Jasper looked at the entrance not too far away, trying to prepare himself for what was about to happen. While Carlisle and his family believed in their peaceful ways, Jasper was born and raised to be a soldier, and found what they were about to do far more natural.
But he could feel how uncomfortable Carlisle was beside him on the backseat of the car, his mixed emotions coming off in waves as this was against everything the good doctor believed in. But he knew it was better than taking another person's life, and their coven was in danger of being exposed at this point. Carlisle would simply have to live with what they were about to do.
But Jasper felt alive for once, energy bouncing off him in pure excitement knowing what they were about to do would be dangerous, but at the same time it made Jasper feel like he was able to do something useful.
Because Jasper rarely felt useful in his coven, but rather felt like a bother. As a human he had been useful in the army, and had even managed to be the youngest major in Texas. Then as a vampire he had been useful to Maria, training her army, and even getting rid of people as their newborn period started to fade.
But when Jasper joined the Cullen family he had gone from a useful soldier, to someone who caused far too much trouble for the whole family. It had been almost forty years since he joined, and he had gotten his thirst somewhat under control, but he was still seen as their newest member as he struggled with the thirst. Jasper didn't even want to think about all the slipups he had been at fault for through the years, and how his new family had to move location each time because of him. He had more than once threatened or tried to leave his new coven, but either Carlisle or Edward had convinced him to stay each time, and Jasper was in the end thankful.
Because he did love the Cullens as his own family, and leaving Maria to join Carlisle and his coven had been the best decision he could make. At times he truly felt like giving up and going back to his former diet, because Jasper did miss the taste of sweet human blood, but he admired Carlisle and his lifestyle too much to disappoint him.
But for once Jasper felt useful as they parked Carlisle's Mercedes in an area close to Seattle, all of them looking at the building to their right. It really wasn't anything special, just an ordinary apartment complex with a seperate entrance to the basement. Jasper would go as far as to say the building was rather boring, and the people in it smelled nothing like food, all of them sleeping at this point according to Jasper's hearing and gift.
But he didn't care about them, as he tried to focus on the heartbeat in the basement, knowing one person still was awake, and according to Edward he was playing on some kind of online casino, wasting his money. Or rather their money.
His name was Riley Biers, and although it wasn't him they were searching for, he was a part of the chain. A chain that hopefully led to a female, whom to Jasper smelled wonderful. Not like food, but something else he couldn't quite describe, although he hadn't said anything about this to the others. But since he stepped into their own house, her scent had been present in his mind and he had been saddened as it began to disappear, although he couldn't explain his own feelings.
But right now he couldn't think about this unknown woman, as they had another job to do first.
It hadn't taken long to track down Riley, as Emmett and Edward had searched through most of the shops near Seattle and Port Angeles, and at six in the evening they had managed to find one of their missing jewels. It had been in a small pawn shop in Seattle, and to Emmett's relief it was Rosalie's anniversary gift, and the Pawn shop owner had brought it a few hours before. And through his mind Edward had quickly gathered a description of the man who had sold this, along with a name.
Riley Biers.
And with this information Emmett had gone back home to inform the family, while Edward had continued to search through several shops, but nothing else had been found.
With Riley's full name, Jasper had been able to search for him through several databases, including some he had hacked himself into, and had after a few hours gathered everything he could about this Riley. An only child in his late twenties, who had lived in a basement outside Seattle for years, with no actual job or income. But from what Jasper could gather this Riley did have a gambling debt, which seemed to shrink and grow constantly, and with this information Jasper was positively sure he was the one who had sold their jewels.
And somehow Riley Biers was going to lead them to this woman, who was their real problem. Edward had already voiced his concern that this man might know something as well, and so they would have to check somehow, but so far nothing had suggested he knew anything about vampires. At least Edward couldn't read anything in his mind after following this man for the evening, while the rest of them tried to come up with a good approach.
Because a small problem had arisen during Jasper's research of this man. He was from Forks. Born and raised in the small town Carlisle had chosen to move his family to, and his parents still lived there, which meant Riley knew about the Cullens. It explained how information of their houses' location somehow had been given on, but it also meant a higher risk of exposing themselves if something went wrong.
And it had made Jasper's family argue until midnight, as they hadn't been sure how to approach Riley without revealing themself. Carlisle had at one point suggested they simply forgot about all of this, but Rosalie had kindly reminded him they needed to find this woman, as she might have seen too much. Rosalie had actually suggested killing this Riley after getting the information they required, but Carlisle had shut that idea down immediately.
And so they had to meet halfway.
"We do not hurt him under any circumstances!" Carlisle repeated once more as everyone got out of the car. All of them were dressed in dark hoodies, which were pulled up to hide their identity, and Jasper had to admit Carlisle looked out of place with it.
"Relax old man, we won't harm a single hair on his head," Emmett tried to calm his father, and was without doubt the most calm of all of them. Jasper knew Emmett took this seriously, but he could at the same time feel the excitement coming off him, which affected Jasper. Edward on the other hand didn't show much emotion, far too focused making sure no one saw them, and Carlisle was worried and anxious. This was against all of his morals in life.
"Riley is on his computer playing poker. If we take the front door he won't notice anything before it's too late," Edward told them all, and Jasper nodded feeling more than ready as he grabbed the strips in his pocket. "We have to get the bag over his head before he has a chance to turn around," Edward added, and no one said anything, but everyone understood.
