Bring Him Home Chapter 40
It took Esme about ten minutes to stop laughing after we showed her the clip of her with all her different so called lovers. I was shocked at first because I wasn't expecting laughter, anger maybe, but not laughter.
"How ever did you get these?" she asked as she watched the slide show again.
"We met with Caius Volturi this morning and this was to be another of video clip he was planning on uploading" I explained
"Oh that would have caused quite a stir with the wives and partners wouldn't it?" she said suddenly realising I thought the enormity of it.
"Probably but then again only you can tell us if any of this is true" Jasper said
"JASPER!" I couldn't believe he could imply anything of the sort, Esme wasn't anything like the monster Mrs Hunter was painting.
Just for a second I had a fleeting picture in my mind of a different Esme, but I shut it down instantly, I knew her better than that, she definitely wasn't the husband beating beast she was being portrayed as.
"It's okay Bella I understand he has to ask, now get a pen and paper and I will give you names and any other information I can remember"
She looked at the slides a few more times before starting to write.
"OK if you look at slides 3,5,9 and 11 you'll see I have the same dress on, I have a shrug on in one of the pictures and my coat in another of the pictures but they were all taken at the same event. I think it was a fundraiser at the hospital for the local battered wives safe house. The first guy is a doctor at the hospital, the second one is on the board of the charity, the third is the husband of one of my friends and fourth is my cousin."
She went on and giving Jasper names and where she could vague dates to the events she had attended.
"There is another video but it is a little bit sensitive, do you want to watch it now or later?" he asked.
"Jasper, I've just sat through and watched as my marriage was declared ‘open' and a free for all, what could be worse? I'll might as well watch it and get it over with "
"Esme the other one is a lot more personal. Mrs Hunter accuses you of beating James repeatedly and him only hitting you the once in self-defence" I explained as I watched the colour drain out of Esme's face.
"SHE DOES WHAT?" she shouted, the volume so loud that I just knew Judy would be in here quickly to see what was happening to her friend. Sure enough not five seconds later Judy burst into my office shouting
"What the fuck is going on in here, Esme are you ok?" Judy walked up to her and Esme stood and walked into her outstretched arms. Judy held her for a minute or two and all the time I could hear her softly talking to her. When they broke apart Esme came and sat down and Judy stood behind her protecting her almost.
As Jasper pressed play both he and I watched Esme's reactions as she watched Mrs Hunter tell her story. It was clear from her body language that Esme did not know about Victoria and James's relationship or that they had been high school sweethearts. I presumed it was true or Caius wouldn't have allowed it in the clip in the first place. Esme flinched when Victoria explained about Esme being a husband beater and I could see Judy was resting her hands on Esme shoulders to let her know she was there supporting her. As soon as the clip finished I waited for Esme to speak but she just looked down at the table top. My heart broke for her, had she not gone through enough already without having all this piled on her as well? What sort of world do we live in where people can hurt and lie so easily? My thoughts turned to Edward and I wondered where he was and what he was doing today.
"Are these clips going to be released?" Esme asked as she started to stand up.
"No, Caius assures me they aren't and he will destroy them both as soon as he can" Jasper explained as he once again packed away his laptop.
"Esme if you need to go home or to go and see the counsellor I'm happy for you to go, just do what you need to do"
"Thanks Bella but I'm fine, to be honest I'm probably better being here than just brooding at home"
With that her and Judy left my office and I looked over at Jasper.
"I'm really ready for this to be over Jasper" I said with a sad smile on my face.
"I know Bella and we are nearly there. We just need to tie up a few loose ends, one being I haven't managed to find Sam Black yet and until I know where he is I won't rest. I've also had some interesting results from my friend at the lab late last night, there was saliva all over the half eaten chocolates, do you know a Leah Clearwater?"
"The only Leah I know is a girlfriend of Jacob Black. He introduced us at the diner he took me to for dinner and asked if I was interested in a threesome with her"
"Classy" was Jasper reply as he tried to supress a smile.
"Well her DNA is all over the chocolates, she is in the system but the other DNA we found wasn't in the system so we don't know who that belongs to"
"My best guess would be Jacob, I bet these were her chocolates and he has just used them to send me the clippings, but then again why would Jacob send me clippings about Edward?"
"That is the missing piece Bella and as soon as we find that out all of this should be over"
"Just out of curiosity why is Leah in the system?"
"I haven't had chance to have a good look yet but it was a closed case something that happened several years ago. I do intend to look further into it."
"Ok, could you do me a favour? When Edward was beaten up in the park can you find out if they took any DNA samples from him at the hospital? No one has ever said if they caught anyone or even tried to catch anyone for his assault."
A lightbulb seemed to go off in Jasper's head as he suddenly started to type frantically on his phone.
"Bella, you are a genius" was all he said as he walked out of the office shouting goodbye to the girls and Alice as he left.
By six o'clock I just wanted to curl up and eat ice cream but I had to get ready for my date, I couldn't let Edward down and I did want to see him. So after showering and slipping on my favourite jeans and sloppy jumper I was ready to go, a quick application of mascara and lip gloss I was just brushing my hair when I heard the knock on the door.
"Wow your keen your ten minutes early" I said as went to open the door and let him in.
I still needed to put my boots on and grab a jacket so without even waiting for him to answer I turned my back and went to put on my boots.
"Come in Edward I'm just about ready" I shouted.
"Cheating on me already fiancée, and here I am ready to set the wedding date"
I stopped dead as I realised it was Jacob and not Edward at my door.
"What the hell are you doing here and how the hell did you even get upstairs?"
"Oh Bella I'm your fiancée, the doorman downstairs was only too happy to help me set up the little surprise I have for you."
"That's rubbish, the guys downstairs would know if I was expecting anyone over I would have put their name on the list."
"But Bella it's not a surprise if you are expecting me now is it?"
With that he pushed passed me and walked into my home.
"So fiancée it's nice to finally see the inside of your home, I can tell I'm going to be very happy here when I move in."
I looked at him and for the first time wondered if he was really stupid or actually very dangerous. Did this guy actually believe I was his fiancée or was it all an act? I really couldn't tell.
"Will you please stop referring to me as your fiancée because we both know that is something that will never, ever happen. How is Leah by the way?"
"Oh she's fine, you know I bet there is enough room for her to move in as well. How many bedrooms do you have here? If we all shared though we would only need one, so it's irrelevant really"
"Are you mad? Just leave Jacob I'm expecting my friend any second and we are going out so I need you to leave" I started walking towards the door to open it.
"Mr Edward Cullen, multiple rapist and mother killer, oh I look forward to meeting him" he said as he sat down on the couch and put his feet up on my coffee table.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo