Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Behind Steel Bars

By Midnight Dreamer

Chapter 37: Depositions and Statements

It was an early morning just as Peter had predicted it would be. The first client called from the airport at 5am. Charlotte and Isabella went to retrieve them and they would all go back to Charlotte’s office to write up the Statements. Mr. Tanner and his wife were a sweet old couple. It seems that Mrs. Tanner had a soft spot for young doctor’s which is what Mr. Masen was posing as at the time they met him in Illinois.

“Mrs. Tanner, could you please tell us how you met Mr. Masen?” Charlotte asked.

“I was in a small fender bender on my way home from work. In all accidents they take all parties involved to the hospital. He was a resident there. He seemed so sweet and kind. We talked some. When I got out of the hospital he came to visit me to check up on me. We became what I thought was friends. My husband was away on business one weekend and I called Edward…a Mr. Masen over to visit. We sat around and had drinks, we went out to dinner and then to a local club. I’m not sure what happened then everything was a little fuzzy. I woke up the next morning next to a very naked young man. He didn’t seemed fazed. I was devastated. I couldn’t for the life of me remember what happened or how we ended up in my bed. He said my husband would never know, cause he would never say anything. It was a week later that a letter arrived addressed to me. I opened it and it was from Edward. He said that he had lost his job at the hospital. They were downsized or something like that and asked if he could borrow some money until he got back on his feet. So I lent him a few hundred to help him out. But then another letter came, asking for more money. When I told him I couldn’t do it he called. He told me that if I didn’t get him the money he would tell my husband everything. I was scared my marriage would end so I wired him the money. This went on for months. It wasn’t until our bank account was over drawn did George come to me to ask me where the money went. I knew I had to tell him everything. When I did at first he was mad, but then he said we had to go to the police. When we did, they went to the hospital, only the hospital never had any record of a Dr. Masen. When I tried to call his number it was disconnected. The police looked everywhere for him, but turned up nothing but dead ends. It was like he disappeared.”

“Then what did you do?”

“We didn’t have a choice, we filed for bankruptcy. We sold the house and all the things in it. We bought a small apartment close to George’s base of work and have been living there ever since.”

“How long ago was this?” Charlotte asked.

“Two years ago.”

“Well Mrs. Tanner it seems as if your not the only one’s he has swindled. I will be taking your case along with several others. Mr. Masen it seems is a very naughty boy.”

“Will we get our money back?” Mr. Tanner asked.

“Do you have the bank statements from the time you started the withdrawals till the time you noticed the discrepancies?”

“Yes I have everything here.” Mr. Tanner handed over a folder.

Charlotte thumbed through it quickly and then handed it to Isabella. Isabella looked it over and wrote a few notes down on a table she had perched on her lap. She had sat quietly during the whole interview.

“Now I’m going to ask you to please take this form and fill out everything you just told me as accurately as you can. I will double check the dates and times to make sure it is correct, then have you come in and sign the deposition so I can place it in the file.” Charlotte said handing them a stack of papers and a pen.

“Thank you Mrs. Whitlock. I hope we can finally get this settled and move on.” Mrs. Tanner said shaking Charlotte’s hand.

“No Ma’am, thank you.”

With that Charlotte called her assistant in to lead the Tanner’s to the next room so they could fill out the paper work.

“What do you think?” Charlotte asked Isabella.

“I think their story is heartbreaking and that if Edward thinks he is gonna get away with this shit for much longer he is sadly mistaken.” Isabella almost growled.

“Well put your game face back on cause our next complainant is about to be here in 5 mins.”

Isabella sat back comfortably and flipped the page on her notebook. She was ready…at least she thought she was.

“Mrs. Whitlock, your next appointment is here should I send her in?” Charlotte’s assistant asked.

“Yes Autumn, thank you.”

When the door to Charlotte’s office door opened and the young woman and child came in the gasp that slipped from their mouths was audible to even the assistant.

“I’m sorry….but..” Charlotte stuttered.

The child on the woman’s hip was almost an exact replica of Edward.

“You may ask Mrs. Whitlock.” the young woman replied.

“Is she?”

“Yes Ma’am she is.”

“Did he know?”

“No Ma’am, and I didn’t either till he was already long gone.”

“Please have a seat.”

“Thank you.”

“May I Have your name for the record?” Charlotte asked turning her tape recorder on again.

“My name is Emma Rose Sutton. This is my Daughter Ivy Rain Sutton.”

“Thank you. Now may I ask how it is that you came to meet Mr. Edward Masen?”

