Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Intensity

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 13:

Leah’s POV

It was Thursday evening and I was hosting a Pampered Chef party. I had close to thirty women in my house. I invited everyone from La Push and Forks I knew including Angela and Linda. Angela had just shown up driving her freaking silver Volvo, wearing four-inch heels, and carrying a Louis Vuitton bag as if it would impress anyone around here.

I started off by offering samples, which were prepared using some of the cookware. “This is a calzone that I made using the pizza stone,” I told the ladies. “It’s such a simple recipe. All I did was take some refrigerated pizza dough, rolled it out; stuffed one side with pizza sauce, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese; folded the other side over; sealed it shut, put it in the oven for twenty minutes on the pizza stone and voila!”

“Oh, Leah, this is delicious!” Mrs. Newton-the younger one, as in Lauren Mallory Newton, exclaimed, “And so simple too.”

“It is, isn’t it? My kids love this. You can also do a simple ham and cheese one or stuff it with any ingredients you like.”

“How much is the pizza stone?”

“They start at thirty-six dollars and come in many sizes. I always keep one in my oven. I find that it helps to distribute heat evenly whenever I’m using it.”

And just like that, I had over fifteen orders for pizza stones, and the night was just beginning.

I made sure I kept an eye on Angela and Linda. I noticed Angela was bragging to everyone about some new designer coat she had purchased while Linda did her best to avoid her. Now, having Angela here was a plus on the business side of things. She liked to show off the fact that she was supposedly fabulously wealthy so she was buying products left and right. We all knew she didn’t cook anything that required more than heating up. She was the queen of take out and frozen meals.

As soon as the party was over, Angela left, stating she had to get home to the kids. Some of the women helped me clean up after the party, including Linda. I took the opportunity to talk to her.

“How are you, Linda?” I asked.

“Oh, okay. I’m just a little tired. It’s been a long week.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah. I just haven’t had a break at all. Usually Collin helps with the kids but he’s been staying at his parents’ house.”

“Why? Are you guys on the outs?”

“Kind of.”

“Hey, you look like you can use a friend. Why don’t you stick around after everyone leaves? We can have a glass of wine and chat; have a little girl time.”

She looked surprised that I even offered. She thought for a minute before she replied, “I’d like that. It would be nice to have a friend.”

Twenty minutes later, everyone had left for their homes. Eric was with Dad and the kids, hanging out at Seth’s house. Mom and Kyla were heading over there now to tell them not to come home for another hour or two.

I poured some wine for Linda and handed the glass to her. “So where are your kids?” I asked.

“Oh, they’re at my mom’s house. She offered to watch them so I could go to the party.”

“It helps having parents nearby, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does. I don’t know how everyone is doing it in Arizona.”

“They’re managing. Between all of them, they trade off and sometimes they even saddle Bella and Jess with the kids.”

“But they don’t have kids.”

“Yes, but they’re pack and they understand that sometimes couples need a break.”

“Is Bella very nice? I know Angela doesn’t have any nice things to say about her, but everyone else seems to only have only good things to say about her.”

“Bella is very kind-hearted, Linda. I think you’d like her. She also has Paul completely tamed. Do you know he helps with the dishes after dinner and goes out and grills steaks.”

“He cooks?”

“Now he does. Bella does most of the cooking, but apparently the grill is his territory. He always helps with the dishes and housework though. He makes the coffee in the morning, too.”

“Wow, I don’t know Paul very well, but he seems like a decent fellow.”

“He is a good guy and he’s perfect for Bella too. Now why don’t you tell me why Collin and you are on the outs?”

“You won’t judge me, will you? Because I’m going to be mean to the alpha.”

“Linda, have I ever respected Jacob?”

“Good point.”

“And you can swear as much as you want. You don’t have to be polite in front of me.” I filled her wine glass up to the top to loosen her up a bit. She guzzled the whole thing down. I gave her some more, and she finished it one go again. Gee whiz! I’m going to have to have to drive her home!

“Phew, that’s a relief. I hate putting on airs.”

“Then, why do you?”

“Alpha’s imprint’s orders.”

“I hate to tell you this, but there’s no such thing as an alpha’s imprint’s order. If there was, the other imprints would have been walking around as mini clones of Angela.”

“I didn’t know. Angela told me she made all of the rules for the imprints because she’s the alpha’s imprint and that’s how it’s always been since Taha Aki’s time. She said Jacob would come down hard on Collin if I didn’t do whatever she told me to do.”

“Well, the bitch lied,” I growled. I swear if I weren’t a wolf, I would beat the hell out of Angela. Thank goodness Bella hit her at the gathering last week.

