A/N: Early update coming at you. A lot going on info in this chapter, so put your thinking cap on. We are still ramping up, so I'll let you get to it. Just an FYI because I know the timing can be confusing, this chapter starts on Day 33. Thanks to my ladies- bitterharpy, maplestyle, agoodwitch, and LaMomo. Thank to Alice's white rabbit and her beta skills. A BIG thank you to everyone reading and reviewing and whoever keeps recing this story, Love you all!

The call Edward and I had been equal parts waiting for and terrified of came about a week after we got to Idaho. We needed to know what was going on and where to go from here. We hadn't run into any problems since we got here, but with dirty people in high-ranking government jobs, it was only a matter of time before someone put two and two together.

Katiya was playing outside and I was watching her through the windows in the kitchen while I was making lunch. Edward was sitting at the breakfast bar talking to me when his phone rang.

"It's Emmett," he said. He pressed the answer button and immediately put it on speaker. "Hey, Emmett."

"Hey, Ed. We got a bit of a situation. I heard my boss talking on the phone. He mentioned Utah and Esme's name. Then someone spoke on the phone, and he said something about Carlisle and you, man. I think they figured it out, both that you're with Bella and who your family is."

I looked at Edward, and he looked shocked and murderous. "I can't just leave them as open targets, Emmett."

"Already on it. Your boss had an unfortunate affiliation come up on a deeper dive background check, and he has been relieved of duty. His interim replacement is legit and can be trusted. He's already started working on getting your family in protective custody, and you need to check in with him. I'll send his info over email when we're done talking. You gotta tell me how they found you, man," Emmett said.

"I was in Utah at Esme's house. The night we found the tracker, someone broke in—you remember. Well, they left alive 'cause we couldn't find them. So, they told someone where we were, and they must have figured out the owner of the house. It's in Esme's name, who's now a Cullen. You can figure it out from there. My name change is in the system, although hidden, so the federal government can see my last name was changed from Cullen to Masen," Edward explained.

"So, is where you're staying now safe?" Emmett asked.

"I really don't know. If they check affiliates, they may be able to find it," Edward replied, raking his hand through his hair. I leaned on the counter with my elbows and put my head in my hands, just listening and thinking. I really didn't want to run again. "But we really don't have a choice. There's nowhere else I know to go, and getting safe house locations isn't guaranteed to be safe, not knowing who is good and bad."

"Well, if you get in a jam, you have other people who can call it in for you, or this new director you have can set you up. But I would wait before you move again," Emmett suggested.

"Yeah, I'll look over the info and check-in with him. He may have different directions than the guy who basically wanted us to be sitting ducks," Edward said hopefully.

"Yeah, well onto the other news. My contact had a lot of info for me. Things are a little dodgy there in Russia, so he doesn't know if he'll be able to get any more. He found out who Katiya's dad is, and this guy is a piece of work. He's high up in the Bratva. Her grandfather is the Pahkan, or the "Boss". Right under him is her dad, who is the Sovietnik, basically his right-hand man. They haven't been able to get anything to stick to these guys; they're untouchable. There's been circumstantial evidence, but as I said, it goes nowhere. Trying to find her mom was a little bit harder because she was actually married to someone else when she and her husband died in a house fire. There was suspicion of arson, but there was no evidence to validate it. Katiya wasn't in the house when it happened; she was already with her "adoptive" parents," Emmett explained.

"So, that begs the question of how she got pregnant if they weren't in a relationship," Edward asked.

Emmett sighed. "That I don't know, but it seems the mom was trying to keep the child away from the dad, if her adoptive parents had her already. She could have just cheated on her husband."

"Could have or she was forced. If he's as bad as you say, then it doesn't seem beyond him," Edward said, shrugging.

"Katiya's coming. Take it off speaker, and go to the porch," I hissed at him. He did exactly as I said, and Katiya came skipping inside. "Hey, pretty girl. Ready for some lunch."

"Yeah. Where's Edward?" she asked, looking around for him while coming to sit at the counter.

"He's outside talking to Emmett," I explained while ladling some soup and plating her sandwich

"Is he okay?" she asked, remembering Emmett was working with a "bad man".

"Yeah, sweetie, he is. He's being safe," I assured her.

