Chapter 9

~~*~~
Edward's POV
~*~

I took a breath of fresh air as I stepped out of the house and into the commotion outside. Police cars, paramedics, even the swat team were all lined up on the road outside the house.

I walked down the front steps and towards a nearby ambulance where Jacob was being seen to by a paramedic. He winced as they put a bit of antiseptic onto his wound, but you could see he was trying to look unfazed by the injury; my guess to impress the female paramedic who was helping him.

"How are you doing Black?" I asked him but he scowled at me and ignored my question.

"You had some nerve going in like that all by yourself; did you want some sort of death wish?"

I rolled my eyes at him but he just continued, "Apparently Taylor is pissed at you."

"Hey, I got the job done didn't I?" I said to him getting rather annoyed.

"Yeah you did, well done Cullen" He said sarcastically, and I fought the urge to turn away from him.

"What's the damage?" I asked to the paramedic tending to him, and ignored his comment.

"Bullet wound to his upper chest, no major damage but he will need some surgery to get it removed. It's too deep to get it out now, and we can't leave it in for risk of it getting infected. So we'll have to take you back to the hospital Officer." Jacob frowned. I'm betting he wanted a battle wound to show to his mates.

"How about you sir?" The woman asked me, "I think it would be best if I took a look at you."

"No it's fine. I'm fine." I assured, "See you at the hospital Black." I said to him and walked away from the ambulance.

I was hoping to just get away from this mess and be done with it for the night, but I knew I had to stay. Especially after I spotted Taylor talking to a couple of officers, well not talking, rather shouting at them and pointing to behind the house. He turned his head and caught sight of me, his face turned murderous and I was suddenly afraid of losing my job.

He seemed to have excused himself from the two, now scared, officers, and made his way through the crowd and to me.

"What the hell happened back here Cullen?"

"Well-" I started.

"I don't want to hear it." He interrupted me and I closed my mouth, slightly confused at what he wanted. "You put yourself, Black and Riozzi in danger, well bearing in mind both men were injured I guess that speaks for itself. Then you put your own life at risk by going into a building full of armed men without any back-up or protective clothing.

"You didn't get everyone. About half-a-dozen of them escaped through the back door. Did you not think of any safety of your fellow officers when you realised they were left alone, and unharmed?"

As we were speaking a trolley rolled passed us with a black body bag on top, no doubt the man I had shot earlier in the kitchen. Taylor noticed it as it wheeled by and he shook his head. "Now what did he do?" He asked, referring to the corpse as the coroners took it away.

"Sir, I was simply defending mys-"

"I don't care Cullen. You've created a mess here that we are going to have to sort out."

"I got the three men that we wanted didn't I? The Volturi leaders." I said back angrily.

"With what Cullen? What have you got that can keep them behind bars, because I simply can't find a reason good enough that'll keep them there."

"Well…" I started to think, scraping ideas around so I didn't look like what I had done was a waste of time, "we've got them shooting at an officer, or at least accessory to it, injuring them, that's assault, plus, forensics are in there now that will find anything else that can tie them to the series of murders or whatever they were all gathered here tonight for."

"Well maybe if you would have decided to not provoke them, and stay undercover, then perhaps this could have been sorted with a simple warrant to the premises."

"They shot at us first Taylor."

"Why?" He asked back and I remained silent, knowing that by putting the blame on a new officer wouldn't make me look so good to him. "Exactly." He said back to me, "You're lucky I'm not stripping you of your badge right now and putting you on leave for a while. You're too unfocused and now it's affecting your work."

I bowed my head down at what he was saying.

"You wouldn't have made those decisions you made tonight if you were in your right mind, but right now I need you to work, focused and determined to close this case. Now I want you to go to the hospital, and get yourself checked out. Also you might as well see what's happening with the others that you may have injured in there." He said pointing to the house.

He called a paramedic over for me and then walked away, leaving me to try and persuade the paramedic again that I didn't need complete medical attention. I just asked if I could just hop in the same ambulance with Black to save any trouble, but I had to show them my police badge so they could let me.

