A/N... Okay, so I have to give you guys credit. There wasn't much yelling. There was some surprise that Bella wasn't taken, and that Abby was. I'm proud of all of you that told me that you had faith in me, and I promise I won't let you down.

Now, some of you also guess this next chapter. It's a...rough chapter, but it's an understandable reaction. Most of you that know me...you understand that I can't write angst for very long. I'm a get it out and clear it up kind of writer. Dwelling in angst would make me ill, I think. LOL

That being said...let's see where we stand...

CHAPTER 5

BELLA

"Bella Swan...Cullen," a voice on the other end started. It was neither male nor female. In fact, it sounded filtered. "Do I have your attention now, bitch?"

"Yes," I breathed. "Who is this?"

"Oh, I'm sure you have a clue," the mechanical voice stated with a crazed chuckle. It sounded broken, evil.

Wes came to stand beside me and Edward, his face grim as he spoke low into his headset. "Alice...trap and trace on Bella's phone."

"You won't catch me," the voice sang to him over the line. "I just wanted to make sure Bella was paying attention."

"What do you want?" I snapped, snatching the phone from Edward's hand.

"A little of this...a little of that," the voice sighed dramatically. "And a whole lot of money. What's the price for family these days? What would you pay to get yours back? Payback's a bitch, baby. Stay tuned..."

The call ended, but everyone around me was still and silent. I looked to Wes, who was still on his own headset.

"Throwaway phone," he muttered, nodding like he'd guessed that would be the case. "Trace it as best you can, Alice. Anything on the SUV?" he asked her, sighing deeply. "Well, let me know what you get." When he hung up, he knelt down. "The plates on the SUV were stolen, but Alice is running a search for anything or anyone connected to Lilith Laray that may have a car..."

"What about an Amber Alert?" Edward snapped, standing up from in front of me and starting to pace.

"Already done, man," Wes said calmly. "I've sent it out from here, to Canada, to Idaho, all the way south to California."

"And fingerprints?" Edward asked, pointing to the bathroom behind us. "There's got to be something in that fucking shower." He turned his fiery gaze on me. "Did you see any-fucking-thing, Bella?"

I flinched, shaking my head. "No, I'm sorry."

Wes nodded, turned to the officer standing next to him. "Get as many statements from those people as you can, and then release them. Have Cooper check in, because I need him to walk the woods and process the campgrounds Jasper found, and have Gibbons start processing that bathroom. I need this shit done now."

"What about Mrs. Carmichael?" the officer asked.

"We'll leave her for Benny, Hardy," Wes sighed wearily. "I want Bella and Edward back at Gravity. I want Alice there with them the next time these assholes call."

"Is everyone accounted for?" Edward asked, looking around the farm. "You know, kids, teachers, farm employees."

"The pony ride guy is gone," I whispered, looking up at him when he spun to look at me. "The one that scared Bethy...he's gone. You didn't see him with her?"

"No, I didn't fucking see him with her!" he growled. "It was a different guy that had Abby, but I couldn't see the driver."

"Okay, okay," Alec stepped forward, placing a heavy hand on Edward's shoulder. "Let's get this shit back to Gravity."

"I'll find out the pony ride guy's name," Wes said softly, looking between us. "You two," he ordered, pointing to Jasper and Alec, "get them back, and as soon as I'm done here, Benny and I will be there. Emmett rerouted there already. He said he was upping your security. I think the best course of action will be to set up shop at Gravity. It'll be better than having to rely on the Seattle office. Okay?"

"Got it," Jasper said, giving Edward a strange look as he helped me to my feet. "Let's go, Bells. I know you...you'll work better from your own office."

~oOo~

"Sit," Makenna ordered, pulling me down at the conference table at Gravity. "I need you to describe the pony ride guy to me. What's his name?"

I could see she was trying to get me to focus, but it was hard. I was riddled with guilt as I looked up into her sweet, but patient face. This whole thing was my fault. I should've never messed with Lilith ages ago, I should've never left the reception early or I would've recognized her, and I could see it on my husband's face that he blamed me, too. The fact that he hadn't touched me or could barely look me in the eye proved it.

"Old man Lafayette said he went by Kenny...Kenny Porter," I sighed, squeezing my eyes shut, because my head was fucking pounding. It didn't help that Edward was a pacing lion in the computer room with Alice.

"Okay. Kenny," Mack sang, pulling her paper closer and getting her pencil ready. "Oh, Bellsy...you have to focus for me. I know it's hard."

I felt lifeless, achy, and just plain empty, but I took a deep breath and nodded. "Um...young, skinny. He was no more than mid twenties. He scared the shit out of Bethy," I whispered, locking gazes with Makenna. "She knew, Mack."

"Of course she did," she agreed, smiling. "She wouldn't be a kid of yours and Eddie's if she didn't." She paused for a moment, but forced the conversation. "Keep going, Bells. What kind of hair...curly, straight? How were his eyes? Big? Too close together?"

"He was scruffy, unkempt, like he smelled bad if you got too close," I told her. "He had shaggy hair, like it had been a while since he'd gotten it cut, but like it used to be buzzed. Blue eyes, really light blue eyes. And he had ink on his face."

"What kind of ink?" she asked, looking up from the paper.

"A tear drop, coming from his left eye," I told her, looking over her shoulder. "His jaw was sharper, his eyes closer together."

"Good, honey...good," she praised, but her sole concentration was on the picture in front of her. "Ink on his face may mean he's been in prison. Good," she praised again, her pencil gliding across the paper.

With a few more touches here and there, she got his face down on paper. She slid it to me, and all I could do was nod in approval, because it was perfect.

"I need Eddie for the face of the guy he chased," she whispered, pinning Kenny's portrait to what had been an empty bulletin board, but which now held a photo of Lilith, Kenny, and a map of the area with pins in it where the last phone call was made.

We both jumped when his booming voice reached a new level of pissed off.

"I don't give a fuck, Alice!" Edward barked from the other room. "There's got to be something on this bitch that we're not seeing."

"I'm sure there is, Edward, but you've got to give me time to look at the mental hospital, its employees, and search for any relatives Lilith may have. I'm already working on the SUV, the prepaid cell, and I'm waiting for Benny's rush on the fingerprints. You have to wait," she flat out told him, almost without apology. "When Benny gets here, he'll be able to work with me, but until then, I'm all alone here. Okay?"

"Waiting to hear about this shit is what got us here. I should've heard about this fucking bitch ages ago," Edward grumbled, and I jumped when Alec's hand rested gently on my shoulder.

"I saw the guy, Mack," he said softly. "I'll describe him for you."

Makenna nodded, giving Edward a sideways glance, before pulling a clean sheet of paper to her.

