16
Bella tried to lock her emotions away as Emmett landed the plane with a slight jarring. Edward had insisted that Emmett could handle the plane on his own. She could tell he had been freaked out by her nightmare. Hell, she was, too, and she had lived through it. She hated that she had lost control. For a year she had been able to keep her feelings locked away, focusing instead on keeping Alice safe.
"Garrett's going to be waiting for us inside the office," Edward said as he unhooked her seatbelt. He unlatched his own and stood up, offering Bella his hand. "Just a heads up, but he's kind of rough looking."
"How so?" she asked as she stood.
Edward pressed his lips together. "He has scars. Lots of them."
"Oh."
Emmett and Rose lead them off the plane, across a small lot to a brick building that reminded Bella a little too much of the brothel Esme Platt had ran. There were camera's perched above the door, giving the occupant full knowledge that he had visitors. Bella curled her hands into fists as Emmett stopped and knocked on the door three times. The sun had already set and there wasn't much lighting around the small, derelict airstrip. Less ten seconds later, Emmett knocked again.
"I'm coming," yelled a gruff voice from inside. "Keep your panties on, McCarty."
The night air echoed with the sound of several locks being turned. The door crept open with a loud creak and light flooded from inside, silhouetting the tall, broad-shouldered man in the doorway. "About time y'all got here."
"Sorry," Emmett said, before squeezing in between the man and the door. "Air was choppy."
The man grunted, but didn't say anything else as Rose and then Edward stepped inside. But Bella pulled her hand out of Edward's, causing him to look back at her, then at the man, and back at her.
"I don't know him," she said, wishing her voice had been stronger.
Edward stepped back outside, his hand sliding around her waist. "This is Garrett Mitchell. He keeps his eyes and ears on this area." Edward pressed his lips against her ear. "He won't hurt you. I promise."
Yet Bella just stood there, unable to trust her feet to move. The man pushed the door open more, stepping out so that she could get better look at him. Not only was he tall and broad in the shoulders, but he had long, dirty blond hair that he wore pulled back at the nape of his neck, which was covered in long thin scars that, Bella suspected, resembled the ones on her back, arms, and legs. His eyes were a bright, baby blue. He had just the right amount of stubble, and there were two long scars along his left cheek, another one above and below his right eye.
"You're Bella." Garrett stated this as a fact, not a question, but she found herself nodding anyway. "Hmm. You coming in?"
"Suppose so."
Bella pressed herself as far away from Garrett as she could as she stepped inside. The small office was cluttered with stacks of files lining three of the four walls, as well as the desk. It smells of rot and dust. As the door clanked to a close behind her, she looked back at Garrett, who was turning all the seven locks.
"I'd offer you some food or drink, but I ain't got none," he said, turning back to face them, his eyes landing on Bella first. "Got a couple leads on your runaway. Police have been chattering all day about her. They've damn near searched house to house. No sign, but a trucker headed west put out a squawk that a woman matching her description was offering sexual favors for rides. Not sure of he meant it as a warning or a heads up to anyone looking to get their dicks sucked." Bella inhaled a sharp breath, causing Garrett to stop and look at her. "Problem?"
"You do know what she's been through, don't you? You know her case, right?"
He nodded, folding his arms in front of him.
"Then how can you be so . . . blasé about this?"
"I'm not," he said.
Bella could feel Rose, Emmett, and Edward watching her. She wanted to scream at them to stop, to leave her alone, but instead, she found herself staring at Garrett.
"I'm stating the facts. Your runaway is selling herself by the mile. It ain't pretty, but nothing about this life is pretty. The sooner you learn that, sweetheart, the better."
"You think I don't know what this life, as you call it, is like?" she asked.
Garrett smiled. "You know what you want yourself to know."
"We're wasting valuable time," Edward said, moving to wrap his arm around Bella, but she stepped away from him and closer to the door. "She's heading west, right? You think she's going back to Washington?"
"That's where I'd go," Garrett said, shrugging his shoulders. "She still got family there, don't she?"
"She's not going to them," Bella said, once again drawing everyone's attention to her.
"What makes you think that?" Rose asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"Because she doesn't have a family to go back to anymore. She and Seth were extremely close growing up. The fact that she's heading west and not east toward him tells me that she's going back for different reasons."
"And those reasons are?" Emmett pressed.
"She's going back to him," Bella whispered.
"Cullen?" Edward asked, but Bella shook her head. "Oh."
"Yeah," she barely whispered, dragging her hand to the back of her neck.
"Who?" Emmett asked, his hands planted on his hips.
Bella couldn't get the words to leave her mouth as she scooted closer to the door. She should have seen this coming, expected Leah to lure her back there, back to the man who had ruined her life.
"Who is she going to?" Rose questioned while Garrett was watching Bella, almost as if he expected her to come at him with a knife.
"Bella's father," Edward said, dragging his fingers through his hair. "She's bringing Bella back home."