Jacob didn't speak to me during the trip to the hospital, just glared at me every so often to show he was still mad at me after what I done. I just ignored his stares and thought over the fact I had just arrested the men I have been chasing down for over a year. Within days I would hopefully be able to close the case that Detectives before me could not do.

We arrived at the hospital pretty quickly, and they quickly stretchered Jacob through to A&E, whilst another paramedic walked me through to help me find another Doctor so I could be seen to.

He done the necessary checks, but I knew that I was alright. Once the Doctor confirmed my thoughts, I left the room but decided that I might as well wait in the hospital since I was going to have to wait and see how Jacob was doing anyway.

I found a desk within the ward I was in and made my way over to the receptionist sitting behind it. I pulled out my badge so that I didn't have to deal with her making excuses on why she couldn't talk to me.

"Do you have a list of names for the people who were just admitted? They were all brought in at the same time at about…" I took a quick glance at my watch and calculated quickly, "…9:15, a few had gunshot wounds…"

She typed some things on the computer and I waited patiently to see if anything would show.

"Ah yes here we go, about five people were brought in at that time, let's see…Stefan Wright, Jacob Black, Edward Cullen…"

"Yes that's the list. Does that come with their room numbers?"

She checked the screen then nodded her head.

"Alright then, can you print off a copy for me please?"

She nodded her head again and typed a few things again before the printer behind her came to life and started to print off the list. Once done, she slid on her chair to the printer to collect the paper then slid back, handing me the still warm paper as I said thanks to her.

"Anything else, Officer?"

"No thank you." I said, moving away from the desk and scanning the list.

Name: Room No.:

Stefan Wright …235 – Armed officer present

Jacob Black … In Surgery

Edward Cullen…Discharged

Vincent Riozzi …392

Matt Spencer … 229 – Armed officer present

I kind of expected Jacob would be in surgery by now to remove the bullet, but I didn't realise Vincent was badly injured. I assumed the other two were from the house; one from the top of the stairs, the other from the front room.

I would need to speak to them two later, but I thought I might as well talk to Riozzi first. First to see what is wrong with him and also to ask him how the other members escaped from the kitchen.

It's not that I was extremely bothered about this. I had just arrested the three main guys in all this so it wasn't something I was going to fret over. But still, he allowed some criminals to escape, and that's pretty bad for us, especially if this sort of info manages to get out into the public.

I checked the time and decided I might as well speak to all of them now. Didn't want them asleep when I did actually want to interrogate them.

I made my way through the hallways, not as busy since visiting hours were over and patients were falling asleep, the hospital preparing for its night shift.

I caught sight of one of the room numbers closest to me which said '271', so I gathered I was on the right floor, I just need to go in the right direction.

I managed to find room 235 first. It wasn't that hard to spot seeing as there was an officer standing outside, and room 229 wasn't that far as I could see another officer further down the corridor. I stepped up to the room, seeing as it was indeed room 235, showed my badge to the officer and he opened the door to let me in.

I nodded my head to him in thanks as I passed him and he shut the door after me, leaving me alone with this Stefan Wright. He was awake when I walked in, and thinking about it I hadn't done that much damage that would cause him to be knocked out by the medication or for him to be asleep.

He just watched me as I walked around the room and sat in one of the armchairs there, paying no attention to him as I sat in silence and pretended I was making notes about him.

It was a weird technique that I had, and sometimes it would take hours to completely work. I basically ignored the suspect, (bearing in mind that they occasionally ignore me if I ask them questions first anyway), and wait for him or her to just break. It was some psychological thing, and they start to think about what I may already know, what I might ask them and it gets them a bit worried. Fortunately for me, even though it takes a lot of time, the outcome is I take control of the conversation and get the answers I need.

Two hours after I had entered Stefan Wright's room, I had left with a notebook full of answered questions. I didn't know if any of them were lies; the Volturi guard would have been brought up deceitful, tricking their way or lying out of situations so that no member would be caught.

I walked down the corridor and to the room with the other officer. I yawned on my way, and I looked down to check my watch. It was just after 11:30, and although this would be an alright time for me, today had been a long day, and I was exhausted.

