YOU'RE WHAT!

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.

He had been the one that had made things much safer for her until help could be had, and she suspected that it was him that had sent the call in about what had taken place inside the building and about her needing help. Of course, the big question was how could he know, but, that was best left for another day.

CHAPTER 24: CHARLIE, TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

Every little move of the gurney as it was swaying one way and then the other sent roaring flames of what felt like fire as the pain flared throughout her body as she was waiting to be loaded into the ambulance. She didn't understand the reason for the delay in transporting her to the nearest hospital, but, the EMT's seem to have a reason, whatever it might be.

When the EMT's had moved Bella onto the gurney they had laid her on her back, but, again what else could they do. No one, but her, knew where her injuries were and that was everywhere: across her back, the sides and the front of her stomach including across the breasts. There just wasn't any way to lay her that wasn't going to help her avoid the pain.

Thus far no one had given her a chance to ask any questions. Truth be told, she hadn't been asked any questions, either, but, that was a good thing at the moment. Bella was very conflicted about how much to tell them and how much she should keep to herself for a while longer. She was grateful that her ordeal was over and that she didn't have to hide a moment longer. Or, come to think of it, that she had to try to work her way towards help and worry at the same time about being discovered by her abductors.

Bella still wasn't sure that she had really seen the man that she thought she had. How could her father have known where to find her and to do what he did? She knew that Charlie Swan would never murder anyone just for the sake of killing. It just wasn't in him to do things the way this incident had played out as she thought that it had. He believed in life, so therefore, he would have tried to take the kidnappers into custody, or, they would have had to have fired first before he would have used his gun. He always taught to practice a peaceful approach whenever possible, but, to be ready for the unexpected because that's what could bring you the greatest harm which led to death.

Of course, it's possible that Bella was just imagining what she thought she had seen. After all, she had lost all sense of time. She didn't know how long she had been here, wherever here was; she didn't know the day, the time or the date for that matter. Bella didn't believe that it had been all that long, but, at the same time she didn't even know how long she had been unconscious. But, however long it had been, she wasn't sure if she had been feverishly seeing things, or, if the person she had seen was real.

Finally, one of the police officers approached her position, but, still she was being ignored as no one was asking for her statement. This sort of treatment was totally unusual and was considered to be unacceptable in any department of the investigative law enforcement divisions. Heads would have rolled if a crime scene and investigation was conducted in the manner this one was being handled. Of that she was damn sure about.

Bella got tired of being ignored by both the medical teams and by the police that were on location checking out the crime scene, so, she let loose and started yelling, "When in the hell are you going to do something, anything, but, something, with me?" That caused everyone to stop and look in her direction.

"Miss, we are waiting for Det. Norris to release you and then we can take you to the hospital." Bella was informed.

"Well, then I wish to hell he would get his head out of his ass and get through because I'm hurting like a moth-" Bella ceased her complaining as she saw an older, gray haired man walking over towards her position.

"Agent Swan, I can understand your impatience, but, I can't move things along any faster than what my men can go. There are a lot of things that were taking place here which means there's a lot of ground to cover, and that means I have to make sure that we have the evidence, untainted, to back up whatever statements are made.

"I'm quite sure that you're extremely uncomfortable at the moment, I'm guessing because of what we found in a room on the lowest level, but, I will be wanting to take your statement as soon as I can."

But, before he could say anything else one of the EMT's asked, "Sir, we need to go ahead and get our patient to the ER, so her injuries can be treated. The delay is only creating a more uncomfortable situation for her and increasing her stress levels. This, of itself, could prove to be harmful for our patient."

A uniformed officer approached and whispered something to Det. Norris and then left. Then for a few seconds he seemed to be lost in thought and then he suddenly turned back to Bella and the EMT that had come to her defense and said, "Go ahead and take Agent Swan to the hospital. I'll have someone meet you there and they will stay with her the whole time to make sure no one gets close enough to try anything."

"What do you "try anything"?" Bella asked. "Do you really think that anyone is going to try anything after this fiasco?"

"Agent Swan, you never know and at this point, I'd rather err on the side of caution than make the mistake of assuming anything and end up being completely wrong, or, have overlooked something important all because I made everyone rush through things." Was the reply given to Bella's questions.

So, without further ado, Bella was quickly loaded into the ambulance and was on her way to the hospital.

No one noticed the dirty old man lurking in the doorway across the street who seemed to be watching everything that was taking place in the alleyway. And, if Bella had been able to see him, she would have recognized him immediately; he was the person that she had seen earlier as he had entered and then left the place where she had been held hostage.

XXXXXX

Dinner time had come and gone without too much conversation from anyone. Each person was involved with their own thoughts and not paying too much mind to what anyone else might be wanting to share. But, never did Alice or Rosalie get too far into their own heads that they lost focus of what was happening around them. And, it was right at the end of the meal that a phone started ringing.

At first, no one made a move to answer the damn thing until finally Sam rose from his seat and headed off into the living room to answer it. But, before he could get to the phone it had stopped, so, he paused in his stride as if trying to decide what to do next. However, before he could give it too much thought the phone began to ring again.

As he reached the disturbing instrument, the others had risen and began gathering in the living room to see why it hadn't been answered as yet. But, once again the phone stopped, but, almost immediately, Sam's cell phone began ringing. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, hit the answer button and raised it up to his ear.