"Are we gonna have to move again?" she questioned.

"I hope not, but it's always a possibility," I told her honestly.

"Are we ever going to be able to stop?" she asked, looking worried.

"I don't know, Katiya. We have to figure out who all is behind this and make it safe before we can. That's what Edward and Emmett are trying to do." I answered her question as best as I could. I felt guilty for not telling her more, but as Edward reminded me, she was only eight years old, and she didn't need the burden of what her father was and who she really was.

"But we're all going to stay together, right?" She looked sad and scared.

"Of course. We didn't come this far to split up now," I promised. That was all I could give her, knowing there may come a day where I would have to break that promise. I would try my hardest to make sure that day never came though. "I wish I could give you a regular life. One where you could make friends your age and do normal things like go to the park, have picnics, and go swimming, but this is our reality right now. I'll do everything I can to keep you safe."

"I know. I wish sometimes I could go back to the way things used to be, but then I never would have met you and Edward. I miss my parents, but I would miss you and Edward too."

"We'd miss you too, pretty girl."

We were quiet as we both ate. Once I finished eating, I made a plate and bowl for Edward and put it in the microwave so he could heat it up. Katiya wanted to go play outside again, and I told her that was fine. Jasper's house was on a large lot and their backyard was very big. Edward told me he thought they had an above ground pool somewhere in the garage, and they had a hot tub under a gazebo outside. I didn't want to go searching through the garage and go through setting up a pool. Who knows how fast we may have to leave when the time came?

I had just finished cleaning the lunch dishes and putting the leftover soup away when Edward came back inside. He was scrolling through his phone. I told him lunch was in the microwave. I let him get his food warmed up and eat before I pounced for the information I missed. He was pretty good at keeping me in the loop, but he seemed distracted. I sat in one of the large plushy armchairs in the front room while I waited for him. I turned the TV on and watched some random sitcom.

Edward finally came and found me when he was ready. He came over and started kissing my neck and my cheek. I giggled and got out of the chair, pushed him to sit down, and then sat on his lap. "So, what did I miss."

"Apparently in Russia right now, two factions are fighting for turf. That's why the informant doesn't think he'll be able to get much more info. A lot of the connections he had are on one side or the other, so a lot of them are pretty tight-lipped. He did say the activity he was seeing looked like one of the head honchos is about to come stateside. I imagine it's the dad because the grandfather wouldn't be able to leave with how volatile everything is right now."

"Fuck! So, her dad is coming to the US?"

"It seems like he may be getting ready. But they don't know where we are, Bella."

"Yeah, well, Alice is linked to you, and she's linked to Jasper, and this is Jasper's house. Plus, now they know you're with me. They didn't know that before."

"Yes, but you can't panic."

"Panic? How about sheer pants-wetting terror! Edward, this is the mob; not only that—it's the Russian mob. You know, the one you and Emmett told me is ruthless and will not stop. They're going to come to take Katiya and kill us both," I said, the panic gripping me. I was having a bit of trouble breathing all of a sudden. The tears building behind my eyes ran unchecked down my face.

Edward grabbed my head in his hands, making me look right into his eyes. "Breath, sweetheart. Come on, focus on me, and just breathe real nice and slow."

I realized I was hyperventilating, so I forced myself to focus and slow my breathing. The slower my breathing got, the more the panic ebbed away. Edward ran his thumbs under my eyes to wipe the tears away. He pulled my head toward his, resting our foreheads together. His green eyes bored into me with an intense stare.

"I won't let anything happen to you or Katiya. I can't let any harm come to you. I wouldn't be able to deal with it. The thought of it just makes me want to hurt them. You're safe, Bella. Don't forget that. I know this is a scary situation but know that, to the very core of your being, I won't let anyone hurt you."

At that moment, I never wanted to kiss him more. I could see the pain it caused him to think of anything happening to me or Katiya. This situation wasn't something any of us would have chosen to be in, given other options, but we still were in it together. We were a family, not biologically or even legally, but in every sense that actually mattered, we were. Edward and I relied on each other, and we were taking care of a lost little girl. I leaned forward and kissed him with a hunger that surprised me. I fisted my hands in his shirt and pulled him impossibly closer to me. Edward threaded his hand in my hair, wrapping my hair around his fist.