I felt almost like kicking myself when the officer outside the door told me the guy inside, Matt Spencer was asleep, and would be pretty drowsy due to the drugs, saying it would be best to see him tomorrow morning. I just nodded, quite grateful that I would be getting some sleep.

I thought that I should briefly check on Vincent as well, bearing in mind the quicker I speak to him, the clearer his memory will be, and hopefully he would tell me how people escaped.

I took the elevator up to the floor and asked a nurse if she could point me in the direction of Vincent's room. She argued that visiting hours had way passed, but I showed my badge again and she remained silent as she guided me to his room.

He was watching something on the television when I walked in, the light from the screen illuminating his face in the dark room. I couldn't see much, and I hit my shin on some sort of cabinet as I entered the room. I cursed under my breath and searched for the light switch on the wall. I flicked it on and saw as Vincent jumped back in shock when he saw me.

"Didn't you hear me come in?" I asked incredulously.

He shook his head and picked up the remote from next to him, aiming at the TV and pressing a button. "Take a look at this." He nodded his head to the screen and I made my way around to the side of the bed to get a better view of the television. "We're breaking news!" He said proudly, smiling at the screen as it headlined Shoot out between Chicago PD and the Volturi gang have lead to leaders arrest, one dead and four injured.

"They keep mentioning mine and Black's names 'cause we were the heroic cops that got injured. I'm still trying to figure out who died though and which ones were injured."

The image changed to an image taken from a helicopter after the shoot out had taken place, after the swat arrived and the paramedics were checking people. I noticed they didn't mention anything about the other members that had escaped. Public well-being I guess.

"What happened when I left you?" I asked, wanting to know how they could have escaped. Plus, did he even worry about Jacob's safety when he realised people had gotten out?

"Huh?" Vincent said; his concentration on the television and his fifteen minutes of fame.

I quickly snatched the remote out of his hand and turned the television off. "How did they escape?" I questioned differently.

"I thought you weren't bothered so much about that."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Not at first, but they are a part of a violent gang, so that means the publics safety is at risk. Now, what happened? Not one person in that room was arrested. The only person who was in that room who was taken away, was taken away in a body bag."

Vincent's eyes shot up to meet mine. "That was the one who died?" I nodded. "Do you know what his name was?" He asked, his voice was a little choked up, but he quickly coughed afterwards.

"I think his name was James something… I'm not sure."

Something passed behind his eyes, some sort of emotion that I couldn't read from him.

"That was probably you're first death on the job wasn't it?" I asked, forgetting that he had only recently joined the force.

"I've never seen anyone dying before, and knowing now that he's dead…" He shuddered.

"Are you going to be alright with that Vincent? It can be pretty traumatic the first time someone sees it."

He shook his head. "No I'll be fine. I'll have to get used to it, this job comes with its risks."

I nodded and my eyes glanced over the chair that was in the corner of the room. Soft, with cushions and a pillow, not the usual plastic chair you had next to a bed. I longed to just sit in that chair.

"So what happens now?" Vincent asked, and I gave up and sat in the comfy looking chair, my whole body relaxing as I sank down into the cushion.

"Well, there's a lot of paperwork. I have to interrogate the ones we arrested, especially Aro, Caius and Marcus. By then we should have word back from forensics to see if they have anything to solidify their places in jail."

"Huh, sounds fun."

"You have to fill a report as well, to describe what went on tonight."

His shoulders slumped, and then his expression changed as if he was remembering something else. His face paled slightly and he looked a little upset.

"Are you sure you're okay? When you see a dead person it's pretty bad, especially if they've died infront of you…"

"Can you stop saying the word dead and die?" He suddenly asked, his voice rose from anger. "It's freaking me out."

I nodded and apologised, sitting back further in the chair.

It was silent for a while, pretty tense after Riozzi's outburst. I wasn't sure whether he would be okay after seeing something like that. When I had seen my first death out on the field, the shock didn't kick in until I was at home. When you're the one who caused the death though, it's magnified tenfold.