“I’m glad that I know. Here’s my problem, Collin has absolutely no backbone whatsoever. He follows Jake around like a desperate puppy, and the two of them plus Angela think Tony Fuller is the savior of La Push or something. I’m not blind, Leah. Some heavy shit is going down on the reservation. Why else would we have a mass exodus of the pack? Think about it? The only pack members who live in La Push are Jake, Angela, Collin, and me. Even Seth and you live in Forks, and I don’t blame the rest of the pack for moving to Arizona. They were suffering. They were so poor. I saw Brady, Sam, and Jared at the food pantry every week. I volunteer there. I always tried to put in extra food for them because I knew they were wolves and ate more.”

“That was nice of you, I’m sure they appreciated it.”

“Yes, but the fact that they had to go to the food pantry at all bothered me. They weren’t the only ones there. Kids I went to school with were there too. All of them were there because the economy in La Push is so bad. Anyway, my huge problem is the fact that Tony and Old Quil were trying to force the pack to stay in La Push even with all of the economic problems. I felt so bad for Brady a year and a half ago when he couldn’t leave La Push due to Jacob giving him an alpha order to stay. Missy and he could have gotten themselves out of their slump had he taken that job in Tacoma.”

“Yeah, they should have been allowed to leave.” I poured more wine for Linda.

“I’m also sick of having to do everything with Jacob and Angela. Do you realize that Collin and I have never been on a vacation alone? It’s always with Jake and Angela. If we have dinner out, it’s always with Jake and Angela. For God’s sake, I’ve spent every wedding anniversary with Collin, Jake, and Angela. It’s almost as if Collin can’t function without Jake and Angela. It’s the main reason why I threw the spineless fucker out of our house.”

“I don’t blame you one bit. Every couple needs time to themselves.” She was beginning to trust me so I decided to take the opportunity to bring up Tony Fuller. “Linda, I’m not so sure if it’s just me, but… um… geez… I feel funny asking you this, but have you noticed something odd about Tony Fuller?”

She stopped to contemplate what I had just asked her, and then abruptly burst, “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! I’m so happy you brought that up, but before I go on, do you have anything harder than wine? This stuff is for wimps!”

Okay… So, she’s an alcoholic in the making. I really shouldn’t be enabling her with all of this liquor, but I need information. “Sure. Do you like tequila? Whisky? Vodka?”

“I’ll take tequila.”

I shrugged my shoulders, walked to the liquor cabinet, and grabbed the bottle of Patron I’d been saving for a special occasion. I grabbed a glass from the kitchen. “Would you like ice?” I asked.

“No, give it to me straight.”

I brought both to the table, cracked open the bottle, and poured her a generous shot. She downed it and then poured a full glass for herself. “Aren’t you having some?” she asked.

“I can’t. I’m nursing Izzy still.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. I’ll just have to party enough for the both of us!” she chortled jovially.

I wanted to drop my jaw in shock, but I smiled instead. “So, you were going to talk about Tony Fuller.”

“Yes! I thought it was just me, but the guy is always lurking around the reservation. And he always has Jake and Collin doing stuff for him.”

“What kind of stuff?” I asked, concerned.

“He has them working on his house, running errands, etc. He has his own kids. I don’t understand why he doesn’t have them helping. Jake and Collin are so stupid that they help him out, claiming he’s like an uncle to them. Why the hell is he so busy anyway?

Why indeed? It was something I intended to find out. Meanwhile, Linda was getting smashed on her own as she chatted away about this and that. Yep, I’m definitely going to have to drive her home to La Push.

Bella’s POV

What an insane week! Jacob finally flew home on a five pm flight. I didn’t see him at all, but he kept calling my cell phone wanting to talk because he was bored. When I told him I can’t talk to him while at work, he started text messaging me. I now had a play by play of almost episode of NCIS, Burn Notice, and Glee. I don’t even have time to watch TV usually.

Our temporary living room set was delivered yesterday so our living room looked halfway decent. Paul and I also went to the appliance store and had a temporary stove and refrigerator installed to replace the broken ones in our kitchen. He said the stove and refrigerator at my house in Camelback East, which Jared and Kim were renting out, needed updating anyway so we could just swap them out once our kitchen was done. The guys were going to start working on the repairs tomorrow.

It was six pm and I had just pulled into the garage. Paul pulled in a minute after me.

“What do you say we go out to dinner tonight, baby? I don’t feel like doing dishes and I’m sure you don’t feel like cooking.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said, relieved.

