Authors Note; chapter update! A giant thank you to my beta, she's awesome! Any mistakes here are my own. Don't forget, I have a Facebook page set up under Izzy Swan, (so do a million other people) the profile picture is of Bella with the word Remember across it! Thanks for reading!

Chapter 12

"Can't sleep, Bella?" Jasper asks when I plop down on the couch.

I shake my head, "No. I began to fall asleep and then the nightmares started."

"I don't know how you'll survive the night when this is over. Edward won't be in your bed anymore."

"Shut up Alice," I tell her. Just the thought twists my stomach. Will I still feel the need to have Edward near, I don't know.

"What was your dream about?" Jasper asks, ignoring us.

I shrug, "The normal things I dream of; Elizabeth's screams, running, and then shooting that guy who nearly killed James." I tell him, honestly. I don't know what it is, but I m comfortable opening up to Jasper. There's just something about him.

"Why do I feel that there's something more now?" He asks.

I shrug. Alice leans toward me, "Did you remember more?"

I hesitate; not sure why, since I've seen this repeatedly. "I've been dreaming of being surrounded; there're six men dressed in suits, but I can't see their faces or anything else about them."

"Is that what happened?" Jasper asks, I know what he's asking, in real life.

I shake my head, "No, I don't think so If there were six; I don't think I'd be here right now."

"True." They both say at the same time.

"Bella!" I hear Edward call out a few seconds later.

Jasper and Alice give me a funny look and stand with me as I go to him. "Bella!?" He calls again.

"Yeah?" I call out before meeting him at the top of the stairs.

"Get dressed, bring your piece; five minutes Bella." He says, holding me by the arms and turning me to face the direction of my room.

"What the hell is going on?" Alice asks, following us.

I catch the jeans Edward tosses my way and strip my shorts off without thinking. The second I have my jeans on I look back at Edward as he throws me a shirt.

"Edward, seriously, what the hell is going on?" Alice asks, authority ringing in her voice.

Edward looks between the two of us and says, "We're going to see Riley."

"Are you serious? Does that mean..." Alice is shocked.

Edward nods, "We think we may have found a traitor."

"He's in Phoenix, though, isn't he?" Jasper asks. I can barely see him; he's leaning against the wall just outside the door.

My chest tightens, Phoenix Arizona, where it all started.

Edward nods.

"That's a long trip to just bring a gun, Edward," Alice says, with a raised eyebrow.

"Right around thirty-six hours," Jasper calls out.

"Isn't flying faster?" I ask, pulling down my shirt.

Everyone looks at me, "You're a wanted woman, Bells." Jasper reminds me. "We can't even take the private jet because Carlisle is suspicious of his crew. They're all under investigation."

"The road trip is our safest option," Edward says. "It's just thirty-six hours."

Alice crosses her arms, "I am not sleeping in the car. If we're driving, there has to be at least one stop at a motel."

"Alice," Edward growls.

She glares at Edward, "Edward, I mean it. Riley won't let the guy go; he ll keep him alive long enough for you to kill him."

They both glare at each other. Alice doesn't even flinch, and I watch with amusement and shock as Edward breaks. "Fuck you, Alice."

"Ha, I win. Bella, pack a bag, I'll be back in fifteen minutes. Then we can discuss when we're actually leaving." She says, nearly skipping out of the room.

"We're leaving as soon as you get back!" Edward calls after her.

"Probably not till the morning!" I hear her call out before the front door slams shut.

Now I m really not going to be able to sleep.

~oOo~

I'm tired; it's early, and I didn't get near enough sleep. I have no idea how Alice is so hyper.

"Have you ever thought about cutting back on the coffee?" I ask her. Edward takes my duffle bag from me and laughs. "Go ahead, Alice, tell her."

"I don't drink coffee, nasty stuff." She smiles.

"All right, let's go," Emmett says walking around the vehicle.

Emmett is driving; Jacob is in the passenger seat. Alice and Jasper are in the next row and Edward and I are in the last. There's another vehicle that has Carlisle, Esme, Garrett, and a few others I don't know but have seen around. Everyone is armed; some more than others, like Emmett, who has at least four guns on him and three blades.

The others are all talking, but I've been quite most of the ride.

"What's on your mind, Bella?" Edward asks quietly, nudging my leg with his.

I don't look away from the window. We've been passing cars with ease. I sigh. "What's going to happen?"

"With what?"

"Once we get to Phoenix?"

I feel Edward shift beside me; I feel his hand rest on my leg. "I want you to be there; to see the man and try to remember."

"I don't know if I can face him," I tell him honestly.

"You're brave, Bella, you can do this."

I shake my head, "What if I can't?"

"There's a room where we can take him. You'll see him, but he can't see you if that's what you want."

"I don't know what I want."