My first kill had been a guy, probably in his thirties, who was holding up a small convenience store. When I arrived at the scene he pulled the gun out on me. I reasoned for a while, but I saw his hand flinch and before I knew it I had shot my gun and the criminal was on the ground. I had aimed for his shoulder area, but missed and pierced his lung. He died later in the hospital.

But that feeling afterwards, when you've killed another human being. At first I felt dirty, like his blood was still on my hands but it wouldn't wash off. The shock had been worse, and I remember how Bella had comforted me through it all. Not disgusted because I had killed someone, but just thankful that I was alright.

"Do you have to go see Black?" Vincent whispered, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"He was in surgery; he's probably sedated so I won't be able to speak to him until tomorrow."

"Are you going to go home?" He asked, and I turned my head to him, noticing his subtle way of wanting me out of here. I was surprised he didn't even ask about Jacob.

"Nope. It's late and I'm tired so I probably shouldn't drive." I said, and yawning once I finished.

"Alright, well I'm going asleep, so do you need any more questions asked?"

I scanned my brain to see if there was anything else, and then I remembered something obvious.

"You didn't answer my previous question."

He huffed and rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed he couldn't go back to sleep.

"One of them jumped at me whilst I was reloading. He wasn't armed so he just beat me up. It must have been a distraction or something because the others must have left then."

"Why didn't they kill you?"

He shrugged. "Maybe they didn't want killing a cop on their record."

I nodded my head in agreement, but inside I didn't think that was the main reason why they had left him. For one, if he had just knocked down an officer, why didn't he take Vincent's gun and come after me? Or all of them ambush me?

"What are your injuries?" I asked, realising I hadn't actually asked how he was doing until now.

"A cracked rib and a busted face, I needed stitches." He turned his head so I could see the other side of his face which was obstructed from my vision and along his right cheekbone was a cut and tape from where they stitched him up.

"At least it wasn't anything life threatening."

He nodded, as if he had just accepted that I was glad he was alright.

"Any other questions?"

I thought for anymore, but in the end I just shook my head.

"Okay then." He muttered, and rolled on his side so his back was to me. "G'night."

"Night." I answered back, and my eyes fluttered close for a moment, but I was so tired I didn't bother reopening them.

My neck hurt like hell and I was sure I had lost the feeling in my bum. I shifted a little, slightly restricted in the chair that I had used as a bed for the night. I checked my watch and saw that it was half nine in the morning. For me and my working hours, that was like a lie-in.

"I didn't know you stayed the night." I heard Vincent say from next to me. I rubbed my eyes and looked up to see Vincent awake and watching the TV. I didn't even realise it was on.

"I was exhausted, so I thought I might as well." I replied, as I stood up and stretched.

"There's coffee there. Nurse brought it in." He said nodding to a jar of coffee, which I helped myself to a cup. "I think she was a bit miffed that you stayed the night."

I shrugged and looked up to the television, it was still on the news channel and the story of the arrest of the Volturi leaders was still being shown.

"They're trying to explain what happened, but they keep getting the details wrong."

"Taylor probably spoke to them to clear things up."

"There was a small segment on you y'know. About how great you did on working this case. They're considering putting you up for some sort of award."

"Nice." I nodded appreciatively.

We continued watching the news whilst I finished my coffee, and then I stood up and placed it in the bin. "I'll have to go see Black; he'll probably be awake now."

"Alright then, well I'll see you later Cullen."

I said bye to him and then left the room, looking for a nurse to see if they would know what room he was in. I quickly found one and asked her and she fortunately knew, and told me to go to the next floor and what way to go to get to the room.

I found it without any trouble and was ready to open the door when I heard voices talking inside. I stepped to the side to have a look through the window they have and tried to peek around the blinds to see who was with Jacob. Eventually I saw them sitting on the foot of the bed. A woman, her hair was long and brown, her figure petite…

I moved back to the door and placed my ear besides it to try and listen in.

I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I recognised the voice, and the woman. It was Bella. Of course she would have visited one of her best friends, I should have remembered.

I heard laughing inside so I lightly knocked and opened the door to let myself in.

