So Jane's 'boyfriend' is a suspect now and CSI have another job on their hands, as well as turning over the local drug dealers, vigilante-style.
Edward has to man up and talk to his father about the benefits of 'venom', so that might be an interesting (or embarrassing) (or funny) father/son discussion.
CHAPTER TEN - Sting!
"Let's get this straight, you want us to find out whether John is an honourable John, or a devious John with corporate espionage on his mind?"
Edward nodded in agreement. "Do you think you can do that without Jane finding out? I don't want to upset her unnecessarily."
Alice recreated the pose of Rodin's famous sculpture, The Thinker.
"I think we possibly can. We can follow Jane for a while, find out where lover-boy lives and whether he is spying for Pfizer, or has connections with Glaxo, or is the genuine article. Do you know anything about him?"
"Only that she found him, or he found her, on an internet dating site."
"We'll do our best, Edward, but do you honestly think she would be that naive? Jane worked for Anthony for fifteen years you say, and she's obviously an intelligent woman. Surely she'd smell a rat if John started asking her about her job and anything specific about the labs."
"I truly hope so, Cagney, but love can make you blind."
"Stop calling me Cagney."
"Sorry, Alice. You can blame Jasper for that; he was the first to call you two Cagney and Lacey."
"Why am I Cagney then? Lacey was the glamorous one!"
Edward was laughing as he handed Alice a slim brown envelope.
"This is Jane's file. It's got details of her home address, next of kin, that sort of thing. I hope this will help you get started. This is urgent, Alice. I need to find out who was behind the leak as soon as possible."
"Edward, the vision I had of the original newspaper article said it was someone from the lab's IT department; Jane is administration, not IT."
"That might have been a red herring to throw us off the scent. As far as I'm concerned, everyone is under suspicion until we work out who it is."
"Okay, Lieutenant Samuels, we'll get right on it. Bella and I will stake out Jane's house tomorrow morning before she goes to work, just in case she's had a night of middle-aged passion with Lover-Boy John."
Edward let out a cry of disgust.
"Alice! Why did you have to say that? The words 'Jane' and 'Sex' should never be used in the same sentence. She's been like a second mother to me for years. Ugh!"
"You don't stop having sex when you hit forty, Edward. God, you're such an ageist."
"I'm not; it's just too awful to contemplate. Anyway, who the hell is Lieutenant Samuels?"
"Cagney and Lacey's boss, who else?"
Carlisle was in the study looking at boats on the computer.
"Edward, come and take a look at this one."
Edward was wandering past the study door after speaking to Alice, still trying to get the image of Jane having a night of passion with anyone out of his head, so he was grateful for the diversion and changed direction to stand behind Carlisle to see what he was looking at."
"It's beautiful, Dad, but it's not far short of a million dollars. It's a bit excessive don't you think?"
"Nah, I can afford it. I've sold the condo, cashed in all my pensions and insurances and I've still got stocks and shares to keep me going through several lifetimes. I figured if I'm going to be stuck on the planet for eternity, I might as well have what I want and enjoy it. This little beauty has room for eight people; not that we need to sleep, but room for some privacy if we need it."
Carlisle winked suggestively at Edward and Edward's eyebrows went up to the ceiling, but as he was listening to his father chuckling like a juvenile, he thought he would seize the opportunity and mention what Bella had suggested while they were on the beach.
"Dad, I was meaning to talk to you about that."
Carlisle looked up in astonishment at Edward.
"You're not seeking advice from your old dad, are you?"
"No! Nothing like that. Look, this is a bit embarrassing, but Bella and I thought that something we do might help mom."
"Edward, if you've been reading the Karma Sutra and you're suggesting a new position, forget it. I agree your mother is certainly not the woman she was a few months ago, but she's still not ready for that sort of activity."
"Oh dear God no, it's nothing like that."
