Teaser for Chapter 8 of Truths, Lies and Alibis

“What the hell, Edward, I hire you to protect her and you sleep with her?” Emmett called from his desk as he got up and made his way to where we were.

“Shut up,” Edward and I yelled in unison.

“No, if there are going to be major issues between the two of you, this won’t work. I can’t have the two of you getting into some sort of lovers spat and one of you running off leaving Bella unprotected.”

“Emmett, you can hire the whole fucking Marine Corp for all I care. That’s not going to stop me from being there too, whether she wants me to or not. I am too emotionally invested in making sure nothing happens to her. I am the only one that is emotionally invested enough besides possibly you to do whatever it takes to make sure she stays safe. So you can hire me or not, but I will be there if it means I have to camp out in her fucking front yard.” The two of them were now glaring at each other like two Roman gladiators ready to spar.

Edward then reached out and grabbed my hand. I tried to pull it away but he wouldn’t let go. “Bella, please just give me the chance to explain. I will tell you anything you want to know. I don’t want to talk about this here, but you have to believe that my feelings for you are real. Everything I told you about me was real. You should know that now better than you did before. If you believe nothing else, then you have to know that I would lay my life on the line to keep you safe. Please. I am begging you to wait until we can be somewhere more private and hear me out. After that if you never want to see me again, once this mess is resolved and you’re safe, I’ll leave you alone and you’ll never have to see me again.”

Emmett and Edward both stood silent as they waited for my response. I hated it, but I knew there was a lot we had to discuss and even if I didn’t want to admit it to them, I knew I would feel safer with Edward than I would with a complete stranger. Unable to voice the words, I did the only other thing I could do. I nodded in approval.

Edward's Car

click on image to enlarge

Truths, Lies and Alibis Teaser Chapter 7, Secrets

“When you hired Jasper and I to do this job, you ran a background check on us correct?”

“Yes, why? I told you I would.”

“Because I got a call from a friend who happens to be pretty deep in the army intelligence department. He said that not only was a check run at the time you would have been doing one, but there was also one done yesterday. Can you explain that to me?”

“No I can’t. It must be a mistake.”

“No it’s not. In fact it was flagged to be investigated as a security leak in the army’s database system. But he called me first to see if I had any clue what it was about.”

“Well the only search of any kind that was conducted on you was the one I did. I don’t have any knowledge of the other one being done.”

“You mean to tell me you aren’t aware of the information your agents are acquiring? Are they free to just run searches on any damn person they please? Oh and I was told it was conducted out of this office both times. I find it hard to believe you aren’t more aware of that kind of thing.” I was beginning to feel like he was lying to me again or at the very least purposefully holding back information.

“Look, Edward, I told you I have no idea why or who would be running another background check on you,” Emmett growled.

“I do.”

The sound of that voice hit me like a ton of bricks. I would know it anywhere. It was the one I had been longing to hear for more than two days now. Emmett and I both spun to find Bella standing there leaning against the door frame to his office. We had both been so wrapped up in our conversation that neither one of us had even heard her open the door. The look on her face told me that she knew more than she had a few days ago. Possibly things I wanted to be the one to tell her

Truths, Lies and Alibis Teaser Chapter 6, Decode

Can’t stop thinking about you.
Why won’t you return my calls?
I miss you, Edward

HI,everyone, I just wanted to take a minute and thank some friends for the help they have given me. First of all I have to thank Hope4more and MyBella for all the help they have given me with the story itself. I wouldn't be able to do this without them.

Next I have to thank bnljwl for all the help she gave me in setting this blog up. I had no idea the difference between a gadget and a widget until she showed me, much less how to put them on this blog and make them function properly.

Then I have to thank BtrflyOnGreySt41 for setting up the ipod mix player with the songs featured in the story. She not only set it up, but she has offered to update it for me. So I thank her for that.

Last but not least medusainny, thank you for showing me how to put the music player on my blog and for reading stuff for me here and there when I needed someone in a hurry. But most of all, for sharing your Friday morning coffee with me. I am honored!!

I also can't leave out NoelleSeven, les16, tahughes28657, and anonymouslysufferingfromOCD . The support and cheering on you guys give me is so so appreciated!!

You are all awesome and amazing!!
XOXOX
EA~

Truths, Lies and Alibis Teaser Chapter 6, Decode

It didn’t take long to see that Edward had a very prestigious career for the short time he was in the Army Special Forces. He had enlisted right out of high school and had fulfilled his basic along with his special forces training at Fort Bragg and Camp Mackall in North Carolina. Edward had apparently completed his training in a record time of fifty-two weeks while most took at least fifty-six. He was considered among the elite of his unit and was a Special Forces Weapons Sergeant but also had the exemplary knowledge and capabilities to have been a communications skills specialist as well.

