A/N… I know, I know, I know… It's been too damned long. I get it. I'm aware of my high suckitude level. Or is it low? -_- I don't know, but there is suckage. ;) There is all sorts of shit to blame, but I'll explain below.

For now, let's catch up. We last left off with Dean having betrayed the crew by taking the truck with the EMP and the six thermobaric bombs. Bella and Mickey are in pursuit in Edward's Challenger. Carlisle is safe with Alec and Boris in the air. Edward stole Kim Min-Jun's helicopter to follow the truck, and Jasper and Eleazar are with him. They're all aiming toward Port Angeles, at least that was the intel Carlisle brought with him.

We pick up there, guys.

~o~H&E~o~

Chapter 20

BELLA

"Dean Carver won't live to see his first paycheck."

I flinched at the sound of Edward's voice. He truly meant what he'd just said, and he'd do it because with all that Dean knew about us, Gravity, and our family, Dean could put us in a shit-ton of danger.

"Ooh-wee, pretty boy is pissed," Mickey mumbled as I shifted gears in Edward's Challenger. Her eyes were closed as she rubbed her head where she'd been knocked loopy. She opened an eye my way. "I'm okay; I heard that crazy bitch coming before she could really fuck me up. And you're not buying this Dean bullshit, are you?"

I shook my head and shrugged. "I don't know. Dean had plenty of time to take what he needed or remove any one of us from the equation. Something more is going on here."

The thundering sound of helicopter blades thumped over us, and I glanced up to see Jasper's grin as he waved down at us from his spot beside Edward in Kim's chopper. It was strange seeing Edward flying something other than his own helicopter, but he flew it with his usual style and mannerisms.

"Moretti, did you steal that from the US military?!" Eleazar's voice growled over the radio.

Alec's smooth response came back quickly. "Technically, you authorized us to take this Hawk on your behalf."

Mickey chuckled as she searched the skies for him. "Yeah, but I wonder who's flying it for him?" she muttered to me. "I mean, surely Alec wouldn't put some young pilot in jeopardy of a court-martial."

I grimaced and shrugged a shoulder, but Alec had heard her.

"Boris heard I needed a lift to you guys pretty fucking quickly, and he was nice enough to offer his services."

"Oh, Jesus," Eleazar stated. "I'll be working on the paperwork for this shit until I retire…or die!"

Rose's voice came over the radio. "FYI, we just received the update on Cho, and he's still critical, though he's breathing on his own and asking for his wife and daughter. The wife is in the air via military transport from South Korea as we speak, and the daughter is obviously with you."

"In all this bullshit, I totally forgot about her," Mickey muttered to me. "She got fucked over every which way."

"Hmm," I hummed noncommittedly. "In all honesty, I'd like to set her down on the military base with her dad so they can be on their own."

"No shit, sweetness," Edward agreed over the radio.

Carlisle's voice came with a firm, authoritative tone. "Not yet."

"Ah hell," Mickey sighed, shaking her head.

Rose continued with her intel. "Aunt Kate's is now on alert. She and Emmett are calling in extra security. All the minions would like to hear from their parents, but they specifically want…Poppy. ASAP."

"I promise I will as soon as we can stop," Carlisle replied with a chuckle. "Who'd they call in?"

"Ned and Harry Cauldwell."

I grinned at the cheers. Ned and Harry were brothers from West Virginia. They'd helped us when Bethy had been taken by Lilith several years back. They were silly and funny, but mostly, they were deadly. I'd worry about their age, but then again, Carlisle and Eleazar were about their age and they were still just as sharp as ever.

"They'll be bringing their sons with them," Rose added. "Austin and Ned Jr. He really just goes by Junior."

"Of course he does," Jasper said with a chuckle.

"Bella, Bella, Bella!" Alice called in her usual three-time chant, but there was an edge of anxiousness to it.

"Go ahead, Alice."

"A police report just came in. Someone stole a motorcycle from that gas station right around the corner from here. Woman – Asian descent – held the guy up at gunpoint, taking his bike, his wallet, and his phone," she read off to me.

"Ji-Yun," Mickey and I said at the same time.

"The lime-green Kawasaki took off heading west," Alice concluded.

"Copy that, pixie. Edward, let me know if you catch a glimpse of that bike."

"Sure thing, sweetness. What'cha gonna do? Chase her down?" he asked with a laugh.

