Chapter 9

The Accidental Tourist

Quil trotted to the house and curled up under the porch beside Samson, watching Claire pull a wagon full of toys around. It sounded deathly quiet as Jacob entered Sam's house with Embry. It surprised him to see only a few of the others there. He learned Sam had placed them on details, guarding families until they figured out what was happening. Jacob turned to Paul and asked, "Where's my dad?"

"He wasn't feeling well, so Emily gave him something to calm him. He's asleep in the bedroom now," Paul said in a quiet voice drenched with worry.

"Are we good, Jacob?" Sam asked, in what Jacob assumed was a reference to Quil and Embry rejoining his pack.

"Yeah, we're good." Jacob gestured a small head nod at Jared, a silent question asking him what he knew.

Jared responded. "Kim's mom said she passed a van pulling out from the road that leads to their house, on her way home from late night bingo. When she got home, the door was wide open, and Kim was gone. This note was on the floor." He passed the note to Jacob.

They all sat in silence, trying to make sense of the whole situation as Leah and Seth strolled through the door. Leah sat down beside Jacob. To take away her fears, Jacob was about to fill her in regarding Quil and Embry.

"We know. Quil told us on our way here," Leah said, appearing alleviated.

Embry came inside from the back door and sarcastically joked, "Good to hear you again, Leah."

"Yeah, well, just remember I'm still second in command!"

"I'll race you for it."

"Pfft, you don't stand a chance."

Jacob absentmindedly listened to their conversation when Jared's mention of "the van" smacked him in the brain. He remembered the van Charlie had towed from Raven's house. He shot out of his chair, startling everyone. "Sam, we've got to go!" His mind raced with the possibility.

"What is it, Jake? Hey, I'm not kidding you. If you know something you better tell us all, right now!" Paul demanded.

Jacob knew Paul was on the verge of losing it and probably couldn't hold himself together long enough to handle any information Jacob might give him. "I'm not sure of anything yet, Paul."

Jaws squeezed tight, Paul's eyes ignited with craziness. He leapt up, clenching his fists—white knuckled, as veins jutted up his arms, his features twisting in fury.

"Paul, sit down! That's an order!" Sam commanded, standing and staring Paul down.

Paul dropped, his body shaking.

"Paul, Rachel's my sister. I'm just as worried about her as you. I promise, if what I'm thinking is correct, I'll tell you and Jared everything. Just as soon as I'm sure I have something to tell you."

Paul worked hard to contain himself, taking slow deep breaths, but from the looks of it, he was nowhere near eased by Jacob's words.

Jacob grabbed Leah by the arm. "You're coming."

"Jared, Paul, you will remain calm until I get back and you will be fine," Sam ordered, in his alpha voice, "and the rest of you, will see to it."

With the worried look Sam gave Jacob, it seemed like more of a prayer than a promise, and Jacob knew they had next to no time to find some answers. Refusing to look at Paul and Jared anymore, he blazed out the door with Sam and Leah. As they rushed to Sam's truck, Jacob passed on the fact that the police caught someone trying to get into Raven's house that morning, and Charlie had them in custody at the police station. "Sam, I think I could get Charlie to let us speak to his prisoners if it's just me and you. And, Leah, if I'm right then Raven's in danger, too. I'll need you to stay with her and Abby until we find some answers."

Leah sighed. "It's a starting point."

"Let's just pray it is what you think it is, Jacob," Sam said, "Because if it's not, I don't know where to go from here."

Jacob hurried Leah to Raven's door, having no patience as he pounded on it. Raven peeked out the window before opening it up.

"Raven, Leah needs to stay here until I get back. She'll explain."

"What?" Raven asked.

No time for a discussion, he ignored her and jetted back to the truck without answering.

"I'll explain. Jacob is a goofball, but right now he truly has somewhere critical he's got to be."

Charlie sat up straight in his chair, narrowing his eyes in question as Jacob and Sam stormed into the police station. "Jacob, Sam, anything wrong, boys?" He eyed them with suspicion.

"Nothing's wrong, Charlie. We're just here to talk to your lowlifes," Jacob announced.

"Absolutely not, Jacob." He shook his head, glaring. "You know me better than that."

Jacob and Sam locked eyes, conveying to each other, one way or another, they would talk to those prisoners. "C'mon, Charlie," Jacob urged. "We just want to put the fear in them, make them think twice next time."

Charlie rolled his eyes, tapping his pen against his desk in agitation and donning an "I don't have time for this" attitude. "Nope, it's not happening."

"Raven's terrified now because of them, and her dad's not around and ah... You know I'd do the same thing for Bella, Charlie... if you weren't around." Jacob reckoned his last remark might soften him up a bit. Bella was Charlie's weak spot.

Charlie groaned, hesitated for a long few seconds then caved. "Two minutes." He held up his hand with two fingers spread, his expression hard. "Then you boys get going. I mean it. I don't want to see you back here."

Jacob winked at Sam as Charlie led them to the jail cells. Charlie spread his two fingers again, repeating himself, and left the area mumbling, "I've got to be out of my mind."

Jacob and Sam sardonically smirked at each other. Sam didn't waste a second, asking the short stout man standing near the bars, "What were you doing at that house this morning?"

The taller skinny guy approached them, so Jacob and Sam were standing on either side of them. "Who are you? Not our Lawyers that's for sure. We don't have to tell you nothing," the skinny man replied.

Jacob threw Sam a telepathic glance, and in one swift move they each had a hold of a man by the back of the head, crushing their cheeks and noses into the bars. The two men struggled against Jacob and Sam's strength but couldn't move an inch. They yelled for help.

