A/N... Wow, are you guys ever ready for some action! Heh. Well, in that case, I don't need to warn you about violence or foul language. You seem pretty prepared, so we'll just let that warning go unsaid. Okay? I will remind you that this is a military style operation, that these men kill for a living. So just let that stick in your mind...
And Lilith rears her ugly head...so watch out for that. I'll let you read. See you at the bottom.
CHAPTER 10
BELLA
I couldn't fucking sleep. When I did nod off, my dreams were horrific. I was just fucking glad daylight had finally dawned.
Tell me who could have found you, bitch?
I squeezed my eyes closed at the memory of Miller's voice, letting out a long, slow, calming breath and glancing over when Christopher snorted in his deep slumber. Maybe it was being underground, maybe it was the waiting, or maybe it was just being away from home, away from Edward and Bethy. I never felt more powerful and in control than with Edward there to back me up. Without him and when I was alone with my thoughts, I felt a little vulnerable.
I debated and debated telling Walter what he had coming for him. I wasn't kidding when I'd told him once that he had absolutely no idea what he'd done. He had no clue as to what he'd set in motion, because my husband's and his father's identities never really existed. Walter had pissed off the one group of people that could literally level this compound in the blink of an eye, barely breaking a sweat. I'd decided to wait, or maybe not tell Walter at all, because he could panic and take me elsewhere. Where I was sitting was the best place, because I knew at that moment, there was an angry group of men and women studying this place up one side and down the other. I had to put my faith in them.
Kurt had eventually brought me my shoes, tossing them and my socks through the bars of my cage. Once I had them on and he'd left me, I'd activated the GPS chip. I'd thought about the tools on me, about using them to escape, but I wasn't stupid. I'd seen what I would face trying to just get outside the compound, much less down the fucking mountain. Footsteps constantly walked by the top of the stairs, there were guards at just about every point on the grounds, and the fences were not just topped with razor wire... It went from top to bottom. I didn't have tools to cut that shit, and there would be nowhere to hide if I did get out of my cell.
Then there was the matter of Christopher, who snored again and rolled over in his sleep. He wasn't my new best friend, but he was being held against his will. He was verbally abused at just about every turn, and I was starting to feel sorry for the poor bastard. He'd paid his debt to society concerning the drunk driving incident, but holding him hostage here was just Lilith's sick addition to this game.
The main cell door creaked open, and I glanced up, rolling my eyes. "Speak of the devil," I muttered to myself as Lilith strolled in alone. "You should be on a leash," I told her. "Walter should chain you to a tree to make sure you stay out of trouble or don't wander where you shouldn't."
"Bitch," she sneered, shaking her head. "If we didn't need that money, I'd have kicked your ass already."
"You could try," I chuckled, shaking my head and sitting up on my cot. "I doubt very much that you'd succeed."
"Christopher," she sang, keeping her eyes on me. "Tell her I'm not a bad person."
I didn't even realized he'd woken up, but his eyebrows shot up high on his forehead.
"I'm in a cage," he snorted, looking at her like she was insane. "What's nice about that?"
"It's her fault that you're here," Lilith pouted dramatically, pointing in my direction. "She's the one that told me what you did to my baby."
I couldn't fight my snort if I tried. "Is that the game you're playing, Lilith? You want to set him against me? Well, fine," I snapped, standing up and grasping two bars facing the empty cell between mine and Christopher's. "Yeah...it was all my fucking fault. Lilith here had two beautiful little girls, Chris. Two." I held up two fingers, raising an eyebrow at Lilith when she started to interrupt me. "Her youngest was Bree. Two years old, slipping around in a bathtub full of bubbles. Instead of watching her child, she walked away. Guess what happened next..." I sang, looking between them. "Bree slipped and hit her head on the ceramic soap dish. She was unconscious when she hit the water. She could have been saved, but apparently, the phone call Lilith took was more important."
"It was about a job!" Lilith yelled.
"It was about a crack deal, bitch," I sighed, rolling my eyes. "I worm information out of people all fucking day. I read your phone records. I spoke to Sharky, your dealer. Crack...don't even try to spin it any other way." I turned back to Christopher. "Bree had an older sister – Ashley. She was four at the time. At four, she was smarter than her mother and tried to pull her baby sister out of the water – of course, failing miserably. So instead, a four year old little girl bolted out of the apartment, down the hall, and pounded on an old man's door; an old man that gave her and her sister paper flowers and airplanes as presents.
"The cops were called, the Department of Children's Services was called, and Lilith was arrested. Ashley was then placed in the foster care system," I continued, rolling my eyes. "Lilith pleaded substance abuse."
Lilith shrugged, like it wasn't important, but at least she was quiet.
"Jason and Amber Greene were the foster parents that took Ashley in," I told Christopher. "They worked with Ashley, worked with Lilith's doctors, but Lilith pulled the wool over everyone's eyes. She pretended to get better. She skated through rehab, and the very first fucking opportunity she got to see her daughter, she snatched her up."
Lilith smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. It was slow and evil. "She was my daughter!"
"That you forgot about the minute you took the first hit of heroin," I countered, looking back to Christopher. "Do you see where this is going yet, Chris?" I asked him, and he nodded slowly. "I'm a private investigator, and when Ashley disappeared, a friend of mine from a law firm told me about an associate of his – someone he went to college with. He asked me for a favor, to help find Ashley. So I did. And it wasn't hard," I added, glaring at Lilith, who looked more concerned with her dirty fingernails. "I found Ashley wandering around the parking lot of a ratty ass drug hotel. She was filthy, hungry, and crying. Once I got her back to the Greenes, Lilith here – after a lot of persuasion from everyone – finally gave up custody," I growled the last three words.
"The Greenes and I became friends, Chris," I sighed, tilting my head at him. "I was so mad at you for killing them, at myself for getting too close, and at Lilith for starting the shit in the first place." I sighed again, leaning my forehead against the bars. "So...yeah. It's my fault you're here. The day of the Greenes' funeral, I paid a visit to Lilith at the mental hospital."
"Oh, God," Christopher groaned.
"I told her all of it," I whispered, looking up at him and avoiding her angry glare. "I blamed everything on her...on you..."
