A/N… I want to thank all of you for the love… I'll let you get to it…

~o~H&E~o~

Chapter 7

BELLA

The explosion just outside the window of Carlisle's office made everyone in the room jump, our captors included. Glancing up, I bit back a sob at the sight of a police chopper going down in flames. The engine blew just below our floor, and though two windows gave eerie cracks, they held together.

The unmistakable crash could be heard all the way up from the street. My heart ached at the fact that my husband was down there somewhere. It took all the discipline I possessed to keep from demanding Edward check in, but Alice did it for me.

"Edward! Come in!"

"I'm here." Edward sounded winded but otherwise okay as Alice asked him what happened. "You were right, pixie. They have air support."

The hacker at Carlisle's desk let out a string of what I guessed was Korean curses. He pounded his fist on the desk and pointed to the guy in front of us, who stepped away to the front of the desk. They'd shifted us all to the sitting area in my father-in-law's office. Jake was still out cold on the floor, and they'd zip tied our hands together in the front.

"Seriously, he's not gonna get in," Mickey muttered under her breath from the loveseat next to me, practically rolling her eyes. "Pixie dust all over that shit right there."

Carlisle snorted but stayed quiet. He was watching, learning, calculating. He and his son were very similar that way. However, Dean had been waiting for a break to speak.

"You've pissed them off, Carlisle," he whispered, his brow furrowing as he glanced to make sure they were still arguing over the computer. "Something about a man named… George? George Stefan?"

"Oh, my fucking hell," I said through a gasp. "Tell me this shit doesn't go all the way back to Russia," I murmured to Carlisle, who was now absolutely fucking livid.

"Son of a bitch," Mickey hissed, shaking her head. Her nostrils flared with her anger as she glanced over at the men at the door and then at the desk. "If this is over that uranium, I swear to God and sunny Jesus, Pretty Boy is gonna lose his ever-lovin' mind."

Groaning again, I took a deep breath and let it out. My mind started to add things up, to calculate everything I'd learned in the last few days, not to mention the last few minutes. Two years ago, Carlisle had been held hostage and the ransom had been uranium and shells for compact nuclear weapons. We'd run all over Russia and Siberia to gather that shit to get Carlisle back. It had been a race against George Stefan – an underground weapons dealer – to secure them in the hands of Eleazar and the CIA. As far as I knew, the shell casings had been melted down and the uranium was now used for medical-grade radiation. However, George Stefan had promised those weapons to the North Koreans for millions of dollars. He never lived to see their disappointment.

If that was the reason behind these assholes taking this building, then we were in deeper shit than I'd ever anticipated. This wasn't personal. This was war, because the men in this building, in this room, and surrounding this entire block weren't just terrorists. They were North Korean soldiers.

Everything started to make sense. The attacks on specific places around the globe. Businesses that were owned outright by or were a subsidiary of Twilight Technologies. Alice had said the mass shootings over the last two years had felt like chess moves. Two years. It had been two damn years since we'd fought for Carlisle, since we'd played a ridiculous game of treasure hunt for nuclear bombs.

But holy hell, if Mickey wasn't right. Edward would snap if he knew this shit. I almost felt sorry for these bastards because they had no idea what they'd now unleashed out on the streets of Seattle.

Mickey quickly explained just exactly who Stefan was to Dean, and he grimaced, meeting Carlisle's gaze.

"You don't still have it."

"No, son. I don't. The US Government took it."

"And if they get into that system? What will they find?" he asked softly, keeping one eye on the two still fighting over at the desk.

"Weapons, long-range guidance systems, GPS technology beyond anyone else's, along with everything else on the damn planet. The weapons and computer technology were all from Charlie's time in here. We have slowly started to hedge it out of our inventory, focus on other shit. But it's still out there. We still have some of it."

"This is for weapons," he stated, nodding a little. "Makes sense. They make most of their own, but they do buy from other countries. Millions of dollars go into their military but nothing into their people."

