Endless Night: Chapter 12 - Suspicions

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Chapter 12 – Suspicions

Tanya's POV

It only took a week before Jacob called and asked me to come back up to Forks to talk. Honestly, I was surprised it took that long. I figured he'd crack a day or two after our fight.

I pulled my car into the driveway of his house. Compared to some families on the reservation, the Blacks were fairly well off. Billy owned his own business, making custom-designed log cabin houses for people throughout the western half of Washington.

I didn't notice the Jetta parked on the street until I was getting out of the car. No fucking way. He couldn't be that dumb.

It turned out he was.

"Hey!" Jake held the screen door open. "I was starting to wonder if you weren't coming after all."

"Had I known you had company I might have reconsidered," I said, crossing my arms over my chest protectively. "What is she doing here?"

Jake looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Her and Edward are in town for the weekend and she stopped by to catch up. I wasn't expecting her."

"Make her leave," I hissed through my teeth.

"Jake…" Bella's voice drifted off when she came around the corner and saw me standing in the doorway. "Oh, hi Tanya. Jake didn't tell me you were coming over."

"Likewise."

"Um, I think I'm going to go." Bella shoved her hands in her pockets and turned to look at Jake. "I'll be back in three weeks for spring break. Maybe I'll see you then?"

Spring break…

"Yeah, maybe!" Jake gave her an awkward one-armed hug and moved aside so she could get through.

"You're not going to Europe with the Cullens?"

My question took her by surprise. "No, I decided not to."

"You're passing up a week in Europe with Edward to come and sit around Forks?" I did nothing to hide the shock in my voice.

"Tanya, I don't really think that's any of our business."

I glared at Jake. "I suppose you're right." I turned to face Bella once again. She looked down at her shoes and shifted nervously. "I guess Edward stopped being my business when he started seeing you behind my back."

"Tanya!" Jake put his arm around Bella's shoulders and steered her out the door, whispering goodbye before she jogged across the lawn to where her car was parked. He whirled around to look at me with anger flashing in his eyes. "What the hell was that?"

"The truth." I made my way to the living room and sat in Billy's favorite recliner.

"Yeah, well maybe next time you could try and be a little more tactful in your delivery." He sat on the loveseat across from me and ran a hand through his freshly cut hair.

"I'm sorry, Jake, that I don't want to be tactful to the woman who stole my boyfriend," I spit out sarcastically.

"Look, I didn't invite you here so we could argue." Jake met my eyes and his expression softened. "I really like you, Tanya. I want to get to know you better, I want to keep spending time with you…"

"But?"

"But I don't want to have to cut Bella out of my life completely to do that." He stood up and crossed the room, coming to a stop in front of the large bay window that overlooked the backyard.

"Well, you're in luck then." I stood and joined him at the window. "I've done some thinking since last week, and you were right – we've only known each other for a few weeks and I'm in no position to tell you who you can and can't be friends with."

He turned and looked at me. "You're not just saying that to make me happy, are you?"

"Nope." I shook my head and rested my hands against the windowsill. "If you want to be friends with Bella, that's your choice. I just don't want to be around her or Edward – at least not anytime soon."

"Wow." Jake wrapped his arm around my shoulder and squeezed me against him. "That was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be."

I angled my body toward him and laid my palm on his chest. "I didn't come here to fight, either," I purred. Jake tucked his thumb beneath my chin and tilted my face upward, planting a soft kiss on my lips.

"Can I take you out to dinner or do you have to be somewhere?" He wrapped both arms around my waist and pulled me close to him.

"I think dinner is doable." I almost cringed at how thick I was laying on the sugar coating. I was fairly certain any normal girl would feel at least somewhat guilty about using Jacob like I was. Of course, I wasn't normal and I didn't plan on sticking around to face the fallout my actions would create.

"Do you mind if we just go to the diner?" My expression fell and he continued quickly. "There's a bonfire down on the beach later and I was hoping we could go there after."

I thought for a moment. "Did you invite Bella?"

"Nope," he said, shaking his head. "Honestly, she wasn't here for very long before you came. I didn't even mention it to her."

"Good." I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face in his chest. Jake ran his fingers through my hair and rested his chin against the top of my head, sighing in contentment.

Three weeks…

In three weeks the Cullens would head off to Europe, leaving Bella here … alone. Which meant I, too, needed to be in Forks.

Suddenly everything clicked in my head. I resisted the urge to laugh out loud. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of this sooner!

