Chapter 14

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t little miss bitch.”

What the hell was Victoria doing with Tommy’s phone?

Chapter 14

Bella dropped the plate she was drying when she heard Victoria. “W-what are you doing with T-tommy’s phone?”

Victoria laughed. “I think you should be more concerned with what I’m doing with Tommy.”

“You better not hurt him,” Bella yelled while Victoria continued to laugh.

“Don’t worry. I haven’t hurt him…yet. If you don’t do exactly as I tell you, then I can’t guarantee that he, Bayleigh, or your father won’t be hurt.”

Bella started shaking. I pulled her close to me to try and settle her. I couldn’t believe I didn’t think to call Charlie and tell him about my run-in with Victoria. She had only mentioned my family. I hadn’t even thought about her going to Forks.

I decided to get this call finished so we could work on getting to Bella’s family. “What do you want, Victoria?”

“I want both of you two pay for what you did to my James. I think I will start with Tommy. Charlie will be next. I’m saving sweet Bayleigh for last. I want to take my time with her. She betrayed me and will pay dearly for that.” Victoria hung up the phone.

Bella dropped to her knees sobbing. I gathered her in my arms and led her to the couch. We sat down, and I slowly rocked her to calm her.

“Bella, we don’t know that Victoria has your family. She never said she did. She only said she wanted to make us pay. Let’s try to call Charlie and Bayleigh. Maybe Victoria only has his phone.”

Bella pulled her knees to her chest and curled into a ball while I grabbed her phone. I hit the number 3 speed dial and held my breath waiting for Charlie to answer.

“Hello?” Charlie said, groggily.

“Hey, Charlie. Sorry to call so late. Is Tommy okay?”

“He was in his room when I went to bed. What’s going on, Edward?”

“We just tried to call Tommy, and Victoria answered his phone.” Bella started sobbing again.

I heard Charlie get up and open his door. “I’m heading to his room now.” I heard a soft knock. There was no response. I heard the door open but nothing else. “Charlie, what’s going on?”

“Tommy’s not in his room. I’ve gotta call the station. You call Bayleigh and see if she knows what’s going on.”

I agreed and quickly ended the call with Charlie. Bella was still curled in a ball with tears streaming down her face. She wasn’t moving or making any noises. She was just staring off into space. She was in no condition to do anything, so I quickly dialed Bayleigh’s number. Her phone went straight to voicemail. That couldn’t be good. I called Charlie back.

“What did Bayleigh say?”

“It went straight to voicemail. This isn’t good, Charlie. I know Victoria has them. What do we do?”

“I called the station and put out an APB for all three of them. Deputy Mark is gathering all of our officers to go out there looking for them. I don’t think you have anything to worry about there in Portland, but I think we need to play it safe. Is there anywhere your family can go that she can’t find them?”

I quickly recapped my talk with Victoria for Charlie. He agreed that my parents’ house was the best place for my family to be. I ended the call telling Charlie I would call him the minute everyone was safe and secure at my parents’ house.

Bella still hadn’t moved. I didn’t even think she had blinked. Her catatonic state was frightening. I left her there and walked across the hall and told Em, Rose, Alice, and Jasper what happened and to go to Mom and Dad’s house as fast as they could and make sure they weren’t followed.

“Edward, what about you and Bella? You guys need to go with us,” Rose demanded.

“Sorry, Rose. We’re probably making a trip to Forks tonight. We need to help Charlie find Tommy and Bayleigh.”

Alice threw her arms around my waist and squeezed. She had remarkable strength for such a small person. “Please be careful. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you or Bella.”

“Don’t worry, short stuff, we’ll be careful.” I kissed the top of her head, and she ran into her apartment to pack her things.

Emmett clapped me on my back. “Dude, I’ll go with you. I’d love nothing more than to take that bitch down. She’s caused too many problems with our Bellaboo. We need to settle this so we can all live a normal life again.”