Cho suddenly piped up softly. "What do you know about Korea?" he asked him harshly, but he kept his volume to a minimum.

"I was stationed in the DMZ," Dean replied firmly. "I ran recon into North Korea. I've seen the suppressed, the poor. I've seen the resistant, too – underground information being traded for food and water, parents sneaking their children out of the country any way they could, and people killed for speaking out."

Cho's expression wasn't anger but a touch of sadness, because he knew those things. He turned to Carlisle. "You worked with Stefan?"

"Decades ago I used his services in an emergency. However, two years ago, we crossed paths and only one of us came out of that meeting alive," Carlisle replied without much emotion behind it. He was pissed off, and he was slowly losing the softer side of the CEO part of his personality. The ragged edge of the mercenary was starting to show. In fact, he turned his harsh gaze toward his desk and said, "If it's nuclear weapons you're looking for…you won't find them in that computer."

For a moment, confusion was the only expression on their faces. The leader, which was the guy guarding us, turned and leaned back against the front of Carlisle's desk, folding his arms across his chest. I couldn't see his face, but I was willing to bet had there been no ski mask, I would've recognized Kim Min-Jun from our research prior to taking this case.

"Now why would you think I'm looking for nuclear weapons?" he asked slowly but firmly.

"Because two years ago, you were set to buy them from George Stefan. I kinda threw a wrench into all of that," Carlisle stated unapologetically.

Kim shifted a little bit, glancing around at all of us, and I was sure he was trying to figure out which one of us had heard him. His gaze eventually landed on Cho.

"While you're here negotiating million-dollar contracts, my people are starving. You and Mr. Cullen here are going to work for me whether you like it or not. I'm going to use the two of you to get exactly what I want." He reached back and placed a hand on Carlisle's computer screen. "Once I get in here – and I will – I'll find the locations of weapons you still have. I'm going to use the two of you to trade for the removal of US troops from Korea. It's time we took back our country."

My brow furrowed at that. As powerful of a businessman as Carlisle was, he didn't have that kind of pull. And I was fairly sure Cho was about the same. They were millionaires, yes, but neither had political nor military influence.

"It won't work," I stated, shaking my head and meeting the man's gaze. "It just won't. The US will not negotiate over a terrorist's demands. They would level this building and all in it before they'd even consider making a phone call to pull troops. Even if you hacked into that computer, you won't live to take possession of the weapons. All of this is fruitless."

"Is it? I may not make it out of here, but neither will you. But those weapons will be the property of Democratic People's Republic of Korea." He pointed to Carlisle. "And he's more helpful to me than you think."

My nostrils flared, and I shook my head again. "What I think… Here's what I think… Right now, I think the FBI has already surrounded this building going five blocks deep. What I think is that they will kill the power to an entire city grid in less than thirty minutes. And I think you're Kim Min-Jun, which will then cause this to become the problem for Homeland Security." I faced him completely, sitting on the edge of my seat. "I think if they take over out there, then it won't be Seattle PD or federal agents aiming for you, but military units."

What I wanted to tell him was that he was underestimating who wasn't in the building. I could hear Alec, Emmett, and Jasper communicating with Edward over my still-secret earpiece, and they'd kill every man who was playing a part in this just to get inside this building. In fact, they were getting ready to put my own sniper into position. I also wanted to tell him that if Homeland Security took over, they wouldn't even attempt to slow my crew down, because Eleazar was well aware of what my husband and my crew were trained to do. The only reason I didn't say a word about that was my children and Esme were on the other side of the bookcase in front of me. Once that safe house was empty, I would find a weak link inside this room and break it.

He sneered at me for a moment but then reached behind him and picked up the tablet. "And I think the first hour is up."

He spoke quickly and firmly into his radio, holding up the view of the auditorium. Five more Twi Tech employees were pushed up onto the stage. I didn't know any of them this time, but it didn't make their deaths any less tragic.

