I don't own Twilight or its characters. Stephenie Meyer does.

Cheryl and Gabby, thank you for pre-reading, and April, thank you for editing. Any mistakes left are my own.

Ch. 16

I ran on to the beach and came to a stop. I took a few deep breaths of the cool air and stretched my arms above my head. I really needed that run. My head felt clearer and more focused. I had received so much information that my brain had been on overload, and I couldn't process everything at once. Of course, now that I was thinking more clearly, I had a ton more questions. Starting with how much did my dad know.

"Hey, Emmett, what does—" I turned around, only to discover I was alone on the beach. "Whoops."

I must have been in the zone and left him behind. Edward isn't going to be happy, I thought with a snort. I glanced around to see if there were any signs of Emmett when my eyes fell on a black car. The windows were heavily tinted and it was parked in the far corner of the lot.

I knew the beach was empty when I was on the hill, a few hours ago. Seeing it in the shadows of the trees made it seem ominous. I looked around worriedly to see if anyone else was here. Unfortunately, there were multiple sets of footprints, and Emmett and Jasper had been out here earlier. I bit my lip and looked at the road where I came from, then to the path we always took as a shortcut.

My first thought was to head for the road where I was sure to meet up with Emmett. But to do so I would have to get closer to the car. I had no idea if anyone was inside, so I started for the path. I knew all the tiny trails like the back of my hand, and I could get to the house quickly. I paused by the tree line, for all I knew I could be running straight into trouble, without the guys knowing where I was.

I reached for the gun Jasper had given me and found it was no longer in the waistband behind my back. I must have dropped it when I was running. My head snapped up at the squealing of wheels as the guys' car peeled into the lot, sending snow flying.

Emmett stumbled out of the backseat, with a slight limp, he headed toward the suspicious car. Meanwhile, Edward was coming toward me, leaving Jasper behind the wheel. I was caught off guard when an arm wrapped around my chest and a gun was pressed against my head. Edward drew his and glared at my captor.

"Let her go!" Edward shouted.

"I don't think you've got the upper hand here." The gun clicked. Whoever held me had a familiar voice. "Tell your friend to get out of the car and all of you drop your weapons."

I broke my gaze away from Edward to search for the other two. Emmett was in a standoff with Stephen. He dropped his gun with a scowl and placed his hands up. Jasper slowly got out of the car and tossed his weapon aside. Edward hesitated before dropping his Glock.

"You can't hurt her because you won't be able to sell damaged goods," Emmett snarled.

"You boys seem to know too much. You better hope, girl, you didn't spread your legs for them." The man's hand traveled down and cupped my breast. "There will be hell to pay. Starting with their lives." He removed the gun from my head and aimed at Edward.

I sprung into action and broke out of his grasp, then I shoved his arm upward just as he pulled the trigger. I turned, maintaining my grip and looked into the shocked eyes of Demetri. While he was caught off-guard, I kicked him hard in the knee then flipped him, bending his arm until I heard a pop and snap. He screamed in pain, letting go of the gun, giving me control of it.

I raised it and took aim, but I couldn't bring myself to shoot. A firearm went off, and I watched as a bullet hit him in the side of the head. Demetri slumped from his knees to the ground, and the snow started to turn red.

"Bella." Edward was beside me. "Give me that."

I broke my stare from the dead body and handed him the weapon. I couldn't look Edward in the eye. I was waiting for him to tell me that I shouldn't have hesitated or say I couldn't handle it.

"Are you hurt?" He reached out to brush my cheek with his fingertips. Then he quickly dropped his hand when I flinched at the proximity.

I shook my head and took a deep breath. "No, I'm fine. What happened to Stephen?"

"Dead. Emmett nailed him. You know who they are?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah. Demetri Regio and Stephen Vladimir. They both work with Phil," I told him.

"Wow, Tommy, you did a number on his arm." Emmett whistled, glancing down at Demetri.

Without thinking, I looked, then regretted it. My stomach turned, and I looked away from the grotesque sight.