We finished dinner around eight pm. Afterwards, we caught a movie, and it was around eleven pm when we finally came home. Paul was about to pull into the garage when I noticed someone sleeping on the doorstep. He stopped the car, and we both got out to find out what was going on. There was a little boy curled up and sleeping. He was wearing an Arizona Diamondbacks Jersey and cap, and using his backpack as a pillow.

“Jesus Christ. I think this is Jake’s son, Will,” Paul stated. He picked the boy up gently and brought him into the house. Meanwhile, I pulled the car into the garage. When I got back into the living room, Paul had him sleeping on the living room sofa.

“What do you suppose he’s doing here?” I asked.

“No idea, I don’t know him very well either. He was just born when I left La Push. I recognized him from the picture he gave to you.”

“Should we call Rachel?”

“Not yet. I want to hear his story first. Something obviously made him run, and I want to know what it was. Look at his face; he’s obviously been roughed up. Kids don’t usually run unless they’re scared shitless.”

“Will… Will,” I called gently. His eyes snapped open, and he shuddered in fear, then he calmed down after recognizing us.

He looked into Paul’s eyes, then mine and said, “Wow, you’re even more like an angel in person.”

I chuckled. “Hello, Will. I’m Bella. What brings you to Phoenix?”

“Please don’t call my parents! Please! They won’t believe me. They never believe me. I don’t want to go back.”

“Shh… We haven’t called your parents yet. What happened?”

“N… N… Nothing.”

I heard his stomach growl just then. “Are you hungry, sweetheart?” I asked.

“Yes, the last time I ate was dinner, last night.”

“Stay here with Uncle Paul, sweetie. I’ll go and cook something.”

“You don’t have to go to any trouble, I…” he clutched his stomach and moaned in pain. That wasn’t hunger pain. It was something else entirely.

Paul snapped to attention, his eyes full of concern. “Take your shirt off, Will,” he ordered gently. “I just want to see where you’re hurt.”

Warily, Will removed his jersey.

“Oh my God,” I whispered with tears in my eyes. My hand snapped to my mouth stifling a scream. I examined his injuries, his body was covered with bruises and the huge one off to the side concerned me deeply. “What happened?”

“Some high school boys tried to make me take drugs. I said no, and… I tried to run, but then they beat me up… I didn’t want Dad to see me. He’ll be so disappointed that I couldn’t defend myself.”

My husband who had a heart of gold pulled Will into his arms. “I don’t think your father would be upset with you. I think he’d be proud that you said no and tried to run. I won’t let anyone hurt you, Will.”

Will sobbed into Paul’s arms. Meanwhile, I called Randy. He was over at our house in ten minutes flat along with Mina.

“I think he may have internal injuries, Randy, but I wanted to get a second opinion,” I said. “His name is Will. He’s Jacob’s son. We found him sleeping on our doorstep.”

“Hi, Will. I’m Dr. Kayani. How are you tonight?”

“I’m fine,” he replied bravely.

“Doesn’t look like it to me. Do you mind telling me what happened?”

Will told his story to Randy. “Hmm… You were very brave. How many boys were there?”

“Three.”

“Three? That doesn’t sound like a fair fight to me. How big were the boys?”

“They were big, like Uncle Paul and you.”

“Do they go to your school?”

“Uh-huh, they’re seniors. One of them is Uncle Brady’s little brother.”

Paul’s fists were balled up at this point, and he was shaking. I rubbed circles on his back to calm him down. It wouldn’t do for him to phase in front of Will.

“Paul, pull it together,” Randy whispered to him before turning to Jacob’s boy. “Can I take a look at your injuries, Will?” I noticed Randy was barely keeping it together himself.

Will covered his body up.

“How about if I sit next to you?” I offered. Will nodded his head.

Randy checked him out, and then motioned me to the side.

“I suspect he has a slow rupturing spleen. Those boys did a number on him. We need to get him to Phoenix Children’s stat. I’ve got admitting privileges there. He’ll probably feel more comfortable if you’d scrub up and hold his hand.”

“That’s not a problem. I’ve got admitting privileges there, too. Randy, we need to get him there quickly, I think he took a bus from Washington so it’s been over twenty-four hours since the injury occurred.”

“Why don’t we ask him?” Randy went back to Will. “Do you mind telling me how you got here?”

“Well, yesterday, after school, those guys cornered me. After I was able to get up, I went home and had dinner. I told my mom I was tired and going to bed. She had to go to some kind of party at Aunty Leah’s house anyway. I woke up at two o clock in the morning, packed my backpack, took the money hidden in the freezer, and rode my bike all the way to Port Angeles. From there, I took the four thirty bus to Seattle, and then I bought a ticket for the eight o’ clock bus to Phoenix. I took a taxi from the bus stop to here.”