I looked down at my hands, feeling useless and still groggy from my headache, but I felt fingertips under my chin. Alec lifted my gaze to his.

"He doesn't mean it, Bellissima," he whispered, kissing my cheek. "He's a hurting man, okay? You didn't see the conflict he faced, amore. He watched a gun get pointed to Bambina's head, and he couldn't do a thing about it." He wiped away a tear that escaped my eye, sighing deeply. "You know you and the little one mean the world to him, right?"

I nodded, swallowing thickly. "I know, but what happens when one part of your world is responsible for the loss of the other?" I asked him, not waiting for his answer. I got up from the table, swaying on my feet just a little, and left the office in search of Wes, running into Emmett after leaving the room.

"Bellsy," he said, rushing to me from the front porch. He cupped my face. "Are you okay?"

I nodded with a mumbled, "Yeah," looking up at him.

"Okay, well, I went ahead and secured the perimeter, turning on Eddie's old sensors. I made sure the gate would only open with the remotes that you've given to trusted people, and I checked the house out, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks, Em."

"Also, Wes and Benny have stationed some guys throughout the property, so don't panic if you see someone walking around. They've been told to keep their FBI vests on," he stated, pointing toward the driveway so that I could see one of the guys pacing.

"Where's Wes?" I asked him, rubbing my temples.

"He was called away to the campgrounds, but said he'd be right back."

I nodded that I'd heard him and went inside my house. It was quiet – too quiet. There was no TV blaring with cartoons, no laughter from the kitchen, no thumping of tiny feet on hardwood floors. My heart shattered, and I found myself standing in Bethy's bedroom doorway.

Her most recent favorite toy was laying on her made bed – a stuffed rabbit. Edward and I had been reading the Velveteen Rabbit to her at night, and that, too, was sitting on her nightstand, waiting to be cracked open again. I fell down hard on the edge of the bed, bringing "Mr. Bunny" to my nose. It smelled like her, like soap and sugar, and just little girl, and I couldn't help but curl up with it, sobbing into Bethy's pillow.

~oOo~

"Damn it, Edward," I heard Jasper in the hallway. "Has it been so long since you've had a head injury that you've forgotten that you need to wake Bella up? Fuck. What's the matter with you? She could slip into a coma, asshole!"

"I've got her, so both of you can shut the fuck up!"

I sat up groggily, unsure of the voice I thought I was hearing, rubbing my face and looking up to see Rose standing in the door.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, rushing to her, my tears starting all over. "You should be with Caleb."

"My parents are here," she explained, wrapping her arms around me. "They gave me a few hours reprieve, though I will go back tonight. I just...I needed to see you," she whispered, and I could hear her own tears start. "I'm sorry, Bellsy..."

She pulled me back down to the edge of the bed, keeping her arm around my shoulders. "He's not handing this shit very well, is he?"

"He blames me," I stated, shrugging one shoulder. "Hell, I blame me, so I can't say that he's wrong." She was quiet, but I looked up at her. "I need her back, Rose. This bitch needs to call me, tell me what she wants, because I need my baby back."

Rose held me tight as I let another crying fit take over. When I settled down a bit, I asked, "How long was I asleep?"

"A few hours. They shouldn't have let you go that long," she told me, taking a peek at the bump on my head. "Those motherfuckers did that shit on purpose, I guarantee it. Lilith would have told them you were...a handful. My guess is they knew you could kick their ass, so they had to take you out completely. They'd have done the same had it been Edward in that bathroom. Only with him, it would have been a bullet, because he's not the one she wants to torture. It's you."

I noticed that she was speaking just loud enough that everyone in the living room could hear her. She was protecting me, boosting me up, and warning them all at the same time, because I could tell that she was just plain pissed – at Bethy being taken, at Edward's attitude, at the fact that I'd gotten hurt – just pissed. The conversations that I could hear had come to a stop, but I winced, shaking my head.

"But why take both girls?" I asked, because the question had been burning on my tongue since the second Edward returned from giving chase.

"My guess?" she asked, raising her eyebrows up until I nodded. "I've seen Abby...those two little munchkins are really similar. Even worse when you don't know them at all. I bet the jackoffs that she sent were only told what Bethy looked like, and there they see two little brown haired girls. Better safe than sorry."

I nodded, because it made sense. But we both jumped when my phone went off in my pocket, because it was the wee hours of the morning.

"Bella, out here," Wes called, and Rose and I rushed into the living room. "Is it her?"

The phone read, "Unavailable." I nodded, looking back to him for instructions.

He picked up his radio. "Benny, incoming call now!" He pointed back to me, mouthing, "Go!"

I answered the phone, but didn't even say hello before the creepy mechanical voice was singing.

"Ring around the rosie, pocket full of posies..." it warbled, taking a deep breath and chuckling slightly. "Ashes, ashes...we...all...fall...down." She ended the song, having only sung parts of it, but it was fucking scary nonetheless. "Oh, Beeellllaaaa," she called out, still chuckling. "I know you're there, Bella. And I know you're not alone, so any of your Gravity bitches, or the FBI you called so quickly, or even Daddy himself can answer for you... Are you listening?"

I sneered, looking to Wes, who motioned for me to talk and set the phone on the coffee table, but the way that the voice spoke, the teasing manner, and the maniacal speech was absolute proof of who was talking to me over the phone.

"What do you want, Lilith?" I asked, setting the phone down.

A crazed, cackling laugh exploded from my phone, only to end with, "Well, it seems you haven't lost your touch..." She paused, like she needed a breath. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, niiiiiiiinnnneeee... Ten!" She rattled off at top speed. "Ten million dollars. Don't you think, Bella? Five for each of my babies you killed...equals five for these two little brats."

"Where?" Edward growled, practically shaking with hatred.

"Not so fast there, handsome," she teased, and why she was still using the mechanical voice, I had no idea. "I'm not done yet," she taunted.

"I didn't kill Bree and Ashley, Lilith," I snapped, slamming my hands down on the table, unable to stop myself when it came to this bitch. "Your crazy ass did. I didn't put my two year old in a tub and turn my back on her! I didn't smoke crack until my brain was mush, and then let my four year old walk the streets of Seattle. You did that. Not me. You lost them."

Squeals and cries of more than one child echoed in the background, and we all froze. "Don't interrupt me again with your lies!"

"I want my daughter back," I said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, yes," she sighed dramatically. "Quite the healthy little thing you have. And I know which one is yours, because she's got just the same amount of attitude as her mother. The other one...she's a little...meeker. She was a mistake, but a surprisingly fantastic bargaining chip."

