Hi girls! This is it! The moment of truth! Can Edward find his family alive? Go read to find out! Many thanks to all of you who have read, review and added this story to their favorites. Thanks to my amazing Beta Nyvia for her arduous work!!
Disclaimer: Still the bank account says $0.00 Obviously this isn't mine.
The Rescue (Edward's POV)
I was running out of time. I need to find them. God let them be safe!
Those were my thoughts when I saw Emmett running toward us screaming at the top of his lungs. I looked at my father and he turned to look at me at the same time, both of us stunned.
Rosalie told him where they got them… I guess that after all she cared about him.
Don't worry my love; I'm going for both of you. I though as I felt my chest swell painfully in every breath I took. I finally settled down a little and without taking my foot off the gas and my eyes fixedly on the road I headed to where those bastards got my wife and daughter.
Carlisle called my name; since I haven't heard anything he was saying and took me out of my thoughts when he punched me in the arm.
"Edward! It was illogical to assume that the kidnapers have made such a risky escape to the airport with a girl who obviously was afraid of them, that's why they weren't on that plane Felix investigated before. And of course, if anyone in town sees strange people hanging around with your daughter, they call the police station to report it…" he explained.
"Fuck, you're right dad. I understand now. How could I be so blind?" I scolded myself.
We called the headquarters and asked Demetri for some backup. Special tactics units were needed too, just in case there were too many people inside that house. We took all the necessary measurements to be safe in this rescue and get them unharmed.
Everything was crystal clear to me. They wanted to take away from me the things I love the most, my daughter and my wife.
That was revenge, revenge against me and my love ones.
We headed to the woods in Emmett's Jeep Wrangler, because it was the only vehicle at hand that was prepared to deal with rough road conditions like that one. When I saw the house at the distance, Carlisle decided that the safest way to get near it was to leave the Jeep as far away from the house entrance possible, so no one could notice our presence there.
None of us wanted to jeopardize both the girl and Bella's safety, so we went walking among the trees and fallen branches, hidden wherever were possible. As soon as we arrived in front of the abandoned mansion, I noticed that the outside looked deserted and there wasn't any kind of movement or lights coming from the inside of the house. But when we kept approaching the front of the house, dim lights went out of the windows through the curtains. Definitely, there were people in there.
On the left side of the house was an old garage and a black minivan parked in front of it. Been extremely careful, my dad and I approached the van slowly looking for any clues that suggested that the people inside were the same one that we were looking for. Carlisle decided to lean against the right wall of the house, behind a window from which more light came out. It was cloudy and the sky was falling in the afternoon. Twilight. The darkness was going to cover us soon.
I slowly reached a half opened window to have a look inside. I stood up on my tiptoes and saw a tall man with black long hair up to his shoulders seated inside. He had a gun on his waistband and his shirt was stained with dried blood. I felt breathless and my head began to spin. I crouched gasping for air. I needed to calm down. I lifted up a little more and there was another man reclined on his chair with his feet on a table. Immediately I recognized him, he was Jasper Whitlock. For sure Bella and Nessie should be anywhere inside the house.
"Jasper Whitlock is there" I told Carlisle whispering, his smile grew.
"See? I told you, we need backup. There are more people with him?" he asked.
I reached the window again and a reddish haired woman approached the two men. They were eating and talking at ease.
"There's another man and a woman. Bella and Nessie must be there somewhere." I said crouching again under the window.
"We must be utterly silent son. We need to force an entry to the inside or attack them by surprise, but this would involve much more risk for Bella and Nessie's safety," he said.
"We must act now, before they realize we are here." I said moving slowly to the end of the wall.
We moved to the back of the house, the basement windows were at our feet. I saw one of them half-opened.
"This way Carlisle, follow me…" I said, opening carefully the window and entering through it.
"Be careful son." He said behind me.
Carlisle and I went carefully into the basement; finally we were inside the house. Our priority now was to remain as quiet as possible so we could investigate Nessie and Bella's location. We climbed the stairs to the first floor with extremely care. The door was barely open so I looked to see if I could recall in what place of the house we were.
"I think that is the main staircase, is quite far from the kitchen. I need to check on it." I said slightly opening the basement door and popping my head out. There wasn't anyone there.