"Nice one, Emmett. We need to get out of here. I'll have Alice call Aro so all of this can be taken care of before the cops catch wind," Jasper yelled on his way to the car.

I followed behind him and Edward stayed in step with me. "I'm sorry," I said.

"For what?" He sounded confused.

"I didn't shoot him like you said I should. I froze," I admitted.

Edward nodded. "Shooting your first person is never easy. I actually hope you never have to do it. Thank you by the way."

"Why are you thanking me?" It was my turn to be confused.

"For not letting me get shot, even if you hate me." Edward smirked.

I glanced up at him. "I don't hate you. I'm mad and hurt," I admitted. "Who is Aro?"

"He's our connection through the FBI. He's aware of what we do, but it's very hush hush though. They've used us when there's too much red tape to get through. He's actually your great uncle's former partner," Edward explained.

"Why do I keep feeling there are huge chunks of my life that I've been completely unaware of? How much of all this does my dad know?" I asked, narrowing my eyes when he didn't answer right away.

"How much?" I demanded.

"Just about all of it. Except up until recently, he didn't know anything about Phillip. Nothing came up as suspicious on a background check. He also didn't know you were missing until you were found," Emmett answered instead of Edward.

"Unbelievable," I muttered.

"Alright we have enough time to get our things and get out of here. We need to move fast." Jasper hung up the phone.

"Wait. I lost my gun when I was running. We need to find it." I stopped before getting in the car.

"I found it. I tripped over it when I was chasing after you. I called out to you, but you kept going." Emmett shook his head, scowling.

I gave him a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I tend to get in the zone while running."

He shrugged. "It worked out anyways. It gave me a spare to get the other joker." The look on his face expressed he wasn't entirely happy with what he had done.

Days

We were on the road less than 20 mins later. It took us a while to figure out where to go. Dad's house was out, and they were also hesitant to head towards the Cullens' house in Seattle. They finally settled on a hotel close to the Port Angeles airport.

As Emmett drove, a sleety rain started to fall. We passed the old mini-golf course that had a large 'For Sale' sign out front. I gave it a sad glance, remembering the fun we had there. I turned to say something to Edward, but he was out cold. It was then I noticed the dark shadows under his eyes.

"I wondered when he was going to crash." Emmett glanced at Edward through the rearview mirror.

Jasper turned in his seat and smirked before turning back to his phone. "He's been running on fumes."

"Why hasn't he been sleeping?" I asked.

Emmett raised an eyebrow as he focused on the road. "You're kidding me, right? He hasn't slept a wink since Garrett called him a couple days ago. He's been worried sick about you."

"Oh," I muttered.

"The boy has been head over heels for you as long as I can remember," Emmett commented. "He's a fool in love and made some stupid decisions. He tried to stay away; remember that summer we didn't go to the beach? But then James happened, and he had to see you in person to make sure you were okay. After that, his resolve broke and…"

"Em-mett, leave it be," Jasper said in sing-song voice.

"Are you trying to convince me to forgive him?" I asked.

"No. I'm hoping you give him another chance. If you…or at this point I can say when you meet his dad, it'll explain a lot. The guy is crazy paranoid and it has rubbed off," Emmett explained as Jasper sighed in exasperation.

"Am I wrong? Your dad isn't much better." Emmett gave him a side glance.

"I get the feeling, you don't enjoy this vigilante lifestyle," I mused.

Emmett shook his head. "Don't get me wrong. I want to help these girls. But I wish there was a better way to do it. Rose and I fought for years over her involvement. I didn't want to see her hurt. Finally, I decided the best way to protect her was to get in there myself. This is our last time, though. After we help bring down the Costas, we're leaving Chicago—for some place quieter. Once the baby is here, we want to be away from this mess."

"Well, I can attest small towns are great for the quiet life. Why not leave now if Rose is pregnant?" I asked.

"Rose won't leave until Heidi is safe. I don't want to leave while Edward's head isn't on straight," Emmett answered.