“Why here?” Paul asked.

“Oh, I looked up the address in Dad’s book before I left. I knew that no one would hurt me here. Uncle Charlie told me that Aunty Bella wanted to meet me.”

What a resourceful kid. I think Paul must have thought so too because he was nodding his head completely impressed.

“Oh, Uncle Charlie was right. I did want to meet you, Will,” I told him, making his eyes light up. He reminded me so much of a young Jake.

“Will, here’s the thing,” Randy said. “We need to take you to the hospital so we could take a look at your injuries under a big machine that can see inside your body. Aunty Bella is going to stay by your side the whole time. Would that be okay with you?”

He nodded his head that it would. Randy cradled Will in his arms and put him gently in his SUV. I hopped in the back with Will. Meanwhile, Paul and Mina got into his truck and followed us. I suspected Paul was placing phone calls because he had Mina drive.

Three hours later, we were out of surgery, Will was stable, and in the recovery room. Rachel ran up to hug us.

“Thank you, Bella, Randy,” she said. She was completely worried about her nephew. By now it was four am.

“I called Dad,” Paul informed me. “I thought he would be the best person to inform Jake and Angela. Charlie, Billy, Jake, and Collin are on their way here on a five am flight to Phoenix. They should be here at the hospital before nine am. Angela wanted to come, but Jake told her to stay put. They didn’t even know Will was gone because Angela had gone to pick Jake up at the airport.”

Paul then went to Randy and shook his hand, “Thanks, Randy, I owe you one.”

“No worries. Bella and I just assisted the surgeon anyway. I’m taking Mina home to get some shut-eye now. I’ll be back in the morning.”

At around nine am, there was some shuffling going on in the room. I was sleeping on a cot in the corner of the room. I had sent both Paul and Rachel home, stating that I would be the best to care for Will.

“ Bells. Bells, honey,” a man’s voice called. I recognized the voice. It was the voice of the man who brought me comfort as a teenager after Edward unceremoniously dumped me, followed by Jacob. I popped open my left eye, then my right, and looked straight at him.

“Hi, Daddy.”

“Good morning, baby girl. I heard you had quite a night.”

I stifled a yawn, rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and sat up. “Just an evening full of surprises.”

I looked around the room and I saw Jacob, Billy-fast asleep in his wheelchair, and another tall, Native American man who I assumed was Collin.

“Bella?”

“Yeah, Jake?”

“Thank you. Thank you so much. I just… I… thank you.”

“Oh, no problem. I’m just glad that Will made it to our house in one piece. He could have bled out, but somehow he managed to get to us. Fortunately, it was a slow rupturing spleen. He’s a strong, resourceful young man.”

I went to check on Will, and brushed his hair out of his eyes. He was still sleeping and would be for a few more hours. I did a quick check of his pulse and everything seemed to be going well.

“Um, I’m Collin Littlesea,” the other man extended his hand to me.

“Oh, nice to meet you. I’m Isabella Lahote.”

“Thank you for taking care of Will.”

“Oh, it was no problem. He’s a sweetheart.”

I sat down on the cot and tried to stay awake, but I drifted back to sleep again. Around eleven am, I stirred awake to the scent of fresh brewed coffee.

“Hey, baby,” Paul greeted and kissed me on the lips. “I brought you some coffee.”

“Oh, thank God!”

I took the coffee, gratefully, from him.

“I have to go back and supervise the detention at the high school. I’ll see you later in the afternoon.”

“Paul, you didn’t have to stop by. I’m an ol’ pro at this.”

“Yeah, I did. I had to see your pretty face.” He kissed me on the lips one more time and said to my father, “She’s in your hands, Charlie,” before he left.

“Any problems during the night, Bella?” Randy asked.

“No, he’s been stable. I checked on him every two hours. Have you met everyone yet?”

“Yeah, I’ve been here for the last hour. I think it’s time we woke him up.”

“You’re probably right. Why don’t you do the honors?”

“Um, no. He’s more comfortable with you, Bella. You do it.”

“Okay,” I chuckled, and walked over to Will’s bedside. I gently shook him awake.

“You stayed.”

“Of course I stayed. I promised I would, didn’t I? How are you feeling?”

“My belly hurts.”

“Oh, it’s going to hurt a bit. You’ve been very brave.”

“Hey, kiddo,” Jacob greeted his son with a smile.

