AN: Thank you to a recent guest reviewer, who commented that she wished she'd waited for me to complete this story. Sorry about that, LOL. There are around 8 chapters to go, with an epilogue and an outtake or two, though of course that all depends on how much my characters have to say and what situations they find themselves in!

I have a few of those chapters in the 'bank' so to speak, already beta'd and updates will continue to be every other Saturday

My thanks to all who reviewed, favorited and followed this week, I'm truly grateful that you care enough to do so.

MeteorOnAMoonlessNight has beta'd for me, thank goodness for that - even re-reading never picks up that sort of stuff!

Disclaimer: I am grateful to Stephenie Meyer for creating Twilight and to Robert Pattinson for bringing Edward to life.

Now, on with the story.

Chapter 34

Edward

Investigations

I had just finished my debriefing with Marcus, briefing him on what had happened from the situation in Hawaii to seeing Black on the island. He expressed amazement and admiration for the fact that, against all the odds, most of those who had been on the plane when we left Hawaii had survived. I would even go so far as to say that we had thrived, despite the mishaps and accidents that had befallen us.

The AFP investigators wanted to continue with the interview, but I felt grubby and tired, and I wanted something to eat and drink. Then there was Bella. I'd already been in here almost three hours, and I was sure she would be waiting for me.

"I think we should take a break," Marcus interrupted them before they could start on their questions. "Marshall Cullen needs to speak to his girlfriend, and deserves a shower and a meal, don't you think?"

They hesitated, and Marcus hardened his voice. "Since Marshall Cullen is prepared to give you whatever time you need, the least you can do is see that he's given what he needs."

They agreed that I could leave with Marcus, and asked me to return in an hour. I nodded yes, eager to get out of there and see my Bella.

When I stepped outside the offices, I saw people everywhere, rushing about their business. It was a very strange and slightly disconcerting sight after seven months on a deserted island with only twenty-six other people. Marcus tapped me on the shoulder and pointed, handing me his phone at the same time. I looked in that direction to see Bella walking toward me, a phone to her ear.

Putting the phone Marcus had given me to my ear, I spoke. "Hello, beautiful, I missed you."

I could hear Bella sigh through the phone and see the smile on her face. "Edward, I missed you, too. When will you be finished?"

"Look up, Bella."

She looked a little startled and her head shot up, swivelling and searching though the people around her. An even wider smile spread across her features as she spotted me, and her steps sped up until she was almost running toward me. Handing the phone back to Marcus, I headed toward her, too, taking in the skin-tight jeans and the white tank she was wearing. Her hair was down, shining in the afternoon sun, the curls blowing in the warm breeze. My heart swelled with love, and I don't think I could have smiled any wider as the realization washed over me―this girl was mine.

We met in the middle of the sidewalk, our bodies barely touching. Both reached out at the same time, my hand brushing over the pink skin of her cheek, then cupping her jaw as I drew her into my arms. Her hand rested on my chest over my heart and then slid, with the other, around my neck to their usual resting place at the nape of my neck, her fingers tangled in my hair.

"Hi." We spoke at the same time as lips met lips, breathing into each other. Increasing the pressure of my lips on hers, my other hand gripped around her waist, pulling her until her body met mine. A small whimper came from her throat, telling me she was feeling the same; at peace now that we were together again.

"Get a room," yelled a passerby, bringing me back to reality and reminding me that we were standing on a public street, practically making out. Sheepishly, we both stepped back, grinning madly. Bella blushed and then giggled as she stepped to one side to greet Marcus, who seemed to be delighted.

"Miss Swan, it's nice to meet you, officially. I'm Marcus Banes, Edward's boss." Marcus, who had smiled more in the last few hours than I'd ever seen from him before, reached out and gripped her hand.

"Bella, please, Marcus. May I call you Marcus?" Already I could see she was charming him. Shaking his hand, she took a step forward and kissed his cheek. I laughed at the expression on his face and shook my head.

"Well, since your parents have already reserved a room for you, Edward, I would suggest a shower and clean clothes." He passed me a wad of cash. "Go get something to wear on the department, a shower and something to eat, and meet me back here in an hour or so. Don't worry if you're a little late." He grinned. "The AFP can wait."

"If you have some time, you could come with us for a bite," I offered.

He shook his head. "I'm sure you don't want me hanging around with you." He smirked knowingly. "It's fine, Edward. I've already eaten, so I'm going to sort out a phone for you. It's only a work one, but you can use it as personal until you get something arranged yourself."