There was a part of me that couldn't help but be proud of my baby, but the other part of me knew from my experience with Riley Miller that attitude, while admirable in some state of affairs, could prove deadly in hostage situations.

"Don't hurt her," I begged, shaking my head.

"I won't...if you follow the next steps, Bella," she replied, sounding almost normal. "I've got a plan, and we're going to stick to it. Stay tuned..."

With that, the call ended, and I bolted through my screen door out to Gravity's office. I burst through the door to see what Benny and Alice made of that call.

"Easy, Bella," Benny said, making me sit beside him, but pointing to the screen as everyone followed me. "It was another throwaway phone, but this time, there was something interesting. Look," he stated, pointing to a phone number. "The first one had a Washington area code. And this new one?" he asked, waiting for everyone to catch up to him. "This one was Oregon, and that's exactly where the signal ended. She's moved out of state, but hasn't gone far, okay?"

Edward and I both nodded, hanging on his every word.

Benny sighed, his face looking forlorn. "I won't lie to you two. The fact that she's singing Ring Around the Rosie doesn't sound good, because her emphasis happened to be on the ashes to ashes part. She's out for revenge. She wants to get even...and I think that she was originally going to just take Bethy, but the fact that Abby got wrapped up in this... Well, I think it might have triggered something in her. She's obviously off medication, because her speech pattern, her mood during your conversation, was all over the place. We'll just have to see what her next request is..."

"What about the money? Because I can..." Edward fidgeted a bit, but shut up when Benny held up his hand.

"I know you'd pay anything at this point, and I don't blame you, but I really want to see what her next request is, Edward. If a trade can be made for those two girls, that's my goal." Benny frowned up at Edward when he started to argue, holding his hand up again. "That's not to say we haven't been busy, because despite our wait to see what this crazy bitch wants, I'd like to find her before she can accomplish much more of this fucked up plan she's got," he said, his voice coming out a little gruffer than he normally spoke, but he gestured to Alice.

"Listen, listen, listen," Alice said, her demeanor much more subdued than normal, because I was pretty sure she hadn't slept. "We ran a check on Dr. Ross Vernon, the head shrink of Shady Glen. He's clean – for the most part – except he just caught up on a past due mortgage. I'm talking a fucking year past due." Alice raised her eyebrow at us and continued. "He also did something he should never have done. He treated his own family. His son was a resident of Shady Glen, a patient of his father's, and guess which dorm he resided in..."

"Lilith's," just about everyone in the room stated blandly.

"Exactly," she sighed with a nod. "Kurt Vernon went into Shady Glen for bi-polar disorder and was released after about a year of intense therapy and a round of drugs adjusted to suit him. Next," she said, spinning in her chair and pointing up to the two drawings on the bulletin board. "Kenny Porter... This guy is a bottom feeder. He's done more time in jail than anyone at the age of twenty three should have, and it's everything from petty theft to assault, and from grand larceny to statutory rape..." she said, but the whole office full of people exploded. "Wait!" she yelled. "Let me finish... That last charge was bogus, guys!" She rolled her eyes, waving her hands for us to calm down. "He was out of high school, but his girlfriend at the time wasn't. Her parents didn't like him – with good reason, I suppose – and pressed charges.

"Now," she huffed, pointing to the picture of the guy that Alec had described to Makenna, "this guy looks an awful lot like Kenny's last cellmate, Russell Carnes – AKA Rusty." Alice stopped, giving Benny a pointed look, before taking a deep breath. "Rusty Carnes...he's listed on the birth certificate for Bree. She was born Bree Anne Carnes."

My head hit my hands, and I rubbed my face with frustration. "So...let me get this straight," I mumbled behind my hands. "Rusty and Kenny were cellmates and have teamed up with Lilith. So what's Dr. Vernon's son got to do with anything?"

"Well, it seems when Lilith filled out her discharge paperwork," Benny said, pulling up a new screen on his laptop, "she stated the same address as Kurt Vernon. They were going to be roommates in Seattle."

"Okay, well, who paid off the fucking doctor?" Edward asked, looking between the two. "Because two ex-cons and two fucking nut jobs aren't exactly looking like they're swimming in it, and he caught up on his mortgage."

"They aren't swimming in it," Alice concurred. "I've pulled Dr. Vernon's financials, and it seems to come up as a loan, but I don't think that's what it is. I've got to trace that money to its source, but it's convoluted and all over the place. That will take me a bit."

Wes stepped forward, slapping a file down on the conference table. "The campsite," he sighed, shaking his head. "I didn't get much – just a few set of prints, some clothes, garbage, and another used up phone. My lab is processing all of it as we speak. In fact, I should have an answer by morn...well, a few hours, actually."

"Same goes for the bathroom prints," Benny added, turning to Edward. "I need to know if you can get ahold of the that money, bro. I don't want to pay a ransom...ever. But having it on hand...to show her...well, it could be beneficial."

"I can have it," Edward sighed, running a hand through his hair. "When the banks open..."

"Not yet," Benny said softly, his eyes flickering between the two of us. "I just want to make sure it's accessible. I'll give you plenty of notice when we need it. I'm waiting on a few things, besides the lab." He spun around in his chair, pulling up a few reports. "I've got a few men out there getting some information at Shady Glen. I've got a doctor that started his residency a year ago. He didn't have the best grades at UW, so that explains why he's at the lowest facility in the area, but he's got money... Well, his parents did, and it seems they've cut him off. While he's swimming in debt – student loans, rent, car payments, credit cards – his parents are a part of the posh society in Portland. And he ran the group therapy sessions that both Kurt and Lilith attended, according to Shady Glen's records."

My head gave a throb, but I nodded, almost figuring out what the scenario could have been. Lilith pours out her crazed, fucked up version of her life to her new, fresh out of college, but financially struggling therapist. It doesn't take much to find out about me, who I'd become and what I'm worth, because Lilith knew my real name. I'd signed it when I went to visit her. Add in the recent publicity for Esme and Carlisle's wedding, and the dollar signs shined in their eyes. Lilith's threat for revenge becomes a plot for extortion. The two of them can't do it alone, so they recruit Rusty, probably the only person that Lilith knows anymore, and he brings his old cellmate with him. Easy job, easy money.

"What's his name?" I asked, rubbing my head, but Rose took over for me, pulling my hair away from my face and neck.

"Walter Bridges," Benny answered, "and I'm still waiting to hear from my men. If he doesn't show up at work today or they can't find him at his apartment, then I'll know something's up."

"Here," Alice said, tapping my leg. "Him." She pointed to the screen, and I looked up to see an average guy.

I nodded, barely taking in his brown hair, brown eyes, or the cheesy smile he was wearing on his employee badge.

