A/N...You guys are probably the best readers out there. You had the absolutely the best reaction to the last chapter. It was a tough chapter to get through, but needed. Thank you so much.
This chapter comes with a LEMON WARNING. ;) Not that you'll complain. And a "brace yourselves for the cabin" warning, as well. O_o
Okay, so I have a few announcements at the bottom, so please meet me down there.
CHAPTER 19
EDWARD
Thunder rumbled long and low in the early morning. Hell, I wasn't even sure what fucking time it was, because the storm was making it seem darker outside. I was awake early, as usual, but I was completely unwilling to leave the bed.
Bella was draped across me, her head tucked into my neck, but it was her leg that was fucking killing me. Every few minutes, she'd shift, gliding that beautiful thigh across my now hard as fucking hell erection. A strobe of lightning flickered across the window, and my arm around her shoulders pulled her closer. I was trying to think of anything other than rolling her over, waking her up, and fucking her into oblivion.
It was an unavoidable feeling. I couldn't shake the need, either. I felt protective, possessive, and just down right in want of her, and I wasn't sure if it was leftover emotions from the day before or just being in our quiet room alone before anyone else was awake.
She shifted that leg again, and I tried like hell to hold in my moan, but I failed miserably. I thought maybe if I rolled us to our sides that it would take away the pressure, but before I could move us, warm, sweet lips pressed to my neck and small hands gripped my bare shoulder in order to pull herself closer.
"Bella..." I gasped, because my control was tenuous at best. I was barely holding on.
"Please," she whispered against my jaw, but her hand slipped up the other side of my face and into my hair.
Fuck, my girl shouldn't have to beg for shit. With that said, I finally did roll her so we were face to face on our sides. I locked eyes with dark and needy, which probably matched my own.
"Yeah?" I breathed, brushing her hair from her face and my lips across hers.
"Yeah..." she groaned, her eyes rolling back when my thigh slipped between hers just to give her something, and she took that shit, too, grinding slowly against me.
She was already wet, her hands fucking everywhere, and I grasped at her t-shirt, her shorts, anything I could get my own hands on in order to pull her closer. Our kisses started slow, with nips and barely there brushes of tongue, but fuck, if all hell didn't break loose. My hands dove underneath her shirt and into the back of her boxers as my tongue claimed her deep and hard.
I was a lucky motherfucker. There was just something so damned comforting about knowing someone so fucking well that words barely had to be spoken. These were dance steps we'd taken a million times, and instinct and familiarity took over, but it was never the fucking same. It was always so very desperate, so damned perfect. It was hums of approval when something felt good, grunts of frustration when covers or clothes got in the damn way, and it was smiles and nips against skin and lips. All done without really talking, because we just...knew.
Bella's shirt was tugged off over her head, her shorts shoved down somewhere in the lost confines of the bed. My own underwear and basketball shorts were quickly shoved down, and I was pretty fucking sure my girl had used her feet to do that shit.
Suddenly just needing to look at her, even with the limited light of the morning, I rolled Bella onto her back. Tossing the fucking covers away, I braced an elbow by her head, leaving my right hand to explore, to touch, to trace every inch of her, all while kissing the pure shit out of her. My hands ghosted over her breasts, giving each nipple a loving tweak, down her stomach, and across her thigh, only to skirt between her legs. God, she was soaked.
"Dream?" I grunted, breaking from her mouth in order to follow the path of my hands with my mouth, leaving swirling, suckling bites just about everywhere.
"Yes," she snickered breathlessly, and then grinned beautifully, her head pressing back into her pillow as my tongue teased her navel.
I chuckled dark and low against the skin just above her mound, causing her to squirm. Her legs bent at the knee as my fingers slid through her folds again, bringing that long scar on her thigh closer to my face. After yesterday's topics – her panic attack and telling her story to Jordan – I was absolutely and rabidly possessive of that shit. Leaning closer, my fingers still teasing her entrance, her clit, and the sensitive skin next to her thighs, I pressed a long, slow kiss to that scar.
Tiny fingers slipped into my hair, and I glanced up to see Bella watching me.
"Mine. All of them," I whispered, pressing another kiss to each old burn mark on her stomach and an almost reverent one to her C-section scar, all while never breaking from her sweet, dark eyes.
She nodded frantically, but didn't say anything.
By the time I made it up to her chest, tracing each individual scar with my tongue and suckling each nipple, I was so fucking hard for her that it was almost painful. Kissing her again, I swirled my tongue with hers, practically growling when her nails raked lightly down my back.
"Fuck," I panted, pressing my forehead to hers. "Sweetness, how do you want me? 'Cause I fucking have to have you."
She nodded again and rolled underneath me, exposing that smooth, beautiful back. I couldn't help but reach out and touch, dragging the tips of my fingers down her spine and over each dimple just above her ass. Another dip of my hands between her legs told me that she was even wetter than before.
I grinned like it was fucking Christmas morning. "Oh, hell yes," I grunted, nipping at her shoulder. "You're so fucking tight this way, baby. Did you know?" I asked her softly as I used my knee to spread her legs wider. Wrapping my hand around her hair, I tugged it out of her face, bracing a hand by her head. "Lift that pretty ass for me, love..."
We both fucking froze when my cock glided through her wet heat as she raised up slightly, slipping just inside her entrance. I could feel our hearts beating in tandem, though both frantic.
