FAÇADE Chapter 17

Every day is one more inch of a slow blade sinking in

Vision fading, suffocating inside my own skin

But just remember that I warned you, my will can never break

I’m fighting a stranger in my eyes, I know that only one of us will survive

If I can’t save us I've got to save myself.

~ Skylar Grey, Slowly Freaking Out

When the death toll rose higher than expected.

Days passed and nothing happened. Bella was more and more absent, literally as well as figuratively. She was more often gone from the apartment, but when she was there she didn't speak to me unless it was to ask what I'd heard about the Cullens or the shipment. I'd heard nothing, really, which bothered me in a way. Why weren't the rumors flying like they'd been before? Was there nothing left to talk about? Surely Emmett betraying Jasper should be big news.

Jasper didn't come back to tail me on my rounds. Emmett didn't come back to my doorstep to kill me, and as far as I knew there wasn't a bounty on my head. True to her word, Bella wasn't dancing anymore. She'd told me as much when I asked but didn't elaborate on what exactly she was doing. If she was home she would dress all in black and leave late at night. I found myself waiting up for her, unable to sleep until I knew she was safe. It was becoming irritating, stressful, and ridiculous.

It was the calm before the storm; I knew that without being told. Jake was frustrated at the stall in the investigation, urging me to find proof against Carlisle for something, anything, so we could put this damn thing to rest. All I had was hearsay about the lawyer he'd killed. Carlisle kept his hands pretty clean for a mob boss. I thought of all Bella had told me about him and realized that either she was lying or covering for him. There was simply no way he was lily white in a world where people bought and sold evil like it was sitting on a supermarket shelf. Angry at myself for the obvious shit I'd missed, I thought back to exactly what she'd said. He was inherently good, trying to get out of the business by letting Bella take over. He was willing to let her kill his own sons but was disappointed when she killed Riley Biers. Either he was delusional, or it was all a cover for something.

I hated that I'd let her lift her skirt and cloud my judgment. I questioned my feelings for her, questioned my loyalty and integrity to the bureau. Questioned whether any of this bullshit had been worth it. Basically, I had a meltdown. I had to figure shit out so I could save my ass when this all blew up in my face, and it would. There was no doubt about that. I could only mitigate the damage at this point. The ship was sinking, the captain was stoned, and the rats had fled.

Bella had to know she couldn't keep this Family running after I turned in my evidence. She was going to prison, Carlisle was going to prison. Jasper and Emmett would be dead by then, if I didn't go back on my word and put an end to it all right now. Surely she knew that. Surely she couldn't weasel her way out of this one like she had everything else. Surely she didn't expect me to bail her out of this mess again? Frantic pacing turned into beating my fists onto my mattress. I straightened and pulled my hair until the pain brought some clarity.

I wanted to help her, but it was beyond my ability in the end. It wasn't up to me what happened to the players in this fucked up game. The state would decide what to charge them with after I gave my statements and wrote my reports. What good was worrying about someone I couldn't save?

The landline began to ring. That number was only used in the most dire emergencies; it had never rung before, not one time.

I rushed into the kitchen and snatched the receiver from the cradle before it could stop its shrill noise.

“Yes?”

“Bella needs you at the house. You remember the way?” It was Felix, gruff and to the point as always.

“Yeah. I'll be there.”

Adrenaline had me focused down to a pinpoint. I grabbed my Glock, my wallet, and my keys. I took the stairs, bounding down at a breakneck speed until I hit the garage level. The stupid Cadillac had been brought back looking as sorry as usual two days after it was eaten up with bullets. She was slow, but she got the job done as I headed for Bella's. I checked my mirrors repeatedly, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. I circled the block before her turn-off, ensuring that I wasn't followed as well as looking for anyone to pull over and wait for me to come back around. Unless they were hiding with their lights off and drove that way too, there wasn't anyone following me.

I punched the gate code in harder than necessary, stopping just inside to ensure it closed behind me before driving around to the garage. The house was lit up like every light was on and the garage was open.

My heart was in my throat by then, but my mind was in the game. Whatever it was, it had to be damn serious. I threw open the car door without even thinking of the keys and pushed my way into the mudroom.

“Hello?”

I didn't see anybody, but there had been another car in the garage that I didn't recognize. A trail of blood brought my hand to my gun, and I followed it with my eyes trained down the barrel and focused on what I could hear. Crying, talking, and something I couldn't identify. The trail became wider, smeared and full of footprints. I walked slowly and carefully next to it, stopping to check around each corner before proceeding.

There had been no answer when I called out, but now I moved silently, listening for who could be here with Bella. I was positive it was her I could hear crying, and that was the direction I was heading. The kitchen was a huge mess as I passed by; towels stained red, shoes in a men's style, and a bowl of gruesome red. I walked slowly and carefully down the hall toward what I believed to be Bella's bedroom.

I heard Felix say something. His voice was unmistakable. “Bella, you had to know this was a possibility.”

“That doesn't make it okay,” she sobbed loudly. She sounded broken.

It didn't sound like Felix had taken her hostage in her own home and lured me here, and that was the only reason for me to be so guarded. I peered around the doorway just in case, and the sight had me relaxing my arms and simply standing there for a moment.

