Chapter 08
“I killed Esme,” Grant said as he took a sip of his beer. They were sitting in Bella’s courtyard because he’d wanted to have a chat with her. He’d come clean towards the Michaels about his real name and Bella calling him ‘Grant’ no longer made him wince. “She was keeping up pretenses while Carlisle… uh, anyway, I tortured her for your location and then killed her.”
She wasn’t surprised to hear that. “Why?”
Grant shrugged. “Spur of the moment thing. Angry. For what they did to us. Especially you.”
“I take it you did it before you contacted NCIS?”
“Of course, I made it look like an accident, too.”
“Then I don’t really see an issue, to be honest. She had it coming,” Bella said coldly as she took a sip of her drink. “It’ll make Carlisle feel alone for the rest of his life, he’ll feel what it feels like to miss a part of you.” She hated it that her family wanted to be so violent in their dealings with the rest of the family, but if Grant’s story of a few weeks ago had been true; that Edward had ‘left’ for a year, why wasn’t he dead yet? Was he that special?
“Exactly,” Grant agreed. “And I don’t feel guilty about it whatsoever. Nor contacting NCIS to help and get you. As much as I have a friend in the FBI, I only trust a handful of them and they’re not here.”
Bella smirked. “And here I thought you loved the Suits.”
“Hell no! Just Auggie and some others. NCIS agent Dwayne Pride and I go way back, he owed me a favor. He’s an okay guy, and his team follows his orders so… they’re good guys.”
“You think I’m in trouble with them?”
“Nah, you’re protected by the FBI. Neal’s friend Peter made that abundantly clear over the phone, something about you being their star witness in a high profile case.”
She winced.
“Itsy bitsy Bella, the Suits’ star witness,” Grant laughed. “Your worst nightmare!”
“Shut up.”
He took a sip of his beer with a big smile on his face. “Narc.”
“You need to stop, or I’ll hit you over the head with this,” she pointed to her cast. However, seeing as this was one of the best conversations she had with her brother since she realized he was her brother, she was worried. The look on his face kept switching between concerned, fun and regret. “Are you going to stick around in New Orleans? Or is this chat a goodbye chat?”
“I’m leaving for a bit,” Grant admitted as he took another sip of his beer. “I have a few things to clean up for us and then hopefully I can come to live in New Orleans permanently again. Just some loose ends and all.”
“You don’t have to if you like what you’re doing, traveling and stuff.”
“I do, but I can do things that I like here in New Orleans, too. I’d love for us to truly reconnect, maybe I can introduce you to my adoptive parents, I’m sure you’ll like them.”
“Oh, no, that would be a bad idea,” Bella laughed, shaking her head. “Just promise that you’ll come back and that we will get to know each other better.”
“And you promise to get better and allow others to take care of you. You don’t always need to be in the driver’s seat, you know.”
“I’m trying!” She said defensively, taking another sip of her drink. “You know… it doesn’t make any sense.”
“What doesn’t?” Neal asked as he walked into the courtyard. “Him?”
“Ha!” Grant laughed, shaking his head.
“No. Well, yes, but that’s okay,” she smiled at Neal. “No, it doesn’t make sense why they took me instead of straight up killing me as per the rules,” Bella continued. “The whole thing doesn’t make sense as they did kill Peter and Charlotte. They sent the Volturi after me because I left them,” she looked at Grant. “You told me that Edward left and found you.”
“He did.”
“Then why was he allowed to return and why wasn’t I? I mean, leaving is breaking the rules, and I accepted that but Edward’s my brother. Not only did they send the Volturi after me, Emmett came after me as well. Shouldn’t they have killed me after Lucy took me to them?”
Grant and Neal uncomfortably exchanged looks. “They did leave you to die, Bella. If we hadn’t found you, you would have died a slow, agonizing death as they weren’t planning on returning. They got what they needed,” Grant eventually said. “To see you suffer.”
“But why didn’t they do that to Edward?”
“That’s one of the reasons I’m leaving, to answer that question because that never sat right with me and I’ve had Cole do his hacking thing. He didn’t come up with anything so I’m going to try to find every safe house and known house that belonged to the Cullens, even those who aren’t on the FBI’s radar, yet.”
“No digital trail, huh? I could give you a list. I know most of their off-grid houses, they’re all under aliases.”
“That’d work.”
“Neal and I could help?” Bella suggested with an innocent look on her face.
“No!” Both Neal and Grant chorused. “Are you insane? You were released from the hospital only days ago!”
~o.O.o~
Bella was laying in Neal’s arms in bed, drawing circles on his chest with her index finger. It had been a few days since Grant had left, and almost two weeks since she was out of the hospital. She hated it that she still felt so slow, but her body was still healing and Neal had to help her a lot. She was so lucky with him.
“How are you feeling?” Bella didn’t stop paying attention to his chest as she looked up at him. “Like… you know… all that has happened lately?”
“Oh, I’m fine now that you’re back,” Neal let out a breath as he played with her hair. “I still don’t regret making the call to have the authorities take care of the Cullen’s network, while the idea was fun, we were way over our heads.”
“Debatable.”
“Still not giving up, huh?” he laughed. “We did a lot of damage, the Suits can do the rest, I mean, if they dig deep enough into that list they’ll find enough stuff.”
“I know… but… giving up control is hard. I’m working on it.”
“Speaking of working on things… I think we both need a change once this is over. I mean, the trial against your family is about to start, but after that… we deserve something different.”
Bella smiled. “Live like artists? Although…” she lifted up her hurt hand. “Not sure if that’s going to happen for me.”
“Early days,” he kept playing with her hair. “You’re still healing. Nerve damage takes months to heal, your bones a few weeks. And until your surgeons say otherwise, we’ll expect a full recovery, deal?”