"Love you so fucking much," I whispered in her ear, pressing my forehead to the back of her skull.
"Love you," she barely squeaked out, and I linked my fingers with hers. "Please, please, Edward..."
"No fucking begging... Ever," I grunted, finally sheathing myself completely inside of her.
The noises that escaped us melted into one single sound. It was something of a mix between desperate and needy, relief and comfort, and feral and wild, though all of it was muffled – hers into her pillow, and mine into her hair.
Pulling back, I pushed back into her with slowness that I didn't think I had, but I wanted to feel every inch of her, let her feel every inch of me. Bella moaned again, burying that shit deep into her pillow, and I started a rhythm that I knew wouldn't fucking last. I wanted her too much, had teased her too long, and had suffered with my erection for what seemed like forever before she'd woken up.
"Yesss," she hissed, and even from this angle, I could see her eyes roll back.
"There?" I verified in her ear, nipping at her earlobe. "Is this where you need me, baby?" I asked, hitting her in the same spot that had caused her outburst.
She nodded frantically, unable to speak through her pants. We were honestly trying to keep the noise down, but I had a feeling that it was taking all we had to accomplish that. Swiveling my hips, I hit that spot again and again, but I was so damn close.
"You gotta come, beautiful," I pleaded in her ear. "You feel too fucking good this way," I groaned the utter fucking truth, gripping her hair tighter in order to expose her neck.
Bella pushed back against me, lifting up just enough to snake her hand underneath to where we were joined. A string of curses hissed out of me against her throat when I could feel her fingers brush against my cock as she touched herself. And I swear to fucking God, I stopped breathing when her pussy finally clamped down on me, fluttering hard.
"Edward," she gasped as she finally fell over the edge.
I drove into her hard, but it didn't take long to not only ride out her spasms, but fall into the abyss with her. Burying myself as deeply as I could, I spilled inside of her. My forehead hit her shoulder, our skin sticky, tacky with sweat.
A sweet, sexy, husky chuckle met my ears, and I lifted off of her enough so that she could turn back over. I was met with sated, but very amused brown eyes.
"What?" I asked, smirking at her as collapsed down along her side so that we were face to face.
"What was that all about?" she snickered, cupping my face and kissing my lips.
"Dunno, but damn..." I huffed a laugh, pulling her closer.
"Yeah... Damn is right," she sighed in post-coital contentment, kissing my cheek, chin, and then lips again. "Hmm, Mr. Cullen. You wake a girl up better than a cup of coffee..."
A laugh barked out of me, and I buried it into her hair, the whole bed shaking with it. "Does that mean we're getting up?"
Her giggle faded out, and she sighed, pushing up to loom over my face, her hair falling around us like a floral smelling curtain. "Yeah," she said with an adorable wrinkle to her nose. "Might as well. I'm pretty sure I've got work to do."
"Anything I can help with?" I offered, tracing her beautiful face with the backs of my fingers.
"Edward, I'm okay. You don't have to watch my ass like a hawk. It was just...yesterday..."
I smiled up at her. "Maybe I like watching your ass," I teased her, shrugging a shoulder and waggling my eyebrows, which gave me the result I wanted – a sweet, happy giggle. "Well, I think we have a trip to plan, don't we?" I asked seriously. "I'm pretty sure Dad wants to check out that place of Ike's. You can help me, then. We have to figure out who's coming with us, who's staying here, and how we go in."
"Us?" she asked, her eyebrows shooting almost up to her hairline.
"Yup, us. Mickey can't go, baby," I stated firmly. "I need you with me."
"Okay," she said, dragging out the word.
"Look, you couldn't do the bank thing, sweetness, because I couldn't afford to have you there if something went wrong, okay? But this... This, I need you. You'll know what to look for around and inside that house..." I explained rapidly, knowing she'd been upset that she couldn't come with us.
She nodded, kissed my lips, and then sat up. "Okay, then we'll get a head start on everyone..."
After grabbing a shower together, getting dressed, and making coffee, the house was still pretty quiet. I could barely make out Eleazar and Felix walking the perimeter in the front of the house, but inside, the place was silent.
My girl was already in front of her computer when I set a cup of coffee down for her. I was pretty sure that she felt she needed to catch up, because I hadn't really let her go back to work the day before. She'd joined me and the kids when I took them out to the shoreline to look for crabs. I kissed the top of her head before taking a walk around the table. The girls were machines, in my opinion. They'd fucking worked non-stop to get us all the information we could possibly need...and then some. I flipped through the pages of the deed on the house, glancing up at the map that Alice had already printed and posted on the wall.
It seemed to be set somewhere just south of the Redwood Forest, and it sort of looked like a cabin, maybe a summer home. I wasn't quite sure. What I was sure of... There was a shit-ton of woods surrounding the place, not to mention an obvious lack of neighbors. Ike Raulson had picked, or stolen, or took over the perfect fucking place to hide his evil extracurricular activities. I shook my head at just how many women may have lost their lives, disappeared from fucking sight, or were left for dead in that very house.
From looking at the stack of photos that Makenna had been working on, I was damn positive that the numbers were staggering. When I'd said that too much innocent blood had been spilled by these assholes, really, I'd meant Molly Parsons, but dammit, it was all together about fifty women.