Christopher stood up and studied my face. "I can't say that I blame you," he sighed with a shrug. "I've attended enough meetings, heard enough stories to know that what I did was devastating... for everyone." He turned to Lilith, his face cold and angry as he stepped toward her. "You, on the other hand, have no room to talk," he stated firmly, looking at Lilith. "Those kids were your responsibility. I understand addiction – fuck, I live it – but you should have gotten help...and now, you don't have anyone. You're all alone."
My mouth fell open as he stood up to her. He'd only shown a meek personality since I'd been trapped in that bunker with him.
"I'm not alone," she said through gritted teeth. "I have Walter."
I smirked, my brow wrinkling, because I saw that she was lying. Whether she didn't didn't actually need Walter, or she didn't believe her own words, I wasn't sure. But whatever it was, she knew Chris was right. She was all alone.
"I'm pretty sure Walter just recognized my name when you told him the story," I chuckled. "All he sees is dollar signs."
"So why am I here?" Chris asked, his voice a touch whiny as he rolled his eyes. "I have no money, and I can't bring back the dead..."
"Come here, and I'll tell you," Lilith smirked, and I was shaking my head no before he took his first step.
"Don't do it, Chris," I warned, but Lilith moved quicker than I'd expected her to.
She grabbed his shirt through the bars, pulling him off balance. When he fell into the steel, a flash and a loud gunshot echoed through the small room, causing my ears to ring. Christopher fell in a heap on the floor, holding his large stomach.
The gate at the top of the stairs flew open, and Walter, Kenny, and Kurt darted into the room, their eyes quickly assessing the situation with drawn weapons in their hands.
"Christ, Lilith," Walter sighed exasperatedly. "You couldn't wait? I said you could have them both once we had the money."
"He was spewing lies!" she yelled, and I finally saw for the first time what Dr. Vernon was talking about in his medical file on Lilith. She had absolutely no conscience, and everything she said or did was done with precise calculation.
I narrowed my eyes at her and wondered not for the first time if she really hadn't killed Bree herself. It wouldn't be improbable when it came to this woman.
"Lilith, get the fuck out of here," Walter sighed, shaking his head as she stomped up the stairs.
I rounded on Walter. "Have them both once you had the money?" I repeated to him, my mouth hanging open. "You double cross them this time, and you won't live to see another day," I growled, gripping the bars in front of me.
"You guys keep saying that," Walter chuckled, rolling his eyes. "I just don't see that happening."
I grinned up at him. "You obviously found out who I was, so go look up my husband, my father-in-law. Then come back and tell me what you found. Maybe I can...fill in the blanks for you."
Walter smirked and nodded his head. "Fine, Isabella, I'll humor you," he stated, turning around to Kenny. "Get his fat ass up off the floor and see if you can stop his bleeding."
"He needs a doctor!" I growled.
"Well, that's tough shit, princess," Kenny sneered, shrugging one shoulder, before opening Christopher's cell door. "There's a storm rolling in, and no one is going anywhere. The road won't allow it."
I absorbed that piece of information like a sponge soaking up water. My eyebrows shot up as I looked from Kenny to Kurt, the latter of whom was nodding apologetically. If the road was closed, then Walter couldn't take me anywhere. A rainstorm wouldn't stop Edward and my crew, and it damn well wouldn't stop Carlisle or Eleazar. Hell, Eleazar was a former Navy Seal, so a little rain wouldn't even phase him.
I watched Kenny struggle with Christopher, never missing an opportunity to berate and insult him. Once he had the large man on his cot, he made a half-assed attempt at placing a blanket over his wound. From what I could see, Lilith had caught him in his side, but I couldn't tell just how badly he was injured.
"Hey," Kurt called from my cell door. "I'll try and sneak you some food. Okay?"
"You need to get him something to put pressure on that wound, or he'll bleed out," I whispered in a hiss.
"I'll see what I can do, but give me a few," he replied, turning on his heel.
I shook my head, sighed, and fell down on my cot. My head fell back as they left me with a moaning, possibly fatally injured man. This situation was getting more and more fucked up as time ticked on.
oOo~
EDWARD
I lifted the door of my wood shop, taking my keys out of my pocket. Along the far back wall was a line of double locked cabinets – cabinets that had nothing to do with my woodworking hobby.
"Okay, load up," I ordered, stepping away from my own personal cache of weapons, kevlar vests, and ammunition.
"Excellent," Emmett hissed, dodging past me to start handing out equipment to everyone.
I grabbed my own things, including an automatic rifle, ammunition, and a long, sharp bowie knife. I tossed my keys to Emmett, telling him to lock it back when he was done. I walked back into Gravity's office, setting my shit down on the conference table. I was pulling my Glock out of the safe when Benny piped up.
"We have a problem," he stated, spinning around from his computer. "Well, two problems."
"What's that?" I asked, glancing up at my father and Eleazar, who were readying their own personal weapons, but we all gave Benny our attention.
"We've got a storm moving in on that area," he said, pointing to his screen. "Heavy rainfall, very little wind, possible hail. It'll make traversing that mountain difficult."
"So we get wet," Eleazar grunted, shrugging a shoulder and strapping on his shoulder harness. "What's the second problem?"
"Still no sign of Bella's GPS chip," he sighed, looking rather forlorn. "I don't know if it's because she hasn't activated it yet, or if the signal isn't coming through the lead of that bomb shelter."
"Is there still activity around it?" I asked, tucking my black cargo pants into my boots and lacing them tight.
"Yes!" Alice called over her shoulder from the computer room. "I really think she's in there, Edward."
I nodded, lacing up my other boot, and stood up straight. "I trust you, Alice. It's mine and Emmett's number one destination. Jasper, Mickey, and Alec are taking the barn."
"El, Eric, and Spike will start at the huts on the west end of the property," my dad said, pointing to the aerial shot on the wall. "Sam, Elam, and Felix will handle the guard shack and the gate, and Ned, Harry, and myself will take the main house."
"We'll be coming in from all sides," Eleazar explained. "You girls need to know this, so you understand what you're watching on these night vision cameras you've rigged on a member of each team."
Makenna, Alice, and Rose, all came into the main area to listen to him.
"We'll be coming in from all sides of the property," he said again. "Alice, you'll cut the power and communication on our signal. Benny, you'll be monitoring our communication with each other, making sure we don't stumble over each other." Once Alice and Benny nodded, he went on. "We're going in as quietly as we can. As soon as the power goes, they may react."
