A/N: Disclaimer: In first chapter. Your comments, reviews, and or questions are always welcome. Bella/Leah, with very little fap material. I'm trying to keep this one PG-13.
Chapter 2
September 13, 2005, Tuesday
"I should be out there," Sam grumbled as he kicked at the ground angrily.
I felt like a den mother for some stupid reason. "As long as I'm Alpha we're not patrolling twenty-four hour days, so chill the hell out."
Paul snorted from the porch with his feet kicked up on my railing as he leaned back in one of my lawn chairs.
"If you break that I will kick your ass, Lehote." All four legs tapped against the floor a moment later. "Look, I appreciate you guys wanting to run around all day as a wolf, but you actually have lives past that. Paul, you have school and I swear you are graduating. Being a wolf is no excuse to drop out so you can get that shit right out of your head."
Sam spun around on us. "There's only three of us, Bella."
When I smirked it just about set him off on another anger tangent. "And I have single-handedly kept this tribe safe for a little over a year, finished my schooling, opened a shop and work ten hour days. By myself!"
I whipped off my shirt and showed my arms. "You see these? Six vampires, Sam. Until you have six of your own don't come whining to me about how I'm not doing enough."
He growled at me and I stared him down. He was six and a half feet tall if he was an inch and against my five-ten that was a considerable height variance. When he closed the distance between us and bumped me with his bare chest, I held my place and looked up at him.
"Uh-oh," Paul whispered. "This is going to hurt. I can't look."
My knee came up between Sam's legs at shifter speed, slamming hard into his most sensitive spot. When he leaned over with a silent scream on his lips I grabbed his hair and slammed his nose into my knee. In a second I had him pinned to the ground with my hand on his throat applying more than enough pressure to make myself understood.
"This is the third time in as many months that you've challenged me, Sam. This is the last time. The next time you pull this shit I'm taking your ear with me as a souvenir. Do we have an understanding?"
He grunted something out and I eased up on his throat. "Yes."
When I released him he rolled over on the ground and curled up into a ball. "You cheated," he moaned.
I just snorted and went to sit on the porch. "I play the game to win, Sam. There are no rules when you're a split second from getting your throat ripped out by a vampire. If you think they're not going to rip your balls off if they have the chance then please, go throw yourself off a cliff or something and save me the trouble. Now get your ass over to Harry's and get inked-up. I don't give a crap what you put on your back, but you need to chill the hell out before you hurt someone. Oh, I changed my mind. No more of those Japanese letters crap. You think all the Japanese people are over there putting English words on their bodies?"
When I looked over at Paul he was wisely covering his mouth and hiding a low chuckling sound. When he saw me looking at him he tugged his jeans down low enough for me to see his paw print below his navel along with his gross happy trail along with it.
"Got mine, Boss."
Looking up at the sky I shook my head. "Spirits save me from these hormonal boys."
A week after I killed the redheaded vampire, Sam phased for the first time. He disappeared for two weeks and then came limping back when I was on patrol one night and heard him begging the Spirits for help. I wasn't exactly the Spirits, but according to the Elders I was close enough. They immediately wanted to make him Alpha, and Sam was at the council meeting biting at the bit to prove himself to them and put me in my place. I took one look at Old Quil who was the one to bring the subject up. Then I turned around and clocked Sam across the face with my fist, and asked them who should be Alpha, me or the unconscious guy.
Harry laughed his ass off and even Dad hid a smirk. Sam called me for cheating and not facing him like a man in the field of battle. Apparently, he's an idiot.
Paul tried the same shit when he phased and I brought him before the Council. They told him he had to follow my orders. He told them he wasn't taking orders from a girl. Old Quil just covered his eyes while I made my point. Paul teases me now, but that's about it. One ass-kicking from a girl was more than enough.
~O~
"Don't forget to keep your eyes on the trees while you're patrolling," I thought at Paul as I was escorting him on my nightly run around the Rez. "If they hear you coming they like to hide up there. Don't let that stop you though. You phase back to human, climb that tree, and chase their ass. I don't care if you're naked or not."
He snickered and I snapped at him as he tried to pass me on my right. Paul dodged quickly enough.
"Yes, Boss!"
When we exited the tree line behind my shop I phased back and let him in the door where he immediately phased into his human form making sure to keep his equipment well hidden. Since he was fifteen I let it slide for now. Last week he'd gone from a kid in the prime of his adolescence to full adult in less than a couple of weeks, physically anyway. In his head he was still a gangly fifteen year old boy that was just getting used to sprouting hair from unusual places.