"You get out first and take the stairs up. I still hear the three voices so none of them has moved from their place. I will stay here if something happens." Carlisle said.
There was no way I was going to let him there alone.
"No, you can't stay here alone, come with me. I may need your help." I told him.
We slowly climbed the stairs to the second floor.
On both sides of the long and dark hallway, there were many closed doors. We could hear the voices talking downstairs. We still had time to look at least the first few rooms. Carlisle checked the doors on the right side and I took the ones on the left side of the hallway. I was starting to panic as I began to open door by fucking door and found nothing. The fourth door was locked with a lock. I rested my ear against it to see if I could hear some noise coming from the inside, at that moment Carlisle grabbed my arm and pulled me inside of the room near us.
"Edward, quick!" he whispered.
We left the door barely open to listen to the two people that were heading upstairs. Male and female voices filled the entire hallway, they were arguing.
"But Jake, she is hungry and scared. For God's sake she is just a kid. I was able to calm her with a slice of pizza that Jasper brought this morning to eat hours ago, but she didn't stop mourning and crying with hunger, we must give her something else to eat…" the woman said.
"FUCK! What the fuck do you want me to do? Go to the store and bring her a McDonald's happy meal? God dammed Victoria!! I don't give a fuck is that stupid child is hungry or not, what you should care now is to have everything ready for tomorrow. Arrange your belongings, we are leaving tomorrow morning." The man said without even turning around.
All my muscles tensed in a painfully way and my jaw clenched. My whole body was filled with rage. I was fuming.
I felt Carlisle's hand on my shoulder, grabbing it tightly. He knew me so well. He knew that I was about to snap that fucker's neck in two pieces. The woman pushed him and slapped him across the face, but he didn't flinched.
"You fucking egoistic bastard! If James were here he would know how to solve this shit were in." The woman yelled.
At that moment, all my suspicions were confirmed. They were the people who escaped from the raid.
"But . Victoria. Wanna know why? It's because James is fucking dead. DEAD! Things are done now as I say and period. You got that?" he ended the conversation taking a deep breath and turned his back to the woman named Victoria.
"James Rogers? Drug trafficker who we raided more than a two years ago… I fucking knew it…" I told Carlisle.
"Now it's all confirmed, this is a vendetta against you son." he answered.
"We need to act now" I said.
"Wait a little longer." He told me.
The man took a key from his back pocket and opened the lock of the door in front of him and he entered. I couldn't see anything because everything inside was too damn dark. The woman went through our door with a bottle of juice in her hands; surely it would be for Nessie.
Carlisle used his cell phone at the end of the room to inform Demetri that we had found the hideout of the kidnappers and ask for reinforcements. Carlisle explained to him that these men were very dangerous and we were alone in here. We couldn't act by ourselves, that's what Demetri said.
The house was engulfed in a deep silence and darkness so I decided to leave the room we were been hiding. I headed down the aisle searching of Jasper. I went downstairs and saw him with his legs on the table and he seemed to be asleep. I went quietly into the kitchen with the gun drawn in my hand. Wood cracked a bit under my weight and Jasper moved.
That's when the fight started.
"Don't you dare to move." I said through clenched teeth.
"If you move an inch, I swear that I shut you in the fucking head!"
Jasper didn't move an inch from his position.
"Edward Cullen, I knew that you would come sooner or later. We have been expecting you." He said still seated on his chair.
"Where are Isabella and my daughter?" I asked; my voice sounded stern but at the same time cracked.
"How is Alice doing?" he asked and a sick laugh boom in the room.
"You're just playing with me! Where are they?" I asked again raising my voice.
"Oww! Poor Alice. If you had seen her begging and crying for her niece. That was heart breaking." He said as he slowly lowered his legs from the table.
The sound of his voice was making me extremely pissed off.
"Yes, I bet Alice had the same face that Rosalie Hale had before Emmett killed her." I told him to push his limits.
There was a tense moment of silence. Jasper quickly turned to face me, his eyes fixed on me.
"What did you just said?" he asked, slowly rising from the chair in which he had been sitting.
"Rosalie Hale is dead. She tried to kill my brother Emmett, but you see how things can change in just a second." I told him while I aimed my gun at his chest.