"She'll kill you if you mess up her system over there," Bella chuckled, eying me from around her computer screen.
I grimaced, shaking my head. "I don't mean to, but shit, sweetness..."
"Yeah, she's put about twenty faces to missing girls," she sighed, sitting back in her chair and sipping her coffee. "I think we're supposed to take what she's done to Wes when we go so that he can start the cold cases...or close them. I'm not sure."
I nodded, letting out a deep breath. "Can Wes do anything with it? Legally?"
"He said he'd try. In fact, I know he was thinking of talking to Eleazar about some of this illegally obtained evidence we've found. Something about setting up a way to 'find it.'"
My eyebrows shot up, and I took a seat next to her. "Like accidentally stumbling upon it?" I asked her with a chuckle.
"Yeah," she said with a smile. "Just in case they needed it against Preston when he's caught."
I nodded, reaching over to grab the map of Raulson's place. "Well then, I guess we'd better figure out the next step, love." I looked up at her. "I'm thinking Emmett and Alec to go with us. You?"
"Your dad, too, definitely," she agreed, not bothering to look up from the computer. "Kurt?" she asked, glancing up.
"Maybe." I shrugged. The kid was good, and he'd more than proven himself in the bank run, even though he didn't really have any tactical training. Bella might've had a point, because he was good at some of the shit Alice needed from us, as well as his observation skills. "Okay...Kurt. Anyone else?"
"Well, if we're meeting up with Wes and Benny, then do we need more?" she asked, tilting that gorgeous head of hers at me. "And that would leave Jasper, Eleazar, Felix, and Mickey here. Not to mention the girls. So we'd be covered at both places, yeah?"
God, I fucking loved working with her. I wasn't sure if it was just her calm demeanor or the fact that we just made a phenomenal team, but whatever it was just made it perfect.
"Probably not, because I think that guy from the L.A. office is coming. Myles?" I said, looking up at her.
"Yeah, I think so," she replied, gesturing my way. "Wes told your dad to have you call as soon as we had a team together, so call him. I'm not sure if he wants to go in tonight or not."
"Yes, ma'am," I said, pulling out my phone. Wes answered immediately, despite the early morning hour. "Okay, Wes...let's talk plan..."
~oOo~
BELLA
"Alice, if you could get me a thermal shot down on this area, that'd be great," Wes said over the speakerphone.
The entire office was packed with the crew, and they had been working out the minute details for the last hour before we all loaded up to make our way to Ike's hidden house. The small crew that Edward and I had discussed that morning was the same, except for one change. Eleazar wanted to go, so therefore, Emmett was staying behind. Despite how pissed Mickey was that she couldn't go, she didn't argue with Edward in the least. Not one word. She knew better.
According to Wes, he was taking a smaller crew as well, because technically, this was just a lead, not a take-down. He did tell us that it would be himself, Myles, and...
"Benny!" the whole office cheered, and I grinned up from the kitchen to hear congratulations sung his way. We hadn't heard from him since he'd called to let us know that Angela had given birth to a healthy baby girl. Those two, unlike the rest of us, had wanted the sex of their child to be a surprise.
"Unca Benny," Bethy chirped from her perch at the kitchen counter, glancing back over her shoulder and then back to me. "I wanna see the baby," she said, grinning up at me before taking a ginormous bite of her hotdog.
"Me, too," I whispered back to her as I packed a first aid kit on the counter top.
Personally, I was just enjoying time with the kids, so I'd offered to give them dinner before we left. I was comfortable with the plan, though I knew I wouldn't be but mere feet away from Carlisle or Edward at any point. Plus, I was also giving Sarah time with Alec before we took off.
"Wha' baby?" Caleb asked, his mouth completely packed with food. He was getting more like Emmett everyday.
"Chew and swallow, Caleb," I chuckled, shooting him a wink when he laughed. "Then talk."
"Aunt Angela's baby, silly," Abby huffed, rolling her eyes and popping a tater tot in her mouth. "Don't you know?"
"Oh yeah," he said slowly, smiling sweetly, all dimples and innocence, and again, he looked just like his dad.
Their conversations were so funny, because if you added a few years on them, they were us made over. They joked, teased, chided, and snapped at each other all damn day, but at their core, they were a tight little gang of kids. And not one of them was ignorant of the things going on around them. I was pretty sure they heard everything. I smiled at them all, going back to my first aid kit.
Abby was sharp, but the calm one, something I wasn't sure whether it stemmed from her mother or from Alec's influence. He'd been her stepfather now for going on two years, and she loved him madly, but hell, who didn't just adore Alec? Seriously.
Bethy was the top of the food chain leader, which was neither good, nor bad. It just was. She was the oldest, the strongest personality, and the quickest to know the answer to whatever it was that they were doing. She'd been responsible for getting them all into trouble more times than I could count, but they didn't care one bit. When their timeouts were over, they'd look to her for the next thing on the list.
Caleb was the comedy relief, hands down. He was the first to shove something in his nose, say something silly, or pick on someone, all to get a laugh. And he could imitate just about anyone. He had Jasper's Southern accent down to a tee and had just started picking up on his Aunt Alice's three time chant. But it was his dad he loved to copy – his walk, his speech, his laugh. Emmett was Caleb's fucking hero.
