Chapter 8

I didn’t sleep at all after finding James’s home movie. Somehow Victoria was getting into the Chief’s house. I couldn’t shake the nagging suspicion that Drew was the key to everything. Something she said about her sister didn’t seem right. I thought back to our conversations with Tommy about Drew. That’s when it hit me. Tommy said that Drew’s sister lived in Seattle when we talked before Christmas. Drew told us yesterday that her sister was going to school in Italy. I decided to have Carlisle’s private investigator check it out.

I slipped out of bed when I heard Charlie’s alarm. I needed to talk with him about the DVD Bella and I had found last night. I was sure he wouldn’t be happy to hear about it. I made it to the kitchen before Charlie and started a pot of coffee. Charlie was surprised to see me sitting at the table.

“Edward, what has you up so early?”

“I couldn’t sleep. Bella and I found something that upset both of us last night,” I said, sighing and running my hand through my hair. I slowly stood up and motioned for Charlie to follow me into the living room.

“We decided to watch a movie last night, so we popped The Princess Bride into the DVD player. The DVD in the box was a home movie of Bella when she was eleven or twelve taken by James. Bella had never seen it before. We have no idea how it got here.” I started the DVD and Charlie tensed.

Charlie sighed. “James was one sick bastard. I’m going to send a few guys over to dust for prints. I’m not sure if we’ll find much. I need all of you to let them get your prints for comparison. Hopefully we will come up with some prints to help us know what’s going on.”

Charlie told me to not to touch the movie or the case until his officers could get to it. He didn’t want me to compromise any prints that might be left on it. As soon as Charlie left, I called Detective Aro and filled him in on the gift from Victoria and the movie we found. He said that he would contact Charlie and talk with him about what they found.

Tommy and Bella came downstairs about an hour after Charlie left. Bella wrapped her arms around my waist and gave me the Cullen pout. I couldn’t believe the evil pixie taught her that.

“Edward, I don’t like waking up alone.”

“I’m sorry, love. I wanted to talk to Charlie alone before he left. He’s sending a few officers over this morning to dust for prints.”

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. Charlie sent Mark and Doug to collect the prints. Since Drew has been in the house, she had to submit her prints. She showed up an hour after the officers had arrived. She was reluctant to give her prints. Bella and I exchanged a few knowing glances as she argued. She finally gave in and let Mark do his job.

Mark and Doug finally finished an hour after Drew’s fit. We were all surprised when someone knocked shortly after they left. Bella answered the door and squealed.

“Oh my God! What are you guys doing here?”

I hurried to the door to see who had surprised Bella. I was shocked to see Alice, Jasper, Rose, and Emmett on the porch. Bella motioned everyone into the house and introduced Drew to everyone. Drew looked nervous to meet them.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you guys, but why are you here?” I asked my family.

“We decided to spend New Year’s Eve in Seattle and figured we could stop by on our way and surprise you guys.” Alice was bouncing more than usual. Did Jasper let her have caffeine this morning?

Emmett walked up to Bella and put his arm around her shoulders. He had a smug look on his face.

“Hey, Bells. What’s the difference between like, love, and marriage?”

“I think I’m afraid to ask,” Bella groaned.

“Spit, swallow, and gargle!” Emmett roared.

Bella shot me the dirtiest look I’ve ever seen.

“Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, you told him?!”

“I would never tell Emmett anything we do behind closed doors.” I quickly pulled her into my arms and stroked her hair.

“Don’t blame Eddie. I overheard you asking Alice and Rose for advice,” Emmett said proudly. “So, Bells, do you like or love Eddie boy?”

Bella’s face turned bright red. Rose smacked the back of Emmett’s head. “Damn, Rosie. That hurt.”

“Stop teasing Bella. If you don’t, you will become very good friends with your hand for a few weeks.”

“Sorry, Bella.” Emmett gave Bella a bone-crushing hug.

“Em…can’t breathe,” Bella gasped. Emmett let her go. “You’re forgiven.”

We all decided to join my family in Seattle for New Year’s Eve. Alice had hoped we would and already had a room booked for Bella and me and one for Tommy and Drew.

My family left for Seattle shortly after lunch. Bella and I went upstairs to get ready for dinner with Tommy and Drew. I used the time Bella was in the shower to call Tyler Crowley, Carlisle’s private investigator.

“Thank you for calling Crowley Investigations. How may I help you?”