She should feel some pain in her hand, even though it was in a cast, and the only thing she could feel at the moment was the tip of her index finger, it felt cold. She couldn’t quite move her fingers because they were neatly wrapped up and it felt like a log was attached to her arm. “What about a security firm? You did that before in Paris.”
“One time.”
“Yeah, but wouldn’t it be fun to do that again?”
“And how would our new friends like that idea?” Neal smiled at her. “Because between the two of us, we could make a place so secure, nobody would be able to get in or out.”
“Well, they would… for the right price,” Bella smirked. “We can always secure a building like you’d build a jenga tower… but take away one important piece, and the tower collapses.”
“How about a quieter life?”
She smiled up at him. “You’re going to miss the adrenaline. The puzzles.”
“I won’t, I’ve got you.”
“We’ll see,” Bella mused as she slowly got up and kissed him. “I think you’ll get bored, that’s all.”
“And what about you, huh?”
“I have my computer,” she stuck her tongue out to him and left the bed to go and make coffee for them. That was the one thing she could still do one-handedly. It sucked not having any feeling in her fingers and she couldn’t wait to start physical therapy or something to try to get some use back.
“Naked coffee,” Neal mused as he followed her. “I like it! Would you want to have pancakes for breakfast?”
“Yes please,” she replied and picked up her phone from the counter as it was flashing with a new message. “Ugh, we need to get dressed. Auggie and Peter are coming by in 30 minutes. Something urgent.”
“Oh, that doesn’t sound good,” Neal said worried. “Everything okay?”
“I don’t know, Mingus left Shitface a message saying that they were stopping by and that it was urgent,” Bella shrugged. “Not sure what could be so urgent unless they have more questions, but how could they be urgent? I mean, I could just call them. Normally he asks for me to call him.”
“We’ll see, at least there’ll be coffee and pancakes waiting for them in the courtyard,” Neal smiled at her as he lifted her into his arms and walked off to the bathroom with her. Bella had somewhat accepted the FBI’s watchdogs outside the house, and he promised her that should someone needed to come in, it would be Peter or one of his team that Neal was acquainted with, but only as far as the courtyard. No further. Surprisingly, Bella had agreed with that.
For Auggie and Peter both making the trip out to New York to come by for a visit, urgent or not, something must have been wrong.
They had only anticipated Auggie and Peter to come and visit, and Bella tensed at the door when she saw that they brought friends. “Oh, hell no.”
“You don’t really get a choice in the matter,” Peter replied as he gently pushed her aside to let everybody in. “Good to see you Bella, you’re looking good.”
“I’m still not too happy with you two in my house and you bring friends?”
“Relax,” Auggie smiled widely. “We’re the good guys!”
“That’s debatable and you brought friends! To my house! Without telling me!”
“I know, I know,” Auggie said as he felt for her arm and then moved up to her shoulder go gently squeeze it for reassurance. “If they break anything in your home, you can break them. But they need to be here and we’ll tell you why in a second when we all sit down.”
Bella sighed and nodded. “Come on in, the courtyard is right ahead, there’s no steps if you keep walking straight,” she eventually said, closing the door behind the group of people. She felt uncomfortable. She watched as Peter helped Auggie to sit down as the other two sat down as well. Neal was offering them coffee and beignets and Bella was leaning somewhat against the wall, her arms crossed over each other. “I’m not going to lie, but this is making me feel really uncomfortable.”
“As it should,” one of the other men said.
Knowing that Bella didn’t like pleasantries at this point, Auggie decided to bite the bullet and just get out with it. “This is Harold Finch, he’s the prosecutor in the case against your family, and—”
“Prosecutor? Auggie, I told you everything and you recorded it, what is a prosecutor doing in my home? Should I have my lawyer present?”
“Do you have a lawyer?”
“No.”
“You don’t need a lawyer, miss Cullen,” Finch replied as a matter of factly. “We have collected enough evidence against your siblings and your father to put them away for a very long time, even without your testimony.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
“Your immunity has been approved, however, only if you testify at both trials in the flesh and go into WITSEC.”
“And have everyone and their favourite monkey know where I live? So even after testifying I’ll have a target on my back for the friends of the Cullens that I can’t remember or don’t know about. No. I just bought this house and I have no intention of leaving.”
“We can say that you’ve lived in one of the homes that the Cullens own, it won’t trace back to New Orleans. You’re very cooperative, you can come back here. The only people who know where you truly live is Agent Burke’s team, myself, and this man here, US Marshall John Santini. He’s willing to work with you on your new identity, and Neal’s, if he chooses to come with you.”
“No.”
“Normally someone in WITSEC will be moved away from their home, from their friends,” Santini said. “However, having heard your story from Anderson, and Burke, and knowing the time you’ve been in New Orleans and who your neighbors are, I am willing to keep you here,” he added. “I’ll be here in New Orleans as your contact and Burke and Anderson are swapping New York for New Orleans.”
“My dad knows I’m in New Orleans, he sent Emmett here to kill me,” Bella replied as she looked at Neal, who had a passive look on his face. “What do you think about all this?”
“What’s the alternative?”
“Neal, if you do this, you won’t ever be able to contact Mozzie again,” Peter reminded him. “I don’t know who else you’re still in contact with from your old life, but it’d be no more Mozzie.”
“I’m not worried,” Neal replied with a shrug. “You know Mozzie, he will never tell a soul.”
“If you bend the rules for me because of my story, you can bend the rules for Neal. He deserves it,” Bella said as she finally sat down. “Mozzie is important to Neal, and he may be… an acquired taste, if you want me to keep my new friends because I never had any, Neal should be able to get to keep his old friend who’s this vault that nobody can crack but Neal.”