Will flinched at the sight of him. “I’m sorry, Dad.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. Grandpa is here and so are Uncle Charlie and Uncle Collin. Almost everyone is here, they’re all worried about you.”

“Is Mom here?”

“No, she couldn’t be here. She wanted to come.”

Is it my imagination or did Willy just sigh with relief upon hearing Angela couldn’t be here?

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Barry walked inside dressed in his police uniform. My father stood up immediately and put his police chief mask on.

“Daddy, this is Lieutenant Barry Blackfoot, he’s a family friend,” I explained.

“Oh, nice to meet you. My name is Charlie Swan.”

“Ah, the police chief. Bella speaks highly of you. I’m actually here on official business. Since this boy is a juvenile and crossed state lines, injured, and on his own; I’m going to have to ask him a few questions if you don’t mind.”

“Just answer Lieutenant Blackfoot’s questions honestly, Willy,” my father encouraged.

“Can you stay with me, Bella?”

“Willy, everyone is going to have to leave, but Chief Swan can stay-in an official capacity,” Barry said.

Will looked terrified, but my dad pulled up a chair right next to him and took his hand, “You’ll be fine, son, I won’t leave your side.”

“Lieutenant Blackfoot is a big teddy bear, Willy. He has a son named Carson who’s around the same age as you. He plays baseball.”

“Uncle Charlie plays catch with me.”

“Well, maybe when you get a little better, you can come and play baseball with Carson,” Barry suggested.

“Really? He’s… he’s… not mean is he?” Clearly, poor Will has been bullied at school.

“No, Carson’s a good kid. He’s just about your size and he likes playing on his Playstation.”

“I like playing games, too.”

My father motioned for us to leave the room because Will was getting comfortable with Barry. He stayed in there, of course. The rest of us went to the waiting room where the entire family had congregated. Paul, Jared, Sam, Ryan, and Sammy were the exception. They were at the high school working on the high school gym.

Number Six came running up to me and gave me a big hug.

“What’s up kiddo?”

“Oh, I’m going to spend as much time with you while Ryan and Sammy are serving out detention,” he announced with a grin. “I haven’t missed one day of school yet this year!”

We all had a good chuckle. I was just about to sit down and enjoy my coffee when Randy’s and my pagers started going haywire. My cell phone started ringing and so did his.

“Damn it!” we both yelled, simultaneously.

Everyone stared at us in concern.

“It’s not Will,” I assured them.

“ All available doctors and nurses, please report to the emergency department,” the announcement on the PA system stated.

A nurse came running into the waiting room, “Dr. Kayani, Mrs. Lahote, they need your assistance in the emergency department. There was a forty-car pile up on the five, and we’re expecting a flood of injuries at the hospital.

“Come on, Bella,” Randy stated. “Kim, would you call Mina and tell her what’s going on?”

“No problem.”

I threw my house keys at Emily. “Do you mind cooking for my father?”

“Kim and I have got this. You two get on out of here.”

Randy and I rushed down towards the emergency department, and prepared for a long day in the trenches.

Charlie’s POV

By the time I finished hearing Will’s story, I was absolutely livid. Not at the boy, I was actually proud of him for sticking to his convictions, even if it meant taking a beating. I wish he had come to Billy or me instead of running, though. But in his eyes, Phoenix meant safety because his aunts and uncles were here. He felt lonely and abandoned.

I was furious at the three thugs who tried to offer him drugs, and then beat him. I was also furious at Angela and Jake, too. He had gone to them numerous times regarding Kurt Fuller and they shrugged him away stating that it was Uncle Tony’s son, and he would never do anything to harm Will. From what I’ve seen of Kurt Fuller, he was so wretched, that he even gave thugs a bad name. Kurt was very different from his older brother Brady, who truly had a good heart. It’s almost as if Brady sucked all of the goodness out of Kurt.

Will relayed that this was the fourth time this type of thing has happened and that each time he told Angela or Jake, they brushed him off. It’s as if they’re blind when it comes to Tony Fuller, and they refused to believe any of his offspring would do harm to another. I, for one, have never gotten along with Tony Fuller. He was the scum of the earth, and he emotionally abused his poor wife. He had four kids, and out of all of them, Brady was the only one who was a genuinely good kid.

The other kid involved was Travis Johnson’s kid, Terrance, and another kid named Mark from the reservation. Because the sons of the tribal chief of police and a tribal elder are involved, this case has now officially become the business of the Forks Police Department. This was considered felony assault and battery, and since there are drugs involved, I planned on doing my best to charge these kids as adults.

