Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all.
Rated M for a reason.
Chpt 12 Surprise!
BPOV
"What the fuck's happened to him?" Pete asks as we gather around the dinin' room table.
Amused I follow his gaze to Jasper's face which is creased with the biggest smile I've ever seen.
"He had a good night." I smirk.
We all stare at him an' he smiles even wider, pullin' a chair out for me with a flourish. "Ma'am."
"Thank you J." I murmur, taking my seat.
"Is there anythin' else I can get you darlin'?"
"No thank you."
He lifts my hand to his lips an' places a courtly kiss on it before sinking into the chair next to mine an' smilin' serenely into space.
Pete an' Char exchange glances.
"What did you do to him?" She chuckles.
"Oh we've just been experimentin' with my shield." I say airily.
"Shall we check these files then?" Jasper asks genially, massaging his smiley cheeks as if they are achin'.
Pete an' Char exchange another glance. Pete shrugs.
Still giggling to myself, we had a very good night, I move over to the computer to check if we've had a response from Alice.
"Brilliant, Alice says she'll meet me tonight at sunset. She's fine with the location but she'll have a bodyguard with her. What do we do?" I ask turning to Jasper.
"Take Pete with you." Jasper orders. "It's acceptable for you to have a bodyguard too, even if you don't need one."
"But Rutilio will know she's met me." I object.
"I don't think it matters darlin'." Jasper explains. "He would have known about you anyway if it had gone to plan the other night an' it might be to our advantage to underline your relationship with Alice."
"Yeah but now we know Alice is his mate it might be beneficial if he doesn't realise we're speakin' to each other. You know, make it easier for her an' I to share information."
"How do we get rid of the stiff then?" Pete asks.
"Kill him?" I suggest.
"Lil' sis, we know you're badass." Pete says patiently. "So you don't have to kill every strange vampire you meet to prove it."
I can't help the snarl that escapes me. Which of course only gets him laughin'.
"Since Char an' I will be there as backup I could feed him so much boredom he doesn't realise he's missed anythin'." Jasper offers.
"You can do that?"
He raises his eyebrow at me an' suddenly I'm so bored it's all I can do to keep my eyes open. Like I often do in such situations I start countin' dust motes an' lookin' around for spiders an' nearly microscopic bugs. One, two, jeez that thing looks like a space monster, two thousand an' eighty two, eighty three . . . .
My attention is suddenly caught by the sunlight dancing on Jasper's skin and his handsome head thrown back in laughter.
Realisation dawns and I narrow my eyes at him. "How long?" I growl.
"Five minutes sweet thing." Pete informs me through his own laughter.
"I'm gonna stop droppin' my shield around you guys." I huff. "But I guess that's gonna work."
"Why thank you darlin'." Jasper drawls. "I suppose this means I'm not the only one around here with useful talents."
Without a second thought I punch him on the arm an' knock him out of his chair causin' Pete an' Char to howl with mirth. Eventually we settle to the task of checkin' Jenks's files.
An hour later we have three piles, humans, vampires an' inconclusive.
"What do we do with the human ones?" I ask.
"Keep 'em." Char suggests. "We only picked 'em up because the matched coven names that we know. Might be some connection an' we might wanna look at 'em again."
"What about the vampire pile?" Pete says, pointing to the three files we know are other covens.
"It's not really big enough to indicate a conspiracy is it?" Char mutters.
"The Olympic coven, Cullens." Jasper shuffles the files, his maniacal grin long since lost to genuine boredom. "The Albuquerque coven an' The Big Cypress coven, that's a shit place to live for a vampire."
"Is there any connection?" I ask.
"Nope." Pete answers bitterly. "Don't know anythin' about 'em except what I've just read."
"So the only connection is Jenks then?" I press.
"Or somethin' we're missin'." Char offers.
"Like what?" I turn towards her.
"I dunno." She shrugs. "Family relationships? Stefan? Gifts? Gifts are quite rare but both us an' the Cullens have several in our covens. Maybe the others have too."
It seems plausible to me. "Were there any gifts in Rutilio's coven?" I ask Jasper.
"Not that I know of. Unless you count him not havin' a scent."
"Perhaps we should go pay 'em a visit?" Pete suggests.
Jasper nods distractedly, obviously deep in thought.
"Of course." Pete continues. "If you're keepin' tabs on vampires you might use more than one lawyer to hide your tracks."
"How do we find that out?" I ask, it seems an impossible task to me.
Pete chuckles. "We ask around. Ain't rocket science, sweet thing."
I glare at him an' then I flip him the finger an' he pokes his tongue out at me an' we all start laughing. Yep, things are back to normal, no one sulks for long in the Whitlock household.
Pete flits off to fetch his address book an' the rest of us start plannin' the meeting with Alice.
"Do you think it's a trap?" I ask the expert.
"No darlin'." He sighs an' picks up my hand, rubbing his thumb across my palm. "At least I hope not. I'm pretty sure we can secure the location an' with your shield we oughta be able to get you out pretty easily if there's any trouble." He sighs again. "For all our problems I just can't imagine Alice deliberately puttin' you in harm's way. She loved you, she was convinced you were gonna be her favourite sister."
"What if Rutilio manipulates the situation?" I'm not convinced. "She said she's not sure he'd understand how she felt about us, at least she did in so many words."
