Chapter Ten

Carlisle

I had a problem and one that could be worse than I first thought. Was Alice seeing the Swan girl as Jaspers mate or was her running away just a coincidence? I didn't like coincidences, they could be dangerous but I had to act carefully and certainly not discuss the subject at the house. It was a good job Edward was away with Emmett and Rose for another week, it would have been very difficult to keep my thoughts hidden from him but with luck it would all be over by the time they got back. Alice was a problem I couldn't afford to overlook. I didn't think she'd heard my conversation with Leo earlier but I had to make sure he didn't ring me at the house again. As soon as I got to the clinic, early so I had time to do a few personal things, I rang him back,

"Dr"

"Leo, I don't want you ringing the house again. Send me a text and I'll ring you back when its convenient."

"Sorry Dr I understand. Was there anything else? We're still looking for the girl but we did find something. A vagrant had the bag she took from the house and inside were all the legal papers and news clippings about the kidnap so you must be right, she's on her way to Forks to find Charlie Swan."

"Well it should be easy for you to trace her then. If she didn't use the bus something must have spooked her, are you sure she didn't see you?"

"Positive. I had two other men at the terminal, she was long gone before the bus left."

"Then try the trains next. Oh yes, and I think it might be as well if the Harris family were to have an unfortunate accident, they have become a liability."

"If you wish, there will be an extra cost incurred of course."

"You'll get your money, just find that girl."

"Yes sir"

Alice

I had no idea how to trace the trucker so I contacted the one person who might, my friend Seshat, an Egyptian vampire who named herself after the goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing. She saw things others didn't. If she concentrated on a name she could tell you about them or what happened to them but only for a few hours either side of their death. Her knowledge did not extend to the living unfortunately!

"Alice! Its been such a long time and you promise to visit me. Are you still with the warrior you were helping?"

"No, but it is related, I need to know all I can about a human who died a short while ago, he was a truck driver and I need to know where he was travelling from and to. If you can give me any more information all the better but that's the important thing."

"Very well, give me his name and I will try."

I gave her the truck drivers name and waited, her gift didn't always work so I was keeping my fingers crossed.

"Alan Holmes. Yes, a truck driver hauling timber, he was divorced but looking forward to seeing a girlfriend in Topeka, Kansas."

"Where from?"

"Little Rock Arkansas."

"Did he pick up a hitch hiker?"

"Yes, a female I think"

"Can you describe her?"

"No, I cannot see her, just a mist but it is a female."

"What happened to him?"

"I see two men with guns, stopping the truck. He was hauled out and questioned about his passenger then knocked unconscious. They staged an accident making sure he was dead before the truck crashed."

"Can you describe the two men?"

"Tall, dark haired, they looked like brothers, maybe...they could be muscle for hire. I could be wrong. Does that help at all?"

"Where did he drop his passenger off Seshat?"

"A bus depot. She told him she was making for Washington...state."

"Thank you Seshat and as soon as I can I will visit."

"Very well Alice. If you need any thing else just call."

Jasper

I was being pulled south still but impatient to hear from Alice with more news so when my phone went I was relieved,

"I just spoke to Seshat, your mate is headed for Forks. She was given a ride by the truck driver who was interrogated and murdered."

"Do we know what she looks like?"

"No, she's only a mist to Seshat too."

"A name?"

"I didn't ask, I'll ring her back."

I put my phone down worried even more now. My mate was obviously in danger if the man who gave her a lift was murdered for doing so. Had she escaped from somewhere? Why was she running and what made her run towards Forks?

If she was the girl that Carlisle was looking for, and that seemed more likely now, was it possible two girls were travelling from the same general area to Forks Washington? What was Carlisle so scared of that he was ordering the death of a young woman and all those who had any contact with her? All I knew was that I had to find her first, if I didn't she stood no chance of staying alive. So far she had been lucky and he was only using humans to find her. If he went looking himself or found a tracker to work for him she would quickly be found.

Alice

I rang Seshat back with Jaspers question but she couldn't answer me,

"I hear strange sounds, like two or three names all merging together, perhaps she is known by several. I'm sorry Alice but you know she will only become clear to me if she dies and its my guess you'd rather that didn't happen."

She was right of course but it opened up a new possibility, if she were known by more than one name then possibly she was running from her family and using an alias or she was called different names by different names. Either way it wouldn't make it any easier for us to find her. While Jazz was busy using the mating attraction I would approach the problem from a different angle. Whoever this mystery girl was she had a connection with Forks, her past, family? I had no idea but I went on-line and started scanning the local newspapers back over the last ten years, if I had no luck then I'd go back another ten, and another, until I found something. Although reading the papers on-line was easy enough, finding the websites especially of the older papers that had gone out of business was much slower and I debated asking Emmett to help me when he got back if I'd had no luck by then.

The other thing that slowed me down was trying not to draw attention to the fact I was searching for something. The last thing I wanted was for Carlisle to become suspicious so I could only search when I was alone and Esme, annoyingly, wanted me to go shopping with her for new soft furnishings for the house we bought and to refuse would have been out of character so I lost a day but it was all I could do.