Peter thought for a moment before looking at Santini. “Mozzie will find him anyway, no matter how deep we’ll put Neal. He should be included in the deal.”
Santini had a faint smile on his lips as he looked through the papers. “Well, I suppose that I have to remove Mr. Theodore Winters off the list of allowed contacts and replace it with that Mozzie…”
“Theordore is fine,” Neal’s face broke out in a huge smile. “Thank you.”
“Another matter to consider is that you’re not allowed to do anything that has to do with your current life, to minimize exposure. No more hacking, no more running cons. For Neal, no more jobs where people can see your face,” Santini continued. “There’ll be more restrictions for you than there will be for her.”
“You’re talking as if I already said yes,” Bella said as she took a sip of her coffee. “As if Neal already said yes.”
“Well,” the prosecutor said as he retrieved a bundle of papers from his pocket. “You’re being summoned by the judge for your testimony as a witness, going against that will not be a good thing as you’ll be arrested and held in contempt of the court.”
“Yeah, the whole WITSEC thing was being used as an incentive,” Auggie grinned. “You have no choice, Bella.”
“You’re having way too much fun with this,” Bella muttered, panic rising in her chest. “I’m not comfortable at all. I’m getting way too much law enforcement time lately. I don’t think I can face them, the idea of being in a courtroom and seeing them, and cops and the jury… I can’t. I-I’m sorry,” she said as she got to her feet. “Have fun talking to each other but I need to get out,” she pushed her chair to the side and quickly made her way out of the door into the tunnel.
Bella made her way into the Michaels’ home and didn’t even realize she was intruding when she walked to the nearest alcohol table and was met by stares from Nick, Myriam, Cole and what looked like John and a woman she hadn’t met before. “Don’t mind me,” she said as she poured her drink and backed away. “I was never here, I’ll return the glass later.”
“That’s alright, we have an open door policy, you know that,” Nick said kindly as he looked at her. “No need to leave, are you alright?”
She stopped walking and nodded as she took a large gulp from her drink. “Currently, there are two suits, a prosecutor and a US Marshall with my con-artist boyfriend in my house right now and I know that sounds like the start of a bad joke, but it isn’t.”
“Sounds to me, you need a lawyer,” John piped up from his seat, he was the fixer for the Michaels, much like she’d been for the Cullens, but he got his hands really dirty. The Irishman kept surprising her. “I am one,” he added. “What? I’m not just a pretty face, y’know.”
“I don’t see why I need a lawyer, they want me to testify against my family in exchange for my immunity and witness protection – to which I don’t agree on but they are somehow lenient and they’ll allow me to stay where I am.” Bella downed the rest of her glass before walking back to the alcohol table and poured herself another, her hand slightly shaking from the anxiety attack that she tried to hold back and from pouring with one hand. “It’s funny how things can change so quickly. At first, I wasn’t afraid of them. I’d happily have them kill me for breaking the rules. But the sheer thought of going into a courtroom with so many people in them and seeing my family…”
“You need a lawyer, lass,” John nodded. “To talk to those assholes in your house right now and serve as a barrier. I’ll happily do that for you.”
“And you’re going to need a doctor’s note,” Myriam replied before looking at the strange woman next to her. “And fortunately for you, Bella, we have a psychiatrist right here. We’ve spoken to her about you, and I think that if you have one or two conversations with her, she can have John arrange a different way of testifying for you, isn’t that right, Camille?”
“That’s the girl?” Camille said surprised as Myriam nodded. Camille got to her feet and approached Bella with an extended hand before realizing Bella was holding her glass and she couldn’t use her other hand. “Hi, Bella, nice to finally meet you. My name is Camille. I met Nick and Myriam through various courses we went to together and I would be honored to help you.”
“I’m not crazy, I don’t need a shrink.”
“Who said that only crazy people needed someone to talk to? No, Myriam’s right, I can help John and you with arranging a different way to testify. If the sheer thought of going through that process is making you shake like a leaf as you are now, I’m afraid what it’ll do when you actually set foot in that courtroom. You’re not weak by accepting help.”
Bella kept her eyes on Camille as she drank her liquid courage. The woman seemed to be telling the truth. She was truthful. She then looked to John, who she heard so many great things about – and not so great things – but she wasn’t surprised that he had passed the bar. She was tired. She just wanted this to be all over. “Yeah, fine.”
Bella was surprised how well Neal handled the fact that she was ruining his life. He hadn’t asked for all of this, and yet, he stuck with her. He claimed that it was alright, he had left his life before, and seeing as things would barely change for him now, he was content. It would also give him a life back, an identity nobody could poke holes in anymore. It’d make him safe.
Having John deal with all the crap surrounding her testimony and her and Neal’s impending change in status gave her a lot of peace and quiet, less stress and anxiety in having to deal with. Bella hated being a bundle of anxiety. She absolutely hated it and told Camille this, too. It felt as if she could jump out of her skin at any time or burst out in tears at the same time.
It was arranged that she would do her testimony through a skype call from NCIS headquarters. It was secure and the briefing room was informal with large windows that would allow Bella to look around her and not feel locked up. And while she, or her situation, had anything to do with the Navy, Dwayne Pride wanted to help Henry Taylor’s long lost sister – yet again, because he owed him that much.
Dwayne Pride also owned a bar and Neal, Bella and the Michaels went to the bar a few times so that Bella could get to know Pride better. If you were from New Orleans, you’d know Dwayne Pride, he was a local legend and he always stuck to his word. Bella realized that he had a big heart, he was very laid back and a great cook.
Bella knew this, because Pride invited her and Neal over to the station to get herself familiar there and he had cooked them a meal which they ate in the briefing room with his second in command Christopher LaSalle. Unlike Peter, Pride and LaSalle actually made her forget that they were Suits, too, just… not dressed in a Suit and wearing a different badge.