Edward's hand flew up to his forehead to mop some non-existent perspiration from his brow as he thought about how to broach the subject to his father whilst trying to expel another ghastly image from his brain. In the end, he decided to try not to think of the man who was looking up at him, smirking like an idiot, as 'Dad', but to treat him like just another guy. He drew an unnecessary deep breath and sat down next to him.
"Right, cards on the table, I'm going to tell it to you straight. When vampires have sex they can work themselves up into such a frenzied state that they bite their partners and exchange venom. The venom makes you feel amazing and your brain feels like it's been scrubbed clean. Bella and I thought that it might do mom some good. What do you think?"
"Are you're suggesting I have sex with your mother and bite her?"
"No, no, no! That's too much information, dad, please. I'm just suggesting we decant some venom into a syringe and inject her with it."
"Oh right, I get you now."
Edward was really wishing he could disappear into a hole in the ground. This was not the sort of conversation he should be having with his father and he was glad that the ability to blush was a thing of the past.
Carlisle rubbed his hand on his chin as he thought about Edward's proposal.
"Before I make up my mind about your mother, I would prefer to give it a go myself so I know what it feels like. What do you think?"
"Good idea. I'll bring some syringes home from the lab tomorrow, harvest some of my venom and you can make an assessment afterwards."
"Is it really that good?"
"It's awesome, dad. If they'd had stuff like this in the '60's there wouldn't have been any need for mind-altering chemicals to get high, so a bunch of famous rock stars might still be alive !"
"What can you see?"
"Shhhh!"
"Come on, Alice. You've been tranced out for ages."
"You can't hurry these things."
"I know, but Edward needs to find out quickly."
"Just shut up for a moment. Read some more of your book."
"I've finished it."
"Well play Candy Crush on your cell, but just leave me alone for half an hour."
Bella stood up from her desk and wandered over to the office window. It was raining outside but this morning the first flakes of snow were settling on their windshield as they drove into the town. They had spent the early hours of the morning sitting in the Volvo, waiting to see whether Lover-Boy John, or LBJ as they now called him, had spent the night at Jane's house. So when the door opened at 7.30 am, and Jane and a distinguished looking grey-haired man, probably in his early 50's, appeared on the step together and gave each other chaste kisses before they separated to get into different cars, they saw their prey for the first time.
Bella fired up the Volvo and they followed John's Jaguar through the town until he drew up outside a beautiful house not far from where Annalise Simpson lived. They watched the house for another hour but he didn't leave, so they gave up and drove on to the office where Jasper was waiting for them. Now they had LBJ's address, it would be easy to find out more details about the man and his background and whether or not he had an ulterior motive for romancing Jane.
The rain was beating hard on the window now. It was the beginning of December and winter looked as though it had definitely arrived to stay in the north east of the country. During the night, they had hunted in the nearby forest and even though they didn't feel the cold like humans, it hadn't been a pleasant experience. An icy wind had been blowing through the trees, dragging with it the last of the autumn leaves that had gallantly fought to stay on the branches through Halloween and beyond, and their loss had left the trees bare and bereft of life. Normally they enjoyed their outings to the forest, as hunting was exciting and the woodland was beautiful, especially when it was lit only by moonlight, but after they fed they didn't hang about this time but rushed back to the warmth of an open fire to curl up on a comfy sofa or in their own beds.
The forests in Connecticut were not as abundant with mammals as Washington, with only moose or deer to choose from in the winter months, but the herds were large enough to sustain their family. Alice and Jasper had suggested going further north to where the black bears roamed, but Bella and Edward were content not to stray too far from home for their sustenance, and certainly not until the Alec problem had been resolved. The New York coven was still supplying Esme with animal blood on a regular basis and Jasper would meet a vampire called Garrett about once every two weeks to pick up a new batch of sealed units. Occasionally Carlisle would drink these as well rather than leave Esme to go out in the forest, so there was always plenty of back-up supplies in the refrigerators in the basement. Bella hadn't asked how the New York coven came by such a large amount of blood, but she guessed they harvested it from live animals as Brooklyn wasn't known for its wide open spaces and abundant feral wildlife.