—BR—
"You know how to use this?" Garrett held a gun out to Bella, who had spent the last twenty minutes pressed against the door to the small building while he, Emmett, Rose, and Edward gathered weapons, planned their routine on the map, and tried to formulate a plan of attack against Leah.
"In theory," she replied, not making an effort to take the weapon. "I'm better with a knife."
"So I've heard," he said, pulling the weapon back toward him. "For the sake of being thorough, let me talk you through using this."
"It's not just point and shoot?"
Garrett laughed, drawing Edward's attention to them. "No, sweetheart, it's not. This here is a Glock 43. Smaller nine millimeter handgun. Holds only six rounds, but it won't have as much of a kickback as other weapons. It's small, so you can conceal it easier. Now, here is the safety. Never take it off safety unless you're prepared to use it, understand."
Bella nodded. This time when Garrett held it out to her, she took it. The gun felt heavy in her hand. She wrapped her fingers around the grip, but kept her finger away from the trigger. "You think I'll need it?"
"Hope not, but I don't go in the field with anyone who isn't prepared. I can take you out back and let you take a few shots if you want?" he offered, raising an eyebrow.
Bella quickly shook her head.
"Didn't think so," he groused. "If you need to pee, better go now. We ain't stopping until we get to Forks."
"I'm fine," she whispered.
Garrett grunted, but didn't say anything as he left her standing next to the door with the weapon still in her hand. Edward grabbed one of the backpacks he had been packing and walked over to her. Taking the gun from her hand, he double checked that the safety was on and slide into the front pocket.
"He's a little paranoid, but for good reason," Edward said, softly.
"Aren't we all," she muttered.
"Yeah, I guess so," he chuckled, placing the backpack at her feet and bringing his hand up to her face, pushing her hair behind her ear. "You don't have to this."
"Yes, I do," she whispered. "I . . . I made this mess, and it's up to me to clean it up."
"Bella," he murmured, leaning his forehead against hers.
"Let's go," Garrett ordered, causing Edward to take a step backward. "We've already lost precious time."
As Garrett came toward her, Bella moved away from the door. He unlocked all the locks and held the door open as Emmett, Rose, Edward, and Bella walked back outside. The night had turned chilly and Bella found it refreshing.
"This way," Garrett ordered, gesturing with a flashlight for them to follow him down the runway to a decrepit metal building. He tucked the flashlight into his back pocket as he unlocked the sliding door and pushed it open. There were half a dozen cars inside, everything from small compact cars, motorbikes, and large SUVSs. "We can take the one in the back. It's gassed up and ready."
Bella stayed outside the building while Emmett and Edward grabbed their bags from the plane and loaded them into the back of the black, government looking SUV. Garrett slid behind the wheel and pulled the vehicle out, shifting into park while everyone loaded up—everyone but Bella.
She found herself feeling uneasy. If she sat in the back with Edward, there was no way for her to escape. The middle offered more options, but then she would be surrounded. Emmett and Rose made the decision easier when they climbed into the very back, leaving the middle or the front next to Garrett.
"In or out, sweetheart," Garrett called from the behind the wheel. "We ain't got all night."
Bella sucked the inside of her lip before sliding into the front passenger seat. She closed the door and pulled on her seatbelt, all while trying not to scream. Maybe she should have gone with Aro and Alice after all.
—BR—
They were four hours into their thirteen hour trip when Garrett reached over and turned off the radio, drawing Bella's attention to him. Emmett, Rose, and Edward had all fallen asleep less than an hour into their drive, but Bella was too nervous, too scared to sleep.
"So, you're the famous Bella Swan, huh?" he asked, draping his hand over the steering wheel.
"Not for over a year," she replied. "Or didn't you hear? She died in Wyoming. Tragic accident, of course."
"Heard about that," he chuckled. "Clever. Though, from what I hear about you, clever isn't a good description of you."
Bella inhaled a sharp breath as she hugged her knees to her chest. "And what would be?"
"Depends on who you ask," he said, changing lanes and passing a semi. He moved back into the right lane. "Your man there calls you brave and inspirational. McCarty calls you reckless and stupid."
"And what do you call me?" Bella asked.
"Don't know you well enough to call you anything," he replied. "Not many people thrust themselves into the belly of the beast to save their friend. Maybe that does make you brave like Mason says, or stupid like McCarty does. Doesn't really matter how we see you, either, does it?"
"Not really," she admitted.
"Would you do it again?"
Bella tensed. "Knowing what I do now? No. No, instead I would have run as far away as I could, left it for someone else to deal with."
"I don't believe you."
"Why not?"
Garrett shifted his eyes to hers for a minute before looking back at the road. "For the same reason you're sitting here next to me instead of going to the bunker with the others. You're a fighter, Swan. You'll give up your life if that means saving the ones you love. Nobel, of course, but stupid, too."
"Wow, you just have me all figured out, don't you?"
Garrett nodded. "Easy read."
"Yeah?"
"Yep."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because when I look at you, I see myself," he replied before reaching over and turning the radio back on. Clearly, he was done with their conversation.