"I have a question," Jasper stated from the back of the room. He'd been quietly listening to everything, but when I turned to look at him, I realized that just about everyone was there – Mickey, Obie, Jasper, Emmett, Mack, and Alec – and suddenly, I missed Carlisle and Esme with an all consuming sickness. "Do they have any idea who Bethy's other parent is...I mean, really is?"

Benny smiled, though it was sad. "That..." he started, holding his finger. "That is our key, right there. I'm damn sure that they have no idea what Edward was, is, or even what he's capable of. And in all reality, I'm not sure they realize what Bella is really capable of, either. I think Lilith just sees her as a PI, nothing more. Her training at the FBI would be private, but it's Edward and Carlisle that are the unknown."

I looked up at Edward, and his face was dark, but he locked eyes with me for a moment. There was no emotion, and I saw what he was doing. My husband was getting ready to go to war. He was preparing himself to kill, if only for the survival of two little girls – one of whom meant the world to him. He was slipping the mask on that he'd worn the first time I'd met him. The hard, unwavering, killing machine, the mercenary that wouldn't blink when he killed a man for lesser crimes. And for the first time since I'd known him, he scared me, because I knew deep down, he blamed me for Lilith's act of revenge.

"I want Carlisle here," I muttered, looking back at my hands. The whole fucking room felt scattered and unorganized without his presence. We'd never made a decent decision without him before, and this time, the subject was so fucking important that I needed him. I needed his precise planning, his calm command of the room, and the control over his son, because Edward looked like he was about to blow, and I was pretty sure it wasn't me that could calm him down this time.

"He's on his way, Bellissima," Alec answered, coming to kneel beside me. "They're in the air, okay?"

"On paper," Benny continued, "Edward and Carlisle just look like they came from money. A regular background check on them both just shows their tours in the Air Force, that Carlisle works for Twi Tech, while Edward is a partner in Gravity. Both married, both living in the state of Washington, and both trade heavily in the stock exchange. Edward's pilot license is there. Carlisle's first marriage is there, and a few properties that he allows to stay in his name. Edward shows no property in his name. And that's good." Benny turned to all of us, his face stern. "Everything that Carlisle did after his retirement from the Air Force, but before his position at TT, doesn't exist...and Edward's life is blank, up to the time that he married Bella. That's fucking perfect, because Carlisle never wanted his soldiers to be mainstream. There are companies out there that are mercenaries, but he never wanted that. He took the jobs he was handed in secret, and his clients respected him enough to keep it secret."

"If we find these assholes, if we get a lock on them," Emmett started, his fists clenching at his sides. "Carlisle won't just...follow your lead, Ben. He'll go in like hellfire. He'll take this as a personal hit on family."

"I am aware of that," Benny sighed, shaking his head. "And I'm prepared for it. I need you guys to trust me. If it comes down to that, then we'll have to sit down and work it out. I can't just...deputize you as agents."

"But Eleazar can," Mickey added. "He's CIA, and he can work under the radar."

"I know this, too," Benny snorted, rolling his eyes. "And he's on his way now. Esme's already called him, and he checked in with me."

Alice's computer beeped, and she spun to look at it. "They dumped the Expedition, and the Amber Alert worked in Olympia. Two men and two little girls were spotted just outside of a shopping mall, where a minivan was reported stolen."

"Tell me it's one of those with the satellite systems in it," Wes said, rushing to her side.

"Umm, no," Alice groaned, shaking her head. "Older model Chevy, no GPS."

She and Wes started mapping out where the van was taken, drifting off into their own hushed conversation.

"What about the other little girl's mother?" Alec asked Benny.

"You mean, what we're telling her?" he verified, and Alec nodded. "I've stationed men at her home, waiting for a ransom call that I'm pretty sure will never come. She's a single, working mother, so there's no money to be had there, but her daughter was not an original target, so she's a casualty in this whole mess. She has been told it was a random act, that the kidnappers took advantage of Bella being alone with two children. She's devastated, of course, but as far as her knowledge, it's limited. I'd like to be able to just find Abigail Carmichael and bring her back to her mother, without any of this bullshit hitting her ears."

"Fuck," I sighed, standing up from my chair. "It's not Mrs. Carmichael's fault," I groaned.

"No. It's not," Edward stated, his voice sharp and cold as his folded his arms across his chest, but he looked down at the floor.

The whole room tensed, almost inhaling sharply together. I knew I could feel Edward's anger in the room like another entity, but if anyone was clueless before, they caught on now. What I wasn't expecting was someone to come to my defense.

"Yo, pretty boy?" Mickey snapped, her Italian temper rising to the surface. "Why don't you fucking direct that shit toward the right place? Not your wife, okay? I've heard just about enough nastiness from you I can handle today. Focus that shit on the enemy, not the mother of your child. You're acting like this is totally her fault."

"Isn't it?" he muttered, stalking out the office door and slamming it behind him.

I swallowed thickly, fighting my tears and brushing off hands that were reaching for me. "He's right. It is my fault. I made an enemy in Lilith when I lost my temper with her," I stated softly, shaking my head.

"Maybe," Benny said soothingly, "but Lilith Laray shouldn't have ever been released, Bella. You thought she would be contained, and she wasn't. According to my psych at the office, her file reads like a lifer. She should never have been allowed to get out, because my psych thinks she's not schizophrenic or manic depressive...but possibly a sociopath – which makes her very aware of everything she's doing, because her actions are matching with what's on paper. We're going to find her, and we're going to get those girls back."

"Right now, it's the blame game between you two," Wes sighed, his nose wrinkling. "I see it happen with every couple that goes through this type of situation... You're blaming yourselves and each other."

I nodded, but said nothing, walking out the door.

"Let's get you cleaned up and in bed, sweet-pea," Rose urged, guiding me toward the house. "I'm going to stay with you for a few more hours, and then go get Caleb. Can you handle seeing him if I bring him here?"

"Yeah, you can set up in the spare bedroom," I said with a nod, unable to grant her access to Bethy's room. I just...couldn't. "But you don't have to, Ro."

"No, I think I do."

She took me into mine and Edward's room, pushing and urging me into the bathroom. Once the hot water spilled over my face, I let the tears flow.

~oOo~

My sleep was fitful and my dreams horrid, and they were filled with tables, knives, and whips. I relived every minute of my own past of being held against my will – only, in my dreams, my daughter was with me. I knew when Rose finally left me. The bed felt cold, empty, except for Mr. Bunny that I had seemed to cling to during what sleep I did get. I looked down at the long, ugly scar on my thigh – the one that Miller had left me – and I prayed to God that Bethy came out of this unscathed. She didn't deserve scars, and at that moment, I would have happily traded places with her.