I thanked him and Bella and I left, hand in hand, heading toward the shopping mall I could see not far away. After buying a couple of pairs of jeans, a pair of shorts, a few t-shirts and some underwear along with a pair of sneakers, Bella and I made our way to my hotel. Opening the door with the key card Carlisle had slipped into my hand as we parted company, I could see that the room was big and airy with large doors opening onto a balcony. The separate living area boasted a huge sectional sofa facing a television, and completing the picture was a luxury bathroom with a rainfall shower and a claw foot tub.

"Wow." Bella walked around touching the bed and the seating. "This is amazing."

Looking around, I realized that I'd always taken things like this for granted. "It's nice, Bella, but it's just a room. If it had been the department's choice, it would have been a motel room with twin beds sporting paisley covers and a television with pay-per-view porn and little else." I shrugged and changed the subject. "How about you take a shower with me?"

"We don't have time, Edward," Bella protested as I enclosed her in my arms, planting kisses along her jaw and under her ear. The goosebumps that followed in their wake told me that she could be persuaded.

"You heard Marcus," I cajoled. "He definitely said they could wait. They're not going anywhere. Come on, Bella, it's a hot shower in a luxury bathroom. Please." I could feel her wavering and slid my hands down her sides and under her top, smoothing them over the skin on her back until I unfastened her bra. I couldn't resist her soft skin and tugged her closer to me, my free hand sliding around her body to her breast, brushing over her hardening bud. Her gasp was reward enough, and she quickly gave in, allowing me to lead her into the bathroom.

An hour later, we made our way back toward the AFP office, hand in hand again. Stopping outside the door, I could see Marcus sitting inside, his elbows on his knees, patiently waiting, and when he noticed the two of us he waved and sat back in his seat.

"I have to go, my love." Pulling her toward me, I whispered in her ear. "I'll miss you."

Bella laughed. "It's only a couple of hours, Edward." She lowered her voice. "But I'll miss you, too. Are you coming to dinner this evening? With our families? I know Renée has asked your parents. I'd love the chance to get to know them better."

I thought for a minute, not really wanting to be in the same vicinity as that Jordan, but then again, there was absolutely no way I would let him muscle in on my girl. "Of course, I am, but I'm sorry, I have no idea how long I'm likely to be."

"It doesn't matter, if you're too late for dinner, then I'll wait for you to call me. My parents bought me a new phone, but I'm in room three-eighty-four, so please just call me, okay?"

I hugged her tight for a few minutes longer, not happy at being parted from her again, before watching her walk back in the direction of her hotel, wishing I could go with her. Sighing, I turned and opened the door to where Marcus waited for me.

He handed me a new phone, already pre-programmed with Bella's number and my dad's mobile. "Can you give me a couple of minutes, Marcus? I just want to call my parents and bring them up to speed on what's happening."

I dialled Dad's number and explained where I would be for the next couple of hours, and that I'd be meeting Bella and her family at her hotel. "I'll call you when I'm out, and we can meet there, too, if you'd like, okay?"

"Okay, son. We'd like to spend a little time with you to catch up, but we can do that after dinner, if that's okay with you. Your mother is itching to get her hands on you."

I laughed and shook my head. "I figured as much, Dad. I'm really glad to be back, and I'll see you soon." As I ended the call, Marcus opened a door that led to a corridor to the interview rooms. I sighed again, saying to no one in particular, "Let's get this over with, then."

The AFP investigators were the same ones who'd already sat in on my earlier debriefing with Marcus. No doubt they'd made their own notes so that they could compare the basics of what had already been discussed with the statements they'd taken from every one of the other survivors. I knew they'd have other questions for me about events that Marcus wasn't so concerned with, since he'd only wanted enough details for the report for his superiors.

From the get-go, the AFP investigators were more interested in Black and his cohorts, exactly what happened in Hawaii, the ditching of the plane and, of course, what had transpired between the survivors and Caius's band of assholes.

"Marshall Cullen," the lead AFP investigator began. "My name is Shane Windrush, and my colleague is George Needham. We'd like to go over the events of the last seven months to clarify some issues we have." At my acknowledging nod, he continued. "Why were you suspicious of Black? Who instigated the landing in Hawaii? Who seemed to be the leader of the group?"

He obviously needed a great deal more information than Marcus, so I drew a breath and thought back to that first part of the flight. "I first noticed Black when he was trying to push into the first class seating area. He was polite enough to Heidi―she was one of the flight attendants―but there was something about his manner that screamed trouble to me."

"Why would you think that, Marshall Cullen?"

"Edward, please. I've been on the force for over ten years, and I have an instinct for situations which aren't quite as they seem. There was nothing concrete, just a gut feeling that something wasn't right."

