A/N…I know, I know, I know! I'm way, way late getting back to this party. For all the messages worried about me, THANK YOU! I'm okay, and there's a small explanation at the bottom.

Let's see. We left off with most of the crew guarding the bombs at the mountain cabin. Kim Min-Jun was still holding Carlisle hostage. Edward was working on a plan to lure them all in, so they could end it all at the cabin. We pick back up right there.

~o~H&E~o~

Chapter 19

BELLA

"All this fuss over the nukes we found in Russia," Mack mumbled, typing away at laptop in the dining room.

"We?!" Jasper gasped mockingly through a laugh.

"Okay, okay. You. You guys found them," she drawled with an eye-roll, grinning when he flicked one of her braids on the way by. "Our asses were safely tucked away at Aunt Kate's."

I snorted at her tone, which sounded like she'd been told that very thing a time or two. Shaking my head, I unzipped a duffle bag and then pulled out a black T-shirt, finally finding the first-aid kit I'd been looking for since we'd finally stopped Kim's men…and woman.

My gaze landed on the girl in question. She was sporting a split lip from Edward's elbow to her face, a shit-ton of abrasions from where she'd lost her footing in the woods and slid several feet, and one nasty disposition. She was glaring hate and venom and hellfire at Eleazar as he studied her wallet.

"Have we got a name on Little Miss Sunshine out there?" I asked Mack, who laughed and nodded.

"Sim Ji-Yun."

"Ji-Yun," I said to myself, shaking my head. "That's pretty for such a bitter bitch."

Rose laughed, raising an eyebrow at me. "I'm sure there's a reason she's all cranky."

"Yeah, like she's an international criminal?" Mack offered, spinning the laptop around. "She's a Kim follower from the get-go. But now that she's caught, she'll see some heavy prison time, I'd guess."

"Maybe," Rose conceded, shrugging a shoulder. "Or El will cut a deal with her if she cooperates."

I glanced over the long list of things that seemed to line up with Kim Min-Jun's and nodded as I walked out of the cabin and onto the back deck. Edward's assumption had been right; she was loyal to Kim, which made her dangerous as hell.

The sun was barely up, casting everything in a pale yellow. Alice and Eleazar were on one end of the deck going over what needed to be done with Kim's people as far as calling in Edward's "capture." Pin, Ji-Yun, and the third guy, Chu Yong, were restrained and quiet as Eleazar's man, Gary Strong, stood guard over them at the other end of the deck with his weapon drawn.

My husband was a backwards-cap wearing silhouette over by the lake, pacing and talking on his phone. I could've picked him out anywhere. Once again, my Edward was carrying the weight of the world on those strong shoulders; he had been since this whole thing had started back at Twi Tech Tower. He looked exhausted and pissed and frustrated all mixed together. I couldn't see his facial expression, just the body language on the body I knew better than my own – head down, shoulders slightly hunched, and hands that couldn't decide whether to stay open or closed into fists. And I could tell most of all that he was in pain.

Leaving the deck, I descended the steps onto the lake shore.

He pocketed his phone when I approached, saying, "Alec's back in Seattle. He just got back to Twi Towers."

"Okay." I pointed to the lake dock. "Off with the shirt and take a seat."

The bullet proof vest came off with a loud rip of Velcro. He reached back, gripping the ripped shirt and pulling it off over his head. He dropped both down onto the bench at the end of the dock and sat down next to them. The fact that he wasn't saying something snarky or sexy or something ridiculously full of innuendo made my brow furrow as I gently removed my makeshift bandage I'd put on him earlier.

The wound wasn't the worst I'd seen on him. That had been the shrapnel he'd taken in the leg the night we'd lost Sam. This wasn't a deep wound, and luckily it was the bicep opposite of his inked one.

"It's stopped bleeding," I said softly, glancing up to see his nod. "Though, you'll have to be careful with it. It could open back up."

"Use the glue, sweetness" he muttered softly. "I'll live."

"I will, but that can split, too. So once I clean this and glue it, I'll rewrap it. Okay?"

Those beautiful green eyes met mine, looking weary but undeniably loving. "Thanks, baby."

After dropping a heavy kiss to his forehead, I got to work cleaning and disinfecting that wound. If the bullet had been a fraction of an inch closer, it would've been bad – possible muscle damage, nicked artery – but another eight or ten inches would've been his heart, his neck, his head. I shook my head to clear that thought because despite the fact that we were all wearing Kevlar, they didn't protect everything.

