Chapter Ten
Carlisle
It wasn't until we were on the road out of town that I became aware we were on the same stretch of road where I had found the abandoned car, was it just a coincidence or was there a connection between the woman Bella and the car? Was that how Jasper had met her? There had been a car seat in the back and a teddy so a child, possibly the child called Sophie, had been in the car when it was left. I began mulling things over in my mind trying to find a thread that would connect Jasper to Bella and Sophie Haynes.
I was so busy trying to make sense of everything that I hadn't realized Emmett had stopped until he nudged me,
"Carlisle? I said do you want to drive up to the house or go in on foot?"
I looked out of the windscreen and froze, it was the same house I had stopped at before and spoke to the young woman there. I had given her a description of Jasper and she had told me she had never seen him which meant, if she was the owner of the abandoned car, that she had lied but why would she do that? What would make her deny having seen Jasper if he had helped her when their car broke down? The obvious reason that sprang to mind was she had been forced to, maybe he had threatened the child. But that couldn't be right because the three of them had been friendly enough to have supper together in the diner earlier tonight. She had been suspicious of me naturally enough, it's not often you have a stranger knocking on your door late in the evening but surely not enough to lie?
So, could there be a connection between Jasper and this woman Bella? It hardly seemed likely but if so were she and the child safe? I had no idea how stable Jasper was or when he had hunted last but I wouldn't want him too close to anyone I cared about.
Explaining my thoughts to Emmett we decided it would be more sensible to go in on foot,
"Be very careful Emmett, he might still be there and if he is his first reaction will be to defend himself. If he comes at you get away as fast as you can, I'll try to distract him."
"I'm not leaving you to deal with him, not after what you've told me about him."
"Emmett, he's my problem, my responsibility, and he'll instantly see you as a threat but he might not see me in the same light. Now, let's go, quietly and carefully. Maybe we can find out what's going on without him knowing. Who knows he might not even be there if as the woman in the diner said he left separately."
We moved carefully towards the small house and I noticed tire tracks although the car was nowhere to be seen which was a pity, I would have liked to check if it was the same car I'd seen before. All seemed innocent and normal enough and I prayed it would continue that way but I feared what we might find in the house.
Bella
I decided to make myself some hot milk hoping it might help me sleep and sipped it as I stared out of the kitchen window at the snow falling against the moonlit scene. I hadn't bothered to put the light on, it would only wake me up even more and saw headlights stopped along the road quite a way from the house although there were no other houses close by and decided that maybe someone was lost or making a call but for some reason it made me feel slightly uneasy.
I pulled on my jacket and opened the back door stepping outside and gasping at the frigid air that hit me. I stood gazing down the road at the direction where I had seen the lights a moment ago although they were no longer there which was strange as I couldn't hear a car engine so it hadn't passed the house or turned around. Sound traveled a long way in this weather especially out here in the country where it was so quiet.
As I continued watching I saw something dark against the snow moving across the open meadow between my place and a copse of trees, it was too big to be a deer or dog and moved more like a man but why would anyone be wandering about in the night in a snowstorm in the middle of nowhere? If it had been a driver whose car had broken down which was a possibility of course then he or she would have stuck to the road not struggled through the thick snow that carpeted the meadow.
Something I couldn't explain told me this was connected to Jasper, could it be that creepy doctor coming back to see if Jasper was here? Maybe he was still hanging around although I hadn't seen him and he'd been told Jasper was with me earlier by someone in town. I had no reason to believe that the doctor was anything other than he had told me, a friend of Jasper's looking for him but if that were the case why hadn't Jasper mentioned him? And why hadn't the two met up by now? Jasper had said he didn't have any friends so at least one of the doctor's statements was a lie unless Jasper had been deceitful but I didn't think he had and that made me even more suspicious of this Doctor. There was also the fact he was making his way here in a manner that led me to believe he didn't want me to know, he was spying on me. So, should I call the local police? I hesitated only because I didn't want to get Jasper in trouble and he'd asked me to keep his presence here in town a secret. The doctor might mention him to the police to explain his presence here.
I stepped quickly back inside and locked the door then went through to check on Sophie who was fast asleep and snoring softly. In the lounge, I turned out the lamps leaving only the light of the log fire to illuminate the room. There was no way I was letting the creepy doctor in if he knocked on the door and if he tried to peer through any chink in the drapes he wouldn't be able to make out much inside. The back of the couch faced the window and blocked out his view of anything in the room.
Then I took a moment to compose myself, I didn't want my nocturnal spy to know I was already aware of him if he decided to knock on the door, let him think he'd caught me unawares. I just hoped Sophie wouldn't wake up because she might just give away that we knew more of Jasper's movements than I wanted him to know. I hated feeling this way, apprehensive and even a little bit scared but I wasn't going to let anyone bully me into telling them about Jasper, especially when that person had already lied to me once before. I'd never felt this protective about anyone other than Sophie and it was strange I should do so about someone I hardly knew but I couldn't help it.