Everyone else in the room watched the changing expressions on Sam's face as he listened to what was being said, but, not offering a single word in exchange to whoever was on the other end of the call. So, it was difficult for the others to be able to get any sort of idea what the call was about.

The call didn't last long, but, as Sam disconnected his head fell forward into his hand as he seemed to collapse onto the couch. Alice stepped forward and stopped in front of Sam, then she bent down so she was able to be at his eye level and reached out to remove his hand from his face as she asked, "Sam, was that call about Bella?" And, the only answer she received to her question was a small nod of his head.

"Then tell us what you know. It's evident from your actions that she's been found, but, tell us what you were told about her condition." Rosalie demanded in a no-nonsense voice. Her, the same as everyone else's, nerves were stretched to the breaking point. Each person was extremely concerned and wanted answers; some kind of knowledge that would allow them to be able to deal with what might be coming at them next.

Sam finally raised his head and looked at each individual that was anxiously watching him, waiting with bated breath for fear of what they might hear, as they willed him to tell them what he knew. And, he did, "Bella has been found as I'm sure you've guessed by now and is being conveyed to the hospital so she can receive treatment for her wounds.

"There is no information at this time as to what those injuries might be, so, we'll just have to wait and see. But, the funny thing, at the scene where she was found, was the fact that several bodies of known hoods were found also."

It seemed to take several minutes for his words to sink in about all he had told them. They were elated that Bella had been found, but, the subject about bodies being found at the same place was causing concern and a great deal of puzzlement as to who had done what and why? Then the thought, or, rather, the question that flashed through all of their minds was, 'where is Charlie?'

"Does anyone happen to know how to get a hold of Charlie to let him know?" And, as that question was asked five pairs of eyes all looked at Sam Uley once again as they were wanting an answer. Wanting an answer to that question and several others that were running around in their minds.

"From what I was just told, Charlie already knows and is handling everything that he needs to take care of. In the meantime, we need to decide….." Sam started saying when he was interrupted.

"No. No, nothing needs to be decided. We will follow the natural course of what is expected. Edward needs to go to the hospital since it's believed that Bella is his girlfriend and nothing else. And, Sam, you'll go with him since you're a close family friend. That will appear to be normal and draw no undo attention." Rosalie stated for the benefit of all.

"I agree with you. It's extremely important that we still maintain the true order of things on a low key as much as possible." Alice commented.

And, with that decided, Edward started getting ready to go with Sam to Bella at the hospital.

XXXXXX

When Charlie had arrived at the right location and surveyed the surrounding area he knew, instinctively, that he was at the right place. He could feel that his baby girl was being held in that place. But, now wasn't the time to allow those thoughts to take root within him; he had a job to do and that was the most important thing. He was a man on a mission and that was to retrieve his daughter.

At first, he wasn't aware that she was any other place, but, inside the building. He had paused in a doorway across the street from the alley, after doing a quick surveillance earlier, but, decided to wait until all of the activity that seemed to be taking place died down some.

Of course, Charlie wasn't aware that all of the activity he had observed was caused by the fact that Bella had already escaped, and her jailors were out trying to find her without drawing attention to themselves, or, the fact that their hostage had gotten away somehow.

When the time came for him to make his move, he didn't hesitate. He slowly crept down the alley, pausing every so often to check out the scene around him, then he would move a little deeper into the alleyway while slowly making his way towards the door of the building he was wanting to enter.

As he opened the door, he was faced with several men that had been standing around and seemed to be involved in discussion, but, who all swung their eyes towards the opening door as Charlie appeared within their sight. After that everything moved as if in slow motion, they reached for and raised their guns, pointing them at the man standing in the doorway, but, Charlie already had his gun pointed at them. Everyone fired at the same time, but, Charlie was able to launch himself swiftly to one side as everyone fired.

It was his quick actions that had saved his life, but, ended those that he had faced. He moved quickly further into the building to a door he noticed on a lower level and opened it. He entered and was stunned with fear by what he saw. There was a mess, a bloody belt, Bella's tattered blouse, an unconscious body and chains hanging from the ceiling.

Charlie gave the place a quick look round and was about to leave when he heard a moan coming from the man that was slowly beginning to recover his senses. So, he walked over and knocked the semi-conscious man out for another deep sleep. Then he left the building altogether.

Once outside, Charlie paused as if by some instinct he knew Bella was close. But, it was as he looked around, but, not really seeing anything out of the ordinary until he noticed the pile of cardboard behind the dumpsters. He knew that his little girl was there safe and well hidden.

Not wanting to draw undue attention to her location since others were still out looking for her, he moved on out of the alleyway to settle once more in the doorway across the street. It was then that he discreetly made a phone call to a friend to get help for his daughter and to get an investigation started about what was taking place inside that building.

AN: Bella has been rescued and is on her way to the hospital. All of the others have been informed about Bella being found and Edward is getting ready to go to her at the hospital. We now know for sure that it was Charlie that took care of business inside the building and then called for help for Bella. What is going to be Charlie's next move? What is going to be decided in regards to the guys safety because of Bella's escape?

Hope you will enjoy this story and will let me know your thoughts, ideas and comments as we move forwards