I pulled away from him, knowing we were moments away from taking it too far, and even though Katiya wasn't in the house, it wasn't the time or place for us to go at it on the recliner. I rested my forehead against his again and lightly scratched down his jaw over the stubble he had there. "Thank you, Edward. For everything. I know you take your job seriously, and you would protect whoever you had to, but this goes so beyond being a job anymore. We're in this together, and I trust you."

He lightly kissed my forehead. "Come on. Get up," he said, motioning for me to get up, which I did. "How much self-defense do you know?"

"What? I mean, my dad taught me the basics, but I never kept up with it."

"Okay," he said, getting in a boxer's stance. "Show me what you've got."

"Wh-what are we doing?"

"I'm gonna teach you how to defend yourself. We already know you can shoot a gun at a moving target, so let's see what you've got in hand-to-hand combat. If I were, for instance, to do this," he said, sneaking around and coming at me from behind, grabbing me around the torso, his hand on my shoulder. "What are you gonna do?"

I froze for a moment, and then closed my eyes, my dad teaching me this stuff coming back to me from so long ago. I opened my eyes and planted my feet shoulder width apart. I grabbed the hand on my shoulder and, using his height and weight against him, flipped him over my shoulder, twisting the arm I was holding onto.

"So, should I just make you my bitch now, or do you want me to beat on you a little first?" I asked, teasing.

He was looking at me in surprise, and he let out a laugh, smiling at me. "That is so hot that you can do that."

I rolled my eyes, letting go of his arms. I went to help him up, but he did some weird leg swirl and flipped himself back up on his feet.

"Okay, what the hell? That was some karate shit there, Bruce Lee."

"I have a black belt in karate. I also know some Krav Maga and capoeira."

"You mean like the flippy dance stuff?"

"What?"

"I always played Eddie or Christie on Tekken. They do the flips and dance fighting style."

"I think there's a little more involved than that," Edward said, laughing. "Okay, let's go again."

Edward and I spent the next hour with him teaching me holds, punches, and kicks. A lot of what my dad taught me slowly came back to me, but I needed to hone my skills and practice more because I wasn't even close to matching the things Edward could do, and I never would, but it felt cathartic and like I was actually doing something instead of sitting there and being a victim.

Katiya came inside partway through, and Edward taught her how to throw a punch and how to simply get out of a hold when someone grabs you from behind. She begged me to show her how I did it earlier, so I got in a position to flip Edward over my shoulder. Since I was facing Katiya, he grabbed my ass with his free hand, and I smiled. I was gonna make him pay for that. So, I showed Katiya the SING method like Gracie from Miss Congeniality. I just mimed the nose and groin part because I couldn't bring myself to injure that part of him. Topping it all off, I flipped him over my shoulder and Katiya cheered and clapped, jumping up to give me a high five and fist bump.

She and Edward went into their usual complicated handshake. Edward had taught her the fist bump thing a few days ago. They went so far as to create their own handshake greeting routine. It was interesting to see him in this role. He was so much like a little kid with her sometimes that my heart clenched with the thought that regardless of what happened after all this mess was over, if we stayed together I would never be able to give him his own child. Not in a biological way. I subconsciously touched my stomach, watching the two of them, trying not to spiral into the melancholy thoughts that accompanied my infertility. I shook myself out of those thoughts and joined them in learning the handshake.

The following days, Edward continued to help me practice my self-defense skills, and he also took me farther into the woods of McCall to practice shooting as well. His reasoning for all this was if we ever got separated or he needed to leave for any reason then I would be able to protect myself and Katiya until we met back up or he returned. After the third day of all this practice, Edward received a panicked call from Emmett. The last day or so he had noticed someone was following him around everywhere he went. Edward told him he would call him back later that night.

Edward and I discussed him going to meet Emmett. Edward wasn't comfortable with meeting here in McCall or even in Idaho. He wanted to keep Emmett safe in the sense that he didn't know where we were; it was something he and Emmett had agreed to when we left Oregon. He also didn't want Katiya to go along because bringing her out in the open wasn't an option, meaning he wanted me to stay here.

I felt a bit of panic at that thought. It wasn't like him going into town and getting groceries. This was driving to some halfway point in Oregon. Portland was a nine-hour drive away. Meaning Edward would be gone for the better part of a day, and God knows what would happen when Emmett's shadow saw Edward.