Grant checked in with her a few times, saying he was close to discovering something new, finding evidence of something he wouldn’t say just yet. He wanted to be absolutely sure about this.
Bella visited the doctor the day before the trial and she needed to have more surgery on her hand as some bones hadn’t set properly and some nerves weren’t healing well so they wanted to check the blood flow and other stuff that she didn’t fully understand and didn’t particularly remembered because she was so busy with what was going to happen only a day later.
“State your name for the record, please.”
“Isabella Marie Cullen.”
“And what’s your relationship to the defendants?”
“I’m their baby sister.”
Bella had to explain the relationship to her siblings, how they worked, why she left and why she was testifying against them now. She had to stay available for the rest of the day and the rest of the week but she was only a call away from the NCIS building and a five minute walk. Liquid lunch was waiting for them at home.
“I am so proud of you,” Neal said as he put his arms around her as soon as they stepped into their home. “How are you feeling?”
“Slightly less terrified but still very much so,” Bella replied as she let out a breath. “I’m doing the right thing, right?”
“Yes. You’re solving this peacefully, not without any bloodshed on your part. That makes you better than them. You’re helping them to get what they deserve,” he kissed the top of her head. “What would you like dinner?”
“Surprise me,” she smiled up at him. “Anything I can do for you?”
“You can keep me company,” he lifted her into his arms and walked with her to the kitchen before sitting her down in one of the chairs at the bar. He poured her a drink before looking into the fridge to look what to make for food. “Roasted chicken with roasted vegetables?”
~o.O.o~
It took two weeks for the trial against her siblings to be concluded and them sentenced properly, and Bella felt a lot lighter. For a week, she was free to do whatever, her father’s trial wasn’t until next week. And she wanted to have some fun. However, now that she was free, she could have another surgery on her hand that they had wanted to do two weeks before but she couldn’t.
Luckily, she didn’t have to stay, but she hated feeling miserable and out of place. But she wasn’t going to show anyone that. It was normal to feel like shit after being knocked out and she had planned a romantic donkey pulled cart ride through New Orleans for her and Neal, followed by dinner at a fancy place that he’d appreciate.
Bella loved the look of surprise on his face. “I get the feeling I don’t tell you enough that I really appreciate you and how much I love you,” she said as they were walking home in the darkness. Music filling the streets, people laughing, smelling of alcohol. “You’re handling all of this so well, and you don’t have to.”
“I love you,” Neal replied, a bright smile on his face. “Why wouldn’t I stand right next to you while you go through all of this? We’re both going through this and once this is all over, you and I will both have new lives, in a gorgeous city with friends. No more looking over your shoulder, and you can finally start living. I can’t wait to see what will become of you without your family holding you down. Living without fear.”
“What if you don’t like me then?”
“Ha, as if,” he barked out a laugh. “I do have to admit, you’ve changed my life in so many ways and I never thought I could change, but you made it so easy and natural.”
“Nah, you had it in you,” Bella smiled at him and then stopped in him front of TrueTone, the bar belonging to NCIS agent Dwayne Pride. “I have another surprise for you. Right in there,” she thumbed over her shoulder towards the bar. “Are you ready for it?”
“What did you do?” Neal asked suspiciously as he allowed himself to be pulled towards the bar.
“I arranged another surprise,” she said happily. “And I think you’ll like it. It’s long over due,” she opened the door and pointed Neal towards one of the corners as she kissed his cheek. “Have fun!”
He looked at her confused before looking at where she was pointing at, and couldn’t believe his eyes. “Moz?” Neal laughed and hugged his friend. “You’re here!”
“Neal!” Mozzie said surprised. “I received an invitation from Shitface, expecting her to show up, but you’re here!” He then pulled Neal closer. “Did you know that there are cops in this bar?” He said in a hushed voice. “I counted at least three!”
“Yes,” Neal laughed as he pulled his friend down to sit. “How have you been, Moz?”
Bella sat down at the bar and smiled at Jimmy. He was Pride’s half-brother and taking care of the bar with him. “Could you send Neal and his friend a glass of wine?”
“I’ll happily pour you two glasses, Bella, but you’ll have to take them yourself,” she wanted to say something but he put his hand up to shut her up. “You can walk to them twice, I know you’re a one-armed bandit for the moment.”
Bella nodded as she watched Jimmy pour the two glasses and one by one, brought the glass over to Neal and his friend. The short, bespectacled, bald guy who looked like he was a conspiracy nut. Well, he was. And he looked the part.
“What is this wine?” Mozzie said as he sniffed it.
“Moz,” Neal playfully warned him. “You’re in a bar, you can’t expect top shelf.”
“No, this smells horrendous. Get me another one,” Mozzie said as he put the glass down. “This is how establishments like these make money, you know, cheap booze. It’s bad enough we’re meeting in a cop bar. Shitface has one strange sense of humor.”
“You’re such a snob,” Bella rolled her eyes at Mozzie. “If you want something else, there’s the bar,” she sat down in Neal’s lap and extended her left hand to Mozzie. “Hi, I’m Shitface. Well, not for much longer, but I’m her nonetheless,” she added before kissing Neal on the cheek. “Happy with your present?”
“Very,” he whispered in her ear. “But play nice.”
“I am playing nice.”
“You’re Shitface? I thought you’d be older!”
“Keep your voice down, Moz,” Neal said as he took a sip of his wine. “And there’s nothing wrong with this wine,” he added as he put his glass down and wrapped his arm around her. “This is Izzy.”
“And you’re together? You’re the person that changed Neal?”
“No? He’s perfect, he doesn’t need to change, but he wanted to,” Bella replied, trying not to get agitated. This was for Neal. She wanted to place nice.
“We’re going to retire anyway,” Neal shrugged.