When I shimmied into a pair of shorts and a tank he was already dressed. He didn't have to deal with the hips I had. Mom used to call them childbearing hips. That's where I got them from. I called them a pain to find decent jeans that didn't make me look fat. I guess it's better than being all bony and straight as a board. At least nobody mistook me for a guy – ever.
"See you later, Bella."
"Later, Paul."
When I made it back to the house I smelled a familiar scent in the air. Charlie had come and gone. The note on the door let me know that he wished me a happy nineteenth birthday. Cake was in the fridge and a present was on the counter. It's really getting difficult to hold a seriously old grudge when the man does stuff like this.
The box definitely wasn't big enough for a sniper rifle; ah well, there was always Christmas.
After popping the top off I pulled the paper stuffing out and found a ceramic wolf in the middle, except it wasn't just any wolf. It was me. The body was a russet coloring except where it met the scruff of the neck where everything turned a much darker color. It was a pretty good likeness. I turned it over to see where he got something like this and found the initials CS 2005 to BB on the bottom.
"Oh, Charlie. What am I supposed to do with you?"
The cake was made at the Forks Bakery. At least the man knew his limits, and it was chocolate; that alone scores major points.
"Happy birthday to me," I sang somewhat melancholy.
Cutting off a gigantic slice I put it on a plate and stuck the rest in the fridge for later. Taking a look at the front door I thought about Sam and Paul, and then made sure to move several things in front of the box to block it from being seen.
"Mine!" Nobody touches my chocolate cake without losing a limb.
Five minutes later my slice was finished and I had to hold myself back from eating all the rest, so I satisfied the craving by pressing each and every little crumb and speck on the plate with my fork and then wiping it clean with my tongue.
"Yum."
"Bella!" someone yelled from outside.
I sighed. "I knew it was too good to be true. What's the point in having a pack if I can't have a night off?"
Setting the saucer on the kitchen counter I peeked out the window and saw Embry Call running up to the front door and ringing the bell. When I opened the door I was somewhat shocked to see we'd have another wolf in a week or two.
"Bella, Harry Clearwater wanted me to tell you that you need to… do your thing. He said that specifically… to do your thing."
We've really got to come up with a new passphrase. Frankly I was fond of 'who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men,' but Old Quil vetoed it, the old fart.
"Got it, Embry, thanks."
I started to close the door, but he stuck his foot in the way. "What's your thing? Does this have something to do with Sam and Paul and those freaky tattoos of yours?"
After giving him the eye I looked him up and down. He was going to find out sooner rather than later anyway. "Yes. Keep it to yourself."
His face lit up as if he'd just been let in on the greatest secret in the world. In fact, he had. "Really? What is it?"
"Sorry, Embry. I have to go do my thing. We'll talk about it soon, if you can prove you can keep a secret. That means no Little Quil and no Jake, at least not yet."
"I can keep a secret. Oh, and I think this has something to do with Jake. He was really pissed off at Paul just a little while ago and then I heard a loud…"
I didn't let him finish because I slammed the door in his face and ran for the back, stripping my clothes off as I went.
"Hey! What the hell? Bella?"
The back door slammed closed, and I phased a second after as I sprang into the woods behind my house.
"Jake? Can you hear me?"
"Bella!"
"Jake you gotta calm down. Where are you at?"
"Are you talking to me in my head? I'm going insane! I knew I shouldn't have eaten those live goldfish. Paul said he'd done it and was calling me chicken."
I saw he was in the back yard of Dad's house, so I altered my course and put it into high gear.
"Jake, you're being stupid. You're not insane and I'm pretty sure you can't go insane from eating live goldfish, although I'm also pretty sure that you just drowned live goldfish in your stomach acid. That's a messed up way to go. Spirits are going to be pissed."
"Dad's freaking out… hold on… no he's not? I'm a big insane, live goldfish eating, dog and he's not freaking out. What the hell?"
"You're not a dog, you're a wolf, and Dad already knows about it, because I'm a wolf too, and so are Sam and Paul."
"You mean that's the reason you go missing all the time and the reason Sam's being an asshole?"
"Sort of. Sam's always been an asshole. You didn't know him in school like I did."
"I heard that," Sam broke into the conversation.
