EPOV

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

"So you see, Mr. Cullen…everything is working just like I said. With your connection to these ports and influence over them, our first shipments will sail right on in on Saturday night and you will be a much much richer man."

Great, just what I needed…more money. But I go ahead and smile at James.

"Excellent. It certainly has been a pleasure doing business with you. I can't wait for more future endeavors. I'm sure the Port Angeles harbor will turn a proper investment for both of us. Are you planning on greeting the first shipment?"

"I'm more of a hands off kind of guy…unless I am needed but I don't foresee any problems arising so I will leave you and my men to it."

No problems for these first few shipments but as time goes on and a certain vigilante gets wind of his dealings, he may find a need to go up to Port Angeles and be more hand's on and that is when I will make my move. Go ahead and smirk all you want Mr. Sayer…your world is about to come crashing down.

"Mr. Sayer." A butler walks up with a phone in hand as we sit on the large balcony of James's Malibu mansion.

"Not now, Cisco." James waves him off.

"I was told that you want to take this call." Cisco states with a warning and then proceeds to whisper something into James's ear.

James starts to stand up taking the phone from Cisco's outstretched hand. "Give me one moment." He says to me and then he turns his back and walks a short distance, "Isabella Swan…how I have waited for you…"

My heart drops into my stomach and immediately I can't help my breath catch. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!

What the fuck happened? I try to remain calm but I can already feel my mouth become dry. My brain is on overload as I try to listen in on James's phone call but there is a few too many feet between us and I'm only able to catch every other word.

"You…weak… dear… love…lesson…"

James turns back to me and I try to pull off apathy as best as I can but he moves away from me and now there is no way to tell what he is saying. Did one of his men find her? God dammit I was so close. All I needed was for Saturday's shipment to go down and after a couple of more shipments, making James feel good and relaxed then I was going to take him down. I was so close and now Bella's in danger.

FUCK!

Unable to contain myself I stand up quickly and start to survey the house. If I have to threaten and kill James here, then that's what I'll do.

"Edward…sit down." James orders as he comes back to the table. "Seems we have a problem already."

"Problem." I state.

Yes, we do and now I am picturing a thousand ways to end your shitty existence.

"You'll never believe who just called…just when I think that this day can't get any better."

"Who?" I manage.

"Your former fuck buddy. Seems she knows that I have been searching for her and has enlightened me…"

"Fuck buddy? I…" I shake my head confused.

"Isabella Swan. The bitch who assaulted me, seems that she has information on Port Angeles."

James is weighing his words carefully. He needs to see how I react because he is starting to become suspect of my true intentions.

"Port Angeles? What the fuck would Isabella Swan know about Port Angeles? Did you finally find her?"

"She is headed back on a plane from Paris with my men as we speak. She wants to make a deal…she swears that there is a cop up in Washington who is already on to us…"

Cop? What is she talking about? Maybe she just said it so they wouldn't kill her when they captured her.

"Then we should cancel Saturday night just to be sure. If there is a cop who is already on to our shipment…" I reply playing along.

"No. I'm not afraid of one rogue cop…Isabella will be in my hands in just a few short hours and then I will make sure that this cop and any other that follow are fucking dealt with. It's too late to change the shipment…I can't have my product just floating out in the fucking ocean like a sitting duck. So it seems that I will be accompanying you up to Port Angeles. I have a very important date with Miss Swan and she will talk even if I have to bleed her dry..."

He licks his lips and I fight the urge to rip his tongue out of his throat. If he even hurt one hair on her head…

"Edward." He breaks me out of thought. "If it's too difficult…"

"What?" I scoff. "Isabella Swan…is your problem. My problem is the cop. I can't have my port being compromised. My name compromised."

I have to find Bella before James has access to her. I need to get out of here.

"You're so fresh, Edward." James laughs. "God, I miss that feeling. Wondering if you're going to get caught…if your next shipment will end with a gunfire battle…it's oddly refreshing having you aboard."

"I have worked my whole life to get where I am. I'm not about to see all that progress from behind bars. You deal with Isabella if you must but I want the cop." I slam my hand down on the table.

"Such fire." James's eyes light up. "Be in Port Angeles tomorrow evening. I will have your cop ready for you."

I get up to leave and button my suit coat. "See you in Port Angeles."

I race home, thanking the lord I had my Ferrari but I don't think a jumbo jet could get me home fast enough. I practically tear the door off entering my house and almost forgetting to deactivate the house alarm. I run up the stairs to my office and punch in the code.