My hands squeezed into fists as he handed the tablet back to the guy at the desk. It was then that Carlisle's desk phone rang. Kim hit the speaker button, and a voice I knew well echoed into the room.

"This is Ben Cheney with the FBI. Who am I speaking to?" he asked, but if I knew Alice, then he was already aware of the whos and whats of this room.

My gaze drifted up to the corner of the room to the security camera.

"I'm the man who will get everything I ask for," Kim replied menacingly. "I've already killed ten Twilight Tech employees and will continue to do so every hour on the hour until I get what I want. You have fifty-three minutes before I kill five more…and someone in this room."

"What do you want?" Ben asked, and I could hear fear in his voice, which would give him away if he wasn't fucking careful.

My eyes drifted to Angela. She had tears in her eyes at the sound of her husband's voice, and my mouth dropped open when her hand covered her stomach.

"Oh, fuck," I breathed, closing my eyes.

Angela was pregnant. No wonder Ben sounded like he wanted to burn this man alive.

Mickey met my gaze as Kim gave distinct instructions on what he wanted done – pulling troops from the DMZ in Korea, pulling back the Navy, and a transport out of the building. My gaze shot to Angela, and when Mickey realized what I had, she practically shook with anger toward the man on the phone.

I turned to Carlisle, my face livid, and he frowned my way. "No one touches her, and if that asshole knew he was talking to the spouse of someone in this room, he'd use that shit. So no one touches her, and no one lets on who she is," I told him, jerking my chin Angela's way. "She's pregnant." I barely breathed the words aloud.

"I'm gonna kill these bastards," Carlisle muttered, shaking his head and sounding identical to his son. "Your weak link is the window."

I raised an eyebrow and turned to take in the guy standing guard behind Carlisle's desk at the window…the cracked fucking window. He was the smallest of the five armed men inside the room. However, there were still two at the doors and the guy sitting at the desk, along with Kim himself.

The phone call ended, and as Kim faced the room, I sighed deeply.

"Even if they could give you what you wanted, it would take more than an hour," I told him.

He smiled evilly, crossing his arms across his chest. "I know."

"And you're fucked when they kill the power, because they will."

"We'll see." He turned around and spoke to the guy at the desk.

Out of the corner of my eye, there was movement on the floor. Jacob started to stir, and I got up to kneel beside him, despite Kim's threats behind me.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked him while eyeing the bruise already forming along his chin and jaw due to the wicked hit he'd taken.

He tried to sit up but couldn't due to his hands being bound, but he accepted my help and nodded in answer. "Christ…Lauren," he breathed, gazing up at me. "I…I…"

"Not now," I told him, though I could imagine the emotions he was feeling all at once.

He and Lauren had been off and on for years. It had been Lauren he'd cheated with on me, and once he found out she was pregnant, he'd done his best to do the right thing by her. Well, as much as Jake could do right by someone. My ex loved his son, JW – that was unquestionable – but as a significant other, Jake was a shit, truly. I wasn't sure Jake could be faithful in a relationship, but as a father, he wasn't half bad. Though, now he was a single father.

"Get up," Kim ordered Jake, forcing him down into a chair. He rounded the gun on me as I stood up to take my seat back next to Carlisle. "You, too. Sit down."

Glaring his way, I gritted my teeth to keep from saying anything. Instead, I met his gaze without blinking, ignoring the high-powered weapon trained on me.

"You got something to say?" he asked me with a laugh.

I huffed a laugh, shaking my head. "You won't walk out of this room," I promised him.

"Yeah? Well, neither will you."

Sitting back down at the same time the power thumped off, I muttered, "My chances are higher than yours."

~o~H&E~o~

EDWARD

The building on the east side of Twi Tech consisted of some businesses on the first few floors, several floors of ridiculously expensive condos, and the top floor had a restaurant. The place seemed empty from what I could tell when I slipped in through a side door of a mail room. Lock and Load were panting but quiet as they followed my lead.