The house was silent as I dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, pulling on sneakers. I looked at my phone that had been quiet since Lilith's last call, tucking it into my pocket before heading out into the house. The sun was up, and it looked like someone had set off a bomb in my living room, because casualties were everywhere. Mickey and Obie were sound asleep on the loveseat, Jasper in the chair, and Alec looked like he'd fallen asleep on the floor, watching TV. Papers were strewn, laptops were left open, and the TV flickered, but without volume.

No one was leaving, no one was giving up, but they crashed out where they fell. I imagined that Benny, Wes, Mack, and Alice had all stayed in the office, working through the night, and a twinge of guilt caused me to shudder. But I consoled myself with the knowledge that I'd do the same for any of them.

Coffee was brewed in the kitchen, and I could see Edward had cooked in order to focus his frustration on something, though my stomach churned at the thought of anything other than caffeine at the moment. There were pancakes, eggs, a plate of sausages and bacon, not to mention a huge pitcher of orange juice. I supposed it was his way of staying busy, of doing something productive, when we were all just...waiting.

According to the clock on the microwave, it was almost ten in the morning. How had I slept that long? But rubbing the back of my head answered that question. The bump was smaller, but the split in the skin was tender to the touch. I hissed, wincing at my own contact, and pulled my hand away quickly.

"Still sore?" I heard behind me, and I spun to see Edward sitting at our kitchen table, his expression was unreadable. His long, beautiful fingers were wrapped around a coffee mug, and he looked like he hadn't slept at all.

"Yeah," I whispered, grabbing a coffee cup from the cabinet. "The EMTs think that my head caught the edge of the shower when they slammed me back," I explained as I poured my coffee, adding sugar.

"You should eat something," Edward said, leaning back in his chair, but his gaze was outside the kitchen window, not directed at me.

"Not hungry," I murmured, hating the tension between us, because we just should've said what we were feeling, but we didn't, until it was too late.

Maybe it was because we were completely surrounded by everyone we knew, and we'd always worked things out privately. Maybe it was because I felt guilty and lost, when normally I would be focused and working towards the next step, but the loss of my daughter felt like a lost limb, like only half of my brain was working. And Edward was so fucking pissed off that he couldn't fix any of it, it radiated off of him like a fever.

"Of course not," he muttered, shaking his head. "Don't wait until you make yourself sick, Bella."

I flinched at the sound of my name coming from him, because it spat out of his mouth like a foul word.

"I'm not," I countered, shaking my head and walking to the fridge. "I'm still queasy."

"Well, don't use all the milk, either," he growled, standing up. "Other people may want some when they get up, and I can't exactly get to the store right now."

That was it. I couldn't take it. I spun around, slamming the refrigerator. "Stop fucking snapping at me, Edward! Keep the fucking milk! Jesus Christ. Why don't you really say what you're thinking? Or can you look me in the fucking eye long enough?"

"Why didn't you check the fucking bathroom, Bella?" he yelled, slamming his hands down on the counter, his eyes a fiery ire.

"Why didn't you watch the barn?" I countered. "We weren't exactly vigilant at the fucking farm, but they had to have run out the back."

"You should've at least noticed your fucking surroundings," he stated, running a hand through his hair. "Damn, didn't your FBI training teach you anything?"

I barely noticed that the archway from the living room was now filling with everyone. Even Wes and Emmett had flown in through the front door.

"That's rich coming from the man that can out run everyone in this fucking room, yet you let her go, Edward!" I yelled, and the sob that struck my body was actually painful from head to toe. I had to lean on the counter to keep from falling to my knees and curling up.

"They had a fucking gun to her head, Bella!" he shouted back, his face pained, and I knew I'd hit the nail on the head with him. He was beating himself up over watching her drive away, but what he said next negated everything. "Maybe..." he snapped, pointing to me, "maybe if you hadn't been such a vindictive bitch with this fucking lunatic, we wouldn't be in this fucking mess to begin with!"

Several things happened all at once. My coffee cup hit the tile, shattering into a thousand pieces, and steamy coffee splashed throughout the kitchen. The front door slammed open at the same time my knees finally gave out, because the other half of my heart – the half that wasn't aching for my child, but the part that belonged to my husband – just obliterated right there on the spot.

Hands grabbed me at the same time that I heard yelling voices, slamming doors, and what sounded like fighting, but none of it mattered, because my vision went black.

~oOo~

EDWARD

My world was swimming in red, the same fucking red that I'd seen when I realized someone had hurt my wife, taken my child, and I wasn't fast enough to stop any fucking bit of it. I hated myself for all of it. I just felt so useless and out of control, and all I could see was just...red. I felt angry and heartbroken and just fucking...wrecked.

I fucking knew this shit wasn't completely Bella's fault, but it was easier to be mad than break down and fall at her feet, though neither of those things would get Bethy back. Mad, I could do. Mad, I was used to and I fed off of, but wanting to sob, wanting to cry and scream and grip the only person in the room that completely understood – because Bella really knew me – made me feel weak, like I could lose every-fucking-thing. I couldn't lose her, too, damn it, but I was pushing her away, nonetheless.

Something in me broke the very second I watched a man point a gun at my Bethy's head. Had it been a member of my crew, or even Bella, I would've fought, would've aimed my fucking gun and pulled the goddamn trigger, because my crew and my wife would have been able to fight with me. But not my three year old daughter. The odds were stacked against her, because I couldn't have a stray bullet go near her, I couldn't let an innocent like Abby die, and there was no way in hell I could calculate getting to either of them before the man in the car fired his own weapon. I couldn't take the chance, but the waiting – the motherfucking, tortuous waiting – was killing me. We had to do what this crazy woman said to the letter, or I could lose my child and someone else's.

The soldier in me wanted blood, wanted revenge, wanted someone's head on a stick, but the father in me had to wait, and it was a conflict that I couldn't reconcile. At all. I was at odds with myself in so many ways, I was practically spinning. I was just...treading water to stay afloat. I was trying to help, but nothing I said or thought of could work unless we knew all the information, and in order to get the information, I had to rely on...well, everyone. I was angry at Bella for putting us in this situation in the first place, but I knew that it had happened years before she met me. I felt betrayed, though I shouldn't have, but most of all, I just felt...lost.

I needed to do something, and I couldn't, and that led to the explosion in my own kitchen with the one person I needed the most.

The very second I saw her wander into the kitchen, I wanted to grip her, pull her to me, beg her to just...let me hold her, but her emptiness, her lack of fight pissed me off. I knew she was not only hurt physically, but the loss of Bethy was just about to kill her, not to mention she had to be beating herself up, and I wasn't helping by shutting myself off from her. I should have been holding her up, with her holding me up in return. I should've been forcing her to plan and plot and focus her hurt into anger, but I couldn't, because I was right there with her. It was only when she'd finally had enough of my shit that I saw that I'd pushed past her limit.

