Bella's entire world felt like it was crumbling down around her — again.

Each photograph felt intimate, personal, and invading. She'd left. She had tried to put Phillip Dwyer behind her, yet he had followed her to Belcourt, North Dakota. In that instant, she knew she would never be free of him until he was dead.

And she would be the one to kill him.

"Bee."

She felt her father place his hand on her shoulder, causing her to tense and pull away before she turned toward him, but stopped when her attention landed on a photograph next to the door. Bella clenched her hands into tight fists as she walked over and pulled it down.

"Goddamn it," she muttered to herself before tugging her phone out of her pocket and scrolling through her contacts, stopping at M. Newton. She looked at Charlie before she pressed her fingers down on the call button.

"Who are you calling?" he asked.

But Bella simply shook her head and listened to the two rings, followed by a swift, "Bee?"

"Hey."

"You okay? Haven't heard from you in what, a year?"

"I need a favor," she said, ignoring his ridiculous question. The last thing she was in that moment was okay.

"What do you need?"

"I need you to pick someone up for me. Place her under protective custody. She'll probably fight you, but it's important you get her as soon as possible. Hopefully, we aren't too late."

"Who is she, Bee?"

Bella bit the inside of her lip. "Her name is Jessica Stanley. She lives at 2607 Patterson Drive in Belcourt, North Dakota. Call the local police department, tell them to pick her up; that you and Brandon will be there when they bring her in. If she's not there, she might be at her office, 7505 Helium, around the back of the building." Bella paused. "I needthis done as soon as fucking possible, Newton."

Newton didn't speak for a moment, but then he said, "He's back, isn't he? I've been hearing some shit through the pipeline about you heading back to the job. He's the reason why, isn't he?"

Bella shifted her eyes to Charlie before saying, "Yes."

"Of course, your old man used him to bring you back," Newton grumbled. "I'll let you know when I get her. You coming to collect?"

"Yep."

Newton sighed. "Damn, Bee, I thought you were free."

"Me too."

Ending the call, she glanced around the room once more before glaring at her father and walking away, past the members of SWAT, past Edward, who reached for her, past the stairs that led back down to Lauren Mallory's prison, and outside. She kept it together until she climbed onto the tailgate of her truck and did everything she could to keep from screaming at God for Jane and Bree, for Heidi, Chelsea, Gianna, and Lauren, for Garrett and Kate, and everyone whose lives have been ruined by Phillip Dwyer.

—^—

"Who is she?"

Bella looked at Edward, who had climbed onto the tailgate next to her not long after she walked out of the warehouse. Charlie had sent him to watch over her, she knew. He was her personal babysitter, after all.

"Her name is Jessica Stanley. She's a real estate agent in Belcourt, North Dakota."

"She sold the ranch to you?"

"Yes."

"And you think she's his next target?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Her initials are JAS. Her middle name is Abigail."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I'm thorough."

"You did a background check on her?"

"Of course."

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Only if I get caught. Are you going to snitch on me?"

Edward grinned. "No."

Bella rolled her eyes. "He's known where I was for the last year, Masen, so why did he take Chelsea, Gianna, and Lauren? Why not just come after me? Nobody would have even known I was gone. He could have held me for months before anyone even realized I was missing."

"Because it's not a part of his game."

She looked at him. "You're right about that. He wants me to chase him. He left Lauren alive long enough for me to get information from her so I could find this place. He wanted me to know he's been watching me. But why? Why me? I'm not a virgin like his other girls. I lost my virginity when I was fifteen, for fuck's sake. I'm not pure and innocent, Masen, so why does he want me so badly?"

"Because you're his greatest challenge."

Bella shook her head. "But I was done, though. I had walked away. I gave up the game, yet he pulled me back in. He knew my father would drag me back here, knew if he killed enough girls, I would come back to stop him once and for all. But I don't know how to stop him, Masen. I just . . . I just don't know how to get ahead of him when he's making up the rules as he goes."

Edward placed his hand on hers, causing her to inhale a sharp breath, but she couldn't seem to shake off his touch.

"Didn't I tell you not to touch me?"

He nodded. "Several times, but I guess I'm a slow learner."

Their attention was pulled to the front of the warehouse as her father walked out, pausing long enough to look around before he started in their direction. Bella wanted to tell him to go away and leave her alone, but whether or not she wanted to, she was in this until the end.

Either Phillip Dwyer would kill her, or she would end his existence.

Charlie stopped a few feet from them, digging his keys from his pocket and tossing them to Edward, who managed to catch them before they hit him in the face. "Head back to the office. We'll meet you there."