As she was watching a particularly dark cloud move quickly across the sky, the office telephone rang. As Alice was still in a transcendental state, Bella leaned over the desk and picked it up.
"Connecticut Special Investigations, can I help you?"
"Is that Alice?"
"No it's Bella; Alice is in the middle of something at the moment. Would you like me to ask her to call you back?"
"Ummm, no. Can you give her a message please; it's Janet from the school."
"Oh right; Hi Janet."
"They're back."
"Who are?"
"The dealers. My son called me to say they were outside the school this morning, by the pedestrian gate again. Two different ones this time. My friend who has kids at the other high school says there have been dealers there too, blatantly selling drugs by their gates, and they've been seen outside the movie theatre and burger bars in town. The police are completely turning a blind eye to what's going on which is unbelievable. We've even been on to the local newspapers but for some reason they're not interested either."
"Okay, Janet. I'll pass the message on to Alice and we'll see what we can do. At the moment we're trying to find out who's supplying these guys. If we can cut off the source of the drugs and get irrefutable evidence to the police, then hopefully that will solve the problem."
"That would be wonderful. The other parents and I are very grateful to you both."
"Don't mention it, Janet. Alice has your number; we'll be in touch."
Bella put the phone down wondering what Alice would have planned for this new pair. They had watched the local news last night after they relieved the first two of their supplies, expecting to hear of bodies floating down the river, but nothing had been reported as yet.
As Bella was contemplating this, Alice came back to the real world with a big grin on her face.
"Have we got our man?" Bella asked excitedly. She really wanted to help Edward and if they could solve this mystery, then that would be one less problem for them all to worry about.
"I'm not sure, but there is far more to John than I first thought. His other name is Hodgson and he's already very wealthy, so he wouldn't be spying on the labs just for the money. He's been widowed for a long time, so the internet dating is possibly genuine. As far as I can tell he is quite the upstanding gentleman; lots of charitable work, well known and respected in the community, that sort of thing. He'll be putting his name forward to be Mayor in a few months' time, so that's a bit of a turn-up as well."
"What else did you find out?"
"This part is really interesting. He made his money in surveillance; hidden cameras, microphones, stuff like that. His clients were big business and the military, so he built up quite a solid reputation. He sold the company in the summer and has taken early retirement, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have the skill or the equipment to do a spot of espionage in Masen Research, does it?"
"You mean Anthony's lab could've been bugged?"
"I think that's obvious now, Bella. If it wasn't the IT system that was hacked, then it must have been something simple like that. Probably hidden cameras, audio surveillance, that sort of thing."
"But how come Ace didn't discover this. He must surely have the labs scanned regularly for bugging devices?"
"Technology moves so fast nowadays. Unless the company he uses has the most up to date detection equipment, they may not be able to spot the latest devices, some of which are as small as a lapel pin."
Bella wasn't aware whether Edward had considered this. Working in such a high-tech environment every day, maybe this type of security breach hadn't been considered as it was too easy and, to be perfectly honest, too obvious. But if this was how the mole was doing it, there was the possibility that someone may have been watching and listening to Anthony and Edward as they talked about the arm in the lab, and also had recording equipment running when Anthony died, which was very worrying.
"So why are you grinning like a Cheshire cat, Alice Whitlock? We haven't solved the mystery yet, so what is that soppy expression doing on your face."
"The last vision I saw was Jane, in a lovely apricot silk wedding outfit, with Lover-Boy-John standing by her side. Jane tossed her bouquet into the crowd and guess who caught it?"
"Who?"
"You, Bella Swan!"
Bella was the lookout and she ducked out of sight for a second as soon as she spotted a familiar vehicle approaching the school's pedestrian gate.
"They're pulling up now," she whispered. "It's the same SUV as before but they look like different guys inside. Hold on….they're getting out."