"I think he understands more than she knows." Jasper asserts.
"What makes you so sure?"
"What he said in Montana." Char chips in. "After J went in the fire he said whatever I do now I must justify to my mate. I think he only left us alive because he knew he'd hurt Alice otherwise."
"So he's a good guy now?" I ask, incredulous.
Char shrugs. "Depends who the bad guy is I guess."
Angry I wrench my hand out of Jasper's an' stomp out onto the deck. I'm sorry but I just can't see Rutilio as a good guy, he killed my mate, he tortured him. I still daydream about rippin' that asshole limb from limb. I hate him.
Char steps out onto the deck behind me.
"I know you an' Pete are burnin' to tear Rutilio a new one." She says calmly. "But you might need to consider if we currently face the same danger as he does. If it's true the two of you will be better off if you put revenge aside an' find a way to work with the slimy fucker."
"Yesterday's enemy is tomorrow's bedfellow?" I ask bitterly.
"Somethin' like that." She laughs. "Although if you sleep with Rutilio J'll kill him anyway so I don't see how that'll help."
"Would he?" She's diverted my attention down a different path already, damn her an' her years of experience.
"Bella." She laughs again. "You're his whole world. He'd do anythin' to keep you, to protect you. Same as you would or Pete an' I would. You an' Pete, you need to remember that when you're plottin' your revenge."
"Revenge is a season in hell?" We're really over workin' that phrase.
"That's right little sister." She says, pulling me into her arms.
I hug her back. I understand what she's saying but I can't let go of it. Rutilio tried to take Jasper from me an' that's fuckin' inexcusable.
Edward always said that vampires feel more strongly than humans but I don't see how I can gauge that. The strength of my emotions doesn't seem any different to me. Maybe it's something to do with my ability to hold onto them? His final words to me about distractions are so laughable now, with so much capacity to think how the fuck can a vampire ever be that distracted?
Jasper's voice interrupts us. "Is this a private hug or can anyone join in?"
Char opens one of her arms saying "Come here J darlin', us girlies are currently in need of a man hug."
Jasper steps in and envelopes us in his strong arms. "Ah, my ladies." He says. "How proud I am of you both."
"Are you patronisin' us?" I murmur into his chest as Char giggles on the other side.
"I would never darlin'." He chuckles. "I am just marvellin' at my awesome taste in selectin' female humans to change."
"Put my fuckin' wife down J." Pete drawls as he joins us on the deck. "Get ya finger out an' marry your own mate . . . . Oh Hi Andre, its Pete Whitlock, you got a minute I was wonderin' if you know any of the guys in Albuquerque . . . ."
Jasper eases his grip on us an' looks down questioningly.
"We're workin' on it J." Char assures him as she pushes him away from us. "In fact we've got some shoppin' to do this afternoon."
I nod. We have a plan so good even shopping can't put me off.
"I thought I was in charge of transportation?" He whines.
"When we have somethin' to transport we'll let you know." Char laughs. "In the meantime butt out buttinski, my sister an' I are handlin' this operation."
After crushin' us against his chest until our ribs creak he wanders off.
"We should probably go through the inconclusive pile again." I suggest. "In case we missed anythin'."
"Oh Bella." Char sighs. "You're so much like J."
I raise my eyebrow.
"Focussed on the job at hand. Scarily intent. Deadly." She sighs again, this time happily. "Horny. It's a match made in heaven."
I roll my eyes at her, grateful my blush is a thing of the past.
An hour or so later the guys find us at the dining table.
"Anythin' new?" Pete asks.
I shake my head. "Nah. Although there are a lot of recurrin' phrases that don't quite sit right."
"Yeah." Char confirms. "If you give me a little time I'm gonna cross reference 'em with that PC we purloined. There's somethin' there, I just can't see what it is yet. Any luck with the covens?"
"Yep. Albuquerque are expectin' us in a couple of days an' Big Cypress are gonna meet us there."
"Did you tell 'em what it was about?" Char asks.
"Not in so many words. Just enough to get 'em interested." He turns to me sensing my question. "Vampires get bored real easy sweet thing, they'll get excited about almost anythin', even a bunch of strangers turnin' up for a mysterious visit."
"Why?"
He laughs. "Well because if the visit don't go well there's always the chance of a good fight. A vampire's favourite activity after sex, feedin' an' gossip."
I snort. Sex an' blood I get but apparently I haven't changed enough yet to be a gossip girl.
"You'll get there sugar." Char assures me, apparently readin' my mind. "We all do."
We lapse into a comfortable silence.
"I can feel two humans approaching." Jasper says and then he laughs. "They're a bit nervous."
"Are we expectin' anyone?" Pete asks.
We all shrug.
"You get it sug." Char suggests. "Its good practice."
Chuckling at her laziness I get up to answer the door, mentally preparing myself to deal with humans.
On the doorstep is an older man with short grey hair wearing a dark suit and, despite the rain, sunglasses. Behind him is a ubiquitous black sedan and another, younger, but identically dressed man. Surprised I jerk my eyes back to the man before me.
"Good morning Ms Swan." He says smartly. "I am here to speak with Major Jasper Whitlock, is he available?"
Over the sound of my jaw droppin' I can hear three vampires vacating the house at top speed.