Author's Note: Don't forget to vote on my poll and check out my oneshot 'Fighting Fate' and let me know what you think about it the link is in my profile! I hope you guys are still enjoying my story, sorry it's taking me so long to update I had a bit of writers block for a little while but it's okay now. Much love, quickbunny01.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter 9

We made our way to the dining room where we found all the stuff we'd asked Marcus for already set up and waiting for us. The dining table had been pushed to one side, a long table sat against the opposite wall with three computers set up on it and a giant bulletin board was at the front of the room. In short it looked like the set of a bad police drama. Edward and Alec were seated at two of the computers typing away.

"Finding anything?" James asked.

Edward shook his head. "We're trying to find out what the Romanians have been up to for the last year but whatever it is they've been quiet about it." He rubbed his face with the palms of his hands and looked at us pleadingly. "We have to find them; god only knows what that bitch is doing to them."

I walked over and put my arm around his shoulders. "We won't give up until we find them Edward and after they're safe I'm going to kill Cassandra if the Romanians haven't already taken care of her." I swore.

We tried to act as normal as possible over the next six months but nothing was the same without Esme and Sulpicia. Aro was a ghost; he floated from room to room never talking and only drinking when I begged him to. Carlisle wasn't much better but at least he had his family. As close as I am to Aro the Cullen's have a much tighter bond, he actually considers them his children and having to be strong for them helped him cope.

We were running out of options. We have investigated every aspect of the Romanians and couldn't find any proof that they had helped Cassandra in any way. We had even sent spies into their domain and each one reported back that nothing suspicious was happening there. Every spy was debriefed by James, Edward, Jasper and myself. Edward listened closely to their thoughts, Jasper made sure they were being truthful and James and I asked the questions, we weren't taking the chance that one of our spies had been turned against us while they were on assignment.

Every day that passed without any new information morale dropped. James and I now spend most of our time breaking up fights between the rest of our little team. In a last desperate attempt I was going through Cassandra's room again. At one point or another we had each searched her room but like I said we were desperate. We have no way of knowing whether or not our mother figures are alive or not but we are all trying to remain hopeful. I had long ago talked James into not sending spies to the Romanians anymore; if they had taken them then we would have received some kind of ransom note or demand but there had been no correspondence from the kidnappers.

James entered the room behind me and laughed. "What the hell are you doing babe?"

I pulled myself out from under the bed to glare at him. "Well we've searched everywhere else; I thought she might have stuck something between the mattress and the frame." I growled at him. I raised my hands in the air for him to help me up. There was a quiet click as I released the edge of the bed frame. James and I looked at each other in surprise. I stuck my head back under the bed to see a small compartment build into the bed frame. There were a handful of papers shoved inside, I carefully pulled them out. "Should we look at them here or take them to the dining room and show everyone?" I whispered.

"Let's look. There's no point in getting everyone worked up if there's nothing there but psychotic ramblings." He answered just as quietly in case a member of our team was close enough to hear us.

I spread the pages out on the bed. Mostly they were just what James said they were psychotic ramblings. 'James looked at me today.'; 'I'll make them see that Bella is really nothing special.' nothing illuminating or even interesting. But when we got to the last page I gasped and James had to grab me to keep me from falling to the floor.

'Take them today at 3 p.m. kill the guard.'

This was really nothing new since we already knew the approximate time they were taken and that she had killed Evan but what shocked me so badly was the note was written on Volturi letterhead. Someone inside the castle was responsible for helping the psycho.

"Oh my god James; what are we going to do? It could be anyone."

"No Bella; not just anyone. It has to be someone who can shield from Edward and confuse Jasper, also someone powerful and intelligent enough to block Alice from seeing them. That narrows it down significantly. We need to show the others and make sure that only our team knows of this. With everyone's help we can start making a list."

"I'll go gather everyone together and meet you in the dining room in ten minutes." I kissed him before starting for the door, I paused before opening it. "James should we tell the brothers or Carlisle?"

"No. I hate to keep anything from Aro or Carlisle, I'm positive that neither of them is involved but we don't know the same thing about Marcus or Caius."

I gaped at him. "Uncle Marcus would never do this and as evil a Caius is I can't believe he would take them. And for what purpose? They're already two of the most powerful vampires in the world."

"I know Tesoro, but we have to be very careful; this is the first break we've had and we have to make sure that we tell only the people who have to know. We'll have to convince the Cullen's of that as well and I'll need your help."

I thought this through for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Ten minutes." I said again as I stepped into the hall. I found Jasper and Alec in the library discussing some boring war book; the rest of the guys and Jane were in the game room fighting over the pool table, and the girls were in Heidi's room doing god knows what; I was just glad they'd left me out of it this time. I sent them all to the dining room before I went to find Aro. Heidi had told me that he hadn't eaten in two weeks and he was starting to get weak. He refused to hunt or even go to the feeding room when Heidi brings in the 'meal of the week' so Carlisle had been getting him donated blood from the local hospital. I grabbed a blood bag from the fridge and heated it up then headed to Aro's study.