The phone rings and I'm practically shaking waiting for an answer.

"Edward." Alice answers out of breath.

"Alice, where's Bella? Where's Seth?" I bark.

"I don't know…Bella's missing. Seth went after her…we came home yesterday and Seth just told us that he was off to follow Bella…he tried calling you. She didn't leave a note…nothing." Alice is frantic.

"Fuck." I can feel myself start to shut down. I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket and pull it free frantically. Not a number I know of. "Hold on a second, Alice."

"Hello." I answer.

"Edward…"

"Seth! Where's Bella." I yelled.

"I don't know…I came back to the house when she didn't show up for weapon training and the car was gone, my stash of Euro's was gone. I traced the car to a motel a few miles away from the airport but she didn't take her passport. I have no fucking clue where she is."

"James got a call from her…I was at his house and like serin-fucking-dipity, she was on the line and his guys have her but why the fuck would she leave?"

"She's been…having a hard time lately. Maybe she just left a little while and it was case of bad fucking luck."

"BAD FUCKING LUCK! My wife has been kidnapped. She's all alone…probably scared out of her mind and completely helpless." I roared.

"Not completely…she has skills." Seth tries.

"Skills." I scoff. "Bella's not ready to handle herself. You get on a plane and get your ass to Port Angeles. I'm going to turn on the tracker and the second her plane touches down I will do what needs to be done to keep her away from James. Get your ass back here now."

"Edward. I understand you're upset. I will get to Port Angeles but you have a role to play, one you cannot afford to fuck up now. Keep your head in the game. We will get to Bella."

I hang up the phone and can't help to yell out another fuck.

"Katherine!" I yell. "Katherine!"

I run around the house searching for my housekeeper pissed off that she's not around when I need her. I run down to the kitchen and skid to a stop when I see her lying on the floor.

"Katherine." I run over to her. "Katherine."

I can see her face mangled as I try and wake her.

"Mister…Cullen." She manages.

"Katherine, what happened?"

"…I don't know…I was…my boyfriend."

I pick her up and carry her out toward her apartment. I push the door open with my foot and carry her to the bed.

"Katherine, I need you to tell me what happened."

I knew I had a lot on my plate but how could something like this happen? I set her down on her bed and prop her head up with a pillow. I look at her wounds and sure they're painful but superficial.

"My boyfriend came over to pick me up from a date…we were only in the house for a couple of seconds because I had to put your dinner away when you called and told me you weren't coming home."

She began to cry and it was hard on her since one of her eyes were swollen shut. Just looking down at her haunted me. My mind went somewhere else for just a moment and I couldn't help but think of Bella.

"Jack…he…uh…wandered off but I found him in your study talking on your private phone. I got mad and yelled at him. He looked at me and I could see in his eyes nothing there but…darkness." She whispered.

"He chased me down the stairs…to here…I…can't remember what happened but why would he do this? He…we…we were happy."

Boyfriend? Why would Katherine's boyfriend be in my study…using my phone?

"Katherine, I need to go…I'm going to find the man who did this. Stay here. You're going to need some painkillers but you'll be fine in a couple of days…physically anyway." I whisper.

I got up from her bed and started to walk out.

"Mister Cullen…I'm so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for…please just rest and take the next week off. I'll send my doctor over to see you."

Great. Just fucking great. I run upstairs to look over the security footage. If this Jack was using my phone maybe he was the one responsible for this mess. I scan the footage trying to locate the incident. I zero in on the face and it looks familiar…too familiar.

I rip open my desk drawer and find the file I need. Jacob Black.

Holy fuck.

That's why Bella fled to Paris. She talked to Jacob on my phone. She was going to try to find a way home but why? I mean what could Jacob possibly say that would make her leave the cottage without checking in with me?

I threw some clothes into a bag, not really caring too much for the common day essentials. My essentials weren't upstairs in my bedroom, they were hidden and the kind that one could not bring on a commercial airliner. Good thing I had my own plane.

I pick through the weapons and decide which would be best. I hesitated when I came upon my old gear. My old Citizen costume. I thought about it for a moment before stashing into the bag along with the rest of my supplies.

Grabbing the tracking device I make my way out of the house and call ahead to my pilot. I would have plenty of time to get to the airport in Port Angeles were Bella would be arriving. If she was flying from Paris, she wouldn't be in for another couple of hours. Most likely in the middle of the morning.

