Things I know very little about: The mating sounds of raccoons. Baby raccoons? Yep, very cute. Mama raccoons calling for baby raccoons? Yep. But the sounds that started the whole thing? Not so much.

Chapter 13

"It's at times like these that I wish we could actually eat," Carlisle murmured, watching Esme expertly flick bits of pan seared trout into a plastic bag hidden in her purse, which was currently sitting slightly open on the floor next to her.

"Well, we could hardly get out of it... The owners were so thrilled to see 'little Carlisle Cullen, all grown up and a married man, to boot' that they comped the meal. It would have been rude to refuse." She shook her head. "I can't believe they actually think they remember you when you were a boy. After all, your 'father' only came here a couple of times... Are you sure you don't have a talent? The things you can convince people of, Carlisle, I swear..."

"Merely the power of suggestion, my dear," Carlisle said, flicking his own meal through the air, across the table, and into her purse.

"Two points for the scallop," she whispered, low enough to be silent to any humans nearby, which there were none.

"Humans," Carlisle continued, "are very open to suggestion. Henry clearly remembered me, or rather my 'father', because of course it had to be my father. Rather than try getting out of it, or convincing him that he doesn't remember anything, it is far easier to just build the lie around the base he's already built. And it works to our advantage in this case. He seems to have liked my 'father' quite well." Carlisle smiled. "If I remember correctly, however, my 'father' found Henry to be rather annoying. Constantly wanted to take my father out fishing."

Esme laughed. "I do remember that. All done there?" When Carlisle nodded, she reached down and shut her purse, quickly closing the plastic bag first.

"Dessert?" the owner's wife asked, appearing at their table with almost vampire speed.

"Um...no, thank you, Margie. As I said before, we're expecting to meet some people here. We'll wait and have some later when they arrive."

She nodded, picking up their nearly empty dishes. "Was everything all right?"

"Oh, yes!" Esme said quickly. "It was quite delicious. I'm really looking forward to getting our kitchen set up so I can start cooking more than camping meals. The possibilities in the area are just amazing!"

"Can I get you some coffee while you wait?"

Carlisle looked at his watch. "That would be great," he said, nodding.

Esme looked surprised at this.

"All right. I'll be right back."

Esme waited till she was out of earshot before leaning over the table. "We're staying for coffee?" she whispered.

Carlisle nodded slightly. "Do you really want to go back to the cabin right away?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

They'd left Emmett and Rosalie in the little two-bedroom cabin they'd rented, Rosalie begging off of supper, saying she had a headache. A concerned Margie had delivered meals straight to the cabin for the younger couple despite Carlisle and Esme's protests that it wasn't necessary. She'd quickly returned, blushing furiously, and Carlisle did not want to even think about what the poor woman might have seen—or heard.

"True."

A moment later Margie came back with coffee, and Carlisle and Esme sat back and pretended to sip and enjoy. After a couple of fake sips, however, Carlisle realized the error in his plan. Esme certainly did not want coffee poured in her purse. "Care to join me on the porch?" he asked Esme, standing up and gesturing towards the door.

"Of course," she said, leading the way. The porch overlooked a small pond. The forest behind it, and mountains further in the distance, allowed a relaxing view for both humans and vampires. It was warm enough in the Alaskan summer that sitting outside would not draw attention to themselves, and leaning on the railing allowed them to carefully pour the coffee into the shrubs below.

"Things seem to be going fairly well back at the cabins," Esme said.

"Yes, they do. Bella is settling in nicely, and Jasper has calmed down, too."

"The cabins will probably be finished by the end of the summer, though. There's only so long we can drag that particular project out."

Carlisle shrugged. "Jasper's already talking about tearing theirs down next summer and rebuilding it with the logs he's got curing. And the winter...well, I foresee nobody emerging for much of any reason during the dark months. It can be stretched out, not that we'll need to draw it out too long. Bella's doing better than I expected her to. Good Lord, remember Rosalie?"

Esme shuddered. "Oh, yes. She didn't settle at all, not until she brought Emmett home. And then it was a decade of another sort of chaos."