"Are you sure it's not the same two?"
"Definitely not; they're taller and skinnier than the other two. They're both white and neither of them have tattoos on their arms."
"Okay, you know what to do?"
"Yes, Alice, but we've got to be really quick or it won't work."
"Have faith; it'll be hilarious. Have you got the camera set up?"
"Yes. For the hundredth time stop worrying."
"Are you sure there's no-one out there watching?"
"I can't see anything apart from empty staff cars. The yellow buses and the cars full of mommies are in the parking lot on the other side of the building. Shall we get started?"
"Yup; let's do this thing."
Alice flipped open a card-only anonymous cell phone and called the local precinct. After a few seconds the call was answered. Alice put on a high-pitched and panicky voice as she spoke to whoever was on the other end.
"It's the office at Hawkes High School. A huge fight has broken out on the sidewalk at the rear of the school. Can you get some officers down here fast?"
Alice flipped the phone shut and grinned at Bella.
"No going back now! Are you ready?"
"Yep, I'm ready."
"Maximum ten seconds to do it."
"Piece of cake."
"I've got the bags."
"I've got the banner."
"Okay, when I say go, we go."
Bella nodded vigorously and waited for Alice's signal.
The two of them had been hiding behind a low fence when the SUV drew up and had watched as the two dealers got out of the vehicle. The replacement dealers had obviously been warned about what happened to their predecessors and had their backpacks slung in front of them this time. As they locked the SUV, they looked furtively around for any signs they were being watched. When they finally felt comfortable, they stood on the sidewalk next to the SUV and both lit cigarettes while they waited for their customers.
As they were puffing away, the school bell rang to mark the end of the day. Alice and Bella waited a couple of minutes before Alice gave the signal and they silently sprung over the fence and in a flash were right behind them. In less than a blink of an eye they covered the dealers' heads with canvas bags, dragging them tight at the neck, at the same time kicking the dealers' feet from under them so they crashed flat on their backs on the sidewalk, knocking the air out of their chests.
Before the dealers had time to react, the girls bent over them and tore the backpacks from the straps, ripping them open and emptying the contents all over their bodies and the sidewalk, then they jumped behind them and flung open a paper banner that Alice had made from a roll of wallpaper and two broomsticks she'd found in the office store. In bold letters it said,
Get Your Free Drugs Here!
Alice shot back in front of them as Bella positioned the camera that had been dangling around her neck. As Alice tore the canvas bags off their heads, that conveniently dragged the sunglasses and hoodies from the dealers' faces, Bella took several photos of the dealers in rapid succession. Then in a flash they disappeared from the scene and a few seconds later were climbing into the Volvo that had been parked in the side street. Alice had been counting the seconds in her head and when they slammed the car door, she shouted "eight".
The dealers sat on the sidewalk rubbing their eyes while they got their breath back. The flashes from Bella's camera had blinded them for a few seconds and landing on the hard edge of the paved sidewalk had badly bruised their ribs. As they were pulling themselves unsteadily to their feet, they heard a loud cheer coming from the direction of the school followed by stampeding feet.
As Alice and Bella were depriving them of their dignity as well as their drugs, students had started pouring out of the pedestrian gate. As soon as they spotted the banner leaning against the fence on the opposite side of the road, many of them rushed over and started grabbing handfuls of the splifs and tablets that were scattered on the ground. The dealers tried to gather up what they could but they were outnumbered about twenty to one.
Within seconds all hell had broken loose, as fights started when the students tried to snatch their share of the bounty either from the ground, or from other students who were first on the scene, or from the dealers themselves. Staff then rushed out from the gate and one teacher, who realised what was going on, called 911, but was told that officers were already on their way. As soon as sirens could be heard in the distance, the fighting immediately ceased and the students made a run for it, most of them flinging the contraband away as they fled the scene.
