Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Winner Takes All

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 03:

BPOV

At 6:00 AM I finally had an ID on my victim. Susanna Parker. 23 years old. Pretty girl. College student at NYU. Lived alone. Family had money. No job. Took a full load. No boyfriend. Regular at a dance club three blocks away from where her body was found. Pretty much similar to the other victims. Problem was they didn’t know each other that we could establish. With the third victim we had a full fledged serial killer. A whole team was brought in. Interviewers, researchers, forensics experts, priority lab tech. That meant rather than being a profiler and investigator my job turned into profiler. Stay in the office and come up with the reasoning and thought processes of a killer.

A killer I wasn’t convinced was human. Maybe I should ask my vampire suitors?

No. I didn’t want them to know that I knew. At least not yet. Not until I could completely trust them. I learned enough from my high school years that humans are not supposed to know about vampires. Besides I am not hunting for a vampire.

“Swan.” I turned and saw Bosco walking up with a lab report in his hands.

“Yeah. You got something?”

“The clump of hair we found near the wall where the symbol was, definitely belonged to our victim.”

“No surprise.”

“Yeah but there was fur mixed in it. Canine fur. Can’t tell what breed it is yet. Somebody really thinks they are a werewolf or wants us to think they are.”

Damn. Fur. New profile.

Psychotic method killing werewolf.

Only not a mindless killer. He either likes young girls due to a sexual fetish or targeted these girls for some specific reason. Then he leaves a symbol. Personal or sending a message? A message to who?

“Thanks Bosco. That will help with the profile.”

“What do you have so far?”

“Nothing unusual. He is male. To strong of an attack not to be. Wounds appear to be caused by claws coming down and traveling the length of the body from forehead to pelvis. He must be tall but that’s a forensic thing. The murder weapon would be nice. All we got is long claw like object and a man swinging it who is strong enough to cut through a breast plate. Obviously has a fixation on young college girls early twenties. Probably places him between 30-40.”

Or 500 or 600 years old. Guess it depends on what I am dealing with.

“That’s it?”

“What do you want from me? Get more evidence and I will give you a tighter profile. I’m not a fucking psychic. I don’t think the guy is advertising his kills with the symbol, trying to start a brand name. I think he is sending a message to someone.”

“What’s the message? Hey FBI, I killed this chick?”

“Maybe. But I doubt the message is to us.”

“Gang thing?”

“I’m leaning towards personal grudge. Not a Mafia hit by any means.”

“So who is the grudge against?”

“You’re the lead investigator. Find out.” I told him.

Do I have to do all the work around here?

“Fine Swan. I will do my best. Hey you want to go out tonight?”

“Don’t you mean stay in?” I said grinning at him.

“Hey, it’s been a while.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“See that’s the kind of romantic thing every girl wants to hear from a potential suitor, Bosco.”

“Since when are you into romance?” He had a good point.

“I don’t know. Lately I have been thinking about it more and more. Besides I have a date tonight, He is actually taking me to dinner.”

“We could order pizza. Remember that time I ate a slice off your…”

“Work Bosco. Work. Not the place.” I glared at him.

“My bad, Swan. So I am going to canvass the nearby residents and see if they noticed anything. You want to tag along?”

“Yeah. I will follow, though. I’m going to take a look at the crime scene one more time and get ready for my date.”

Arriving at the crime scene during the day time was surreal. The blood had been cleaned. The symbol was gone. It looked like every other alleyway. You would never guess it was the scene of a brutal murder. I tried to imagine what the killer was seeing. I know the direction the victim walked. No way a girl like that would be lured into an alleyway. She must have been grabbed off the street. Either grabbed from behind and pushed into the alleyway, or grabbed from the alleyway. If she was followed from the club then she would have been grabbed behind. But her shoes had no scuff marks indicating a struggle. She could have been picked up and carried. But what kind of four legged werewolf would pick up a girl and carry her into the alley, stand her on her feet and claw her as she was standing? Claw imprints indicate she was most likely standing. Meaning he was standing. I suppose if it was a werewolf, we could be dealing with a she as well.

My phone buzzed. Carlisle.

“What’s up Carlisle?”

“Bella it is so good to hear from you.”

“You called me, Carlisle.”

“Of course. Rosalie mentioned you were interested in “real” werewolves.”

“Yeah. What can you tell me about them?’

“That you need to stay away from them. They are vicious creatures. If one is bothering you, Edward could help.”