"Well look who decided to phase. Did you get your ink?"
"Yes," he grumbled.
"Hey," Jake thought at us. "Can you guys focus on me for a second. I'm a big dog and Dad is having trouble wheeling his chair down the ramp. I think he's been drinking."
"Again?" I snapped. "You need to find his bottles and toss them, Jake. He can't drink more than a couple of beers with his diabetes."
I burst through the tree line and saw Jake's wolf form. His fur was just like mine except it was russet colored all the way through.
"Bella? Is that you?"
"Yeah, hold on a second. Jake, Dad's not drunk. Are you telling me you can't smell the peyote on him? He reeks of it? He's probably hallucinating big time."
"Is that what that smell is? He's been holding out on me. Tribal rituals only my sexy russet ass!"
"Taha Aki!" Dad yelled! "Taha Ta, Taka Akia! Taka Taco Bell! I'm hungry, Bella. Let's go to Taco Bell!"
I phased when I hit the porch and turned Dad's wheelchair around before he fell off the ramp.
There was a wolf-like yelp and I looked behind me to find Jake trying to cover his eyes with his paws. "Just relax and think about your human body, Jake. Concentrate on it."
Before I made it through the door I heard a squelching sound and then Jake yelling, "My eyes! I'm blind! Naked Bella. Nononono. Brain bleach! Get me some brain bleach!"
"Are we going to Taco Bell?"
"No, Dad. I'm sure you've got some leftover Hamburger Helper somewhere."
He pumped his hand in the air. "Yeah! Can you put that in a taco shell?"
"No, Dad. Here, why don't you lay down for a little while and I'll whip something up."
After lifting him onto the bed I moved the wheelchair far enough away where he wouldn't be able to get to it without effort then made my way to my room to find something to wear. Sadly, Jake chose that moment to do the same thing.
"GAH! Would you get some clothes on or something!"
"You're pretty naked yourself, or haven't you noticed."
"Yeah, but this is a man's house now. No women allowed."
I glanced around as I hit my old room where I stored several clothes for this specific reason. "Yeah, I've noticed all the dishes in the sink. You know there's this thing called a dishwasher. You just stick them in there and press a button. Poof! Clean dishes for later."
"We're out of soap. I tried using that blue stuff, but bubbles came out everywhere. It was a mess."
I stuck my head out and looked over at his room. "You didn't actually put Dawn in the dishwasher did you?"
"Well, the label said it cuts grease and makes the dishes squeaky clean."
With a sigh I pulled a tank over my head and slipped into a pair of stretchy shorts. I needed to remember to bring some panties next time I come over.
~O~
"All that shit was true?" Jake sat on the couch with a stupefied look on his face. "I thought the new protein shakes I've been drinking was making me bulk out. Man those things taste nasty and I was chugging them all the time."
I sighed. "Are you cool now?"
He shrugged. "I guess. So I can change into a wolf anytime I want. No full moon needed?"
"Any time you want. Just make sure not to do it in front of people who don't know about us. If you do then I kick your ass."
"Whatever, I'm not the tiny little brother you've been picking on all these years anymore."
After giving him a placating smile I nodded. "You know Sam? Six-six Sam?"
"Uh… is this a trick question?"
"No, I can kick his ass. You sure you want to test me?"
Jake looked like he was thinking it over. "I guess not. At least not yet."
"Spirits! Finally, a guy that stops and thinks. You're my Beta."
"What's that?"
I shrugged. "I'm the Alpha wolf. That means I'm in charge of the Pack: me, you, Sam, and Paul so far. Although I saw Embry tonight and he looks like he's going to phase any time over the next two weeks. Since you didn't go straight into challenging my leadership, or my ability to kick your ass, you get to be my Beta. It's like second in command. I need someone that can use their brain… though there is that Dawn in the dishwasher thing to think about."
He had this strange look on his face. "But you're a girl."
"Fine, you don't want to be Beta? Maybe Embry will be somewhat intelligent and not misogynistic."
"No, that's cool. Beta Wolf Jake, vampire killer."
"Red-eyed vampire killer."
"What?"
~O~
After explaining how he couldn't kill any of the Cullens until after they broke the treaty didn't really sit well with my brother. And did I get a happy birthday, Bella? The answer to that would be a big fat no. I'm cool with not getting any presents, considering how most of the family money goes toward the food and electricity, not to mention Dad's cable bill, but not when your own family forgets the day you came into the world something is terribly wrong.