Jasper's face reflected different emotions all at the same time, he looked confused but then he looked enraged. He was facing me, looking full of anger and he launched on me at full speed. We struggled in the air and fell hard to the ground. My gun fell to my side and I couldn't reach it. Jasper rushed over me, I was stocked under his weight but I fought back.
Using all my strength, I pushed him and he flew backwards and fell on his back over the table. He got up again to see that we were both pointing each other with our guns.
"This is over Jasper. Where are my wife and my daughter?" I asked once again.
I was determined to press the trigger to end his fucking life.
"Your wife? Your daughter? Ummmm, I don't really know, they should be out there, if Jacob hadn't killed them yet." He said, tapping his index finger on his chin.
"Don't play with me motherfucker! WHERE ARE THEY?" I shouted.
"How did Rose die?" he asked, his demeanor suddenly changed, regret and fear were plastered on his face.
"That's none of your business Jasper…" I answered back.
"Dammit!! Tell me!!" he yelled. He was becoming desperate.
"Emmett shoot her when she stabbed him." I said, telling him the truth.
I saw his eyes filled with tears; he dried them with the back of the hand. And suddenly Jasper shot me and I returned the fire. His bullets didn't hurt me but I saw when he fell to the kitchen floor. I slowly approached him and he still got the gun on his hand. In a blink of an eye, Jasper rolled on the floor and shoots me once again and I shoot back. He laid on the floor hurt, unable to move, but alive.
I was sure that the others heard all the commotion we had downstairs and I was concerned about Carlisle's safety. I ran upstairs, without a hint of fear inside of me. As I ran beside one window, I saw the distinctive red and blue lights from the police patrol that Demetri sent as reinforcements. At last, Carlisle and I met in the hallway; his shirt was full of blood.
"Shit dad, are you hurt?" I asked him looking for a wound on his body.
"No Edward. I'm not hurt. When I heard the shooting coming from downstairs, Jacob Black left the locked room and ran to the room where the woman is hiding. He told her not to leave and that there was someone in the house. He walked through the hallway with his shotgun drawn in his hands. When he was going down the stairs, I opened the door to get his attention and I shoot him. He's alive; I put him the handcuffs and locked him up where we were hiding." Carlisle told me.
"The squad is outside the house, you should look for them. Jasper is lying on the kitchen floor. He is wounded. You need to make sure that he is arrested. " I said.
"I will go down with Jacob so they could take him into custody too. And I will come back to help you arrest the woman." He said running down the stairs.
The squad team jumped into the house and leaned against the locked door where Victoria probably was with my daughter. But I have to find Bella first. When Jacob heard the noises, he put the lock again. I didn't have the key so I kicked down the door. Everything inside was in total darkness, I barely saw something that looked like a bed. I keep going but I stumbled and fell to the ground. When I tried once again to adjust my sight to the darkness I saw a body on the floor.
It was my Bella.
"Love… I came for you baby" I said while taking her in my arms.
I smelled blood on her skin; probably she got beaten because she was bleeding everywhere.
"Tell me that's not true Jacob… you didn't… my baby" she repeated again and again. I kissed her head and hugged her tightly.
"Shh honey, I'm here my love. You're safe now." I tried to calm her.
I took her in my arms and left the room. I walked down the hallway when Carlisle went running to help me.
"Take her to a save place. I have to go for my daughter."
Carlisle nodded and took Bella. I ran back to the last room on the aisle. I lean on the wall and carefully tried to open the door but it was locked.
"Victoria! Victoria!" I called her name through the door. But nobody answered back. I tried again.
"Victoria, open the door and let the girl go. And then we will solve this mess" I told her.
After what it seems like eternity, I heard footsteps and the click of the lock. The door was now open.
"Don't try anything reckless or stupid Cullen, I'm not in my best mood." She answered back.
"At least let the girl go and we could talk." I said hoping that she let go my girl.
"I swear if you try anything stupid Cullen, your daughter dies, you got that? I have nothing else to lose." She said.
I opened the door and I headed inside. Victoria got Nessie on her lap and the girl was eating a slice of pizza. She looked tired and she had her little face and hands dirty.
Victoria was smoothing and caressing my daughter's hair while she ate.