"Shut up, asshole. I owe her a smackdown," Mickey answered back, rubbing her head and grinning when Edward laughed at her.

The radio went quiet. It was a pretty long ride from Trinity to Seattle – even longer to Port Angeles. The only chatter was the location of the truck Dean was driving. No one saw the lime-green bike. Not one of us wanted to risk innocent drivers on the highway by engaging with Dean and Kim in that truck full of thermobaric bombs. And the assholes knew it, because for the majority of the five-hour trip, he stayed within a cluster of vehicles traveling at the same speed.

As the miles flew by, my mind wandered to Dean. My feelings of betrayal weren't as sharp as my utter curiosity. Never at any point did I get a shitty vibe from the newest addition to our crew. He was smart and quick-witted. He'd stepped up during our captivity inside Carlisle's office in Twi Tech, and he'd fought bravely with us as we tried to get to Kim on the rooftop. That man either played us all for a fool or he was playing both sides. If it was the latter, then he was in trouble, and we needed to figure it out before he got killed by one side or the other.

By the time we'd reached Seattle and the Kingston Ferry, Edward's Challenger needed gas and Mickey and I needed the bathroom. Alec and Boris flew ahead to the harbors at Port Angeles with Carlisle and Seong. Edward was monitoring Dean's progress, even though the GPS tracker Alice put on the EMP was transmitting just fine.

Edward was pissed. He was probably feeling betrayed, but I couldn't exactly explain my suspicions over the radio, especially when I was waiting to hear from Makenna about Dean's family.

Mickey and I used the ferry restroom, getting back into the Dodge for the rest of the ride.

"Edward?" I called over the earpieces.

"Go ahead, sweetness."

"We've got to stop after we get off the ferry. Just letting you know."

"Ten-four, love. Keep your eyes peeled and be safe."

"Will do."

Picking up my phone, I dialed Alec on speaker, smiling at his greeting, "Bellisima, I know you're probably pissed at me for bringing Dean to Gravity in the first place—"

"No, not really, Alec," I interrupted him. "I want to know what you found out. What sent you flying out our way…literally?"

He chuckled softly at my phrasing, but he ended it with a deep sigh. "When you guys called Aunt Kate's, I was debating on heading your way anyway. I'm pissed off I got shot, but I've had worse. I'm even more pissed off that we lost a man because I fucking got shot, but that is this business. Thanks to Rose, I took the same private plane back. The first thing I wanted was the realty and leasing office in Twi Tech. It's on the thirteenth floor."

"Were you able to speak to someone?"

"No, but Twi Tech security keycards let you in everywhere, so I took advantage of the chaos and got lost in the shuffle. I ran into Boris, too, who was a big help. No one is working in the building today. They're still clearing the lobby, the streets, and the front steps. Security is everywhere, so I blended in.

"The leasing records for floors forty-five through forty-seven are pretty normal, but your girls saw that. It's the new business from Seoul, Korea that we're interested in, and yeah, the name on it is Cho, but it's their contact here in the States that will shock you."

"Just tell me, Alec."

"Hutchins Realty, which is based out of Portland. Which is where—"

"Miranda Carver works. Son of a bitch!" I groaned, shaking my head.

"Okay, so…" Mickey started, locking gazes with me. "If we go by your hunch, Bellsy, then we have to ask a simple question. Did Kim pick that realty office as a threat to Dean? Like was this Kim's way of saying get inside Twi Tech or else shit will get fucking ugly?"

"I dunno. I'm waiting for Mack to get back with intel on Miranda and Marcus Carver. I need to know if he used us as a way to possibly save his family or if he simply used us as a key into Twi Tech and Carlisle Cullen. Or if they used him when they discovered who he was working for…"

"Bella," Alec started, his voice taking on a warning tone. "He's driving a moving van full of Twi Tech weapons that could put the whole Pacific Northwest into the fucking Dark Ages."

"I'm aware, Alec. But you weren't held hostage with Dean for most of a day. He fought them, and he did it with hate. You fought with him going up to the top of the building! He didn't pull his punches or his shots. And this last fight? He could've easily killed us all, especially Edward at the end there, but he merely knocked him down. I think there's more to Dean than this betrayal. And I want to know what the fuck we're missing."

The ferry docked, and I started the Challenger. "You're at the harbor now?"

"Yeah, Bellisima. And Carlisle says to follow your instinct, if that's what you're thinking."