“You’re what?” Mozzie said shocked. “Neal, you can’t retire. You’re far too talented to retire.”
Bella looked around, the bar was buzzing and there would be no chance of people overhearing them talking due to the music. “You can tell him,” she told Neal before kissing him again and got off his lap. “I’m going to sit at the bar.”
She watched from a distance as she nursed her iced tea. It was good that Mozzie was allowed to stay in Neal’s life after all of this was over. It just didn’t mean she had to like him. Then again, maybe they’d gone off on the wrong foot and the man would grow on her eventually. Neal already told her many times that the man was an acquired taste, but that he had also done a lot for Neal, so she was going to have to be nice.
And, for now, from a distance, because she wanted to take the shotgun that Jimmy had behind the bar and shoot Neal’s friend.
“Hey, Izzy, if you’re going to loiter,” Jimmy said as he pushed a tray of drinks in front of her. “At least make yourself useful and take this to that table over there.”
She eyed Jimmy for a moment and then the tray before looking back at him. “I can’t carry that, not without two hands!”
“Then bring it over, one glass at a time,” he winked at her. “I’m short-staffed at the moment, just do that one table? You’ll get a free glass of cola from me?”
“Why do I get the feeling you’re trying to teach me something?”
“I might be, or I might just be short-staffed,” he said as he pointed at the table again. “I don’t want you to look all bored at my bar while your boyfriend is catching up with a friend.”
Bella let out a breath and hopped off the chair before she started to walk back and forth to give that table their glasses. In theory, she could lift the tray with her left hand with no problem. She’d been a waitress before, plus her teachings had her balancing things all the time, but she had her other hand to catch herself when falling or to do a better job at lifting things. Bella was right handed, and she still couldn’t use her right hand. However, she was now feeling a little banged up in her cast so maybe something was healing.
She helped Jimmy for an hour or so, giving Neal plenty of time to explain things to Mozzie, and she had kept an eye on Mozzie’s face. His surprise, his worry, his concern and his sympathy. But most of all, his understanding.
However, after being out for a couple of hours with Neal and making sure he had a great time, Bella was finding it harder to ignore the feeling that she needed a nap. Or sleep. Whichever came first. She sat down next to Neal and gently took his hand. “Having fun?”
“Yes,” he smiled at her. “Why?”
“Then I’m going to send Cole a message to come and pick me up. You can catch up with your friend for a bit longer, I just don’t want him inside our home.”
“Or, Moz and I can continue to catch up in the morning and you and I are going home together.”
“Oh, no, by all means, take him,” Mozzie waved his hands in no particular direction. “I have all the time in the world and I’m going to enjoy New Orleans, perhaps search for a place with better wine and music. Call me,” he said as he rose to his feet with a smile. “Nice meeting you, Izzy and thank you for the trust.”
~o.O.o~
Neal went out with Mozzie the next day, leaving Bella alone in her home. While it was a lot safer now that the FBI had taken care of some of the immediate threats, it was still strange to be alone in her house. It was far too big to be alone and that was a strange realization as she bought this home with the sole purpose of being alone.
She had loud music playing throughout the house and she decided to do some chores. The laundry. Some cleaning. She’d do what she could. Bella often wondered what she was going to do after her father’s trial was over and she and Neal would be in WITSEC.
One of the terms was that she couldn’t access her money anymore, so it was a good thing that she’d set up pencoin accounts for her and Neal and she was slowly moving most of her money there. Not that the government knew about those accounts, but this was just in case she had to hand over all of her aliases.
Which was likely.
They didn’t have to do things anymore for the rest of their lives. Didn’t have to work, and just have fun with life, but Bella knew that both she and Neal were going to get restless. Maybe get in a little bit of trouble. Neal wanted to live like artists, and that wasn’t so bad. New Orleans and art would go really really well.
She didn’t know what to expect from a normal life and wasn’t sure if that would ever happen. She and Neal could always continue with their shenanigans, especially in aid of the Michaels should they need it, by creating new aliases and just keep going.
At least Neal could. If Bella didn’t get full functionality of her hand back, hacking was going to be out of the question because she’d need speed. Developing cool code and apps was something she could do in her own time though. So maybe not a lot would change.
Bella was just in the middle of yelling along with some Green Day when the bell of the tunnel door rang. Looking at the CCTV, she saw it was Grant. She turned down her music and buzzed him in. “Hey!” she called out to him. “I’m in the kitchen!”
“Of course you are, Grant called back and soon emerged around the corner with something in his hands. “Where’s Neal?”
“Out, why?”
“I found something and I already gave the original to John to hand in to the FBI, but I asked him if I could tell you first,” Grant said as he sat down at the kitchen counter. “But I think you want Neal around when I do tell you.”
“He’s out with a friend,” she said as she turned on the kettle. “Is it important? Something that I need to know?”
“I’d like to think so, yes. That’s why I handed it over to John, too.”
She let out a breath and nodded. “You were gone for weeks,” she said as she shot Neal a message to come home and bring Mozzie but leave him in the courtyard.
“I was,” Grant nodded. “Was fun. Cleaned up along the way. Found some skeletons that Carlisle likely intended to kept buried, so I gave those to John as well, however… this,” he said as he pat the file in front of him, “is going to blow your mind.”
“Then why wait until Neal gets here?”
“You’re impatient,” Grant laughed. “We wait until Neal gets here.”
She shrugged as she took out her tea kettle and put a bag of tea in it while still waiting for the water to boil. She put the sugar on the counter and a few mugs. Turning around, Bella took a large plastic container from the counter behind her and put it next to the tea with a big smile on her face. “Cookies. Made them myself,” she said proudly. “And the help of my KitchenAid, of course.”