"Daddy! Daddy!" she shouted when she saw me. She tried to stand up but Victoria grabbed her arm and forced her to sit again. My girl became frightened with that unexpected reaction and looked at Victoria, she stroked her hair to try to avoid her from crying.
"Victoria… listen. She is innocent, let's talk." I told her.
I was avoiding look at my daughter, she seem really scared.
"Do you really think I am that stupid Edward Cullen?" she asked back.
"Please… let her go…" I replied.
Then, she began to speak.
"When you killed James, you took the most beautiful thing I've ever had in my entire life. You stole him from me Edward Cullen. And I want to make you pay back. I want to steal the most precious thing in your fucking world… this girl." She said grabbing Nessie's shoulders shaking the girl on her lap.
I had to find the way to move her away from Nessie. I approached them a little more but she backed up a few steps.
"Tell me what you have suffered Edward. Not knowing where your daughter was. Just fucking tell me!" she yelled.
Nessie jumped and she started to cry again.
"I felt… sorrow, desperate. I felt that my world was tumbling down. I couldn't even breathe, but the difference is that she is an innocent victim and James was a…" I told her.
She fixed her sight at me.
"It doesn't matter what James was. I loved him; he was my life like this girl is yours. And I think is not fair that you keep her because you took away happiness from me" she said sobbing.
I saw her moving even closer and closer to the bedroom double window. That made my body shiver and I tried to keep her talking.
"If I can't be happy, neither will you." She said raising the girl in her arms and took her to the edge of the window.
My heart started to pump so hard against my chest that it was painful.
"Don't do it Victoria. Be careful, put her back on the floor." I shouted in fear trying not to move.
Victoria took my girl out of the window. Nessie became frightened and began to scream and cry; she tried to hang on Victoria's arms for dear life.
"Nooo!! Pick her up!!" I yelled stumbling in the same spot I was standing, feeling powerless.
"That's what I expected to see. Edward Cullen, suffering for the faith of his daughter. Her life is in my hands Edward, and there's nothing you can do. On your knees Edward, I want you to ask forgiveness for killing James and beg for your daughter's life. Do it or I will let her fall." Victoria shouted at the same time she tried to toss Nessie out the window. My baby's crying went louder calling my name.
Victoria looked like she was going to lose control so I knelt in front of her.
"Victoria, I beg you. I implore you, don't hurt my daughter. Forgive me for making you unhappy. It wasn't my intention. But she doesn't have to pay for the mistakes we did in our lives. She is not part of your history with James or mine with you. Take my life for hers." I told her throwing my weapon in front of me.
If someone had to die, that would be me and not my daughter.
The girl was still crying, she was more and more scared. Victoria brought her back inside and put her down on the floor. Then she took my girl's hand.
"Baby, stop crying. You want to go back with your daddy?" she knelt at her side and Nessie nodded and stopped crying.
"Yes… I want my mommy too." She said among her tears.
"Sorry if I scared you sweetheart. This game here is between your daddy and me, okay?" Victoria told her and kissed her forehead.
"Now, you're going to be a good girl and you will bring me that thing that your daddy threw on the floor ok?" she said pointing at my gun.
Nessie watched us fixedly and I felt sick.
"No! Victoria, that gun is loaded." I shouted.
If Nessie took the gun by the trigger she could accidentally injure herself or even worse…
Nessie was in the middle of the two of us, not knowing what to do. Victoria pushed her forward and asked her again to take the gun.
"Don't touch that thing Renesmee Cullen Swan!!" I ordered her.
She froze in front of the gun and gave a step back. I needed to act quickly. The girl was at a safe distance. I ran forward and shielded her with my body. Victoria crashed on me.
"Nessie run to the door. Go!" I told my girl and she obeyed.
She started to run to the door and I saw in my peripheral vision that Carlisle took her in his arms.
I jumped over Victoria and she didn't fight back. I cuffed and lifted her off the ground.
"See you in hell Edward Cullen…" those were the last words I heard from her.
A/N: Ohhhh girls! One more chapter to go!! Thank you so much for the huge support given to this story. We are working in a new project, so stay tune. Big Emmett hugs for all of you guys!!! Next stop: Epilogue!!
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