"Copy that. We'll be there in about an hour."

I ended the call, looking over at Mickey, who said, "You're right; that bastard fought like hell when we were upstairs. And he fought when we were working our way up that building. He could've easily killed me at the mountain cabin, and I don't think Ji-Yun killed those other two prisoners. I think Dean did. They were already dead when I caught sight of that bitch headed my way."

I nodded that I heard her, but I'd assumed as much. Looking back on how Dean had taken the truck full of bombs, he had knocked Edward down when he really could've killed him, because Edward would've shot to kill, without question. He simply took my husband out of the equation temporarily, not permanently.

The first gas station was busy, but I pulled in to fill up. I shut the engine off when my phone rang.

"Makenna, what you got?" I answered, but she was in the middle of yelling.

"Just do it, Alice! Translate that video."

"Mack?"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," she chanted, groaning. "Omigod, I'm starting to sound like her."

Mickey cracked the fuck up, muffling that shit behind her hand.

"Stop laughing, dammit, and listen to me!"

"Okay, just go!" I urged, smacking at Mickey's shaking shoulder.

"Hoo-boy, okay. So…Dean's family. You ever have your gut tell you wrong, Bella? 'Cause it's crazy how right you are sometimes. I'm just sayin'." She sighed deeply, typing on a keyboard. "Whatever. Don't answer that. Just…listen. So Alec sent us what he found out about Hutchins Realty, and from there we were able to get into Miranda Carver's life – take the kid to school, work until school was out, and then go home. Nice apartment, decent neighborhood, and okay neighbors. So two days before that whole thing went down at Twi Tech Tower, Marcus didn't show up for school and Miranda was a no-call at work. And they haven't shown up since."

"Ah, hell," I barely breathed aloud. "Okay, so when was the last sight of them?"

"Union Station in Portland. The two of them were getting on a train to Seattle. But here's where shit gets interesting… Guess whose face shows up at the train station?"

"Mack…"

"Your buddy Ji-Yun."

"That fucking bitch…" Mickey started, sitting forward and pressing the earpiece. "Pretty boy, if you see that green bike… Man, oh man, we need to know."

"Copy that, wild child, but is she really a priority now?"

"Yes!" the two of us stated loudly, and I added, "Edward, I'll explain in a minute."

"Okay, sweetness." His voice sounded a little shocked and a bit placating, but years of doing this type of work had him used to going into something with blind faith.

Turning to Mickey, I said, "Gas. Go. We need to be moving."

She hopped out of the car, but Mack continued giving me what she'd found out.

"Miranda and her son left with Ji-Yun out the front of the train station. Bella, she's the key to finding them. On the other hand, I think you should hear the video footage from Carlisle's office from when you were up there. Remember when you kicked one of them out the window?"

"Yes. Vividly."

"Badass, by the way, but still… Dean was nose-to-nose with a guard, right? Split lip, testosterone-driven scuffle, and the baby brother down seventy-something stories, right?"

"Yes, Mack. Just get on with it."

"That fight translated… Dean's not the bad guy. The guard threatened to call someone to put a bullet in his son's head if one more person went out a window. Dean was trying to keep you alive but act like he was helping them. Bellsy, he had no choice. If we're going to stop Kim, then we need to get to the wife and kid and then somehow let Dean know. That's the only way."

"You might be right, but I need to know something else. I need to know how Kim knew to target Dean. Was it before or after we hired him?"

"Before, before, before," Alice suddenly said over line. "Apparently Kim knew Dean from when he was stationed at the DMZ. I don't know if there was bad blood, a bad deal, or what, but they know each other. Now… I don't know if using Hutchins Realty was a way to find Dean or if they threatened him prior to applying. Dean called Alec for the job because he had a Gravity business card, but I don't know if Dean had a choice but to use us to get into Twi Tower."

"Well, shit. Okay," I cranked the car once Mickey was back in her seat. I was about to fill Edward in on what we'd just found out when a streak of lime green pulled out in front of us. "Oh, it can't be that easy," I muttered, nudging Mickey, who grinned like it was Christmas morning.

"Think she knows it's us?" she asked, opening the glove compartment to get her gun.

"I think we're about to find out. Put your seat belt on."

"Damn, you think she was on the ferry?" Mickey grumbled. "I could've totally tossed her in."

Grinning, I shrugged as I tailed the bright-green bike. "You can't kill her now; we've got to ask her some questions."