Like I said, getting to Port Angeles airport wasn't hard. I hide my stash of weapons and other essentials nearby while I staked out the airfield. It was freezing cold and I could see Bella's tracker getting closer and I thanked the lord I hid expertly in her necklace.

A car pulled around and entered one of the hangers. I doubt anyone else would be flying in at this hour. This had to be one of James's cars. I had no idea how many men were inside the car so my plan of attack was to wait until the car was leaving out of the hanger and then shoot out one of the tires.

I stayed down low in the trees and brush with a perfect view of the tarmac and hangers. I watched as the plane touched down and slowly made its way toward the hanger. And then I waited…and waited. What's taking them so long?

The sun was starting to come up but it was still dark in the trees. I was about to go and take a closer look when I saw Bella emerge from a side entrance, look around and then take off toward the opposite side. I ran toward the hanger willing to take down anyone who was after her. She wouldn't be running if there wasn't a threat.

Just as I approached the hanger I could hear someone's voice inside.

"She said to hurry…and that she would see you on Saturday...thank you for the transportation but she has a place to stay in the meantime…uh…something like that, sir. I checked the plane…the two guys traveling with her are inside…completely knocked out Mr. Sayer." The poor kid sounded like he was about to shit himself.

If James's guys were incapacitated then why would Bella be running and how did they get that way? I sighed and decided to chase on after Bella in the direction I saw her leave. Tracking was never a great skill for me but thanks to my little device I didn't have to worry.

I kept on after her running while looking down at my device. Closer and closer I came until I was almost upon her. She seemed to have stopped moving so I pushed on harder before she continued on again. Out of nowhere a branch came and hit me square in the chest, throwing me back.

"Ugh." I hear a roar.

I jumped back up preparing myself for a fight as a leg came flying at my head. I dodged it and grabbed a quick hold of the leg and twisting it before pushing it back.

"Fuck!"

An arm came around to slug me and stopped practically an inch from my face.

"Edward?" Bella gasped. "What the fuck?"

"Bella…" I was about to say when she threw her arms around me muffling anything else.

"Oh god…how did you….when…" She was breathing incredibly hard and crying all at the same time. "I thought he had hurt you."

"It's okay…I'm okay." I replied still holding her. It had been so long since I had last seen her and I wanted to hold her and never let her go. "What are you talking about? Hurt me?"

She pushed back a little and looked me in the eyes. "Jacob…he said…he said he had you…captured you."

"You really think that prick could take me?" I replied offended.

"I don't know?" She spit out pushing me away. "He answered your super-secret telephone. What was I supposed to think?"

"You shouldn't have fucking run off to Paris without proof. God dammit, Bella. What were you thinking?" I yell out in frustration.

"He said he was torturing you. Of course I was going to find a way back here. I didn't want to get James involved…there was just no other way for me to get here."

"Wait the fuck second…you called James?"

She didn't say a word. She just stood there staring at me while her mind worked out an explanation.

"He didn't kidnap you?" I clarified.

"Technically…he was going to…but I managed to handle myself." She bit her lip. "I'm…good."

"You're good? Are you fucking serious? What world were you just living in…you think Jacob was capable of capturing me…so you run off and find the most dangerous mother fucker on the planet who has a vendetta out for you and then what? What, Bella? What was your big plan?"

"Stop yelling at me, Edward. You have no idea what it was like for me. I thought you were hurt. If the situation was reversed, what would you have done? Plan? I don't have a plan, I was throwing it together as I went. I just…needed to make sure you were alive and…safe. I don't care what happens to me."

"Obviously." I scoff.

"I have something in the works and now that I know you're safe I can take out one more variable." She says while she looks to be already calculating.

"A plan…great let's hear it." I mock.

"James is meeting me at the dock at eight-thirty…Jacob is coming at eight. I told James that there was an off duty copy already aware of his misdoings…I will turn Jacob over to James after I incapacitate the fucker and I asked Emmett to call the Feds in so they can make the arrest…I haven't quite worked it all out but that's the start."

"You have one tiny little problem there, Bella."

She looked to me to finish as she went over it again in her head.

"You're not going to be anywhere near this. Your ass will be on the first flight…."

"The hell it will!" She yelled. "I am not going to sit around like some silly damsel in distress while you waste another six months of my life. I want out! I am done, Edward. I want out and I will do this with or without you."

Her anger was very impressive. It suddenly occurred to me that this wasn't the same Bella that had run out of my office nine months ago. This wasn't the same Bella who would crumble when I would begin to yell at her or flinch at sudden gesture.

