Chapter Twenty Eight

Emmett

I really wanted to find something we could use in the King's business accounts because despite agreeing to Carlisle's creative accounting idea, I knew that doing so was easier said than done. I wasn't an accountant, I didn't even know how to start falsifying accounts well enough to deceive a forensic accountant. Hell, I hardly knew how to spell it!

Edward and I talked about it and he agreed with me that if we couldn't find anything we would have to tell Carlisle. Maybe he knew someone who could help us if we had to become 'creative'.

We found a few rather interesting expense claims but nothing that would get the business closed down or the King's into serious trouble. It was schoolboy like cheating. Hell, his own accountant would probably throw them out before audit time.

Sighing I sat back and pushed the mouse off the pad in a gesture of surrender.

"I'll go fetch Carlisle. He'll have to find another way, Emmett."

I nodded feeling as if we were letting Bella down and frustrated because of it.

"Yeah, I wish I was better at this crap."

Then as Edward got to the door I stopped him.

"Hey, Edward. Come back. Look at this."

A message had popped up on the screen. It was short, just a smiley face, what looked like a classical building of some sort and a long string of numbers. It was signed, "Hope this helps. Alice xx"

We both stared at it then I wrote down the string of numbers.

"What do you think it is?"

I shrugged, "Well if it's from Alice then she probably knows what we're trying to do. Which means it must be something that will allow us to find the King's dirty laundry if there is any."

Edward studied it, "Well, it's not a bank account number. It's too long."

I thought about it, "A safe deposit box?"

"You need a key for one of those, Emmett."

"How about a password-protected file on their business computer?"

"Unlikely, they're usually a mixture of numbers and letters. Besides, I didn't see anything like that while we were looking. Did you?"

"Nope. Everything looked straight and above board to me."

I could have screamed in frustration, "Why didn't Alice tell us what it means? I hate it when she decides to act enigmatically. A simple, 'this will get you into a secret bank account where they hide all their dirty laundry' would have been nice."

Edward stared at the message again, "Maybe it's the code to get into a storage container. That could be what the building means. Not a bank."

"Or maybe there's a safe in the King house. It could be a combination number."

"As long as that? I doubt it. Safe combinations are usually much shorter."

"Well, you can come up with something better then, genius."

Sasha wandered over and peered over our shoulders, "How's it going, boys?"

Edward pointed to the screen, "Our dear sister, Alice, has decided to help us out but as usual she hasn't given us everything. Just a cryptic message with a string of numbers. We're trying to work out what it means."

Sasha smiled, "That's easy."

We both looked at her in amazement, "You know what it is?"

"Of course. It's a Swiss bank account number. They are 21 digits long and the little building with a sign on it stands for a bank."

"Oh, right. We thought of a bank first but the string was too long for a US bank account. So then we thought it meant that the number would lead us to the proof. I didn't realize that symbol actually meant a bank."

"Does this mean you can find something now? Only I really dislike the Kings and the sooner I can say goodbye to those scumbags the better."

"Hopefully, if I can get into the account. Mind you, proof they have money stashed away doesn't necessarily mean they are doing anything criminal. We need a paper trail."

"Maybe if you find out what is in the account it will lead you further. You know, depositors, that kind of thing."

"Good thinking Sasha. We could have used you earlier."

She smiled, "Thank you, Emmett."

Edward took her hand, "We'll go talk to Carlisle, let him know where we've gotten to. Do you think you can find a way into that account, Emmett?"

I frowned, "Swiss bank accounts are notoriously difficult but their security relies heavily on the number being kept secure. I'll see what I can do. Who knows, maybe Alice will send us another message."

Edward

Sasha and I explained to Carlisle what Alice had sent us and he looked relieved. Then I realized he'd been as anxious as us, but had hidden it better!

"I was beginning to think the Kings were squeaky clean, however doubtful that may appear. If they have a Swiss bank account they might well have a deposit box too. If we could find that, we could possibly get our hands on some incriminating documentation."

Sasha cut in, "Sorry, but I think you're wrong Carlisle. I know the type of people the Kings are. They might keep any ill-gotten gains in a Swiss bank account but any proof of how they gained it will be closer to hand. Bruce King is a hands-on kinda man. I'd put money on him having the paperwork somewhere either in the house or in the apartment where he keeps his mistress."

We both stared at her, "A mistress? How do you know that he has a mistress?"

She shrugged, "I listened to his phone conversations. He's not terribly discreet or at least I guess he had no reason to suspect his calls could be overheard through two closed doors."

"Do you know where this apartment is?"

"No, but he's meeting her for dinner tonight. Magda is going to a fundraiser with her friends and he's supposed to be working late at the office. Ironically getting ready for the annual audit. All we have to do is to follow him there."

Carlisle beamed and put a hand on her shoulder, "Thank you, Sasha. You've been a great help."

"Actually, Carlisle, I wanted to ask you something. Do you think if I could sow some dissension between Magda and Bruce it might help? I mean, if they start to distrust each other it might lead to the evidence we're looking for. They seem very close but if one suspected the other was keeping things secret it could cause a rift."

"It might, Sasha. It's certainly worth a try if you don't mind, but can I suggest you do it without using your gift?

