Chapter 45 - Without much fuss
.
Several days passed without much fanfare. There were no significant leads and no signs of any unusual activities and Bella was beginning to fear it was a trend that would continue. With little to no development in terms of leads, the chance of a speedy return to a normal life was looking rather slim.
Amazingly Seth and Edward had muddled through their first week of hanging out together without murdering one another. However, Bella wasn't the only one concerned about the lack of progress and so therefore it was decided (by Clearwater and co) that Edward would post a few carefully selected photos on his social media accounts, in hope of sparking some kind of reaction. The photos were of recognizable landmarks and local hotspots that more or less gave away his location. He even went as far as posting a few pics of the facade of the studio were he did his recordings. If that didn't do it, then it was going to be a long few weeks at the villa.
Waiting around for something – anything - to happen was frustrating. Tension was high and everyone's patience was wearing thin. Tony being the only exception. The fear that the little guy would feel isolated and lonely and go stir crazy with cabin fever had turned out to be unfounded. It hadn't been that way at all. He was having the time of his life. Edward on the other hand was restless beyond belief. He went to the studio every day, keeping up the appearance of being hard at work in the real world. However, in actuality 'work' wasn't going all that well for him. He was a perfectionist and his mind wasn't in the right 'space' to be creative.
As for Bella… Who knew doing nothing was so draining? The waiting game had never been more maddening. She was so sick of herself and her mood swings, she could only imagine how Edward must feel. It was almost a blessing when Esme fell ill with stomach flu-like symptoms. Not because Bella wanted to see her ill (she wanted everyone healthy and happy, obviously ), but she needed to have something to do with her days. With Esme sick and laid up in bed, Bella had no choice but to be more hands on with Tony, which kept her busy in good way. Though, she had to admit this meant she was perhaps not as well rested as she would have liked herself to be and she was definitely beginning to feel the strain from not getting enough consecutive hours of sleep.
Esme kept insisting that she would be on her feet again in a day or so and that it was just a 24 hour bug. However, it was beginning to look more like a week long ordeal. This was when Carmen turned out to be a godsend. In addition to being a constant source of entertainment for Tony, she also made sure they were stocked up on both groceries and easy to re-heat home cooked meals. Even agent Tanner – Bree— attempted to help out when she could. It was evident she really didn't have that much experience with children (or cooking), but she did try and she was professional and kind.
The weekend came and went with Esme still holed up in her room. This more or less shattered Edward's plans for his first work-free slash studio- free day. He knew better than to complain about it though. Instead he volunteered to spend as much time as he possibly could with Tony on both Saturday and Sunday, so that Bella could catch up on her rest.
And then Monday rolled around again, with Edward's alarm clock going off at an ungodly hour.
.
….
.
"Have you seen-…" Edward started as he stormed into the room, but he stopped at the sight of Bella sitting by the kitchen table with her phone pressed to her ear. "Never mind," he muttered, bouncing Tony higher on his hip. The boy was naked, save for diapers and his hair was pointing in all directions.
"Phone queue," Bella explained, with a sigh. "It's taking forever." She threw in a grimace for Tony's benefit. The boy replied by sticking his tongue out at her.
"I am trying to book a doctor's appointment."
"Oh-oh, what's wrong?" Edward asked, his senses suddenly on full alert. "You're not feeling good? Don't tell me you've caught the same bug as mum."
"I'm fine. It's just for a follow up, to check on my blood pressure and make sure I won't become dehydrated again…. And the usual baby related stuff, of course…"
"Oh, so it's for your regular checkups."
"Yeah. I asked my ob-gyn office back home if they could recommend a place while we're up here. They never got back to me, so I asked Carmen if she knew anyone good in the area…"
"And she did, I take it."
"Yes, " she nodded, "but now I'm stuck waiting and-…" she paused mid-sentence, holding up a finger to indicate that someone was speaking on the other end of the line.