“It was four years ago, I was working as a waitress in a restaurant in New Orleans. He didn’t go by Masen then, He introduced him self as Mr. Danali. He would come into the restaurant daily, order the same thing every time, always sitting in my section so I would wait on him. He would smile and say how I was sweet and kind. He was always a generous tipper. I needed the money as I was working my way through school. One night he came in and instead of leaving only a tip he left a card with his number on it.” she said handing Charlotte the card she had kept all these years.

“Go on.” Charlotte said.

“I thought he was so handsome and sweet, so I figured why not. We dated for months before he asked me to marry him. He even went as far as to ask my daddy if he could have my hand. I thought he was charming and old fashioned.”

“What exactly does your father do Mrs. Sutton?”

“My family owns several large factories in and around Louisiana. They manufacture steel parts for the railroad company. At least they did back in the day. Now they manufacture car frames and what not for the big car companies.”

“So you would say you come from old money?”

“Yes I guess you could say that.”

“Marrying into your family would have given him access to the family accounts?”

“It would. At least into mine anyway.”

“How much would you say was in your account at the time you met Mr. Masen?”

“Close to two million dollars. I never touched it though. I thought I would feel better if I was to earn my own way, without the family money.”

“I understand. Please continue.”

“Where was I. Yes he asked my father for permission to marry me. My father of course was thrilled that someone was willing to marry me seeing as I was only a waitress at the time.”

“What line of work did Mr. Masen say he was in at the time?”

“He said he was the heir to a mining fortune in the northeast. That his family owned several coal mines.”

“What happened next?”

“Well we married the following spring. Everything was like a fairytale to start out. We bought a small house, new cars. He told me to continue with my schooling and that I could keep my waitressing job if I so choose. I of course did and am glad too. The money I was making at the restaurant was in a separate account from the family’s. But that didn’t matter as he had a card to the family account. He would spend frivolously on the most outrageous things. A new wardrobe, new hair style. He used the excuse that it was so he could better fit into the family and not stand out as a northerner. Not like it would matter his accent gave him away.”

“Could you place the accent?”

“I believe his accent was definitely northern, like New York or New Jersey. It had something to it. It didn’t have the slight like the southern states or the fullness of the Midwest.”

“Thank you. Could you tell us where things changed?”

“It was just before our one year anniversary. He had been traveling a lot. Saying that he was going to check in on his family and the business up north. Then one time he just didn’t come home. I got worried and called my father. After twenty four hours they declared him missing. There was a state wide search for him. They even tried to track down the Danali family in the north but no one ever heard of him. The Danali family didn’t even exist. It was three months after he disappeared that I found out I was pregnant, and the money was gone. I called the police and they added it to his file.”

“How did you discover his real name?”

“I was searching on line and found a picture of him in an old newspaper. He was from New York. The picture was  of him winning a state championship for his high school basketball team.”

“Have you filed for child support?”

“I would have but you have to have proof of paternity and I had nothing. So they said I couldn’t file.”

“Well we will be sure to add that to the list of things we file against him. There is no doubt in my mind that your daughter is his.” Charlotte told the girl.

“Thank you.”

Charlotte turned off the recorder.

“Emma I’m gonna ask you to please fill out these forms in the next room. When your done I will double check all the information and add it to the file. Please be as accurate as you can. When you done I will call you back to sign the papers and they will be filed.”

“Again thank you Mrs. Whitlock. But may I ask. Why now?”

“Mr. Masen as wronged the wrong person this time. The family has ties in very high places. He will not be getting away with it this time.”

“Do you know where he is? Mr. Masen that is.”

“Yes we do.”

“Please when you see that bastard could you be sure he gets what’s coming to him.”

“I will indeed see to it that he does.” Charlotte smiled as Autumn once again led another client out the door to the next room.

“Well now that was interesting. I wonder if he wife knows about her?”

“I don’t think she does. Boy is she gonna be pissed at Edward when she finds out he has a child with another woman. Her children are what 7 and 9?” Isabella asked.

Charlotte flipped through some papers on her desk. Then nodded to Isabella.

“Yeah it seems that way. How old ya reckon that little tike to be?”

“I’d say two maybe three tops.”

“Oh he is a dead man…he best hope we put him away before she finds out. If not we won’t have to worry about it. She’s gonna kill him.”

“Now that would be something.” Isabella chuckled.

