Author: self_composed | Delaney Hammond, Sr., does not know that he is going to be arrested. It is not hard to find his flight, learn that the chauffeur can also fly the tiny family airplane and will be bringing the boss directly to Forks's little airport to save transit time, and be there to meet them at the airport with a pair of uniforms.
So Charlie does all that.
"Delaney Hammond, you are under arrest," Charlie says, while Joshua puts on cuffs and Terry makes sure the chauffeur isn't going to interfere. "You have the right to remain silent..." The Miranda rights just pour out, like they're all one word; Charlie doesn't really think about them. He doesn't even skip the part about how this ridiculously rich person could be provided a public defender if he cannot afford one. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Delaney Hammond, Sr., does not indeed know that he is going to be arrested.
In fact, while he is being arrested, he almost seems to continue not knowing. A look of appalled disbelief settles on his face and shows no signs of leaving; he offers no physical resistance and doesn't even laugh at the notion of his being unable to afford something. |
Author: self_composed | That's all the same to Charlie. Josh and Terry put the perp in the back of their car; Charlie came in his own cruiser.
"Don't leave town," he tells Theo, and he gets behind his wheel and follows Josh and Terry out of the tiny airport.
When they reach the station, he calls Bella. "Got him in," he tells her.
"Thanks for letting me know," she says, and she tells Alice. [They got him. He's at the station in handcuffs right now.] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Ooh boy,] Alice says wryly—half excited, half apprehensive.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hammond has recovered enough awareness to settle into a cold fury, and Theo... Theo has driven back to the house alone.
Not very long after that, one of the family cars pulls up at the police station and Judith Erskine Hammond steps out, dressed as formally and impeccably as ever. |
Author: self_composed | Charlie knows her when he sees her.
He makes eye contact, but she can talk first. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Where is my husband?" she asks, in a voice that is just slightly unsteady. |
Author: self_composed | "Lockup," says Charlie. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "What on Earth for?" |
Author: self_composed | "Haven't got a guess?" Charlie asks, raising an eyebrow. He has looked over the notebooks. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "With respect," she says flatly, "I am not in the mood for games." |
Author: self_composed | "Child abuse," says Charlie shortly, staring her down. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | She presses her lips together, takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly.
When she says, "May I speak with him, please?" her voice is almost level. |
Author: self_composed | "Knock yourself out," Charlie says, pointing.
Delaney Hammond, Sr. is the only occupant of the lockup at the moment. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Mr. Hammond looks up at her approach, and then huffs a disappointed sigh when she comes into view. "Oh," he says contemptuously, "it's you."
"It's me," she agrees. "Should I apologize for the mortal sin of not being your lawyer?"
"Be reasonable, Judith," he says. "I'm sure you want this nonsense over with as much as I do."
"Yes," she muses, with an odd note in her voice. "I think that's true."
"What now?" he grumbles.
"Have I ever told you how much I hate it when you tell me to be reasonable?"
"Now is not the time, Judith."
"On the contrary," says Judith, "I think the time is exactly right."
There is a pause; a rustle, a clink; a shocked intake of breath; a roar.
Judith Erskine sweeps out of the short corridor with too-bright eyes and no rings on her left hand. |
Author: self_composed | Charlie eyes her as she leaves, but doesn't say anything.
He does privately note that the prosecutor might be interested. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | She calls Junior from the car, although she hasn't the faintest idea what she is going to say.
Junior does not answer his phone.
Judith gets out and marches right back into the station.
"I don't suppose you can tell me where to find my son?" |
Author: self_composed | "Nope," Charlie says. "Can put you on the phone with my daughter and see if she tells you." He pushes his landline phone across his desk. Bella's cell (old number kept, attached to new phone) and their house landline are both on the speed dial, clearly labeled. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | That actually gets a small smile out of her. She'll have to apologize to Bella for trying to press her into service as an emergency exit.
She tries the cellphone first. |
Author: self_composed | Bella picks up. "Hi, Dad." Well, it's his number. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Sorry, no," she says. "It's Judith. Do you know where my son is, by any chance?" |
Author: self_composed | "Somewhere safe," Bella says.
She doesn't feel like being informative.