Edward barely flinched when I cleaned the wound, using a gauze pad to make sure all the dirt and debris was scrubbed out of it before I sealed it up with the skin glue. Once I'd done that, I rewrapped the arm and offered him a clean shirt, which he took silently.

When I reached for his face to look at the damage Ji-Yun had done, I also examined the cut he'd received the day the lobby of Twi Tech Tower blew.

"I'm okay, sweetness," he said, pulling me to stand between his legs as I dabbed at the cut above his eyebrow.

I smiled down at him. "Yeah, you're pretty okay," I said dreamily, grinning at his chuckle.

"So… Is it my turn to watch your six?" His tone was dripping with sexy innuendo as those hands of his slipped around my waist to cup my ass.

"God, I wish…" I whispered wistfully. "But no, not yet. We're just about to let Pin call Kim to let them know you've been caught. They've given him false reports so far. This will be the last one."

He nodded, still smirking up at me while those hands stayed planted on my ass. "You know, these assholes have seriously cock-blocked my vacation."

Laughing, I shook my head. "No shit!" I grasped his face in both my hands, kissing his lips roughly. "Once this is all over, we'll make up for it."

"That sorta sounds like the shit we promised the last time we were here." He grinned salaciously. "Should we make a new list of all the wicked shit I wanna do to you?"

"Maybe." I laughed, leaning into him as he kissed my neck. "Or maybe I should be making this list of all the wicked shit I want you to do to me."

"Fuck yeah… Let's hear it."

I cracked up, cupping his gorgeous face in both hands. I kissed him roughly, but the evil glare from the deck caught my attention over Edward's shoulder. I kissed him again.

"I love you, but now isn't the time for sexy lists, baby." I caught Ji-Yun's glare again and shook my head. "Man oh man… I'm used to women staring your way but not in pure hatred. Usually it's a different type of stare," I told him, raising an eyebrow his way.

His grin widened, and he shot a glance toward the deck. "We have intel on her?"

"Yeah, Sim Ji-Yun…long-time disciple of Kim's."

"So the hate comes from the loss of those nukes two years ago."

"Perhaps." I nodded in agreement, gazingback down at my husband, who looked simply exhausted. "Everyone's in such a rush to destroy the world," I said through a deep sigh, taking his cap off so I could rake my fingers through his hair. "I don't get it."

"Me either," he grunted against my lips before he stood up in front of me. "But I guess that's why we keep getting wrapped up in this bullshit – to keep it from happening."

"Fantastic," I muttered sarcastically, rolling my eyes as he pulled the clean shirt on over his head and then strapped the Kevlar vest back on. "When this is done, Carlisle better fucking retire."

Edward's smile was glorious and beautiful as he pulled his baseball cap back on. "Well, sweetness, if anyone can get him to retire, it's you. Maybe Esme. Perhaps you should team up on him."

"Perhaps," I said through a chuckle.

The sound of footfalls on the wooden dock made us turn around. Jasper and Eleazar were walking out to join us.

"It's time to lay that trap. You ready, Ed?" Eleazar asked him.

Edward waved it away wearily. "Whatever. Just tell me where I need to be and when."

Jasper smirked. "I think the front of the house would work. You've got Benny hidden up there. I'll be in the attic, and Bella and Mickey will cover you from the front windows."

"Actually, Bella or Mickey are about the size of that angry thing up there." Eleazar jerked a thumb behind him indicating Ji-Yun.

"Excellent," I sang, rubbing my hands together. "So I get to hold my husband hostage."

Jasper grinned and nodded, laughing when Edward muttered, "Every damn day."

He shot me a wink when I laughed. Pointing to the back deck, I said, "Well, let's see what Kim says when Pin tells him you've been caught."

~o~H&E~o~

EDWARD

Taking a seat at the table next to Mack, I listened in as Dean and Eleazar instructed Pin on how to call in my "capture."

She snorted, rolling her eyes my way. "Like that shit is possible."

Grinning, I shrugged a shoulder. "Clearly you don't remember the China incident."

Mack giggled. "Oh shit! Clearly I'd forgotten."

Rose huffed a laugh. "That shit was utterly ridiculous."

"Truth," I agreed, giving her a fist bump, because it had been Emmett and me on that trip trying to find a doctor who'd gone missing.