At least someone remembered.
I returned to my house after making sure Dad got his Hamburger Helper sans taco shells, grabbed my clothes and headed back out. The run to Forks was somewhat pleasant. There wasn't any smell of road kill except for the expected tiny stupid animals that like to play in the road while a four ton vehicle is barreling down upon them. Unless it's bigger than the average dog most people won't even slow down and give the little suckers a chance. Then again what's the point? I was test driving a truck I was working on last week. There was a squirrel in the road and it started freaking out in the manic way that they do. I had more than enough time to stop and wait for the thing to figure out that really hard surfaces meant danger. It ran off to the side finally and I proceeded on, only for the stupid thing to panic again, run right back out onto the street and straight under the tire.
Darwin… what are you gonna do?
When I reached Charlie's house I stopped and put my clothes on before making my way around to the front. There was some kind of game on the television, but I knocked anyway. His head popped up over the little windows at the top of the door and I gave him a quick answering smile.
"Bella," he said and looked behind me. "Is everything okay?"
I nodded and kind of looked inside for a moment. "Um… thanks for the present… and the cake."
The tension in his shoulders fell away and it was one of the few times I had ever seen him smile. "Oh, well, it's your birthday. Happy birthday, by the way."
A grin worked its way to my face. "Thanks."
That was all I had. Then we both had to stand there not knowing what to say to one another until eventually he broke. "Do you want to come in?"
"Okay."
He backed away and threw his hand out a little, welcoming me inside. "I've got some pizza left over if you're hungry."
When am I not hungry? "Thanks, maybe a slice or two?"
"It's just going to go to waste if you don't finish it off. I hate cold pizza."
I saw there was a good two-thirds of the thing left over. "Are you sure?"
He nodded and grabbed a paper plate for me. "Um, you need something to drink… all I have is beer. Hell, it's your birthday. One beer isn't going to hurt."
My eyes popped open as I watched him rush to the kitchen. "Do you want a glass?"
"No, the can is fine."
"Whew."
What is it with men and dishes? He grabbed another for himself and popped them both on the way to the couch before handing me one.
"How's things on the Rez?"
I shrugged and pulled a slice of pizza onto the plate. "You know Paul phased last week, right?"
"Yeah, Harry mentioned it on Saturday."
"Jake phased tonight."
Charlie blinked and shook his head. "That's… a lot of wolves."
"Tell me about it. At least after I get them trained I can take some vacation time, maybe catch up on all the cars at the shop."
We sat there and watched most of the game while I finished off his pizza. It was a pretty uneventful night, but that was cool. I could do with a few quite times. When it was over I cleaned up my mess and Charlie walked me out the back door.
"Well, stay safe, Bella."
I nodded and turned to leave, but stopped myself with an aching regret in my belly before I turned around and scared the crap out of Charlie as I hugged him quickly. He had maybe half a second to hug me back when I bolted toward the forest.
~O~
September 16, 2005 Friday
"I heard you dropped by Charlie's the other night."
Crap. I knew things we're too quiet while Harry worked on my back for our weekly tattoo session.
"Uh… yeah."
"He's a good man."
"He's a cop," I countered. "It's supposed to be in the definition somewhere."
The next fifteen minutes went by without much pain as he was working above my shoulder blade and chanting away in Quileute.
"You know, ever since you became a Protector he's been making it a point to stay at home most nights and eating pizza."
I almost pulled back so I could see where Harry was going with this. Sometimes he just goes off onto tangents and it's best to simply nod and agree with him. Other times he gets too damn serious.
"He doesn't eat much," I commented, hoping he'd drop the subject.
"Three slices. He says he's saving the rest for you, just in case you drop by."
This time I did have to pull back. "I never go over there. Tuesday was the first time."
Harry shrugged. "White men. They do strange things sometimes."
I frowned and lay back down.
When the slight stinging returned I started feeling a little better.
"You know," Harry said nonchalantly. "It wouldn't hurt for you to drop by more often. You know, just to…"
He didn't get to finish this time when I reared back. "And what, Harry? He's not my dad."
I just got a you're being stupid, Bella look off of him. I get that look a lot and Harry's a master at giving it. "Some kids on the Rez only have one parent. You got blessed by the Spirits with three. You think that peyote incident with your mother was an accident, random chance? What the hell have I been teaching you all these years?
