A/N... I forgot that perhaps I needed to say this again, and one of you was kind enough to remind me... ;) The D.O.A. doesn't exist. Yup, all from my head. And totally my sick sense of humor, considering the letters also stand for Dead on Arrival. THAT should tell you a lot, right there. Heehee But they aren't real, aren't based on anything or anyone, just twisted fic peeps in my head. Okay? Any questions, just PM me.
Now, let's move on with the story. There's work to be done, bad guys to catch, and another chat with Esme, only this time, it's with Bella. And brace yourselves for a LOT of explanations, and a little bit of violence on Edward's part (but somehow I don't think you guys mind that so much coming from him. LOL).
Let's get on with it.
CHAPTER 17
BELLA
"Christ, Bella," Rose sighed, watching me sit down next to Edward at the office conference table so he could re-wrap my arm after my shower, since Esme was taking care of baby Caleb in the house. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," I said with a small smile and a nod. "I'm okay. Lilith got a lucky hit in. And did you say that was a gas line?" I asked, my head spinning to Edward.
The whole office was busy, but they'd come to a standstill when I arrived. I knew they'd been worried, but I'd been too damn tired to give them much after my visit to the hospital, not to mention I was totally wrapped up in Edward and the news we'd received.
"We think so..." he started, but we all looked up when Alice slapped a folder down in front of me, her face fierce, but so very upset.
"My fault," she whispered, tears pooling in her eyes. "All of it. I didn't catch that the utilities weren't off in that building. The power, yes, but the gas and the water, no. I'm so sorry, Bellsy..."
I grimaced, because she was beating herself up needlessly, so I pulled her to the chair next to mine with my free hand. "Hey...just don't, Ali," I sighed, shaking my head at her. "There's so much information coming out of this office right now, I can't even imagine how you can see clearly. No one blames you, sweetie. I certainly don't."
"I should've seen," she urged, not comforted at all. She shoved the file closer to me, and I opened it. She pointed a heavy finger to the top page. "Walter Sr. has someone that just automatically pays the bills for all of his properties. These should have been shut off, but they slipped through the cracks somehow."
I smiled sadly and shook my head again, because this would have been impossible to catch immediately, especially with the little amount of time we'd given her before going in, but Alice expected too much of herself. Without looking away from her, I called out to the crew that had been in the warehouse with me. "Alec, Em, Sam, Mickey... You guys okay?"
"Yes, ma'am," they all answered, and I could hear their amusement with where I was taking this.
Alice glanced nervously around at all of them, and then her gaze landed on Edward, who was just about finished with my bandage. His opinion on this probably mattered most, because it was me that had ended up hurt, and that thought looked like it scared her to death.
"Edward?" I asked, turning to look at him. "You okay?"
He smiled down at my arm, and then looked up to shoot me a wink. "Fine," he scoffed dramatically. "Though, I do have this bruise on my elbow. Wanna kiss it?" he asked her.
Alice snorted once, rolled her eyes, and the whole room burst into laughter. He got up, pushing his elbow closer to her face, and she laughed, shoving him away.
"No, seriously," he chuckled. "It really hurts."
"Get your wife to kiss it, jerk," she huffed, still giggling and fighting him, but he knelt down in front of her.
"We've all missed something at some point or another during this whole mess, Alice," he told her, his face completely sober. "No one expects you to see it all."
"She could've gotten killed...you all could have," she whispered back.
"But we didn't," he said, his voice soothing, even to me, and I was used to it, so I knew it was working on Alice. "Believe me, Alice, had things gone differently, I wouldn't be this calm, but all of us were prepared for the worst, and we came out of it okay. I have to be grateful I was able to bring my wife and crew back. That's it. It's that simple."
"We all know the risks, Alice," Mickey chimed in from across the room. "We're not stupid. Shi..." She stopped and grinned, shooting a glance into the computer room, where Bethy was currently absorbed in her computer game, which caused a chuckle throughout the room. "Stuff happens, and we all know things could go wrong."
"We're extremely lucky and grateful to have you, Alice," Carlisle said softly, which caused the whole room to turn to him. "There are a few missions I've been on where I wish we'd had someone like you, so don't worry about mistakes. We all make them."
Jasper shifted on his feet, and I knew he wanted to come to her, if he hadn't been telling her these same things all night long. He caught my eye, mouthing, "Thank you."
I smiled at him, turning back to Alice. "Just because you're a freakin' genius doesn't mean you'll see it all, Alice. I know you – you won't make the same mistake again."
She finally relaxed, finally let out a long, slow breath. "Right, right, right," she sighed with a single nod. "No, definitely not happening again."
"Well, there you go," Emmett chuckled, clapping his hands together once. "Now...I want to hear about Sharky."
Alec stepped forward, but Edward leaned into Alice. "And my wife kissed more than my elbow, pixie," he whispered with an evil chuckle.
"Oh damn, get away from me," she laughed, shoving at him until he let her up out her chair. "TMI, Edward..." she hissed back at him, with that little wicked gleam back in her eye.