Then, after a few seconds, she relaxed again. "Sorry, false alarm. Apparently I'm now number seven in the queue… " With a shake of her head, she checked the time on her watch, before turning back to Edward again. "So…did you want something, or…?"
"Huh? Right, I just came to ask if you'd seen Tony's toothbrush. It's not in the bathroom."
"Which bathroom did you check? Our ensuite? Wait, weren't he already in bed when you brushed his teeth last night?"
"Ugh, I'd all but forgotten about that," Edward groaned. "I left it on the nightstand."
Lately teeth brushing had turned into a bit of a power struggle. It helped that the boy was still using toddler toothpaste that he didn't have to spit out. Because every so often Edward would have to chase him to his room, tackle him to his bed and brush his teeth while sitting on him (gently), and making scary monster-type sounds (ARRRGG!). Tony loved it.
Edward turned the child around in his arms. " I bet, you knew where it was along, but didn't tell me, you sneaky little thing! "
"Dunno," Tony shrugged, innocently. "I brush no teeth"
"Nice try, but there's no getting out of brushing your teeth." Edward tickled the child's side, causing him to cackle and squirm. "Come on kiddo, let's go."
However, before he left, he turned back to Bella once more. "You want me to come with you?"
"Eh, what?"
"To the appointment. I wouldn't mind tagging along."
"We can't bring Tony, though. This is the safest place for him," she reminded him. "One of us should stay with him and with your mother still under the weather…"
He considered this for a moment. "Fine, but you're not leaving this place on your own."
"No, I know that. Once I have an appointment booked, I'll let Seth know so that he can make the necessary arrangements."
"Alright, just keep me posted okay?" He agreed, but didn't sound entirely pleased.
"I will. They might not have any available times until later this week and by then it's possible that our most reliable baby sitter is back on her feet again."
" Well, we'll see, I guess," he nodded. "Let me know what they say. In the meanwhile, I'll get the boy ready and pack my things. I need to be on my way at 7:30 the latest." He grabbed Tony's little hand and made him wave goodbye with it. Then they were out the door.
.
…
.
It took another fifteen minutes before Bella got through and could book her appointment. Thankfully, the long wait had been worth it. Due to a cancellation, they had had an opening at eleven o'clock the following day. So far so good…. She wrote a note for Bree, so that she could inform Seth. This whole phone restriction thing was getting tiresome.
Edward came back downstairs and handed over a fully dressed Tony and then proceeded to gather his things and get ready to leave for the studio.
"You still want me to ask around for a good chiropractor?" Edward asked after she'd told him the result of her phone call.
"Yeah. I'll obviously bring it up when I see the ob-gyn, but it never hurts to have more than one option."
"Okay, see you guys later," he placed a kiss on her forehead and told Tony to stay out of trouble.
"Guess it's just you and me now, Tiger," Bella smiled at the boy as they stood by the window watched Edward leave.
Just then, agent Tanner –Bree- gave a discrete cough from behind them, letting Bella know that she was back from delivering a plate of toast and fruit to Esme's bedroom.
"We are never really alone in this house, are we?" Bella chuckled lightly, before giving Bree the note she had just written. "I've got work for you. I need to go into town tomorrow for a doctor's appointment. Will you let Clearwater know?"
"Sure thing," the other woman responded, pocketing the note. "I'm going to do my round, check the perimeter and the security cameras first. I'll make the call when I get back. It shouldn't take more than ten minutes."
"Okay, sounds good. Just so you know, you might run into the neighbors. Carmen said she'd come by early today, said she had a lunch meeting later on, so…."
"Oh, that reminds me. Mrs. Cullen told me to tell you that she'll be down for lunch."
"So she's feeling better? That's good. How did she look?"
"A bit pale, but that's to be expected I guess."
"Well, yes." Bella nodded, a little distracted, looking around for Tony
Bree noticing her glances told her she'd last seen him by the foot of the foyer stairs.
"That's what I was afraid of!" Bella groaned, turning around to go fetch the boy. "Blink for a split second, and he is off getting into trouble."