“Hi, Cindy, it’s Edward Cullen. Is Tyler in today?”

“Hi, Mr. Cullen. Yes Tyler’s in. I’ll transfer you.”

“Thanks so much, Cindy.” The line went silent while I waited for Tyler to answer.

“Edward, it’s so nice to hear from you. What can I help you with today?”

“I need some information on a few people. First I have James Hunter. His great grandfather was John D. Rockefeller. He might be a member of Mensa. I need all the information you can find on him. He was killed in a situation with the Portland Police at Reed College on December 5. I really need you to concentrate on a woman in his life named Victoria. I have no other information on the woman. She seemed to play an important part in his life, so I hope it won’t be too hard to find information on her. Once you find out who she is, I need to know everything about her.” I took a much needed deep breath.

“I should have no problem getting you information on James. Finding this Victoria might be a bit of a challenge. You know me, I love a good challenge,” Tyler chuckled.

“Yes, I know. I’m not done yet. I also need anything you can find on Drew Sinclair. I know she was born April 24, 1990, in San Diego. Her parents are Tom and Judy Sinclair, and she has a 22-year-old sister named Carrie. She says her sister is attending school at the University of Florence in Italy. I’m not too sure about that. A few weeks ago her boyfriend said that her sister lived in Seattle. Something doesn’t quite fit. The Forks Police Department did a background check and confirmed what I have already told you. They took a sample of her fingerprints today. Do you think that would help you?”

“Edward, it sounds like the Forks Police didn’t do a thorough background check. More than likely they only ran a criminal background and credit check. That won’t tell them anything significant. You gave me a lot of information to work with. I have a feeling I will be able to help you more with her. I’ll see what I can do to get a copy of Drew’s fingerprints. I can get my buddy at the Portland Crime Lab to run them through every service and see what we come up with,” Tyler said confidently.

“Thanks so much. You can reach me on my cell anytime.”

“I’m on it.” Tyler hung up the phone.

I let out a huge sigh of relief when I got off the phone. Tyler was one of the best private investigators in the Pacific Northwest. He would help me get the answers I needed concerning Drew. Tommy clearly said that Drew’s sister lived in Seattle. I couldn’t believe he didn’t say anything when Drew said she was at college in Italy. I couldn’t believe the hold she had over him. We needed to get this situation with Drew worked out before he got in too deep.

We had dinner at Al’s Diner in Forks. The place was packed. It seemed like every teenager in Forks was hanging out there. We found an empty booth in the back corner. Bella cringed into my side as we maneuvered our way through the crowded restaurant to our table. She obviously knew most of these people from school. I could only assume most of them had not treated her too kindly.

I let Bella slide in first. I was doing my best to make her feel safe and secure. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her close to me once we got settled. She melted into my side and instantly relaxed. We remained quiet until the waitress took our order and left us with our drinks.

“That was quite a morning. I never thought I’d be so happy to see Mark and Doug leave.” Tommy winked at Drew and took a sip of his Coke.

“Yeah. They made me uncomfortable,” Drew whispered. She continued to confuse me. Yesterday she was very outgoing and happy. Today she was extremely quiet and reserved. I wasn’t sure how much of the personality rollercoaster I could handle.

“They’re harmless. Intimidation is part of their job. If they were pushovers, Bill and Harvey would get away with a lot more than they do,” Tommy chuckled.

Not even a minute after Tommy mentioned Bill and Harvey they appeared at our table.

“What’s up, butt munch?” Harvey asked Tommy.

“Not much, dork wad,” Tommy replied and smacked Harvey on the back of his head.

“Hey, man. Don’t damage the goods. So, Bella, I see you’re still breaking my heart with this guy.” Harvey pointed his thumb towards me. Bella blushed and nodded her head.

“Hello, Edward.” I turned my head to see Amy sauntering toward me. I cringed. “Looks like you’re still slumming with the Swans. When are you going to realize you’re better than them and make your way to me?” She was trying to sound sultry but sounded more like a cat caught in a motor.

“Actually, Amy, I’d be slumming if I ditched the Swans to find you. They are a better class of people than you.” I grabbed Bella’s left hand and placed a gentle kiss on my mother’s ring. Amy gasped. “Amy, I would appreciate it if you would quit talking shit about my fiancé.” Amy huffed and stomped back to her friends.

Bella let out the breath she had been holding. I placed a chaste kiss on her cheek. “Thank you for standing up for me,” Bella whispered.