Rose's computer was connected to Aunt Kate's. Mack was monitoring my dad's GPS, although we were all on the grid, just not together. My eyes took in the map. Dad was still a little south of us, most likely in the campgrounds down there. Emmett wasn't showing because he was in Alaska. Alec was moving around in Seattle. Bella, Jasper, Mickey, and I were all in one cluster in the Glacier Peak Wilderness.

"Where's Alice?" I asked Mack, glancing around the deck and into the house.

"Fiddling with that EMP thingy before they hide it on the truck with the bombs," she said, waving a hand toward the shed. "Five bucks says she turns that thing into a giant nightlight or big Bluetooth speaker with flashy lights. It won't be a weapon anymore, just useless as fuck."

Chuckling, I nodded. "I have no doubt."

We both looked up when voices raised at the end of the deck. Strong looked tired of the bullshit Ji-Yun was giving him, but Bella figured it out.

"Oh, my damn. She has to use the bathroom, Gary. Relax! I've got her."

"I'll help you," Mickey volunteered, and they escorted the girl into the house.

I caught Gary's eye, but his drifted to the girl next to me. Mack barely gave him a glance, but her cheeks turned red.

I opened my mouth to tease her once he wasn't looking, but she narrowed her blue eyes on me, saying, "Shut up, Edward."

Laughing, I draped an arm around her, whispering, "I'm all about some rebound freaky, Mack, but be careful. I'd really hate to have kick the ass of one of Eleazar's agents…again." Grinning at the thought of the asshole on the ship we'd been on two years prior. Some asshole decided to test me, though really, he'd tested Bella. That had not ended well for the motherfucker.

"Yeah, I know. If an FBI agent is always gone, then CIA is a fucking ridiculous notion."

"So…" I dragged out the word. "We need to find you someone rooted in Forks? No farther than Port Angeles?"

She shrugged a shoulder, grimacing a little.

"Have you even talked to Wes? Do I need to go talk to him?" I asked, my nostrils flaring in anger when she shook her head. "Then he's a fucking idiot, Mack, and he doesn't deserve you. Got me?"

Rose huffed and nodded, giving me a look that clearly was in agreement before going back to her computer.

"I know. That's what everyone says." She looked up at me through teary eyes. "Thanks, Edward." She leaned into my kiss to the side of her head. "You sure you don't have a brother out there somewhere?" she shot back teasingly.

"If I do, my dad has a shit-ton of explaining to do. Just sayin'." I raised an eyebrow her way, smiling when she laughed.

Rose chuckled at us, but we all looked up when Eleazar snapped his fingers to shut us up. A gun engaged at my side, and I glanced up to see Bella and Mickey keeping Ji-Yun quiet.

Alice stepped up onto the deck, wiping what looked to be oil or grease off her hands with a rag, but her attention was on the phone call Pin was making.

Pin was to tell Kim that the fight was big, explosive, and I hadn't been alone, but the couple of people with me were dead. He was also to tell Kim that I wouldn't give up the location of the bombs and EMP until my father and Seong were released. I would trade info for their freedom.

The best-case scenario was that Kim would bring his two hostages with him for trade. The worst-case scenario would be he showed up without them to question me himself. The latter would mean the asshole would try to torture information out of me. That would be a big mistake. Huge.

There was a scuffle next to me as Pin called for Kim over the radio.

"Do you understand English?!" Mickey hissed in Ji-Yun's ear as she slapped a hand over the girl's mouth while Bella's nine mil was in the middle of her forehead. When Ji-Yun nodded, Mickey whispered in her ear. "Good, then you'll understand when I tell you this shit can only go two ways. One, you cooperate, and things go nice and smooth, so you live to see another day. Or two, you don't cooperate, and you end up like all your friends who're scattered all over this fucking property. Which one? Because, bitch, I don't care."

The pure hatred rolled off the girl as she glared at Mickey and my wife. When she finally nodded in acquiescence, Bella pushed her down into the closest chair, giving me an eye-roll, which made me chuckle.

She came to stand in front of me, and I smirked up at her. "There are only a few options, sweetness." I reached up to cup her face. "Kim will bring his hostages and little band of assholes, thinking he's got me, or he'll show up alone to torture me for info."

"Okay, so what's the plan, Edward?"

"If it's the first option, he never leaves this property. If it's the second, then someone needs to get to my dad's GPS location ASAP. Got me? I don't care about Seong. I don't care about political agendas. I want my dad someplace safe or right here calling the shots."

Bella thought it over, took a deep breath before pressing a kiss to my forehead. "Okay. I'll take Mickey."