"Did you take any action or warn anyone of your suspicions?"

"No, I didn't speak to anyone at that time; there was nothing concrete to go on. I did check the flight list Marcus had sent me, and both of those who approached Heidi were on it, but they didn't flag up in our database as being linked to, or involved with, any known terrorist group. They were known to the department as persons of interest, but nothing official."

Shane looked down at what I assumed to be a list of questions. "When you did tell the captain of your suspicions? He took no action." It didn't seem to be a question so I was silent, waiting for him to continue. "Do you think he was involved? That he knew them?"

I shook my head. "No, my gut instinct was sparked when the captain announced that we would be making an unscheduled stop in Hawaii. I approached Heidi and requested that she allow me to speak to him, and she assured me that there was nothing wrong. That's when I showed her my Marshall ID. After that, the captain came out of the cockpit and spoke directly to me, confirming that what Heidi had told me was correct. When I explained my suspicions, he acknowledged them, and asked Heidi to look out for anything odd. He seemed uncomfortable, but there was nothing else I could do. When he asked me to return to my seat, I did."

He made notes on his pad and then returned to his questions. "Who seemed to be the leader of the group?"

"When they boarded or before?"

"Both, please, Edward."

"As I explained to Marcus, initially Black was in charge on the plane, until we picked up Caius Volturi in Hawaii. Black still seemed to be the one who gave orders, but he deferred to Caius whenever Caius spoke. When we had to ditch, Black was still giving most of the orders, and when he returned to the island we found ourselves on, he seemed to have his own agenda. I did get the sense that Caius was in charge as, on occasion, he intervened, usually when Black was overstepping, but mostly the day-to-day operations seemed to be left to Black."

"Why did Co-pilot Whitlock decide to ditch? Did Captain Hunter agree?"

"Well, a storm blew up, and when I went up front to ask what was going on, Jasper told me that we were losing fuel and that one of the engines was playing up. He expressed his hope that we had enough to get to Fiji, or to one of the other islands with a runway. After that, everything went to hell." I fidgeted in the chair, taking a sip of the cold coffee in front of me and thinking back to that time, and the terror I felt running through the cabin. "There was a loud bang, which I later found out was the comms being blown out by a lightning strike. We were already descending when the engine caught fire, and Jasper told Caius that a controlled ditch was our best chance of survival. At that time, the captain wasn't really fit because of the injury to his head―he probably had a concussion―but he did agree, and helped Jasper to get the plane down safely."

For the first time, the other AFP investigator, George, spoke up; he'd been silently taking notes for the past hour. "You were pretty lucky, I'd say. If it hadn't been for Whitlock's expertise, the plane would probably have sunk with no survivors."

I nodded in agreement. "He's a great guy; we were all lucky he survived."

"What about Felix Santos?"

"Felix is a good man." I looked Shane right in the eye, determined that Felix wouldn't suffer if I could possibly help it. "He may have started out as part of their group, but he was never really with them, if you get me. He obeyed orders without the brutality of the others and tried to help passengers where he could. After the plane had ditched and we were all desperately trying to get to the emergency rafts, they shot him and left him to die because he tried to stop them from damaging all the life rafts in the rear compartments. Over the seven months we spent on the island, we became good friends. I learned a lot about him as a person, and he confessed that he had never agreed with what they were doing; he just got sucked in, and knew that if he tried to get out, he was a dead man."

I leaned forward, linking my hands on the table in front of me. "I'd vouch for him totally, in a heartbeat; at no time was he a danger to any of us. In fact, he became such an integral part of our group, that our lives were made so much easier by his ideas and work ethic."

Shane and George looked at each other and said nothing. Felix was out of their jurisdiction, anyway, but I made a mental note to speak to Marcus later on his behalf to see what we could do to get Felix into the US. He might still have to serve some sort of sentence, but I would do my damndest to help him get a new life after all he'd done for us. I'm sure the others would see it that way, too.

"Are we nearly done here?" I asked. "I'm due to meet my girlfriend and our families for dinner soon."

"Shouldn't take much longer, Edward. Can you tell us again about the events that took place when Caius, Black and the others arrived on the island?"

That memory was one of the worst; coming to, to find that Black had taken Bella, and then having to wait until the optimum time to move in and take her and the camp back from him. The whole thing was a nightmare, and while I was pissed that Black had not only gotten away, but also ensured that we were not rescued sooner, it was the terror of Black almost taking my love from me that was foremost in my mind.

"Edward? Do you need a break?" I opened my eyes to see Marcus leaning forward, looking concerned. I shook my head no. "I could do with another coffee, please."

** Skyjacked **