He looked from Charlie to Bella and back before saying, "I'm supposed to stay with her, sir. Isn't that what you said?"

"And now I am telling you to get your ass back to the office."

Edward simply nodded before he climbed out of the back of her truck and headed to the black SUV. Charlie crossed his arms in front of him before he leaned against the tailgate.

"I don't know what to do, Bee. All we do is fight, and I am so tired of fighting with you. So goddamn tired of fighting. Tell me how to make things right between us."

"You can't," she admitted. "Being mad at you is the only thing keeping me going right now."

He grinned. "Just like when you were little."

"Don't trivialize this, Dad. This isn't a pickup basketball game in the driveway. You can't goad me into taking your ass to the hoop like you could when I was ten. I'm not a fucking child anymore."

"I don't remember you always using such foul language. When did that begin?"

"Being a widow changed me, I guess."

Charlie stood and turned toward her. "Yeah, I guess it did. I'll go collect her. You can stay here."

She shook her head. "I got her into this, Dad, and I'll be the one to explain why I put a target on her back. Masen will go with me. You don't have to worry, I'll come back. I'm here until we stop Dwyer, or he kills me, too. Either one works."

And without giving her father a chance to say anything, Bella climbed into her truck and left him to find his own way back to the office.

—^—

Bella hadn't made the conscious decision to drive to New Hope Cemetery, but half an hour later, she found herself standing in front of Garrett's headstone. There were two bouquets of flowers in a ceramic vase — one her mother had made during her pottery phase. It used to sit on the mantel over their fireplace, but now, it sat on the edge of her husband's gravesite.

Her knees buckled, and she found herself falling to the ground, her arms wrapping around her torso, the muffled sounds of her sobbing filling the air. She hated crying. It had always made her feel weak and pathetic. Of course, that could be because her father always said emotions didn't solve the problem; they just made things worse.

Keep control of yourself, Bee, he'd say. Never let them see you vulnerable.

Garrett, on the other hand, had always pushed her to let her emotions show, not to keep everything bottled up inside. You can't keep pretending you feel nothing, Bella. It's not healthy to hold your emotions in like that.

"Thought I might find you here."

Feeling her shoulders tense, Bella looked behind her and saw her mother standing a few yards away. Renee was wearing a pair of denim overalls spattered with paint, and her hands and arms were covered in a mixture of green, red, and orange. She was holding a fresh bouquet of wildflowers.

"He called you, didn't he?"

Renee smiled. "He was worried."

Bella snorted and stood. "So worried he dragged me back into the middle of everything."

"Dragged you back?" Renee scoffed as she knelt next to Garrett's headstone. "You could have said no."

"I tried."

"Not hard enough." Renee plucked out the old flowers and placed the new bouquet inside. "I never wanted this life for you, Bee, but you were always about what your daddy was doing and how his case was going. How many nights did you sneak out of bed when he got home and interrogate him about the details of one of his investigations." She laughed and looked back at her. "He used to make details up just to see if you'd catch on. Bet you didn't know that."

"Not at first, but eventually, I caught on."

Renee looked back at the headstone. "I thought he'd be the one to finally make you see that there was life outside of the FBI."

"He tried."

Renee stood and turned toward her. "Your father didn't make you come back, Bee. Neither did Edward Masen. You chose to return because, regardless if I like it or not, the job is who you are."

"It's not anymore. I just . . . I can't do this anymore, Mom. He's making it personal."

"Oh, honey child, it never stopped being personal." Renee placed her hands on either side of her face. "You are not to blame for Garrett's death. You're not, Bee. But he wouldn't want you to hide from the world, either." Renee leaned forward and kissed her forehead, much like she would when she was five. "He sacrificed himself for that little girl. Don't let his sacrifice be in vain."

"Mom."

"Go." She dropped her hands from her face. "Go to work, Bee. I'll handle your daddy. You just stop this monster once and for all."

Bella nodded before glancing back at Garrett's tombstone, then hurrying down to her truck.

Ten minutes later, she was walking through the lobby to the elevator. Newton had texted her twenty minutes ago. Local PD had picked Jessica up, and he and Brandon were on their way to take custody of her. She reached over to press the up arrow, but a hand snaked out and beat her to it. When she looked over her shoulder, she found Edward behind her.

"Where were you?" she asked. "He sent you back here an hour ago."

"I stopped to let Esme know I was leaving town again. Don't want to scare her."

"Again."

He laughed. "Again. She really will tell my momma then."

