Chapter Thirty One

Bella

We seemed to have made progress during the journey after Megan fell asleep. I felt closer to Jasper and it was strange to think that the three of us were not even a family. Anyone looking in would see a festive family on their way to relatives to celebrate the new year.

In reality, we were anything but a normal festive family. In an ideal world, it would have been Edward driving us to stay with Carlisle and Esme or did the word ideal really apply? I couldn't imagine Edward, Megan, and I doing anything and a part of me was glad things had worked out the way they did.

Edward had killed any love for him when he turned against our child. How he could have wanted our baby dead I could not understand or stomach. Even if Megan had been born less than perfect I would still have loved her and wanted to care for her. All Edward wanted was me and our perfect little life together. Well, now he had his perfect little life all alone. I just hoped he could find an equally selfish woman prepared for that.

Sitting here with Jasper felt so right and I wondered how I had not felt closer to him before. Sure he had been married to Alice but even so one couldn't help having feelings for those one couldn't have. Maybe Edward's vampire allure had hidden such feelings in the past but now they were strong enough to unnerve me.

It was blindingly obvious that he and Megan loved each other deeply and it would have been easy to become jealous but I understood why they were so close and grateful for it. Whatever happened, if Edward did ever approach Megan he could never replace Jasper as her daddy in her mind. I still wasn't sure why Megan was so scared of Edward, she had never met him, never even spoke to him but something evoked such a strong reaction. I would try to find out what it was when Megan and I were alone and could talk without interruption.

I took over the driving when we stopped in North Platte, our last stop, so Jasper could call Darius. He'd received a message as we were about to take off once more and when he slid in the back with Megan she cuddled up to him. She had missed his company even though he had been just a few feet away in the front seat. Now it was my turn to miss him.

I listened in to the conversation aware that Megan could too.

"Darius. Your message was pretty cryptic."

"Yeah, that's me. A man of mystery. Where are you right now?"

"Outside North Platte headed to Boulder. Why?"

"Just curious. How's the munchkin?"

"She's fine. Sitting right by me."

"OK. Well, I heard from an associate who has been keeping an eye on our friend."

I stiffened, he must mean Edward. I was relieved that Darius had someone watching him but what made it necessary to call us now?

"How is he?"

"Not behaving just like we expected. A tap on his phone proved useful too. He went running to daddy for help."

"And did he get any?"

"Nope. Surprisingly he got told exactly where to go. It seems Dr Death and co have washed their hands of him. Can't imagine why. Maybe my missive is to blame. I just happened to send a copy of those recordings to his office by accident. Sorry about that, must be getting old I guess."

Jasper laughed but Megan was staring at him intently and I thought she knew exactly who the 'friend' under discussion was.

"Unfortunately he still has a few friends willing to do him a favor and he's recruiting."

"You mean he won't take no for an answer?"

"Spot on, Major. Although I don't think he's looking at the main objective."

I slowed down to listen more carefully if I read Darius' words correctly he was telling Jasper that I wasn't the target for Edward, Megan was. I guess it made sense. The easiest and best way to hurt me would be to take away my little girl. Didn't he realize that would never happen? That both Jasper and I would die before he laid a hand on our baby? It did show that he finally understood that despite his best efforts our baby had survived and I knew the truth.

A part of me was keen for him to come, to try taking my daughter because then I would kill him, or Jasper would. With our friends surrounding Megan, he didn't stand a chance. Did he not realize that? Was he so consumed with thoughts of revenge that he didn't understand the true situation?

"What's the plan?"

"You come on in. You won't be alone on the final leg and once you're here we'll make sure he doesn't get a foot on the ranch."

Jasper put his phone away and sat talking to Megan. He was trying to divert her from the conversation that she had overheard and for a while, she giggled along with him as he told her jokes and played with Celeste and Molly but then she sat back very quiet.

"Poppa."

"Yes."

"That call. The one from your friend Darius. He was talking about my daddy wasn't he?"

I waited, would Jasper lie to her? I wouldn't blame him if he did. I didn't want Megan scared any more than he did.