And then there was Sammy. My eyes shot up to make sure my baby was doing okay with his dinner, which he was. He was obviously the youngest, and as much of a drag as he could be to their little clan, they didn't want to do shit without him. He was the happy, quiet, shy one. He had no problem telling them no to something he didn't want to do, but he also was limited on what he could do. He also required naps when they didn't, but they'd wait for him, watching TV while he was down. Bethy watched him like a hawk, and she loved teaching him to talk – which he'd picked up quicker than any of them, because he had no choice but to keep up.
"Okay there, handsome?" I asked him, and he smiled, dunking his tater tot into ketchup and popping it into his mouth. "You're wearing more ketchup than your hotdog, pal," I giggled, shaking my head at him.
The three other kids leaned over to look at him, bursting into laughter. It was such a good sound to hear, and I sighed contentedly, soaking in every last bit of it. I needed it, just like Edward sometimes did, in order to make it through what I was sure was going to be an ugly mission.
"Yeah," he said slowly, giggling with the rest of them. "Dot dawg," he laughed, picking up a piece I'd cut for him and adding that to the tot in his mouth. My son did not fight food. I wasn't sure there was anything he wouldn't eat, especially if his daddy made it.
"It sounds awfully fun in here," Kyra chuckled, walking into the kitchen.
"Hi, Miss Kywa," Abby and Bethy sang, which caused another deep chuckle.
I glanced over to see Jordan leaning in the doorway. They'd been in the living room with Esme all morning, only taking a break for lunch. The topic of the day was Kyra's progress, her medication, and if I knew Esme, it was what Jordan's intentions were concerning the singer. My mother-in-law had come to care for Kyra – something that happened when she took on a patient. And despite their history and Jordan's sudden vow to help Kyra, I was damn sure that Esme wanted to make sure that he not only meant it, but was aware of the tough and rocky road that lay ahead.
But it was the way he watched Kyra that had me fighting my smile. He looked like he wanted to jump in front of a train, kiss her stupid, and hug her all at one time.
"Will you pway for us, Miss Kywa?" Bethy begged, pointing toward the guitar that could be seen leaning against the wall in the living room. "Pwease?"
Kyra laughed, nodding slowly. "Sure, I'll play."
"Yesss!" they all hissed, pumping their fists in the air.
When all but Sammy started to scramble down from the counter, I had to stop them.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I laughed, holding up my hands. "No one leaves this kitchen until they're finished. And then...you're gonna go get cleaned up."
"Aw, Mommy," Bethy groaned, giving the living room a longing look.
"Don't you aw Mommy me," I chuckled, pointing to a half eaten hotdog on her plate. "Eat, Miss Ma'am."
"'Kay," she sighed grumpily, and Abby and Caleb followed her lead, picking at their food.
I zipped up the first aid kit, setting it at the end of the counter. When I could tell that the kids were just going to continue to pick, I finally gave in.
"Okay," I huffed, pointing to the kitchen sink. "Paper plates in the garbage, and wash those hands. Only then can you go."
I wasn't sure I'd seen them move so fast. Kyra, Jordan, and I all chuckled at the sight of three sets of legs scurrying to the garbage can, only to practically shove at each other to get to the stool in front of the sink.
Walking over, I picked up Samuel's plate, tossing it into the bin. "What about you, my handsome?" I asked him, starting to wipe his hands and face with a baby wipe. "You want to listen, too?"
"Yeah," he said, squeezing his eyes closed adorably when I wiped his face again. "Mom-my," he huffed, fighting me every second, but he was giggling the whole time.
"Silly boy," I whispered against his head, before scooping him up and setting him down to the floor. Before Bethy could escape the room, I called her back to me. "Pretty girl, come here," I said, setting her bottom on the counter. Cupping her face and kissing her nose, I told her, "I need you to be good for Gamma tonight. Okay? Don't drive her too crazy..."
Bethy grinned, looking so much like Edward in her mischievousness that I snickered at her and kissed her forehead.
"I won't dwive her cwazy, Mommy," she vowed, which caused Jordan and Kyra to chuckle softly.
"Good. Love you," I whispered, kissing her adorably puckered lips.
"Love you, too, Mommy," she sang back. "Is Daddy goin' wif you?"
"Yes, he is. You'd better go give him loves and 'mooches, don't you think?" I asked her, setting her down.
It was absolutely impossible to not watch her bolt across the dining room and burst into the office. She ran straight to Edward, who was studying a map of the location we were heading to tonight, but his face changed from fierce concentration and a worried expression, to the sweet, carefree and happy smile. It was an instant change in him. He grinned, scooping her up into his arms and burying his face in her neck. Walking away from the crew a bit, they had a quiet father/daughter conversation, where his attention was solely on her.
"I'd hate to see the first boy she brings home," Jordan muttered, and I laughed, glancing over at him.
"No kidding," I chuckled. "The guys have a bet. That he'll clean his gun and sharpen his kitchen knives, all while Apocolypse Now plays in the background, making sure that he puts a GPS tracker on the poor boy's car."
Jordan laughed, his head falling back. "Yeah, I can only imagine."
"I'm not so sure his father wouldn't be just as bad," Kyra mused aloud, jerking her chin toward Carlisle, who was stealing Bethy from Edward.
"Maybe worse," I sighed, shrugging a shoulder.
I went to reach for the first aid kit, but Kyra stopped me. "Are you sure it's a good idea for you guys to go tonight? I mean, what are you hoping to find?"
