A/N… No, you're not hallucinating. It's really another Mercward chapter. See me at the bottom. I'll let you get to it.

~o~H&E~o~

Chapter 32

BELLA

I awoke in our bed alone, but I could hear the whole house coming alive out in the main part of Aunt Kate's house. At some point in the wee hours, Edward had been replaced by Sammy. I'd barely cracked an eye when he'd done it, but I'd pulled our boy to me, falling asleep again.

Stretching, I noted how sore every muscle was. My ankle gave a twinge, but I needed to get up and get back to work. I sat up on the side of the bed, gingerly putting weight on my foot to see if I could even make it to the bathroom alone.

There was a small ruckus just outside the bedroom door, and I grinned at both of my kids as they came barreling into the room.

"Mom! Look what Dad found!" Sammy said excitedly, and in his arms was the mother cat.

"He said she was right at the gate to the trails," Bethy added, and both my kids looked like they'd just been reaffirmed in their belief that their dad was still ten feet tall and bulletproof – their own superhero.

The poor mother cat looked a little roughed up but content in my son's arms. I noted a bandage had been applied to a front paw, but otherwise, she was a survivor. And I had a suspicion that Edward had specifically gone out this morning to find her, come hell or high water. There wasn't much that we could ask of him that he wouldn't simply hand over if he were able.

"That's awesome!" I said, wincing when I tried to stand.

"You want help?" Bethy offered, and I nodded, kissing the side of her head when she let me lean on her.

"Thanks, pretty girl," I muttered against her hair. "Where's your dad?"

"In the kitchen. Want me to get him?" Sammy asked, and I nodded his way.

He left, taking the momma cat with him, but Bethy helped me the rest of the way into the bathroom. She left once I was able to use the vanity to limp to the toilet. I contemplated a shower, but I simply didn't feel like busting my ass naked in the tub, so I opted to wash my face in the sink before brushing my teeth.

"Sweetness?" I heard on the other side of the door, and he cracked it open a little. "You okay?"

"I feel like you landed the chopper on me," I grumbled, smirking at his sweet chuckle.

"C'mere," he said, scooping me up and setting me on the edge of the bed. He went into the bathroom, rummaging around in the medicine cabinet, and then reappeared, kneeling at my feet. "Here, love. Take these. Did you want a shower?"

I shook my head and waved it away, swallowing the ibuprofen with the cup of water he was offering. "No, there's a fear that I'll slip and fall all naked and shit."

"Never gonna happen," he said, barely containing his amusement at my crankiness. He reached over to the nightstand and picked up his mug of coffee. "Here, baby. You don't even have to steal it."

I laughed softly, leaning in to kiss his forehead. "That's the fun of it, Edward."

"Maybe," he allowed with a beautiful smile.

"I see you're still Superman in our kids' eyes – able to find lost cats in a single morning," I teased him, taking a sip of coffee as he checked my ankle wrap.

He barked a laugh, shrugging a shoulder. "I-I h-honestly d-didn't th-think I-I'd f-find h-her," he stuttered sweetly, and I lifted his face so his eyes met mine. "O-Or i-if I-I d-did, th-then i-it w-would've b-been b-bad n-news."

"And how did I end up with our son in our bed?" I asked him, raking my fingers through his hair.

He smiled, and I noticed it was a bit sad. "I was up at like four. He got up for a kitten feeding, and I helped him. He was… He was struggling with yesterday's events. He needed me for a bit, but he really wanted to sleep with you."

"Well, thank you. Our youngest is super cuddly…like his dad."

Edward chuckled and nodded. "You want help getting dressed? Because there's breakfast, and I'm pretty sure Alice has already plugged herself into a USB port."

I laughed, saying, "Yeah." I leaned in, pressing my forehead to his. "Love you. And this day already feels daunting."

His nose wrinkled, but he pressed his lips to mine. "Love you, sweetness. C'mon, I'll help put clothes on you, which really goes against my desire to take clothes off you."