The dealers were trying desperately to clamber back into the SUV, but were stopped by several members of staff who hauled them back onto the sidewalk and pinned them to the ground until the police arrived. There was enough narcotic evidence still lying on the sidewalk to incriminate them and after being read their rights they were handcuffed and thrown in the back of a police van.
While all this was going on, Bella and Alice were sitting in the Volvo looking and laughing at the images on the digital camera. They had clear photos of the dealers' faces and these would be uploaded to the local precinct's 'Whistle-Blowers Website' within the hour. On the opposite side of the road, Jasper was watching them from the Cherokee. He wasn't happy that Alice was getting involved in the shadier side of life in this town, but he knew how much this war on drugs meant to her. All the time they had been together, neither of them had ever stood in the way of whatever the other one wanted to do and at this point he wasn't going to interfere. But he was going to warn her to be careful as these dealers might have some nasty people controlling them that might not be such a pushover.
When Jasper was satisfied that the girls were safe, he pulled away and headed towards the beach house where no doubt he would be told every detail about how they had ripped off another couple of drug dealers. But as the girls were chuckling over the predicament of these two losers, and congratulating themselves on another successful sting operation, they didn't notice that a limousine with blacked out windows cruised past their vehicle and slowed for a moment, then accelerated away. As Bella fired the Volvo's engine into life, the limousine disappeared around the corner of the next block and made its way back to where Louis was waiting for his own surveillance team's report.
Louis was sitting behind an imposing oak desk leaning backwards on a studded red leather chair, while the two dealers who had been unceremoniously fleeced of their drugs a few hours earlier were standing on the opposite side of the desk shaking in fear. They had been released on bail, as the 'drugs' that Alice and Bella had tipped onto the sidewalk had turned out to be nothing worse than Tylenol tablets and cigarette tobacco shaped to look like splifs. The police could only charge them with causing a disturbance and had kicked them out of the precinct into the arms of their drug lord, who was now deciding what to do with them.
Louis was no fool. After being ripped off yesterday he wasn't going to risk losing another five k's worth of weed and ecstasy outside the high school. He needed to know who was turning him over; making him look like an easy touch. He had first of all suspected a group of parents were targeting his dealers, but he was now thinking differently, as these were professional stings and even he couldn't fathom how these vigilantes, if that's what they were, had carried them out without being seen. He had temporarily withdrawn all his dealers from outside places where kids hung out as he couldn't risk losing any more of his supplies, but he would have to get this sorted soon or his bosses would be on his back. He had already lost five k's worth of stock, so the kick-back he would be passing on to the 'family' in New York this month would already be seriously depleted.
Louis had sent two of his minders to keep watch on his dealers from a distance, but their account made absolutely no sense, as there was no way his dealers could be attacked, robbed and photographed in less than five seconds. The minders said it happened so fast that they couldn't describe the assailants, but they suspected the culprits were two girls who were sitting in a Volvo down a side street. They saw them laughing at pictures on a digital camera immediately after the incident and a few hours ago, pictures appeared on the internet of the dealers lying on the sidewalk, covered in contraband.
Louis took a long drag of his cigar then flicked the ash in the direction of the two young men whose faces were white as a sheet.
"Right, you useless idiots, I want to hear your version of events so I can decide what to do with you. I can smell bullshit a mile away, so don't fucking lie to me or you'll be walking on stumps for the rest of your lives. Do you hear me, dipshits."
"Yes, boss," they both muttered.
"You, fuck-face on the left, speak to me!"
"It happened so fast, boss. One second we were standing there, the next we were flat on our backs with bags over our heads. We didn't see or hear them coming; honestly, boss."
"Bullshit! Do you expect me to believe that we have two Kung Fu Grand Masters hanging out in Connecticut, who snuck up behind you, put bags over your heads and pulled you to the ground, then removed your backpacks, ripped them open and tipped the contents on the sidewalk. After they'd done that, they had time to tear the bags from your heads, photograph you, oh, and unfurl a banner behind you, before escaping completely out of sight. All this before you retaliated or attempted to see what Bruce Lee and the Karate Kid looked like?"