Both Bella and Jacob turned to see who was coming in, but with Bella, her whole demeanour changed. She immediately stopped laughing, and her expression saddened slightly, yet I could still see the anger behind her eyes. She looked good though. I'm glad she never became all depressive and couldn't be bothered to do put an effort in clothes or hair style. Not that I would think I could do that to someone, but she looked like she was doing well.

"Hey Edward." Jacob spoke and I noticed Bella turned away from me. "I didn't realise you stayed the night."

"Yeah, I still need to interrogate one of the guys, and I needed to check up on you anyway."

"Aww thanks Cullen; I'm doing great as you can see." He nodded to the bandage wrapped around his chest. "I'm just gutted that I done nothing and got hurt but you go inside the place guns blazing and don't have a scratch on you."

I just shook my head, but Bella spoke out. "What?"

I looked down to her and noticed she was looking back to me with her eyes slightly wide.

"Yeah it was on the news all night, didn't you see it?" Jacob asked and she looked away from me and she looked a bit ashamed.

She shook her head and then glanced back up to me.

"You probably have things to talk about, I'll just leave." She muttered and was about to stand up.

"No stay Bella, Edward could you give us a few more minutes?"

"Sure." I nodded and stood back outside the room.

~~*~~
Bella POV
~*~

When Edward left the room I placed my head in my hands.

"I figured it out last night." Jacob whispered from besides me and I lifted my head back up. "Before the shoot out I figured out it was Cullen who is…well was your husband."

I turned my head away a little as I felt a small pain in my heart thinking about him and the divorce.

"I just kept thinking your surname was Swan because that's how I knew you before, I just forgot and didn't realise your last name was Cullen." I smiled and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Come on Bells, you know I'm not that stupid." I laughed and he smiled back at me.

"I just want to tell you something though." He said, and his hand moved to hold my own. I didn't move it away, but I wasn't comfortable with the way this direction could be going.

"When you realised that Cullen was in the middle of that fight, I saw your reaction." I sighed, a bit thankful he wasn't talking about something else, but not liking the telling off I was sure to get. "I know what he did to you and frankly I don't think he deserves your care or anything else, you understand?"

"And you've got to realise that he was a huge part in my life, if something would have happened to him I still would have cared, whether I love him or I don't."

"Well he is not worth it Bella." He left it at that and didn't say anymore about it. "Although I did nearly punch his lights out when I realised who it was." He muttered.

"Jake." I warned.

"Don't worry I won't do anything." He went to lift his hands up but then winced when he remembered he couldn't with one arm. "But I just need you to know that as your friend, I would never hurt you, you got that?"

I nodded and he smiled at me, "Now I think Edward wants to speak to me, so give me a hug because I can't be bothered shuffling over."

I laughed and stood up so I could move to the top of the bed and give Jacob a hug, being careful not to hurt his wound.

"Ow ow ow." He said and I pulled back quickly but he was laughing at me.

"Don't do that." I laughed as I hit his other arm lightly. "I'll see you later Jacob."

"Bye Bella." He said giving me his warming smile as I turned and left the room.

I opened the door to see Edward opposite it with his head down and his leg up on the wall as he leaned against it. His head lifted up when he heard the door open and his eyes met with mine.

His mouth opened to say something but I just turned away and walked down the corridor.

~~*~~
Edward's POV
~*~

I watched Bella's retreating figure down the hall and then entered Jacob's room.

Although I didn't want to be rude and curious and eavesdrop, instead I looked through the little gap in the blinds and watched how she acted when she was with him.

She was happy. Nothing else. Just happy, and that is all I wanted for her. That is what I was hoping the divorce would give her. Not saying I would want her to start dating Jacob, but it was just seeing her with another man who could make her happy that made me think that maybe it wasn't a bad decision after all.

"What do you mean you let someone else interrogate them? I thought that would be my job?" I yelled.

After visiting Jacob and speaking to the other Volturi member, I returned to the station planning the words and questions I was going to ask the three leaders. I had dreamt of the moment I would interrogate Aro, and put the whole thing to bed.

However they were already in the interrogation rooms, the questioning underway. I pretty much sprinted to Taylor's office to ask him what the hell was happening.