Giggling, I kissed him again then sat up and took another sip of coffee. He helped me get dressed and carried me to the dining room. Once I'd eaten breakfast, I was carried again to the computer room, and he set my ankle on another chair to keep it elevated.

He knelt by my chair, saying, "I'll be going out with them when they question Kim."

"I figured. Let us know if he tells you anything."

"Ten-four, sweetness." He dropped a heavy kiss to my forehead and left the computer room.

I gazed around the room. It seemed every monitor had something on it. Alice was blindly shoveling eggs into her mouth as she glared at her own screens. Mack was flipping through some security footage, but I didn't recognize where it was. The only one who was missing was Rose, but she was probably still sleeping, and honestly, no one would fault her for taking a break from this shit since her announcement last night.

"Okay, Alice. Hit me. What've we got?"

"Let's see, let's see, let's see," she chanted softly. "I'm still running through Kim's thumb drive. Just from the types of files I see, it looks like a money and paper trail. If that's the case, then maybe we can follow it." She gestured toward Mack with her fork. "Mack's scanning through Cho's Seoul office security footage just prior to Cho arriving in Seattle. If we can put Kim with Cho before Seattle, then we may be able to prove they were working together."

"But you think the money is the thing to follow."

Her smile my way was slightly evil. "Oh, yeah. Money is always the thing to follow."

I laughed. "Except for your money."

"What money?" she countered, raising an eyebrow my way.

My head fell back with my laugh, because after working with her this long, I was damned certain she had that two million and change from the NYSE hidden somewhere.

"God, pixie, I love you."

She slid a piece of paper my way and said, "You start on Kim's background. Eleazar has opened up all the things for us to use."

"Excellent." I nodded and started my own work.

I started working backwards, starting with his alias of Chung Sun-Woo. It seemed Kim used that name to travel, since he was wanted just about every-fucking-where. I went back two years to when we were running all over Siberia and Russia for nuclear weapons to get Carlisle back. I cross referenced that time period and George Stefan, the underground weapons dealer Kim was supposedly supposed to pay.

"Well, what'choo know…" I muttered about an hour into our work. "Kim was in Moscow at the same time we were."

"No shit?" I heard Mickey say from behind me.

"Yeah. Where's Dean? I think it's time he got back to work," I said, pointing to the screen. "I'd like to know how his side of shit went down."

Everyone paused what they were doing to look my way.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Alice whispered. "I totally forgot about Dean in all this shit. You sure Edward didn't shoot him at some point?"

I barked a laugh. "No, he didn't. It took a bit of convincing for Edward to realize he'd do the same damn thing if the roles were reversed." I looked to Mickey. "Go get him. Let's see if he can earn some points back."

Mickey stepped out of the computer room but wasn't gone long. She led Dean back into the room with her, and I noted he looked just about like the rest of us, beaten and sore and still exhausted.

"Have a seat," I said, pointing to the chair next to mine. "We should chat. I've got questions."

He looked a little frightened, wary, but he did as I asked. "Before we… I'd just like to apologize again."

I shook my head, holding up my hand, and everyone in the computer room came to a stop. "Since I was the one who figured out that your family was wrapped up in all this… Dean, you know I get why you did it. But once you saw us, worked with us, understood just what kind of people surrounded you, you should've spoken up. You should've said something as soon as the name Kim Min-Jun entered the picture."

He gazed down at the floor and nodded. "I'd been fighting him so long. I divorced my wife in order to protect my family. He just kept coming. He killed every member of my Raider team, and I knew I was next, that my wife and son were next."

I sighed, rubbing my face. "I know, and you didn't trust us. But I feel you used us, Dean. And in doing so, there were too many fucking lives lost. My family and children were in the building and here, the people at Twi Tech were assassinated on the stage of the auditorium, first responders, military personnel… I lost two men I considered family. Boris and Felix…" I trailed off, getting a little angry. "Honestly, Dean, I have no idea what Edward's opinion is concerning you or what happened or your future. We haven't even discussed you, in all honesty."