Grant smiled and opened the container and happily took a cookie out of it. “Nice, thanks!” Grant took a bite off the cookie and spoke while he chewed. “So, any ideas of what you’re going to do after putting dear old Carlisle away for good? WITSEC, wasn’t it? And you’re allowed to say here.”
Bella nodded. “You’re staying as well.”
“New Orleans is my home, if I’m not away on assignment, I’m here, I already told you that.”
“I know, but it’s good to hear that again,” Bella smiled at him. “My whole world fell apart and continues to be a bit wobbly, it’s nice if some things stay the same, you know. At least just a little bit.”
Grant breathed out and nodded. “Yeah, I can understand that. Especially after everything. You chose your own family now, you’re making friends. You’re building your own life, you have the control.”
“And you belong in my life.”
“Don’t worry,” Grant smiled at her. “I’m never going to give you up, let you down or run around and desert you.”
“You’re rick-rolling me now? Seriously?” Bella laughed as she poured the hot water into the tea pot. “Wow.”
“I’m your brother, I have 15 years of trolling to catch up with, so you better be prepared, because I’m so going to put plastic wrap all over your toilet seat when you’re not looking.”
Neal had left Mozzie at a museum before rushing home. It was strange for Bella to send him a message to come home, but when he saw who was sitting at the kitchen counter, basically eating all the cookies Bella had made. “Hungry?”
“These are just too good, man,” Grant smiled at him. “Glad you could make it.”
“Yeah, of course,” he replied as he kissed Bella. “When my girl calls, I drop everything. Well, nearly everything,” he added with a smile. “Is your this man bothering you, ma’am?”
“Yes,” she said curtly as she looked at her brother. “He wants to tell me something but refused to do so without you present and I have no idea why.”
“Because I took this news okay-ish, but seeing as you spent your time only with the Cullens, this might hit you a little harder,” Grant replied as he played with the folder in front of him. “I thought it’d be better if Neal would be here, someone familiar.”
“Okay, now you’re scaring me,” Bella said as she reached over the counter to get the folder and opened it. In it were news clippings that were 25 years old mentioning abducted twins, a boy and a girl, who had been in an accident with their parents near Seattle. Parents were found dead on the scene but there was no sign of the twins. The police only knew about the twins because of their grandmother insisted that they had only been born two weeks prior to the crash.
The parents were two high-ranking officials in the little town of Forks, Washington and they were buried there. Honored.
There were also birth certificates of those twins. Geoffrey and Helen Swan. Another news clipping was an update after 10 years. And 20 years, with the decision of law enforcement putting the case to rest and declaring the twins dead as there was no living relative of those twins alive, they’d all died of natural causes or accidents.
She eyed Grant. “What’s this?”
“Keep digging,” he replied. “You haven’t gotten to the worst part yet.”
“Worst?” She wasn’t even sure why Grant was showing her these clippings, but kept on looking at the copies.
Neal kept quiet. If the stories Mozzie had told him were true, Esme Cullen had a hysterectomy after the birth of her youngest, Edward. If that was true, it was a fair possibility that these news clippings were about Bella and Grant. While he suspected Grant would be alright with this news, seeing as he’d been away from the Cullens for a long time and was raised by loving parents, he believed that Bella would take this discovery differently. Her life was already crumbling underneath her feet, this would just shatter it entirely.
But, it could also lit a fire inside of her to make sure that Carlisle wouldn’t see the sun ever again.
Hospital records of Esme undergoing a hysterectomy five years before Bella was born. Then birth certificates for Isabella Marie Cullen and Grant Charles Cullen, but even though these were copies, she saw that they were fake. It was so easy to spot that they were fake.
“Okay, so I get the fake birth certificates,” Bella said as she looked at Grant. “But why is this of any importance? Why did they keep this?”
“Come on, Bella, you’re smart, this isn’t rocket science.”
She let out a snort. “You think that the twins from these clippings is us? Grant, the birth dates, and the year, don’t match.”
“Obviously. The first thing about any kidnapping or changing of the facts,” Grant replied shaking his head. “Change the dates, make it look real, some razzle-dazzle and Bob’s your uncle. Or, in this case, Carlisle is your daddy. It’s only a couple of months difference.”
“I don’t believe this.”
“Which is why I came back only after I found something with familial DNA on it – I went to Forks for that, terrible place, and had a lab test it,” he retrieved a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. “We’re the dead Swan twins.”
“What? How? Why?”
“I dunno, maybe Agent Burke will find that out for us,” he replied calmly. “But what I do know is that we must have stumbled upon this when we were kids at some point and saw the word Swan.”
“Where did you find this?”
“Mount Denali.”
“Oh, I haven’t been there since… you died,” she said solemnly as she kept looking at the original birth certificates and reading the names of their supposed parents. “Do you mind if I keep digging? Maybe I can send the results over to Peter.”
“What else is there to find?”
“These news articles didn’t say anything about who they were, who we were supposed to be. There must be a reason why we were taken. How about looking at the police report of the crash?”
“The FBI can do that.”
“The FBI isn’t me,” she said angrily as she grabbed the folder and walked off to her computer room. “I may only have the function of one good hand, but I can still do what I am good at,” Bella muttered under her breath.
Neal watched Bella walk out of the kitchen and looked at Grant. “You didn’t give John anything, did you? They don’t know yet.”
Grant smirked. “Like Bella, I don’t trust the Suits and even with one hand, she’s better than Auggie. She’ll have the complete picture in a few hours and then we can send it off. She deserves this. She’s had everything taken out of her hands because there was simply too much. She needs a personal win. She needs to prove to herself that she’s still Shitface.”
“Look at you, being the psychologist.”