The huge, winding staircase was no place for a child to play unsupervised. Thankfully though, the little guy had yet to master the banister slide.
"ANTHONY," raising her voice to a near shout, she called out a stern, "What have we said about climbing things?!"
.
…
.
The day came and went without much fuss, like most Mondays do. It was nearing half past seven in the evening when the day took a turn in a more unusual direction.
"He's not THAT late… Let's give him a few more minutes."
Bree followed Bella into the kitchen as she fetched the last two things needed to get Tony started on his dinner; a cup of milk and a small bowl of sliced vegetables to go with his mini chicken burger.
Bella glanced at the clock again. Edward was supposed to be on his way back to the villa. The table was set, the salad was ready, and the chicken casserole, Carmen had made for them, was simmering in the oven. She had received a message from him, but that was 35 minutes ago and drive only took like fifteen minutes, at the most. He was late and he wasn't texting her back.
"Call me paranoid if you must, but he should have been here now and I'm getting worried," she stated, helping Tony get seated at the dining room table.
The boy had come to love the wooden, Tripp Trapp Chair, that the villa was equipped with, calling it his big boy chair. He was mighty proud that he'd could crawl up into it (and down again) by himself and that he could sit in it without needing to be strapped in. This of course meant that leaving him unsupervised by the table was a 'no no'.
"I can't wait any longer, " she decided, handing Tony his fork and pushing his plate closer. "This one needs to be fed, before he gets cranky for real," she added, throwing another glance out the window. The weather was grey and gloomy and she couldn't see more than a stone throw in any direction. Still no sign of any lights, meaning still no car approaching on the driveway. "Bree, I'm not doing this to be annoying. I'm genuinely concerned. Can you please check with Seth where Edward is and why he's not here yet? Please!"
"Fine," Bree relented. "He probably just stopped for gas or something. He'll be here any minute now."
"That's what you said five minutes a-… aaaa-go…." She jumped up from her seat, rushing to grab Tony's plastic cup, preventing the milk from being spilled all over the table.
"I said I'd do it. I'm doing it." Bree grumbled, handing over the box of baby wipes, as she rounded the table.
"Thanks," Bella said, meaning it. "I've never seen mist this thick. What if he went off the road, or something? I have a bad -…"
"feeling about this," Bree finished the sentence for her. "I get it."
"Yeah, again… thanks. Also, will you check on Esme. I haven't seen her in a while. Check if she wants something to eat. We can always make her toasts or something… "
"Sure," Bree nodded, heading off for her makeshift office in one of the rooms on the second floor.
.
…
.
"You were right," was the first thing to come out of the younger agent's mouth when she came bursting back into the room.
Bella jumped in her chair at the Bree's sudden appearance.
"Right about what?" she asked, feeling dread begin to creep into her stomach. "It's Edward, isn't it? Did something happen to him?"
"No, it's nothing like that. Edward's alright. He'll be here shortly. I didn't mean to alarm you-…"
"Yeah, well… You did." Bella rubbed her forehead, realizing her fingers were sticky with sweet and sour sauce from Tony's Chicken Burgers.
"It came out wrong. Listen, what I meant to say was that I've spoken to Clearwater and you were right. They had a bit of an issue, that's why he didn't come straight home. "
"An issue? What kind of issue?" Bella asked, looking around for the package of baby wipes.
"There was an unknown car following him"
"A car was following Edward? That doesn't sound good." Her voice rose, even though she knew there was no point in losing her cool.
"He didn't notice it straight away, but when he did, he turned around and drove in circles for a bit to make sure he wasn't imagining things, which he wasn't."
"And the car? Who's it registered to?" She found the wipes and was about to begin cleaning up, when Tony interrupted her by making grabby hands and a great deal of whiny sounds indicating that he wasn't done eating just yet.
"We don't know yet," Bree answered, picking up a stray carrot stick that had fallen off Tony's plate. "It's a black Hyundai sedan, possibly a rental. We've got someone looking into it as we speak. Seeing as we've got the plate number it shouldn't take long..."
