Chapter Fifty

Peter

Waiting for The Major was the worst thing I had ever been forced to do because I knew he was going to go crazy if he didn't just come right out call me a liar and then beat me to a pulp. I had rehearsed different ways of saying what I needed to but none was any better than the stark truth. I heard him coming and braced myself, seeing the satisfied smile on his face when he broke through the trees I was aware what I had to say would wipe it clean away.

"Peter? What's up? You look worried. Don't tell me Darius doesn't have the information after all."

"Nope, he has it but you might want to sit down to hear it."

He frowned but before I could start his phone rang and answering it I heard Esme's voice, her questions, and let him finish speaking. He slipped his phone into his pocket and gestured for me to continue so I leaped right in with the unvarnished truth and watched as the smile became a frown and then a scowl before being replaced by incredulity.

"What?"

"You heard me. I'm not repeating the fucking lot."

"There's some mistake. Get Darius on the phone. Tell him to check again."

"He double checked before I was willing to believe it myself."

"I want proof."

"Yeah I told him you would so here."

I took a wad of folded paper from my jacket pocket and handed it to him then stepped back while he read them through.

I heard the snarl and took a couple more steps back as he ripped the paper into tiny pieces and threw it to the ground before putting his fist through the closest tree trunk sending splinters flying through the air which was blue with curses. I had expected this reaction but it didn't last for long and the silence that followed was much more threatening. I looked at The major and saw the cold blank look on his face, an expression that sent chills down my spine. A look I hadn't seen in a very long time and had hoped I would never see again. He had gone into shut down, his emotions switched off leaving only the impassive Major in control. It was probably the best way for him to control his rage but I still watched from a safe distance until I knew it was OK to venture closer. Three trees were no longer standing, uprooted and lying like kindling.

Major, we need to talk."

He turned to look at me eyes devoid of all emotion but he nodded curtly.

"So, what do you plan on doing?"

"I have to see for myself. Contact Darius and arrange for me to see the bodies. I can't tell Bella about this until I've seen for myself."

"OK, give me a couple of minutes, you want to go straight away?"

He just continued to look at me and I backed away slightly putting my phone to my ear.

He hadn't moved when I finished talking,

"OK, Its all set, you have access as soon as you can get there but what do I tell Bella?"

"Tell her I needed to see something for myself. Tell her as soon as I get back I'll tell her everything."

"Do you think he suspects the truth? About Bella I mean."

"It doesn't seem likely or he would have acted before now. No, I think Renee and Grandpa hid their secret well."

Jasper

I hadn't wanted to believe what I saw and I certainly wasn't going to tell Bella until I had everything clear in my mind. My rage threatened to overwhelm me leaving me with no option but to turn myself back into The Major, burying all emotions deep in my subconscious so I could act coolly and think without any distractions. Peter understood, I could see the way he watched me warily, he knew how this worked, he'd seen me like it often enough in the past. I didn't want to talk about Bella, I didn't even want to think about her or the hurt I would see in her eyes when she learned the truth. I wanted to be sure, I wanted to get the right person in the right place and make him pay for everything he had done, but first I had to see for myself.

Peter spoke to Darius and he arranged for me to view the bodies, or what was left of them. They were still being held as John and Jane Doe waiting for a match, some identification. If not, they would be buried by the state.

"I have to go, I'll be back as soon as I can and in the meantime you say nothing to Bella, understand?"

"Hey, you don't need to remind me, my lips are firmly sealed. The last thing I want to do is to break that kid's heart."

I drove Peter's truck to the mortuary mainly to be absolutely sure in my own mind, looking for that one piece of evidence that would convince me utterly that Darius was was right. I wanted to see for myself as if there were still doubt until I did so.

The man who admitted me looked nervous and I knew money had changed hands to allow this private viewing. The bodies lay under white sheets and looked strangely truncated until I remembered the heads were missing. I wondered where they were, why they had been taken, although hiding the identity of the dead was the most likely reason. I wished I could tell Bella I had found them so her mom and Grandpa could be buried complete but I thought it highly unlikely I could do that, they were probably already destroyed by the killer.

"You can't stay long, if anyone finds you here I'll lose my job. Put this on."

He handed me a white coat and I slipped it on,

"Hopefully, anyone who sees you will think you're new to the job but don't speak or draw attention to yourself. Just do what you need to and get the hell out of here. If I'm asked I never saw you before."

I nodded and walked into the room beyond the glass divider, my eyes fixed on the two corpses.

I had no doubt these were all that remained of Renee and Grandpa, I knew their scent well enough even through the astringent smells of the mortuary but I still found myself pulling back the sheets and making them a silent promise to bring their killer to justice. Under the tables were clear plastic bags containing the clothes taken from the corpses and I opened Renee's recognizing the shirt as one Bella had bought her mom a couple of years ago. The scent that I detected on her clothes had me tensing even further, my anger growing once more until I clamped down hard, I couldn't feel anything right now, I needed a clear head.

I tied it back up and did the same with the evidence bag under Grandpa's. The familiar scent was slightly stronger on his clothes as if the killer had been closer to the old man for longer. I grabbed the edge of the metal gurney and felt the tubular steel begin to buckle under the strain. Loosening my grip with difficulty, I resealed the bag and left the room throwing the white doctor's coat into a laundry basket abandoned in the empty hallway. I didn't bother to try finding the guy who had let me in I just got out of the building and climbed back into the truck.

I drove on instinct not seeing the road or the other traffic until I saw an empty rest stop and pulled in turning off the engine and sitting rigid as stone as the information from Darius ran through my mind accompanied by the scent I had recognized on their clothes. It wasn't until I realized how late it was getting that I started the engine once more, setting off back to the house and my sweet wife who would be waiting for answers, answers I had to give her now however much they might hurt her. I was conflicted, wanting to pick her up and start driving, only stopping when we reached an ocean and then take a plane, keep running until we could forget all the questions and the horror of the answers but that wasn't possible, for either of us.