"Yes boss," they said in unison.
"Do you think I'm fucking stupid?"
"No boss," they responded; their voices wavering in terror.
"So you saw absolutely nothing?"
The dealers remained silent for a moment then one of them spoke up.
"I think they were women, boss."
"Oh really, what makes you think that, you low-life?"
"They smelled nice. One of them had the same perfume as my girl."
Louis almost choked in frustration. He couldn't cope with incompetence or cowardice, and he figured these two had both. Here were two grown men, both around six feet tall, who had been taken down by two girls.
"If it was a rival gang, I suppose I could understand your uselessness," he spat, "but are you, Beavis and Butthead, actually admitting to being turned over by women?"
The men fell silent. Their names weren't Beavis and Butthead, but they weren't going to argue with the tyrant on the other side of the desk. They knew he had killed people for less, and they were terrified.
Louis swung his legs off the desk and contemplated what his dealers had just said, which confirmed what his minders had told him. Something strange had happened this afternoon and he needed to get to the bottom of it before his business was affected. Luckily the minders had taken note of the registration plate of the Volvo and his contacts in the police would be able to tell him to whom it was registered before the day was out. But what was he going to do with these idiots?
He stood up and walked to the other side of the desk and stood in front of the dealers, who were visibly shaking.
"I've not done with you two yet. I'm going to give you the opportunity to make amends, even though your faces are all over the internet. Just get out of my sight before I really lose my temper. And remember, any more fuck-ups and you're dead; do you hear me."
"Yes boss," they choked as they quickly turned on their heels and exited out the door, leaving Louis on his own. He sat down in his chair again and thought about what had happened and who these girls were working for. It would have to be a rival gang, trying to move in on his territory, but that would be a fatal mistake on their part, as they had no idea who they were dealing with. Eventually he pressed a button under his desk and a few seconds later a man who was the size of a small house came in to the office from a side door."
"What can I do for you, boss?"
"Have you got anything on the licence plate?"
"Yes, boss. It's registered to Masen Research. I presume it's one of their company cars."
"Masen Research. Hmmm, interesting. They make drugs, medicines, that sort of thing, don't they, Frank?"
"Totally legit business as far as I know, boss. It's the biggest employer in the area as well. Mikey says the guy who owned it died a few months ago."
"Now this could be very worrying, Frank. I'm guessing the new boss has decided to extend his trade into the illegal drugs market and is trying to muscle us out of Connecticut. What do you think?"
"Could be, boss. If Masen Research make their own drugs; they'd be cutting out the middle-man as well."
"Very true. This isn't looking good. Have we got any contacts working in there?"
"No, I've checked, but I've already got men staking out the parking lot, watching out for the Volvo."
"Good work, Frank. I want this stopped, now, before it goes any further. No warnings, no threats this time. Masen Research need to know the type of people they are messing with so we're going to teach them a hard lesson, and we'll start with their Ninja Warriors. These women are dead, Frank, do you hear me? Dead."
"Loud and clear, boss. Trust me, they'll be wearing toe-tags in the morgue by tomorrow night, I can guarantee it."
You can admire Alice and Bella, turning the dealers over, but not such a good idea if they are trying to blend in with the local community and not bring attention on themselves. Now there's a price on their heads and Louis won't rest until he gets his revenge. Not good. But Louis doesn't realise he's dealing with immortal vampires, does he?
Next chapter you're getting some venom and a lemon. Plus Bella is desperately missing Charlie and is now feeling resentful about how much she has given up.
Also... Alec is back! (Sharp intake of breath)
Joan xx
PS: Apologies for the length of these chapters - but on previous stories I would upload two chapters at a time, then some readers would read the second chapter before the first and get totally confused. This way is a lot easier. Hope you agree!