“Yeah, man. I think we need to stick together. Let’s get the women to Mom and Dad’s and then we’ll head down to Forks and finish this,” Jasper said.

“I can’t ask you guys to do that. I don’t know how this is going to end. Victoria played a part in the death of the Sinclairs, and I refuse to let you guys get hurt by her.”

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice in the matter. There is no way in hell you are going in there alone. You ran after Bella alone, and I refuse to let that happen again.” Emmett folded his arms across his chest.

“Like it or not, we’re going. Now, can we stop this arguing and get going? The more time we waste the harder it’ll be to find Victoria,” Jasper said.

Alice and Rose agreed that Jasper and Emmett should help us look for Victoria. Greater numbers meant a better chance at success in their eyes. The girls hugged and kissed the guys goodbye and left for home. Emmett called Mom and Dad and filled them in on everything that was happening. Mom freaked out, but Dad understood. They wished us luck and made us promise to be careful and listen to Charlie. They wanted everyone to return home safely.

Bella was still huddled on the couch. I didn’t know what to do.

“Ed, is she going to be okay? She’s starting to scare me.” Emmett knelt on the ground next to Bella and gently patted her hand.

“I honestly don’t know, Em. She’s been like that since the phone call with Victoria. Maybe we should stop Rose and Alice and send her to Mom and Dad’s with them.”

“That sounds like a good idea. She won’t be any help to us in this state.” Bella still hadn’t responded. I agreed with Jasper and stopped the girls before they pulled out of the parking lot. Bella held her knees tight and stayed in a ball when I picked her up. I was glad she was going to be with my dad. He would be able to keep an eye on her and help her medically if she needed it. I placed a gentle kiss on her head and told Bella I loved her once I sat her down in the back seat of Rose’s car. She didn’t respond. I closed the door and fought back the tears as the car disappeared down the street.

Emmett had called Dad and filled him in on Bella’s condition. He agreed that she needed to be under close observation. He thought she was going in shock from the stress of the situation. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about her getting hurt when we ran into Victoria.

I pushed my car to go as fast as possible all the way to Forks. We made it to Charlie’s house in three hours. Emmett called Detective Aro while I was driving. Aro said he would meet us at Charlie’s house. He knew Forks was out of his jurisdiction, but he felt he needed to be there to help us find Tommy and Bayleigh. If Victoria was as diabolical as we thought, then we would need all the help we could get.

Charlie was on the phone when we walked into the house. A few deputies were sweeping the house for any evidence of Victoria’s entrance and exit. We settled into the living room and waited for Charlie to finish his call.

Detective Aro showed up twenty minutes after us. Charlie filled us in on everything that he knew. Of course it wasn’t much. There was no sign of forced entry or a struggle. Tommy was nowhere in the house. His car was still in the driveway. Bayleigh’s apartment was spotless as well. All of Forks PD was out searching the city. The only place they weren’t canvassing was the forest surrounding the house.

We were at a loss. With no clue where to go, we decided to split up and search the woods. Emmett was with Deputy Mark and headed east. Jasper and Detective Aro went west. Charlie and I headed north. Each officer had his gun drawn when they headed off in their separate directions.

“Edward, however this turns out, I need you to make me a promise,” Charlie said, shakily.

“Anything,” I vowed.

“You have to make it back to Bella. Go back to her and life a long happy life with her. She needs you. If she lost you, I don’t think she could handle it.” Charlie whispered the last part.

“I will make it back to Bella. I refuse to let Victoria win.” There was a determination in me that wasn’t there before. I refused to let Victoria ruin our lives.

We walked in silence for about thirty minutes before we came to a cabin. It was completely dark.

“Did you know this was here?” I asked Charlie.

“No. I’ve never explored the woods before. It looks deserted.”

We carefully walked around the perimeter. There was no evidence that anyone had been here for years. The grass was overgrown, and a thick layer of dust coated all of the windows. We couldn’t see in the windows through the filth. We would have to enter the cabin to see anything.