[Your mom just called me,] she informs Alice, [and wants to know where you are.] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [...The fuck?] says Alice.
His mother lets out a breath. "That'll do," she says. |
Author: self_composed | "Yep," says Bella.
She can channel her dad sometimes, when she wants.
[Called me up from Charlie's work phone. I told her "someplace safe", she said "that'll do".] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Uhhhhh,] says Alice.
"If you see him before I do, will you tell him I called?" |
Author: self_composed | "Yes," Bella says.
[She wants me to tell you she called,] Bella continues. [I guess you don't get a signal in your lair. Would you have answered her if you did?] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [I guess?] he says. [I mean, yeah. I would. I just dunno what she wants to get ahold of me for.]
"Thank you," Judith says graciously. |
Author: self_composed | "Shall I also tell him something about why?" Bella asks.
[You know, there's probably enough in the notebooks to get her for neglect or failure to report or something. I don't think anyone's going to arrest her without your say-so, but if you feel like it...] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [I don't,] he says. [It's not like she did anything.]
"If you want to," says Judith. |
Author: self_composed | "Well," Bella says. "I would, but I don't yet know why."
[Up to you.] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "That makes two of us," she says wryly.
[Yeah, I don't really give a shit. Why, is she being an asshole to you or something?] |
Author: self_composed | [No.]
"I see." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Anyway. Thank you," says Judith. "Goodbye."
[So what is she doing?] |
Author: self_composed | "Bye." Bella hangs up.
[She doesn't seem to know any better than you do. You could wait ten minutes, delair, and call her, if you're curious.] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [...yeah,] says Alice. [Yeah. I think I'll do that.]
Judith hangs up the phone, gazes at or possibly through it for a brief moment, and then leaves without a word. |
Author: self_composed | Charlie slides the phone back into place and silently watches her go.
He decides to call Hilary and let her know what's going on, in case there are repercussions she'll have to deal with. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Time passes.
About an hour later, Alice brainphones Bella. He sounds deeply, deeply confused and vaguely unsettled.
[My mom is hugging me and I don't know what to do.] |
Author: self_composed | Bella returns to reading him; she'd stopped to work on some trig, which, even since she pentagoned math, requires a fair amount of working memory to handle. [...Hug her back?] she suggests. [Tell her to back off? Whatever you wanna do.] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | He is standing in the front hall of his house. His mom is in fact hugging him, and is also crying. He feels instinctively suspicious of her motives, but on a conscious level he is pretty sure there's no reason to be. As far as he can tell, she really is just overwhelmed by emotion.
Tentatively, he pats her on the back. |
Author: self_composed | [What happened?] Bella asks. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Uh...]
He called her. She asked if he was all right, if he'd heard the news, if he was going to come home. She sounded somewhere between triumphant and distraught.
He did, in fact, come home.
And then... this happened.
Also, she is no longer wearing her wedding and engagement rings. Alice can't help thinking that is a really good sign. |
Author: self_composed | [...This is weird,] Bella opines. [She can't claim she didn't know what was going on and this is a sudden burst of sympathy, so I don't know what could be happening in her mind.] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [She used to hug me and cry like this when I was a kid,] he recalls. [It was kind of a phase. She stopped, though. I don't even know if this is related.]
And needless to say, Judith herself is not a font of useful and coherent information right now. |
Author: self_composed | [How long ago was that?] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [She stopped when I was twelve.]
She's winding down a little on the tears now, and smoothing her hand down over his hair repeatedly, although she has to reach up some distance to do it.
It's... okay. Still a little confusing, but okay. |
Author: self_composed | [Well, you could always try asking her,] Bella says. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Yeah. Maybe I will. When she's, you know, talkier.] |
Author: self_composed | [Right.] Bella has no other input on the subject, but she leaves the read on out of inertia and goes back to designing a hypothetical telekinesis power in all its tiny and important details. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Eventually, Alice gets his mother to sit down. At the foot of the stairs, but she's sitting.
"Oh, ick," she says with a tremulous smile, "look what I did to your shirt."
"It'll wash," he assures her. "Seriously though, what's up with you?"
She looks down at her unadorned left hand and sniffles again.
