He was right behind us…moving closer, and closer and closer and he would realize that he had been tricked, but that was all right. The moment he realized he'd been had, we would ambush him. I rubbed my arm over the bark of a tree allowing Bella's strong scent that emanated from her sweatshirt I still wore, to soak into the tree's bark. This had been going on for near two hours and had been keeping the tracker right behind us.
I tensed a bit as I realized how close he truly was, he was completely blinded by the hunt and would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. This was not a bad thing in our case, the more blind he was, the more mistakes he would make.
Through the woods I could see Emmett keeping up with me, I had given him my profile before we left the jeep and a plan had been formulated.
The pair of us working together makes us dangerous to our opponents. Like I said before you add Jasper and Edward into the fight and we Cullen boys are lethal. But Emmett and I work well together especially when it comes to tracking. I give my profile in detail and what I believe will work and Emmett takes all that and applies it in practice.
Jasper tried once just to see how useful this combination was. It was luckily a weekend that neither Esme nor Carlisle were home, they had gone to Isle Esme for a week for their anniversary.
Rose and Alice had also taken off for the week, to Paris for Fashion Week. (Yes this was the same weekend that we nearly destroyed the house). Charlotte and Peter showed up just for a quick reunion and once Peter heard Jasper's idea, he was all for it.
It would be Jasper, Peter, and Edward against Emmett and I and though it took some real fighting and force on both sides and also a few trees and Esme's garden, but Jasper was finally able to see in action how Emmett uses my profile.
Needless to say both Jasper and Peter were impressed, Peter more so than Jasper because Jasper has seen me fight and seen my profile in action (as well as fought against it), but this was the first opportunity that Peter had to witness it.
Though I am perfectly capable of protecting myself, Emmett will not let me out of his sight. I may be able to out-track James, but if it came to a real fight I might be in for real trouble.
Also off in the distance I could see Carlisle and Edward waiting for me. We had led the tracker to the American/Canadian border and it was here that we would turn around and ambush James, I just wanted to lead him a bit closer to the border.
Suddenly I was hit with a feeling that stopped me dead in my tracks, literally. I skidded to a stop kicking up dirt and bits of forest. Emmett saw me stop and changed direction rushing over to me as did Carlisle and Edward.
"Christian?" Carlisle asked "son what is it?" I looked over at Edward who undoubtedly knew the same thing I did.
"He's not following anymore." Edward growled
"What?" Emmett exclaimed "he was just there!"
"He's caught on, I'm not sure how he did it but he's figured it out." I explained "bloody prat."
This time Carlisle didn't reprimand me as a worried look appeared on his face. It had been there much to often lately and I really hated seeing that look on my father's face.
"How much has he figured out?" Carlisle said looking directly at Edward, who glanced down at me first.
"His thoughts are jumbled it's impossible to sort them all out. I just know that something clicked a moment ago and he headed back towards Forks."
"Then so are we." Carlisle replied.
It didn't take us long to discover Forks was not the tracker's destination, a quick phone call to Alice and Jasper had us returning home to exchange cars. Emmett's jeep is fast, but its nothing compared to the Aston, Audi, Mercedes, and Beemer. We needed speed, if we were going to make our flight in time.
The tracker's mind had shifted so violently that it caused us to rearrange our own plans. He was not heading back to Forks as Edward had originally thought. Though that thought had crossed the tracker's mind, it was not his final thought. He was heading to Phoenix, some how I wasn't sure how, but he knew where Bella was.
We took the Audi. It's the third only to the Aston which is fastest car we own and the Mercedes which is second. Rosalie and Esme stayed behind in Forks to keep Chief Swan safe. We knew the tracker was on his way to Phoenix, but his female companion had followed Rosalie and Esme driving Bella's truck. We knew she wouldn't follow the tracker…but why I wasn't sure and I wasn't going to stop to question her motives.
The flight to Phoenix was the longest flight I have ever experienced. I know it was even longer for Edward, but we both had different reasoning. Him obviously because of Bella, me because I hate flying, I've hated it for as long as I can remember. But I find focusing on something helps my nerves and this time I had something to occupy my mind. I knew it was faster to fly…our cars are fast, especially the Aston, Audi, and Mercedes, but even so it had taken Jasper and Alice two days to reach Arizona and that was driving straight. Flying was faster and more logical.
Instead of focusing on that I went over in my head what was going to happen. Hopefully we reached Phoenix before the tracker and Edward would get Bella to safety while Emmett, Jasper, and I dealt with the tracker.
I glanced across the aisle to Carlisle he had his eye on Edward as he pretended to read his newspaper, feeling my eyes on him, my father glanced up and gave me a reassuring smile. He knew that the nerves I was feeling had more to do with the flying part rather than the approaching battle, Edward even though he must have known my thoughts did not look my way, there wasn't even a twitch of movement from my brother as he stared out the oval shaped window.
Emmett clearing his throat caught my attention, his voice so low I had to strain to hear him properly
"so do we have a plan?" I shook my head "Good I like thinking on our feet." I rolled my eyes at him "what?"
"As long as we get Bella clear I want to drag this out. If he really does know Alice I want to know why."
"Kid you profiled him, what more do you think you're going to get from-" Emmett stopped when he saw the look in my eyes. "Are you serious?"
"Do I look like I'm kidding Em?" I paused "I've got a sinking feeling that he is the reason she was turned. I don't think he's the one that did it, but I think it was because of him she was turned. I just don't know how. But whatever I have to do to him to find out…I…I am just about ready to do."
The plane lurched a bit as it hit a bit of turbulence and I gripped the arm rest tightly, my granite fingers digging into the metal.
"Chris…Chris easy." Emmett whispered, he reached over and unclenched my hands "chill kid." Emmett paused "since when are you this scared of flying?"
"Since I was human?" I whispered back "I've never liked flying."
"So what was with all the fighter planes and models that took over your room in the forties?"
"I like planes and aviation, from the safety of the ground." I replied. Now Emmett grinned
"So what if one of the added bonuses of this life was you get to turn into a bat like your Count Dracula you really want to tell me you wouldn't give in?" I stared at him in shock "what?"
"And Rosalie yells at me…" I muttered returning his grin. Say what I want about my big brother, Emmett always knows how to calm me down and make me at least grin.