"At least you know you have options. I won't make you see him, but Bella, this could help all of us."

"How long will we be there?"

"Not long, but we don't want you going places. We can't risk you being seen by someone you know." I nod, I figured this.

"What happens if I remember?" I ask a few moments later.

He sighs, "Then we end this, and once it's over and you're safe, you can..." he stops talking.

I turn to look at him, he's looking out his own window, but his hand is still there on my thigh. "Go home; I can go home?" I finish for him, and he nods.

He doesn't look at me even as I grab his hand and hold on to him. He just squeezes in return. I really want to help Edward, but I don't know how I'll say goodbye to him at the end of all this, and I think he might feel the same.

We don't let each other go until we come to our first stop for gas. When we climb in the back again we sit close; my stomach full of knots and butterflies the entire time.

...

Eighteen hours in a vehicle with Emmett, Jacob and Alice is almost too much. There was loud singing, fighting over the playlist and Emmett's driving. Loud laughing and talking and I just shook my head at all of it. This is what I always thought road trips should be like but this is my first experience on one.

I like it, and most of the time I have a smile on my face. When we finally come to our first stop, I am a bit awed. This hotel is fancy, but I knew I shouldn't have expected anything less, especially when Alice is with us.

It's just after midnight, but I feel wide awake, and I think everyone else does too.

"We're sharing rooms, better for security; otherwise we would have our own," Edward tells me as we enter the place with Alice and Jasper.

I would rather share with them than Emmett and Jacob. This one is amazing it even has a little sitting area off to the side with its own TV. Alice heads straight for the bathroom and soon after Jasper follows her.

I change, I don't even care if Edward is in the room, I just want to be comfortable. When I turn around, I catch him watching me. He gives me this crooked grin that automatically makes me smile and then he's stripping off his shirt followed by his jeans. I can't seem to look away, and I openly check him out by accident.

He laughs, causing me to blush, and much to my relief he leaves his shirt off. He doesn't always do that.

"Are we going to bed or are we going to watch some TV?" He asks.

"I'm not tired."

"Neither am I," he nods, "Come on."

I sit down on the small couch and Edward sits next to me. It feels totally automatic when I put my legs up and over Edward's lap. He hands me the remote, and as I flip through channels, he starts rubbing my legs, gently up and then back down. It's really quite distracting.

"How come you get to lie down, what if I want to?" He says.

I laugh, "Lie down then."

He gets this mischievous look before squishing himself between the back of the couch and me, almost pushing me off and then pulling me closer. I laugh when he snuggles against me, his head resting on my chest. We don't fit well but somehow I'm still comfortable, even with him mostly on top of me.

"Are you comfortable?" I ask him. I start running my fingers through his hair, and he does the sexiest thing ever.

He moans.

"So fucking comfortable."

I smile, "Good."

At some point, my eyes start to drift closed, and I start to fall asleep until I feel Edward shift. I feel him still on top of me, but I don't know what he's doing so I open my eyes and find him hovering above me.

"Edward?" I ask.

"Beautiful?" He asks back.

I blush, and he smiles.

"What's going to happen, Edward? After all of this, what if I still need you?" I ask him.

He shifts closer to me, "You're strong; you won't need me."

"And if I do?"

"Call me; I'll be there." He says leaning closer. I can't focus my eyes on one thing; I look from his eyes to his lips and back again. Before I know it, my eyes close followed by Edward's lips against mine. Slowly we move together, and I feel his tongue touch my lips. I open up to him, and he doesn't hesitate with kissing me deeper. It shocks me, and I think it shocks Edward too when a soft moan escapes me. Edward sits up away from me, his eyes dark green. He licks his lips, and I bite my bottom one. He looks confused, I feel confused, what's happening, why did he stop?

I hear a throat clearing above me and find Alice. "We're going to bed; it's after one." She says.

I catch Jasper with a huge smile.

"We're coming," Edward says, helping me sit up.

"I'm sure," Alice says with a smirk.

"Shut up," I tell her.

I climb into my side of the bed and start to get comfortable when I am dragged backward. "You're to far away," Edward complains, making me smile and snuggle into his embrace.

Edward kissed me tonight.

I kissed Edward tonight.

He's holding me now; yeah I'm pretty okay right now.

~oOo~

Another eighteen hours and we finally make it to Phoenix, Arizona. It's one in the morning, but again I feel wide awake.

"Stay here; I'll come get you when we're ready," Edward says to me and then to Jake. "No one touches her, keep her safe."

Jake won't look at Edward but he nods, and Edward is gone.

"What do we do now?" I ask Jake.

He shrugs and looks away from me. I close the distance between us enough for me to punch him in the chest. "Ow, what the hell?" He asks.

"Isn't that what I should be asking you? You haven't spoken a word to me this entire trip, are you mad at me?"

