Chapter Twenty Five

Carlisle

Peter was becoming become more and more agitated which we all knew was a sign that his erstwhile friend was getting close. I think we all knew that despite being vastly outnumbered Jasper would make a fight of it and I doubted we would all survive the encounter, especially as it seemed Darius had been correct in his theory of Jaspers past.

"I'm going outside, it's too fucking claustrophobic in here."

All eyes turned to Peter and he grinned mirthlessly.

"Don't sweat, I'll be back but I can't stay hidden in this fucking rat hole any longer."

"How close is he Peter?"

Bright red eyes filled with pain and apprehension turned on me,

"Close Carlisle but we have a little while yet. I never thought I'd hear you eager for a fight, not really your style is it?"

I knew he was torn between what he thought he knew of his friend and the truth. He had been Jasper's closest friend and comrade in many a battle and yet here he was standing undecided but on the opposite side for now, although I didn't trust that he would remain so. Would their long term friendship handicap Peter? If it did he was likely to find himself dead at the hands of the man he had trusted his life to so often in the past.

Garrett went with him, another who was waiting nervously, again a brilliant fighter but also one whose very skills gave him the knowledge that Jasper was probably tougher and more ruthless. Perhaps none of us would live to see another day but we would fight for our lives and those of others on his target list even though we had no idea how many that might be. Aro had told me that the rest of my family were safe but could I believe him? After all, by his own admission he was not in control of this operation so could not guarantee anything.

Peter

The Major was close and getting closer with every second and I couldn't sit and wait for the conflict to come to me, it wasn't in my nature. My mind ached from constantly running through everything I knew, or thought I knew, about my friend, trying to work out if he really was the Volturi's ultimate executioner. I wanted to believe it was a lie but something told me I would be wrong to dismiss it just like that. There had always been questions he couldn't answer, skills he seemed to have honed over millennia not just a few decades. He never needed to think about an operation, he seemed to understand instinctively what was needed and that could only have come from fighting wars and battles for a long time although I had accepted it as an enviable talent at the time. If anyone was going to take The Major down I wanted it to be me and I knew in reality that I was the only one with a realistic chance of doing so. Carlisle, Edward, and the others had no real warrior skills only Garrett, Charlotte, or I were equipped with those and therefore stood any chance against him. I hated the thought that my friend was, in reality, a puppet whose strings were pulled by the Volturi and I knew he would have hated it too if he'd known.

Garrett and I paced up and down outside the house, alert for any strange sounds, anything that might warn us of his arrival but for now all was peaceful.

"Never thought I'd see the day I was looking across a battlefield at The Major, how about you Peter?"

I shook my head,

"Just one more reason to hate the Volturi, fucking bastards!"

"Yeah, makes my skin crawl, just like Chelsea's gift, make you happy to be a lap dog."

I opened my mouth to answer him then shut it again as I heard a car pull into the driveway and sounds from the forest.

"Looks like our wait might be over my friend."

We melted into the shadows on the porch and watched to see who would get here first.

I tensed as I felt danger coming from our rear and pulled Garrett inside the house where we watched from the corner of the window as a police cruiser pulled up in front of the house, one of the cops getting out to check the Cullens hadn't returned. Boy, would he be in for a surprise if he tried the door! The other was occupied in the car and didn't see the blitz attack The Major launched out of the shadows and we hadn't even known he was already here.

As he took off into the trees with his first victim I gestured for Garrett to go down and warn the others if they weren't already aware The Major was here then turned back to see the other cop also fall to my friend's attack and vanish down the drive into the trees.

I could just hear the others as they appeared from the basement but then something had me on alert, there were others close by, more danger, so I gestured for them to stay put and slid out through the door running down the edge of the driveway until I was almost at the road. I could smell wolves and these were the kind that liked to chow down on vampires. As I tensed ready to fight I saw The Major again coming from the side and marveled at his speed and lethal attack.

A truck came hurtling round the bend and lost control as he threw the lifeless body of one wolf into its path. The truck smashed into a tree and I expected The Major to continue his attack, follow the other wolf who had raced into the trees but what he did shocked me. Ignoring the wolf he raced to the truck and pulled the driver free checking the body over frantically then picked it up and ran away from the house. What the fuck was this all about? I hesitated only a moment, the others back at the house were safe enough for now and I would contact them when I could, for now, I needed to know where The Major was headed and why he had left. If as we thought he was under orders to kill certain targets and wouldn't stop until he'd fulfilled his mission then why had he given up on the Cullens when he had them holed up so conveniently?

I was very careful not to get too close if he sensed me there would be a fight and I was intrigued. I knew somehow that the human he had saved meant something special to him and when I saw the long dark hair and bloodied face I suddenly understood. The only reason any vampire would save a human was the mating pull. This girl, someone he recognized, was his mate and he had almost killed her. This changed everything, if he had been the mindless killer he was supposed to be he wouldn't have been able to recognize her, his mind would be programmed to fulfill his task and ignore anything else yet he had stopped, changed his mind, and chosen to take her to safety. If there was anything of The Major I had once known left in there then I could find a way of getting through to it, to make him understand what was happening to him and help him fight it.