Glancing out the window, I saw my kids playing with the dogs, activity around both tents, and Carlisle in a deep discussion with his son. And the sight of those two was what caused me to say the next thing.

"There's not one of us on this property that hasn't done something to stir up global bullshit. Not one. Maybe Aunt Kate, but she's a force all her own anyway."

Mack and Alice laughed, and Mickey grinned behind Dean, who smirked a little.

"Honestly. We are all guilty of causing some sort of fucking mayhem that comes back to bite us. All of us would have understood." There were hums and nods of agreement in the room. "I interviewed you because Alec thought highly of you. I hired you because I saw that you could bring something different to the table. I need that today, Dean. Whatever Edward decides, we'll discuss it, but for right now, I need your help to find out just who is pulling Kim's strings. Because I fucking promise you, he's not in charge."

Dean's brow furrowed a little, but he nodded and scooted closer to the computer. "Okay, what do you want to know?"

I clicked open a few windows on the screen and pointed. "Two years ago, Moscow. Carlisle was held hostage for the return of nuclear weapons. We not only had to locate the bomb casings, but we had to basically steal the uranium. We'd been unknowingly put in a race against George Stefan, the underground arms dealer. Tell me what you know about Kim's deal with Stefan."

Dean studied the screen, nodding. "My Raiders team was trying to locate some assholes who were attacking businesses and innocent civilians in Seoul. We'd been told that MI-6 had a lead on a weapons dealer…Stefan. They had an operative undercover."

Mickey huffed a laugh. "Nicholas. That sweet-looking Brit from MI-6."

We all chuckled, and I turned to Dean. "He'd been undercover for three years when we finally killed Stefan. He actually ended up Kim's contact for the sale."

"Yeah, well, our job was to monitor Kim to see where he was getting his weapons, because he didn't always use North Korean military weapons. Sometimes he used things that were untraceable so he could sneak into South Korea to bomb or attack whatever target he wanted." Dean rubbed his face and shook his head. "See, we knew he was getting bolder and bolder."

Alice's voice piped up. "IGOR, show me all South Korean terrorist attacks, going back as far as three years ago."

Yes, Miss Alice.

On one of the bigger screens, a map of Korea popped up. Several red dots marked the spots of attacks.

I tilted my head at the map. "IGOR, how many of those were owned by Twi Tech at any point in time?"

None, Miss Bella.

Wrinkling my nose at that, I asked, "IGOR, how many of those locations were owned by Cho Jin-Sang or his company?"

Twenty-two out of the thirty attacks were owned by Cho Jin-Sang or his company, CJ Corporation.

"IGOR, show those attacks only."

Yes, Miss Bella.

The remaining red dots were all over Seoul. I wanted to see a pattern, but that wasn't my forte.

"Alice, come look at this. What do you see?" I asked her, shifting a little so she could roll my way.

Her gaze scanned over the noted attacks on Cho's businesses. "Cell phone, cable, accounting firms…" she muttered to herself. "Not really random, but trying to look random. And finally, Cho's building." She turned to Mack. "Check the security footage for this date, Mack."

"Got it." Mack scanned through the footage. "Looks damn similar to everything else."

She was right – attack from within, air coverage from outside, disciplined soldiers in formations. She started over and over from different locations inside the building.

"Now, what do we have here…" Mack sang, glancing over at the rest of us. "Seems like Kim paid old Cho a visit the day of that attack. Doesn't look hostile, doesn't look threatening, and sure doesn't look like the hostage-type bullshit we all just came out of."

"And when was this?" I asked, leaning closer.

"Oh…about the time you guys were killing every-damn-body in the North Pole area, specifically George Stefan," Alice stated, glancing my way. "And this attack seems to be the first one in Seoul. All the rest of these attacks came after."

"Oh… Okay, then," I breathed, rubbing my temple to think. "What do you want to bet that the fifty million for those nukes was funded by Cho?"

The room came to a standstill.