"No," he swallows hard, "It's nothing, don't worry about it. How about we go make something to eat?"

"Okay, where's the kitchen?"

"I don't know; this is my first time being here."

When we find the kitchen, we also find Esme and Alice. "Hungry, kiddos?" Esme asks right away.

...

An hour later I'm bored; I help Esme clean up, and it s just not enough.

When Edward appears his normally bright green eyes are black with hatred. "What's going on?" Esme asks.

"It's time," Edward says, everyone stands, and I follow their action, but honestly, I'm trying not to freak out.

"Are you sure you're willing to do this? It's not pretty down there; this stuff can give you nightmares." Edward says, pulling me to his side.

"I have to, Edward. For your mom and dad, I have to." I tell him.

We're led to a hallway and Edward pushes on a wall. To my surprise, it opens and leads to a staircase. I would have never guessed.

It's not dark and dingy; it's just like the rest of the house, fancy and screaming money.

There's a long hallway at the bottom of the staircase. We skip six doors before stopping at the last one.

"Just remember, he can't see you," Edward says, before pushing the door open. It's dark inside the room, and I almost don't want to walk in there, but Alice takes my hand, somehow she comforts me.

The lights never turn on in our room, but the lights flicker on behind a window, blindingly bright. A person, tied to a chair in the middle of the space finches almost violently.

Edward wasn't kidding; I'll probably have nightmares for years after seeing this. The man is literally missing his ear, his mouth is bloody, his long blonde hair is greasy and stained with his blood. One eye is swollen shut and yet he still wears this sinister smile on his face.

"We thought we'd show you a picture of before," Edward says. The difference is startling, but the smile is the same.

"Has he said anything?"Alice asks.

Edwards quiets for a while before speaking, "No, he didn't, but an envelope showed up here thirty minutes before we did. There were pictures of us, all of us with Bella, and a note saying she'll never be safe. I should have been smarter with her."

"It's too late to dwell on it now," Esme says, patting him on the shoulder.

"So, Bella, what do you think?" Edward asks stepping towards me.

"I-I don't know, can I go in there and see him?" I mean, he was tied up; he couldn't do me any harm.

"Are you sure?" Edward asks.

I nod. "I'm sure."

It's only Edward and me who walk into the room. It's strange to think that behind the mirror the others are watching us. I let my focus shift to the man in the center of the room as I walk around him.

"Isabella." The man says in a strange accent. I look to Edward, but he's glaring at the man. I don't have to ask anything; the man continues talking. "If you're wondering how I know your name, everyone knows it. You're famous in the crime world."

"Keep talking," I tell him. There's something there.

"Ah, you like my voice, sweetie? Edward better watch out; if I get out of here, you're mine." He smiles a toothy smile before Edward slams his fist into his face a couple of times.

I touch his shoulder, "Edward, he won't touch me." He stops. "I need him to talk."

"Help me out of here sweetie; I'll make it worth your while. Ditch the trash; he won't have a head for much longer." He says, spitting blood to the side.

My head starts pounding, I turn from him and close my eyes.

Trash, leave them like the trash that they are. He had a funny accent; I couldn't figure out, but he had one.

"And one had light hair. I could hear them talking, and they had an accent like yours. I needed to see and...I saw you." I hadn't realized I was speaking out loud, but I was.

Edward steps in front of me. "Are you sure?"

I look around him at the blonde man; he winks and I lose it. He killed her; he killed Elizabeth and Edward Sr. I hit him, everywhere, anywhere and I think I'm screaming.

Edward pulls me back, but I'm not done. I kick my foot out, making contact; I watch with sick satisfaction as blood gushes from his nose.

"He killed them, Edward. I remember everything!" I tell him in a sob as he pulls the door shut.

Everyone's in the hall now, including a man I've never met.

"Bella, this is Riley, he's our uncle," Edward says.

Riley is intense, this feeling that is coming off him is dangerous. He is one not to be messed with, I can tell, but then he smiles at me.

"Great kick, kid." He says with a nod.

"He deserves much worse." I manage to say.

He nods, "That's what I'm here for."

"Come on, upstairs all of you," Esme says leading the way.

We all follow without complaint, and I realize they're having a family meeting. I haven't seen many of these. We walk into a large, formal dining room with the longest table I've ever seen. My attention shifts to the ceiling, where there is a large chandelier that sparkles and the ceiling turns to glass, reflecting the sparkles. It's truly amazing.

"What's going to happen now?" Alice asks.

"We kill all of those fuckers," Emmett growls.

"Agreed, but first we wait for a report." Riley says, "I have my best men working on it as we speak."

A loud crashing noise sounds and I manage to look up just in time to see a body falling straight for the table before I'm being yanked backward.