"We'll be fine," I promised her. "We want as much ammunition against Preston that we can get, because when it comes down to finally luring him to us, we want to be able to nail him...with all of it." I raised an eyebrow at her until she nodded silently. "This is what they do." I pointed toward the office. "I'm only going to make sure they don't blow the damn place up," I teased with a grin, because Edward had just joined us.
"Blow it up," he scoffed, rolling his eyes. "What's the fun in that? Well, unless Preston's there..."
I smiled over at him, because there was touch of truthfulness to his words. "What fun, indeed?"
"Miss Kywra!" the kids called from the living room.
"You'd better save your guitar," Edward chuckled, pointing to a now rockin' Caleb. He looked like a miniature Elvis, swiveling his hips while strumming the instrument poorly.
Before she walked away, she looked between the two of us. "Be careful, yeah?"
"We will," Edward and I said at the same time.
A warm hand slid across my shoulders, an even warmer voice at my ear. "You about ready, sweetness? Dad wants to go over the plan one more time before we get on the road."
I nodded, finally grabbing up the first aid kit. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready."
~oOo~
The SUV was quiet as we drove on the empty country road. It was still pretty rainy, the streets still wet as our headlights reflected off the pavement. Alec was driving, with Carlisle in the front seat beside him. Kurt and Eleazar were in front of Edward and me, and I couldn't help but set my chin on his strong upper arm and place a kiss over the material of his long-sleeved black shirt where I knew his tattoo was inked onto the skin.
We were to meet Wes and Benny approximately a mile and a half away from the property. At that point, we were to wait until Alice hacked the thermal satellite images. It was illegal as all hell for her to do that, so we had no choice but to save it for the last minute.
I was mentally trying to prepare myself for whatever it was we were about to find. Best case scenario would be that Preston was there and this was all over in one big take-down. Worst case... Well, the worst case flickered between whatever evidence we'd find, to the hellacious conditions this house could possibly be in. My imagination couldn't stick to one single thing. The room filled with blood kept coming to the forefront, only worse.
Edward shifted, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. He didn't say anything, but he really didn't have to. The warm, firm hand rubbing lightly up and down my arm said everything. He knew this could be ugly, but he also knew that we'd face it together. He handled the pre-mission shit better than I ever did. But he dealt with it in complete and utter silence, his face darkening as the minutes ticked by and the destination drew closer.
Even the radio was silent, though I knew my girls were anxious and at the ready for whatever we needed from them. The kids had been put to bed just before we left, with "I love you" and "be safe" whispered to us after sweet kisses and giggles.
Finally, Alice broke the quiet.
"You're nearing your stopping point, Alec," she stated. "Take that next side dirt road. It's a service road to the national park."
"Ten-four," he replied back to her.
I sat up, letting out a deep breath as I tugged on gloves. The fingers were free, but it would give a better grip to my gun with all the rain. It was a trick I'd been taught by Mickey and Jasper, both of whom had told me that leaving the fingers free still gave me the sensitive touch of the trigger, but the glove would keep the butt from slipping. Next, I pulled out my weapon.
"Not the new one?" Edward finally spoke, smirking over at me as he eyed my old, trusty nine mil.
I shook my head, popping the clip and checking the chamber, only to click it all back together. I looked up at him. "I haven't even test fired it. I have no idea what it's like."
Eleazar turned around to face us. "Can't have that. You should always know your weapon. Inside and out. If you're not used to it, shit can go wrong. What if it has a hard recoil? Or it jams because it's new? Smart thinking, Bells."
I snorted, leaning into Edward's kiss to the side of my head. "We'll have to test it, then," he muttered into my hair.
I nodded, smiling up at him. His face was still very serious, but his eyes showed his love for me. Even in the barely there lights of the car, I could tell they were evergreen and sweet.
"Okay." I agreed readily, because I was excited to try it out; I just didn't want the first time to be in a possibly dangerous situation.
"We'll set up a target practice away from the house, Bellissima," Alec added with his sweet, deep chuckle. "That's a sweet piece those boys gave you. I wouldn't mind firing off a few rounds."
The tension in the car broke just like that, because everyone chuckled.
"You think we'd give her crap? Really?" Jasper scoffed over our earpieces. "Me, of all people?" he asked, sounding offended, but I knew he wasn't. He was a collector of fine weapons, though his tended to be more on the illegal side of things, but he would never have bought a piece of junk. That was a fact.
"They have no faith in us... Assholes," Emmett added, and I laughed, looking out the window.
"You can test the gun, but hands off my car!" I told them, which caused a laugh to finally bark out of Carlisle, who'd been pretty quiet up front.
"You tell 'em, sweetheart," he chuckled, turning to give me a wink.
"Hey!" Edward whined, nudging my arm with his elbow. "That's not what you said..."
Poor Edward was dying to get behind the wheel of my new Camaro. Not just dying, drooling. I saw it every time we had to walk out the front door. He'd eye it like a man in a strip club stares at a half naked woman. It was longing and a touch of teenage excitement.
"Yes, baby, you can drive it," I cooed at him, leaning over to kiss his cheek as he huffed some sort of approving sound.
"Damn, lucky bastard," Emmett grumbled over the radio. "She won't even let me sit in it."