"Yes, it was. Why?"

"Is he coming for me? Or for mommy? He's angry, isn't he? Is it because I didn't want to see him?"

"No, he isn't angry with you."

I cut in, "He's angry with me Megan because he lied to me and I found out."

"You found me and now daddy wants us both doesn't he? I don't want to go to daddy."

I saw Jasper pull her onto his lap and held her close.

"No one is going to take you away from us, Megan. I promise you that."

"Daddy tried to get rid of me before I was born and again when mommy fell down the stairs. You saved me poppa. Will you save me again?"

He kissed the top of her head, "Of course I will. I will always save you darlin'"

I found myself choked by emotion by his words but her next comment made me feel sick to my stomach. She spoke very quietly as if hoping I wouldn't hear her words.

"Poppa, mommy didn't trip and fall down the stairs. Daddy pushed her."

There was a stunned silence and then I heard Jasper's voice, quiet and comforting.

"How could you possibly know that, Megan? You weren't even born."

"I don't know. Some things I just know. Maybe it's because I'm special."

"You sure are that, Megan. But are you sure? It's a very serious thing you just said."

"I know but you always told me it was wrong to lie and I would never lie to you. Daddy pushed mommy, he wanted to get rid of me. He wanted me to die so he could have mommy all to himself."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I forgot until I felt daddy at the zoo. Then I remembered it, like a film on TV. Would daddy kill me? He hates me and I think he's angry with mommy now too. Will you look after her for me?"

"Of course I will. Although I think mommy can take care of herself."

"You promise? I want you and mommy to be here for me always. I love you both so much."

"And we love you."

"Are we going to be a real family? I'd love to have mommy and you."

"Mommy and I have some things to talk about first, baby. But you'll always have both of us to look after you."

Megan deserved a family, she needed us both and loved us both. I guess the question was did we love each other? Right now I could only speak for myself but I prayed Jasper felt the same way I did.

Edward

It hadn't been easy and had taken a little fast-talking but I had managed to gather a few friends to help me snatch my daughter back. I had told them as much of the story as they needed to know. That I had discovered that the human I had married had a bastard child with another man. A man she had left me for and that I wanted to teach her a lesson as she had assured me that her pregnancy was a result of our sexual liaisons before we married. They thought I was crazy to fall for a human but understood why I felt the need to get revenge on my wife.

I needed Greg's help, especially for his gift. He could confuse and confuddle anyone human or vampire for half an hour. Long enough to enable me to snatch the little brat and get well away before anyone could start to chase me. Bella and Jasper would be on my trail soon enough but I had a private jet waiting in Boulder and by the time they understood what had happened I would be in the air and on my way to Italy with the kid. I didn't want her but Bella did which meant handing her over to the Volturi would be the ultimate revenge on her. I would teach her to run out on me and keep my child from me and Jasper Hale too. Revenge was so sweet I could almost taste it now.

Adrian had traced them, they were on their way to Boulder. To the Whitlock ranch which was bad. Once there I would be on my own, Peter Whitlock had a certain reputation which along with the Majors was enough to scare every other vampire but me. So, we would have to ambush them en route. It would be tight, we had to fly to Boulder and then rent two cars and catch them as they drove along the Interstate. Thank goodness for Adrian and his computer skills. He would simulate an auto accident and close the section where we discovered our quarry.

It had to be timed perfectly but I was sure we could do it. We had to, I had to. If I lost I would have nothing left and I didn't think I could survive that. I had toyed with the idea of calling Aro, offering him the kid if it was indeed a hybrid, my child but I still couldn't bring myself to admit the depth of my desperation. The thought of Aro and his brothers sniggering at my failure to hold together a family of my own was just too awful to contemplate. No, I could do this on my own, I would prove to them all that I could do this, I could win this battle.

We landed with no time to spare, speeding along the Interstate to intercept Bella and her tame childminder. Greg was in the passenger seat alert for the first warning that our quarry was approaching.