I knocked on the door. "Papa?" I received no answer so I pushed open the door, knowing he was inside. "Papa you need to drink." I could see his black hair sticking up from one of the chairs facing his desk but he wasn't moving. I slowly made my way around to the front of the chair and placed my hand on his shoulder. He sighed and looked up at me.

"Your mother spent months planning the New Year's Eve party for this year. You know how she was about these things; she started planning right after last year's party. I think we should go ahead and have it. She'll be upset when she gets back if we cancel it."

I stood staring at him for a moment. He hadn't said more than ten words since they had been kidnapped and it shocked me to hear him speaking so normally. "Of course Papa; if that's what you want. I'll have Heidi and Alice go over her plans and make sure everything is in order. Now I need you to drink this unless you would like Heidi to go hunting for you." I held the bag out toward him.

He made a face but took it. "I'm not feeling up to feeding right now maybe Heidi can hunt for us before the party."

"That sounds like a good idea Papa. I need to get back to the dining room and have the girls start planning. I'll come and check on you later alright."

He nodded and patted my hand. I stepped into the hallway and shook my head at his odd behavior. At least he was talking again. I entered the dining room to raised voices and strained tempers.

"What's going on here?"

"Alice and Heidi are under the delusion that the brothers are going ahead with the annual New Year's party, please tell them they're wrong." Edward said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Umm…I just came from talking to Aro and he said that he wants to have the party. He thinks that Sulpicia will be upset when she comes home if we cancel. So I need Alice and Heidi to go to her office and check her plans. She probably has everything planned out but make sure there are no calls to be made and you're not allowed to change anything. Keep everything the way she has it." I warned.

Alice and Heidi looked slightly deflated but still pleased. Everyone besides James was just staring at me.

"You can't be serious. Sulpicia and Esme are still missing and you want us to stop looking to have a party?" Edward shouted.

James was in front of him in an instant. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't yell at my wife. If Aro wants to have a party then we'll have a party. Now if you're all done acting like children then Bella has found some new evidence." He looked everyone in the room in the eye, daring them to disagree with him. No one uttered a sound. James turned to me and kissed my forehead. "Go ahead and tell them babe."

"Okay, I went through Cassandra's room again and I'm afraid that we've been wasting our time looking at the Romanians."

The room was suddenly roaring with the voices of my family and friends. I stood patiently until they were done. I had expected this since the Romanians were the only lead we'd had for six months and even though it was only a suggestion from the brothers to begin with it had what we had clung to this whole time. Finally seeing that they weren't going to get any answers until they quieted down they sat back in their chairs and waited for me to finish.

"I know you're all upset that we've wasted this much time but we went with what we had at the time. I was searching under Cassandra's bed and when I pulled myself out by holding onto the bed frame I opened a hidden compartment. These papers were inside." I said holding out the papers. "Mostly they're useless ramblings about how she was going to steal James and prove me to be unimportant. But there was this." I said holding up the note on Volturi letterhead. I handed it to Sasha who was seated closest to me. She quickly scanned the page and passed it to Edward. This continued until everyone had read the paper and they were all staring at James and I in shock.

"Someone from inside the castle was the one to help her. Who would have done that? It could have been anyone." Rosalie whispered looking bewildered.

"No; Bella said the same thing but it couldn't have been just anyone. We need to make a list and I want it completely understood that this new information does not leave this room. You. Are. Not. To. Tell. Anyone. Understood?" James ordered.

Once again the protest and arguments started but this time James wouldn't waste time waiting for them to settle down.

"Bella and I are in charge here. I know that we have made this a group effort in the past but now that we have a solid lead you will obey all orders we give you and if you are incapable then you'll spend the rest of the time until we find them in the dudgeons. We can't take the chance that this will be leaked and give whoever is doing this the chance to get away."

The guards and Cullen's alike gaped open mouthed at James and I. The dudgeons hadn't been used for anything other than practice rooms in decades. The Volturi no longer kept prisoners; if you don't cooperate then you die so there is no need for holding cells.

"You're not even going to tell the brothers or Carlisle?" Jasper asked disbelievingly.

"No. Like I said we don't know who is involved. I'm positive that Aro and Carlisle didn't have anything to do with this but what can telling them achieve? Nothing. Until we have more to go on we want this kept between us." James lowered his voice so he was no longer shouting but he didn't lose any of his authority. Slowly everyone nodded in agreement or in fear I'm not sure which.

Victoria went to the board in the front of the room to start the list but James stopped her.

"No, I don't want this written up there in bold letters for everyone that walks by to see. We'll start a notebook instead."

Victoria nodded and sat back down.

"Now, who is powerful and smart enough to fool all of us. Who is capable of blocking Edward, Alice and Jasper; someone who has avoided being read by Aro; and who somehow managed to slip by the two best trackers in the Volturi guard?" I asked after I shut the door. The room fell silent as everyone thought.

We spent three hours suggesting and eliminating suspects. I was positive that we had run through every person, vampire and human that works in the castle. Laurent even printed off the last roster for the guards. I wasn't happy with the list we'd come up with.

*Caius because he was powerful and just plain evil but he really had no motive.