Unfortunately for Jake and Angela, the Department of Social Services will probably be called as well since Will crossed several state lines and is considered a runaway at this point. He obviously felt unsafe at home so they will be checking into his home life in La Push. Lieutenant Blackfoot and I were going to discuss the situation later in private. Until then, we were going to stay mum about the case. This was going to be difficult for me to do because, personally, I wanted to throttle Jake and Angela for being so god damned oblivious.

Around nine pm, an exhausted Bella was finally dropped off at home by Dr. Kayani. Paul and I were having beers and watching a game on TV.

“I don’t get paid enough for this shit!” Bella moaned. “I had trauma case after trauma case. I thought that I would only have to do triage, but they threw me in with Randy all day to assist. Apparently, he’s also licensed in emergency medicine so I was thrown smack dab in the middle of the emergency department. I mean I did my rotations there when I was in school, but this was different. Paul, we’re moving to Tahiti!”

“Did you have a long day, Bells?” I asked. “Oh and let me know when you move to Tahiti because I’m coming with ya.”

There was a knock on their door just then. “Hey, guys.” An exhausted looking Quil, carrying a duffle bag and what looked like a box from a bakery, walked inside.

“What’s up?” Paul asked.

“Can I stay here tonight?”

“Sure, why?”

“I can only take so much of Jake, but with Collin there too, my head’s about to spin off. Oh, here, Rachel picked up a chocolate cake. Don’t worry, it’s from a bakery, she didn’t bake it.”

Phew, I got kind of worried there. Rachel Black Ateara had to be a worse cook than even Billy and me.

“Why the hell did Collin come along anyway?”

“Collin is not a bad kid, he cares deeply about Will, and was concerned about him. In any case, Jake and Collin are going to have to return to Washington on a late night flight tomorrow anyway. They have their shop to run.”

“How long are you staying for, Dad?”

“Now that I’m here in an official capacity, probably a week, maybe two. It depends on how long my investigation takes. You don’t mind, do you?”

“No, not at all. But why are you here in an official capacity? Shouldn’t the La Push Tribal Police be handling this?”

“It fell under my jurisdiction as soon as I found out the names of the kids involved.”

“Let me guess,” Quil said. “Kurt Fuller, Terrance Johnson, and Mark Cedro.”

“How did you know?”

“Oh, those were the same kids who roughed up Ryan, Sammy, and Number Six last year. I had a few words with their parents, but they didn’t do shit about it. Rachel and Jessica made sure they dropped our boys off at home when school ended after that incident. Those boys need to be in juvenile hall.”

“Oh, no, what they did to Will is considered felony assault and battery. They’ll all be tried as adults if I have my way. And I will have my way. The La Push Tribal Police won’t have any say in this because Travis Johnson is the police chief and Tony Fuller is a tribal elder, it would be a conflict of interest. On top of that, Will crossed several state lines trying to get to safety. I’ll meet with Lieutenant Blackfoot on Monday to hash things out, and then I’ll have Seth prepare an arrest warrant for the three thugs. This stays between us, though. I don’t need Jake or Collin calling to warn anyone, though I doubt that even they would in this case.”

“Geez! How is it even possible for kids to become so cruel and violent?”

“I wondered the same thing myself. Do you mind if I question Number Six about what happened to him?”

“You’ve got my permission. He was always with Ryan and Sammy so he wasn’t roughed up quite as badly as Will was, but he was still shaken up.”

“Damn it, I wish you’d told me Quil. I could have gotten those boys into juvie last year.”

“Yeah, I probably should have, in hindsight.”

“I’m going to call Sam and Jared to see if I can question their boys as well.”

“I doubt it’ll be a problem at all.”

“Hey, can one of you take me to rent a car tomorrow?” I asked, changing the subject.

“I’ll do you one better, Dad,” Paul said. “I just ordered a new truck for myself. The Escalade EXT just wasn’t cutting it. With this new highway project, I’m finding myself out in the field more and more so I had to order a Chevy work truck. Why don’t you just take the Escalade home with you? We don’t need three vehicles.”

“Don’t be ridiculous Paul. Those trucks are about seventy thousand dollars.”

“So, it depreciated in value. I drove it for three and a half years.”

“Dad, just take it,” Bella insisted. “He was going to have it shipped to you in La Push anyway.”

“Yeah, but you kids are still young and just starting out. You need to save as much money as possible so you can send your kids to college.”

“Take the fucking truck, Charlie. Paul made eleven million dollars last year,” Quil informed me.