“Yeah, no I’m good. I don’t need a symphony written about them. I just need them dead. I can handle that part. Do silver bullets work?”

“They do have a bad reaction to the introduction of silver in their bodies.”

“Can they only turn during the full moon?”

“Yes. But they are very strong as humans and have some wolf characteristics. They are territorial, heightened eye sight, heightened smell and hearing. Stronger than a normal human.”

“Good to know. Can they stand up when they are changed?”

“What do you mean stand up?” Carlisle asked.

“Can they walk on two legs?”

“Is that what you are dealing with?”

“I don’t know. Either a wolfman like in the movies or a human wanting us to think he is.”

“Bella, to gain that much control, the wolf would have to be thousands of years old.”

Oh… Good.

“Would he have enough control to write on a wall?”

“Write with a pen?”

“No Carlisle. Blood. Draw a symbol in blood after killing a woman.”

Carlisle said nothing for a few moments.

“Yes. One who is very old, would be able to do this. I didn’t think there were any more out there, that old.” He practically whispered.

“Carlisle I am going to text you a drawing of a symbol that has been found at three scenes in blood. Would you mind looking into it and letting me know what you find?”

“Of course Bella.”

“Thanks Carlisle. Take care.”

I ended the call and drove home. I had two hours to be ready. Plenty of time.

Looking in my closet I decided on a medium length black leather skirt and a purple tight wool sweater. No cleavage. First date and all. But the sweater was tight enough to let him know the puppies were there.

I still can’t believe I am doing this. If he wasn’t so hot I would be running my ass as far away from him as I could. And Peter…

Peter Whitlock.

Typical vampire stalking his prey. Except he wore cowboy boots and rock band t shirts and seemed goofy and sweet.

Shaggy blonde hair. Broad shoulders. Pretty eyes considering they were red. Nice shade though. It fit him. I wonder if his last girlfriend really left him for another woman?

Then again who would make that up?

My phone buzzed. Text message from Vampire bachelor number 1. Guess it was time to go eat some chilli dogs.

Garrett POV

There she was. I was afraid she wouldn’t show.

“Hey there.” I said when she walked up.

“Hey there yourself. I hope you haven’t eaten already.”

“Nope. Waiting on you.”

“So where is this magical hot dog vendor?”

“Right this way my lady.”

“Don’t start that Victorian crap. I have an ex who talks like that all the time.” She smiled.

“No problem. Just trying to be a gentleman.” I winked.

“What makes you think I want a gentleman?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Oh hell yes.

“Well come on Swan. The dogs aren’t going to order themselves.”

We received our orders and walked into the park. We found a bench and I quietly watched her devour three chili dogs with mustard, ketchup, cheese and sauerkraut. Even though I don’t eat human food I knew enough to know that was disgusting. I ate my chili dog in silence.

“I know I’m a pig but I haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday.” She mumbled through the mess in her mouth.

I gently wiped off a spot of chili on the side of her mouth and she smiled.

“How is yours?”

“Delicious.” I replied.

“Liar.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I can tell by the look on a man’s face if he has something in his hands that he likes and is enjoying it. I don’t see joy in your eyes Garrett.”

“Maybe this chili dog isn’t what would give me joy at the moment.” I replied.

That got a laugh out of her. “Down boy. You got me on a date, you can cut the pickup lines.” She punched me in the shoulder lightly. I hope she didn’t hurt herself.

“Fine. Tell me about yourself. Not the FBI part. I know that already. Where did you grow up?”

“Phoenix. What about you?”

“Boston. Do your parents still live in Phoenix?”

“No. My Mom lives in Florida and my Dad has always lived in Forks Washington. I graduated high school there before coming to New York. Went to NYU, got accepted into the FBI academy and here I am. Youngest profiler in Bureau history.”

“Impressive. How did you do it?”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“I guess you could say I have an eye for abnormal freaks who are out for blood. It’s easy to get into their heads. Least it is to me.”

Forks Washington? Why did that seem familiar?

“So you are 24?”

“Yep. How old are you?”

“28.” I replied.

“How long have you been 28?” She said in a serious tone.

“Oh… wait… what?” What the fuck? Now she was laughing.

“Sorry. Inside private joke. I ask all my dates the same thing. Forget it.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Gorgeous but weird.

“Hot dogs are taken care of. What shall we do now?” She asked.

“How about we go to the Empire State Building?”

“Sure. I have never been to the top.”

“You haven’t?” I asked, shocked. I thought all New Yorkers had been.