"Calm yourself down Cullen." Taylor ordered. "You've done your part, now I'm letting Agent Weber and the FBI finish the case."

I ran my hand through my hair in annoyance. "But this was my case, not the FBI's."

"I know that Cullen, but after everything that has happened recently I just think it would be best to just leave it to them. They know what they are doing. You still take credit for closing the case anyways."

"I do."

Taylor nodded. "You were right about tying them to something. CSIs found evidence to tie them to a hefty number of crimes; debt repayments, hit lists, weapons deals, including some from a couple of years ago which relate to your mother's death."

My head snapped up. "I'm sorry sir?"

He smiled. "Don't play stupid Cullen, I knew about your mother's death in Seattle, it was supposedly by the Volturi. When you decided to take on this case I knew that was the main reason, seeing as we both knew it wasn't the Volturi who kidnapped your son. Of course I thought of emotional setbacks you could have, however I decided to take a chance on you and I guess it paid off.

"Anyways CSI found quite a bit of information on a few murders in the past, and the papers that were delivered that evening were of the names of people who owed money to them or who were to be killed. So you did a good job. We've got them."

"Hopefully, but we have to hope a jury have the same opinion. The Volturi are so cunning and sly they'll end up having members in the jury."

"Don't be so pessimistic Cullen; I'm positive any court will give these bastards the punishments they deserve."

"So when is the hearing?"

"Unfortunately, not for another couple of months."

My face dropped. "What?"

He sighed. "It's going to take some time Cullen, and a few months is the earliest we can get it. But don't worry because they aren't granted bail, they're staying in jail no matter what."

"Thanks Taylor, for letting me take this case."

He nodded to me. "I just hope you have the same determination and dedication in other jobs."

"Will do." I answered, and then left his office in a happier mood.

I continued staring at the piece of paper infront of me, willing for it to somehow disappear and forget that I even thought of this. Bella's signature was there, from when she scribbled it down then left the house in anger. I wasn't that surprised from her reaction.

But it wasn't as though I had cheated on her, and what I had said that week to her had been the truth, well mostly.

I did want her to have a happy life; with a good relationship were a husband who would spend more time with her rather than his job. She deserved as much, and I hadn't been providing it for her. Watching her at the hospital earlier today with Jacob just showed me how much she could have without me in her life.

I didn't want to be ruining her life being a terrible husband. As much as it killed me to say the words, and to hand her those papers, I knew it was best to just let her go, and allow her to live her life happily with a man who could give her what she wanted.

Since I asked her, I had spent most of the time sitting at my desk in my office trying to force myself to pick up a pen and sign my own name so the papers could be finalised. It was this reason why I decided to do it myself. A lawyer would just to it for you, but I wanted to make sure I was positive in my decisions.

As you can see from my stalling I didn't want to be separated from Bella, so I felt completely stupid in asking for a divorce. I thought this was what I wanted. Not being tied down any longer, to make her happy. I picked up the pen and brought it down to the paper to sign my name…

"Edward?" Someone asked from the door and I looked up to see Jasper at my office door, his head peeking in but his body partially out of the door.

"Yeah." I answered, briefly looking down to the unsigned papers, and put them away in my draw so Jasper couldn't figure out anything.

He looked at me suspiciously as he watched me put the papers away but he ignored it and looked back to me. "Some of the guys are heading out for a celebratory drink, you want to come?" I looked over to the clock were it said it was quarter to five. A few drinks couldn't hurt; I could mope over my divorce but put on a façade and pretend I'm celebrating the arrest. No one would be waiting for me at home anyway.

"Yeah, sure. Just let me get my things." Jasper nodded at me and left the room. I started packing up my things and my eyes looked over to the closed draw and lingered there for a while. I put my hand out to open the draw but pulled it back quickly. I debated my options briefly before reopening the draw and pulling the divorce papers out and laying them on my desk.

I got my pen and brought it down to the dotted line where I was supposed to sign my name, but I paused. My mind reeled back to memories of Bella and I when we were together. Perhaps it was my deep-deep sub-conscience, telling me what I was doing was wrong.