It seemed so simple, yet it was so complex. It wouldn't be easy, but it wouldn't be impossible, either. 

With Edward's family out of the country, I'd have open access to Bella, at any time and any place of my choosing.

This couldn't have worked out more perfectly.

I had three weeks to get my shit together.

Then, I knew exactly what I needed to do.

Edward's POV

Forks was dead, as always.

I'd left immediately after class on Wednesday afternoon. Bella was under the impression that I had 

gone to visit my parents, which wasn't entirely untrue. I stayed with Carlisle and Esme every time I came home, but between their work schedules and my miniature investigations, I'd barely spent any time with them.

I was bound and determined to prove both Alice and Rose wrong about Tanya. Regardless of what anyone else thought, I was positive there was something sinister going on in that twisted mind of hers, and I wanted – needed – to figure out what it was before there was a whole country and an ocean separating Bella and I.

Alice tried repeatedly to convince Bella to come with us, but she just wouldn't budge in her decision. 

I understood where she was coming from, wanting to spend time with Charlie and all, but I wished she would just let my family spoil her this one time and ease my fears. It was a selfish of me, but I knew I wouldn't be able to enjoy a minute of my week long vacation because I'd be worried about her the entire time.

I stretched my legs out as far as the Audi would allow and craned my neck so I could see the back of the Black house. Tanya had shown up an hour ago, followed by Seth, Rachel, and Maria. The lights were on in the basement, but other than that, there were no signs of activity or movement in the place.

I sighed in frustration and turned the car on. I was on the way back to the house when my phone started to ring.

"Hey, baby."

"How is Forks?" I immediately felt bad when I heard Bella's voice. I needed to get back to Seattle, but I'd become a man obsessed.

"Eh, it's about as exciting as it always is. How was class?"

"I'm fairly certain I failed my math midterm."

"Even after the all-nighter you and Alice pulled?"

Bella laughed. "It was probably the all-nighter that killed it for me. If I recall correctly, we spent more time at Hopps than we did at the library."

I shook my head and chuckled, pulling the car to a stop at the top of the gravel driveway. "Remind me to let Alice know what I think about her studying methods when I get back tomorrow."

"I'm going to be too busy reminding you of why you should never leave me alone in Seattle again," she murmured in a sexy voice. I climbed out of the car and adjusted my now-hard cock.

"I love having a girlfriend who dishes out the best kind of torture."

"If you're not careful I just might show up in Forks and inflict my torture on you in your parents' house."

My dick twitched against my thigh. "Don't make threats you can't keep, sweetheart."

"Who says I won't keep it?" Her voice was laced with a deliciously perfect combination of sarcasm and lust.

"I'll believe it when I see it." I jogged up the porch steps and went to open the door, but Esme beat me to the punch.

"Then I better let you go so I can get on the road. I'd hate to leave you in a state of disbelief."

I smirked. I knew Bella well enough to know she wouldn't make the trip to Forks if it were just for one night. "You get brownie points if you sneak through my bedroom window."

"I love you, Cullen."

"I love you too."

Esme was leaning against the banister with a big smile on her face. "I don't think I've ever seen you so happy, Edward."

"I don't think you have, either." I kicked off my shoes and headed up to my dad's study. I found him with his nose in a book and a glass of red wine on his desk, just as I expected.

"Heard anything new?"

Carlisle looked up at me and shook his head. "Nothing at all. Maybe it's time to give this a rest, 

Edward."

I slumped down in one of his oversized leather armchairs and fisted my hair. "You sound like Alice and Rose."

"I'm not trying to minimize your worries, but we've been looking into this new arrangement for weeks and we have yet to find anything." Carlisle pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back in his chair. "I think that you should try to enjoy your time with Bella, and if anything out of the ordinary comes up, we'll look into it."

"But-" Carlisle held his hand up and cut me off.

"No buts, Edward. I'm officially forbidding you from coming back to Forks without Bella before we fly out."

"Fine. I get it." I rose from my chair and stalked angrily to my own room, where I flopped down on my bed and slung my arm over my eyes.

At the end of the day, I couldn't blame Carlisle for insisting I stay in Seattle. I knew he and Esme were both concerned about Tanya, but at the same time neither of them liked the fact that I hid my whereabouts whenever I traveled back home. I didn't like keeping secrets from Bella any more than my family liked keeping them for me. I had every intention of telling her about all of my traveling, but not until after I knew she was safe.