The doors opened, and he motioned for her to enter first, which she did. Leaning against the back wall, she folded her arms and watched as he pressed the button for the fifth floor before leaning against the wall behind him.

"Why don't you have a girlfriend?"

"Excuse me?" he asked, his eyes widening.

"You heard me."

He nodded. "I work a lot."

"So much that you don't date? Are you gay? It's okay if you are. I mean, I won't look at you any differently if you are a homosexual."

Edward frowned. "No, I'm not gay. I just . . . I guess I don't make time for women."

She tilted her head to the side. "How many girlfriends have you had?"

He hesitated before saying, "Three."

"So one."

Rolling his eyes, he said, "Guess the rule of three applies here, too."

"It does."

"Fine, I've only had one girlfriend. Freshman year of high school until the spring of Sophomore year."

"Did you love her?"

"Thought I did."

"But now you aren't sure?"

"I don't know, Swan. I was sixteen and thought she was the love of my life. But then she broke up with me and started seeing another guy the next week. It didn't hurt the way losing the person I loved should have hurt."

"Was she the girl you had sex with?"

Edward's eyes widened before he said, "Yes."

"And you've never wanted to have sex with another woman since her?"

"Never said that. You asked how many women I've had sex with, not how many I've wanted to have sex with. Those are two very different things."

"Fair enough."

The elevator jolted to a stop, but before the doors could open, Bella reached over and pressed the emergency stop button.

"He's gonna get upset that we're late."

"I don't care." She stepped closer to him. "Tell me why you've never had sex with anyone else."

Edward inhaled a deep breath. "Because I don't believe in casual sex or random hookups." Lifting his hand, he pushed her hair out of her face. "Swan, I —"

Bella, though, took a step backward, letting his hand fall to his side before she reached over and pressed the button. The doors opened, and she hurried out, knowing he would be right behind her. Charlie and the rest of their team were leaning against the sides of their desks, the silence around them almost stifling.

"Dwyer's next target is a woman named Jessica Abigail Stanley. I had her picked up by local PD half an hour ago. Newton and Brandon from the Fargo bureau should be taking custody in the next ten minutes. They'll take her to headquarters. Masen and I will intercept her there and bring her back here."

Charlie's eyes shifted from her to Edward and back. "Masen can stay here. I'll go with you."

"No, he goes with me, or I can just leave again."

"Bee."

"I am working with Masen and only Masen!" she snarled. "Do you understand? He is the only one I want close to me. I can't . . . I can't be near any of you right now."

"Fine, fine, okay." Charlie looked at Masen. "You stick to her like fucking glue, Masen. She leaves your sight for a second, and I will drown you in fucking paperwork."

"I don't need a babysitter," she gritted out.

"You want him to go with you? Well, this is how I let him. Sorry, Bee, but I don't trust you not to bail again, and seeing as it took me almost four months to find you last time, I'm not taking any chances. Especially now that we know he's known where you were every minute of the last year."

Sighing and rolling her eyes simultaneously, she waved a hand in defeat. Besides, he wasn't wrong. She'd already contemplated running at least a dozen times, which was why she insisted Edward be the one to go back with her. She would never be able to leave him behind.

Bella turned to Edward and held her wrists out to him. "Cuff me."

"What? Why?"

"Just fucking cuff me, Masen."

"But why?" he asked, his brow furrowing as he looked from her to Charlie, who nodded to the rest of the team, each of whom confirmed he should, in fact, bind her wrists with handcuffs. "Why?"

Bella closed her eyes for a moment before saying, "Because I'm scared to fly."

His mouth opened, and his eyes widened. "You're afraid to fly."

"Yes, okay? Yes, I am afraid to fly. I had a bad experience as a teenager, and now I am afraid to fly. But seeing as we can't waste twenty-four hours driving back to North Dakota, I'm going to need you to restrain me and literally drag me onto the fucking plane. So, yeah, cuff me."

Edward looked around at everyone once again before he shrugged his shoulders, dragged his handcuffs from his back pocket, and, one by one, placed them on her wrists.

As she and Edward headed back to the elevator, she looked over her shoulder, her eyes meeting her father's. Opening her mouth once, twice, and then a third time, she simply shook her head before stepping inside, hoping like hell they'd find a way to get ahead of Phillip Dwyer sooner rather than later.

Thank you for all the AMAZING reviews. Thank you to Sunflower Fran for being an amazing and patient Beta. I wish I could promise that I will have regular updates, but I can't. I am still struggling with a lot of and working an extra number of hours. Just please know that I have never not finished a story, and I don't intend on starting now.