I closed my eyes as the impact of the situation came down me, and I tried to ignore it as I signed the papers. I done it quickly, and found an envelope nearby were I put the papers in, and wrote the address to my lawyers firm on the front.

My phone started ringing and I looked down to see Jasper's name on the caller ID.

"Hi Jasper," I said, thankful that the sadness I was currently feeling wasn't being displayed in my speech.

"We're all waiting for you Edward, how long you going to take?"

I looked down to the envelope that I was currently holding in my hand, "You go on ahead, I'll meet you up at the bar. I've got something to take care of."

"Alright, we're heading to that new one around the corner. See you later."

"Bye." I muttered before leaving my office, the envelope clenched tightly in my hand. I unlocked my car and headed to the nearest mailbox.

Before I knew it, I was standing infront of one of the mailboxes; one hand wrapped around the handle, the other holding the envelope so tightly I was unsure if I would ever let it go. My mind was still debating whether or not to go through with it, but I kept looking towards the reasons why this would be a good thing. She won't be tied down to a man who has a better relationship with his job.

I sighed and posted the envelope, no time to go back now.

A drink is what I definitely need.

~~*~~
? POV
~*~

Felix was quite a tall man; he saw it has an advantage when he was able to look down on those who hired him. It gave him a higher range of superiority even though the man holding all the cards was infront of him, standing infront of a desk full of various papers ranging from timetables to maps.

Felix knew who this man was, and he also knew that it must be important if he asked for him. The news of the leaders arrest spread around the members quickly, and without some sort of command the large amount of members were likely to get out of control.

Ever since this new plan started to be formed, Laurent was almost automatically seen as the new leader. He ordered people around, and he was already in the higher circles of the Volturi gang so it was no surprise that he would have been one of the favourites.

Felix was motioned forward by Laurent and he stepped closer into the room. "Everything is sorted, but you're needed for part of the plan." He said straight to the point, "I'm sure you know which part." He raised an eyebrow and Felix nodded.

He didn't think that he was the best in his field of work in the gang. No, he thought Demetri was the best at that sort of thing, and then came James, but he was killed at the shootout by that stupid detective. Felix was seen more as a bodyguard for the gang, his huge build and guard features intimidated anybody. He had his fair share of kidnaps, but more than once he had returned to the safe house injured, and even on one occasion without the person, so he wasn't seen as main choice when a job arose.

"Me?" He asked dubiously.

"Yes. As you know James is dead and Demetri is unable to fly back to Chicago until next month so I trust you to not screw it up."

Laurent looked at Felix sternly in the eye and Felix straightened up as he asked. "What do you want me to do?"

"You are to visit the household for 5pm. We have a vehicle ready for you, and we will also do a simple diversion just to keep things off you for a while. It's to be a simple in and out. Time is important and we can't waste any on someone else catching you."

Felix nodded at this information as Laurent turned and grabbed a photo from the desk. He passed it to Felix who glanced down at the photo.

"That's your target." Laurent informed and Felix looked back up to him alarmed.

"But isn't this risky?" He said motioning to the photo in his hand.

"Yes it is risky, but in order for things to go our way we have to take risks." Felix didn't say anymore, but waited to see if Laurent had anymore to say, which he did.

"Now once you've completed it you are going to return here where I'll wait for you to make sure everything's fine. After that I need you to go here." He pointed to a map on the table and Felix leaned over to see the area he was pointing to.

"Seattle? You want me to go all the way to Washington?"

"Yes, we have another safe house up there that is prepared for our arrival. Don't forget I'll be with you, we just need to make sure we get there without any interruptions."

And with that Laurent left the room leaving Felix alone with a photo of his target and a bunch of instructions, which, if he failed, would be extremely costly to the gang, and would most likely result in his death.

Felix swallowed nervously and then walked out the room ready for the task ahead.

AN: Soooo, can you guess what chapter's up next? :P

It's my birthday next week as well so who knows, maybe another update will come early...

Thanks for reading, let me know your thoughts on the chapter, sneak previews will be given for reviews :)

Jaimie x