By now, the whole office was filled with men dressed in long sleeve black tees, black cargo pants, and black military grade boots. Some had already donned their vests, some were strapping on knives or grenades, and others were just listening.
"This is my mission, so you'll warn them, tell them to drop their weapon, but if they don't, then you have my permission to defend yourself. Spike," he called, and a rather large, rugged gentleman with a bald head about El's age stepped forward. "Careful with those huts, because there may be more inside. Sam, that guard shack may be where the alarm is activated, so if you...take out the guards, then so be it." He turned to my dad. "That goes the same for you, Carlisle. The house may have a trigger, as well, so do what you have to." He sighed, glancing around the room. "If for some reason, an alarm is triggered, we will be at war."
We all nodded, because we all knew from experience that shit could go all sorts of fucking wrong on missions such as this one.
"The primary goal here is to get Bella out of there," El continued, gesturing to me and Emmett. "The secondary goal is the capture and arrest of Lilith Laray, Walter Bridges, Kenny Porter, and Kurt Vernon," he stated, pointing to the pictures along the wall. "Though I won't shed a tear if one of them happens to become a casualty." Once more, he glanced up at the group of us. "Those of you that aren't under my legitimate command, this never happened. Those of you that are," he said, looking at Felix and Eric, "Well...you know how this shit works. Do your job and keep your mouth shut about everything else." He clapped his hands once. "We need to go..."
The office door slammed open, and Bethy dodged black clad legs left and right in order to get to me. "D-Daddy," she huffed, and I caught her up in my arms as she ran full force at me. "You can't l-leave yet," she panted, and I guessed she'd run all the way from the house.
"I have to go, little sweetness," I told her, kissing her palm, which was on the side of my face.
"You forgot your hat," she said, holding it up with her other hand.
I grinned, ignoring the chuckles from around the room. "By all means, pretty girl," I said, letting her put it on my head. Backwards, of course. "Thank you," I whispered, giving her a wink. "Now can I go?"
"Yes," she grunted, nodding her head once.
"Tell me you love me," I commanded, tilting my head at her.
"Love you," she sang, dragging out the last word and kissing my cheek. "Be safe."
"I love you, too, Bethy," I whispered against her forehead, watching my dad walk to us.
"Come here, baby girl," he chuckled, holding his hands out for her. "Give me hugs and kisses."
She went willingly with a giggle, and soon, my daughter was getting love from all her "uncles."
Emmett scooped her up and flipped her over, grinning when she squealed into hysterics. "I'm just makin' sure you're my good luck charm, that's all," he chuckled, turning her back over so he could look her into her now very red face.
"How can you tell?" she asked him.
"It's stamped on the back of your knee," he answered, tickling the shit out of her leg until she was writhing mess.
I watched as the men that didn't know her found themselves smiling at her, but the ones that loved her absolutely had to hug her before they left the room. Her last conversation was with Alec.
"Bambina," he chuckled when she ran to him. "A kiss for good luck, yeah?" he asked, pointing to his cheek, grinning like a fool when it was loud and sloppy. "You'll be so busy while we're gone, you know."
"Wif what?" she asked, playing with the velcro on his kevlar vest.
"You have to watch over baby Caleb, your Gamma, and you have to keep good thoughts in your mind the whole time we're gone," he told her. "Can you do that? All of that?"
"Yup!" she said with a grin.
"Good girl," he said, kissing her fingers before handing her back to me.
"Come on, baby," I chuckled, shaking my head and picking up my gear. "Let's find Gamma. Does she know you left the house?"
"She told me to bring you your hat," she answered. "See, there she is," she said, pointing to the back of the truck we were all to ride in – the old school military truck that Ned and Harry had driven.
Esme was cupping my father's face, and he nodded solemnly at whatever she was telling him. She turned to Bethy and me as we approached. "Come on, Bethy," she said, holding her arms out.
"D-Daddy?" she whimpered, clinging to me.
"Go with her, baby," I soothed. "I'll be back before you can miss me, okay?"
She frowned, but went to Esme. Her eyes grew wide when her Poppy and I climbed into the back of the truck.
"We gotta go, or she's gonna lose it," I muttered to my dad, who nodded and banged on the back of the cab.
"Ned, get moving," he ordered, and the truck rumbled into life as I sat down beside Jasper.
I gave Bethy one more wave, before tugging on my vest and watching Esme soothe her. I heard one more cry of "Daddy!" before we pulled out.
"Fuck," I hissed, rubbing my face.
"She'll be fine," Jasper said. "She'll be bakin' cookies before the night is over."
I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I hope so," I sighed, leaning back.
A deep rumbling chuckle met my ears, and I looked up to see Spike shaking his bald head. "Goddamn, I do not envy the first boyfriend that girl brings home. This fucking lot will scare the shit out of anyone."
"No shit," Alec snorted.
"No, it's fine," I said nonchalantly, "because she's not allow to date til she's thirty."
The truck erupted into laughter, my dad kicking my shoe. "Yeah...good luck with that, son."
~oOo~
BELLA
Christopher was not going to make it. I looked over at him, feeling helpless that I couldn't at least comfort him. He was complaining about being cold, yet I could see sweat pouring down his face. The fact that he was a big man might have been helping him, because I'd asked him to show me his belly, show me where he was hit.
Kurt had told me Lilith had used a twenty-two, so the small caliber bullet went in on the left side of his stomach at an angle, and if I was guessing, then I'd have said it lodged somewhere on his right side. That just seemed to be the case, because of the way that he held himself. Kurt came in with food for me and a first aid kit for Christopher, cleaning the man up as best he could.
All day, I'd listened to Chris, talked to him, but his pain was overwhelming for him. He'd stopped answering my questions about an hour ago, and my heart broke that the end was near for him. It also pissed me the fuck off, because Lilith hadn't shot to kill on purpose. More than once did she come to the cell door, just to watch him, with some evil fascination plastered on her face. My hands shook with the desire to just knock her the fuck out.
I knew for a fact that if they hadn't needed the money, I would be next.
I started pacing about sundown, because Christopher started whimpering, his breathing shallow, until he finally called for me.
"Bella?" he rasped, trying to look my way.
"Yes, Chris," I said, using a calm voice that reflected nothing close to what was going on inside of me.
"I'm sorry about your friends," he whispered. "It was my birthday...I should never have driven home."
I sighed, closing my eyes and leaning my forehead against the bars of my cell. "I forgave you a long time ago, Chris. You have to forgive yourself."