"I'm afraid I've been a terrible mother," she says.
"...Yeah, kinda," says Alice. "But hey, you're nowhere near as bad as Dad, so good for you?"
Judith snorts despite herself. "I don't know where you got that sense of humour," she says. "It certainly wasn't from your father." |
Author: self_composed | [Do either of your parents have senses of humor? Besides, not all traits are inherited,] comments Bella. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Mom at least laughs once in a while,] he volunteers.
After a moment's silence, his mother sighs and twists her hands in her lap. "I never knew he was going to be like that," she says helplessly. "And once I found out... it sounds so inadequate, but I didn't know what to do about him."
"And now somebody else did it for ya and you're cutting the bastard loose?" Alice fills in.
She bursts into fresh tears and nods repeatedly.
He hesitates for a moment, and then hugs her. |
Author: self_composed | Aww. It's like she doesn't even know that not going to the police could put her in jail if anyone involved had a grudge against her.
[What do your and her finances look like, after the divorce is through?] Bella asks. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [No idea,] he says. [Bet she wouldn't have done it if she didn't think she could get a pretty big piece, though.]
And yet here he is, comforting her. |
Author: self_composed | [I'm going to see if I can curse your dad's lawyer with bad luck for the case's duration,] Bella informs Alice cheerfully. [We'll see how that works.]
A pentagon disappears.
[Well, that's the work of a pentagon,] she reports. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Nice!] he says approvingly. |
Author: self_composed | [I'd curse your dad too, but he's already locked up. I guess I'll do it if he bails himself out.] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [...I dunno how good an idea that'll be,] says Alice. [I mean, he's already gonna be pissed off to hell and back. Maybe wait and see how well it works on the lawyer first? 'Cause if it's just gonna piss him off more...] then maybe it would not be such a great plan. |
Author: self_composed | [He can't get you in your lair - but I guess he might lash out elsewhere. The idea is to have him not thinking straight, but I guess in any case I'll postpone it till closer to the court date. He'll probably have bail set tomorrow.] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Yeah, I'm kind of thinking that for once I'm not the only one he's mad at,] says Alice, and hugs his mother some more. |
Author: self_composed | [Does Dad need to put her in protective custody?] Bella asks. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Dunno. She'd probably squawk a little. I mean, he hasn't ever hit her before, but—] a mental image of her ring finger absent its rings. |
Author: self_composed | [I can have him recommend it, I guess, or he can suggest that she go stay with a friend - has she got friends in town?] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Not as far as I know.] |
Author: self_composed | [Well, I don't think he's going to force her, but Charlie can be persuasive.] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Yeah. He can try it, anyway.] |
Author: self_composed | [I guess we'll see after bail is set. It's going to have to be some ridiculous amount.] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Damn, yeah, if they want him to actually come back for it.] |
Author: self_composed | Bail is set early the following day, at a cool ten million dollars, by Judge Roberts. Delaney Hammond, Sr., coughs up a check, and as soon as that clears, he'll be allowed to go until his trial. That's scheduled for in three days.
Charlie hears of this, and he lets Bella know, and he takes advantage of the period while the check is being... checked... to go talk to Judith about maybe socking her away somewhere for a few days.
Bella tells Alice. [So, stay laired, or where people can see you at school, or where no one can see if you wish to prowl the world invisibly,] she admonishes. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Yeah, good plan,] Alice agrees. [Wonder if it's hit the rumor mill yet. I haven't been to school.] |
Author: self_composed | [Charlie's going to go warn your mom - and Hilary and Theo, but mostly your mom - while they wait for your dad's check to clear. I assume it will clear. Which is really something. I don't expect even the ridiculously rich to keep ten million dollars liquid all at once.] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Why, is that a lot?] he jokes. |
Author: self_composed | Bella rolls her eyes. [It's enough to make ten people millionaires. Since we have a word for that and it's often used as a synonym for "rich person", you should assume that it is a lot.] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [I love it when you're all logical at me,] he says, laughing. |
Author: self_composed | Charlie arrives at the stupidly huge house and rings the doorbell. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Hilary answers the door with a damp dish towel slung over her shoulder.