He grinned over at me, shooting me a sexy ass wink, as I laughed. They acted like siblings, the two of them. Though, in all honesty, we were all that close. It was something that stemmed from our beginning, having to get to know each other, trust each other, all while living under one roof when we were fighting against Royce King and Riley Miller.
Edward took her chair with an amused smile up at her, pulling himself closer to me. He set his chin on my shoulder as Alec stood at the head of the table. Yes, my husband was hovering, but I wasn't sure I minded all that much. I was still achy, tired, and a little emotionally wrung out, but his warm hand in mine, his calm breathing in my ear made things just a little easier.
"Sharky didn't tell me anything I hadn't already put together," Alec started, his face just a touch frustrated. "He said that Lilith and Walter approached him on the street, told him they had something for him, luring him to that warehouse." He sighed, smirking just a little. "He did say they wanted money from him, once they got him alone, but that he wasn't into loan sharking anymore. He told Lilith that her debt was paid, that she'd have to see Reggie about it. Now..." He chuckled a bit. "While Bellissima was indisposed, Sharky was smart enough to realize who the good guys were here. Plus, he said he liked Bella when she'd come to him about Lilith before."
I laughed softly, rolling my eyes, because Sharky had been a funny, flirty thing, despite his dangerous and illegal activities. He'd turned his charm all the way up to full potency to schmooze me back then. I used it to my advantage to find Ashley, which was easy, because Sharky had almost zero respect for Lilith, even way back then.
Rose chuckled, most likely remembering the same thing I was. "How many times did he propose?"
"Four," I laughed, shaking my head at their laughter. "All in the span of an hour chat." Edward huffed in my ear, but I turned to him. "He didn't mean a word of it, because his girlfriend at the time just about beat him to death with a rolled up newspaper. He's just funny. Hell, he was more interested in getting back to the video game his boys were playing in the next room."
Edward smirked, sitting up straighter. "What did he do?" he asked Alec.
"He went to Reggie," Alec laughed, shaking his head. "Told him all about Lilith, reminded him of the debt and how much, and told him to be careful. Reggie put his boys out for her. They called in the debt, which has now almost doubled in size."
"Oh," I groaned, shaking my head. "All's fair in love and gang warfare."
"You'd think," Alec said with another chuckle.
"So how'd they get out of there?" Makenna posed the question that had been rattling around in everyone's minds, I was sure.
Alec walked to the bulletin board and pointed to an aerial shot of the warehouse. "Sharky showed me a tunnel that had been opened up from the warehouse to the building next door. No one would've known about this unless you were used to living on the streets. It was an escape from police raids. Someone had broken through the boiler room walls, which emptied out into the basement next door. In fact, they tunneled all the way to the end of the block. No wonder Emmett lost them, because he went out the warehouse's exit, instead. He was practically an entire block away when he saw them snatch a car."
"Oh," Emmett huffed, folding his arms across his chest. "I saw them go by the end of the aisle, but I just assumed they went out the back exit. For a minute there, I thought I was getting too slow...or Mickey was losing her touch..."
We chuckled when she punched his arm, scowling up at him, but it totally made sense now. Walter and Lilith took the tunnel instead of the warehouse's exit, but they were so near each other that Emmett had made an honest mistake. In fact, with the chaos that Walter had left us in, I wasn't sure we all wouldn't have fallen for that trick, especially since the tunnel wasn't on any intelligence we would've had access to.
Alec turned to Carlisle and Eleazar. "But Sharky's pretty sure that they were heading into Canada next. He swears he heard them say something about crossing a border."
"Shit," Eleazar finally spoke in a hiss, shaking his head. "Walter's heading to that...cabin up there," he said, pausing mid-sentence to watch his language, because Bethy had just joined the room.
She crawled up in my lap, quiet as Eleazar paced at the end of the room.
"That's my guess, too," Alec sighed.
"How will we know for sure?" Jasper asked, looking from Eleazar to Carlisle and back. "I mean, he could go looking for more D.O.A members. He could go south, like Bella said."
"If he hasn't called them already," Carlisle mused, rubbing his chin. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I want to talk to Kenny again," he stated. "I want to know if Walter communicated with any other members of this ridiculous group. And I want to know what he knows about this cabin up there."
"I'll go with you," Edward volunteered.
Eleazar's eyebrows raised up high, but he nodded, seeming pleased with the idea. "Ed, you can't kill that boy on a military base," he warned my husband, but he chuckled at the same time.
Edward laughed humorlessly, shaking his head. "He won't be on base forever, El," was the only thing he said, his voice dark, menacing as he stood up. He turned to me and my girls, who were all sitting together. "Ladies, I trust you will be hitting the research pretty hard – the cabin and D.O.A. Tell me what you find out. I need coordinates, maps, layouts of that place... And tell me how close it is to Aunt Kate's."
"Good thinking, son," Carlisle praised. "If we have to move this entire lot up there, we will. I'll call Kate when we head to the base. If that's where we think he's going, you could do a recon flight over it, take some better pictures."