Creeping through to the kitchen once more I peered carefully out of the window but the shape had disappeared and there was no sign of him in the yard although I thought I could see a disturbance in the snow by the car. Had he been checking it out to see if there were any signs that Jasper had been with us? I wasn't sure what he thought he might see, if someone were hiding they would hardly leave clues scattered around for anyone to see.
Although I was half expecting it the tap on the front door still caught me unaware and I gasped then pulled myself together and went to answer it careful to keep the security chain on and sure enough it was the doctor back but this time he wasn't alone and I felt more apprehensive when I saw the size of his companion.
"Doctor Cullen! I didn't expect to see you again."
"I don't suppose you did and I'm sorry to keep bothering you but it's very important that I find my friend and I've heard he was with you earlier tonight, in church and at the diner."
So I was right, he had been snooping!
"Really? That was your friend? How come you two haven't bumped into each other yet? It looks like you found another friend though. I suppose you want to ask me some more questions? I'm afraid I'm not going to invite you in even though its snowing and bitterly cold, I'm sure you understand, a woman can't be too careful these days, there are a lot of untrustworthy people about and just so you know, I have my cell phone and 911 on speed dial."
He regarded me for a long time in silence and I thought about shutting the door in his face when he finally spoke,
"I don't know what Jasper told you, Miss..."
"It's Mrs actually"
I wanted to keep him on the defensive,
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Haynes, I don't know what Jasper told you, I don't even know how much he remembers but he is in danger, there are people looking for him, dangerous people who mean him harm"
I was intrigued despite myself,
"I see, what's he done?"
"Done? Nothing, at least nothing he is responsible for but he is sick and I'm the only person who can help him, I mean him no harm I promise you."
"Look, I don't know what you're talking about. Or what you expect me to do or say. Jasper helped me out yesterday when my car broke down and I bought him supper this evening to say thank you then he left. I have no idea where he went after he left the diner now if you don't mind I have a small child asleep, it's cold and late and I'd prefer it if you got off my property."
He sighed and glanced over my shoulder into the hall then nodded,
"Very well but if he contacts you again..."
I interrupted him quickly,
"He won't"
He ignored me,
"If he does please give him this number and ask him if he would call me so I can speak to him and explain things."
He held out a card and after hesitating I took it from him noticing how cold his hands were, like blocks of ice. I was glad, let him freeze out there after lying to me.
"Is that all?"
"Yes, thank you for your time."
I shut the door with a sigh of relief and waited to listen for their footsteps as they retreated from the front porch relieved as the crunching of snow under there shoes faded away towards the road.
Carlisle
We didn't speak until we were on the road walking back towards the truck,
"Do you think she was lying, Carlisle?"
"No, I think that what she told us was the truth as far as it went, he helped her and she had supper with him as a thank you but why did he help her and why hang around here to see her again? Why risk the danger of staying in one place just to have a meal with her? He should be on the move, he must know the Volturi will be looking for him. We know they left separately but...I have the feeling she knows more than she told us."
"Do you think she knows what he is?"
I sighed,
"Emmett, I doubt Jasper knows what he is any more, me neither. She suspects me enough to lie for him but whether she knows where he went? Who knows?"
He shrugged.
"Well, he's not there, we'd have scented him if he'd been in the house and all I could smell was the little girl, I could hear her heartbeat and breathing, she was asleep and I doubt the woman would leave him alone with the child."
"True, I admit I half expected to find him there but it seems I was mistaken, we'll just have to keep on looking."
We got back in the truck and while Emmett got the map out I thought about what we had discovered.
Everything pointed to Jasper being in contact with the woman, they had become acquainted enough for her to offer him supper. He had searched her out in the church or had they agreed to meet there? Why was he so interested in her and why was she covering for him? She knew more than she had said maybe even where he was or where he was headed, she hadn't even seemed surprised when I told her he was ill, why?
We were running out of time, the Volturi would be here sooner or later and if they found out he had forged a friendship with a human they might decide she needed watching to make sure she didn't know anything she shouldn't, they might even put pressure on her to tell them what she knew about his whereabouts and they wouldn't be as diplomatic as me. I still had the feeling he was close by, could my link with him really be so far off? I'd checked out the woodshed at the back of the house and he wasn't there or in the copse, so where was he?
"What now Carlisle? Do you want to move on?"
"No, he's here, I know he is. We'll comb the surrounding forest up to the border, check everywhere he might hide, don't pass up anything, he could go to ground quite literally anywhere."
"OK, let's get started then before the Volturi join us on this manhunt."
A manhunt was the right word for it and if the Volturi found Jasper first it would have an unpleasant end, one that I was determined to avoid if I possibly could.
Happy New Year to all my readers, I hope to keep you with me in 2018. Love Jules xx