"Oh! Hi, Charlie. Business, I assume?" |
Author: self_composed | Charlie nods. "Hullo, Hilary. Don't know if Mrs. Hammond had told you, but Mr. Hammond's in lockup. He's written a check for bail; I'm here to ask Mrs. Hammond to accept protective custody for a few days while he's out and about in case he turns on her. Laney's off..." He gestures. "Somewhere. Bella assures me he's safe there, and she's a smart girl. But Mrs. Hammond's presumably still here." He pauses. "Might not be too wise for you to be here either. Or that driver fellow, what's his name." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Well, I'm not keen on hanging around Mr. Hammond in a mood for any number of days, but I'm not sure what my other options are. Should I fetch Judith? Theo's not here." |
Author: self_composed | "Yes please, and -" He shrugs. "Not orthodox for protective custody, but my house has a guest room." He's going to rely on Bella to have her priorities straight and do that... thing... that will let her play invalid for the requisite days remaining. She can at least acknowledge having some of the casts off, enough to be able to walk around. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Your guest room sounds like a great option," says Hilary, smiling. "Just a sec."
She twirls away and heads up the stairs, returning shortly with Judith preceding her. |
Author: self_composed | "Mrs. Hammond," Charlie acknowledges with a polite nod. "I'm here to recommend that you come with me and let me take you into protective custody. Assuming his check clears, your husband made bail. There's a risk to you, in a case like this." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | She sighs.
"Yes, I suppose there is, isn't there. Bother, I hate packing." |
Author: self_composed | Charlie raises an eyebrow - this does not seem to him the key point here - but doesn't say anything. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Hilary grins and shakes her head. Oh, Judith.
"Yes, all right," says Judith. |
Author: self_composed | "Let me know when you're ready to go," Charlie says. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Just a moment," says Judith, and disappears up the stairs.
"So," says Hilary. "How's Bella?" |
Author: self_composed | "Well," Charlie says. "Better than you usually expect somebody who was hit by a car to be. She'll probably go back to school, next week." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "That's heartening!" She glances up the stairs after Judith. "Guess I should be packing too, but I guarantee you I'll take ten times as long. Want a muffin? Think fast, or she'll be back before you say yes." |
Author: self_composed | "Yes," Charlie says agreeably, smiling. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Great!" says Hilary, and ducks into the kitchen, coming back with a small plate of muffins just as Judith descends the stairs.
She may not like packing, but apparently she's very good at it. She has one small suitcase, neatly zipped, a purse, a coat, and a hat. |
Author: self_composed | Charlie plucks a muffin from the plate. "Bella can let you in the house - I'll call her ahead," Charlie tells Hilary. He nods to Mrs. Hammond, and leads her out to the cruiser, taking a bite of his muffin. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Judith also grabs a muffin on her way out. Hilary takes the remaining two for herself, and spends the next half hour or so dithering over her belongings before she finally gets out the door with one medium-sized suitcase and a backpack containing all her cookbooks and a few things from the kitchen. |
Author: self_composed | That gives Charlie plenty of time to hand Mrs. Hammond over to Terry and call Bella.
"Thanks for letting me know, Dad," Bella says. [Hilary's going to stay at my house while your dad is bailed out,] she informs Alice. [I get to play still-have-a-broken-arm-and-a-limp.] |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Fun,] says Alice. [On the other hand, betcha she'll spend the whole time baking you cakes. She did that when I came home from the hospital. It was cute.] |
Author: self_composed | [Ooh, nice.] Bella illusions up the requisite trappings of injury, after poking around in Alice's head for details on what's plausible. She could pentagon herself medical knowledge, but this is pretty convenient already. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | He loves it when she does that!
[Cute and delicious,] he says cheerfully. |
Author: self_composed | [I'd imagine. I mean, this is Hilary we're talking about.] Bella conjures herself a pair of crutches. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Yup. Hey, can I come over and eat some of your sympathy cake?] |
Author: self_composed | [Don't see why not,] Bella says.
...She decides to wish herself a really cooperative metabolism. That turns out to only take a pentagon; some humans actually have those. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Awesome. Lemme know when you've got some.] |
Author: self_composed | [Will do.]