“No thanks necessary, beautiful. It’s all part of the job description of fiancée.” I gave her my crooked grin and she looked dazed.

“How shall we go on, Harvey? Bella is officially off the market. I think we need to make the next trip with Tommy to visit Bella and find some college hotties.” Bill waggled his eyebrows.

“God help the female population of Reed College,” Tommy joked.

The guys finally left when our food arrived. We spent the rest of dinner making small talk with Drew and Tommy. Drew remained fairly quiet and reserved the rest of the evening. It wasn’t like our first dinner where you could see the hate radiating off her. Drew seemed scared. Why would she be scared? We didn’t get any new information out of her. She was sticking to her story about her sister being in Italy. She even threw in a few details about the campus and her classes.

After an hour we finally decided to head home. Tommy and Drew decided to drive to Seattle with us in the morning. They were both excited to be spending New Year’s in Seattle. Tommy drove Drew home, and Bella and I headed back to Charlie’s house. Charlie was still up when we walked in.

“Hey, kids. How was dinner?” Charlie asked from his recliner.

“It was fine. We saw a few people from school and talked a little. Nothing major happened.”

“Mark said that Drew gave him a problem when he tried to get her fingerprints. What was up with that?”

“Not really sure. She finally gave up and let him do his job. We tried to tell her it was only to eliminate her prints from the ones the collected from the house. That seemed to calm her down a little. She was acting weird throughout dinner. She was very reserved and quiet. She seemed nervous.” Bella squeezed my hand as I spoke.

“Yeah, Mark didn’t get a very good feeling about her. He asked me all kinds of questions about her. He wants to actually run her prints through every database at our disposal. I told him to let me sleep on it and I’d let him know tomorrow.”

“Charlie, I hired a private investigator to look into James, Victoria, and Drew. If you run her prints and find anything could you please let me know? Any additional information I can give him will help him figure out who she is faster.”

Charlie looked impressed. “Edward, I’m glad you did that. This whole Victoria mess makes me a little on edge. The sooner we can find her, the better. I’ll definitely let you know if we run her prints.”

Bella and I visited with Charlie for another hour before we decided to go upstairs. We were both exhausted from the events of the day, and we still had a long drive ahead of us in the morning. I planned on using the time in the car to try and catch Drew in a lie about her family. If we were relentless, she would eventually crack. Bella and Tommy’s safety were at stake and I refused to give up.

The exhaustion of the day helped me fall asleep quickly. Unfortunately, I wasn’t tired enough to sleep without dreaming. I couldn’t shake the nightmare of Drew killing Bella and Tommy. At least this time I woke up before Drew could hurt Bella.

I groaned when I looked at the clock. I had only been asleep for a few hours. The moonlight was bright and illuminated the entire room in a soft light. I decided there was enough light to read, so I grabbed Bella’s journal. Bella curled closer to me when I shifted to a comfortable reading position. I gently stroked her hair as I started reading.

Bella spoke highly of Dr. Averett throughout her summer entries. She had a soothing voice and personality that put Bella at ease. This allowed Bella to open up and talk to her like an old friend. She worked all summer helping her to feel comfortable around new people and to actually talk to them. Dr. Averett taught her how to control her panic attacks.

Bella had a few panic attacks that first week back at school. I couldn’t help but smile when I read how proud Bella was of herself for stopping her panic attacks. Her entry the Sunday before the second week of school talked about her excitement about going back to classes. She had rediscovered her joy for learning.

Monday’s entry was completely different from the week before. I could barely read her handwriting. She was extremely upset. Amy had finally decided it was time to step up and attack Bella. She approached Bella during lunch. Amy had spent the summer researching what happened to Bella in Phoenix. A reporter for the Arizona Republic was able to access the complete file from the Phoenix Police Department and wrote a detailed series of articles about Renee’s murder. Amy read every article and found many ways to torture Bella. She called her a coward for running while her mother was being strangled and called her a whore because James loved her. Amy started rumors that Bella and James were in a sexual relationship and they conspired together to kill Renee. She took every opportunity to call Bella “Sugar.” Dr. Averett helped Bella realize that Amy was just doing her best to get a negative reaction out of her.

I put Bella’s journal down and held her tighter. I wanted to beat the shit out of Amy after reading Bella’s journal. She should be thankful I hadn’t read this before she approached us at the diner. I would have gone against everything I was raised to believe and actually punched a girl in the mouth. How could anyone be so cruel to someone who was obviously completely broken?