I pointed to the other attacks in Seoul, saying, "This… This shit was smoke screen or cover up, or hell, maybe even insurance scams. But this…this attack on the building was to make Cho look like a fucking victim."

"Okay, okay, okay," Alice chanted, nodding a little. "Maybe we need to see just how far back Cho's relationship with North Korea goes. We didn't delve deeper than his business relationship with Carlisle."

"Maybe we do need to follow the money," I surmised to myself. "Send me everything from that thumb drive. And I need to go tell Carlisle and Edward what questions to ask."

"Yup, yup, yup," Alice sang.

I got up, hobbling through the house to the front door. My ankle was still weak, but at least I could walk on it. I motioned to one of the guards just outside the tent to go get someone from inside, because I damn well wasn't walking in there. I could hear the struggling, the groans of pain, and the harsh voices.

I sat down on the porch steps to wait.

~o~H&E~o~

EDWARD

Leaning back against the post behind me, I waited until Eleazar strapped Kim to a table. So far, the asshole had been passive, despite the long nights of no sleep, the epic ass kicking I gave him two days prior, and the blaring music he'd had to endure.

Once he'd seen that every last man he'd had was either dead or captive, he'd stopped fighting, stopped struggling against us. He sat with more patience than we'd expected.

My dad was setting up to question him with electric shocks. He'd always made a show of taping the wires to skin, adjusting the battery, and pulling on thick gloves.

Just as he was about to step up to start his interrogation, one of El's guards stepped into the tent.

"Cullen?"

Dad and I glanced up.

"Bella needs you both."

I met Dad's gaze, and we immediately reacted. Dad tugged the gloves back off and followed me outside to see that my girl had only made it as far as the porch steps.

"Sweetness?" I asked, kneeling in front of her.

"Okay, so you guys need to focus on a specific avenue of questioning. We found something I think you should see before you…" She waved a hand toward the tent. "Before you do what you do."

Dad snorted at her dismissal of the whole tent. "Sure, sweetheart. What did you find?"

"Two years ago, Kim was in Moscow at the same time we were. And then later while we were removing George Stefan from the North Pole, Kim attacked Cho's building…while he was in it…without hostages. Like having a fucking cup of coffee upstairs while the lobby was on fire. They essentially set it up to make Cho look like a victim. And then Kim 'attacked' several of Cho's properties."

I glanced over to my dad. "Hmm, maybe it's time to go chat with Cho. With Eleazar's consent, of course."

Dad grinned. "I'm sure we'd get consent." He looked back to Bella. "Anything else, sweetheart?"

Bella shook her head. "No, I'm about to follow the paper trail on Kim's thumb drive, but I have an ugly suspicion that the fifty million that Kim was going to use to pay George Stefan for those nukes was funded by Cho."

"Oh, hell," I said through a deep sigh. "If you're right, and fuck, I trust that gut instinct of yours, then Dad, you've been duped by your friend." I shot a look to my dad, who was nodding.

"Yeah, well… Let's see if Kim can corroborate this bit of intel." Dad leaned in and kissed Bella's forehead. "Let me know what else you find," he said before heading back inside the tent.

"Okay," she said, gazing back to me and cupping my face. "Before you run away, we need to talk about Dean soon. Right now, I'm using him, putting his ass to work, but you and I need to talk about him."

Frowning, I nodded. "I know. There's a part of me that completely understands. Fuck, sweetness, I've done the shit he's done just to get my family back together. I-I'd f-fucking d-do i-it a-again." I took a deep breath and let it out. "And honestly, that is the only thing that is keeping me from putting a bullet in him."

"I know," she soothed, taking my hat off in order to rake her fingers through my hair. "Edward, in his own way, he did his damnedest to protect us at every turn. I've watched footage from when Kim had us in Carlisle's office, and he fought with us until he couldn't. I'm not defending him, but like you, I understand where it stemmed from."

"But?" I asked, grinning when she huffed a soft laugh.

"No. No buts. This is just a decision you and I have to make together."