Shaking my head, I said, "You can't be here holding me 'captive' and leaving to go get Dad at the same time, Bella. As amazing and sexy and badass as you are, you can't be in two places at once." I kissed her lips when she scoffed at me. "It's true."

She laughed softly. "I know it's true, so talk to me, Edward. Tell me where you want me… In this situation," she said the last three words through gritted teeth, because my wicked grin was shameless. When I opened my mouth, she pressed her finger to my lips. "If the next words out of your mouth aren't plan related, Edward, I swear…"

Chuckling, I nodded. "Okay, okay!" I glanced around, making sure we were still waiting for Kim to answer Pin. I shot a look to Rose. "Is he still in the same spot?"

She nodded. "Yeah. About twenty-five miles. Hasn't moved."

"And Kim isn't answering," Eleazar stated, standing up from his spot at the deck table.

I stood up, kissing Bella's head on my way by her. I studied the property now that the sun was up. It was quiet, except for a few whispers around me – Rose and Mack, Alice and Bella, Eleazar and Dean. Ji-Yun had shut up, but she was wearing a passive expression at the moment. Mickey and Jasper walked to me.

"What, pretty boy?" Mickey asked, tilting her head.

"He's coming," I muttered only to the two of them, narrowing my eyes on Ji-Yun and the third guy, Chu. "He left his hiding spot, and he's coming. We need to stop him here and go get Dad."

"In that order?" Jasper asked in a whisper. "Or split up?"

I rubbed my face, tugged off my baseball cap, and raked a hand through my sweaty hair, letting out a long deep sigh. "I'm not sure. Risk leaving Dad? Or risk shorting ourselves with manpower?" I rambled, pulling my cap back on. I walked to Eleazar, asking, "How many more men does Kim have?"

It was Pin who answered. "We don't know. He keeps his numbers secret."

There was a laugh and a scoff from Ji-Yun, and I stalked her way, yelling, "How many?!"

When she spat at me, she was up and out of the chair so fast, I wasn't sure who had grabbed her, but the resounding sound of hand meeting flesh was unmistakable. Bella swung again, and Mickey's knife glinted in the sun.

"Ah, ah, ah, now…" Mickey crooned in her ear. "Play nice. Bella doesn't like it when you touch the pretty."

Bella rolled her eyes and fought her smile.

"What did I tell you?" Mickey went on, grazing the blade against Ji-Yun's neck. "Answer him, or I spread your body parts from one end of this property to the other. Now…answer him. How many of you are left?"

When she didn't answer right away, I chuckled. She was a tough little thing. "Fifty? A hundred? A thousand?" I taunted through a laugh. "I can't fathom more than that. And we killed…what? I don't know… We killed maybe two hundred of you little assholes in Seattle. I can't imagine there aren't many more gullible idiots to fall for Kim's bullshit left on this motherfucking planet."

Mickey cracked a smile but shifted her knife. "Bitch, I'm done waiting." She gripped the girl's hair, tilting her head back roughly.

"She'll slit your throat," I warned Ji-Yun, shrugging nonchalantly.

"He said we had five hundred before we started," Ji-Yun sputtered out.

I jerked a chin at the girls, and they lowered her back to the chair. As I stood before her, I studied her face and saw what I was looking for: blind fucking faith. A small smile curled up the corners of my mouth.

"Hmm, but Kim's a big diva, right? Somewhat narcissistic? A tiny bit sociopathic? So…he'd lie. He'd say his dick was way bigger than it actually was, don't you think?" I was thinking out loud. "He'd even lie to…his girl. Tsk, tsk… Shame, you're not the only one," I sang tauntingly, shaking my head and smiling when she struggled against Bella and Mickey.

Mickey chuckled. "So you think he has less men than she says?"

Turning around, I said, "Doesn't matter. He'll bring all that's left. He'll leave his hostages behind, maybe with a small guard." Taking a deep breath, I added, "We'll dig in here. Get those three bound and gagged and out of fucking sight. And Bella, take two people with you to go get Dad."

"Edward," I heard behind me, and Bella was tugging me away from everyone. "Baby, are you sure you want us to separate?"