"And when Jasper and Alice arrived on our doorstep, it was years again before the dust settled down. No, I think things are going very well in spite of all these other distractions and problems, which we'll hopefully get cleared up soon. Either way, though, Jasper and Bella don't have to worry about re-joining the human world any time soon. We can all just concentrate on what's important."

"I'm so glad he was able to bring her back, both times, and convince her to stay."

Carlisle smiled. He had no doubt that after Edward, Bella was his wife's favorite "child". The one she'd been able to actually see grow up a little bit. The attachment was a deep one, and Carlisle had no doubt that it ran both ways. "Oh, I don't think she really wants to leave, as skittish as she is. She loves you, Esme. She loves having a mother. I don't need to be Jasper to feel that."

"She loves you, too, you know," Esme murmured, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

"I know."

The sound of a car in the lodge's driveway had them both turning back towards the building. "Is that them, do you think?" Esme whispered.

"Could be. The timing is correct, if their flight was on time." They fell silent, listening carefully for voices.

"You grab the luggage, Quin," they heard a familiar voice say. "I'll see about getting us checked in, and see if the Cullens are here yet."

"Showtime!" Carlisle whispered, and they both returned to the railing, looking out at the view, seemingly oblivious to what was going on behind them in the lodge.

~AM~AM~AM~AM~

Christina glanced around the main room of the cabin before picking up her bag and carrying it into one of the bedrooms. Two small bedrooms, a small bath, and a sitting area with a fireplace and a little kitchenette. Perfect for what would hopefully be a very short stay in Alaska.

"Although I wouldn't mind seeing more of the area," she said to herself.

"What was that?" Quin asked, emerging from his own room. "I thought you were holding out for beaches and palm trees."

Christina shrugged. "Well, I've always wanted to see Alaska. Depending on how this goes, maybe I'll just take a few days since I'm already up here."

"Good luck getting leave while on a case." Quin snorted.

"You never know...maybe this will just wrap up after talking to the good Dr. Cullen."

"Yeah, speaking of the good Dr. Cullen, I heard from Tony and the boys back at headquarters. Everything checked out on him. Seems he and his wife took jobs with Doctors Without Borders shortly after the death of their son and have only just returned to the States."

"Just like he said. Seems an odd choice of vocation for a vampire, Quin."

"Maybe he really is just a boring, run of the mill alien," Quin shot back good-naturedly. "Or maybe he just wasn't aware that he was housing a vampire under his roof all those years. Just because his foster child turned out to be a freak, doesn't mean he is."

"Anything else?" she asked, trying to get her partner back on track and off the supernatural trail.

"Um...two other children, Emmett and Rosalie, recently graduated from...Dartmouth. They flew up here a few weeks ago, presumably to visit their parents. Married two years ago, currently childless. She's an early childhood education major and he's a computer graphics design major. No jobs currently lined up, although apparently he does online work. Same with Dr. and Mrs. Cullen. No current jobs, no sign of them going out for another stint with DWB. Oh, and he wasn't lying about the plane thing, either. Seems their return flight to the States crashed on take-off down in some godforsaken part of Brazil. No one was killed, but their reluctance to fly is apparently well founded. Nothing at all on the other two children, Jasper and Alice."

"So..." Christina said thoughtfully, "it might be safe to think that those two might still be together, wherever they are."

"Not impossible," Quin agreed. "Oh, and this Rosalie and our suspect—Jasper—appear to be twins...which we already knew, based on the good people of Forks. So perhaps she's heard from her brother and just hasn't told her adoptive parents of the contact."

"Maybe. Well, since she is here in Alaska, too, we'll just have to make sure we talk to her as well. Ready to go back to the dining room? I'm starving."

"I hope whatever they're serving isn't fried."

"Me too."

They exited from the cabin and walked back towards the main lodge. As they approached the building, they saw two figures seated on chairs on the large back porch. "Think that's them?" Quin asked quietly.

"I don't know... The hostess said the place was almost booked full. Could be anybody, though she said most people were out for the day, hiking and fishing and such."

They quietly observed the couple as they drew closer to the building, slowing their steps a bit to allow more observation time. If it was Dr. Cullen and his wife, they were a lot younger than what Christina had been expecting. Young, and incredibly good looking.

"Hot," Quin muttered.