“Just looking out for my sister,” he replied as he grabbed another cookie. “Speaking of which… I always have someone else forge my stuff for me, but I could really use your help,” Grant said as he pulled another piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Neal. “Do you think you can replicate that painting for me? It’s for a future job, once this is all over. It needs to be able to pass inspection.”
“I don’t need busy work, you know,” Neal knew the painting quite intimately, having had painted it many times over. “I know I’m the best.”
“It’s because you’re the best I’m asking you. As I said, it’s for a future job but it needs to be able to pass all scrutiny.”
“Even carbon dating?”
“Yeah.”
“I love a good challenge,” Neal nodded. “No time pressure?”
“Nah, we’re all laying low until this shit is over. With the FBI involved with this, and the trial, things are getting a little bit too hot,” Grant replied. “Which is fine by me, gives me more time to dig up shit to hold against Carlisle for Bella. It’s the least I can do. I couldn’t have been a brother for her since we were nine, but now…”
“She thinks you don’t really feel that family connection.”
“But I do. I try not to. I’m not brave enough to have anyone in my life I can’t walk away from. The Michaels would understand and my adoptive parents would too,” Grant sighed as he leaned back in his chair and looked at Neal. “Or, you know, to have someone in your life you’d do anything for, so much that you’d actually get into trouble and have to fight your way out of to make sure that person is safe.”
“Oh, I understand,” Neal smiled knowingly. “Bella has this way with almost everyone, I guess. One look at her and you just want to protect her and want to make sure she doesn’t have to want for anything.”
“Yeah, and you’re the sucker who fell for that,” Grant grinned. “The damsel in distress.”
“Oh, no. She’s not a damsel in distress. A damsel, yes. But I think she’s stubborn enough to have taken down the Cullens all by herself if she hadn’t been so distracted by other people coming into her life.”
“Going after the Cullens alone would have killed her.”
“They almost did. Twice now,” Neal pointed out. “And this is why I don’t mind having to deal with the FBI or the US Marshals. Once this is all over, she will be safe.”
“It’s not going to be easy for her, Neal.”
“I know,” he nodded and let out a breath. “Seeing as she’ll be in her man-cave for a couple of hours, I’ll be cooking. Are you staying over?”
“Yeah, sure, why not.”
~o.O.o~
Bella looked over her wrought iron railing in the computer room when she saw Neal and Grant walk in with food, plates and drinks. “Food?” she asked confused. “Has it been that long?”
“Don’t worry, not going to bring it up to you,” Neal laughed as he set the food down on the table she had in her room. “But I figured you didn’t want to be away from your computer for too long, so Grant and I are coming to have dinner with you here.”
“Okay,” Bella replied as she turned around to grab a stack of papers and joined her boyfriend and her brother in the lower part of her computer room. “Anything you need me to do?”
“Eat and drink,” Neal replied as he pulled a chair back for her. “Did you find anything?”
Bella nodded and put the stack of papers on the table. “I think I’m almost completely down the rabbit hole. When you look at all the reports and files, you see that the accident that killed our birth parents wasn’t an accident. I’m pretty sure that if I dig deeper, I will see how Carlisle paid for it to happen.”
“You’re hacking the police?”
“Well, no, not exactly, seeing as Forks PD only went digital a few years ago. I’m looking for snippets online and as it turns out, someone else had been looking into it. A uh… Phil Dwyer,” she said as she took a sip of her drink. “Phil had copies of the reports, I don’t know how but he did. The food looks delicious, Neal.”
“We need to find a system for us to just maybe plan every meal of the day for a week or so,” Neal laughed.
“Why? I think it’s fun to just see what we have and make a meal out of it,” Bella shrugged. “Keeps you on your toes, at least,” she added with a playful smile on her face. “Anyway, Phil Dwyer was a close friend to the Swans. He started looking into the accident, quietly, and then got into an accident five years later. He didn’t die, he kept looking and at some point uploaded it to the internet for safekeeping. I found it.”
Bella took a bite of her food and sighed happily. “Geoffrey Swan was the mayor of Forks and his wife Helen a very important influencer. At least, on the surface. Helen had some dirty hands and upset a few people, all behind good Geoffrey’s back, of course. Phil suspected that the Swans were killed by members of a European crime family, hired by a family here in the States.”
“No way,” Grant said shocked. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Can’t say for sure it’s them,” Bella said calmly. “That’s what I’m looking for now.”
“Can’t you ask Phil?”
“He died ten years ago. No living relatives. He was considered to be the village idiot. Convenient, huh?” Bella took another bite of her food and smiled. “I know it’s morbid. But I don’t know these people and I suppose that if I find as much about them and the whole thing around them it’ll make sure that Carlisle will be dropped in a hole that he’ll never get out of. I’m going to be as thorough as possible.”
“To be honest,” Grant said as he took a sip of his beer. “I thought you’d take this the wrong way.”
“No. It’s just another piece of the puzzle. If Helen Swan screwed Carlisle over, I suppose she had it coming,” she then realized something as she sat back in her chair. “Huh. That would actually make so much sense. And it explains a lot when it comes to behavior towards his own kids or why he was so adamant in me staying behind or work from the shadows…”
“Would Garrett know?” Neal asked. “I mean, he and Carlisle were friends, right?”
“Wouldn’t Garrett have told me if he knew about this?”
“I dunno, would he? He did come across as wanting the best for you, so maybe if he knew about this, he’d have kept quiet because he didn’t want to hurt you.”
“If he does know about this, maybe you can persuade him to testify against Carlisle,” Grant pointed out.
“He would have told me,” Bella said, determined. “But sure, after I’ve emptied my plate, I’ll go and give him a call,” she said as she pointed to her computer with her fork. “It would be terribly convenient to have someone alive who knows about that Carlisle did to Geoffrey and Helen Swan. There’s no way we can be that lucky.”
“You’re not even surprised?”