Grimacing, I met her gaze. "Sweetness, I honestly don't know what the fuck to do," I ranted in a whisper, starting to tick off all the things that needed to happen all at once. "I want my dad back. I want to go back to teaching Bethy how to fly. I want to go back to watching Sammy with his drone. I want to grill out at Aunt Kate's. I want you naked and coming around me so hard you see stars. I'm so exhausted, I want to sleep for two days. I want this motherfucker dead. And I want those bombs out of my goddamn possession. So if you can figure out how to do all of that without separating, I'm all fucking ears."

Bella cracked a brief smile, but before she could say anything, the earpieces started to go off.

"Hey, Ed? Bellissima…someone answer me!" Alec called frantically over the line.

"Yeah, Alec, go ahead," I stated, turning to Rose, who was pointing to her screen.

"Am I readin' this shit right? Papa Bear's location?"

My brow furrowed, and I locked gazes with Jasper, who suddenly switched to hand signals, telling me Alec must have obtained new intel if he was using the old code.

"Ten-four, Alec. That's correct," I replied, narrowing my eyes at the people surrounding us, because either Alec didn't trust someone here or he felt the line was unsecure.

"Your porridge is tainted, kid."

My nostrils flared, and I locked eyes with Bella as Alec went on.

"I'm in the air, heading your way."

"Roger that," I muttered, but I tilted my head when the sound of chopper blades in the distance met my ears.

"That's not Alec," Alice stated from the table just inside the cabin. She shook her head vehemently. "He's on the move, but that's not him."

"We've got company!" Benny yelled over the radio.

Jasper darted into the house and up into the attic. His voice was instantly on the radio. "I've got the same chopper from the air in Seattle. I've got one, two, three SUVs filled to the max with men."

"That doesn't include Carlisle or Seong," Alice tacked onto the end, pointing to the screen tracking everyone's GPS chip.

"Nope, sure doesn't," Jasper stated.

Eleazar gave a sharp whistle, and his men shot into action. The three hostages we'd taken were still bound, now with taped mouths, and then shoved into the kitchen. Gary took three men back out to his original spot in the woods on the east side of the house. The west side was still heavily guarded, and the truck with the bombs was still hidden.

Bella spun around to face me. "Guess that settles that. I'm not leaving, and before you argue, know it won't work. I'm staying." She moved closer. "If Alec is right, then someone here is the mole, and if you think I'm leaving you to find out alone, then you're fucking crazy."

Grinning, I shook my head. "No, not arguing." I looked over her head. "My team, old-school emergency rules. Remember your places? Remember your jobs?"

"Sir!" most of them called out.

"Then go! Go, go, go!" I gazed back at Bella. "You're with me…out along the side of the house."

"Always," she said, rushing to the table where her weapons – both bow and arrows and her gun – were waiting for her.

I pulled my bag back over my shoulder, along with my sig. Leaning along the deck railing was the RPG I'd gotten out of the shed's weapons cache, so I took that, too. We ran together, down off the deck and around to the side to the cluster of trees. A touch of nostalgia hit me when we landed against the tree we'd used to fight Royce King's men the last time we were there.

"Check in," I called softly over the earpieces.

"I'm set. Front window inside the house," Mickey stated.

"I'm under the house," Rose called. "Facing the front yard."

"I've got Mack and Alice with me on high. We're facing all the directions." Jasper's voice was calm, but he was my eyes, so he gave me more. "Incoming chopper should be passing over in less than a minute. The SUVs are about to turn onto the driveway."

One of my crew hadn't checked in, so I called him out. "Dean, where's your location?"

"I'm with Mickey in the house."

"Copy that," I grunted, glancing over at Bella as she quickly typed on her phone. "Ready, sweetness? Just like old times. Blowin' up bad guys in the front yard."

Bella put her phone away, nodding. "Somehow, I think you're enjoying this way too much."

"Maybe I just wanna get this shit done, kill all the assholes, and then continue on with my motherfucking vacation…"

Bella grinned, shaking her head and flipping the safety off on her nine mil. "I love you. C'mon."

The thump of chopper blades was growing louder and heavier. It barely missed the tree tops when it flew over us. Since everyone was hidden and under the cover of the house or trees, there wasn't much for them to see as they scoped out the property. I could imagine the bodies in the field and the burned patches of grass would catch their eye, but no movement, no gun fire. Yet.

"Okay, everyone, look sharp and wait for me," I said softly. "Let me narrow the odds down a bit. Anyone see Kim? Chopper? SUV? Talk to me."

"No sign, no sign," Mack mumbled. "I'm looking. You gotta give me a second."

"Roger that."