"You'll tell my mom, right?" he asked. He tried to take a deep breath, but seemed to fail, causing a wracking cough to erupt from him. "Tell her that I didn't just...leave her."
My nose wrinkled, and I squeezed my eyes shut. "I promise, sweetie."
"Good, because...she was the only one that...supported me," he wheezed. "She deserves to not have to..."
"Wonder," I finished for him.
"Yeah," he sighed, and it was the last breath he took.
A tear fell down my face at the waste of life that just left the room. He wasn't a bad guy; he'd just made a mistake. He had seemed fairly sweet and somewhat sarcastic. In another time and place, we might have been friends. He'd told me he had plans to go back to school – computers or something – and move him and his mom from Seattle to Olympia.
No one checked in on us for fucking hours, a fact that just made my temper rise to the surface. By the time they all traipsed their happy asses down the stairs, I was practically a pacing lioness in my cage.
"You wretched whore!" I snapped at Lilith. "You fucking killed him. And for what?"
"Because I could." Her answer was smooth, without remorse. In fact, she barely gave Christopher's body a second glance once Kenny pronounced him dead. "With you...I'll take my time."
"Good luck with that," I warned her with a raised eyebrow. "You seriously underestimate me."
"We're going to call your husband back and tell him where to meet us," Walter stated, pulling out a cell phone from his pocket. Once again, he turned on the speakerphone.
"Cullen," Edward answered sharply, and for a split second, I heard people in the background.
"Tomorrow, Cullen. Olympia Mall...two o'clock," Walter stated, his eyes never leaving mine.
"Those terms aren't good for me, because I'm not going to walk into a trap. My money, my terms," Edward replied, his voice calm, smooth, but I could hear an underlying anger seething just below the surface. "Portland...bus station...noon," he countered.
Walter closed his eyes, letting a hissing breath out in a rush. "Fine, but you'd better bring that money, or I'll shoot Isabella in the head on the fucking street corner."
"No, you won't," Edward stated. "But you can try."
"If you bring someone other than yourself, Cullen, she won't make it out of the car," Walter countered.
Edward laughed. Laughed. It made me smile and raise an eyebrow at my captor.
"I'm not particularly concerned," Edward snickered. "I'm pretty sure she can fight you and win. Hell, I'd be willing to bet more than one of you is sporting a bruise from her."
Oh damn. My eyebrows shot up, because he couldn't possibly know that. He had to be guessing...or he just knew me that fucking well.
Walter laughed. "As a matter of fact... they are," he snorted, glancing at Lilith and Kurt, though Walter didn't know that Kurt's was by request.
"Before I do shit, I want to hear her voice," Edward stated, and Walter waved to me.
"Edward," I sighed, just happy to be able to say his name.
"Sweetness, hang in there for me. It won't be long now. The hour is drawing near," he said cryptically, but he leaned on the word "hour," just like he had leaned on the words "one day" during the last phone call.
Edward was fucking here. He was so close that I would see him in an hour. My heart soared with elation, but pounded with worry, because this would be a true fight.
"Love you," I told him. "Be safe."
"You, too, Bella," he crooned, but his voice changed back to forceful when he addressed Walter. "Tomorrow...Portland."
With that, he ended the call, and Walter smirked, stepping closer to me. A stack of pages landed on my lap. Walter had thrown them at me through the bars. "Nothing," he stated. "Your husband and his father are nothing but business men."
I huffed a laugh, not even bothering to look at the pages. I let them drop to the floor, except for one that caught my attention. My husband's background. I gripped it, walked to the bars, and thrust it into Walter's face.
"See that span of time between his dismissal from the Air Force to the day he married me? Do you fucking see it?" I yelled, waiting until they all nodded. "Carlisle has an even longer span of time than that. Doesn't that even concern you? Or are you too pompous to think outside the fucking box?"
They didn't answer, not one of them.
"They were ghosts, Walter," I told him, keeping my voice calm. "They lived under the radar, but they never, ever stopped being soldiers." They stayed quiet, so I finally decided to let them know what was coming. "You won't hear them, you know...when they come. It'll be silent when they walk up in here. They'll cut your power, your communication, and probably the throats of the guards at the gate, not to mention that razor wire. They'll go hunting, seeking out every individual that ever had a part to play in this shit. Every man will be punished for just having known you, Walter. They are experts in stealth, guns, explosives, and torture. They carry with them an intense sense of family, of loyalty. If you think you've gotten away, that's when the sniper gets you, or when the man hidden in the brush puts a knife to your throat. They are fast, smart, and extremely deadly. They have zero problem killing, because it's what they do. They were Navy Seals, Black-Ops Specialists, and Apache pilots. They are the FBI, the CIA, and they are coming for me. I'm not fucking kidding you. And you can prepare all you want, but you won't stop them. They'll know the layout of this place inside and out. They'll know exactly what they're looking for, and the rain won't even slow them down."
Kenny shifted on his feet as the spatter of raindrops smacked against the concrete stairs, but Walter stood his ground in front of me. Kurt shook his head, looking slightly sick, and I needed to make sure that he stayed alive, because he'd helped me when he didn't have to. Lilith smirked, rolled her eyes, and glanced up at Walter.
Without taking his eyes from me, he said, "Kenny, go wake the reinforcements. Have them at the ready. If she's lying, then it's no great loss, but if she's not, then these...soldiers will have to fight their way in. And get someone in here for this...shit." He gestured toward Christopher, giving Lilith a sideways glance.
I laughed softly and humorlessly, rolling my eyes and shrugging. "Kenny, wake them all. It'll make it easier for them to be found." I pointed to Walter. "My husband wasn't shitting you, Walter. He will make this personal."
~oOo~
EDWARD
Edward.
I ran a hand through my hair as we approached our destination. We'd had to pull over when Walter called, shutting down all noise from the engine of the truck. My name had never sounded so sweet, yet so scary, coming from Bella. Ever.
She sounded exhausted and scared. She sounded pissed off and just fucking over it. Most of all, she sounded like she needed me.
A hand landed on my shoulder, and I looked up to see my dad handing over the face paint. We were going in as quietly as possible, traveling through a fair amount of forest, so I had no alternative but to slap black, green, and brown on my face. It was thick and greasy feeling, adding to the sweat that was already beading on my forehead and upper lip, but I smeared it on anyway.