Reading further I found details about the types of missions he had been on. Most of them were counter terrorism, foreign affairs, and reconnaissance and warfare duties. Clicking on another link I found that he had scored in the top three if not the highest in all five phases of the Special Forces Qualification Courses and Special Forces Operations Courses.

The file went on listing his outstanding merits and abilities. He could speak four languages including Arabic, French, Spanish and Italian. The Italian suddenly stood out as I remembered him speaking to the valet and our waiter when we had gone to dinner. I clicked another link which gave me some personal information such as his birthdate, which was June 20, 1980, and his enlistment and discharge dates. It dawned on me that his birthday had just passed; in fact it was the day we went boating, the day we admitted our feelings for each other.

In addition to the fact he could speak Italian fluently, in the process of reading through the list of training phases he had completed I also learned he had taken several psychology classes and training courses. I could see where it would be essential to be able to keep your cool in extremely intense or dangerous situations. But the part of his psych training that stood out the most to me was how to foil your opponent and disguise your emotions. He had gone through just as much if not more psychological training than I had; his was geared in a different manner, towards putting up pretenses whereas mine was breaking them down. He had been trained to know how to lie without being caught. Suddenly the horrible sick feeling I had felt on the airplane was creeping back up on me to the point where I was almost wishing I hadn’t been able to get into the army’s system. Maybe I would have been better off going straight to Emmett with my suspicions and letting him run the check on Edward.

The more I read about Edward’s military career, I could see that everything about it was as he said it was. But the fact that he could speak Italian and his extensive psych training still stood out. It was as if he had been sought after specifically for the purpose of fooling me. Like someone knew he’d be the perfect person to dupe me, and James Reynolds would know that.

Truths, Lies and Alibis Teaser Chapter 5, Black Holes and Revelations

But then my thoughts turned to everything we had shared. Why would he go through all the trouble to spend so much time with me, and to pretend to be falling in love with me as well? He had told me last night that he was and I couldn’t detect a hint of wavering in his voice; nothing that would indicate he was lying.

As my brain kicked into shrink mode, I tried as hard as I could to see if I had missed any signs. Just some small detail that may have clued me in.

Nothing. There was nothing I could remember that would have led me to believe he had dropped any clues as to the cruel game he was playing. No physical signs at all whatsoever to go on. I had seen nothing but honesty and true emotion any time I looked into his eyes, and I had found myself doing that frequently. Maybe this whole ordeal was finally becoming too much for me and causing me to question anyone and everyone around me. Maybe I was becoming paranoid.

There were three things I was certain of though, one, I had to go out there and pretend that I was simply suffering from a bad case of motion sickness. I knew Nana, would surely pick up on my lie, but I also knew she wouldn’t call me out on it until we were alone. She would know that as much as I value honesty that if I felt the need to tell a lie there was good reason for it.

Second, as soon as I was back in Seattle I was going to use every bit of investigative knowledge I had to check into every facet of Edward’s life. That is if Edward Cullen was his real name.

And third, I wanted to be wrong. With everything in me I wanted to be wrong. Last night I had told him I was falling in love with him, but in reality I was well past falling. I was in love with him. Or at least who I thought he was, and I wanted that person to be the real him.

I was startled from my thoughts by a knock on the door and Edward’s voice asking, “Bella, honey, are you ok?”

Telling him that I’d be out in a minute I splashed some cold water on my face and rinsed out my mouth. Unlocking the tiny restroom door, I looked up at him and forced a slight smile and mumbled, “Motion sickness.”

He gave me a small nod and followed me back to our seats. Glancing at him quickly as I sat down, he had a look on his face as if he wanted to ask me something, but for some reason was holding back. Knowing it was the only way I was going to keep myself together for the remainder of the flight, I took the pillow provided by the airline and leaned against the wall, hoping that maybe I could fake sleep well enough that he wouldn’t catch on. With one last deep breath I closed my eyes and began a charade of my own, wishing I could sink into a black hole somewhere instead of face the possibility of my recent revelation.

Flowers Edward gave Bella in chapter 4.

Orange roses generally mean the embodiment of desire and enthusiasm. They also often symbolize passion and excitement and are an expression of fervent romance.

Lavender roses are a perfect symbol of enchantment. The lavender rose is also traditionally used to express feelings of love at first sight.

The dark pink Dahlias mean I can stop thinking about you.

Something to drool over.

Here's a little picture teaser for chapter 4. I was going to wait and post it with the chapter, but I couldn't wait to share!

I have to thank the awesome Lindz over at Robmani Porn for her wonderful job in creating this for me.

You can check out more of her awesome work by clicking on the link to the blog below. You can't miss it, it's flashing with all sorts of yummy pics.