"Don't call for Charlie," Jacob said, "He won't help you. Haven't you ever heard of 'small town' justice? He's the one who sent us in here. As a matter of fact," Jacob shouted, "Charlie, just open the cell!"

Gutless and afraid, the two men gave in like clockwork. "Why the hell should we care, anyway? They've already paid half the money, and we didn't deliver the girl, so we won't get the other half," the short man said to the tall guy.

Jacob loosened his grip, and the guy began to speak. "Some stranger we met in Seattle offered to pay us $5000 dollars to come here and take someone back to Seattle. He told us to go to the La Push Beach Resort, room 203, and someone would tell us when and where to go from there. After that, we were supposed to take the person back to Seattle, unharmed, and he said he would find us," the short guy gushed.

"Yeah, and he was weird. He had these creepy colored eyes and this plaster pasty, zombie face. It was... he freaked me out! I was scared to say no," the skinny guy added. Sam loosened his grip.

"Who was in the room?" Sam asked.

"Just a guy. He gave us a picture and an address, some tape and some rope, and told us to do exactly what the creepy guy said."

"He seemed like an undercover cop to me, and that's why I thought we got caught," the short guy explained.

"That's it then," Jacob said, and they both let go of the man they were holding.

When they walked back out to the front area, Charlie cocked an eyebrow. "Did you get your jollies, boys?"

"Yeah, yeah, we did. Uh... thanks a lot, Charlie," Jacob said, forcing a grin and waving goodbye.

"See you, Charlie," Sam said, signifying goodbye with a nod of his chin, both of his hands stuffed in his pant pockets.

They drove straight back to Sam's and picked up Jared, Paul, and Embry then proceeded to the La Push Beach Resort, leaving Quil, Seth, and Samson behind to monitor Sam's place.

On the way, they told everyone what the two men said.

Upon arriving at the resort, they went directly to room 203. Sam covered up the peephole and knocked. A bald middle-aged man opened the door. Panic struck his expression when he spotted Jacob and Sam. He attempted to slam the door, but Jacob and Sam already entered, followed by Paul, Jared, and Embry.

Jacob's eyes shifted around the room. He noticed several pictures of himself, Sam, Emily, Seth, Embry, Paul, Brady, Collin, Rachel, Billy, and Raven; there were pictures of everyone at their hangout spots scattered all over the place.

"Who are you and what do you want with us?" Sam demanded.

The bald man held both of his palms faced out, covering his eyes in terror. He backed away, saying, "I'm just a private investigator. That's all I am. Please, don't hurt me!"

"It's okay. It's okay. We're not here to hurt you," Jacob assured, using a soothing tone to calm the man's panic. "Just give us the answers we're looking for."

They gave the man a moment to catch his breath, and then Sam began the interrogation.

The bald man told them a story about being hired by a man with a foreign accent to perform surveillance on a young man in La Push. He didn't know what for; he'd just assumed it had something to do with drugs or money. "He gave me a picture of that one," he said, pointing at Jacob. "First, they told me to gather information about you. Where you went, who you hung with, and so forth. I was on the look-out for a tight group of young men associated with you."

Once I identified the group, they told me to gather information on all your acquaintances and take some pictures."

Impatient, Paul growled, "Get on with it!"

"Here's where it got weird. Next, they told me to gather information on all your acquaintances' acquaintances. I knew I got involved in something strange, but I didn't know how to get myself out of it. They wouldn't allow me to leave, so I continued to do as hired. Finally, the foreigner contacted me again, telling me to identify the least surrounded individuals, times and places then pass on the photos and information to some other guys that..."

A guttural growl escaped Paul. "I'll tear your heart out, you son of a bitch!" he roared, diving across the room, arms stretched and going for the man's throat.

Jacob and Sam threw themselves in front of the investigator as Paul rippled, about to burst. "Paul, stop!" Sam shouted. "Get him outside!"

Jared and Embry wrestled Paul out the door, and Sam followed them, telling Jared: "You're okay to come back and listen if you can keep yourself calm."

"We get it!" Jacob glared, battling to keep his own wolf under control. "Who's your boss, and how do we find him?"

"That's just it. I don't know. He calls me. I've never even met the guy. I've only spoken with him on the phone, and I met a contact of his once when I was first hired and given the picture of you."

Sam and Jared returned to the room.

"Well, when will he be contacting you again?"

"Tonight, once the packages... uh... persons are delivered. I'm supposed to do one last thing then I could go home. I've already been here nearly two months."

"What was that one last thing?"

"I don't know. I was waiting for more instructions."

The man's expression was a combination of fear and exhaustion. Jacob almost pitied him. "I guess we wait," Jacob said to Sam.

The man fidgeted, uncomfortable, while Sam, Jacob, and Jared waited with him.

Jacob flipped through the photos. He came across one of himself, playing with Nessie at Carlisle's home. What he realized plowed into him, painfully. He clutched at his skull, his insides flooding with guilt and legs feeling flimsy, he dropped on the bed beside the man.

The man glanced at the photo Jacob held. "That was the first one they gave me."

Jacob felt sickened and weak. "I need some air," he gasped, bolting out the door. This is my fault! If I wasn't wandering around the Cullen's place, phasing back and forth, giving off my scent to every damn, stinking bloodsucker in the world, this wouldn't be happening right now!

Sam approached Jacob with concern. "What's the problem, Jacob?"

"I did this... I mean, someone on the field the day we stood against the Volturi is behind this."

The phone screamed out. Within moments, Jared peered out of the room with a pinched face and eyes flickering with questions. "Jacob, he wants to speak to you?"