"Do you remember stealing mine when you were little?" Dad asked, chuckling a little. "You were about Bethy's age."
I grinned, nodded, and looked over at him. "Yeah, I do. Mom said it took an entire tub of her face cream to get the shit off."
He laughed, as did Jasper and Emmett, who were sitting closest to us.
"You used all of it, that's why!" my dad snickered, still shaking his head at the memory. "She sent me a picture."
I nodded and looked in the mirror Emmett was holding up. I made sure that my neck, around my eyes, and my ears were covered. "She couldn't even punish me, because she was laughing too hard." I looked up at Jazz and Em and said, "He had this whole stash of the coolest shit in the back of their closet. I was looking for my birthday present, but found his gear, instead. I came out of her room wearing Dad's boots, jacket, and an entire tube of face paint. I had that shit everywhere...including the walls of the closet and her clothes."
Emmett and Jasper cracked the fuck up.
"Oh, please tell me you still have a picture of that," Jasper begged.
My dad chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I just found it again the other day. I've been meaning to show it to Bethy and Bella. I think they'd like it."
I groaned, shaking my head. "Oh, I'm sure they would. Where was it?"
"In a box at the Forks house," he chuckled. "I hung that picture in every locker I've ever had. It traveled more than any other picture your mother ever sent me. It saw several tours and more countries than I could count."
I smiled over at him, thinking Bella and Bethy had softened the old man, because a few years ago, he'd never have told me that shit. I knew he loved me, that he was proud of me, but it wasn't something he showed when I was younger. After my mother died, he had to retire from the Air Force to be with me, and we became close in our grief, in our feelings of loss. He'd taught me guns, and I'd taught myself how to cook, in order to avoid fast food and pizza everyday. He taught me a love for cars, helicopters, and he fed my passion for building things, telling me that every man needed a hobby to get away from shit. He would say, "I'm proud of you, son," quicker than he'd say, "I love you," but I knew they meant the same. And he would squeeze my shoulder instead of giving me a hug.
We had a good relationship, and I knew him well enough to see what he was doing. He was trying to take my mind off of Bella, focus it on something else. But one look at his face, and I could tell he was doing this just as much for himself as he was for me.
"Oh, I bet the baby girl would love to see Dad at her own age," Jasper mused, a small smile playing on his face.
Now that thought made me laugh, turning to my dad. "Yeah...bring that shit over," I told him. "She'll love that."
Dad grinned, but it fell quickly when the truck came to a bumpy stop. Alec lifted the back tarp of the truck, and we were fuck deep in the woods, but fairly far up on the mountain. We all piled out as Benny and Wes pulled their communications van up behind us, the rain flickering off of their head lights.
Ned slammed the driver's side door, gesturing around him. "This looked like the best spot," he said, his Southern accent thicker than Jasper's ever thought about being. "We're off the main road, so even if someone comes looking, they won't see."
Everyone took a deep, collective breath and let it out as Eleazar stood in front of us. "I want constant communication," he stated, letting his eyes travel over us as we all put our earpieces in. "Those of you that Alice rigged with a camera, turn it on and make sure she can see you before heading out."
One member of each small team had been designated to wear a camera. Emmett turned his on as Spike, Sam, and my father followed suit.
The radio beeped in our ears. "Hello, boys," Alice sang, and we couldn't help but say it back to her. "Carlisle, I need you to adjust yours, please, Poppy," she told him, and he hitched it up higher, smiling like a loon at the nickname that we'd all given him the very minute Bella announced she was pregnant. "Perfect. Emmett, yours is foggy. Spike, yours is perfect. Sam, I need you to lower yours." Once everyone had obeyed her without question, she thanked us.
Harry opened the tool box on the back of the truck, saying, "We're going to need these." He passed out wire cutters a member of each team. "Who's the demolitions expert?"
"Em is," Mickey piped up, the smallest among us, but she, like Bella, used that to their advantage. To them, smaller meant mightier.
Harry handed Emmett four sticks of TNT, saying, "Just in case."
He stowed it in his backpack without even batting an eye. "Are we planning on blowing this joint?" he asked, looking up to my dad for the answer.
"We're not sure, Em," he answered. "Alice has looked at this place up one side and down the other and says that there's no other way off the mountain other than that road, but we're not taking any chances."
"Got it," Emmett said, nodding once.
Eleazar checked his watch. "The witching hour is almost here, boys," he stated, meaning it was almost three o'clock in the morning, a time that was perfect to attack, because no one expects it. He unrolled the map of the place that each of us was carrying and gathered us around him. "You know where you're headed. The four sides of this place. Edward, Em...the very second you catch sight of Bella, I want to know about it. That goes the same for Bridges, Laray, Porter, and Vernon. Okay?"
"Sir," we all grunted, picking up weapons, strapping on knifes and gun holsters, and tightening vests.
I slid my knife into the top of my boot, stood up straight, and came face to face with Mickey.
"If you need me, let me know. If she's somewhere you need broken into, just yell, pretty boy. I'm not kidding," she stated, her eyes flickering to my dad and Eleazar. "Don't fucking blow it up!" she snapped, pointing a finger to Emmett. "You could fucking hurt her."
He grinned, holding his hands up in surrender, but he would never put any of us, especially Bella, in danger.
"What's she do?" Spike asked in a whisper as he watched her check her gear.
"That girl can break into any-fucking-thing," I chuckled. "There's not a lock or safe she can't crack."
"No shit?" he snickered. "Can she fight? I mean, she's so...small."
"And can take down men bigger than Emmett and El," I added. "Don't let her fool you. Meaner than sin, aren't you, wild child?" I asked, shooting her a wink.
"And then some," she laughed, shoving me. "Come on, I'm missing my bud."
We all shut up at those words, because it brought home the reality of why we were standing in the middle of the fucking woods on a rainy night.
Emmett slapped the back of his hand across my chest. "Let's go, Eddie. We have the longest run, because we're cracking open the opposite side of the fence from here."
"Radio checks. Sound off," Benny commanded as we all split into the forest at a silent, but fast pace.
As we all checked in, the terrain became steeper. The trees were large and grew close together. An owl hooted somewhere overhead, his call an eerie sound in the dead of night. A deer bolted at the sight of us, taking off into the rain soaked forest. After that, the only sounds we heard were the sounds of our own breathing and the spatter of rain falling around us.
