The passage of time is supposed to have very little meaning for immortal creatures. Therefore, in theory, two weeks away from Bella should have been easy for James to handle. In reality, however, James was feeling the need to see Bella after being away for only three days. This compulsion was so distracting that it was ruining Vicki and Laurent's trip with James. Vicki and Laurent had always been able to count on James to be the life of the party. He was usually the instigator of all sorts of delicious wicked games. James was anything but fun on this trip and after three days of putting up with his moodiness Vicki decided that the only way to get James back in the game would be to make a brief detour by the house so that he could see Bella.

They arrived at the house a little after midnight. James was surprised to see that Renee's car was missing from the driveway. His panic grew when he failed to detect any heartbeats inside the home. James practically ripped the front door off of its hinges in his hast to get inside. Vicki and Laurent followed him inside to search the house hoping to find a clue as to where the women had gone. What James found inside the house only served to make him more anxious. In the living room it looked like there had been some kind of struggle. James could smell the scent of some type of animal mixed with the smell of Bella's blood. James found dried blood on the corner of the coffee table and on the carpet near the table. He wondered if Renee had taken Bella to the hospital because she had injured herself. It would explain why they were missing at this time of night but not the strange animal smell that was present in the living room. While James was checking things out in the living room Laurent and Vicki were busy searching the rest of the house. Vicki found a letter addressed to James in the master bedroom. James wasted no time tearing into the letter that Renee had left him. The letter said:

James,

You must think I am blind to not see what is happening between you and Bella. I don't understand your sick fascination with an ordinary little girl when you had me. Your betrayal hurts me. I was devoted to you. I have wasted enough of my time and energy on you. If you want Bella so much then you are welcome to her. I will be happy to never have to look at that brat again. She has never been anything but a thorn in my side and I hope that she makes you as miserable as she has made me. She is your problem now so don't come looking for me. I do not want her back. Renee

James let loose a ferocious roar. If Renee did not take Bella with her then where the hell was she? He could not lose Bella now when he was so close to his reward. James, Vicki, and Laurent decided to split up to find out what happened to Bella. James was not completely convinced that Renee had not taken Bella with her just to spite him. His rage swirled through him like a dangerous storm ready to be unleashed on Renee as soon as he found her. Even if Bella was not with Renee he had a debt to settle with her so he decided to focus on finding Renee. Laurent was tasked with following the scent of the animal that had been in the house to see if it led to any clues as to where Bella had gone. Vicki was to remain in the house in case Bella was still in the area and returned to the house.

James decided to head into Portland since it was the closest major city. He knew that Renee did not have any cash on her and would most likely have to use the credit cards in her possession. It should be relatively easy for James to track her down once he was able to access her credit card usage. It did not take long for James to reach Portland and for him to find an internet café. He was quite pleased to find that Renee had indeed used her credit card to pay for a room at a hotel and to add to his good fortune was the fact that the hotel she was staying at was in Portland. James quickly found the hotel and charmed the front desk clerk into giving him a key to his wife's room so that he could surprise her. Renee was not in the room at the time of his arrival. He could smell her scent but was disappointed not to find Bella's scent in the room as well. He settled in the room and waited for Renee. As he waited he imagined all the ways he could torture her when she returned.

James did not have to wait too long before he heard the sound of the key card unlocking the door. When he heard the door click shut he said "Hello sweetheart. Did you miss me?"

With a disgusted snort Renee replied "About as much as a migraine headache. What are you doing here anyways James? Didn't you get my farewell message?"

James smirked "Oh I got your message alright. I thought you deserved a personal response so here I am to deliver it."

Renee simpered in return "How very thoughtful of you." She took a few moments to look around the room and when she did not see any evidence of Bella she said venomously, "I don't see your little dolly here with you. What's the matter did you get bored with your toy already?"

James was unable to contain the growl that erupted from his throat at her snappish retort. His eyes turned black and his face looked feral. For the first time since she had met James Renee felt uncomfortable in his presence. His strange behavior was making her fear for her safety. Renee's heart began to pound. She started backing away from James towards the door of the hotel room. In the blink of an eye James was suddenly blocking the door and her only means of escape. He sneered "planning on going somewhere darling?"

In an unsteady voice Renee replied "You already got what you want. You have Bella. What do you want from me?"

James answered "Do you see Bella here with me? I left Bella at home with you. You were supposed to be taking care of her. But I return home to find her blood on the living room floor and the house empty. What did you do to Bella Renee? Where is she?"

Renee spat back "You can't blame me for the fact that Bella is a walking disaster. That girl is always hurting herself. As to where she is I wouldn't have a clue. She was still at home when I left earlier. If she was not there when you arrived then she must have decided to leave as well. So there really isn't anything else that I can help you with."

James countered "Oh I don't think that is true Renee. I can still think of ways that you can help me. Let's start with you telling me where Bella would have gone if she left you? Does she have any other relatives that she would go to?"

Renee was damned if she would do anything to make James life easier. She decided to send him on a wild goose chase to pay him back for his disloyalty. She responded "The only family that we have is my parents in Jacksonville, Florida. If she does not head there than I have no idea where else she would go. You have your answer and I have already told you that our relationship is over. I want nothing further to do with you. So if you will excuse me I have other places that I would rather be."

James chuckled "I have been forced to put up with your annoying voice, whiney demands, and desperate clinginess for more than three years. I put up with it because I had hoped that you could be a good mother and take care of our girl until she was old enough to not need you any longer. But you failed in the only thing that I asked from you. So the fact that you are done with me does not bother me in the least. However, in this dissolution of our marriage, I deserve compensation for my pain and suffering." His face took on a menacing expression as he stalked closer to Renee. He said in a chilling voice "I think it is only fair for you to feel the pain that you have given me."

In the last seconds of her life Renee became aware of what evil looked like. She made an attempt to scream and run away from James but he had ripped her head off mere seconds after the high pitched shriek left her mouth. He had wanted to savor her suffering and torture her slowly but his temper had gotten the better of him so he quickly tore Renee to pieces and left the room splattered in her blood.

Renee's severed head was found by a hotel employee who had been sent to the room to investigate the screaming that had come from within. The police arrived shortly thereafter and roped off the crime scene. One of the crime scene investigators recognized Renee's name. He typed her name into the data base and found that she was wanted in the kidnapping of the minor child Isabelle Swan. He called the Fork's Police Department to report Renee's death. Charlie was the one to take the detective's phone call. He was sick to his stomach after he heard of Renee's gruesome death. He fearfully asked if there was any sign of Bella at the crime scene. His relief at hearing that there was no other body found in the room was immense. However, he wondered where Bella was if she was not with Renee. He decided to make the trip to Portland to see if he could find any clues that would lead him to where Bella was being kept. He stopped by La Push to see Billy to let him know what had happened to Renee and that he was heading to Portland. Billy offered to go with Charlie to support him and help with the search for Bella. Charlie would not hear of it because Sarah Black was out of town to visit her daughter Rebecca who was expecting to deliver a baby any day. Charlie did not want Billy to leave Jacob in La Push by himself. Billy tried to argue with his friend that Jacob was mature enough to handle being on his own for a few days but Charlie was stubborn and refused his offer. Billy hugged Charlie and wished him a speedy and successful trip. He hoped that Charlie would find in Portland the clues that he needed to bring their girl home.