A guard was killed, and we're under attack. Ropes are thrown down, and men in tactical gear start shooting at us as others start to slide down.

It's all happening so fast.

"Scatter!" Someone yells and that's what we all do, but in groups. I know Edward has me, but I'm a bit shocked to see Jacob, he wasn't sitting anywhere near us.

Edward leads us to the basement with the secret door. Our guns are drawn, but I don't even remember pulling mine out.

"There are multiple ways out, tunnels we can take." He says pulling me along. We cross the door to where the blonde was kept and Edward stops, making me run into the back of him.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"He's gone." He says looking into the window.

"We can't worry about that now, man. We have to get Bella out." Jacob says, nudging Edward forward.

Edward reluctantly moves forward and leads us into what looks like a hallway, but it opens up into a huge garage.

"There're a few ways out from here, including the garage tunnel but we can't risk taking that," Edward says.

There's a wall of tires closer to the back and what looks to be a new order of something because there're crates stacked all over the place.

"The seventh, eighth, and ninth tire on the bottom row open up to a secret passage, and there's another over here that drops into the ground. I just don't know which is safest to take." Edward says walking towards the ground one. I notice Jake going the opposite way towards the tires. I stay standing in place, because honestly, my mind is trying to catch up with everything that has just happened.

"Jake, you find the exit?" Edward calls out.

"Hold on, wait, yeah I found it," Jake says opening up the wall of tires.

"Go out, see if it's clear. I'll check the other one. Bella, hide somewhere and if anyone comes in who isn t one of ours, kill them." Edward orders.

"How am I supposed to tell?" I ask him, because seriously what if I get the wrong person?

He gives me this look; one eyebrow slightly raised, he says, "You've got this Bella. I trust you."

A surge of confidence rushes through me. I nod, and he gives me the crooked, heart-stopping, smile before disappearing underground.

I look back to Jake who gives me an encouraging smile, "You've got this Bells, just stay safe." He says before ducking and disappearing.

I'm alone, and I'm pretty sure I can hear gunshots going off like crazy.

I do as I've been told and find a place to hide. I'm between some crates and a huge metal machine that I have no idea what it does. I'm also in between the two escape routes, maybe a foot or two closer to the wall of tires but I feel good, with direct sight to both the door and the garage entrance.

It's not even thirty seconds later when the door quietly swings open. It's the blonde man and another one that has what looks like a giant black V across his torso.

"No, I know I saw someone come in here. I want her." The blonde says.

"Yes, sir." The other guy says.

They don't see me and I'm relieved and ready to stay silent until Edward or Jacob comes back. But then the image of Elizabeth's eyes staring at me, with no life, fills my vision and I just can't.

I steady my gun in front of me. I take a deep calming breath and aim for the blonde man. He hasn't moved from the doorway; he's listening for us I think.

"Breathe, relax." I hear Edward telling me. I do just that, the blonde looks in my direction, he spots me and I pull the trigger.

He falls to the floor, but that's all I see when bullets start flying towards me. The other guy must have spotted me. Suddenly I hear a loud roar; the bullets stop, and I see Emmett charging the shooter. I watch, stunned, as Emmett beats the man to death. When he stops I notice several things about him. First, he's shirtless, second he's covered in blood, and I honestly can't tell if it's his or not, and third, Emmett Cullen is one terrifying man.

We make eye contact, and I just can't help it, I crack a smile at him. As terrifying as Emmett might be, I know he'd never hurt me. Alice comes flying through the door nearly running Emmett over as the gunfire gets louder. Right behind Alice is Esme, Carlisle, Garrett, Riley, and Jasper. It's the last three who are mostly shooting back.

"Aye, this one is clear!" Jacob calls out as he climbs back through.

"Where's Edward and Bella?" Esme asks, but no one gets to answer, everyone has to take cover and head for the escape hatch as men start rushing into the room.

I manage to get off a couple of shots, but I'm stuck here. I notice Edward is back. I can't get to Jacob, and I can't get to Edward, I'm trapped. This wasn't the best hiding spot.

"Come on!" Jacob hollers, Emmett and Carlisle are with him, waving me over.

I look over to Edward; I can't hear him, but I can make out what he says. "Run, you have to run!"

It's loud, too loud but I have to move in order to have a chance at surviving. Who do I run to, though, Jacob or Edward?

Jacob is closer but running to him there's nothing in between, I'd be out completely in the the open.

Edward is a little further away, but there's one machine that might give a little cover.

Jacob is yelling at me to run to him. Edward is yelling at me to run to him. I look to Jacob and then Edward and back again.

I hear, "Trust me; I've got you!"

I don't know how I hear it, but I do.

I close my eyes, I have to make a choice and it's simple.

"Trust me; I've got you."

I open my eyes and run...

AN; Eek, I really got into writing this chapter! So what do you think? Until next time...