~BSB~

It had been two days since Jasper had seen Isabella last. Sure Emmett kept him company but he wasn’t the company he was hoping for. Manny and Jose constantly harassed him about his moping. Emmett would too until Jasper glared and threatened to tell Bella on him. Emmett would shut up and lope away to his office. Jasper laid around in his cell, reading or strumming on a guitar that he managed to get Emmett to smuggle in for him. Not like the Warden would say anything about it but the other inmates might see it as special treatment. Hell, they already knew he got special treatment as only Manny and Jose were the other inmates. They would often make requests as they all sat around playing poker with Emmett. Jasper would oblige and play it if he knew the song. He knew that Isabella and Charlotte were busy working on his case but what he wouldn’t give to hear her voice.

“Oh Jazzman stop your pouting. I hear the Warden will be in to see you later tonight.” Emmett called from his office as Jasper was playing yet another somber tune.

“Really?”

“Yeah I believe she said something about an interesting break in the case.” Emmett said.

“Huh. Wonder what that could be.”

“You’ll just have to wait and find out lover boy…” Manny snickered from down the cell block. His laughter was then joined my Jose and Emmett.

“Fuck you.”

“Come here pretty boy and I will.” Jose said back. Causing another round of laughter.

“Ya guys all suck ya know that.” Jasper laughed.

“How bad ya wanna find out?” Manny asked. While sauntering up to the door of Jasper’s cell.

“Manny man leave him alone. You know if you hurt him you will have to deal with the Warden.” Emmett chuckled out.

They all were just having fun and Jasper didn’t get worked up about it. He knew they all had wife’s and families on the outside.

“It’s all good Emmett. It does get a little lonely in here..ya know with the Warden not here to see I think I could have a good time with these two. Ya know there ain’t many women over there in the war zones, so it has been a while since I’ve gotten any real love. I’m sure these guys could use some too. If ya know what I mean.” Jasper stood to his full height and moved closer to Manny.

Manny got a weary look in his eye as Jasper was almost upon him. Jose looked shocked. He wasn’t sure if Jasper was just fuckin with them or if he was serious. He looked serious. Emmett was watching all this from his office and was trying his hardest not to laugh at the scene he was seeing play out in front of him. When Jasper ran his hand down Manny’s arm and Manny damn near jumped out of his skin, Emmett lost it. He laughed so hard he fell out of his office chair. What happen next was what just about killed him. Jasper grabbed Manny’s arm as Manny tried to move away, swung him around and planted a kiss right on his lips. Manny’s eyes were the size of dinner plates. The very feminine cough brought them all to attention. Jasper actually dropped Manny right on his ass. Emmett was still laughing to hard to notice that Isabella had entered the building with Charlotte standing next to her. Charlotte looked shocked at what she was seeing.

“And what pray tell is goin on here?” Isabella asked. Amusement in her voice.

“Well Warden, your man here was about to assault Manny in ways that I don’t even wanna think about.” Jose was the first to respond.

Isabella quirked an eyebrow at Jasper who just winked at her and smiled.

“Well don’t let me interrupt.” Isabella said turning away to head in the direction of Emmett’s office where he was still rolling around on the floor. Charlotte just shook her head and followed after her to Emmett’s office.

“Wait Warden you can’t be serious?” Manny stuttered from the floor where he was trying to squirm out of the reach of Jasper who was leaning toward him again.

Isabella turned around and looked completely serious when she said.

“I’m sure it’s been a very long time since Major Whitlock has had any real form of pleasure besides his hand. It’s not like they have brothels in the war zones. And since I don’t house women with men ya will just have ta be a proper substitute. Now stop cowering like a girl and get ta it.” she then turned her back and closed the door to the office.

“Ya heard the Warden Manny your all mine.” Jasper said.

~BSB~

Isabella was laughing so hard behind the door she thought her sides were gonna bust. Emmett was still on the floor and Charlotte stood by with a shocked look on her face. Almost like she couldn’t believe what she just saw and heard.

“Isabella…ya..sure…about…that?” Charlotte stuttered out pointing behind her to the door.

“Oh…yes…char…i am… I’m positive..they have been harpin on him something awful.” Isabella said between her bouts of laughter.

“Oh Bells you have no idea.” Emmett said finally pulling himself up off the floor.

“What the hell did we just walk in on?” Charlotte asked looking at Emmett.

“Well first Jose propositioned Jasper and then Manny offered to show him how much he sucks. It’s all really funny if ya think about it. They were bustin him about the Bells here, and he said fuck you after Manny called him lover boy, so Jose said for him to come to him and called him pretty boy. Then he told them they sucked and Manny bein the asshole he is came over to Jazzman’s cell and asked him how bad he wanted to find out. What I didn’t expect was Jasper’s response.” Emmett said.