"Edward, no. This is so deeply dangerous. What happens if you're hurt, or k—God, I can't even finish that sentence."

"Bella, this is Emmett. He's concerned. I've never heard him sound like that before."

It was a good possibility this guy was just following Emmett to make sure he was staying out of the way or not ratting out his boss. There was also a possibility they were waiting for him to contact Edward. This entire situation to me screamed TRAP, but I knew Emmett would never do that to us. "Everything about this screams trap to me. If you think I can watch you walk out of that door without us, knowing where you're going, then you obviously have no idea what my feelings are for you. I'm begging you not to do this."

He pulled me closer to him, hugging me. He started stroking my hair and kissing the top of my head. "I know you're scared, sweetheart. This is Emmett though. You know him, and he helped us, no questions asked. You know this is the right thing to do."

I may have fallen out of touch with him when he moved to Oregon, but I did know to the core who Emmett was, and he really was a good guy. He didn't have a malicious bone in his body. When he said my sister's name, it was said with a reverence a religious person would speak about God, so he would never serve her sister up to these thugs. That and the fact I trusted Edward implicitly were the only things to get me to let it go. I knew we needed information for whatever end game Katiya's dad was planning, and if someone was tailing Emmett, the bad guys put him there.

Edward called Emmett back, and they made a plan. Edward went out to get me a burner phone so he could contact me, and vice versa if any issues arose. He also went grocery shopping while he was out. He was going to leave tomorrow in the morning. They were meeting at some halfway point, so it was still a four-and-a-half-hour drive. Then they had to take care of business, and then there was another four-and-a-half-hour drive to come back. By the time evening rolled around, I was emotionally exhausted and just ready to go to bed. After reading to Katiya and bidding her goodnight, I immediately traveled down the hall to our room. I started to change into my pajamas when I felt warm arms snake around my waist. I melted into Edward's chest. He kissed and licked his way down my neck, playfully nipping me at the juncture of my neck. I turned in his arms and grabbed his face in my hands, making him look at me.

"Don't take any unnecessary risks and come back to me. I can't do this without you, Edward Masen-Cullen. Please …" I started, pleading with him to be safe.

He cut me off by crushing his lips to mine, and it was raw fire, need, and desperation. We both knew the score, and we knew the risks. Tonight, I just needed to hold him and feel him. I needed to feel safe because I knew the minute he walked out of that door I wouldn't feel safe again until he returned.

"Edward …"

"I know. I know what you want because it's what I want too. It's tearing me up inside that I have to leave you behind, but I can't put you in the line of fire like that. Please understand," he said, pain etched into his face.

"I know. I understand," I said, stroking down his jaw and lightly scratching his scalp. I knew this man. I knew how to calm him down and how to rev him up. He needed me just as much as I needed him. I grabbed his hand, turning off the light, and heading to the bed. I pushed him to lie down, and I did the same on my side, facing him. We spent a long time just staring into each other's eyes, touching, and kissing. Even though not a word was said, we still had an entire conversation this way.

I woke up in the morning to the smell of bacon and pancakes. I padded downstairs to see Katiya and Edward sitting together.

"Hey, Bella. Edward made breakfast," Katiya announced.

"I see that pretty girl," I answered.

"I was just about to come wake you up. I gotta get going soon," he stated.

At this statement, Katiya frowned. She was having a hard time with the fact he was leaving. I mirrored her sentiments, but I also had the burden of knowing why it had to happen. Katiya gave Edward a hug and told him to be careful. I could see the sadness in her eyes. I gave Edward a hug and walked with him to the car. I gave him another hug and a lingering kiss. He cupped my cheek, just staring at me for a minute, then he kissed me and got into the car. We didn't need to say words again because we had already said it all. I walked back inside after he pulled away, and Katiya walked over to me, tears starting to form in her eyes. I fell to my knees and opened my arms for her. She leaned into them, letting the tears fall, and I finally let my own fall.

A/N: So, how do we feel? Lots if info to digest and Edward is going to help Emmett. What do we think will happen? Let me know and leave me some love. See you in about two weeks. I will post again shortly before Christmas so see you then.