"The best way to tie a lure," I said trying to lighten the mood.
He snuffed. "Your mother was a good woman, Bella; a hell of a medicine woman. She was the one that helped with all our spirit quests. Not once did she participate. She always watched over us. So, tell me this, why then? Why that time? And why did she become pregnant with you right after?"
I've been asking myself those questions for seven years. "I don't know?"
Harry poked me on the side. "This ain't just art I'm putting on your back, you know. It's the Thunderbird, the servant of the Great Spirit. He's intelligent, powerful, wrathful… sound like anyone you know?"
With a sigh I resigned myself to listening to a lecture for the rest of the night.
As he resumed his work he started chanting the song of the Thunderbird and the Whale. Short story made much shorter: big whale comes and starts killing other whales. Since Quileutes were whalers back in the day this was a bad thing. Thunderbird comes and fights the whale, picks it up and brings it over the land. Another big fight ensues and Thunderbird kills the whale. The end.
Quileutes aren't big with allegories; they just like to tell stories.
"There, you're done."
I pulled back and looked at him oddly. "You mean done done, or done for the night?"
"Done done. Put your shirt on. This calls for a pipe."
Ugh. I hate smoking on the pipe. Harry always has the funkiest of tobacco mixtures. If I want pipe weed then I always go to Old Quil. He has the good stuff, not that I'd tell anybody else. I caught him smoking his special blend and told him I'd rat him out unless he shared. Come to think of it that's probably why he's always trying to get Sam into the Alpha position. It's not like I really blackmail him or anything. I always make sure his pickup is in good running order without charging him a dime. It's a trade-off.
"I've been saving this for a special occasion," Harry said as he came back in with a medicine pouch and a Thunderbird pipe.
It's nothing out of the ordinary, just a long pipe like any other, except this one has an eagle's head for a bowl. He opened the pouch as he sat down with a smile on his face.
"You got a lot of anger in you, Bella. You can't hold onto that stuff. It'll eat you up inside, rot you."
I didn't say anything, only pressing my lips together while he told me how messed up I am.
"Thunderbird is gonna help you. You've been marked and you're taking his tobacco into you. Let him take your anger and make it his own. He's used to it."
Once he applied a lit match to the tobacco I knew where his special Thunderbird blend came from. Apparently, the elders are bogarting the good stuff. At least Old Quil didn't rat me out.
"Once a week, one pipe. No more. Got to save some of that anger for the Cold Ones. You get stupid if you do too much."
He took a puff and sucked the smoke into his lungs before releasing it slowly and passed the pipe to me. I did the same, coughing just a little so he didn't think I was used to it.
We finished off the pipe and he wrapped it up with the pouch and handed it to me. "That's enough for two months. You run out you come to me. It'll help with your anger. Make sure to thank Thunderbird after you smoke it. Now, you want more ink?"
I shook my head. "I'm good till next week, Harry. I have to think of something new anyway and I need a place to put it."
"Lower back is good. Maybe some raven wings?"
With a shrug I stood and gave him a hug before heading toward the door.
"Don't forget about pizza with your other father, Little Thunderbird. It doesn't have to be all the time. Once a week is enough."
~O~
November 9, 2005, Wednesday
It's been a while since anything has been on the radar. I'm beginning to think the vampires have finally got the message. Stay away from western Washington if you want to stay undead. I haven't seen hide or hair from a single one, except for the Cullens. That hasn't stopped the wolves from sprouting in La Push. Embry Call, Little Quil, and Jared Cameron have all phased over the last couple of months. The messed up part is that I saw Harry's son Seth looking bigger than he should be for his age and he's only thirteen years old. This is starting to get a little ridiculous. Kids that age shouldn't be nearly six feet tall, Quileute or not.
I warned Harry about it so he could keep an eye on him. It's sad when your own elders don't notice that their own sons are sprouting up that quickly.
Around ten o'clock while I was changing out a starter for '83 Chevy Impala I heard a semi-familiar voice from just outside the garage.
"Hello?"
"Down here," I called out.
I glanced to the side and saw a pair of brand new Nike's and the cuffs of a pressed pair of jeans starched within an inch of their life.
"Bella Black?"
I finished tightening the restraining bolts back into place and attached the electrical before rolling out from underneath the car. "Special Agent Dean!"
He grinned knowingly down at me. "Detective? Or is it Mechanic?"