Their chopper swooped low over the house, and Mack called out, "Edward! He's on the helicopter. I missed him the first time around. He's in the back."

"Copy that," I replied, my eyes following the chopper.

The side doors were open, and the same motherfuckers with the RPGs from Seattle were aiming out each side again along with automatic weapons.

"Okay, everyone on me," Eleazar called out. "Hold your position. Hold your fire. Let that chopper land because he thinks he's in control of this shit. He's not. We are."

Bella shifted next to me, and I turned to press a kiss to the side of her head as we waited. Benny reported the approaching SUVs as the chopper shut down, and three of them pulled into the driveway. I chanced a peek at the chopper, noting that there was only the pilot, Kim, and two others on board.

Turning to the cleanest shot I knew, I reached up and pulled out our earpieces. "Sweetness, I need the chopper cleaned."

Bella glanced from me to the helicopter that was shutting down. "If we end him here, we may kill your dad. Kim's not stupid; he'll have a countermeasure since he didn't bring his hostages with him. Like if he dies, so do the hostages."

"Just the passengers and pilot, baby. Not Kim," I whispered back, replacing the earpieces.

The SUVs emptied, and men started to spread out over the front yard, leaving some in the cars. They hadn't gone anywhere near our hiding spots, but I could hear calls and positions over the radio. No one had even approached the front door.

Kim stepped away from the chopper, yelling to the door in Korean.

"Oh, I so have a solution to this problem," Jasper sang low over the radio.

"Hold that solution," I ordered softly. "You kill him, and then his people may kill Dad and Seong."

"He's calling for someone to bring out the rich son of Cullen," Dean stated.

"Ed, don't you move," Eleazar ordered. "He's also ordering his men to start searching for the bombs."

Everyone was tense and quiet, waiting to see what Kim's next step would be when his men didn't produce me as a captured hostage.

There was a brief blip over the radios, and suddenly my dad's voice was loud and clear and in control.

"Papa Bear to Baby Bear, come in," he stated, making me grin widely over at Bella as I tapped my own earpiece.

"Baby Bear here," I said as softly as I could without alerting my location.

"Your porridge is still tainted, but Papa Bear is no longer in the woods and is in the air," he stated in his code.

"Roger that," I stated, chancing another glimpse of Kim, who was still waiting for someone to bring me out of the cabin. "My team—" I started but was cut off by Mickey.

"What the fuck!?" I heard, but then she went silent.

Ji-Yun's voice rang out from the house in Korean, and I didn't need a translator. She just told Kim he'd taken the bait to a trap, because everything went crazy.

"Oh hell, here we go," Bella muttered but then tried to get Mickey to answer her.

Alec's voice came on the line. "Ed, we're in bound to the cabin. ETA is ten."

"Roger that," I stated, readying the RPG. "Eleazar, I'm about to light these bastards up. Got a problem with that?"

"No, kid. You do what you do. Benny, catch them in the crossfire. Everyone, watch for friendly fire. No one gets to the woods. Copy?"

"Sir!" just about everyone replied.

I lifted the RPG and stepped from behind the tree. For Ben's safety, I picked the one closest to me and away from him and his team so he wouldn't get singed. Bella and I moved as one, but I had the element of surprise. The pop-hiss caught everyone's attention, but the explosion of the truck shook the ground and trees.

The two remaining vehicles tried to empty out, but between all my people aiming their way, the majority were ended before they even set foot on the grass. Bullets pinged around Bella and me, and we darted back behind the large tree. Jasper and the girls in the attic were handling the men who had started to spread out over the property. Rose was taking care of the area closest to the house, because there was still no contact from Mickey.

Bella did exactly as I'd asked her, and rather than risk blowing the helicopter up, she'd used her bow and arrow. The three passengers were done. Kim was not visible.

"Ed, you and Bells are gonna have trouble! Move, move, move!" Alice called over the radio.

Bella and I didn't even answer, but we reacted instantly, leaving our spot by the tree and darting into the woods. The distinct sound of a pin pulling from a grenade met my ears.

"Incoming!" I yelled, tugging her farther into the woods.

The explosion was close enough to push us forward, and we slipped down a slope into the bushes. From where we were, I could see a few of Eleazar's men at the ready, the covered-up truck, and movement coming from the direction of the house. Four of El's men were suddenly shot and down before I could react, and when I saw the shooter, my nostril's flared in anger.

"Fuck," Bella sighed, shaking her head and looking to me. "What do we do, Edward?"