"Edward, Alice…come in," I said over the radio. "I've got the bike in my sights. I'm about to tail it."

"Copy, copy, copy," Alice chanted. "I just happened to stumble upon the stolen cell phone number. I can lock into it, if you'd like, Bella."

Smirking, I shook my head. Alice never "stumbled" upon anything. If she wanted information on or access to something, then she merely took it. Her philosophy was to never ask permission, only to apologize after for doing it. And she rarely meant the apology; if it helped us out, then all was fair as far as she was concerned.

"Yeah, definitely. And we might need to know where she's called since she stole it," Mickey answered for me as I shifted gears and followed Ji-Yun.

"I hear you, Bella, but someone talk to me about this chick," Edward called back. "Why am I supposed to give a shit?"

"Well, pretty boy, your wife seems to think that Dean has been forced to fuck us over, and I'm inclined to agree," Mickey stated through thick sarcasm.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," he muttered almost to himself.

Ji-Yun started to change lanes and pass people, and I sped up to do the same, saying, "Right about now, Mack and Alice should be sending you intel on Miranda and Marcus Carver."

"I've got it," Jasper replied, and he sorted through it and read it out loud to Edward and Eleazar in that helicopter. "They've got his wife and kid, Ed."

"Ex-wife," Edward corrected but didn't say anything for a few seconds. "So that's what he fucking meant when he said he had no choice…" He trailed off, going silent.

I changed lanes again, speeding up a little bit more. A few more passed cars and we were soon flying by just about everyone on the highway. Ji-Yun glanced back and faced forward again. She either knew it was us or suspected it, because she accelerated, used the emergency shoulder to pass an SUV, and then split between two semi-trucks. She was out of my sight in less than three seconds.

"Motherfucker," Mickey mumbled. "Kick it up a notch, Bella."

Checking all the lanes, I went around the semi-trucks, who were probably going the speed limit but made me feel like we were standing still. I caught sight of the bike up ahead, and I kept my distance as we sped away from Seattle toward Port Angeles. It seemed to take forever following her that way. I didn't want to lose her, but I needed to keep back in order not to spook her. That bike could outmaneuver the Challenger any fucking day. It was smaller and faster, and I could lose it in the blink of an eye.

"Bella, I got it, I got it, I got it!" Alice called over the radio. "The stolen cell phone is making calls to a throw-away phone that's pinging off cell towers in Port Angeles. It's triangulating near the harbor."

"Copy that," Mickey and I said at the same time.

"Sweetness, I've got the harbor coming into view. Target number one is still aimed that way. I'll be your eyes for the second target," Edward added.

"Thank you, Edward."

~o~H&E~o~

EDWARD

"Drive safe, sweetness," I stated over the radio.

"As fast as they're driving, they'll be here in less than twenty." Eleazar noted, pointing to the map with the GPS tracker locations showing. "And our target just pulled inside the warehouse just over there."

He pointed toward the last metal building at the end of a row where the large door was slowly rolling back down. In fact, the whole area just off the harbor was a grid of metal warehouse buildings. There had to have been twenty to twenty-five buildings.

Jasper leaned forward, reading the same map, and then glanced around at the buildings, warehouses, and docks around us. "I need to be on high, Ed. You need an eagle looking over things when you set this bird down. They could have bastards everywhere."

He pointed to a tower-like structure close to the docks but not far from the cluster of warehouses, and I nodded, turning the chopper around and hovering near the top. Jasper jumped down, catching the bags that Eleazar tossed his way.

"Give me a minute, and I'll get set up. I'll let you know what I see," Jasper stated.

"Roger that."

"Kid, come in," Alec called.

"Go ahead, Alec."

"Set that thing down at the north end of the harbor."

The spot he was talking about was a fenced-in field for dry-docked boats, piles of logs, and heavy equipment. It seemed to be a parking lot, too, but I could see the military chopper Alec had "borrowed." The thought made me smile, but I set Kim's helicopter down not far from Alec's location.

Eleazar was busy calling in his location to his men as I shut down the chopper. I tugged off the headset before getting down and opening the side door. I wanted to know just exactly what supplies Kim's men had left behind that I could use. We'd taken the chopper in a hurry and hadn't had much of a chance to check, but I found clips of ammo, a few grenades, and a couple of Sigs, not to mention a radio.