Carlisle

Garrett had no idea why Peter had left or where The Major had gone, only that he had been here and ready to kill. We found the two deputies, their bodies suspended in tall trees, one drained the other merely dead as if he might have been planning on returning to them but if so then something had changed his mind.

"Let's get these bodies down and hidden properly before the Chief comes looking for them, if he finds them we'll never be able to talk our way out of it."

Garrett and Alistair carried the bodies back down and put them in the back of Emmett's truck which was still in the garage.

"We'll take them to the mountains, dispose of the bodies there. You sort out the cruiser."

Moments later my phone rang and it was Alistair,

"Ah Carlisle, more trouble. There's a naked dead guy in the middle of the road. Looks like one of the wolves, you want us to clear him up too? There's been an accident, a truck smashed into a tree but there's no sign of the driver or any passengers, it smells like The Major's work."

I cursed, things were snowballing too rapidly, someone could come across the accident any moment.

"Could you make it appear the boy was killed by the truck? A hit and run maybe?"

"Sure, his injuries look pretty consistent we just need to put some clothes on him. I'm pretty sure the natives don't run around buck naked up here. Leave it with us but you'd better tidy up quick."

Star and Toby made sure there was no sign that the cruiser had ever been here once Edward and Grace drove it into the forest. They would take it apart and sink the parts in the creek. It wasn't the ideal solution but we had so little time it was the best we could do. I had to be here when the police came to the accident site or looking for their missing cruiser and I wondered how long it would be before the Quileutes came calling. The young man Alistair had found killed on the road must have been on patrol but was he alone? Or did the pack already know what had happened? If so they would be coming in force probably when the sun went down and they wouldn't need to fear being seen by anyone. I needed an excuse to be back here too, after all, I'd told Bella's father we were leaving so why hadn't I gone with the others? Peter's whereabouts were a mystery too but I didn't have time to concern myself about that right now, I had enough on my plate as it was.

It was Chief Swan who came to the house with one of his deputies expressing surprise at seeing me still here although he seemed to be satisfied by my explanation of coming back to retrieve a few things that had been left behind.

"So, what do you know about the accident at the end of your drive Dr. Cullen?"

"Nothing. An accident? Do you need my help?"

"No, the driver ran from the scene after mowing down one of the Quileute boys."

"Oh dear, I take it from your expression that the young man is dead?"

"Yeah, he is and we're looking for the driver who must be injured, there's blood in the driver's side of the truck."

He looked around suspiciously,

"Have you seen a cruiser here today?"

"No, why?"

"They were supposed to do a drive by, check on the place. See if maybe my daughter had come back."

The way he said it told me we were not entirely free of his suspicion but I just shook my head.

"I'm so sorry, I hoped you might have good news by now. We haven't heard anything or I would have contacted you."

"Oh, I'm betting on it, Doctor. Mind if I have a look around as I'm already here?"

I stepped aside,

"Of course not, go ahead."

He didn't spend much time in the house but he was thorough, especially when it came to the outbuildings and the garage.

"New car?"

He nodded to Stars red compact with the tinted windows,

"No, it belongs to a friend, I borrowed it, Esme has my Mercedes."

He checked inside and opened the trunk which wasn't locked and finding nothing had to be satisfied.

"So, are you planning on being here long Doctor?"

"No, I'll be leaving in about an hour."

He nodded his approval and returned to his car still looking around and drove slowly back down the drive. We would have to leave soon whether Jasper was close by or not.

The others were back within the hour having everything cleared up and we left the house. I thanked them for their help but told them something had changed and they shouldn't put themselves in any further danger.

"Peter rang me and said Jasper was the one who caused the crash and he's no longer hunting us. He refused to explain further but said he would let me know if I became a subject of Jasper's interest once more so there's nothing you can do."

Charlotte and Garrett opted to stay with Edward and myself while the others went back home and I was sure in most cases they were only too relieved to be doing so. The very fact they had come to my aid told volumes, these were indeed friends, willing to risk all to help another in his hour of need.

I knew Charlotte was concerned both for Jasper and her mate but she trusted Peter's ability to keep himself safe and knew he wouldn't have gone off alone without a very good reason. When I told her I felt the same way she stared at me,

"Has Edward been wandering through my brain Carlisle?"

"No, he tries very hard to stay out of the thoughts of our friends but it's not difficult to understand how you must feel. Peter may be a loose cannon but he isn't suicidal."

"Really? And what makes you so sure, Carlisle? You hardly know us. Peter owes The Major everything, his very life and mine too. Trust me, if it came to sacrificing his life to save The Major's even I don't know which way he would jump so please, don't presume to know him. I'm only staying because if anything happens you will hear the quickest, not because I really care what happens to you or Edward. It was Peter's idea to come here in the first place and we only ever came because we hoped to be able to save our friend, even from himself."

Well, at least she was honest and we both wanted the same thing, safety for those we cared about even if they weren't necessarily the same people.