*Marcus for the same reason as Caius except for the evil part but he also had no motive.

*Peter who had been demoted when James had taken over as leader of the guard and still held a grudge.

*Brian who had seemed to be unusually close to Cassandra the last few months she was here. He wasn't very powerful but he had managed to evade all of us since the initial interviews after the kidnapping.

*Allison who was just an all around bitch but she was very talented. She has the power of, for lack of a better word, seduction; not like a succubus but when you talk to her you just seem to agree with everything she says. It's a subtle but useful ability.

The Cullen's couldn't come up with any names of people who had been overly aggressive toward them while they had been staying here. I was still very upset that we were considering Marcus. I just couldn't make myself believe that he would do anything like this especially since he knows firsthand what it's like to lose a mate. Since the New Year's party was less than a week away we decide to covertly monitor the people who were on our list and try to gather any new information that we could. The general atmosphere of the room was considerably lighter when we left. Everyone seemed to have renewed hope that we were getting closer.

James and I headed back to our room, stopping at Aro's study on the way to check on him. Carlisle was with him and they were actually having a conversation when we knocked on the door.

"Papa, we were just heading to our room for the night and wanted to see if you needed anything. Can I get you some more blood? You haven't been drinking much lately."

"I am fine mia dolce, Carlisle and I were just having a little chat."

"Carlisle how are you doing, can I get you anything?" I asked gently. The man looked lost without the sweet, gentle Esme by his side.

"No thank you Bella. James." He nodded. "Aro and I were just discussing the party."

"Yes, we think it would be prudent to keep the kidnapping as quiet as possible for now. I know that we have managed to contain it within the castle so I want you to inform all of the Volturi workers and guard that it is not to be spoken of to anyone outside of the castle. We cannot appear to be weak that would open us to all manner of attacks. Have you found anything new?" Aro was trying to look strong but his eyes were pleading as were Carlisle's.

"We'll make sure our team relays the new order. I'm sorry master but we don't have anything new to report." James bowed his head as if in defeat. I felt horrible about lying to the two desperate men before me but I agreed with James that nothing could be gained from telling them. After saying goodnight we left them to continue their 'chat'.

James and I looked at each other. I reached up and cupped his cheek. "Are you sure we're doing the right thing by not telling them? I feel really guilty keeping this from them." I thought to him as we made our way to our room.

"It's for the best Tesoro."

I started to drop my hand but he clutched my wrist and held it in place. He grinned wickedly and imagined slowly removing my clothes with his teeth.

I moaned "James, don't tease!"

"It's not teasing if I intend to do it as soon as I have you in our room. Or if you'd like I could just start right now as long as you don't mind anyone who walks by watching me fuck you senseless." He growled.

Of course he had to say that as we were walking past Emmett and Rosalie's room. The door burst open and Emmett, Felix and Demetri came tumbling into the hall with eager looks on their faces.

"Sorry Emmett but this sounds much more entertaining than video games." Felix laughed.

"I agree." Emmett chuckled. "Well go on then."

James just smirked at them and pulled up the hem of my shirt to show my stomach. I smacked his hand away and rolled my eyes at their juvenile behavior. "I'm going to find the girls; I need some intelligent conversation for a change."

"Aw come on babe; I don't mind if they watch. Maybe we can teach them a thing or two." James laughed and tried to grab me but I dodged him and kept going.

I went to Sulpicia's office knowing that the girls would be there going over the party plans. I was grumbling to myself as I entered the room and flopped into the nearest chair. Victoria looked up and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Men are pigs." I mumbled. The room burst into giggles.

"What did James do now?" Rosalie asked.

"Offered to 'fuck me senseless' in the hallway; unfortunately we were walking past your room when he said it and your husband, Felix and Demetri were in there playing a game and overheard him so they came into the hall to watch."

Rosalie's eyes narrowed. "I'll take care of Emmett don't worry Bella. You're right; how can they constantly be such pigs? I mean they're all at least 70 years old; you'd think that eventually they would grow up."

"It looks like we're married to perpetual four year olds." I sighed. "So how is the party looking?"

"Pretty much everything is in order. There are a few calls to be made and some slight alterations to be made to the schedule. Nothing we can't handle Bella. Do you have your gown yet?" Alice asked with excitement shining in her eyes.

"Not yet; what's the theme this year?"

She winced "Masquerade Ball."

I sat up straighter in my chair.

"Sorry Bella; it's what she had planned and you said not to change anything. Besides we wouldn't have time to get the word out to all the guests anyway even if we did change it."

"This will make it harder to keep an eye on everyone. I'll have to talk to James and see what he wants to do. I might as well tell you that Aro and Carlisle have decided to keep the kidnapping under wraps and we'll need all of you to help spread the word to the rest of the castle. And Heidi Papa has decided that he wants you to hunt for him before the Ball."

"Thank god! I can't stand seeing him drink that horrid bagged blood any longer." Heidi said looking relieved.

I nodded my head in agreement as I pushed myself out of the chair. "I'm going to go and punish my husband now. I'll see you ladies later."

Peals of laughter followed me down the hall.