Handing the latter to Eleazar, I strapped a Sig to my back and loaded my bag with the ammo. The sound of footsteps echoed behind me, and I rounded on them with my Glock aimed their way but immediately lowered it, smiling at Alec.

"How's the leg, man?" I asked him, smiling at his scoff and catching sight of my father behind him walking to me. He pulled me into a rough hug. "Glad you're okay, Dad."

"Thanks to you guys." His answer was a whisper and filled with gratefulness.

He pulled back, patting the side of my face, and I smiled his way, saying, "I think retirement is in your imminent future, old man."

Chuckling, he patted my face again. "Son, you're not wrong."

"Actually, that's a Bella prediction, and she's rarely incorrect."

That made Dad laugh loudly, but he nodded as he shook El's hand before landing his gaze back to me. "Speaking of…"

"She's tailing Ji-Yun." I tapped the earpiece in my ear. "Sweetness, come in."

"Edward, we're about ten miles from your location. We think Ji-Yun is heading straight for Dean's family. Alice has pinpointed her cell phone to a tower near the harbor."

"Motherfucker," I sighed, my lip curling in hatred.

Maybe it wasn't hatred. Maybe it was betrayal, but if Kim was using Dean's family against him, then his actions were almost understandable. There wasn't a force on this goddamn planet that could stop me from getting to my wife and kids, which I'd proven more times than I would like to remember, but I didn't like the fact that it was me, my crew, my family that had suffered. A part of me wanted to punch this asshole for not coming clean from the get-go. If any group of people could understand, it was my crew. Maybe that was it. Maybe that was what pissed me off more than anything else. We could've helped him way before it had gotten this far.

"Which means Dean's family is close. Someone's holding them here," Alec noted aloud, gazing past us to the rows of harbor warehouses.

"Alice, come in," I called.

"I'm here, I'm here, I'm here. Edward, I'm checking the list of warehouse renters and owners. Gimme a sec, okay?" she rambled.

"Roger that. Let me know what you find. And if you could get me an eye in the sky, that would be phenomenal."

"Working on that, too," she replied quickly.

"You're beautiful, Alice. You know that, right?" I teased her as usual, and her laugh was my reward.

"So you keep telling me."

"I just don't want you to forget it, Pixie."

She gave no reply, but I looked back to Alec, saying, "We're going to have to take this entire shipyard building by building. How's that leg of yours?"

"I won't be winning any races, kid." He shook his head and shifted his weight a little. "I shouldn't be on it now. Give me a weapon, and I'll take to a rooftop on this end of the complex."

Everyone's phones alerted all at the same time, and Alice piped up on our earpieces.

"Okay, so I just sent all of you a layout of that shipyard. The X marks the spot where Dean and Kim are, the highlighted buildings are the ones with occupants inside, and the dark ones are the empty ones. That's five buildings, you guys. Some with a handful of warm bodies inside. Alec, if you take the first warehouse, there's fire escape stairs running up the north side to the roof. That should give you the bird's-eye view opposite Jasper," she instructed with her usual precision. "Now, Edward, see the one warehouse in the middle?"

I scanned through the layout she'd sent, finding a rather large building in the center. "Yes. Got it," I replied, opening the next picture she sent, which showed a thermal view. Four warm bodies spread throughout the building. Two were very close together. "Oh ho, we may just have the location of Dean's family," I muttered to no one in particular.

Everyone crowded around me to look, but it was my dad who spoke up.

"Son, you and I will take that building. Alec, you'll take Seong with you on that roof to keep her safe. Eleazar, you and Boris set up out of sight just outside the warehouse Kim and Dean are in and be at the ready when Bella and Mickey follow that girl here. I need a weapon," he said, and I grinned at his inability not to take charge sometimes. "What?" he asked me.

"Nothing, Dad. We're on your say." I reached inside Kim's chopper and grabbed the other Sig, handing it to him.

"Also…guys?" Alice called.

"Go ahead, Alice," I answered her.

"There's a cargo ship docked out there. The manifest shows a container for Chung Sun-Woo, Kim's alias."

We all turned toward the water. An enormous black and red ship was at the dock, looking rusty and worn but like every other ship I'd ever seen. I couldn't quite make out the ship's name from where we were standing, but it was indeed being loaded. The dock was a beehive of activity, even though the sun was starting to set.

"All that being said," Jasper drawled, "we have a container leaving the warehouse that Kim's in. Looks like they were ready to pack up those bombs and the EMP."