I slid my phone out of my pocket and sent off texts to Alice and Emmett before cozying up on my side and closing my eyes.

I didn't realize I'd dozed off until I heard a loud tap-tap-tapping on my window. I jumped out of bed, crossed the room, and pulled the drapes back. I was greeted by a familiar set of brown eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?" I pushed the window up and stood aside so Bella could climb through.

"Thanks for leaving it unlatched!" She closed the window and pressed her small frame against me. "I told you I wouldn't leave you in a state of disbelief."

"I thought you were joking." I pushed my nose into her hair and inhaled the familiar, sweet scent. All my worries about Tanya seemed to fade now that Bella was there.

"So did I, but I missed you." Bella backed up a few steps and brushed the snowflakes off her coat.

Her pretty, pink, mid-thigh length pea coat, which at the moment was all she appeared to have on aside from a pair of suede Uggz boots.

"Are you trying to kill me?"

She smirked and stepped out of her boots. She sauntered slowly towards me, much like a hunter would stalk its prey. "Kill you? No. Torture you? Yes."

I licked my lips and backed up, falling onto the bed. "This is far too enjoyable to be torture."

Bella laughed wickedly and popped open each of the buttons on her coat. She shrugged her shoulders and let the thick fabric fall to the floor. I was greeted by the sight of my incredibly beautiful girlfriend wearing nothing but a pair of pink satin panties.

I sat up and reached for her, but she backed away and shook her finger at me. "Ah, ah, ah. You. 

Can't. Touch."

I bit my lip and resisted the urge to grin like a fucking idiot. Bella took two steps forward and placed her palms flat against my chest, pushing me onto the bed and dropping to her knees in front of me.

As she unzipped my jeans, I couldn't help but wonder if I'd been picked up and transported to heaven.

Because if this was what heaven was like, then I was incredibly disappointed that I'd never have a chance to get there.

Bella's POV

It had been two weeks since I saw Tanya at Jacob's house, and I still couldn't get the sinister look she gave me off my mind.

When Alice invited me to go accompany her on a pre-Europe shopping trip, my stomach twisted in knots and an icy feeling of dread chilled my veins. The Cullens didn't seem to think I had anything to be concerned about when it came to Edward's ex. According to Rose and Alice, Tanya was handling the situation incredibly well, given her temperament and history. Even Esme called to reassure me she'd spoken to the Denali's and Tanya would be spending the break in Alaska with Jake.

I couldn't tell whether Edward was on or off what I'd come to refer to as the "Tanya is harmless" bandwagon. If his behavior meant anything, I guessed he was probably off, or at least teetering to that side. He started acting different shortly after Jacob called to tell me he and Tanya were a couple. 

I couldn't quite put my finger on exactly how he'd changed, but Edward seemed more alert to our surroundings, and contrary to what he thought, his frequent trips to Forks hadn't gone unnoticed.

This was where my mind was when Alice and I set out on what was sure to be one of the longer shopping trips we went on.

"I still can't believe you declined to go on this trip!" Alice had been pestering me about going to Europe ever since I gave Esme my final answer.

"Well you better start believing it, because come March 17 your family will be in the air on the way to Italy while I am in my car on the way to Forks."

Alice pouted. "Really, Bella, that's so lame! Unless Johnny Depp is going to be staying at the local bed and breakfast that week, I can't think of a single reason why staying in Forks would be more appealing than exploring a country you've never been to before."

I sighed. "I'm not letting your parents foot the bill for me to jet set around the globe." We'd had this argument about ten times over the course of the last two weeks.

"You're letting Edward take you to Paris," she pointed out. I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, leaning my head back against the seat.

"That's completely different, Alice. Edward arranged that trip as a gift."

"So? Just think of Italy as a belated birthday present from my parents then."

I shook my head. "I don't operate that way, Alice. I wasn't raised to take hand-outs, even when they're backed with the best of intentions." I looked out the window. There was no need for me to feel embarrassment, but I did anyway. "I can't afford to go to Italy, therefore I'm not going to Italy. End of discussion."

"Fine, fine, fine, I get it." Alice turned into a parking ramp and found a spot. A minute later I was hustling to keep up with her

"What are we shopping for exactly?" I probably should have asked that question before agreeing to come with.