I didn't answer her, but I started to run, aiming for Dean before he could get into the driver's side of the truck. He was several yards away, so by the time I came closer, the truck engine was already revving. I pushed myself harder, hearing calls over the radio I was too mad to understand.

I was just about to reach the truck, and something hit me hard from the side. I saw stars as I tumbled to the ground. I was still groggy when Dean's voice met my ears as I shook my head to try to clear it.

"I'm sorry, Edward," he said, and it seemed to echo off the walls of my cranium. "I had no choice." He waited until Kim Min-Jun slid into the passenger side of that box truck before skidding out and spraying me with leaves, dirt, and twigs.

Before I could tell everyone the truck was on the move, Bella did it.

"The packages are on the move! Watch your fire! You'll level this whole place!" she said, and she sounded like she was running.

"She's right! Do not fire on that truck!" Eleazar ordered.

"Sweetness? What's your location?"

"I'm inbound to the cars. If we can't shoot it, I can at least follow it," she said through panting breaths.

"I'm on my way to you, Bellsy," Mickey muttered, sounding as groggy as me, but at least she was okay. "FYI, Ji-Yun is in the wind, but the other two didn't make it."

"Copy that, and take my car, Bella," I grunted, pulling myself up into a standing position, though I needed a tree trunk to support me for a second. "Alec, come in!"

"I'm just about there, kid," he answered.

"Don't! You need to watch for a white rental truck," I told him, stepping out of the woods and catching sight of Kim's chopper. "I'll meet you in the air. Alice, I need you on info, and please change us all to a new safe channel. Jasper, Eleazar, I need you on that chopper. Now! Benny, please watch my property."

Jasper was leaving the house at a run, and Eleazar was already pulling the men Bella had killed out of the cabin of the chopper. I pulled myself up and into the pilot seat, pulling on the headset.

"Edward, you should know that I've rendered the EMP useless, but it doesn't look it. We are now on an encrypted channel. Also, the truck is transmitting a fine signal," Alice stated.

"Thank you, Alice." I glanced over to Eleazar, who was pulling himself up into the copilot seat. "I don't care what his reasons were… I'm going to kill him."

"I'm sure, kid. He's a threat to everything now. He knows too much," El answered.

Bella's voice piped up on the earpieces, giving her own commands. "Alice, please continue to feed Edward intel. Rose, please get word to Aunt Kate that she needs to lock down just in case, and Mack, please check the whereabouts of Dean's ex-wife and son. And Edward, Mickey and I are in your car heading west."

"Roger that, sweetness," I said, starting the chopper up. "I'll be your angel in the air ASAP."

The last voice to pipe up before I lifted from the ground was my dad.

"Son, we have reason to believe they will be making their way to Port Angeles. They may have a ship they're putting those bombs on to transport."

Nodding, I pulled up off the ground. "Copy that," I acknowledged, turning to Eleazar. "You know we could just blow the truck and be done."

"If we have to, I'd rather not do it on US soil." He stated, raising an eyebrow my way. "Too much bullshit to deal with afterward."

Nodding, I said, "Dean Carver won't live to see his first paycheck."

~o~H&E~o~

A/N… Carlisle is safe. But the bombs are on the move. Bella and Mickey are in pursuit, and Edward stole Kim's chopper. And there's Dean. Some called that, some were not sure. We will get down to the whys on that betrayal.

I do want to apologize to everyone for how long this took. As you know, I ended up quitting smoking back in January when I was sick. I'm proud to say that I'm still nicotine-free! :) However, the problem came when I couldn't write without smoking. Since my last update of this story, I fell down the rabbit hole of depression, and I almost started smoking again, because without smoking, there's no writing. Without writing, my mind is a mess. Writing and smoking were so connected that I couldn't do one without the other. It was bad. And I was low…really low. The hubs and I decided to get a vape for me. No nicotine, just the smoking taste and actions and feel for it. And holy fucking shit! After a while…not to mention some busy shit at work AND we moved into a new apartment…it worked. It started with me fiddling with an idea for the Babies at the Border charity. Fiddling became outlining. Outlining became a long one-shot, and I donated it. I'll post the info on my profile. I finally broke through the mess in my head and we're back to Mercward. I am doing my best to get this back on a schedule, and it's slow going, but IT'S GOING.

So…all that being said, you'll get the next one when you get the next one, but I'm not abandoning, and it's not on hiatus. All my love your way. Until next time… Mooches, Deb :)