The doorbell rings. [She appears!] Bella gets up and leans on her acting skills to hobble convincingly up to the door and pull it open. "Hilary! Charlie mentioned you were coming," she says. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Hi! You look very three-dimensional," says Hilary. "Where's your guest room? I brought cookbooks!" |
Author: self_composed | "I am not a pancake. I eat pancakes for breakfast," says Bella. "Guest room is up the stairs, second door on the right. Cookbooks, yay!" |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Nice," she says. "I'll go dump my things, and then how do you feel about cake?" |
Author: self_composed | "I feel so positively about cake," Bella says, limping to one of the kitchen chairs. "I can even stir stuff for you if you plunk it down in front of me - we don't have an electric mixer." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Consider yourself conscripted," says Hilary. "Back in a flash!"
Where the duration of a flash seems to be about two minutes. Also, she brings an electric mixer. |
Author: self_composed | Bella laughs when she sees the mixer. "You can't live without that for more than an hour, or you expect to be here for a while?" |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "A little from column A..." she says with a wink. |
Author: self_composed | [We're making cake,] Bella alerts Alice. "What kinda cake?" she inquires. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "That depends on the contents of your kitchen," Hilary says cheerfully. "I'm very adaptable."
[Ooh, cake! Want me to coincidentally show up?] |
Author: self_composed | [Sounds like a plan to me.]
"We've got... some things," Bella says. "Anything that comes in a can we are reasonably likely to have around, which includes beans and tuna but also sweetened condensed milk and peaches. And there's other stuff in the cupboards and the fridge. Freezer's mostly full of fish." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Ah, yes," says Hilary. "Fish. That weirdly fascinating hobby of your father's. Well, I'll see what I can come up with."
[Cool, see you in a bit!] |
Author: self_composed | "You think fishing is fascinating?" Bella asks. "Huh." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Yes I do," she says. "I gather you don't agree?" |
Author: self_composed | "Seems to involve a lot of setup and then a lot of sitting and getting bit by mosquitoes," Bella says. "Sure, sometimes you get fish out of it, but you can also buy fish, with more variety and in forms you don't have to chop the heads off of, and save six hours you could spend doing anything." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "On the other hand," says Hilary, "the fish feel more yours when you spend six hours donating blood to the little buggy hospitals for them." |
Author: self_composed | "I think I'm content with the amount of mine-ness I can get by exchanging money for goods at retail establishments," Bella says. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Hilary laughs.
And then the doorbell rings. |
Author: self_composed | "Come in!" Bella calls, after a wry - acted - look at the conjured crutches. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | And very shortly, Alice appears in the kitchen.
"Hey, Bella," he says. "Hey, Hilary. Saw your car outside. Ooh, are you making cake?"
"Good guess," says Hilary, rolling her eyes fondly. |
Author: self_composed | "Hi, how are you doing?" Bella asks. Appearances, appearances. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "I am awesome," says Alice.
"Yeah, I'll bet," says Hilary, handing him the mixer. "You hang onto that while I go on a scouting mission." |
Author: self_composed | "What do you need to find?" Bella asks. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Everything," says Hilary, cheerfully, and she starts opening cupboards. |
Author: self_composed | "Well, in that case, I can only recommend that you look everywhere," Bella remarks. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Smart girl," says Hilary. Alice laughs. |
Author: self_composed | Bella just grins to herself. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Hilary busily inventories the kitchen.
When she's done, she dusts off her hands and announces, "Peach-orange upside-down cake!"
"Whee!" says Alice. |
Author: self_composed | "Splendid," Bella enthuses. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Bella is enlisted to stir things, Alice to perform sundry other tasks; a cake pan is acquired, populated, and entombed in the oven.
"Success!" says Hilary as she sets the timer. "You did good, girls." |
Author: self_composed | Bella doesn't look at Alice's face, but she is reading, and keeps an eye out for a reaction to that. It would be kind of weird for Hilary to say without certain prerequisites in place. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Reaction: warm happy glow! He likes that she can just throw stuff like that out without thinking about it. |
Author: self_composed | Bella mentally shrugs and files under "Alice: Kinda Weird". |