As soon as we had it trapped within our snare he would cast his gift, a net over the vehicle which would be trapped in stationary traffic on the opposite side of the road. Then all we had to do was to pull up, leap over the crash barriers and take what was mine. Our side of the road was flowing freely but we would have our hazard warning lights on and as soon as we had our prey and were back inside Greg would speed us to the airport. It was flawless, it would work, it had to.

Suddenly there was a chime as my phone received a message. I checked the screen to see that it was from Andrea, the other member of my team. She had been watching for a certain car to pass her observation point. I knew my dear brother's vehicle, I'd seen it drive out of the aquarium.

"They'll be here in twenty minutes, tell Adrian to begin slowing the traffic. I want it at a slow crawl by the time that car reaches us."

Greg nodded calling Adrian while I slowed to a halt and put on my hazard flashers to warn other traffic that I was stationary. Taking out a warning triangle and light, anything to help visibility in this dreadful weather with its accompanying low visibility, we were prepared for their arrival.

Greg was silent, preparing himself to use his gift. He hadn't warned me until we were on our way that it didn't always work one hundred per cent but I was satisfied that even if it only confused the occupants of the target car I would still have plenty of time to grab the kid and get a good head start. Enough to enable me to make it to the airport and become airborne before they knew what had happened.

While I lifted the hood of our car and pretended to be busy with the engine I was conscious of the traffic slowing on the opposite lane and felt the excitement building up in me. Was this the kind of thrill a warrior got while waiting to go into battle? It was similar to the expectation I had experienced when waiting for Victoria's army of newborns to arrive. I could see why individuals such as Hale found it so intoxicating.

I peeked around the side of the raised hood and recognized our target coming into sight in the distance. This was it, my moment of triumph, Bella's final disappointment and I hoped it hurt her as much as her actions had pained me.

The traffic slowed even more and finally came to a halt with the vehicle we were interested in a few cars back. Greg waved a hand out of the window, a signal telling me that he had begun affecting the occupants. Bracing myself I jumped the central reservation and ran to the car yanking the rear door open knowing that they wouldn't have strapped the kid in the front.

Greg joined me ready to help if necessary but the rear of the car was empty, no kid, no car seat, nothing. Confused I looked in the front only to find that too empty, what the fuck was going on? Where were the occupants? No one had gotten out, we would have seen them. Yet the interior was empty, the engine still ticking over.

"Edward, where is everyone? You said the kid would be here. Where is she? What the hell is going on?"

I snapped at him in my frustration, "I don't know. I don't understand."

Leaning in further I found myself nudged by the door and overbalanced landing across the back seat. The engine roared and as I tried to get up, to open the door and get out I found myself a prisoner. The queue of traffic had miraculously cleared and the car was racing down the interstate. I wrenched at the door catch finding it locked and then I heard it, Bella's voice coming from the radio.

"This is the only warning you'll ever get from us, Edward. Next time it's for keeps. Forget we were ever married, forget you discovered Megan and stay as far away from us as possible. Now sit back and enjoy the ride. If you attempt to exit before the car stops it will explode and you with it. Goodbye Edward, I hope you're intelligent enough to take heed of this warning."

The radio fell silent and I sat back in the seat, so I'd been outmanoeuvred. I looked around wondering where the car was taking me and if the warning about the explosion was merely an empty threat. Would Bella really blow me to pieces? I thought there was the possibility the answer to that was no. She may hate me for lying to her but she wasn't bloodthirsty or dangerous, not the Bella I knew. However, Jasper was another creature altogether and he and she were in this together.

I reached out and took hold of the door catch, hesitating before pulling on it. I'd forgotten that he damn thing was locked and pulled up the lock button to try again. The car suddenly sped up and I saw it pull over onto a rest area coming to a halt at the edge furthest from the other vehicles using it. So, I was free now? I knew Bella wouldn't carry out her threat.

Startled by the sound of all the locks engaging I grabbed at the handle. There was a loud noise and as I felt my body engulfed by flames I exploded along with the vehicle. I'd underestimated the bitch, she had made good on her threat.