"Yes, I am." Edward chuckled the words softly and slowly, almost as if he were confirming it to not only everyone, but himself, too. And that caused another round of laughter.
"Okay, focus. You should see Wes and Benny up ahead," Alice added with a slight snicker to her voice, most likely due to the conversation.
"Good," I said, sitting up straighter as the Feds' vans came into view. "Alice, go ahead and start the thermal. Tell us when you're up and running."
"On it, on it, on it," she chanted, and I could hear her fingers flying over her keyboard.
Alec parked the SUV behind the first van and shut off the engine. We all piled out, and I pulled my hair into a ponytail, tugging on a black baseball cap. The dirt road was more mud than dirt, and we splashed our way toward Wes and Benny.
The first thing I did was hug the latter, telling him congratulations, as everyone else shook hands with Myles and Wes. I grinned when he beamed like a proud daddy should, which caused a few snickers.
"Luckily, she's beautiful like her momma," he laughed, holding up a picture for us on his phone.
Hannah Grace Cheney was gorgeous, with a head full of dark hair and fair skin. She had tiny fingers and toes and a little button nose that reminded me of Angela's.
"Oh God, Ben, she's perfect," I gushed, my hands itching to hold her.
Edward smiled down at me. We'd discussed over and over having another baby, but at the end of the day, Samuel's birth had scared us. The whole pregnancy had taken quite the toll on my body. The mere thought of something happening to me was absolutely not up for discussion with Edward. We had two perfect and beautiful kids, and we were happy. We didn't feel the need to push our luck.
"Oh, I'm so babysitting when this is all over," I murmured, handing him back his phone.
"And I'm so taking you up on that," he countered, giving me a wink. He pulled out a map, opening the back of the van to spread it out. With a few keystrokes on a laptop, he patched into our radio frequency. "Alice, we're on you," he told her, but looked at the rest of us over his shoulder. "If the thermal shows no heat, we'll go in slow and easy. I have no idea what these assholes may have set up out here."
"Sir," we all grunted.
"We'll take this in two teams," Wes stated, pointing to either side of the house. "Come in from the left and the right. Technically, we aren't here," he stated to himself and his small crew.
"But I am," Eleazar stated gruffly. "So if we do find anything, I'll hand the arrest over to you."
Eyebrows rose up on just about all of us. We'd had no idea that Eleazar was taking any responsibility for this mission. We'd simply thought he was giving us a hand like he always did.
"I called this shit in as a precaution," he went on to explain, shrugging a large shoulder. "I wanted to cover our asses just in case this went...badly. Or if this asshole is here."
"You sure?" Benny verified.
"Yeah, here," El huffed, handing over the manila envelope we'd put together for the Feds. "I believe this is my main reason for taking the heat. Fifty women. Fifty. And Mack isn't finished matching their faces to missing local girls. So...yeah. I'm really fucking sure."
Wes took the envelope and peeked inside. He shook his head slowly. "You have everything in here. All of it."
"We do," I told him with a nod. "The financial statements, the videos, the photos of the girls, transcripts of witness interviews, and our profile. You will be surprised just how many of those videos Preston is in...watching, just hanging out in the background. All starting at a young age." The group quieted down. "We just wanted to keep Kyra safe. The details of Preston's case are all yours."
"How is she?" Myles asked, tilting his head at me.
"Getting better, but worried about what we'll find tonight," I stated, wrinkling my nose a bit.
"Thanks, Bells," Benny said softly, giving the heavy envelope in Wes' hands a side glance.
"I'm in!" Alice piped up, almost causing us to jump. "And we've got a heat source..."
"Oh shit," Wes breathed, tossing the envelope into the back of the van and slamming the doors. "Lock and load. Eleazar, Carlisle, Alec... You'll be with me and Myles. Bella, Ed, Kurt... You'll go with Benny. But Edward's controlling the sweep."
This had been debated prior to even leaving the house. Edward felt that Kurt being with us would be beneficial, because even though we were split into two teams, it was Benny's team that was there for evidence and observation. Wes and Myles were there for security back up, and while Edward would've probably proven better on the other team, there was no way in hell he was leaving my side. However, everyone was conceding control to Edward, because he could run a ground team better than even his father.
"Take these woods quickly and carefully," Edward ordered, pointing to the west and then the east. "The last thing we fucking need is a broken leg out here. Got me?"
"Sir," we answered him.
Wes' team broke away from us disappeared into the dark, wet forest surrounding us.
A firm grip squeezed my shoulder. "You are to be in my sight at all times. Do you hear me, sweetness?" Edward ordered, giving me no room for argument.
Giving him a quick glance, I nodded, because despite whatever debates or arguments we had on a daily basis, no matter how our heads butted on other things, which was rare anymore, I still would follow his lead on these types of missions.
"Yes, Edward."
"Good," he huffed, his face and eyes back to the dark concentration he'd been wearing in the car. He looked to Kurt and Benny "Then let's move out."
~oOo~
EDWARD
The air seemed to change as we approached the small house. It was stale and still, the smell reminding me of a rotting log. With a quick glance around, I halted my team by raising up my hand. I eyed the small building, catching a flicker of movement just on the other side, which told me the other team was in position.
To be honest, I'd have missed the damn house had I not known it was already there. It blended in with the surrounding woods so well that it looked like it had grown up out of the ground. The moonlight was blocked out by the canopy of trees above us, there was no light coming from inside, and the long, winding drive on the opposite side from where we were was empty.