I don't know why I'd said the things I had. Why does any couple fight? Why is it when you're hurting, you want the rest of the world to suffer, too? And why, when you need that one person the most, do you try your damnedest to sabotage everything that used to be fucking perfect? Yeah, I didn't have the answer, either, because I'd lost my ever loving mind.

The very second the words were out of my mouth, I regretted them, because I broke her. And it wasn't fucking fair of me, because I'd sworn ages ago never to hurt her, and I just had – horribly. It was cruel and wrong, but before I could fall at her feet like I'd wanted to, my ass was snatched up from behind and thrown out my own front door and into my front yard. When I spun around to see who had grabbed me, a fist connected at full speed and force to my face, and I fell to my knees with a grunt.

"Fuck!" I snarled, holding my nose, only to pull my hand back to see blood on my fingers. "What the fucking hell?" I sneered, looking up and flinching back when my father pulled his fist back again.

"I told you once," he said, his voice eerily calm, but laced with a threat, "that if you ever called Bella that, I'd break your nose, son. What the holy fuck is wrong with you? I could hear you all the way out to my fucking car."

"Dad," I breathed, though it wasn't easy, because I think the asshole really had broken my nose. Just seeing him, and the relief that he brought with him, caused me to come unhinged. "I don't know!" I said, not even bothering to hide my emotions from him, my eyes swimming with blurry tears. "They fucking took her, Dad. And we can't fucking find her."

Two steps, and he was standing in front of me, pulling me into his arms. I was still on my knees, but I wrapped my arms around him as his hands gripped my shoulders.

"I know, son," he sighed as I just utterly lost my shit, "but you can't blame her, Edward. It's not her fault. This shit happened years ago. If we went by those rules, then she should blame us all for Charlie's death," he stated, his voice thicker, raspier than I expected. "Do you honestly think she did it on purpose?"

"No," I mumbled into his jacket, but he pulled me back, giving me a dangerously raised eyebrow. "No!"

"But look what you've done," he said through gritted teeth, pointing toward the house. "Do you have any fucking idea what she could possibly be thinking, because she's been there?" he growled, gripping my chin and forcing me to look up at his pissed off face, only to turn it back at the house. "She's got to be thinking the very worst case scenario, and it's probably scaring her to fucking death, Edward. I know you love Bethy, but she's her mother. Her mother, son! They shared blood and heartbeats for nine fucking months!"

Through my screen door, I saw Alec carrying my wife, who was almost limp with exhaustion and grief, through my living room, only to disappear down the hallway. I had done that – me – and I pushed my father away, retching off to the side and losing everything out of my stomach. Visions of her sweet, trusting eyes as I pulled her out of Miller's dungeon flooded me with memories, causing me to gag again. I had just destroyed that trust, that perfect thing we had, because if anyone knew what Bethy and Abby could possibly be going through, it was Bella, and I'd been so wrapped up in my own misery that I hadn't even given it a thought. Bella's time in captivity had been the worst three days of torture and blood and abuse and just plain hell, so her mind would automatically associate her experience with this. And I knew that she'd rather die than for our daughter to even know about those things, much less experience them.

"You're supposed to work together, son," he started, his voice a little softer as he pulled me up onto my feet, "not tearing each other apart. If you want to find your daughter, then you have to work with Bella, not against her."

I spat vomit, blood, and snot down onto the ground, finally meeting my father's gaze as I ran a hand through my hair. "We can't do anything until we hear from them, or until Benny can locate them," I told him, and even to my own ears, my voice sounded dead, but a touch whiny.

"I know," he said with a nod, looking back at me with a hard look, "and I'll talk to Benny in a moment, but first...I'd like to see my goddaughter."

I noticed he didn't say daughter-in-law, and I grimaced at the tone he was using with me, as if I'd lose my temper again, just to give him a reason to punch me one more time. No thank you. He might be retired and have a touch of gray at his temples, but the man had a helluva right fucking hook.

"I should..." I started to say that I needed to apologize, but he held his hand up.

"Don't. First thing you're going to do is have Esme put your nose back, because despite how upset Bella probably is with you, she'll kick my ass for messing up your pretty face," he ordered, pointing toward the house and rolling his eyes. "Go, and then the two of us are going to sit down with Benny. I want to know every-fucking-thing."

I stepped into my house, avoiding the angry glances Jasper, Mickey, Obie, and Emmett were casting in my direction, and I didn't fucking dare look at Sam, who was looming just behind the doorway, because I knew he'd kill me for hurting his "little one." Only one person dared to walk up into my face.

"I love you like a brother, kid," Alec sneered, shaking his head, "but if you ever talk to her that way again, I'll take you out myself. Capisce?"

I nodded, looking away from his livid face into my kitchen, where Esme was leaning against the counter. The pieces of Bella's coffee mug were piled into a little stack, and its spilled contents were already cleaned up.

"Come here, Edward," she said softly, pointing to the chair I'd been sitting in when Bella had walked in only minutes before. "Sit," she ordered, taking a deep breath. Her face held disappointment, weariness from travel, and a sadness that seemed to be contagious around this house.

I did as she asked, only after watching my dad disappear down my hall. Esme walked around my counter, opened a cabinet underneath, and came back, carrying a first aid kit.

"This will really hurt, son," she warned me. "I tried to stop him, but he was too angry."

"I deserved it," I sniffled, closing my eyes when her hands gently cupped my face. Her thumbs braced on either side of my nose, wrenching quickly to the right. The resounding crack of my cartilage snapping back to where God had originally intended it to be echoed through the house. Groans from the other room, along with my own long growl of pain, followed right behind it. "Damn it!" I hissed, squeezing my eyes as tears of pain flowed down my face.

"Don't move," she commanded, taking two pieces of rolled up gauze and shoving them up each nostril.

"Esme...I need to see her," I begged, now sounding all stuffy and nasally.

"You will," she assured me, carefully wiping my tears and blood away, only to continue to hold my face. "I know you didn't mean it, son. And I know this is killing you, but you're not alone, sweetie."

"But I left her that way," I murmured, finishing her thoughts for her and looking away from her calm face that was filled with patience and understanding.

"Yes, you did." She kissed my forehead. "I love you like you were my own, Edward. I've told you before, and I'll say it again. Anger isn't always going to help you. Tilt your head back for a minute, 'til the bleeding slows," she instructed, and I found myself gazing up at my kitchen ceiling. "I've always trusted the two of you to find your own way. You've done it from the very beginning. You trusted each other and talked everything out, even when Bella got pregnant."