Bella started to stir. I noticed it was now three in the morning. We were supposed to get up in a few hours to head into Seattle. I closed my eyes and slowly drifted into a restless sleep.

Bella and I quickly dressed and packed our bags when the alarm went off. She looked so well rested. I was so happy that her nightmares had calmed down. Drew was already at the house when we headed downstairs to load the car. We quickly ate breakfast and were on the road by seven.

We had been driving on the 101 for thirty minutes when I heard a dramatic sigh coming from the back seat. I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Drew cuddle into Tommy’s side. He looked at her with adoring eyes. We needed to figure her out fast. Tommy was falling for her hard. I turned the radio down and started a conversation with Drew.

“So, Drew, what are your parents doing in London?”

I saw a brief look of panic flash in her eyes. It only lasted a few seconds. “They are buyers for some antique stores in Seattle. They are in London attending estate sales and shopping in local antique shops. They usually spend three or four months when they take one of these trips.”

“What shops do they buy for?” Again, I saw the panic.

“There are quite a few. I can’t remember the names.”

“Let me know if you think of them. I’m sure my mother would love to visit them. She’s always looking for great antiques to redecorate with.”

“Sure,” she croaked.

Drew obviously wasn’t prepared to have to give specific shop names. I’m sure most people would’ve been happy with her answer but not me. I was determined to make her crack.

“When did your sister move to Seattle?” I asked, looking at her in the mirror again.

She swallowed loudly. “Um, she moved into her apartment in August.” Drew started to sweat. She was starting to crack.

“Why does she keep an apartment in Seattle if she goes to school in Italy full time?” I smirked at her.

Her eyes were big as saucers. “Um, uh, she likes to have her own place to crash when she comes home for a visit.”

“Huh. I know if I spent the majority of my time overseas, then I would prefer to stay at home with my family when I was able to come home for a visit.” Bella reached over and gently squeezed my hand.

“Well, Carrie doesn’t get along with our parents. They do fine for short amounts of time. It’s just easier on all of us if she doesn’t stay with us overnight.” Drew rubbed her temples with her fingers.

“Baby, I’m getting a headache. I think I’m gonna try and take a nap. Hopefully that’ll help.”

“No problem, sweetie. I’ll wake you when we get to the hotel.” Tommy placed a gentle kiss on Drew’s forehead.

We spent the next hour in silence. I was surprised when Tommy started talking.

“Edward, what the hell was up with all those shitty questions you were throwing at Drew?”

“Sorry, man, but a lot of things weren’t adding up. I just wanted her to elaborate on them,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

“I hope you’re satisfied. I think she answered your questions just fine. Please don’t harass my girlfriend anymore,” Tommy demanded.

“Fine.”

The rest of the drive was stressful. Tommy kept shooting daggers at me with his eyes in the mirror. I knew I pissed him off, but it had to be done. Bella kept squeezing my hand and giving me reassuring glances. She knew what I was doing and why. She was just as worried about Tommy as I was.

I let out a sigh of relief when we finally pulled into the valet at the W Seattle. Leave it to Alice to get us rooms at one of the best hotels in Seattle. We checked in at the front desk. Our rooms wouldn’t be ready for another hour, so we decided to pass the time in the W Bar and grab a light lunch. Drew excused herself to the ladies room after we ordered our food.

Our rooms were finally ready when we were done eating. Alice had booked all of us Wow Suites. We were all located on the 25th floor. Tommy and Drew’s room was closest to the elevator. They said they would call our room once they were settled.

I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally reached our room. The drive was tiring, and the stress didn’t help the situation. I was surprised to see a dozen roses sitting on the table. I grabbed the card and slowly opened it. I felt the blood drain from my face as I read the card.

Happy New Year’s to my least favorite couple.
I’ll be watching you tonight.
Enjoy what little time you can.
~Victoria

How the hell did she know what room we were in? Drew had to be the answer. She was the only one who made sense. I had no clue who Drew was, but she was seriously starting to piss me off.

Bella wrapped her arms around my waist and sobbed uncontrollably into my chest. I held her tightly and cursed internally. Crowley needed to get me answers fast. I was tired of Victoria or Drew or whoever the hell she was ruining my happiness. I was mad, and only one thought kept going through my mind. Drew and/or Victoria was going down. Game on.