"A little of both," I said as I got up and moved to the work bench to clean off my ratchet. "What can I do for the FBI on Quileute land where no federal crimes have been reported recently?"
With a smile he looked around the shop while I noted his brand new flannel shirt and the brand new denim jacket that matched his pressed jeans perfectly. His hair was still closely cropped and gelled into place. It made me wonder exactly how anal retentive this guy was.
"Is there somewhere we could speak without being overheard?"
I glanced around the shop and shrugged. "There's nobody around to listen and I've got to get this Impala out by lunchtime."
It was finished, but I didn't have to tell him that.
"Right." He lowered his voice anyway. "I've got a case in Port Angeles; a missing eight year old girl. You heard about the Amber Alert that was put out yesterday?"
When I cocked my head at him I started rubbing down the sockets I used. "Yeah. They said it was right outside her school where she went missing."
He shrugged. "We've kept this from the local news for the parent's sake, but this isn't the first. The MO matches a case out of Boise."
"And that's where the FBI comes in."
"Right." He looked reluctant and showed exactly how much by the way he was avoiding my eyes. "I wouldn't ordinarily bring in local mechanic enforcement, but if we don't find her within the next twelve hours then she will probably wind up dead and not in a peaceful way. I've got no leads at all and the SAiC won't be in town for another fifteen hours."
I stared him down. "Is this on the level?"
Dean's eyes flicked up to finally meet mine. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't."
This sooo wasn't what I thought I'd be doing when I was drafted into being a Protector, but a freaking eight year old girl…
"I do my thing. If I can't answer your questions then you won't press. Afterward I get a meal and a ride home. Can you deal with that?"
His lips pursed and I watched as he swallowed his pride. "Yes."
I tossed him the keys to the Impala. "Back that out while I go change. Just right outside the garage and put the keys in the glove box."
He looked at me oddly. "Nobody will try to steal it?"
With a smile thrown over my shoulder I said, "Nobody steals from the Quileutes. They know what will happen if they do."
"What'll happen," he just had to ask.
There was no answer in reply I just closed the door to the office and pulled out my hunting gear.
~O~
"Do you always wear that when you go on assignment?"
My Forks Detective badge was still in the inside pocket of my jacket. I called Charlie to give him the heads up in case someone decided to investigate much like Special Agent Dean did months back.
"Sure… why not?"
He shrugged. "It's not very professional."
"I'm not very professional."
"I noticed that about you."
The single flasher on the dash was getting us past all the weekday drivers fairly quick. I normally didn't move this fast unless I'm in wolf form. Even then I move twice as fast on a slow day.
"Is there anything I need to know to keep the locals off your back?"
I shook my head. "Just tell them I'm a specialist and to stay out of my way."
"A specialist."
"Yep. I'm reminded of a line I read somewhere. I'm the best at what I do and sometimes what I do isn't very nice."
He actually snorted. It was an odd sound coming from somebody so straight-laced. Maybe he recognized the line.
"You carry any weapons?"
"Nope." I am the weapon.
"Fair enough."
Another twenty minutes and we pulled up to an elementary school. It was out of session and there was a single blue and white Ford cargo van out front. A quick smell with the window cracked told me no vampires were involved. That made this that much harder.
"How do you know she was taken from here?" I asked.
Dead reached into the back seat and pulled a large sealed bag to the front. Inside was a Princess Barbie backpack.
"This was found by the curb, just like all the others. We've kept this from the media."
I took it from him and started opening it. His hand stopped me. "That's sealed evidence."
Looking up at him I raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to find this girl?"
Dean's face went grim and he reached into his pocket and withdrew a small knife. As he cut through the tape he looked at me. "Don't touch anything inside. If we find this guy this is a crucial piece of evidence that connects him to the other abductions and murders."
"Okay… um, look that way for a minute."
"Bella, you can't touch anything."
"I won't, but you can't watch while I do this."
Against his better judgment Dean looked away and I put my nose right down on the back of the back where the girl most likely had it against her whenever she wore it. Taking in a deep breath I caught her scent. Her parents still used baby shampoo for her hair. It was blonde as well. There were several stuck to the pack. I caught hints of Irish Spring and an underlying scent of raspberries. That was her true scent.
"Got it," I said as I handed the bag back to him. He sealed it back up and returned it to the back while someone knocked on the side window.
"Agent Levoi, back again?" A guy in a gray off the rack suit said. He was definitely a cop.
