Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all.

Rated M for a reason.

Chpt 10 Join the Dots

JPOV

I've left the others at the house so I can think in peace. I'm leavin' a scent trail for the dogs but damn, I've missed my favourite tree an' I can't bring myself to worry about it too much. I've so little idea what the fuck's goin' on it probably doesn't matter if they know I've been here anyway. Bella masked our scents on the way in an' she'll do the same when we leave tonight, let 'em wonder, mangy fuckers.

I know they're all lookin' to me for answers but I don't think I've got any yet, only more questions. Pete's fillin' Bella an' Char in on the history of the Romanians and The Volturi while I'm gone so at least they'll understand about The Volturi seizing power by the time I get back, not that I can see how that's got anythin' to do with what's goin' on now.

Alice is Rutilio's new mate. You can't control who you mate with so I don't suppose that's part of any conspiracy. Alice can't see the future of anyone who's close to Bella. What if that ain't true? It might explain how people keep findin' us. I don't believe for one minute she doesn't know what happened to Edward but for now I can't think of any major reason not to trust her, not that I'm goin' to.

Jenks has been murdered in a way that while it might seem bizarre to humans screams loud an' clear to a vampire. Who ever did it clearly wanted other vampires to know and the timin' of Jenks's death is suspicious to say the least. Jenks has always known of our existence, like his father, and I assume Stefan revealed that nugget a long time ago as he ain't one to give a flyin' fuck about The Volturi's rules.

Of course the other reason people keep findin' us might have been because Jenks was tellin' em, like Bella says. If so, who and why? What better way to keep tabs on vampires than to get someone useful to them to do it for you. The Volturi an' hence most of the rest of us have written the Romanians off as bein' irrelevant but I know Stefan an' he's the most Machiavellian an' patient son of a bitch I've ever laid eyes on, you don't get to be his age by bein' a fool. Is he the connection? How many other covens did he introduce to Jenks or someone like him an' what would he be doin' with the information?

Then there's Caius. Its possible Jenks was feedin' information to him but it doesn't seem right somehow. I know that vicious ole fucker too an' unlike Stefan he's got no patience at all, if he wanted me bad enough an' he knew where I was I'd be dead as a doornail by now. Likewise Rutilio must have come up with a satisfactory excuse or alternative to not producin' me or he wouldn't still be wanderin' around either. You always know where you stand with Caius, you're either alive or you're dead, he doesn't do middle ground.

We really need to find out what other covens Jenks was workin' for.

An' it's still possible that Rutilio was the one trackin' us an' that nobody else has anythin' to do with whatever the hell this is at all.

This whole situation is FUBAR an' god it makes me feel fuckin' old.

Suddenly missin' Bella more than I can stand I flip out of the tree an' jog back to the house.

The shutters are still down an' the house is silent, just as we found it, but I can tell that the family are waitin' inside. They are gathered in the livin' room, Char an' Pete cuddled on the couch, Bella standin' by the stairs lookin' forlorn.

I hate seeing her like that an' I hate myself for bein' to blame. Being in this house, this town, must be terrible for her but it was the safest option I could conceive at short notice. I shouldn't have went and left her here so I could go sulk in a tree. I'm an asshole.

I rush to her side an' wrap my arms around her, instantly feelin' the tension leave my body and hers. Her full lips caress the scar over my heart as her slender arms grip me tightly. Briefly I close my eyes an' enjoy the sensation, rubbin' my nose through her hair to recapture her scent and re-enforce mine.

"Put her down J." Pete's voice grates across me. "We've got stuff to talk about."

I swear to god that as much as I love him one of these days I'm gonna kill him without realisin' I've done it.

We settle in the vacant couch, Bella's body naturally mouldin' to mine. Automatically I test the emotions in the room. Char is relaxed, she takes most things in her stride, trustin' to fate in a way I've always envied. Bella's shield is up, it's not personal it's just her default position. Pete is tense, an' scared, an' angry. And he's hurt, probably because I never told him about Stefan.

"What the fucks goin' on J." He growls. "How the fuck do you know Stefan?"

Sighin' I run my hand through my hair, somethin' I'm trying to stop as Bella says I only do it when I'm trying to decide how much to hide. "Stefan was a friend of Maria's. I don't know how they met, she never told me. He came to visit a few times in the years after I was changed, I spent quite a bit of time with him, we got on. He asked me a couple of times if I'd leave with him, said Maria's army was a waste of my talents an' I should see the big wide world instead of hidin' under her skirts, as he put it. When I say they were friends, they weren't exactly friendly friends, more like people who disliked each other with grudging respect."

"Was he creepy?" Char asks. The Romanians have a reputation like the bogey man among our kind, if we had kids vampire moms would use the Romanians to frighten them into behavin'.