I blinked rapidly and glanced back at Edward in concern. I rubbed my arms in comfort, then turned back to the guys.

"And you, Jasper?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I wanted to be done when Rose almost got hurt, and my dad and Uncle wanted her to go out again. I'm sticking around to make sure it doesn't happen, or they don't talk Tanya into it."

I shifted uncomfortably as I had feeling convincing these two to let me help won't be as easy as I thought.

"Edward feels like he has no choice but to stay and take on the family business. But he hates it. It's kept him from you," Emmett told me.

"Jeeze, Em, you're laying it on thick. Don't put this on her," Jasper scolded him.

"You don't have to worry about Tanya or Rose. I already told Edward, I was going to volunteer myself," I said quietly.

"And he agreed?" Emmett met my eyes, looking stunned.

"No. He said he would leave it up for you two to decide, because you'll be impartial," I told him.

"Us?" Emmett grimaced.

"Better us than my dad or Uncle Tony," Jasper pointed out, groaning.

"I want to do what I can to save my mom," I implored. "I promised Edward that after you train me, if you didn't think I was ready, I wouldn't push it."

Emmett took his hand off the wheel to pull at the curls on his head. "Look, I'm not saying you wouldn't be a good fighter. I saw you get the upper hand earlier. But these guys are deadlier than the normal scum we go after. Hell, I don't think we can handle it ourselves."

"So you already decided no?" I grew annoyed.

Before he could answer, The Imperial March stared to play. Edward jolted awake and pulled out his phone. I watched as Emmett and Jasper exchange a wary glance.

"Hey," Edward answered, then frowned. "I must have dozed off."

His eyebrows furrowed. "I didn't leave Mom defenseless, it was only a couple of hours. Uncle Carlisle was there…well Rose was there too. She never fails to pull a trigger if she needs too. Plus, Alice can get the house on lockdown with simple push of a button."

The car was silent as we could only hear Edward's side of the conversation. Judging by his facial expressions, it didn't sound like it was going well.

"I'm not trying to argue with you. They came with me because we thought Bella was in danger with the Costa family. It turns out we were right."

"I didn't consider that. Is Mom okay?" He pinched the bridge of his nose.

His jaw clenched. "I disagree. We checked her things for tracking devices and Uncle Carlisle looked her over too. She doesn't have any tracking devices we can find. The only one Garrett knew about was the pearl necklace."

Edward shut his eyes. "I don't trust him either. We figured they found us after doing a property search on Charlie. They've been following him."

Edward sat up straighter and gripped his phone so hard his knuckles turned white. "Bella is not stupid. She ran because she was led to believe we were another mafia family. She didn't think anyone in the Costa family would know about the lake."

"Tomorrow…It was the earliest flight plan Alice could get. Fine!" He hung up.

"That sounded like it went well," Emmett mumbled sarcastically.

"Darth Vader's theme, really, Emmett?" Edward tossed his cell on the seat between us.

"It's fitting." Emmett rolled his eyes. "I take it Uncle Tony was pissed we all left."

"That's an understatement." Edward sighed. "He's pissed we left my mother defenseless."

"Was she hurt? Or did the Costas go there first?" I asked, worried I brought danger to his family.

"No. He's just very protective of her." Edward sighed.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Emmett added.

"What's that, pot?" Edward retorted. "He wasn't wrong. They could've shown up."

"You don't trust Garrett?" I asked.

Edward's jaw clenched. "Not fully. His story of Katrina checked out, but I'm still very wary."

"What about Heidi?" I asked.

"You've met Heidi, she's clueless." Emmett chuckled.

I smirked and shook my head. "She's more observant than you're giving her credit for. She noticed at the ball there were more girls our age than boys."

Jasper looked up from his phone and turned his head to me. "About how many?"

"Girls?" I shrugged. "To be honest I didn't notice until she said something. I would say about twenty girls, including her and me, and four guys, including Garrett."

Emmett whistled. "That's a lot of girls we need to rescue."