"Detective. I brought in a specialist to assist. She's helped me with a previous case with good results."
The cop eyed me as I got out of the car and traced the girl's scent to the curb. "Is this where you found it?"
Dean was out of the car and moving toward me. "Yes, how did… nevermind."
I nodded. "Fine, stay behind me at least ten feet. Let me do my thing."
Closing my eyes I took a breath and got moving. Two hours later I was still moving, checking the doors of businesses I passed and even moving across the street as odd intervals. I would have been much more effective as a wolf, but seeing as we were on the outskirts of a minor city that wasn't happening.
"This is bullshit," the police detective said. "We're wasting time."
Dean spun on him. "You're more than welcome to find something else to do, Detective."
"What is she even doing? We've been past this building and around it for the last fifteen minutes and all she's doing is…"
The trail had run cold and I wasn't giving up. "Excuse me, could you shut the hell up?"
The detective glared at me while I closed my eyes and tried to filter out the noise of the city. It was annoying as hell. I was used to the forest. I knew each and every sound the natural world made on La Push and surrounding Forks. In the city I felt useless.
"Bella?"
Dean had moved to within five feet and I held up a finger. There was something just on the edge of my hearing, but I couldn't quite make it out. When I looked up I saw one of those old fire escapes that you don't really see any more on the newer buildings. Except we weren't in a new part of town.
"What?" he said.
A dumpster sat about five feet away. I could make the jump to the fire escape easily enough, but with the cops here that would look somewhat odd to make a nine foot vertical leap like that.
"Back away," I said as I took a couple of steps to the side.
"What are you…?"
He didn't even finish before I took a run at the dumpster, pushed off, hit the load arm and spun around to grab at the fire escape.
"Holy shit," the detective said. "Freaking Jackie Chan. Where'd you get this girl?"
I was running up the ladder while it descended to the ground for the others. Once I was on stable footing I ran up the second to the third floor and kept going. The faster I went the stronger the girl's scent came to me.
"She's here!" I stage whispered downward.
"Call for backup," Dean said as he started upward.
"Where? I don't see anything?"
Waiting around wasn't in the stars for me as I kept going to the fourth and eventually the fifth floor. That's where the scent was the strongest. Looking through the window I saw that it emptied out into a long hallway. I tried to pull it up but it was locked from inside.
"Bella, wait!"
Working my fingernails under the sill I broke the simple lock and jerked it open. I was halfway through before Dean nearly yelled.
"Bella!"
Two doors down I concentrated my ears on the two heartbeats I heard inside. One of those hearts was racing accompanied by some seriously clogged nasal passages.
I tapped on the door using the little knocker while Dean was working his way through the window.
"Who there?" A gruff voice said on the other side.
"Tony's Pizza. Delivery."
When I saw a shadow at the eyepiece and heard the voice grow louder," I didn't order…," I reared back at slammed my foot against the deadbolt ripping it from the doorjamb. The door slammed open and onto the guy behind it as he went flying through the room crumpling to the floor.
He was dress in one of those white butcher's aprons and wearing yellow rubber gloves, and that was pretty much it. Ugh. I sped through the doorway and grabbed him by the neck to slam his head against the ground.
"Where is she!" My voice came out in a deep growl, but the guy was too dazed to figure out he was about to die.
"Federal agent!"
Pulling my beast back in, I listened and heard whimpering coming from the next room. Clocking the guy across the face I dropped him and tried my best to put my voice back to normal, but I wasn't too successful.
"She's in there!"
~O~
I only ordered two double cheeseburgers considering I hadn't phased once the entire day. Special Agent Dean Levoi kept glancing out of the corner of his eye at me, but he didn't say a word for the entire trip back to Forks. When we pulled up to the garage he took the car out of gear and killed the engine while I slurped the last dregs of Coke out of my cup.
"How…"
"Shh," I said. "Remember, no questions I can't answer."
"But…"
I sighed and turned to look at him. "Isn't it enough that we saved that girl's life today?"
He blinked and looked away. "Yeah… yeah it is. Thanks for your help, Bella. I owe you one."
With a chuckle I opened the door and took the bag full of McDonald's trash with me. "The FBI owing me a favor. Wow. That's two now. Forget about what you saw and heard today and I'll call it even."
"That's… something that might take some time."
With a nod I closed the door and ducked into the shop hopefully leaving Special Agent Dean behind me for good this time.