"Alice?" I barely breathed over the radio.
"No movement, Edward," she replied back. "But I'm telling you, there is a very small heat source. It's so faint that I can't tell you if its upstairs, downstairs, or what. Shit, I can't even tell if it's just a TV that's been left on."
I grimaced, shaking my head and rubbing my face. "It's no TV. The place is dark," I countered with a whisper. Looking up at my team but speaking to everyone, I said, "My team take the front door. Wes' team, take the back. Make sure to position someone along the side. We go in as quietly as we fucking can. Got me?"
"Sir," was hissed back at me.
Once my team double-timed it to the front, I pointed to Kurt to post his ass at the opposite corner from the one I saw Myles guarding. That way, if someone was inside and decided to jump out a fucking window, one of them would see it.
"Weapons out," I muttered, pulling my Glock from its holster but placing a hand on Bella's shoulder when she pulled out a flashlight along with her nine mil. "We'll kick in these doors at the same time. On me...three, two...one!"
The FBI boys couldn't help themselves. They all called out, announcing our arrival to what seemed to be an empty place. With every bit of strength my leg had, my foot landed right at the door knob. The wood and locks gave way instantly, like they were barely holding their shit together to begin with. Both doors slammed back at the same time, giving us a direct view of each other, not to mention flashlights in each other's faces.
The house was what Jasper would have called a shotgun house. It was an old Southern term, but it was the best way to describe it. The front door and back door were exactly opposite from each other. The term shotgun house meant that if you fired a gun from one door right down the middle of the house, it would exit out the back without hitting a single wall. It was a way to ventilate a house prior to air conditioning. Open both doors, and the breeze would sail through the entire house.
"Watch those sides," I ordered, giving the kitchen and first bedroom a sweep. "Front's clear."
"Back's clear," Eleazar countered, and I saw the big man reach for a light switch.
Dim light from the back room flickered into life, giving Bella enough sight to reach for the kitchen's switch.
"Ed, I've got a few rooms over here," Benny stated, pressing his back to the wall beside the door.
Indicating to Eleazar and my dad to take a room, to Bella and Wes to take a room, I finally turned to Benny and nodded. The sound of cracking wood echoed through the entire house when we all kicked in the doors.
"Clear," I called once I'd swept the small bedroom.
"Clear," my dad echoed back.
"Oh shit," Wes and Bella both gasped, and Benny and I locked gazes before bolting down to the room they'd entered.
I wasn't sure anything could've prepared me for what I was looking at. It was familiar and disturbing, and my first instinct was to reach for my Bella to pull her out of the way, because the fucked up mess in front of me was so close to what I'd seen when I'd pulled her from Miller's basement that I felt like vomiting.
Laying in a small, twin-size bed was someone I could only guess to be Robert Reynolds. The room reeked of urine, vomit, and blood. The man was handcuffed to the headboard and beaten so badly that his lips, nose, and eyes were swollen. The only reason I recognized him was he was still wearing the same shirt that he'd been in when he'd been shown on TV.
"Christ," I breathed as Wes, Eleazar, and Benny rushed to the man.
Eleazar's fingers searched for a pulse, while Wes hurried to uncuff the man. Benny took a small flashlight to the guy's eyes, prying them open to flash his pupils.
"Oh, fuck me," Benny gasped. "He's still alive. Myles! Go pull one of the SUVs around. We've got to get him out of here. He's barely hanging on. I'm not sure we have time to wait for an ambulance to get out here."
"Ten-four," Myles replied.
A hand landed on mine and Bella's shoulders, and we both looked to my dad.
"Let's clear the rest of the house. There's an attic and a...um..."—he rubbed the back of his neck, looking to me—"basement."
Bella nodded, giving the bed one last, dark glance before taking my hand and leading me out of the room. We followed my father down the hall, but I stopped us just before the end.
"Sweetness, you and Kurt check the attic," I told her, trying not to sound like I was giving an order, but I really just didn't fucking want her in the basement of this place. Something was just...off. There was an eerie feeling in my gut. "Dad and I will take the basement."
She studied my face, her brow furrowing as she swallowed thickly. I was hoping that she wouldn't argue this shit with me, because she'd just had a panic attack the day before, and now Reynolds was looking like death in the other room. This house screamed flashbacks for her. So far, she looked like she was hanging in there, but my first and foremost responsibility was my wife, and be damned if I was going to let shit push her too far.
"Okay," she said, nodding. "Kurt, come in, please," she ordered over the radio.
He stepped into the house, giving the place a look. "Damn," he whispered, shaking his head. He looked down the hallway toward where Eleazar, Wes, and Benny were still working on Reynolds, only to turn back to Bella. The mask he was trying to wear slipped. Completely. He truly cared for Bella, admired her, so his next words were meant to take the pressure off. "So...I take it this isn't the next safe house, right?"
Bella grinned, and I could feel my dad practically sag in relief as I did the same. "Yeah... I don't think so," she snickered. "Come on...we'll take the attic."
Kurt helped her tug down the folding ladder of the attic. Once they'd both disappeared inside, Dad led me to the top of the basement steps.
"You looked like you were about to jump in front of a bullet for her," he noted softly as we climbed down.
"You have no idea," I mumbled, shining a flashlight around until I found the light switch.