"Edward, come in," Ben called over my earpiece.

"Go ahead," I whispered, staying low as I worked my way toward the main lobby of the building.

"We're gonna be killing the power grid of four square blocks. I just wanted you to know."

"I figured it was coming, but thanks for the heads-up," I said, still keeping my voice low as I neared the glass front. "My crew… I've got eyes on our neighbors."

"We will too in about sixty seconds, kid," Alec answered back. "We clearing this whole building?"

"We're taking out those snipers aiming for the garage, so however we need to do that…" I trailed off, because they knew what I meant, and really, Ben killing the power would be beneficial.

"Uh, guys, guys, guys…" Alice called over the radio. "Okay, so before I lose the ability to see inside the surrounding buildings via security cameras," she started, sounding a little put-out that the FBI was taking her power, "you should know you've got several active bodies roaming about that building. Five in the lobby, watching the windows and the streets. At least that many watching the stairwells leading up to the fourteenth and fifteenth floors where your snipers are located. And of course, you were right about how many of those snipers there are, but above that is empty and clear up to the roof. The roof has four men with a really big gun on the east side, as well. I'd say fifty cal? Maybe?"

The fact that we were going to lose power, lose Alice's eyes everywhere, bothered me a little. "Pixie, will you lose eyes inside my dad's office?"

"No, we won't. That security system has a battery backup, and I'm sure some other systems around there do too, but it'll give us several hours leeway. I'm watching them, Edward. I promise."

"Thanks," I muttered, slipping down a bit when a guard started to pace.

"She's pissed, but she's okay," Alice vowed. "They all are. They're restrained, wrists bound to the front, and the asshole trying to break my code is failing. The windows face the park, so there's no way of getting Jasper anywhere near them to take the shot. And an hour is up, so we've lost five more people in the auditorium."

Closing my eyes in pure frustration and anger, I inhaled deeply and let it out.

"Hey, kid? What if we take out everything between us and them? Them being the lead asshole in Carlisle's office," Alec suggested.

"I have to clear the safe house. That's priority one," I said through gritted teeth. "However that gets accomplished doesn't mean dick to me."

All of this shit was pissing me the fuck off. I didn't like leaving Bella for last, but I needed to get the innocents away from these motherfuckers, because my wife was right, they needed out of that goddamn building. Bella, Mickey, Dean, and my father could fight; four kids and Esme could not. Not that my stepmother wasn't strong. She was extremely cool and calm in the direst of situations, but my kids, Emmett's son, and Alec's daughter were all inside that hidden apartment. There was only a wall separating those assholes from Esme and the kids.

I knew there was a way to get to them without going through my dad's office, but it was risky as hell, considering there was a shit ton of the enemy between the lobby and the penthouse.

There was an echoing thump when the power was cut. The whole lobby of the neighboring building was cast into shadow and darkness, the only light being the daylight through tinted windows.

Shifting silently and slowly, I chanced a glance over the counter I was behind, and I smirked at the nervous demeanor of the men guarding the door.

"Okay, kid, we've got five on the floor. I see your position. Hold it, because if you move, you'll be seen," Alec stated softly.

I didn't answer him back, but it wasn't necessary. He gave silent commands to Jasper and Emmett to move and stay low. They were going to take three guards at one time in silence.

They moved without a sound, using shadows and furniture to stay concealed. All three were dressed for work, so the black clothing was an advantage. Although, I could see they'd planned ahead with bags slung across their back, and I knew them all well enough to know they'd brought all sorts of weaponry with them. Should this shit last until nightfall, we'd be invisible, we'd be armed to the teeth, and we'd keep going until every last fucker was dead.

Jasper and Alec pulled out knives; Emmett didn't need one. As happy-go-lucky as Emmett could be, he was the strongest, deadliest motherfucker I'd ever met. He was an enormous presence in a room, unless he didn't want to be seen, and then he moved without even breathing. He caught his target first. A giant hand wrapping around the man's mouth from behind and a swift jerk of his massive arms snapped the target's neck. Jasper and Alec did the same, covering their targets' mouths and using their knives to end them. Two guards remained, and one had their back to me, so I pulled my own knife from my boot.