"Yeah." I sigh again. "Until you got to know him. He was much paler than a normal vamp, his age I guess. An' he sort of exuded power, I think that was partly bein' so old, you could kinda see his age in his eyes. All that experience. He watches you like a hawk an' it feels like he's judgin' you, knows everythin' about you. It's uncomfortable."

"An' he introduced you to Jenks?" Bella asks.

"Yeah." I look down at her, distracted as always by how beautiful she is, I smile a little. "Jenks's father, he was practically a kid at the time but he'd just finished law school in Boston an' he was already doin' legal stuff for Stefan, buyin' land, stuff like that. Maria thought it was a good idea but she hated dealin' with humans if she couldn't eat 'em so she left it to me to deal with him."

"So Jenks was workin' for Stefan as well?" Pete asks.

"Very probably." I answer. "I figure gettin' other covens to sign on with your pet human is a good way to keep tabs on 'em. I just can't work out why."

"What I don't get." Bella begins, sittin' up a little bit straighter. "Was if it was Stefan who was followin' us how did Rutilio know where we were? Was he usin' Jenks too?"

"I wouldn't have thought so." I'm doubtful. "Maira an' Rutilio hated each other."

"But that doesn't mean Rutilio an' Stefan hated each other though does it?" She continues. "If he was visitin' you what's to say he wasn't visitin' with Rutilio at the same time?"

She's clever, my mate. Certainly makes me feel stupid sometimes. "Stefan could have introduced Rutilio to Jenks as well?" I question.

"If he really was . . . . is" I chuckle, Bella's still new enough to struggle with tenses sometimes "keepin' tabs on vampires in the Americas why not Rutilio? He's rich an' powerful and he's connected to The Volturi. Like Carlisle, who you introduced to Jenks."

"Why would the Romanians care about someone havin' connections with The Volturi?" Char asks curiously.

"Revenge." I answer quietly, finally catchin' up with my mate's line of thinkin'. "Revenge on the Italians for usurping' them."

"But that was eons ago." Pete chips in. "Even a vampire wouldn't wait that long to act surely?"

I shrug. "Stefan would, if it meant a decisive victory."

We sit in silence for a moment.

"However." Bella voices my doubts for me. "It's a bit of a stretch. There's no evidence an' while I can see this Romanian bein' interested in Jasper I don't know why he'd be interested in the Whitlocks after The Major's gone or how he'd would have known Jasper was The Major in the first place."

"Stefan started the stories." I say before I can stop myself.

"Why?" She gasps.

I shrug again, that I don't know.

"But you said the stories came out after the wars were over." She accuses. "An' you said you hadn't seen Stefan since before you changed Pete."

"I saw him once." I admit, fightin' the urge to fidget like a human caught out in a lie.

"When?" Pete demands.

"He came to see me here in Forks. He wanted my help with a little problem."

"Is that what Carlisle meant by visitors?" Bella asks, pullin' away from me slightly so she can stare hard into my eyes.

I nod. Carlisle might not have recognised Stefan but it wouldn't a been hard to guess who he was.

"Did you help him?" She asks quietly.

"Yes."

"Are you goin' to tell us what you did?" She asks, quieter still.

"No."

She nods slowly an' I don't need to feel her emotions to tell she's mad. Pete's anger is attackin' me like a buzz saw.

"Would whatever it was have anythin' to do with what's happenin' now?"

"No." There's no way.

"Well I guess we'll take your word for it then." She says, her voice cold.

"I'm sorry." I tell my family, lookin' each of them in the eye. "I really am, I don't like keepin' secrets but it's better for all of you if you don't know anythin' about it."

"Come on Char." Pete stands his feelings a mixture of anger, hurt an' understandin'. "Let's go walkies."

I watch silently as they stalk out.

Now I feel like a total shit but I can't tell them. Ignorance would be their only defence if The Volturi ever found out what Stefan an' I did. Beside me Bella is still holdin' her body away from me stiffly.

I sigh heavily. Sometimes doin' the right thing by the people you love can be lonely.

"Don't you trust me?" She asks in a small voice.

"I trust you with my life." I groan. "I love you an' you've no idea how much I regret some of the things I've done now I have you. Even things I could have been proud of once because now they put you in danger." I pull her close to me again, relieved when she relaxes an' curls her body back around mine. "But if not knowin' will save your life one day then I'd rather take your anger now."

"Oh Jasper." She sighs unhappily an' then she places her lips gently over Maria's torture scar on my heart. I close my eyes, savouring the gesture as I always do.

"I need you." I moan, willing her with my soul to understand just how badly.

She nods and I scoop her up an' carry her to my old room in silence.

I need to feel her skin against mine, her body movin' with mine. I need to be connected to her, I need to be inside her. I've felt like this virtually since I laid eyes on her dancin' in Brad's Bar, she's become the one thing I cannot live without. Right now it's even more intense because yet again I'm scared I'm going to lose her an' I don't even know what to.