“Should we go inside?” I asked.

“Let’s look around out here a little more first. I want to make sure the area around us is secure before we step foot in there.”

Everything was clear outside the cabin. We walked about thirty yards away from the house and made a complete sweep around the area. There were no signs of any danger. Charlie felt safe enough to check out the cabin, so we headed back to the front door.

“Edward, stay behind me. I don’t know what we’re walking into. There could be wild animals hiding in that cabin. I may have to use my gun and would hate for you to get in the way.”

“No problem, Charlie.”

The door to the cabin was unlocked. Charlie cautiously opened the door and peeked inside. He slowly moved inside the door and did another quick look around the room. We walked into a large room that was sparsely furnished. To our left there was a fireplace, an old brown sofa, a coffee table, and a rocking chair. To our right was a small kitchen. Directly in front of us was a closed door. It looked like no one had been in this place for years. The dust was at least an inch thick on every surface. There was no way Victoria had been here.

Charlie took a deep breath. “This seemed like the perfect place to find her,” he said, defeated.

“Don’t worry, Charlie. We’ll find them. Do you think there are anymore cabins like this around the area?”

“I honestly don’t know. I never knew this one was here. Let’s go a bit further north and see if we can find another.”

We started walking north again. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach the further we walked away from the cabin. That cabin was important, and I couldn’t quite figure out why.

We walked for about an hour with no luck. We decided to turn around and meet up with everyone else. That bad feeling I was having got better the closer we got to the abandoned cabin. That place was important, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

“Charlie, can we stop in at the cabin before we leave to meet the others? I have a feeling we’re missing something there.”

“Sure, Edward. We’ll take another look around.”

Charlie looked a little closer around the outside of the cabin. “It looks like something has been around this area. The path is barely worn, so I missed it before.” We were checking out an area around the back of the cabin. We walked up to the cabin and were surprised to find a door. From a distance you couldn’t see it, especially in the dark.

The door was unlocked just like the front door. Charlie slowly opened the door, and we walked inside. It was a bedroom. Every surface was covered with the same thick layer of dust as the rest of the cabin. There was a path of floor where the dust was disturbed on the floor. It looked like something had been dragged through it. It went from the door we entered in to a door on the other side of the room.

Charlie and I carefully and quietly inched our way across the room. I just knew Tommy and Bayleigh were here. Charlie slowly opened the door to reveal a set of stairs leading down into complete darkness.

“It looks like a cellar,” Charlie whispered.

“I’m positive we’ll find Tommy and Bayleigh down there.”

“I think you’re right. Take it slow and watch out for Victoria. This would be a perfect place for her to attack.” I nodded my head in agreement.

We took each step one at a time, taking care not to make a sound. I closed the door behind me once we were fully in the stairway. I didn’t want to take the chance of Victoria sneaking up on us.

We finally made it to the bottom of the stairs. It was pitch black except for the small light coming from Charlie’s key chain flashlight. It wasn’t enough to light the room, but it lit up the floor directly in front of us. Charlie was fumbling along the wall looking for a light switch with no luck.

“We’ve got to find a light. We’ll never find anything with this little flashlight,” I whispered.

“You stay here. I’m going to walk out into the room and see if there is a pull string to turn on a light.” I agreed and inched my way back to the stairs to wait for Charlie.

He slowly inched his way out of my sight. I was nervous to have him out of my sight. My mind was reeling at the possibilities of what we would see when Charlie found the lights. I just prayed that Victoria hadn’t hurt Tommy or Bayleigh.

A good five minutes had passed, and Charlie still hadn’t found the light. I couldn’t even hear him moving around. I jumped a little when I heard a muffled thud.

“Charlie, are you alright? Did you run into something?”

He didn’t answer. “Charlie, please talk to me. What is going on?”

“Charlie can’t answer you right now,” Victoria whispered in my ear.

I felt a sharp blow to my head, and then the world slipped away from me.