"Well, fantastic," Bella rolled her eyes. "And in the meanwhile Edward's been driving around in circles not knowing what to do?"
Bree was shaking her head at this. "That's not true. Your Edward has a good head on his shoulders, he knew what to do. Once he was sure he was in fact being followed, he stopped at a gas station so that he could get out of the car and call for assistance. "
Bella raised her eyebrows at this. Generally, it was safer to stay in the car in situations like these.
"His car is wired for sound, remember?" Bree pointed out.
"Right, so to get privacy to make the call he had to get out of the car." Bella sighed. This was giving her a headache. "Where was Seth anyway? He's supposed to have visual contact at all times."
"He was… somewhere close by, I'm sure. I don't really know all the details yet," Bree shrugged. "I don't think it even matters right now. The situation is under control.
"Define 'under control', because this all sounds pretty 'sketchy' to me."
"I disagree. Edward's whereabouts was never meant to be a secret and neither was this place. The issue is not that he's being followed, or that he might expose the Villa. That's a risk, yes, but a calculated one-…"
"I know all that. I know the security around here is as tight as it can be. I'm not worried for our own sake. Edward's the one with the big target on his back. Those car rides he does… He's the most exposed and vulnerable when he gets into that car alone. The real danger is if this turns out to be some sort of trap. He could get rammed off the road, or abducted, or worse…. That's why he's supposed to be shadowed by at least one of our agents at all times."
"He's not alone. The instructions he received at the gas station was to go back to the studio and wait in the underground garage, so that the others could met up with him there," Bree assured her with exaggerated patience. "He has both Kuster and Ateara, traveling with him in the car right now. In fact that's probably them now," she added at the sound of tires crunching on gravel announced the approach of a vehicle.
.
…
.
"Oh, hey guys," Edward said cheerfully as he opened the front door and stepped inside. "Are you all waiting for me?"
He caught the little boy who was running straight at him easily. "I missed you too, little dude," he grinned, ruffling the hair on Tony's head.
"Anything new?" Bree asked the two agents that noisily piled in behind Edward.
"No, nothing new to report," special agent Alec Custer said shaking water off his jacket. "Rental car, male driver, dark hair, bulky form…. We shook him off our trail without putting too much effort into it. Very undramatic."
"Aww man, don't spoil it! I thought we agreed to say that it was like a car chase scene out of a Jason Bourne movie," Edward complained, snapping Bella out of the daze she'd fallen into.
"This is no joking matter," she huffed, shifting all her weight from one foot the other, wincing slightly as her hip protested the movement. "I don't wanna hear about any reckless driving."
As if sensing the frazzled nerves behind her words, Quil took it on himself to sooth her. "Don't worry Swan, we simply had some luck with traffic, that's all."
"Luck with traffic? Are you sure he didn't spot your second car and lost interest in keeping up the chase?"
"No, he didn't spot us. As much as I want to say that it was all down to skills and tactics, it really was pure, dumb, luck… Long story short, there was an incident with a truck causing a hold up when it lost part of its load in a busy intersection."
"The lucky part being how we were last ones to squeeze by before the road was shut down," Edward cut in. Then as he noticed her tense stance, he added, "Why so far away? I haven't seen you all day. Come here and let me give you a hug…"
Bella shook her head. "I want to yell at you, but I won't, I'll just stay here and glare instead."
"Hey now, I didn't do anything wrong," he protested, raising his hands.
"I didn't say you did. You had me worried though," she grumbled as he pulled her into a side hug.
"Because I didn't let you know what was going on," he guessed correctly.
"You said you were on your way back here, but then you never showed up."
"I'm sorry. It all happened so quickly. I didn't have time to think it through properly." He kissed the side of her head softly. Then, turning to Tony, he held out his hand. "Did you save daddy some dinner? I'm starving, please tell me you didn't eat it all?!"
The boy scrunched up his face, pondering. "No burgers. All gone. Hava shamage… maybe?"