Sasha stared at him, "You don't want me to use my 'gift' do you?"

"Sasha, my dear, you must do whatever you want. I just think that keeping your gift under control is a good idea. Look how much easier it's been for all of us."

I was about to step in but Sasha shook her head, "No, Edward. Carlisle is right. The longer I can control it the better. I'll just use my feminine wiles instead. That should be fun. I might gate crash Magda's fundraiser. She did invite me and although I refused I'm sure she won't mind me just turning up."

When I saw how much it pleased her to be able to help I couldn't say anything, even though I thought she was going overboard with her offer of help.

I agree that Bella had been badly treated by someone but was it our job to put right the wrong? Yes, I had offered to help and I genuinely felt for my ex-girlfriend but I didn't want Sasha and Bella to become good friends. That would be altogether too weird.

Jasper

Bella was almost back to her old self after a week at the ranch. She got on well with both Charlotte and Peter and had even had her first riding lesson care of my friend. It was something I had wanted to do, teach Bella to ride, but Peter had offered and I had stepped back, and when I saw Bella laughing and relaxed on Star's back I knew I'd made the right decision.

Even though Bella understood that my friends, now our friends, were human hunters she never questioned or judged them. Perhaps she understood that the Cullens were unusual vampires and not the norm. Either way, she was perfectly happy in their company, even when Peter joked he was peckish and would Bella mind if he snacked on her. Charlotte was horrified and even I thought he'd gone too far but Bella handled it beautifully telling him no, that he could do with losing some weight!

I know she was concerned about what Carlisle had discovered, we were both interested to find out what they had planned but out here it didn't seem to matter quite so much.

One afternoon we all went for a ride to the creek where Charlotte laid out a picnic for Bella and Peter and I made use of the canoe he had built. I could see the girls sitting together on the blanket chatting like old friends and smiled. It was good to be part of a couple, two couples who were all friends. If I'd been here with Alice either she or Peter would have been in the creek by now!

Of course, Peter took advantage of my distraction to tip me into the water then paddled away fast cackling maniacally with glee.

I got my own back by swimming underwater and coming up under the canoe grabbing one of his arms and pulling him under with me.

"Boys, play nicely, please. Remember you don't have to prove to Bella what a pair of idiots you really are."

Bella giggled, "Are they always like this?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I despair sometimes. It's like running a kindergarten when the mood takes them."

"You're all really good friends though, and that's nice."

"Yes, I know what you mean, but we've been through a lot together and I owe the Major my life."

"Really? What happened?"

I saw Charlotte shoot me a nervous glance before replying but Bella would know the whole sorry story eventually, so why not now?

"Well, you know about Maria I take it?"

Bella nodded as Peter and I joined the girls on the bank.

"Not on the blanket, please, you're both dripping wet. You can change into dry clothes. I packed some in the saddlebags."

While Peter and I dried off and dressed in fresh clothes Charlotte continued.

"I was one of Maria's rejects. She only kept her newborns for a year or so and then killed them and made some more. Only those she thought would be useful survived and I wasn't one of those. She didn't like it that I had formed a relationship with Peter and she hated that Peter and the Major were friends. Maria was always jealous. She liked to think that the Major was hers exclusively.

Anyway, that's another story. When it came time for the cull she indicated I was one of those to be killed. The Major knew how much I meant to Peter and he arranged for us to escape."

"So, Jasper was supposed to kill you?"

Charlotte was becoming nervous, so I stepped in, "Yes. I was the one Maria always instructed to cull the unwanted newborns."

Bella took my hand and pulled me down beside her, "That's awful. It must have been torture for you."

I smiled, this was typical Bella, worrying about the monster and his feelings, not the poor people I was killing.

"I was the one who had turned most of them anyway so I guess it went full circle. But, Peter was my only friend so I had to help Charlotte for his sake."

"And what about you? Did Maria find out you'd let them escape?"

"Of course, she was no fool."

"What did she do?"

"Let's just say it was rather unpleasant for me for some time after the escape."

"And then you ran too?"

Peter snorted, "Eventually, but we had to go back a few times to persuade him."

Bella gasped, "Wasn't that dangerous?"

"Too fucking right it was, but the Major couldn't decide whether he wanted to break free or not. That bitch had her talons into him so fucking deep."

Bella frowned, turning to me, "You and Maria were a couple?"

I sighed, "It's complicated. She turned me, and she valued my abilities. When you're a newborn everything is confusing and she was the one thing I found was solid. I thought she loved me. At first, we were like a couple…"

"Yeah, the devil and her dark angel."

Charlotte hit Peter, "Don't interrupt."

He subsided mumbling to himself but Bella hardly noticed.

"Then eventually I realized that she valued my abilities because they gave her what she wanted. Control over the other covens, the other armies. They were afraid of me and by association, of her. She used sex to control me and I fell for it."

"But eventually you saw what was happening and then left?"

I nodded, "Yes, eventually I understood and left when Peter and Charlotte came back. Charlotte told you that she owes me her life. It's actually the other way around, I owe her mine. Peter too."

Bella leaned closer to me and I felt understanding and pity for me. She wasn't disgusted by my past as I was. Bella understood and forgave just as Peter and Charlotte had. I was one very lucky man.