"I think …but I'm not positive…some of them were already married to the men there. I assumed they were trophy wives and never thought much of it. I never hung out at the club much." I started to feel sick.

"Do a lot of these girls wear pearl necklaces?" Edward asked.

"I don't know. A few…you could ask Heidi. I'm sure it's a detail she would've noticed. You're going to help her, right? Garrett mentioned she'd probably be married off, like a business deal."

"The best way to help Heidi would be to put Afton, her grandfather, and as many top men as we can behind bars or eliminate them," Jasper answered.

"You don't have a pearl necklace Dwyer gave you, do you?" Edward asked.

"I was given one at Christmas, but I hated it. It made me feel like an old lady. I left it in Florida. Garrett told me not to bring anything that Phil or my mother gave me. Why?" I asked.

"In our last conversation, Garrett said they kept track of the girls by those necklaces. Dad was paranoid we missed a tracking device on you," Edward explained.

I narrowed my eyes. "Was there a tracking device in the necklace you gave me? Is that how you found me so fast?"

Edward looked insulted. "No! I wouldn't do that to you."

"Sorry." I was contrite for jumping to conclusions.

"It was your dad who figured out where you might have gone. I still think they followed Jacob to where we were. The timing was too perfect," Jasper explained.

I still felt bad about the way I yelled at Jake earlier. He may have been trying to help, but him trying to control my decisions pissed me off. But I think it was my anger at Edward that got the better of me, and I took it out on Jake.

"We did check your belongings, and Dr. C. couldn't find anything that look like an implant device. Have you gotten any dental fillings or vaccinations while living in Florida?" Jasper asked.

"Just flu shots. But I went through the campus walk-in clinics," I answered.

"It's unlikely that they implanted anything there. Did any of them hurt more than normal?" Jasper asked.

"No. Speaking of my dad. I know I can't see him, but can I call him? I bought a pay as you go phone at the airport." I really wanted to hear his voice.

"They could still pick up the call and trace it to the nearest phone tower. When we get to the hotel, I'll have Alice set you up on our phone. She'll be able to bounce the call to a far-off location," Jasper promised.

"Who is Alice?" I questioned. I had heard her name a few times now.

"Edward hasn't told you about Alice yet?" Emmett asked in surprise.

"No." I looked at Edward, wondering what he was keeping from me now.

"She's our tech wiz, basically," Edward answered.

"She's more than that," Emmett pressed, piquing my interest.

Was she Edward's new girlfriend or something? He had said there was no one.

"She would be fine with us telling Bella. In fact, she wants to meet her. So, it's better to prepare her beforehand," Jasper commented.

"I mentioned her earlier. She was the girl we found in James' basement. She's a bit of recluse. James scarred her body, so she's self-conscious about her appearance. She doesn't trust many people, only our family," Edward explained.

"Mainly Jasper. He's her honeybunny," Emmett taunted.

I couldn't help but giggle when Jasper turned bright pink. That would explain why his nose was in his phone. It also probably explained why he wasn't around much in the following summers either.

"Seriously. Sometimes I think you haven't aged past the fifth grade." Jasper punched him in the arm.

"Hey, I'm driving," Emmett complained before punching back.

I snickered at their antics before catching Edward's eye. He gave me a small smile in return. He still looked exhausted, having only slept maybe ten minutes.

"I'm sorry my running got you in trouble." I felt guilty for making trouble for those trying to help me.

"Not your fault. We should've been more honest, and not with only you. If Rose knew the full extent, she wouldn't have helped you leave. Normally, if it's an abusive boyfriend, we help get the girl to a new place to start over with an alias. That's what Rose thought she was doing," Edward told me before stifling a yawn.

"You should go back to sleep," I suggested.

"Naw. I'll sleep in the hotel," he disagreed.

I heard Emmett sigh heavily before turning up the radio. The rest of the ride was made with small talk. Edward stubbornly stayed awake the whole ride.

A/N: Some excitement in this chapter. Also, a little more insight into Alice and also Edward's father.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.