"A sandwich? Uh-uh, is that all you saved for me? That sounds alarming," Edward faked a terrified expression, making Tony giggle.
"There is a chicken casserole in the oven. None of us has eaten yet. We were waiting for you,… well, except for Tony, who couldn't wait," Bella told Edward with a smile as she watched their interaction fondly. "He cleaned his plate in record time today. Ate all of his chicken burgers and most of his vegetables too."
"Awesome! Give me high five!" Edward held his hand out, waiting as the boy attempted—twice—to hit it before finally succeeding.
"You guys hungry?" Bella asked, turning towards her colleagues, still hovering around in the background.
While Alec nodded, Quil shook his head no. "Oh, thanks, but I'm not staying. In fact, I should get going. I have a bit of a walk ahead of me." He pulled up the collar of his coat, which he still had on and then stuffed his hands into the pockets as if preparing to leave.
"You're walking back?" Edward sounded surprised. "Why don't you let agent Tanner give you a ride back?"
"No, I'll rather walk. It gives me a chance to run a sweep of the area between here and the main road to make sure no one's lurking around suspiciously."
"Bree hummed approvingly. "Good plan, let me get you a pair of night vision goggles and a proper flashlight. It will be dark soon," she said, springing into action. "What about you Alec, you're staying, right?"
"Yep, as an added security measure," he answered. "I'll be here all night and I wouldn't mind some grub, if it isn't too much trouble," he added in Bella's direction.
"No trouble at all. We have plenty of food," she responded truthfully. The casserole was generous in portions to begin with and with Esme once again deciding to forfeit her dinner, there would easily be enough to feed an extra guest.
With a bit of hustle and bustle they all settled around the dining table, where the food was passed out and quickly consumed.
Edward didn't notice they were a head short until he was well onto his second helping. "Where is mom?" he asked nudging Bella's arm with his own. "I thought you said she was doing better?"
"She came down for a few hours mid-day. She seemed okay, but said she didn't feel like eating anything too heavy. She went back upstairs about half an hour ago."
"Alright…" he nodded, brows still furrowed. " Sounds like she's being overly cautious. Then again, I certainly don't want you, or Tony in particular, to catch her germs on top of everything else. Stomach bugs are the worst!"
"They really are," Bella agreed and they shared a shudder at the thought of it.
.
…
.
At the same time on a small, quiet street not too far away…
A dark car slowed to a halt and the window on the driver's side slowly came down until a head popped out.
"Hey, you there!" A voice call out.
The question was directed at a teenaged shop assistant, who was about to lock up what looked to be a frozen yogurt establishment.
"Me?" the boy asked, his voice breaking at the end of his question.
"Yes, you… Do you work here?"
"Looks that way, doesn't it…" he replied with a "duh" sort of attitude. "Who's asking?"
"Relax, I'm honestly just in need of some directions. I'm looking for a recording studio, that according to my GPS is supposed to be here somewhere-…"
"Follow that road, then the first one to the right," the teenager pointed with his chin, muttering something sounding like "should have known" and "another country music stan".
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing…Just follow that road, then the first one to the right," he repeated. "It's no point going there now, though…"
"Why's that?"
"It's part of a private residence. No visitors allowed outside office hours." Turning his back, he demonstratively took down the "open" sign, which had been attached by a string to an old flagpole bracket on the side of the doors.
"I need to get a hold of someone that is supposed to be working in that studio this week. Is there anyone I can contact? Like the owner of the place, perhaps…?"
"I wouldn't know," the boy shrugged and then busied himself with locking up and pocketing the keys. "I mean, last I heard he was off to St Barts to chill for a while," he added with another shrug.
"Oh, I see. There has to be someone I can talk to….?" the guy in the car leaned out the window, a wad of cash in his hand.
Ignoring the money, the teenager pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and started walking. "You could try down by the Sea breeze," he called over his shoulder.
"Wait…The Sea breeze? Is that a hotel, or….?" he called out, but the boy had already sprinted off.
…