Alec went for one while I slipped around the counter for the other. I dropped him to the tile floor, spinning when the dogs' growls were low and on the move. Lock and Load were at a full run toward a man coming out of the stairwell door. And I followed their lead. Fucker didn't even know what hit him, when two sets of sharp teeth latched on to the arm that was holding his weapon. He dropped it instantly, but his cry for help was never heard when I covered his mouth and slammed him against the wall. He, too, fell with a thud to the tile floor.

"Jesus, kid," Alec finally said, rushing to me and grabbing my chin and eyeing my temple. "You okay?"

I nodded, telling the dogs to sit. "Yeah, I was at the front doors when they blew 'em."

Emmett squeezed my shoulder. "We takin' this building, or what?" he asked, and his gaze was deadly. "We need our own sniper up there."

Jasper nodded, tapping the bag across his shoulder. "You get me up there, and I'll clear the way for you through the garage."

"Boys, you've got guards on the fifth, eighth, fourteenth, and fifteenth floors. You just took out the one from the second floor. And the lobby is clear," Alice advised. "Also, we should have cell service back soon. Mack is working on it."

"Roger that."

The stairs were in darkness for the first few floors, and we used a basic two-by-two formation to make our way up to the fourth floor. Load led us up while Lock was watching our six. It was Load's low, barely there growl that alerted us to the guards, but Alec wasn't taking any chances at breaking the silence, so he spun a silencer onto the end of his nine mil, taking the guard out with one bullet to the head. We continued that way up to the fourteenth floor.

"You've got two snipers on the balconies of fourteen, three on fifteen," Rose came over the earpieces. "You could split up, or you could work the top over the bottom. Whatever you prefer."

"Alec, you're with me on fifteen. Jasper, Emmett, take this floor."

Lock and Load stayed with me. The guard on the fifteenth stairwell door fell roughly, knocking the door a little, and we froze for just a moment to make sure no one came running. They didn't. These assholes had busted open apartment doors, which was like following bread crumbs to where they were. Alec took the first door, and I went in next door, tentatively pushing the door open.

The sniper had his back to the apartment, his eye on his sight as his radio rattled on and on in what I now knew to be Korean. The apartment was small but had an open layout, which made it easy to sneak up on the bastard. He never heard me coming – not my entrance into the apartment, not my steps through the living room, and he most definitely didn't hear my knife slit his throat until he couldn't speak anyway.

It was the neighboring sniper that almost fucked shit up. He called out, and my knife flew from my hand, slamming into his thigh.

"I got 'im, I got 'im!" Alec said, running down to the last apartment with the dogs hot on his tail, and I followed behind him.

Just before the asshole could reach for his radio, sharp canine teeth snapped down on his hand, making him scream, but at this point, there was no one to hear him. The roof was too far up, and the ground floor was too far down. Alec dragged his ass into the apartment, pointing his gun to the middle of his head.

"Speak English?" he asked the guy, who sneered at the two of us until Load stepped into the man's face, teeth snapping. The guy nodded frantically. Alec was a cruel bastard when he wanted information. "How many in this building?" he asked, tapping his forehead with the muzzle of the gun.

"You won't win," the guy panted, gasping when I reached for his ski mask and tugged it off at the same time I gave my knife a hard twist in his leg.

"Try again, motherfucker," I warned him, smiling at his cry of pain. "How many? And just so you know…all your friends from here to the ground floor are dead. So… Answer the fucking question."

"F-Four more. Roof!"

I stood up, taking my knife with me, as Alec pulled his trigger. I caught sight of Emmett, who was now in the doorway. "You need help?" I asked him.

"Nah, bro. I got this. You just get to the safe house, yeah?" he verified, and I nodded. "Good. Jazz is in position."