Two bare, dim bulbs glowed to life, giving us a better look at the basement. We called clear, but continued to look around. There didn't seem to be a lot of the Rauslons' things down there. It was like he just shoved all of his old nanny's shit into boxes, tossing them down there. Dusty mounted deer heads sat in a discarded pile. I grimaced at a stuffed beaver.
While my dad and I loved our guns, we'd never been hunters. Ever. It seemed so very unfair on the animal end of shit. All they had were instincts and four legs, and men would douse themselves in deer urine, dress in camo, and hunt them with weapons that could take down a small village. What was the fucking point? To eat? Yeah, only if every grocery store on Earth had shut down.
"Jesus, Alice. Who was this woman?" my dad groaned, looking up at shelves piled high with just...shit – cleaning supplies, old rusty tools, and ruined books.
Alice's amused giggle met our ears. "Gloria Hawthorne. And the place was her father's. Neal Willis. He was an avid hunter."
"You think?" I scoffed, rolling my eyes at their laughter.
"Anyway, she inherited the place when he passed in ninety-eight. She didn't do anything with it, except assume responsibility for it. She changed everything over to her name, paid the taxes, and kept the power on," she explained.
"How'd she die?" I asked, using my boot to nudge at a few boxes.
"She died in a hospital in L.A. It was complications during a routine surgery. She'd developed an infection after having her gall bladder removed."
"Oh," Dad and I said at the same time.
"Well, that seems...anticlimactic," I murmured. "I expected something more..."
"Violent?" Dad snorted, shoving my shoulder.
"Well, yeah..." I growled, gesturing to the top of the stairs. "I mean, she worked for these assholes!"
"Attic's clear," Bella called over the radio, though her tone of voice sounded amused, most likely due to listening to me.
"Sweetness, you okay?" I asked her, reaching out to touch the point on a buck's head.
"Yeah, I'm okay."
"Good. Oh shit," I snickered, jumping out of the way when the buck's head fell off the top of the pile. A small avalanche of big game trophies tumbled to the floor, but it was what was revealed underneath that caused my dad and me to freeze.
"Aw fuck," we both said, backing away.
"Ben, El...you'd better get down here," I yelled over the radio.
Wes popped his head in at the top of the stairs. "They're loading Reynolds up in the van. What'd you find?"
I pointed, only to tug my hat off and run my hands through my hair. I pulled it back on and looked back down to the sight at my feet. Buried underneath those hunting trophies was a skeleton. It was still clothed, though there was no way to tell what exactly it was wearing, barely visible under all that junk. Only a little hair remained, and the whole thing shifted again when a rat burrowed its way out.
Glancing back up at Wes' pale features as he stared wide-eyed at the body, I asked, "What do you wanna bet that's Molly Parsons?"
"Damn," my dad groaned, looking down at the floor. "You'd better go get Eleazar. You're gonna need this shit as evidence."
Bella and Kurt appeared at the top of the stairs, but I pointed to Kurt. "She doesn't come down here! At all. Sweetness, please just trust me on this. Get her out of here, Kurt."
He nodded and gently pulled her away from the door. My girl didn't even argue as he led her away, and for once, I was truly grateful she trusted me. I don't think the body would've bothered her as much as the rats, the smell, and the feel that this particular basement gave off.
"Alice, patch Felix onto the line for me," Eleazar ordered, and over the earpiece, I could hear the sound of an engine pulling away.
"Okay," she said.
Finally, Felix piped in. "What's up?"
"I need you here. We're going to have to take this over, pretend to hand it to the Feds," he ordered, pulling out his phone. "Benny has no choice but to take this..."
"I'm on my way," he replied.
Eleazar took the steps slowly, giving the room a long glance, only to kneel in front of the skeleton. He shook his head, took a deep breath, and turned to face the rest of us. "By the time Felix gets here, we'd better have a damned good story. You're gonna need one. And we have to stick to it. Got me?"
"Sir!" we all answered him, even the girls back at the safe house.
He nodded, rubbed his face roughly, and looked to his phone. "Okay. I'm calling it in."
A/N... You gotta love kid time, a needy Mercward, and Kurt being...well, Kurt. ;) So did they find Molly Parsons? And they aren't finished looking around. Just FYI. This case is taking its toll on Bella, but she's got a great support system watching out for her, don't you think?
Okay... my announcement. It seems that the ladies over at The Lemonade Stand have nominated Blood & Glory for fic of the week. So please go show Mercward some love and vote... tehlemonadestand(dot)blogspot(dot)com A great big thanks for being nom'd, and for those that have already voted and plan to do so.
Announcement #2... You can now find me over at Facebook. I can be found under Drotuno FFN... So come see me over there, yeah? :) And yeah, I'm still on Twitter as Drotuno where occasionally some pic teases pop up. :)
I need to thank JenRar for beta'ing this, and for her fantastic suggestions. They made a huge difference. Thanks to GooberLou for pre-reading this, and who just adores a needy Mercward. Another big thank you to MedusaInNY for her beautiful work on my blog. And in case you missed it... Sin & Innocence is available for pdf download. My girl did an amazing job putting it together.
As of right now, I'm still writing chapter 20. I hope to have it finished and off to Jen in time for Sunday. As of right now, posting is up in the air. :( I know, I know. I'll do my best. Much love. Later... :)