Bella sighed and shook her head. “Nothing surprises me anymore at this point. I just hope that I’m right and that you’re wrong. I know Uncle Garrett. He’s a good guy, he’s done some bad things in the past, but he’s a good guy and he’s very overprotective over me. I haven’t been calling him because I want him to be safe, but this is something we need information on,” she then scrunched up her nose. “Oh, right, we have to go through Liam, first, because he hid Uncle Garrett somewhere safe and I don’t know how to get into contact with him.”
After dinner, she went back up to her perch, Grant and Neal in tow and she dialed Liam’s number from her masking software on her computer.
“Yeah?”
“Hey, Liam.”
“Lass! So good to hear your voice! Neal called me a few weeks ago after getting ya to th’hospital, how are ya?”
“I’m good, you?”
“Fit as a fiddle. What can I help ya with?”
“As you may know, the trial against my siblings has come and gone, and Carlisle’s trial is next,” Bella replied as she ran a hand through her hair. “I was kinda wondering if Uncle Garrett would be available for me to talk to about something that Grant found out?”
“Grant? As in ya brother Grant?”
“He knows about me?” Grant said surprised.
“Oh, it’s no secret that she’s half of a twin, lad, but that you’re still alive is a miracle.”
“Eh, not really.”
Bella could Liam walk away from where he was, opening a door and continuing to walk to open yet another door. “Hey, gotcha a call from Bells.”
“Bella, you need to save me, Liam’s holding me hostage.”
“Oh grow up, ya twat. I’m keeping ya safe. Ya not shackled to anything or locked away,” Liam scolded Garrett. “Once Carlisle is behind bars for good, ya can go and visit Bella in New Orleans.”
Bella hadn’t thought about that. She wasn’t sure if Garrett and Liam were included in the WITSEC deal of her knowing where she was. Ah, who cared? It wasn’t as if Garrett would allow that to stop him from coming around. “Yeah, that’s why I’m calling, actually,” Bella laughed, shaking her head. “Grant found something and I started to dig, and maybe you know something about this?”
Garrett let out a groan. “You know I don’t like talking about the stuff I did with your father.”
“I know, but when did you two actually decided to work together?”
“I dunno, a long time ago. You were already there, with Grant.”
“Do the names Geoffrey and Helen Swan mean anything to you?”
“Should it?”
“No,” Bella replied. “I wish it did, though, sort of, in a way. Grant found something, and all we have is the findings of a village idiot and fake papers and other circumstantial shit. Aside from a lab report proving that Grant and I aren’t Cullens.”
“What! Are you telling me that that asshole abducted you as children? Okay, that’s it. Tell your lawyer or your FBI friends that I want in on bringing him down. I’ll happily tell them everything I did for him. It’s time we nail that asshole even if that means that I’m going down as well. His recent actions already made me want to come over but Liam insisted I’d stay, but he’s not going to hold me back now. Kidnapping children? I draw the line at that!”
“You’re an ass,” Liam scolded Garrett. “You’ll be locked up for ya own crimes!”
“I don’t give a fuck, Liam. You’re more than welcome to come with me to the US and watch things from afar, but Carlisle needs to fucking pay.”
“Aye, I agree.”
“So tell who you need to tell, Bella, we’re coming to bury Carlisle along with you.”
~o.O.o~
WITSEC wasn’t so bad. She got to keep everything in her life, including her own home and her friends, and for the first time in her life she felt free. There was no cloud hanging over her head like she had felt in France, there was no pressure, no stupid rules. No, just her and Neal in their home on Dumaine Street.
Peter and Auggie had transferred to New Orleans, and Peter’s family had moved with him. Elizabeth was a wonderful woman and Neal was just over the moon with his tiny namesake. Bella had to admit, seeing Neal with a toddler made her ovaries rattle a bit, but she was nowhere near ready for a child. She was old enough, sure, but she didn’t feel like she could be a good mother. For now, babysitting Tiny Neal worked.
Maybe they should get a dog from the rescue center or something and see if they could keep it alive.
Neal was working on something for Grant, but nobody was to know, especially not Peter, and Neal even joked that it felt just like old times, doing things right under people’s noses for different reasons this time. And Bella happily watched him work while she did her hand exercises.
While she didn’t regain full mobility back over her hand, she could still move the middle three fingers and that was fine for now. It wasn’t necessary to hit the space bar on a keyboard with two thumbs anyway, and she could train her ring finger to hit all the places she’d hit with her pinkie. But, she now also had to learn how to do things left handedly, because grabbing things were a bitch, so painting was out of the question now too, and that sucked.
Garrett had made a deal with the FBI. He didn’t want immunity or any kind of special treatment, but he had offered his services to them so he didn’t actually go to jail. Instead, he was sent back to Paris to work there, seeing as he spoke the language.
Bella and Neal spent Christmas at the Michaels with Grant. They celebrated with good food, presents and good music. It felt special to Bella that the Michaels included them in their family tradition of writing wishes down on a piece of paper and burning it. It was similar to blowing out a candle and making a wish while doing so, but this felt different. It was special.
Life felt good. Different. Carefree. Fun.
For New Years, Neal had the perfect gift; they were going to visit every Disney park across the world, spending a week in every city so they could visit the park whenever they wanted to, and on their way back to New Orleans they made a stop at Dollywood.
They were away for two months and of course, they didn’t quite behave. Tourists were so easy to manipulate and pickpocket and she and Neal managed to do it so easily.
Upon return to New Orleans, Cole needed Bella’s help with something for a new job and just like that, she and Neal were doing back to doing what they loved best, just not in public, but she and Neal could definitely help with forging papers, hacking and other things that needed be done.
It was good living in The Big Easy, and Bella never ever wanted to leave.
*THE END*