Alec and I rounded up all the ammo from the three apartments, dropping it off to Jasper on our way back down. Emmett didn't even bother keeping quiet on that fucking rooftop. Over the earpiece, I heard automatic-weapon fire and the loud explosion from a grenade.

"Roof is clear. Fifty cal disabled."

"Roger that," I breathed as Alec and I ran toward the back door of the building. "Emmett, go make sure no one sneaks up on Jasper."

"Ten-four."

For a brief moment, I'd considered leaving Lock and Load with Jasper, but they seemed to be glued to me, so I kept them. I knew I'd need to get them water soon since they'd been running since this shit started.

"Alec, hold up." I said, running to a small newspaper stand in the lobby and grabbing a few bottles of water out of a cooler. "Before we take that garage…"

Kneeling down, I opened the first bottle, and the boys drank greedily, dripping and slobbering everywhere, but I smiled, rubbing both their heads.

"You sure you want to take them?" Alec asked.

"I'm not sure I'd be here if it weren't for them," I countered, shrugging a shoulder. "I was knocked the fuck out with the first blast. They stood guard over me. Woke me up when I needed to get my ass away from there."

"Damn. Okay. Fair enough."

We edged our way through the lobby to the door Alec had come in. The garage was across the street, and one of the garbage trucks was positioned at the corner. However, like most garages, there were low walls with railings.

"Up and over?" I verified, and Alec nodded. "Jasper, we're crossing the street and into the garage. If you could clear the way for us, that would be fucking spectacular."

Jasper chuckled over the radio. "I have all sorts of solutions to your problems. I'll have a better eye once you get to say…ohhh, the tenth floor and up. Where you going in?"

"All the way to the top."

"Roger that. On you."

Alec and I were just about to step out onto the sidewalk when there was an unfamiliar noise over the earpiece.

"D-Daddy?"

My heart stopped and sank to my stomach at the fear I heard in my daughter's voice.

I grabbed the front of Alec's shirt to stop him. "Jesus, Bethy… How… What are you doing, little sweetness?"

"Daddy… Mom's in trouble. I… I can see it in the monitor. There was an earpiece in your room. I know Aunt Alice said to stay put, but… Daddy, we can get out."

"Bethy, no! Stay where you are. We're coming to you! Where's Gamma?"

"She's right here, Dad. We can get out so you can get to Mom. I know the way, Daddy."

My hands shot to my hair and I gripped hard, facing Alec and silently asking, What the fuck do I do now?

Alec nodded, squeezing my shoulder. "They won't know the secret passages. They'll be like rats in the walls, kid."

I was shaking my head, but I knew he had a point. "What if they're seen, Alec? What if they stumble out at the wrong time?"

"Esme's no fool," he reassured me. "I'm willing to bet she's armed at this point."

Snorting at that, I gave him a raised eyebrow before speaking to my daughter. "Bethy, give the earpiece to Gamma."

"Edward?"

"Mom, you guys okay?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Of course we are," she stated, sounding affronted. "Where are you coming in?"

"Fifteenth floor."

"We'll meet you in the conference room," she said, leaving no room for argument, and then there was a fumbling over the line again.

"Daddy?" Bethy came on again.

"Little sweetness, I need you to do what Gamma tells you," I begged her, shaking my head that I was even considering letting them leave the safe house.

"We will," she promised.

"Everybody, on me. We're going in on my say."

Jasper and Emmett called in their acknowledgement, but it was Bethy's voice I heard as I crossed the street with Alec and the dogs, slipping quickly into the garage behind a minivan.

"Okay, Daddy. I love you. Be safe."

~o~H&E~o~

A/N… I want to thank all of you for the love you have for this series.

DMZ: Demilitarized Zone… The US military occupied space between North and South Korea…It's approximately 300 square miles.

Okay, so I'll see you guys next week for the teaser on Thursday or Friday and the update on Sunday. Until then… Mooches, Deb ;)