"And it's set to pull out soon, guys," Mack added. "I just talked to the dock manager, and they are due to pull up anchor in the next fifteen to twenty."

"And that middle building is still occupied," Alice stated. "They're taking the weapons but not their bargaining chip."

"Fuck, that changes things," I muttered, gazing at Dad. "We'll have to take the fight to that ship and be careful of the innocents on board. And get to Dean's family all at the same fucking time."

"And by the time we get anywhere near that fuckin' boat, the sun will be down," Alec pointed out.

"If we could get to the captain…" Dad muttered almost to himself. He looked to me, saying, "No one wants a terrorist aboard their ship, so we might be able to convince him to stall or, at the very least, let us search the damn thing."

"I'm not particularly fond of asking for fucking permission," I stated with a shrug.

Dad grinned, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "No, I don't suppose you are."

"You taught me that," I told him, turning to Eleazar. "You think you could use your influence on this? Maybe have someone stall him?" I pointed toward the crates that Kim and Dean were loading onto the ship, because time would be ticking now that they were on board.

Eleazar nodded, but he was already on it, speaking softly into his phone before addressing us. "If they make it out of the harbor, then we'll need a ride. Honestly, that ship will be a floating time bomb if something goes wrong, so I'd rather sneak aboard and let it pull up anchor before starting a fight."

"Then we need to get moving. And we need to—" I started, but the sound of a motorcycle caught my attention, not to mention my Challenger's engine right behind it. Tapping my earpiece, I said, "Sweetness, let her go. She'll be aiming for the middle warehouse; we've locked on to where they're holding Dean's family. Come to us at the storage lot at the north end of the harbor."

"Ten-four, Edward."

The bike took the quiet roads between the warehouses almost too fast, but she swerved into the middle warehouse just like we'd assumed. The large metal doors dropped back down, but we all turned to see my Dodge pull into the fenced area where we were.

My wife was a sight for sore eyes, no matter that I'd seen her just that morning. This was a dangerous and shitty mission; I'd rather keep her close, but it just wasn't fucking working out that way. Mickey and Bella got out of the car, and my dad was the first to them, wrapping them in hugs.

Cupping Bella's face, he smiled down at her. "Thanks, sweetheart."

She smiled and nodded. "I'm casting a vote on your retirement."

He laughed, kissing the middle of her forehead. "So I heard."

Bella's eyes met mine, and her sigh of relief was audible, but she was wrapped around me in a few seconds.

"Hey, sweetness. Good job on Ji-Yun," I whispered into her hair.

"Well, we weren't sure where she was going, so I needed to tail her. It wasn't until Alice got involved that we knew she was coming here," she explained, cupping my face and kissing me briefly.

"Well, the girls are kicking ass with the info. However, we're strapped for time, Bella," Alec started, pointing out to the large container ship in the harbor. "We've got to get on that ship. The bombs, Dean, and Kim are all on that thing. And we have to get to that warehouse, which means—"

Her nose wrinkled, but she nodded. "We have to split up."

I tugged off my baseball cap, raking a hand through my hair and pulling it back on. "Dammit!" I grumbled, shaking my head.

"Relax, son," Dad stated. "I'll take the girls to that warehouse with Alec posted outside. You take El and Boris onto that ship and end this shit. I don't even care how you do it."

"And Seong?" Bella asked, because the poor girl was lost in all this bullshit.

"She stays with me," Alec offered up. "I'm not particularly sure I trust her," he said, turning his gaze to the girl in question. "I'm kinda with Bellisima on this. Can't we just ship her off to where her dad is?"

"No," my dad answered firmly. "I have a feeling she'll be useful before all this shit is over."

"He will come for me," Seong piped up, looking a bit pissed we were talking about her instead of to her. "Min-Jun will come for me."

"Aww, sweet," Mickey crooned sarcastically. "She thinks Kim cares."

"No, he won't," Bella told Seong, ignoring Mickey's scoff. "If he wanted you, he'd have kept you by his side. If he wanted you, he would've contacted us for a trade. No, Seong, he used you to get here, to get inside Twi Tech, and to get to your father. He's already forgotten about you."

I flinched when tears welled up in Seong's eyes, but my Bella was right. If Kim Min-Jun had wanted Seong, he would've fought for her. He also would've most likely outed her earlier and kept her at his side.