"You're not kidding," Christina said, mentally berating herself.

As they reached the steps to the porch, the blond man stood up and approached them, the woman close behind him. "Agent Vlodak? Agent Anderson?" he asked.

Good Lord, his voice, Christina thought. She could imagine him as a doctor. The bedside manner... The man already had the upper hand, making the first move. It was time to take control of the situation.

"Yes," she said, her voice coming out louder than she wanted. She sounded almost...nervous. That wouldn't do. Not at all. "Dr. Cullen? Mrs. Cullen?" She held out her hand. The man had the most unusual colored eyes. Gold. She didn't think she'd ever seen that color before. And his wife... Her eyes were the same. Perhaps some genetic abnormality? Or maybe they'd picked up something in some foreign country that caused it? They were almost hypnotic. Predator's eyes... Christina shivered.

"Indeed," Carlisle said, taking her hand and giving it a firm shake before turning to do the same to Quin. "Good to see you found the place all right, not that there are that many places to make a wrong turn out here."

Christina looked around. "Yes, GPS brought us straight here. Not a problem at all. A bit of a drive, though. Lovely choice for accommodations. Thank you for making them."

Carlisle shrugged. "Well, there aren't that many choices out here, and we're old friends with the owners, you might say."

"Hmm...yes, so the hostess told us. Talkative woman."

Carlisle smiled, and it made him look even more handsome—something Christina would have thought impossible.

"Would you like to talk now, or would you rather get something to eat first?" he asked, his voice relaxing her once again. "The dining room is open now, and we certainly don't mind waiting."

"Why don't we eat, and you can join us. Just to sort of get to know each other. This isn't really meant to be a hostile interrogation. We aren't the IRS after all." Christina had found that people's guards were often let down during eating.

Carlisle chuckled, his eyes flicking to his wife then back to the two agents. "We weren't sure when you'd be arriving, so we went ahead and ate," he said, sounding apologetic. "After camp food for the last couple weeks, I have to say we were both starving, even though Esme can do wonders with a dutch oven."

"Oh. Well..." There went her plan.

"But we were holding off on dessert. Perhaps we could indulge in something, that way you wouldn't feel like we were watching you eat. I find that often makes people nervous, don't you?"

All right. Plan was back on. They entered the dining room together, finding it still empty. "A little early for supper," Carlisle murmured behind her, "but much more private for this, yes?"

Christina didn't respond. Every time he spoke, she felt like she was losing control of the situation. And she was always in control. Always.

A waitress appeared at their table after they'd sat down. A younger woman this time, of college age or maybe even high school. Evidently Margie either only worked lunches or her attention was elsewhere at the moment. The girl gave them menus and took their drink orders before disappearing back towards the kitchen area.

"So, Dr. Cullen, Mrs. Cullen...you've just returned from the Amazon? How was your time there?"

"Hot. Humid. Heart breaking," Carlisle said, a slight smile on his face as he stared at Christina.

"The conditions some of those poor people live in is appalling," Esme added. "It's almost as if the few modern conveniences they've incorporated into their lives have actually made things worse for them instead of better." She shook her head. "Quite appalling, actually."

"Oh. Um...yes, I'm sure it is."

"Why don't you just ask us what you've come all this way to ask us, Agent Vlodak," Carlisle said gently, "instead of dressing it up as a social visit. I can assure you that we'll be more than happy to cooperate with you and answer any questions you have to the best of our ability. You don't have to try and trick them out of us."

Christina sat back in her chair, startled. She wasn't used to this. Most people were nervous at the mere idea of talking to an agent, yet here was a couple who knew that their own son—adopted son—was wanted for questioning by the government, was possibly tied to some very violent crimes, and they were just sitting across from her cool as cucumbers, acting as if they were just there to discuss the latest sports scores.

It was creepy.

Maybe, though, they were just as innocent as it appeared they were. Maybe.

It was still creepy, though.

Quin's phone suddenly went off. He glanced at the screen, then excused himself. "Um, sorry... Call from headquarters. I'll be right back."

"Of course," Carlisle said. Christina watched him leave the room, debating what her next move should be.

Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Carlisle leaned over towards his mate and whispered at vampire speed, low enough that even vampire hearing wouldn't pick it up unless that vampire was very very close. "I believe two of our other children have arrived."

"What?" Esme hissed, sitting up straighter and looking around, her nostrils flaring slightly as she tested for scents in the air.

"Jasper and Alice," he mouthed. "I believe they might be hiding in the crawl space..." He glanced down towards the floor, and Esme's gaze followed his. Her eyes narrowed, and Carlisle had no doubt someone was going to be on the receiving end of her parental ire—if she wasn't already sending waves of it towards her empathic son.

"If Jasper is here, where is Bella?" she asked, almost soundlessly. "Surely he wouldn't have left her behind."

Carlisle shook his head. "No, so she must be close behind, if not already here somewhere. And if not...well, we'll all be feeling his distress if she doesn't show up soon. Notthe mood I was hoping for during this little interview." He sighed. "And when she does show up, she might not be happy to find them in the crawlspace together, no matter what the reasoning is behind it." He sent his own wave of disapproval flowing out, knowing Jasper was sure to pick it up. For good measure, he decided that when he did get a hold of his tiny dark haired daughter, perhaps a spanking would be in order.

An indignant squeak came from the direction of the floor, causing Christina to jump and stare down at her feet. "What was that?" she asked, her voice uncomfortably high, even to her own ears.

"Probably mice," Carlisle said, his pleasant voice and the smile on his face not changing. "Or some other small rodent sneaking around." Only he and Esme could hear the indignant snort that came from below them this time.

"Mice? Great..." Her voice had climbed another octave.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Carlisle said, waving his hand dismissively. "There's all sorts of wild life around. You should probably stay away from the woods, though. Bears tend to be attracted to human habitation up here, and they come closer than they normally would."

"They come to dig through the garbage," Esme added helpfully.

"Or the food Emmett sets out for them," came an almost silent whisper from the floorboards.

"Nice try of deflection, dear," Esme replied, her lips barely moving and her words completely unnoticed by their human companion.

"It's all part of the experience," Carlisle said pleasantly. "I'm sure Margie and Henry have plenty of traps set up."

"It's a never ending struggle," Esme said.

"Ah...oh...okay," Christina said, looking down at the floor doubtfully.

"Have you decided what you're having?" Esme asked politely.

"Um..." Christina stared at her menu, which she hadn't even begun to look at. "No."

"I had the trout. It was divine," Esme said.

"Yes, Esme tucked it right away. Made it disappear like you wouldn't believe. I had the scallops. They really hit the spot for me," Carlisle added helpfully.

"Do you know where your son Jasper currently is? Or your daughter Alice?" Christina asked, desperately trying to regain control of the conversation.

Carlisle looked straight at her, holding her eyes with his own hypnotic gold ones. "Agent Vlodak, I have no idea of their whereabouts at this time. I told you that over the phone earlier. If you came all this way to ask me that again, you have wasted your time and taxpayers' money."

Quin re-entered the room at that point, and it was as if a switch went off in Christina's head. She turned back to Carlisle and Esme, newly determined to do her job and get this over with.

After that, the 'interview', as she preferred to think of it—so much nicer than interrogation—seemed to go off without a hitch, although she could have sworn she heard some sort of giggling coming from the direction of the floor. Mice, she reminded herself. Very large, odd sounding mice. The meal was very good, as Carlisle had said it would be, and the information they got from Dr. and Mrs. Cullen made her feel like she and Quin were actually making progress towards some sort of conclusion in the case.

The Cullens ended up not having dessert after all, both of them begging off, saying the meal they had earlier had been very filling. Things were winding down when Christina mentioned wishing to talk to Rosalie and Emmett.

"Oh, actually, I thought I'd mentioned it already. They are here," Carlisle said, snapping his fingers as if it had just occurred to him.

"We are aware that they are in Alaska," Quin said, "but if it would be possible for us to speak with them..."

"No, I mean, they are here, at the lodge. I thought you might be interested in speaking to them, also, so they met us here. Rose is having a bit of an upset stomach, or else they would have joined us for supper," Carlisle said.

Just then a series of loud thumps came from under the floor. Quin and Christina stared downwards in horror. Carlisle sighed and reached up to squeeze the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

"Problem?" Christina asked solicitously.