And Jasper would almost say the action itself was boring, as it was four vampires against one human. Really it was over before it even began, as they all moved toward his private entrance, and with vampire speed they silently opened the door and barged into Riley's dirty disgusting basement.
The poor human didn't even have a chance to react, before Emmett had pulled the black hood over his head, and held him down while Jasper in a fast human pace wrapped strips around his wrists. Tying them to the armrests on his chair.
He didn't even have a chance to scream as Edward read his mind, and clamped his gloved hand over his mouth, making the poor human grunt and move his head in protest. But nothing worked.
"If I were you I would shut up and listen!" Jasper hissed, knowing he would have to take the word. Carlisle didn't have what it took to do these kinds of things, and in the end Emmett was too much of a soft teddy bear to do it, while Edward was busy gathering all the information he could.
And something about Jasper's voice seemed to terrify this man, as he instantly froze in fear, and for a moment Jasper was scared he had forgotten how to breathe. But this was the effect the predator inside any vampire had on a human, as they, like a deer caught in the headlight stopped. But he seemed to breathe once more as Edward removed his hand, knowing from Riley's thoughts that he wouldn't scream.
"I… I haven't done anything!" Riley stammered, and Jasper could feel the fear roll off him in waves, and used his ability to calm Riley somehow, although not enough to make him relax.
"Shh…" Jasper hushed in a dark voice. "Now I want you to listen carefully to what I am about to say, because I am not going to repeat myself," he told Riley, making sure he understood each word before he continued. "Good boy… now you don't know me, and you will never know me… but it happens to be so that you owe my boss a rather great deal of money," Jasper lied. It had been the best cover they could think of, as their plan was that Riley never got a chance to see them, or actually realize who they were. That would only blow their own cover in Forks, as they couldn't be associated with someone who kidnapped people. And the less Riley knew, the better.
"I… I… I can pay you!" Riley stammered, and didn't even question whenever their claim was true. From his thoughts they already knew he had debts right and left, and so it was a believable lie.
"I really doubt that," Jasper simply said, curious what Riley would offer.
"Yes! please!" Riley begged, and like most people he was willing to do almost anything. Jasper hadn't even threatened to kill him, but Riley knew what happened to people in these situations, and was willing to offer anything."Look, there is a shit ton of jewelry in a bag over there! You can just take them… i… I don't need them anyway!" he tried to plead, and Jasper exchanged a glance with Emmett who silently flashed over to the mentioned bag. Which was filled with most of their missing jewels, because Riley hadn't been able to sell much of them yet.
"I want cash!" Jasper demanded instead, although they were going to take the jewels no matter what, but he needed more information.
"Look I… shit I don't have that much cash! Just sell the jewels! Or let me sell them!" Riley tried to plead, and Jasper allowed his level of anxiety to rise, hoping it might help.
"That's not good enough… I want cash now!" Jasper pressed with a dark calm voice, which only made Riley panic even more. It actually surprised Jasper how easily Riley had given over everything, but he was hoping for more information.
"Look I don't… I don't have any!" Riley began to cry, and Jasper could feel the guilt coming off from Carlisle. "I already used them!" Riley sobbed, and Jasper could sense Carlisle was about to protest, but he held up his hand and made the doctor stop in his step forward.
"Then you must tell me where I can collect some money… you must know of someone who can pay your little debt now?" Jasper questioned, and knew he was starting to sound cruel, but it was necessary. "Perhaps mommy and daddy can help?" he suggested darkly, and Riley immediately protested as he had no intentions of getting his parents in trouble.
"Please no! Leave them alone! Please!" he cried, and began to twist his head forth and back, while Jasper allowed his level of fear to rise.
"Well then you better tell me of somewhere I can get my money!" he threatened, and Riley shook his head underneath the hood in protest.
"I… no!" he cried, and Jasper knew he was close to a breaking point, and only made his fear rise even more.
"Three…" he began to count, never telling what the consequences if he reached one was going to be, but he knew what psychological effect it had on people. "Two Riley…" he continued slowly, while the poor human began to breathe heavily, clearly thinking hard. "On…"
But before he managed to finish it, Riley seemed to break.
"Alice… you can get all your money from her!" he sobbed, and seemed to collapse in his chair, while all of the Cullen's exchanged a glance. Was Alice the woman they were looking for?
"Who is Alice?" Jasper questioned, a bit more rough than he wanted to sound, but Riley would tell them anything at this point.
"I don't know her full name! But she calls herself Alice… she… I know she lives at the Paradise Motel here in town, and she got all the cash you want! Please just don't hurt her!" he begged, and Jasper looked toward Edward who seemed to nod. Apparently this was the one they were looking for.
"He can't tell us more than this," Edward whispered in a very low voice, and Carlisle immediately opened his medical bag, looking for something to help poor Riley Biers sleep. And give them a chance to find this Alice before he could give her a call.
"You have been very helpful Riley," Jasper said, and finally allowed his emotions to calm down, while Carlisle rolled up his sleeve and administered a dose of something that would sedate him.
And as Riley fell asleep they untied him, and gently placed him on the bed, taking all their values with them.
The next stop: Paradise Motel.