~oOo~
BELLA
I sneered at the two guards that now stood sentry at the main gate of the prison I was in. Their backs were to me, but their conversation was loud and clear. They were talking about football, baseball, and women – the latter of topics going on way too long for my liking, though I think they were doing it on purpose.
If they said the word "pussy" one more time, I was going to dismantle my cot and throw it at them. It was one thing when Edward whispered it, his voice dripping with sexiness and dirty ideas. It was a completely different thing when it was actually used to describe women, objectifying them. Pigs.
They were dressed just like everyone else I'd seen – plaid shirts, jeans, hiking boots, and ratty tees, and they really had no discipline, because they truly weren't paying attention. One was young, maybe late teens, and the other was old enough to be his father. Neither would have passed an IQ test. At all.
I could've opened my cell and choked them from behind, and they would never have heard me coming, as loud as they were talking. They were paying attention to their cell phones and each other, but not their surroundings. As much as I wanted to get rid of them, I needed to wait until the right time.
I glanced over at Christopher's body and sighed. They still hadn't removed him, and the sight of him made me nervous and sad. Nervous, because I wasn't sure what Lilith and Walter planned to do to me, and sad, because he'd gotten wrapped up in something that he should never have been close to. He'd been trying to move on with his life.
"I'm gonna take a piss," the older one said, walking up the steps, the puddles of rain splashing under his heavy foot.
I felt around the pocket of my cargo pants, finding what I was looking for just behind the metal clasp. I pulled out one of Mickey's lock picks, giving Mr. Teenage Hormones a quick glance, before reaching around through the bars of my cell. It was harder to do when I couldn't see, and I damn well wasn't as good at it was Mickey was, but it wasn't long before the lock clicked back.
My eyes shot up to the main cell door, but the kid was too busy picking his nose to pay attention to what I was doing. Carefully, centimeter by centimeter, I opened the door. I didn't want it to creak in any way. I tiptoed up behind the kid, reaching slowly through the bars, and grabbed the back of his shirt. With one hard and fast yank, I pulled him back against the steel bars, knocking his ass out cold. He fell to the concrete with a soft thump.
I reached through the bars to open the next lock, trying to hurry, because Piss Boy would be back soon. The lock clicked louder on the second one, echoing up the stairwell, and I froze, waiting to see if someone up top had heard. When no one came running, I carefully and slowly tugged open the gate.
I climbed the stairs, keeping my eyes peeled and my ears straining to hear anything from above me. I plastered myself on the right side of the wall, peering out over the grounds. There was an exceptional amount of activity for how late it was. Men milled around the grounds, weapons shouldered. I turned to the left, and my path was blocked, but when I peeked around to the right, it was all clear.
I waited until the closest set of men turned around, and then I pushed myself out of the stairwell, darting around the corner of the shelter. I was aiming for the barn wall – more specifically, the haystack next to it – when a cry rang out.
"Hey!" I heard behind me, along with thumping and splashing boots through the rain soaked grass. "Son of a bitch! Stop her!"
I was tackled to the ground, and the two of us slid through the wet grass several feet, before coming to a stop. The rain was fucking cold, and I was saturated instantly. Rough hands gripped me, trying to hold me down, but I turned over, bringing my knee up to Piss Boy's groin and causing him to release his hold on me. With another boot to his face, I scooted away from him, only for my back to come into contact with someone's legs.
"Shit," I hissed, when the sound of an automatic rifle was engaged in my ear.
"Don't do it, princess," Kenny growled, gripping my hair and yanking me up. "Get up."
He marched me back to the top of the stairwell, only to shove me down. I fell with a grunt, landing right beside the young boy I'd knocked out.
"Fuck!" I snapped, glaring up at Kenny as he casually descended the stairs.
"Get your ass up," he said, turning toward the opening. "Yo, Lewis! Get me something that will keep this bitch in her cell."
Kenny picked me up, half shoving, half dragging me back to my cage. He shoved me hard, securing the lock again, but when Lewis showed up, I sighed and sat down hard on my cot.
Lewis was a large man, his arms bulging as he lifted a long, metal bar and a tool box. He attached a hook on the wall across from my door, wedging the metal bar against it. He then took out a padlock, locking it all in place, so that even if I picked my cell door again, there would be no way to reach the lock on the far wall that was holding my cage door closed. I was trapped.
Kenny laughed as I flipped him off, but everyone froze when the power shut off, drowning us in darkness.
"Go check the breakers," Kenny ordered Lewis. "It's probably just the rain short circuiting something..." His voice trailed off when rapid gunfire sounded in the distance.
"It's not the rain," I chuckled. "And it damn well isn't the breakers."
Kenny and Lewis bolted out of there when an alarm started to sound.
~oOo~
EDWARD
I could see the compound through the trees. It was well lit, with a shit-ton of activity going on. There were men stationed at various points on the grounds, and some were walking the same path over and over. They were heavily armed, I noted, as Emmett and I crouched down a few yards away.
I pulled out my binoculars, reporting what I could see. "I've got visual on what looks like...forty men...maybe. Looks like the entire place is on patrol, but I can't see past the house from our location."
"Good," Benny stated over the radio. "How 'bout anyone else? You see forty?"
"I'm on point," Sam called out. "I'm counting about that many. They're awfully busy tonight."
"Won't matter," my dad countered. "We're going on my signal. Wait for it."
I glanced over to my left, making sure that Jasper, Mickey, and Alec were getting set to take the barn. They were crouched down just inside the line of trees, where the shadows fell on them. If you didn't know to look for them, you wouldn't know they were even there.
A beeping alarm sounded – not from the compound, but through my earpiece.
"What the hell..." both Benny and Rose muttered.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," Alice gasped, and I could hear her typing. "Oh, fuck... Bella's chip just popped online!"
"Easy, Alice," my dad soothed her. "Tell us what you see. Where exactly is she?"
"Um...from what I can tell, right between the barn and the bomb shel..." Alice groaned, stopping in mid-sentence. It was all I could do to not snap at her. "Okay, okay, okay...she must've tried to make a run for it, but the signal cut off again."
"Well, that just means we were right," Eleazar soothed us all. "We'll be going in on Carlisle's mark..."
"If you have a clear path, get to the fence line. Go ahead and cut your opening," my dad ordered, and Jasper's team moved.
Emmett and I had a light pole casting a glow on the spot where we should've been cutting our way in.