"Never mind that you almost got your dad killed," Alec pointed out. "So…you'll stay with meand I'll keep you safe. Are we clear?"

Seong merely nodded, looking a bit like Bethy when she'd been chastised, which made me remember that Seong was simply a belligerent teen.

Dad shook his head, looking to me. "Now…go! Get your asses on that ship. You'll have to hurry."

Sneering at the fact that once again, I'd be separated from Bella, I turned to my wife. "Be safe, sweetness. Please."

"You, too. Love you."

I kissed her lips roughly in reply, turning to Eleazar and Boris. "Let's do this."

The three of us worked our way through the warehouses, keeping to the shadows that were now darkening as the sun was almost set. We avoided the middle one, which had gone still since Ji-Yun had showed up. We came to a stop at the last warehouse, which luckily wasn't the last of our cover. Stacks of logs, empty shipping containers, and large cranes were sporadic down the long pier. As we neared the ship, I saw two ways of getting on board. There was a metal set of stairs leading up from the pier to the top. There was also some scaffolding that had been erected up the side where it looked like someone had been doing some maintenance and painting. At the top were some welding equipment and paint buckets.

"Take the scaffolding," Eleazar advised. "We are just out of sight of the bridge."

"Or we could catch a ride," Boris said with a chuckle to his tone.

He jerked his chin toward the crane. A deep-red container was being readied to be lifted up onto the ship.

"Not a chance in hell," I muttered, grinning at the two older men, who were laughing softly. "I'll take my chances with the scaffold. We need a distraction, though."

"Leave that to me," Boris stated, darting around a stack of pallets toward the crane.

"He's gonna fuck with that equipment, isn't he?" I asked Eleazar.

"Probably. Let's get into position so his crazy, fucked-up idea can work. Usually, a ship this size has about a dozen men – give or take – so we stand a good chance of getting past them."

"That is if he can catch their attention," I whispered as El led the way.

We could hear activity above us as we neared the top. However, the crane made an eerie grinding squeal. A pillar of black smoke poured out of the engine, and the container, which had been mere feet in the air, slammed back down onto the pier.

Jasper's chuckle echoed over the earpiece. "My hope is that I'm that badass when I'm Boris's age."

Grinning, I nodded a bit. "You got eyes on us, Jasper?"

"Yeah, you'll be clear to board in approximately fifteen seconds," he replied. "You've got…five, ten, twelve… Oh, you're probably dealing with about twenty assholes, Ed. Some armed to the fucking teeth."

"I sincerely doubt the seamen are armed, so keep Kim's men off our asses, J," I ordered, peeking over the scaffolding to see most of the men watching the mess the crane had made.

"You said 'seamen,'" he said through an Emmett-like tone.

"Oh boy." Eleazar sighed, nodding for me to go on. "We want the door to the cargo hold below. Most of these bastards are built the same. It should be around the corner below the bridge. Go!"

With one last glance toward the group of men with their backs to us, I followed El's direction. We both darted across the walkway and stopped just around the corner behind an enormous coil of rope. The coast was clear, and we slipped quietly along the wall to the door El wanted.

Once inside, I tapped the earpiece. "Boris, we're in. Get somewhere out of sight."

"I've got your six, son. Don't worry about me."

Shaking my head, I said, "Roger that. Jasper, you keep your eyes on Dad's team. I don't know how much signal we'll have down below."

"Copy that," he said through a grunt. "Okay, Carlisle, everyone's in position. Give 'em hell."

~o~H&E~o~

A/N… We're split up again, but not too bad. Honestly, I've missed Carlisle, so we'll be joining Bella next chapter to see them take the warehouse and Ji-Yun.

So there's good news and bad news. Clearly the good news is that my muse is starting to wriggle its way into the sunlight. Sadly, it took falling off the wagon to do so. Between everyday real-life stress, some menopausal bullshit, anxiety over the inability to write, and working for Delores Umbridge's lost twin muggle brother (fuck me, he's a piece of work), something in me was going to snap, and…well, that was it. I bummed a smoke, and there you go. At least I know I can quit in the future, but that time is not now. So the good news is that it helps me write. The bad news is 2018 kicked my ass and I lost. I can't feel guilty right now, so I'll just plug along.

Okay, we're still at "you'll get it when you get it" status as far as updates are concerned. But at least I'm not avoiding my home office like the plague anymore. Until next time… Mooches, Deb ;)