"Migraine," Carlisle said. "Sorry, they just come out of nowhere sometimes. Never know when they're going to hit. If you'll excuse me..." he said, standing up abruptly.

The bumps had progressed into muffled, angry squealing noises, causing Christina to instinctively raise her feet off the ground. "Of course," she squeaked out.

"Big mice," Quin said, looking as if he wished he could lift his feet up, too.

"Probably raccoons or something," Esme said quickly, grabbing her purse and standing up, too. "It's, um, mating season...I think. They can get quite territorial. Probably. We'll tell Rose and Emmett...and they'll look you up. This evening maybe." She hastened to follow Carlisle to the door.

Christina quickly followed them, more to get away from the sound of the fighting raccoons than any sort of need to see them out of the dining room. "Of course...have them call us. Is that...?" She stopped to look up on the roof of the building, movement having caught her eye. "What is that man doing up there?"

Carlisle paused in his flight from the building and turned to stare up where she was pointing before sighing again and squeezing the bridge of his nose a little firmer. "The roof...he's working on the roof..." he said, sounding vague. "I believe I remember Margie mentioning a leak... Really, must be going... Sorry about this."

Quin came through the door and watched Carlisle and Esme hurry off down the path towards the cabins hidden in the trees. "He looked upset. Did we hit a nerve with our questions?"

"I don't think so..." Christina said, truly puzzled. "We weren't even really talking anymore. It looked like it really was a headache. Migraines can be a real bitch, or so I've heard."

"Huh. Or maybe he's just afraid of raccoons. Can't say as I blame him, if those noises are any indication. Sounded like one of them just about killed the other one, right after you guys left. I think we ought to mention it to the hosts. They need to check under there, especially if one really is dead. They aren't going to want that stinking up the place." He turned to go back in the building.

"Yeah..." Christina said vaguely, turning to stare up at the man on the roof again. He caught and held her eye, and a shiver went down her spine. He looked vaguely familiar for some reason, but she knew that was impossible. Breaking eye contact, she hurried back into the building after Quin.

~AM~AM~AM~AM~AM~AM~

"I do not sound like a raccoon in heat, thank you very much!" Alice huffed, plopping herself down on a log and looking sullen.

"Actually, you did. Sort of," Jasper said, trying not to laugh.

"You stay out of this!" she snarled at him. "This is all your fault, anyway." She pulled up her pant leg and raised her foot up, angling her head to try and lick at the bite wounds on the back of her calf.

"My fault? How do you figure that?" he demanded, trying to speak coherently through Bella, who had her arms and legs wrapped firmly around his torso and wasn't letting anyone get near him.

"You followed me up here. You followed me under the building. If you had just left me alone and stayed the hell away from me, Bella wouldn't have misinterpreted everything, and I wouldn't be sitting here leaking venom everywhere and being accused of sounding like an ovulating rodent!" she finished with a shriek.

"I don't think raccoons are rodents," Emmett said.

"If all of you had stayed home like Carlisle told you to, none of this would have happened," Rose said, sounding smug. For once, it wasn't her getting in trouble or nursing bites from Bella.

Bella swung her head around and growled at her, and Rose quickly backed up, hands raised in a placating manner.

"Carlisle didn't tell us tell us. He just said he didn't want us to come. There's a difference," Alice said, sounding defensive.

"You know he didn't want you coming here, any of you," Rose said, her voice harder. "And now you're here, and look what's happened! Fighting, right under their feet! Literally. And the werewolf, you had to bring him with you?"

"Actually, we didn't bring him with us," Jasper said. "He came on his own."

"He didn't come on his own. He showed up here with your mate, Jasper! How fucked up is that?" Rose asked, getting louder now.

"That is pretty messed up, Jasper," Emmett said, nodding his head. "I mean, what the hell are you thinking? You spent months trying to keep her away from werewolves, and then weeks keeping her away from the one we decided to bring home with us, but now they're what? Vacationing together?"

"They didn't come together together," Jasper said defensively. "They just both came here—"

"Nope, they came together," Emmett said. "I saw them. They both climbed out of the same delivery truck, right here in the parking lot of the lodge. Together."