"We'd be in the open," Emmett stated. "We're going in with J."
"Ten-four," my dad acknowledged. "Sam, you and your team get ready to take that guard shack. Alice, I need you to kill the power and communications on my mark!"
"On it," she answered him.
Emmett and I ran low just inside the woods as we made our way to Jasper's position. Mickey was already through the razor wire and working on the chain link fence. When she was just about finished, we rushed to her, falling flat onto our stomachs.
"Alice...now!" Dad ordered, and the place went dark with a dull thump. "No one move yet..." he warned.
"Sam, you've got someone heading your way," Wes warned, most likely seeing it from the camera.
"I've got a gate," Mickey announced, pocketing the wire cutters.
"We're through," Eleazar said.
"Our opening is cut," Dad added. "Sam, how's your company?"
Silence was the only answer we received, but Wes could see.
"The guard is taking a piss so close to Elam that he could tell his religion," he announced.
I shook my head, because that was dangerous as shit. One right glimmer of light, one heavy breath, and the guy could see you. Elam had to have been holding his breath at this point.
My crew's heads snapped up when two men walked to the back of the barn.
"Kenny's fucking crazy. It's not fucking raining hard enough for it to kill the breakers. It's not even fucking lightning!"
One was a rather large younger man, dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt. The other man was older – I'd say late fifties – dressed similarly.
"We've got company, too," Jasper muttered as we all lay perfectly still along the fence line.
"Hold the line!" Dad snapped in a hiss.
"How'd that bitch get free?" the younger man asked.
"I don't know, but Bobby will be feeling that fucking headache a week from now. Knocked his ass into next week, she did," the older man snorted. "All I did was take a leak. Next thing I know, she's makin' a run for it."
"Well, she can't get out now," the younger one sighed, shaking his head, "which is a shame, 'cause I'd tap that hard before Walt turns her over to Lilith."
My anger flashed a deep crimson red, and my whole body tensed. Alec reached out a hand to steady me, gripping my shoulder so hard, it was almost painful, as he shook his head no. He put a finger to his lips, and then reached down to slowly and silently pull out his knife. He gestured for me to do the same, because we were going to take out these guys before they ever had a chance to report back what the electrical problem was. I reached down to my boot, pulling mine out.
The two men held a flashlight up to open the breaker box, casting a singular circle of light on the backside of the barn. No one else was around them, no one else would hear them, and they'd never fucking see us coming.
"Go, go, go!" Dad commanded into the radio.
Alec and I were first through the fence and behind our two targets before they even had a chance to blink. The flashlight hit the ground as I grabbed the younger man, while Alec controlled the older. We held their mouths as our knives gleamed against their throats.
"Where is she?" Alec hissed in the man's ear, nicking his skin when he didn't answer. "Tell me, and I'll let you live. Is she in the bomb shelter?" he asked, smiling when the man tried to nod under his heavy grip. "Good," he said, locking eyes with me.
With a nod, knives sliced, and the men were no more, their bodies thumping to the ground. Emmett and Jasper hid them behind the barn, but so much for silence, because gunshots and an alarm rang out into the air.
"Oh fuck," Wes groaned. "The motherfucker lit a cigarette, and that's all she wrote. Elam's been spotted."
"Elam's down! Elam's down!" Sam grunted. "We were spotted. The fucker shot him, but his pal hit the alarm."
"Shoot to maim, shoot to kill, but leave Bridges and Laray alive," Eleazar ordered. "And watch that machine gun."
"Jasper, get in that barn loft. We need you on high," my dad ordered.
"We'll get you in that barn, and then I'm getting to Bella," I told the group around me, before pointing to Jasper. "You can cover us, once you're up top."
He nodded, pulling out his handgun.
Shots rang out from the guard gate area, yells and cries hit the night, but we were pretty fucking clear to sneak into the barn. I gestured for Jasper and Alec to take the far door, so that Emmett, Mickey, and I could take the closest end.
"Lock and load," I snapped, and we all engaged our rifles.
I was pressed into the barn's back wall and peeked around the side to make sure we were still in the clear. We weren't, but with two quick shots, I led us through the barn doors.
I plastered myself just inside the doors, giving a sweeping glance around the barn for movement, but there was none. "J, you're clear."
"Holy fucking shit," Emmett breathed as he studied something in one of the stalls. "Do not fucking fire near here!" he growled, spinning to look at me. "There's enough TNT here to blow this mountain top off! And it's fucking rigged."
"Shit," Mickey hissed at the sight of boxes and boxes of dynamite stacked alongside a strange contraption, with what looked to be a timer.
We all turned when shots rang closer to us on the other side of the barn wall.
"Can you dismantle it?" I asked Emmett, gesturing for Jasper to get into position. He darted up the closest ladder of the hayloft.
"Yeah, it looks simple enough..." he answered distractedly as he walked around it.
"Mick, you stay with him," I commanded. "Jasper, tell me when you're ready. Alec, you're with me."
"Shit!" Benny hissed. "Ed...that leaves me no camera on you, man!"
"Tough shit. It's the way that it has to be. I can't have that shit going off until I get to Bella," I growled, running to the barn doors that Jasper had entered in. "You're just sad you can see my pretty face," I teased him, grinning at his snort.
"You're ugly, dude. I still don't know what Bella sees in you," he snapped back with a laugh.
"Now, that...I can agree with you," I grunted, slamming my back against the barn door with Alec by my side. "I don't know what she sees in me, either."
Alec chuckled softly, checking our path to the bomb shelter.
I could hear everything that was being communicated throughout the grounds, but I had to filter through it to catch the progress of individuals. My dad almost had his team on the front steps and back porch of the house. Sam had successfully removed every guard from the front gates and was taking his team – minus Elam – down to help Eleazar with the living quarters. There were more than we had seen with my recon mission – not to mention men hiding in them.
At a direct angle from the bomb shelter was the machine gun, and two men were manning it.
"J, that fifty cal!" I snapped, just as shots chewed up everything on the front porch. They were aiming for my dad.
"On it, Ed," he said calmly. How he never panicked was beyond me, but he was fucking good at his job, with a steady hand and the eye of a damn eagle.
The gun swung around, chasing the footsteps of Sam and Felix, only to swing toward me and Alec. We dove to the ground, just behind a haystack, but the gunfire stopped just as quickly as it started.