Leaning in, I kissed her just because I needed it. "Okay. We'll see how it goes over the next day or so as we start to clean up all this fucking bullshit. And I mean all of it… Here at Aunt Kate's and at Twi Tech." I sighed, shaking my head and then kissing her one more time. "I don't hate the guy, Bella. I'm… He's got to live with these events due to his decisions. And I understand there's a part of him that isn't fucking sorry, that he'd set the world on fire again just to get his wife and son back. I'd be a fucking hypocrite if I judged him on that shit, love."

I shrugged a shoulder because it was the truth.

"Okay," Bella sang, grinning at my chuckle. "Probationary period, it is."

Laughing, I stood up, offering her my hand to help her. "Fine, go with that for now, Bella."

She nodded, leaning into me for another kiss. "Okay, go…do that thing you do."

"You need help?"

"No, baby. I got this," she said through a grunt.

Once I made sure she was making it okay, I turned back to the tent. My dad was already running with the questions that Bella had given him.

It took ten minutes of electric shocks for Kim to spill that he wasn't working for the North Korean military. It took several gallons of water during waterboarding for him to admit that he'd been working on coming to the US for two years. Two fingernails removed gave us Cho's part in all of this, which was the financial backing. But it was the proof that we'd not only found his son and removed him into safety that sent Kim Min-Jun over the edge. He'd lost his last remaining foothold, specifically over Ji-Yun.

Once Kim was blindfolded and the headphones back on his ears, Eleazar faced Dad and me. "We'll set up an interrogation of Cho in the next day or so. I'm going to take Kim to McChord to hold for transport. Honestly, unless the girls can find concrete proof of a money transaction, Cho may just go back to Seoul with his family."

"Fuck," Dad said through a disgusted sigh. "Well, give them a bit to sort through it."

Eleazar grinned. "They can absolutely take their time. I have more faith in them than most of my people."

Chuckling, I nodded. "What about Ji-Yun?"

El grimaced. "She's wanted in several countries, and she seems content knowing that her baby is safe. I get why she followed this asshole, but I don't know how much I can sway the powers that be."

"Or she may escape," Dad said, but it sounded more like a suggestion.

"Mm, there's always that possibility," Eleazar agreed with a grin. "Who knows?"

I cracked the fuck up because those two men did whatever the fuck they wanted.

"Once again, I'm blissful in my fucking ignorance with you two assholes," I muttered, grinning when they both cracked up. "Seriously. I don't even like to contemplate the shit you've set into motion over the years."

Dad gripped my shoulder as Eleazar merely smiled. "Fair enough. Now, am I to assume that you want to be in on Cho's questioning?"

"Oh, yeah. Bella, too. I'm willing to bet she's gonna have questions of her own once she's sorted through all of that intel," I said, making my way toward the tent's opening.

Eleazar nodded, rubbing his face. "Then maybe once we're done with Cho at McChord, you guys can make your appearance at Twi Tech."

Dad's nose wrinkled, but he nodded. "Yeah, that's gonna be a PR fucking nightmare. Not to mention the cleanup and reconstruction."

I pointed his way. "I fucking promise you, Jacob Black will be a problem now. He lost the mother of his son, and he not only acted like a motherfucking weasel while you were up there with Kim in your office, but he got his life threatened by just about everyone on my team. Just…be prepared for his bullshit."

Dad nodded. "Oh, I'm well aware of how he acted up there," he said with an evil grin. "But I'll handle it. What are your plans with Aunt Kate's barn?"

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I can rebuild it for her. Hell, with as much help as we have, I could probably clean up and get the frame up in a day or two if I had the supplies and tools, but most of that burned in the barn."

"Do it. I'll buy you whatever you need. Just… We owe her at least that," Dad muttered, wincing a little at just how much chaos we'd brought to Kate's doorstep.

Nodding, I smirked. "Fine, I'll head into Anchorage today with Emmett. We'll get the tools, order the building supplies and the construction dumpster. We'll hold off on the landscaping until we're done." I waved my dad's laughter away. "Fucking grenades in the goddamn front yard. This shit was too fucking close…" I muttered, shaking my head as I left the tent and headed into the house.