Alice rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Everything and anything! You can't possibly think I would step on the plane in an old wardrobe!"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and laughed instead. "You're right, Alice. I mean, all of Italy will probably be lined up at the Rome airport just to see what you're wearing."

"Fuck you, Valley Girl!" Alice joked, swatting my butt with her designer clutch. I stuck my tongue out and blew a raspberry kiss at her and skipped ahead to the escalator.

By the time we made it to the fifth store I was completely exhausted.

"My feet are sore," I whined, sitting on the edge of a t-shirt display at Gap.

"Wah, wah, wah." Alice flitted around the store, grabbing anything and everything that looked like it might fit her tiny frame. She stopped and tossed a handful of hangers in my lap and pointed at the fitting rooms. "Try those on. Forks needs at least one fashion forward person there while I'm gone."

"You're joking, right?"

She placed one hand on her hip and narrowed her eyes. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

Stupid bossy shopping addict.

"That wasn't so bad now, was it?" Alice asked me when we were back at the car trying to fit our purchases into the trunk.

"I don't know, Ali, I'm not the one who maxed out my credit card."

"Oh, please, Bella, it would take a lot more than one shopping trip to max out anything in my wallet." Alice winked and tossed me the keys. "You're better at this winter driving shit than me."

"Just think, four months ago you were practically tearing the keys away from me." I smiled wistfully while I directed us toward the highway.

"Just think, eight months ago you didn't even know I existed."

"Thank God it's not eight months ago."

Alice cranked up the radio and we drove back to campus singing along to the songs at the top of our lungs like crazy people. We found Edward and Jasper waiting for us when we arrived at the dorm.

"Jesus Alice, what the hell did you buy?" I thought Edward's eyes were going to bulge out of his head when he opened the trunk.

"Just a few things for Europe," Alice answered, smiling sweetly. Edward and Jasper exchanged a look before grabbing all the packages and following us up to our dorm.

"How many of these bags are yours?" Edward asked me.

I thought for a moment. "Three."

"That is why I love this woman."

Jasper shook his head and smirked. "Keep telling yourself that, Cullen. We all know she has hidden talents."

"Edward!" I swatted his arm and covered my face while my cheeks turned five shades of scarlet.

"Oh, please Bella. Don't even try and tell me the two of you don't have 'girl talk' or whatever it is that you call it," Jasper said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Of course we have girl talk, but we don't go advertising it in front of the two of you!" Alice swatted the back of his head with her hand and rolled her eyes. "I swear men can be so dense sometimes."

"And with that I'm taking my girlfriend out for dinner." Edward grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door.

"Not without us!" Alice shouted. "I promise Jasper will be on his best behavior."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," her boyfriend muttered. I couldn't help but smile.

My smile disappeared, however, when Edward opened the door and we found Tanya standing there.

"Hi!" Tanya smiled brightly. Too brightly. "I guess I came at a bad time."

Alice snaked her way to the front of the group and pulled Tanya aside. "We were just heading out for dinner. What's up?"

"Charlie was over at the Black's house last night for dinner and he gave me this for Bella." Tanya fixed her eyes on me and held out a stack of envelopes.

"You had dinner with Charlie?" I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my jaw from dropping open.

"He's been over at Billy's every Thursday night for the past month. I thought you knew that." The tone in her voice sent shivers down my spine.

I reached out and grabbed the mail from her. "No, I guess I didn't."

"He's a nice man, Bella. A little lonely, but that would change if he got out more." Tanya glanced at her watch and hitched her purse up higher on her shoulder. "I should be going. Bella, you really should think about visiting Charlie more often. He misses you."

"As much as I'm sure you think it's appreciated, I don't recall Bella asking for your opinion." Edward stepped forward and wrapped his arm around my waist protectively.

"Relax, Edward. I was just making an observation." Tanya glanced at her watch again and started down the hall. "Enjoy your night out!"

I sifted through the stack of mail. There were two letters from Renee, a postcard from Mike, something that looked like an invitation from Jessica, and a couple of different clothing catalogs. I couldn't figure out why anyone would mail something to Forks when they had my school address, but Edward didn't give me much time to contemplate it.

"C'mon, let's go to dinner." He eased the items out of my hand and set them on the edge of my bed. I nodded and snuggled against him, slipping my hand into his back pocket.

As hard as Edward tried to relax me, there were two questions that wouldn't leave my mind on our way to the restaurant:

Why was Tanya dating Jake, of all people?

And what the hell was she doing spending time with my father?