I started to look back at her, but she held me firm.

"This is the hardest thing you've ever gone through together, but I promise you, Bella would rather face Miller again than to lose her child," Esme's voice carried with it a deep seated sadness. It was a sadness from experience, because she'd lost a child once.

"I know," I sighed, swallowing nervously. "I just... I felt so helpless, Esme. I couldn't stop any of it."

"You're surrounded by the best people, the smartest people, the bravest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing," she said softly, checking the bridge of my nose with a careful but knowledgeable hand. "But you need us all...and that includes your wife." She pulled my face back up, locking eyes with me. "We'll get those girls back, but only if we're all on the same page."

She paused, eying me for a moment. "As a therapist, I understand your anger and your need to lash out. As a wife and a mother, though, if you ever do it again, this,"—she tweaked my nose gently—"will seem like nothing compared to what happens when I get ahold of you, let alone what will happen if that group in the other room gets their hands on you."

Her raised eyebrow at me did more damage than the punch my father put to my face, though I'm sure it was the latter that helped pull my head out of my ass. I nodded at her as my father strolled back into the living room.

"Everyone, outside," he ordered, pointing toward the office.

"I need to..." I started to argue, but his gaze softened.

"She's fine and she's eaten something, but that bump on her head is really bad," he stated, pulling me aside as everyone left through the screen door. "But she's asked me to tell you that she wants to see you after you've brought me up to speed, and she'd like to talk to Esme first."

My heart clenched, but I nodded in acquiescence, shoving my hands into my front pockets. I sighed, realizing that at least one of us was thinking more clearly than the other, because we'd really needed my dad. He started to guide me out of the house, but I stopped him.

"Umm, thanks for coming," I murmured, feeling silly for saying it. "I really need you on this..." My voice trailed off, because despite how much he was probably fucking worried as hell for Bethy, he was really amazing at channeling that into a way to find her, whereas, I'd lost my mind.

He stopped, gripped my shoulder, and nodded. "Let's see how we can get our girl back, huh?"

~oOo~

"Damn it, Edward," my dad sighed in frustration. "Focus, son!"

We'd been bringing my father up to speed on everything we knew, but it had taken an hour.

"I can't breathe with this shit," I huffed, tugging out the gauze that Esme had shoved up my nose, much to the disgust of the girls in the room, and tossed them into the garbage. "Asshole didn't have to break my fucking nose," I muttered, shooting my father an angry glance.

His face glazed over with a touch of amusement, before he said, "You're lucky that's all I broke. Now...tell me what Lilith said to you in the last call."

"I can do better than that," Benny said, spinning in his chair and playing the last call that we'd heard, because he'd been sharp enough to record it.

The fact that we hadn't heard from her again was making the entire room on edge, but Wes and Benny kept telling us that it was a good thing, that it was giving us more time to find her first. The longer Lilith took to set up "her plan," the more time it gave us to find out more information about the people she knew.

I stood up abruptly from my chair when I heard Bethy and Abby in the background. It was worse the second time around, because Alice was able to isolate them away from Lilith's electronically altered voice.

"Shh, shh, shh," Alice hissed, turning off Lilith altogether and just bringing up background sounds. "Listen."

"Come on, kids," a male voice urged. "You gotta eat something, and you gotta take this medicine."

A part of me wanted to rejoice when I heard Bethy, but I had to bite back my tears, too, because she sounded angry and scared.

"I'm n-not sick!" she snapped. "I want my mommy, and I want my daddy. He w-won't like y-you," she told him bravely.

There were soft cries woven in there, as well, which I could only assume to be Abby. The dynamic between the two little girls couldn't be greater, and I imagined that my daughter was taking the forefront, because she knew her little friend was shy. Bethy was anything but shy.

I fell down hard into the closest chair, burying my hands into my hair. "Fuck," I hissed, feeling so fucking helpless that it was stifling.

"God, she sounds like Bella," Mickey noted with a touch of pride. "But why were the voices muted like that?"

"Sounds to me like the kids were in another room, being taken care of by the men, while Lilith made the phone call," Alice stated, studying her computer screen and not looking our way. "I've tried to isolate other sounds, but I could only pick up a few things." This time, she did turn to us. "I could hear traffic, a buzzing sign, and what sounded like the bell of a railroad crossing. But this was the best sound," she said, hitting a button on the keyboard.

"Go get some ice from the machine down at the end of the hall," another male voice stated, and Alice stopped the playback.

"A hotel," Jasper nodded. "Sweet Jesus, that's perfect," he breathed.

"Yes, I'm running a hotel check throughout the area where the van was taken," Benny stated, but he didn't sound as hopeful as I'd thought he would. "I'm not sure what name we're looking for, and I'm pretty sure that they'll have paid with cash. If they've got a plan, they'll be ultra careful until they get back to us."

"But why haven't they called back?" I asked, sitting forward and leaning my elbows on my knees.

"My guess is," Wes mused as he paced along the back of the room, "that they have a goal as to where they want to be when they finally ask for the money. They'll want to set up. And it's not hurting them to make you sweat."

"Oh Edward," Benny winced, shaking his head. "Please control yourself with what I'm about to say, but I'm willing to bet that...Bella will be a negotiating stipulation when they finally ask. They'll want her and the money in trade for those girls."

I was shaking my head no before he even finished the sentence. "No, no, no!" I yelled, standing back up. "I can't lose her, too!"

"You won't." My dad stood up, placing a hand on my shoulder. "But Benny's right. This Lilith may want Bella, instead, because it was Bella that offended her to begin with. Taking Bethy and Abby was just a way to get to what they really wanted – Bella and the money."

I shook my head again, because this time, I just couldn't take any more without talking to Bella. "I need... I have to talk to her," I finally said, begging my dad to finish this without me.

He studied my face, took a deep breath, and let me go. I ran across my yard and burst into my house, meeting Esme in my living room.

"How is she?" I asked, letting Esme check my nose before she answered.

"She refused meds or anything that would settle her down," she told me softly, "but I did take a look at that cut on her head. It's healing well, but I imagine she's dealing with a concussion. She may be asleep when you go back there."

"Is it... I mean, should she sleep?"

"It's been long enough since she received it, so she should be fine," she said with a nod. "She just...worried herself sick, Edward."

I nodded, swallowing back guilt and fear. "I need to see her...talk to her."

I didn't wait for Esme's permission, but she stepped aside for me anyway. I strode down the hallway, cracking our bedroom door open gently. What I saw broke my heart.

Bella was sleeping on my side of the bed, her whole body curled around Bethy's Mr. Bunny. Her feet moved, kicking the covers off, and her entire frame wracked with a shiver as she called out in her sleep.