The only sounds in the computer room were typing and mouse clicks. Everyone was studying something different on their screen, and no one was saying a word. Bella was at the terminal at the far end, her foot propped up in a chair.

"Hey," she said, glancing up at me when I knelt beside her. "How'd it go?"

"Well, you were right. He was working for Cho," I told her, and everyone stopped what they were doing to listen. "El's going to transfer him to McChord to hold him, and he's going to set up a time to interview Cho."

"I want in," she said, and I smiled.

"I figured, but here's the problem, sweetness," I started, glancing around the room. "If we can't tie Cho's financial connection to Kim, then he'll just…go home."

"Well, shit, shit, shit," Alice chanted, her brow furrowing. "There might be a problem then, Edward, because everything I'm following is anonymous. Every wire transfer, every off-shore account, every damn dime has no trace."

There was a small part of me that wanted to tease her about untraceable money, but this shit was too serious. My father's work associate played us all, tried to kill us all, and succeeded in the deaths of several Twi Tech employees and two good friends, not to mention military personnel, first responders, and some of Benny's FBI men.

"I have a sneaky suspicion that your dad won't care if we can connect Cho to all of this," Bella stated, shrugging a shoulder.

"Mm, you might be right. And as far as I'm concerned, I'd be willing to end it for him, should Cho slip through El's fingers legally. But I don't need fucking legal."

Mickey's snort was loud and humorless. "You got that shit right."

There were murmurs of agreement around the room, including my wife's angry nod.

I raised an eyebrow at Bella. "Sweetness, that would be a black op of the deepest, darkest proportions."

"And?" she practically growled through gritted teeth. "The amount of death and destruction he rained down on all of us? Are you kidding me? No, Edward… I want in if that's the only option we have."

"Fair enough." I leaned in to kiss her forehead and then her lips. "I'm going to Anchorage to order supplies to rebuild the barn. I've got to replace all my tools too. You ladies have Eleazar's complete confidence that you can find something. He figures if you can't do it, then it's fucking stone-cold fact."

I chuckled at Mack and Alice, who gave each other a high-five. Leaning in, I gave Bella another kiss.

"I'm taking Emmett with me, and we'll be back in a few hours. I want you and Alec and Jasper to take it fucking easy. Nothing more than this shit you're doing, sweetness. I'm not kidding." I pointed to her ankle, which was still propped up.

There were chuckles throughout the room.

"There was some sort of sweet concern in there somewhere," Bella said with a soft laugh, grasping my face and kissing me again. "I hear you, baby. We'll keep sorting through this stuff. You be careful."

As I left the computer room calling for Emmett, I heard Bella's voice.

"Okay, let's start from the beginning. We'll track every dime, every call, and every text and email."

There was a part of me that wanted to stay and help her, because we'd had so many close calls, but we weren't done fighting. Only the fighting this time was for information, and the girls were so fucking good at sorting through every bit of intel. We needed to connect Cho to Kim Min-Jun. If we couldn't tie them together on paper, then I had a feeling we'd follow that bastard back to Seoul.

When I stepped out onto the front porch, my gaze drifted to my kids as they played with Lock and Load. They'd not only been in Twi Tower when then shit started, but they'd been here, in the barn that was now ashes. And as I took in the destruction at Aunt Kate's, I wasn't sure I'd rather let the fucker think he got away with it. We'd come at him when he least expected it – in silence, in darkness, and with precision.

There would be no remorse.

~o~H&E~o~

A/N… As one of my prereaders said, Edward's out for blood. Hmm, yes. Definitely.

My focus right now is finishing this story. There's two chapters left – the last chapter and the epi. Judas is next. But honestly, I'll work with whichever muse decides to speak. I would've had this done sooner, but I was out sick with Covid in January for a week. Since then, all I've wanted was sleep. But I survived, and I'm getting back to normal.

So until next time… Mooches, Deb ;)