“No. When I went to school here I was always too busy studying or working. When I came back I was too busy with work.”

“What did you do for work during college?”

“I was a stripper.”

Damn. I wonder if I had a dollar bill…”Oh… okay…”

“God you are gullible aren’t you? It’s kind of sweet. I worked as a bartender. Not a big deal but the tips allowed me to pay for school. At least what the grants didn’t cover.”

“So why New York?”

“Why not?”

Fair point.

“So where did you go to college, Garrett? I’m sure being a big shot investor, you have to have some sort of education.”

“No not really. You could say I am self-taught.”

“I see. So I looked up your background today and I couldn’t find a record of you of any kind. Didn’t you say your last name was Adamson?”

“You did a background check on me?!”

“I met you in a bar and agreed to go out with you. I’m an FBI agent. What did you think I would do?”

I guess I hadn’t really thought about it. I suppose I could have given her a last name of an ID I actually have. I had plenty.

“So? Why didn’t you give me your real name?” She was smirking. I guess she wasn’t too pissed.

“I just met a drunk girl in a bar and got her to go on a date with me. You could have been a crazy stalker and I can’t run background checks on just anyone. I have to protect myself.”

She laughed. “Good answer. So what is your real last name?”

“Smith. Not very exciting I know, but that’s what it is. You want my social security number too?”

“Nah. You haven’t tried to kill me in the Park. I guess you are safe.” She winked. We finally reached the Empire State building and took the elevator to the top.

“Holy shit.” She whispered.

“Beautiful isn’t it?”

“Yeah. You would never imagine the crime that goes on in those streets.”

I reached out and brushed her hand. She caught that and smiled at me.

“You’re kind of hot.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.” I responded.

“You can hold my hand if you want to. But no going past first base. Not tonight anyway.”

She wrapped her tiny hand in mine and didn’t flinch at the cold skin. After a minute she finally spoke.

“Garrett your hands are so cold. Do you have circulation problems? Not getting enough blood?”

“Say what?” What the hell?

“Blood. You know? The circulatory system? People with anemia are sometimes cold to the touch in their extremities due to a lack of blood flow in their hands or feet.”

“Oh… no I guess I am just cold natured.” Does this girl know what I am? No. Couldn’t be. I had my contacts in.

“Keep close to me and I will keep you warm.” She grinned. That would be nice.

We sat down in the observation tower and looked over the city. She tried to find her apartment building. We talked about her growing up. I told lies about my childhood. I actually told her the truth in a manner that didn’t make it obvious how long ago my childhood was.

“Want to go grab some coffee?” she finally asked me, standing up.

Ugh. Coffee sloshing around on top of this chili dog in my stomach. I wasn’t screwing this up though. She was really cool. I mean really cool. She was sarcastic but not in a mean way. She had her inside jokes as she liked to call them but they didn’t appear to be insults. She held my hand the entire time. The cold didn’t bother her.

We walked a few blocks to a Starbucks and she ordered a coffee, black, no cream, no sugar. Nice.

“So what is a day in the life of Garrett like?”

“Oh, you know. The usual. Wake up, check my stocks. Buy a little, sell a little. Relax. Maybe hit the gym. That sort of thing. What about you?”

“Different every day. Now that we are in the middle of a task force case I spend my days studying crime scene photos and thinking about what a serial killer would be thinking.”

“Have you ever caught one?”

“Two my first year. Me and my team of course. I guess I am part of the team so it really isn’t “My team.” But yeah, my profile picked out suspects who fit. Both of them turned out to be the bad guy in both cases. So I like to think I caught them.”

“Have you ever shot anyone?”

“Not today.” She looked at me and gave me the sexiest little smile.

“I need to get home. I have to be at work in 6 hours or so.” She suddenly said.

“Oh. Okay. Do you want a ride?”

“Nah. I will catch a cab. I had a great time tonight.” She grabbed my hand. This was good.

“I’d like to do it again.” I said softly.

“Sure.”

“Tomorrow night?”

“Ohhh… can’t tomorrow night.”

Damn it!

“It’s Saturday. You work on Saturday?”

“I actually have another date.”

Ouch. She is honest. I give her that. She must have noticed the look on my face.

“Hey. Don’t be like that. I like you. But this was a first date. Doesn’t mean we are married okay? How bout I give you a call Sunday and we can go to lunch?”

I nodded. I would take it.

“Sounds good. Have fun on your date tomorrow night. Every time you look at the poor son of a bitch remember you could be eating chili dogs with me.” I winked.