“And what was his response?” Isabella asked with a cheeky grin on her face.

“He told me it was alright, that it had been a long time since he got any real lovin and since you weren’t here to see what was goin on that he figured those two could show him. Then he said almost the same thing you did. He told them there weren’t many women in the war zone and then he stood tall and walked over to Manny. The guys’ faces were priceless. You should have seen them then when Jazzman ran his hand down Manny’s arm and he jumped I about died. Manny tried to get away but Jazz grabbed him and twirled him around like some fairy princess and lip locked him. That was where you came in.”

“I see. Well it’s nice to know that they all get along so well.” Isabella said with a straight face, which finally caused Charlotte to loose it.

“Oh my god. I leave him to ya guys for a couple of days and ya turn him bi-sexual.” she shreeked.

“Char calm down he is only messin ’round….i think?” Emmett questioned.

“Charlotte I assure ya that Jasper is just playing with those two. They deserve it, if they have been harassin him like Emmett says.”

“If ya sure..” Charlotte said still a little unsure.

“Oh Charlotte I’m positive ya brother still enjoys the warm comfort of a woman.” Isabella smirked.

“I don’t wanna know!” Emmett said covering his ears, while chanting lalalalalala.

The two girls laughed hysterically before they settled down.

“Well go wrangle him up before he gives Manny a heart attack and poor Jose an ulsur.” Isabella told Emmett.

“Yes Ma’am.” Emmett was out the door before she could say anything else.

Emmett found them cowering in Jose’s cell while Jasper made kissy faces through the bars at them. Emmett just shook his head.

“Whitlock. Stop scaring my inmates and get to my office; the Warden wants a word with you.”

“Yes sir. Now don’t ya two sweet asses go anywhere, I’m not done with ya yet. Once the Warden is gone I’ll be right back to finish what we started.” Jasper said as he stood and started back toward Emmett’s office.

Emmett chuckled as he caught up with Jasper.

“Dude what did you do to them?”

“Nothing. I just like fuckin with’em. They started all this so I plan on playin with them for a while…how long do ya think it will last before they figure out I’m a one woman guy?”

“Depends on how bad you scared them. What was with that lip lock by the way?”

“Oh hell that. Peter and I used ta do that back in the day before he met Char. We used ta sneak into bars ta watch the bands an’ when women..an’ I use the term loosely would try ta hit on us we would kiss an’ pretend ta be gay so they would leave us alone. I don’t think Peter ever told Charlotte any of those stories or they wouldn’t be married today…hell I don’t even think my Momma knows.”

“Next time I see your Momma, I’m so tellin her. And then I’m gonna give your brother a big kiss.” Emmett said laughing.

“Ya will tell my Momma no such thing as for kissing Peter…go ahead. I’m sure it’s been a long time since he’s kissed a man!” Jasper laughed.

They walked into the office still laughing.

“What did ya two do now?”

“Nothing Warden. But I think you might wanna send Manny and Jose to see the counselor. Jazzman here has them cowering in Jose’s cell with the door locked. He promised to finish what they started after you leave.” Emmett laughed.

“Jasper ya are in such big trouble mister.” Charlotte chided.

“What did I do?” Jasper looked worried.

“How could ya kiss that man?”

“Not the first man I ever kissed.” Jasper said causing both Isabella and Charlotte’s eyes to widen.

“Jazzman your not helping your case here.” Emmett said.

Jasper then walked over to Isabella, pulled her into his arms, dipped her back and kissed her with everything he had in him. It took a second or so for her to respond but when she did he was surprised at the passion she pushed back at him. It took Emmett clearing his throat to pull them back to the now.

“Missed ya Darlin’” Jasper said as he stood Isabella upright.

“Uh huh?” Isabella seemed dazzled.

“Jazzman I think you broke her.”

“Now what was I summoned for?” Jasper asked looking to Charlotte.

Charlotte shook her head and taking a deep breath, launched into what they had been working on for the last two days. To say that Jasper was thrilled and shocked was an understatement. Edward Masen was so screwed. Once everything was settled out Jasper gave Isabella one more kiss and a swat on her ass as he made his way out of Emmett’s office. The three still sitting there broke out laughing when they heard Jasper call:

“Manny, Jose…where are ya my little dove’s. Come to papi.”