My jaw dropped. I knew my son-in-law was wealthy, but not by that caliber. I thought he made a couple hundred thousand dollars a year. He didn’t act like a pompous millionaire, and my Bells never acted like a stuck-up rich bitch. Angela acted more like one. She drove around town in a silver Volvo-the same model as the Cullen kid used to drive, carried those ridiculously expensive designer handbags, and wore high heels all the time. She also made Jake wear khakis and button down shirts all the time. She would always tell him that he may only be a mechanic, but it didn’t mean he had to look like one. The thing about Jake and Collin is that they both made very good money running their shop. They were, by far, the most popular comprehensive auto repair shop in the area and the prices they charged were fair and reasonable.

“I’ll take the truck. Thank you, Paul.”

“Don’t mention it, Dad.”

The next morning…

“Good morning,” I greeted Paul, Bella, and Quil who were all at the table having breakfast.

I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat at the table and had a sip. “Bella, I don’t know what you do, but you make the best coffee.”

“I don’t make the coffee, Paul does.”

“No kidding, son? This is good.”

“I was well trained,” he chuckled. “I was a barista at Starbucks during college.”

“Really? I’ve been there a couple of times in Port Angeles. I had some kind of iced coffee with cinnamon in it. It was really good.”

“An ‘Iced Cinnamon Dolce Latte’ maybe? I can make one for you. It’s just espresso, milk, and cinnamon dolce flavored syrup topped with whipped cream.”

Like I said, the guy wasn’t a pompous millionaire. “That would be great.”

“I’ll just be a minute.”

“See, isn’t it handy having the Great Barista in the family?” Quil laughed.

“Yeah, I suppose it is.”

“So, Daddy, we’re hitting the gym,” my daughter said.

“The gym?”

“Yes, the gym.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re getting fat.”

“I’m not fat, Bells.”

“Dad, your waist must have increased by six inches at least and Sue told me you’re taking Lipitor for your cholesterol now.”

Damn it, my wife has such a big mouth.

“It’s just a little spare tire. I’ve still got abs underneath.”

“Daddy, those are fat rolls.”

“They’re not fat rolls, Bella. They’re liberty layers.”

“Charlie, you’re hitting the gym with us. Quil is going to try my workout with me,” Paul chuckled.

“Unless you can’t keep up with the young guys, Daddy,” my daughter challenged.

“Oh, I can keep up. I’m a cop.” I hope.

Two hours later, we were at the gym and I was dying, or at least close to it.

“Where did you learn this workout, Paul?”

“Oh, Renee’s husband, Phil, taught it to me. This is the workout he puts his baseball players through.”

“And he does it, too?”

“Yeah, he does.”

“He’s psycho, man,” Quil groaned. “You’re psycho. And what’s with Bella? She hasn’t gotten off of the treadmill yet and we’ve been here for forty-five minutes already. She’s psycho, too!”

Well, shit. If my ex-wife’s new husband does this, I’m going to man up and do this workout.

“Paul, I’m going to the Body Pump class, okay?” Bella said.

“Okay, I’ll see you after. We should be done here by then.” He gave her a quick peck on the lips.

“Wait! Bella, I’m coming with you,” Quil said.

You know what? Phil’s a young guy. I’m man enough to admit I’m a wimp. “I’m coming too.” I ran after my daughter.

“Your funeral, guys,” Paul called after us, chuckling.

An hour later, Paul, Quil, and I were sitting in the steam room at the gym. “You could have warned us Paul,” Quil said. Paul was kicking back looking no worse for the wear while Quil and I were struggling to even sit still.

“When did women become so tough?” I whimpered. “My muscles hurt.”

“Yeah, Body Pump is circuit training to music. I take the class with Bella sometimes.”

“Are you insane? Those women are psychotic. I’m scared of those women!”

“I’ll hook you up with my massage therapist tomorrow, Charlie.” Paul was laughing at both Quil and me. We were groaning in pain.

Later, we all went to the hospital to do a quick check on Will. Jake, Billy, Collin, and Rachel were already there, but his eyes lit up as soon as he saw my Bella.

“Hi, Aunty Bella.”

“Hey, Willy, how are you doing?”

“Good. My tummy still hurts though.”

“It’ll hurt for a few more days, then I promise it’ll get better. I brought you a surprise.”

“What is it?”

She handed Will a little bag. He opened it up. “Whoa! A Nintendo Switch! Are you sure? These cost a lot of money.”

“Yes, I’m sure. You deserve it. You’re a little trooper. Besides, you’ll need something to kill the time while you’re in here. Uncle Paul picked out a whole bunch of games for you, too.”

