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EPOV—Chapter 2

We gotta be getting close. How much longer is this going to take? Fucking ridiculous.

Edward recognized the voice instantly and sat a little straighter. It was the same man who had initially tipped them off that the Volturi were looking for somebody new. He hadn't heard him since that night, but there was no question that it could be anybody else.

The man's thoughts were lost as quickly as they'd been found, and Edward struggled to find him again. Distance and the thousands of internal voices residing in such a densely populated area were conspiring against him.

His relief that Bella had refused Alice's invitation had twisted into irritation at the need to remain vigilant, patrolling the area to keep tabs on the Volturi. He operated as though everything they'd learned so far was true—that Bella had no ties to the organization and was therefore in danger—even if part of him was still wary and listening for any hints that he and his friends were being set up again.

He rarely drove too close to her apartment complex, preferring to stay anywhere from a half a mile to a mile away just in case he was being followed. He didn't want to lead them right to her if she truly was an innocent; it'd only make his job harder, he'd almost convinced himself. He spent most nights camped out in his car and wondered if so many hours of sitting in one spot would leave a permanent imprint of his ass on the driver's seat. Though Alice was in constant contact with Bella and seeing her much more clearly in her visions, he insisted that these trips were still necessary if they were to find out who the Volturi had sent to the area.

He refused to acknowledge how much time he spent searching for her voice. It was beginning to frustrate him that he hadn't been able to find her. Alice's memories were all he had to go on, and in the hundreds of voices filling his head, he hadn't been able to identify a single voice that could've been hers. He had tried to focus on content rather than the actual sound, listening for key words in passing thoughts that would give away someone like them, but so far even that had been unsuccessful.

Tonight was the closest he'd come to feeling justified in his many trips to Bella's neighborhood. Someone was out there. Someone was looking for her. He wouldn't stop until he figured out who it was and what threat the mysterious Volturi agent posed to him and his friends.

After an hour, his attempts to find the man's voice had failed so he headed home. His report piqued everybody's interest enough that they didn't give him a hard time when he went out again the next night, and every night after that.

It took a few days, but the he finally heard the man again.

Come on. Where are you?

Frustration laced the man's thoughts, and this time, Edward expected it and was better able to keep tabs on him. Other voices became little more than a loud hum as he focused intently on just one. For hours he listened to the man's observations about the people coming and going from Bella's apartment complex, wondering what 'signs' he was supposed to watching for, and complaining that he still felt nowhere near the end of his assignment. Edward chuckled; even though the man was close, he had no idea how close and didn't bother to move from his spot on the opposite side of the complex.

From the man's thoughts, Edward knew that the Volturi had no idea where Bella was and that this particular complex was just one of many under surveillance.

When he went home that night, he did so with the confidence that the man wouldn't return for a few days. The next night he stayed in, determined to spend time with his friends and just have fun. They'd been ignoring the movie they'd put on, too busy talking and laughing, when Alice gasped. The look on her face halted all conversation, and when she scrambled for her phone, a frisson of fear spread across the room.

Edward knew they were all looking to him for answers, but he was concentrating on the images in Alice's mind of a man standing just outside Bella's apartment to fill them in.

"C'mon, answer," Alice pled to nobody when she hung up and dialed again.

Alice's visions seemed to jump from one scenario to the next. They made little sense; nothing was clear.

"Bella, what's going on? What just happened?" Alice was frantic, but Edward was still able to keep tabs on both sides of the conversation through her thoughts and set about relaying information to the others.

"Someone's outside of Bella's apartment—the same one I've been hearing," he told them. "Alice sees him finding her soon, but it's unclear how... or when."

Jasper reached out for the phone, knowing Alice needed to focus on her visions. Edward followed her to the couch where she sat with her head in her hands, rubbing her temples. He crouched down in front of her, waiting for answers.

"I should've known he was there," she said. "Even when you heard him, I didn't see this. How could I miss something like this?"

She was blaming herself as she was apt to do when her gift didn't give her what she considered enough warning.

"This isn't your fault, you know it isn't. You're one person, you can't keep tabs on everybody. The fact that you didn't see anything is a good sign, Alice. It means he hasn't come close to finding her. You've been watching her so closely, it wasn't until she noticed him that you saw something. We still have a head start."

He left out the other thought crossing his mind, that there was the possibility that this Bella managed to work around Alice's visions just as Jane had and that was why Alice hadn't seen anything until now. Voicing that would only lead to an argument, and now was not the time. Even he had to admit that if the act was for their benefit, the charade was a good one.

Alice looked up at him and nodded, and he could tell from her thoughts that she believed him. Her visions weren't so chaotic; she was able to discern different outcomes, though which one was more likely still eluded her.

He listened as she took the phone and began speaking to Bella again. So intent he was that he almost missed Emmett's plan for all five of them to storm into Bella's apartment tonight to get her out of there.

The absurdity of Emmett's mental image coupled with Alice yelling, "We can't go over there, so whichever one of you commandoes just decided on a little rescue mission, forget about it. It's not going to work," lightened the mood.

It was also just what was needed to sharpen Alice's visions to the point that a clear plan of attack presented itself. They had to wait.

Though he was still wary and didn't trust Bella, he'd heard the fear in her voice through the conduit of Alice's thoughts, and part of him felt bad about leaving her to fend for herself overnight. As he looked around the room, he didn't need to read his friends' thoughts—the expressions on their faces said the same thing.

He hadn't realized that Alice had finished her call until she addressed the room.

"Okay, we have six hours before we can safely go get her. Let's figure this out so we can get a little sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

Alice, like a little drill sergeant, put everyone to work to make sure everything went forth without issue. By the time they loaded into cars the next morning, everyone knew their role. Alice and Jasper would go pick up Bella. Emmett and Rosalie would check for signs of activity at known and suspected Volturi hideouts. And Edward would loop the area around Bella's apartment listening and making sure the man from the previous night didn't return and catch them by surprise. As soon as they got Bella out, everyone would return to the house and figure the rest out from there.

Edward's car was the first to leave the property, and he watched the other two vehicles follow behind him. First Emmett and Rosalie turned off to head in another direction, then a few blocks later Alice and Jasper. Edward continued on, taking a roundabout route to the complex.

It didn't take him long to pinpoint Alice and Jasper's voices, but he still struggled to find Bella's. He fought to ignore the thoughts and dreams of the hundreds of people in the area, but nothing helped. By the time he'd beeped and waved at Alice as she pulled out of the parking lot to head home, he was thoroughly confused. He should've been able to find Bella's voice with ease as she sat next to Alice in that car.

He drove around for a little while longer until he was certain he'd spaced their trips far enough apart, and pointed his car in the direction of home intent on finally getting some answers.