"Well, she was supposed to be following me—OUCH!" Jasper said, flinching away from his mate, which was impossible since she now was not only wrapped around his torso but had her teeth sunk into his shoulder. "All right, all right! This is all my fault! Is everybody happy now?" he demanded.

"NO!" they all shouted back except for Bella, who continued to growl quietly and glare at them all in her peripheral vision.

"Here, let me help you, brother," Emmett said, slowly approaching Jasper and Bella. He reached out toward her to attempt to pry her mouth off of Jasper. She only growled louder and bit down harder.

Jasper jumped backwards, firming up his own grip around her waist and bottom, holding her to him tighter. "No, really. It's fine. We're good. Just...leave her alone right now. Where are Carlisle and Esme? I thought they'd be here already, yelling at us and handing out parental type punishments."

Alice whimpered and began rocking back and forth on the log she was sitting on, covering her eyes with her hands. "They are so mad," she wailed.

"Oh, pull yourself together! What did you expect to happen?" Rose snapped at her.

"They came back to the cabin," Emmett said. "Carlisle said he had a migraine, and he told us to get out. He told us to come out here to this clearing and that we'd know why when we got here. Well, like I said, we saw the delivery van deliver Bella and Mstislav, so we'd already sort of had an idea what was coming. Speaking of, where is our four-legged friend?" He looked around the small clearing, as if expecting Mstislav to suddenly appear in their midst.

"Mstislav was on the roof," Alice said, not looking up at them. "And vampires don't get migraines."

"Jesus Christ!" Rosalie shouted, throwing up her hands. "He's probably getting ready to steal that woman away right in front of everybody! Why are we just standing around here doing nothing?"

"What do you want us to do, Rose?" Jasper asked, shifting one arm so that he could stroke Bella's hair. Her shield was up, so relaxing her that way was not an option. He really wanted her to let go. His shoulder was starting to burn like a son of bitch, and it was making him cranky, which in turn was making them all cranky. More cranky. "We couldn't exactly go up there and grab him without making a scene. Carlisle told the humans that Mstislav was fixing the roof."

"Oh, like they'd buy that one," Rose said, rolling her eyes.

"If Carlisle said it, they probably did," Emmett said thoughtfully. "You know how he is. Remember that dude at the burned out warehouse in Anchorage, back when Jasper and Bella were running around Siberia? Humans just eat shit up when he talks to them. He's like the Human Whisperer or something. And I think if any vampire was a candidate to have a migraine, Carlisle would be it." Emmett shook his head. "I mean, can you imagine being in his shoes right now? The great thing about it is, for once none of this is my fault."

"Alice," Jasper said, causing Bella to growl again. Jasper rolled his eyes but continued. "What do you see happening if we all just leave right now, before Carlisle and Esme come out?"

"I don't see anything...because of the werewolf!" Alice hissed at him.

"Okay, so we leave the werewolf behind. See anything now?"

"You are not leaving that thing here for us to deal with," Rose hissed. "Some of us have more than enough to worry about without having to deal with inter-species mating rituals that may or may not be about to take place. Emmett and I are going to be interviewed by the FB-fucking-I tonight, Jasper, about you, my wonderful, man-eating twin brother!"

Jasper ignored her. "Alice?"

"If we leave now, and I mean in the next few minutes, I see us making it home. It's only putting off the inevitable, though," she warned.

"I don't care," Jasper said. "I want to at least be able to meet Carlisle and Esme when I'm a little less, uh..."

"Encumbered?" Emmett offered helpfully.

"Yeah."

Bella was slowly relaxing in Jasper's arms. She'd released his shoulder, and her growling had stopped, though that might have been more due to the fact that the rest of them had stopped moving more than anything else. It was progress. At least he'd be able to run easier now, without her teeth in his shoulder.

"We need to leave now. And don't take the same path as me, Jasper," Alice warned. "Stay far, far, far away from me!" Alice took off and was gone in a flash, Jasper close behind her, with Bella still wrapped around him, trying to make it obvious to his passenger that they were taking a much different direction than the smaller vampire.

"Cowards!" Rose yelled after them. They could hear Emmett's laughter for a long, long time.