“I brought you something, too,” Quil said.

“What?”

Quil handed Will a Barnes and Noble bag. He looked inside and whooped in joy. “The whole Harry Potter series? For real?”

“Yes, for real. You’ve always liked to read.”

“Thanks! This is better than Christmas. I should get beat up more often!”

“Um, no, let’s not do that.”

Around one pm, the four of us headed to lunch. Quil, it seemed, had no intention whatsoever of remaining in Jacob’s presence. Paul took us to a place called the Bikini Lounge. I became all excited thinking there were going to be pretty waitresses in bikinis, but it turned out to be a dive bar run by an older couple.

“Frank, Madge-I want you to meet my dad, Charlie Swan,” Bella called out towards the bar.

“Are you the cop?” Frank asked.

“Yeah, I am.”

“Well, good to finally meet you. My wife and I have known Blondie since she was eight years old. She’s talked about you non-stop since then.”

“Eight?” I was a bit surprised at that. “You must be friends with her mother.”

“That flake? Hell no!” Madge snapped, venomously. “Frank and I used to take care of the little peanut here in the bar while Renee was out on one of her many dates. Bella would sit at that table over there in the corner, right by the kitchen, while her mother and her flavor of the week were flirting away at the other side of the bar. Your daughter would always sneak into the kitchen to watch me cook. Eventually I just invited her in with me and gave her simple tasks so she wouldn’t get bored. And we hired her to cook with me as soon as she entered high school.”

“Is that why you cook so well, Bells?” I asked.

“Yep, Madge taught me everything she knows.”

“Well, thank you for keeping an eye on her,” I said.

“And thank you for teaching her how to cook,” Quil said honestly. “My wife can’t cook for beans. The woman shouldn’t be permitted near any food sources. Without Bella, I’d be dead.”

“It was our pleasure. Blondie, you can help me rustle up some burgers for this crowd.”

“Okay, Madge, I will.”

Bella hustled into the kitchen along with Madge. Frank brought some beers over to us and pulled up a chair. “I’ll tell you, it’s a wonder that Blondie turned out so well. That mother of hers should have never had custody of her. Do you know that Blondie took care of all the bills because her mother couldn’t balance a checkbook? Don’t get me wrong, Renee’s not a bad woman; she loves Bella with all her heart. She’s just a little girl herself, and too irresponsible and incapable of being anyone’s parent. That Phil guy was the best thing that ever happened to her. He takes care of her, but you… You should have taken custody of Bella. She’s never had a chance to be a kid.”

“I didn’t realize how bad it was. Bella never breathed a word to me,” I said remorsefully. I truly had no idea. I really felt horrible.

“No wonder she nailed into Jake and Angela this past weekend,” Quil noted. “She had no childhood herself.”

“No, but she became a strong woman,” Paul stated. “She’s about as independent as can be.”

“Blondie loves her mother with everything she has in her. She’s perceptive. She’s known from the time she was a little girl that Renee’s an idiot, and I think she knew her mother wouldn’t be able to survive without her. Listen, I’m sorry I’m spilling my guts to you now, but that little girl means a lot to Madge and me. We have no children of our own. I’ve been wanting to get this crap off of my chest for over two decades now.”

I extended my hand out to Frank. “Thanks for looking after my little girl.” I made a mental note to ask my daughter about all of this later, privately. “Why do you call her Blondie?”

Frank and Paul both started howling in laughter, and then proceeded to tell Quil and me about the prick doctor she dated for a while before she met Paul. All four of us started laughing after that.

I’m glad Bella brought me here. I learned a lot about her-things I should have been informed of, but never was. I should have been more involved as a parent. It’s one mistake I’ll regret until the day I die.

After having our burgers, we returned to Paul and Bella’s house. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you guys, what happened to your kitchen and living room?”

“That would be Jacob’s fault,” Bella replied. “He phased in the middle of the living room and came after Kim and me in the kitchen. Then some of the other guys phased to protect us and voila, we have no more kitchen and living room.”

“Say what?” I was outraged. That little shit tried to attack my Bella and Kim. “Explain!”

“We will, Dad, but not now. I think Billy and Collin need to hear this too. There have been major changes in the pack. I don’t even think Mom knows about it,” Paul said.

“Alright, but it had better be a good explanation because I’m about to drive over to where Jacob is and put a bullet between his eyes. What the hell was he thinking?”

“It’ll all be explained. I promise, Dad.”

“It’d better be,” I growled, causing Paul to flinch. Haha! I think I just intimidated my son-in-law. I love being myself sometimes.