"Edward..." she whimpered. "You promised..."

I flinched, shaking my head. I had promised – so many fucking things. I'd promised to never hurt her, to always love her, wait for her, be patient for her. But my most recent promise that I'd shattered into oblivion was that I'd promised to be there for her when she finally told me about Lilith... "no matter what." I'd promised her after making love to her in the hospital janitor's closet that nothing she could ever tell me would change my love for her. And I was there for her, but I'd turned on her when things went to fucking hell.

I rushed to her, crawling up behind her and breathing her in as best I could through my still very sore nose. "Oh God, Bella, I'm sorry," I groaned, pulling her back to my chest and burying my face into her neck. "So fucking sorry."

Bella stirred awake, rolling over to face me. "Edward," she gasped, gripping me to her like a lifeline. "Please don't hate me," she begged. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean any of it. I should've told you sooner about Lilith. I'm sorry I didn't check the bathroom... It's all my fault. All of it!"

"Stop," I hushed her gently. "I-It's me, baby. I-I'm the one th-that should a-apologize," I sputtered, not even bothering to hide it or the fact that I couldn't hold her tight enough. "I was an ass, Bella. I'm so fucking sorry..." I planted kisses to her forehead, nose, and chin. "I was just... I feel so helpless, love. I miss her...so fucking much!"

A tidal wave of emotions exploded between us, and we held each other until we'd both calmed down. Bella buried her face in my neck, her arm wrapped around my head as she gripped my hair. More apologies from each of us sniffled out between us, along with closer hugs and reassuring kisses.

I pulled back to look at her, brushing her hair from her face. "I...I c-can't d-do this without y-you, sweetness," I admitted softly as she wiped tears away from my face. "I just c-can't. I... You... It was so fucking hard to watch her go, Bella."

"I know," she cried, her own tears continuing to leak down her face so fast that it was impossible to stem the flow. "I know that must've killed you," she soothed, running her fingers through my hair. How she could soothe me after all that I'd said to her, I'd never understand, but she was comforting me and I took it, because I needed her more now than ever. And I would always need her.

"I couldn't get to her, baby," I purged, finally telling the one person that would really just get it. "And I couldn't risk stray bullets or mistakes. If it had been you, I would have fought my way to you, because you would have fought, too...but Bethy...she can't...and I..."

"It's okay, baby," she sighed, kissing my lips to stop my rushing words. "I know you were scared, Edward, and I know you were mad." She sat up, swiping at her tears with the back of her hand. "Please don't hate me," she begged again.

"I don't! I could never," I vowed, sitting up in front of her. "I love you...so fucking much. I can't hate you. I-I...w-was just s-so s-scared, baby. I was...a fucking idiot." I huffed in frustration, not knowing how to spit it out any other way, but I looked up to see a ghost of a smile flicker across her face.

"You were," she agreed, kissing my lips quickly, "but I was a coward for not telling you everything sooner...and not very observant, it would seem." She paused, tilting her gorgeous head at me, and she was still beautiful to me, despite the red nose and puffy eyes. She traced her finger gently under my eyes. "You need sleep, baby," she whispered, her brow furrowing, "and is that...blood?" she gasped, swiping her thumb under my nose, but pulling back when I winced. "What the hell..."

"Your godfather defended your honor," I said dryly.

"Carlisle...punched you?" she yelled. "Why?"

"Stop, sweetness," I soothed, cupping her sweet, but slowly angering face. "I deserved it. I should never have called you what I did."

"But he punched you?" she asked again incredulously.

I snorted into a chuckle, shaking my head, because my father was right. No matter how pissed Bella was at me, she would never want to see me hurt.

"I. Deserved. It," I stated firmly. "And I will live. Okay?"

"Hmph," she huffed, rolling her eyes, before looking down at Mr. Bunny, who was still in her lap. "I miss her," she whispered.

"Me, too," I sighed, playing with the rabbit's ear, before looking up at my wife. "And I need you. I need your help, baby."

"I'm sorry I've been out of it," she groaned, shaking her head and reaching back to touch the spot where she was hurt.

"Let me see." I turned her a bit, pulling back her hair to see the pretty deep cut that was surrounded by a damn big bruise. I kissed it ever so softly. "Rose was right," I admitted. "They did this shit on purpose...to take you out completely."

"You were listening," she said, not asking, but nodding like she'd suspected as much.

"Yeah," I said, my nose wrinkling a bit. "I was an ass, Bella, but I wasn't far from you at any time."

She nodded, playing with Mr. Bunny. "What have I missed?"

"Not much, but you should hear what Alice got out of the last phone call," I told her, unable to fight my smile. "Our girl...she's tough."

"Yeah?" For the first time since the farm, a true smile drifted up her face. It was pride and love, with a touch of worry thrown in there. "Can I hear?"

"Come on," I commanded, hopping off of the bed and holding my hand out for her. She joined me, though Mr. Bunny stayed in her clutches. I linked our fingers together, bringing the back of her hand up to my lips. "Together, we can get her back, love," I whispered against the side of her head, pulling her to me. "You'll never know how sorry I am. I never meant a word I said."

She nodded against my lips, looking up at me and studying my face. "There's something else, isn't there?"

I nodded, vowing to myself not to hold back from her anymore. "Yeah, there is. Come on..." I squeezed her hand. "We really have to talk about it."

She let me pull her from the house out to the office. How could I tell her that she could possibly be used for trade for her own daughter? How could I not? What bothered me the most was that I knew for a fucking fact that she would go without question, and that scared the living hell out of me.

A/N... Whew... I'm so glad Carlisle and Esme are back! LOL I know that was rough, but it was bound to happen, though after looking back on B&G, their quick forgiveness of each other was pretty close. They always fought, yelled, but they always got over it.

Okay, so the theory is looking like a trade for money and Bella. The phone calls are creepy...but our crew is slowly putting all the pieces together.

I have a surprise for you guys for the next chapter...Bethy's POV. It's not something that will happen throughout the entire story, but her eyes were needed. I can't always write as a 3 yr old. LOL Also...lots of info in the next chap.

I need to thank my beta JenRar for this...for laughing at me when she said Bella forgave Edward too quickly, and I told her no...that I forgave him, because I can't keep that level of unhappiness going. ;) Thanks to Goober_Lou...you don't even want to KNOW what she said about this chapter. And thanks to MedusaInNY for all her help on blogs and pdfs and life in general.

The next post is looking like some time on Tuesday...but then it will go back to Sunday after that...the normal schedule. Okay...hit me with it. I know this will upset some of you, but it gets better...I promise. So until Tuesday... Later.