Garrett was laid out on Bella's bed. He was wearing jeans and a bullet proof vest, his shoes missing. There was a fairly massive hole in the armor he must not have realized his foe could penetrate. His face and hair were covered in dried blood. Bella was similarly covered in the grisly red smears, tears leaving clean streaks on her cheeks. She rocked back and forth, clutching her stomach; with every forward motion the weapon in her hand clanged on the bed frame. Felix stood near the foot of the bed, watching over the two of them like a sentry.

“Let me get your painkillers, Bella,” Felix said in a voice that suggested it wasn't the first time he'd offered.

Her head shook hard. “No! Why should I feel relief? I got him killed!”

I decided it was as good a time as any to make my presence known. “I'm sure he knew what he was getting himself into.”

Both heads whipped in my direction. I re-holstered my weapon and stepped into the bedroom. Bella looked like she didn't know what to say.

“Tony.” That was all Felix said before leaving the room. I truly thought he knew my real identity by then.

I looked back down at Bella as she sat there on the edge of her bed next to a dead man. She was still crying, and she was a huge mess. Without a word, I did what I'd done after Emmett had put his hands on her. I went to the bathroom and ran hot water in the tub, then went back to the bedroom and picked her up. When she was standing in the bathroom with me, I stripped her of her bloody clothes. I had to pry her gun from her hand and then I cleared it and set it next to the sink. Bella never spoke, just whimpered as I picked her up again to lower her into the water. That was when I noticed her thigh.

“Goddammit, Bella.” I felt around the bullet wound, gently palpating the reddened flesh.

“It's nothing,” she whispered.

“Nothing but a fucking bullet hole near a major artery. No big deal.” I tried to rein in my anger, but it built until I was livid. “What the fuck were you thinking?” I shouted.

Her eyes were glassy and she didn't respond. I heard movement behind me, turning to see Felix with a prescription bottle and a glass of water.

“Thanks.” I took them both and set them on the floor near me. The vicodin Bella had offered me such a long time ago would come in handy now.

She glared at me as I held them both out, so I grasped her chin in one hand and pushed the pill past her lips. I had to work to get the glass without letting her go and then dribbled water through the small space I’d created between her lips.

“Why are you so goddamn stubborn?” It was a rhetorical question, one that I doubted even she had the answer to. “Swallow the fucking pill before you go into shock, Isabella.”

Her mouth opened and I tipped more water into it. Her throat moved as she hopefully followed instructions instead of faking it. I used the empty glass to scoop water over her head, watching the liquid in the tub change to pink and then muddy red. Realizing Bella wasn't going to participate I drained the tub and turned on the shower, climbed in with her and started bathing her like she was a child.

Felix was there again, handing me towels as I turned off the water. He pulled Bella onto the rug and dried her, and I found a new respect for the man that I thought was a mere bodyguard. He carried her off as I tried to dry myself with wet clothing on, but he came back with clothes that might actually fit me. I didn't want to know who they belonged to, and I didn't really care. I found Bella and Felix in the kitchen, her on the table and him standing next to her with a roll of bandages and medical tape.

“Anybody wanna tell me what happened tonight?”

“Bella and the Garrotter ambushed a shipment. They took out the men one by one, but they had armor piercing rounds. Garrett’s Kevlar couldn't save him and Bella was obviously hit in the thigh. She managed to kill the last guy and drag Garrett to the car. She drove him back here and called me, but there was nothing I could do for him.” Felix spoke as if he was reciting a recipe as he methodically wrapped Bella’s leg.

“It was the shipment we set up to look like Emmett was double crossing his brother. Garrett sent pictures of the crates and Emmett’s men unloading them to Jasper before we started shooting. We were in the rafters with rifles, and we had good coverage for awhile. If it hadn't been for that one guy with the Beretta, we would have had them.” Tears rolled down Bella’s face as she recounted the events of the night.

How was I supposed to mesh the guns-blazing killer with the woman that cried over a brutal enforcer? He died on her watch, helping her with something that was important to her, and that was what counted in her eyes.

“What are you going to do now?” I asked her as I rubbed my temples, hard.

Her eyes almost always held a haunted look in them, and it was more pronounced that night. “I’m moving forward as planned. By now, Jasper thinks Emmett ordered a weapons shipment without telling him. If Jasper thinks Emmett is squeezing him out for more power and more money, he won’t hesitate to kill his brother. That’ll be one less Cullen for me to worry about.”

Felix set Bella on the floor, and she was wrapped in the towel he’d dried her with. She stood unsteadily on one foot, and I couldn't help the surge of emotions, despite my earlier convictions to no longer let them rule my actions. I picked her up, ignored the tightening in my chest as she curled into me, and carried her to the guest room. She dropped her towel and pulled the sheet off the bed, cocooning herself in it before sinking to the bed and closing her eyes tightly.

“Stay with me?” she whispered, and I found that I couldn't deny her request.

As I curled my arm around her, fully clothed on my part and on top of what was left of the covers, I thought about what was falling down around me. The death toll was rising, and we were three against the Family. I didn't trust Carlisle, despite Bella’s reassurances, and Felix might not be loyal to me in the slightest, but he was to Bella. That made him an ally, but a blind one. He wouldn't stop her, and apparently I wouldn’t either. If Bella was unstoppable, we were all doomed to add to the body count.