“I’ll do that. Hey if you kill anybody make sure the bodies aren’t found. I would hate to have to investigate you.” She smiled and then kissed me on the cheek. Then she was gone. Out the door, sidewalk, arm raised, taxi, gone. For a small town girl from Forks Washington she certainly had New York City down. I suppose she had been here long enough.

Kill anybody? She has a strange sense of humor. Must be from being around dead bodies and studying killers all the time.

I sat looking at the hardly drank coffee in my hand. I found her intriguing at first. But now. Now she was really something. I really wanted to get to know her. Make her fall in love with me. Maybe raise a few spoiled teenagers like Carlisle. I shuddered at the thought.

We will leave the teenagers out of it.

“So how did it go?”

“Pretty damn good, Whitlock. But I guess you saw, didn’t you?” I smiled.

“Yeah I saw. Your date ain’t shit compared to what I have planned tomorrow.”

“Really? I hope not. She seems to be the type who likes the simple joys in life. I truly hope you go overboard and scare her off. I really like her.”

“Overboard?”

“Yes. Of course being the big strong Texan you are, you probably have something low key planned don’t you?”

“Uh… yeah. Something like that.”

“Are you going to be following her again tonight? I hope she shoots you this time.”

“She’s sneaky.” He grinned. He liked her too.

“Peter, just back off.”

“Nope.”

“I really like her.”

“If I find out tomorrow that I don’t really like her she is all yours. But if I do, then you will just have to deal with it.” He said.

I sighed. I really hated to destroy him like this. But all is fair in love and war. And this was war.

BPOV

“Bella, its so…”

“Put your sister on the phone Edward. I’ve got a problem I need to speak to her about.”

“What is wrong? Is it the werewolf?”

“No. I had sex in the bathroom at a club with two guys at the same time who I didn’t know. Not even their first names. Now I am pregnant and want to know if she will adopt this brat since I have no idea who the father might be.”

“Oh my God, Bella…”

“Kidding Edward. Put Rose on the phone and get away. You shouldn’t ease drop into conversations.”

“Of course Bella. I didn’t mean to be…”

“Now Edward!”

“Hey skank. You get lucky tonight?” Finally Rose came to the phone.

“Yes and no. He was really fun. Great looking. We had dinner in the park, he took me to the Empire State Building, I pretended I hadn’t been there a thousand times before, we had coffee. I like him.”

“Did you bang him? Give up the booty? Ride the…”

“Nope. We held hands. I kissed his cheek when I left him at the coffee shop. That’s it. He asked me out again tomorrow and I told him I already had a date. I think we are having lunch on Sunday though.”

“You told him you had a date?”

“Sure why not?”

“I’m just surprised. I figured you could come up with a lie or something.”

“Nah. What’s the point?”

“So if you like this guy tomorrow night you’re going to fuck both of them right?”

“You know for a girl who has been doing the same guy for the past 70 years you sure are quick to throw me into bed with every cock that comes walking by.”

“That’s not true. I think you should stay away from Albino midgets. Nothing good can come from that. As pale as you are the kids would glow in the dark. They would look like those cave creatures from the Descent.”

“Rose…”

“I know. Kids evil. So how is your case going?”

“It isn’t. At least until we can find a connection between the victims. Carlisle find anything out about that symbol?”

“Nope. Not yet. He and Edward are working around the clock though.” I could hear the smile in her voice.

“Edward huh?”

“Working on it was the only thing we could do that would convince him not to find you and follow you.”

“Rose if that happens, I am going to burn him.”

Last thing I needed was Edward freaking out and going all Edward because I was friends with two vampires. Red eyed ones at that.

“You know I do the best I can, Bella.”

“Rip his legs off. You can always reattach them later. Or not. Whatever strikes your fancy.”

“Hey, I haven’t seen you in person in years. I want to come to New York and hang out.”

Ohhh….didn’t need Rose seeing my new friends either.

“Tell you what Rose. Let me shoot the werewolf with a silver bullet and then the two of us can go on a vacation or something.”

“What’s wrong with New York?”

“I’m always in New York. I like to get out some as well. But I have to handle this case first.” And figure out what to do about these new probably dangerous but really hot vampires.

“Fine. Kill your werewolf and then we are getting together.”

“You got it whore. Talk to you later.”

“Later bitch.

Time for bed. I was sleeping in tomorrow. I wonder what Peter Whitlock will be like?