"Done, Ed. That nest is empty," Jasper stated, "but we've got issues on the top floor of that house and coming in from the woods."
"Stay on it, J," I ordered. "Cover us. We're going down into that bunker."
Alec and I bolted across the small distance between the haystack and the side wall of the shelter. I could hear the loading of a gun and a man's voice.
"I said, shut up!" he snapped, and I swore I could hear a weapon engaging.
I dropped to the ground, crawling to the edge to peer down the stairs. Standing in front of what looked like an iron bar gate was a young man practically shaking with fear. Fuck, he couldn't have been any older than nineteen. From what I could see, he was the only one down there.
Using silent signals, I told Alec there was one man, one gate, one automatic weapon, but Alec decided to fuck with the kid.
"You're outnumbered, pal," he sang so that it echoed down the stairs. "Come out, and we won't hurt you."
Ten rapid shots zinged past my head, and I rolled my eyes up at Alec, who was grinning. "Maybe he'll run out of ammo."
"I'll kill her!" the kid yelled back. "I don't care what that bitch and Walter say!"
"Oh now," I growled, shaking my head. "If you go and do that, I'll make sure you're sitting at Satan's dinner table in less than thirty seconds."
"Edward!" I heard my wife's voice echo up from the blackness of the shelter.
"Baby, get low. Get under something if you can," I commanded, reaching into my bag for a little extra help.
"'Kay!" she called back.
"Son, we're giving you one last chance," Alec warned, eying my hand as I got ready.
"I'm not your son! My dad was an ass!" he countered, and I rolled my eyes.
"I suppose that's something for your therapist, but considering he's just as fucked up as you are," Alec chuckled, shaking his head, "you're shit out of luck, buddy."
I grinned, because Bella's sweet giggle could just barely be heard. I turned the disk over in my hand. It was a simple, but fucking fantastic, weapon. A little bigger than a half dollar, it was a small flash bomb. It had a delayed trigger, and only enough oomph to catch a person off guard. It could burn someone, but mainly, it just blinded a person temporarily.
I pressed my thumb down on the button, engaging it. I rolled it down the steps, hearing the plink, plunk, plink down each step.
"Bella, brace yourself!" I yelled, pulling Alec back.
A bright flash and a loud pop burst out of the opening, and Alec and I launched ourselves down the stairs, aiming for the sounds of the moaning kid.
"Baby, you okay?" I called, making sure that Alec had the kid under control.
"Yeah," she said, her voice a little muffled.
I could see that he and I were thinking along the same lines, that the kid was just misguided and fucking scared. With quick, nimble fingers, Alec had zip tied the boy's hands and feet, sitting him down on the lowest step.
I reached into my bag and pulled out a handful of glow sticks, cracking them into dull green life. The shelter was pitch fucking black, and I needed to see Bella. I tossed them in and finally saw the outline of her.
"Shit, Bella...are you okay?" I asked again, gripping the bars.
"Yeah," she said, stumbling over something in order to get as close as she could. "I'd give you my lock pick, but I sort of lost it in the mud outside," she mumbled, sounding sheepish, but I nodded in understanding, because she really had tried to escape.
"Check the kid for the key," I told Alec, but the guy was already shaking his head no. "You don't have the fucking key?" I asked him, but he was still shaking his head no. "Well, fuck," I growled, turning around. "Mick! I need you!"
"On my way," she stated, but I heard her ask Emmett if he was all right before she started running.
She appeared at the top of the steps, pulling out her kit. She knelt in front of an old ass lock, making quick work of it. Alec and Mickey added a few more glow sticks to the room, giving us a better look at what we were dealing with.
A bar was locked and braced against Bella's cell door, but with a hard kick from me and Alec, it clanged to the concrete floor. Mickey worked her magic on the next lock, swinging it open so that Bella could run to me.
"Edward," she sighed, wrapping herself around me. I lifted her up as she buried her face in my neck.
"You swear you're fucking okay? They didn't touch you?" I verified in a rushed whisper.
"No, I'm fine," she sighed, pulling back to look at me. "That's a new look for you," she teased, kissing my lips quickly.
"Hush, sweetness," I snorted, looking up when Alec cursed.
"What the fuck happened to this guy?" he asked, pointing to the very first cell, where a large body was heaped on a cot.
"Lilith," Bella sneered, shaking her head. "That's Christopher Douglas...the drunk driver that killed the Greenes..."
I grimaced, looking at the man, but it was the one single tear gliding down my wife's cheek that caught my attention. I wiped it away and set her down.
"Here," I said, pulling out an earpiece from my pocket. From my bag, I handed her a kevlar vest and a forty-five. "You'll need this shit. We still have to get you out of here. I'm sure we could use the extra help."
Bella put on the earpiece as I tightened the vest around her. She checked the chamber of the gun, released the safety, and looked up at me for the next command.
Into the radio, my girl asked, "Did you guys miss me?"
I grinned when several voices rang out with, "Bells!"
"Welcome back, sweetheart," my dad chuckled. "Good job, son."
We were just about to tell him thank you, when Eleazar's voice ripped through all of our ears. "We've got another wave! I don't know where they're comin' from, but they're spreading out!"
With a deep breath, I looked around at Alec, Mickey, and Bella. "Ready?" I asked them. When they nodded, I said, "Okay...let's do this..."
A/N...Whew! Okay, so we've at least got Bella back, but they've got to clear the compound. So as you guessed it, there's more action to come.
Yes, Lilith killed Christopher Douglas without shame and without remorse. And Walter allowed it to occur... Hmmm. Bella has a theory on the death of Lilith's daughter Bree now. Ohhh...and how hot are our face paint wearing, forest trekking, automatic weapon carrying mercs? Hmm? Just... GAH! :)
Coming up is pretty much all hell breaking loose, and some interesting discoveries about that compound. I'm sure you're concerned with Kurt, what's happening on El's side of the compound, and what Carlisle finds in that house.
I need to thank JenRar for her help with beta'ing this story for me. Thanks to GooberLou, who pre-reads it and lets me pick her rather disturbing, but nonetheless brilliant violent mind. And to MedusInNY for all my blog stuff... but for much, much more than that! LOVE YOU!
The next post is looking like Sunday. So let's hear what you've got to say about plans, plots, face paint, evil bitches, and cult leaders. Heh... I am totally interested in what you've got to say about it. So until next time... Later. :)