I turned away and tried to blow off some steam leaning on a nearby tree. I was fighting trying to blow up at her but in the past twenty-four hours there were just so many mistakes she made and all I wanted to do was reprimand her and then shackle her to the first flight out.

"Edward…I'm sorry but I can't do it anymore. I have made more headway in a few hours then you have been able to do in six months. It might get messy but in the end…Jacob…James…they were always my battles to fight. I appreciate everything you have ever done for me but now it's time to let me go." She shuttered and I could hear in her voice the tears that fell.

I turned to face her and I was never going to win this. I would literally have to chain her to something to keep her far away.

"If anything happens to you…know that my life and what I do with it…is on your hands. I will not be responsible for my actions if anything happens to you."

I finally turn to look at her and see how I can affect her with my words. I want to reach out for her and comfort her but I am just too angry.

"I'm really sorry, Edward…I never should have agreed to your plan." She whispers.

"My plan was working! I had it all going exactly the way I needed." I shout. "You should have stayed in France."

Bella goes over and picks up her bag, wiping the tears from off her face.

"I wasn't talking about that plan…I meant the first time you talked me into sitting with you at lunch at Forks High…I should have stayed far away from you. Nothing good ever came from knowing me."

My heart breaks and I immediately feel guilty for yelling at her. She was my wife. The love of my life and sure she made stupid choices but so did I. I had just as many fuck ups and she had. She only came because she was scared. Not of James or Jacob. She was scared of losing me.

She continued on walking through the trees and I can't help but watch the transformation before me. She sniffles one last time and wipes the final tears away before rolling back her shoulders and standing tall and strong.

I continue on following her, staying a couple of paces behind her and we don't talk because too much has already been said. We reach the end of the wooded area and now we need to communicate to decide what our next move is. Bella has to be kept out of sight and it is especially important to not be seen with me.

"I can get a car…James already knows I'm going to be here but you need to stay hidden. I'll find us someplace to stay in the meantime."

"While you're getting the car…I need to find some supplies. I only have the Glock-20…and some European currency…do you have any cash?"

"Yes, of course." I pull out my wallet and give her a couple hundred dollars. "But leave supplies to me. Just stay here and out of sight." I order.

"No. I'll be fine. The supplies store is right down that street and your car rental place is that way. Go get a car and I'll buy my supplies and we can meet back here in…thirty minutes."

"Bella…would you just…please fucking listen to me. Stop trying to do everything yourself."

"I would Edward, if I felt that you really believed that we were in this together. You don't trust me to handle anything on my own but I am stronger than you want to believe. I handled James's men; I think I can handle a little trip to the store on my own."

I was completely frustrated but what was I going to do. I knew I still had the tracking device on her so worst comes to worst, I could find her.

"Fine. But be careful."

She rolls her eyes.

"I always am." She flips around and heads off toward her destination.

"Yea…somehow I don't believe that." I huff.

Walking through Port Angeles for the first time in years should be nostalgic but I'm too on edge wondering if Bella will be all right. I can see the movie theatre that we used to visit sometimes more than once a week during the summer. The store where I bought Bella her prom dress and the bench we would sit at eating lunch or dinner sometimes. It's still early so there aren't many people out yet. I start to wonder if my rental place will have opened.

I slam my head against the door when I see that it won't open for another two hours. Just fucking perfect. Can't go anywhere in this shit town until I have a car. I sigh and head back toward the supply store. I hope Bella had more luck then I did.

I wait at our meeting place for twenty minutes. The sun has come out and it is rather warm here.

"Come on. Where are you?" I growl looking for any sign of Bella. "Fuck."

I know it's not good if we are caught being seen with one another but I can't just wait here. It is way past the time we said we would meet up so I begin to walk toward the supply store thinking that maybe she ran into the same problem I did with the store being still closed.

I see the store up ahead and there is not a car in sight. I pick up the pace looking around for her and just as I am about to step on the first step up to the store, my eye catches something shiny; diamond and gold.

My hands begin to tremble as I reach down to pick it up.

Bella's locket.

I look around at the scene, trying to find a clue and all I have is tire tracks in the mud. Bella would never take off this necklace; she knew how important it was to me. If she didn't take it off, it meant she lost it in a struggle.

She was gone and now I had no way of tracking her.

AN: Thank you for reading and reviewing. There is probably only two more chapters left. Thank you for all of your kind words and support.