"Exactly," Edward agreed, and as the meeting broke apart, Edward knelt in front of me and Bethy. "Tell Mommy not to overdo it today, little sweetness," he said with a silly grin. "Just computer work. Anything else, she has to ask Gamma for help, okay?"
"Okay," Bethy and I giggled at the same time, and God, if he didn't drop the sexiest, sweetest smile at us.
"Wh-Where a-are y-you g-going, D-Daddy?" she sputtered, looking a bit worried, and I just noticed I hadn't truly heard her stutter in some time.
"Work, baby," he sighed, his smile falling when he realized she didn't want him to go.
"He'll be right back. You're going to stay with me, pretty girl," I told her, and her head spun around as she beamed at me. "So what do you tell him?"
"Love you," she sang, grabbing his face in both tiny hands. "Be safe."
Edward looked like he could just about eat her up at that moment, but instead, he kissed us both, whispering, "Love you, too...so very much."
After a brief debate on who was staying at the office and who was accompanying Eleazar, Edward, and Carlisle to the base, Sam followed them out to Eleazar's SUV.
I turned to my girls, my daughter still on my lap. "Okay, time to get to work," I told them, bracing myself for a long day of research.
~oOo~
EDWARD
I stood in the back of the interrogation room, my arms folded across my chest, waiting for my dad and Eleazar to come back in the room. My hatred for the little cocky shit sitting at the table had not abated. In fact, it had increased. With every nightmare that Bethy woke up from, every time she panicked when Bella or I left her, and with every nervous glance my wife gave when she couldn't immediately set eyes on our daughter, my hatred for Kenny Porter grew and grew, until it almost had a heartbeat of its own.
"He won't live to see twenty-two, will he?" Sam chuckled in a whisper to me.
I shook my head slowly, my lip curling. "Bethy calls him...the mean man, Sam. And look at him," I growled, gesturing toward the table. "The motherfucker's so sure that he's in control and he's only looking at more prison time that nothing gets through to him. I truly want to show him who is in fucking control here."
"He's a little weasel," Sam snickered, shaking his head. "He's the kind of guy who feels he has nothing to lose, that there's nothing that can be held against him or over his head, and he's not afraid of doin' time. The key is finding that one fucking thing that he doesn't want you to know about."
I grinned, my head snapping over to stare at him. "You have something, don't you?"
"I might," he snickered, pulling out a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and handing it over to me.
"Where did you get this?" I gasped, glancing over it.
"Alec gave it to me when he decided to stay back with the girls," he chuckled. "Use it, Eddie. If you use it right, this bird will sing so pretty," he said with a big ass grin.
I smirked, holding up the piece of paper. "The girls did this shit. I'd bet my life on it. Hell, I bet even Bella doesn't know about this."
"No idea, but you're probably right," he replied with a shrug, and we both looked up when my dad and Eleazar walked into the room.
My dad stopped at the table, and I held my hand out to stop him. "I've got this," I told him, and he conceded to me, stepping back to lean against the wall. I tucked the paper into my back pocket and walked around to the other side of the table. Bracing my hands flat, I looked Kenny in the eye. "Have you figured out what we fucking are yet, asshole?" I asked him slowly, raising an eyebrow at him.
Kenny grinned, sitting back in his chair, and waved a hand around. "Well, I know that jackass is CIA," he laughed, pointing to Eleazar, who smirked back.
"Maybe I didn't clarify the question enough for you," I sighed, shaking my head and running my hand through my hair. "I'll use small words for you, Kenny. Do you have any fucking idea what we can do to you?" I asked him, speaking even slower than before, like I was talking to an infant.
"You can't touch me on this base. I know that much," he answered, still calm, still cocky as shit.
I chuckled, dragging my tongue along my bottom lip. "This is true," I allowed, standing up straight and beginning to pace in front of him. "However, anyone say...off this base would be free game, don't you think? I mean, you remember Rusty, don't you?"
That got to him, because he sneered up at me, his eyes flashing with hatred.
"Rusty wasn't drunk!" he growled, fighting the leg cuffs we had attached to the floor.
"No," I laughed. "No, he definitely wasn't drunk. He was scared shitless, but he wasn't drunk. You can thank the man in the back of the room for that sensational work."
Kenny's head spun like it was on a swivel, and Sam wiggled his fingers at him, wearing a smug grin. Eleazar and my father snickered softly, but they didn't interrupt me.
"So...figured it out yet?" I asked again, pulling a chair closer and spinning it around so that I could straddle it backwards. "Bella must've said something to you..."
Kenny groaned, shaking his head. "Yeah, she said something about soldiers...CIA, FBI...that you were ghosts," he mumbled, shaking his head. "I thought the bitch was full of shit."
Sam tsked, taking a step forward, but I held a hand up to stop him. He was nothing if not protective of her. He wouldn't stand for anything negative to be said of her, and I totally respected him for it, but now was not the time to knock this fucker out, no matter how badly we wanted to do it for calling Bella a bitch.
"No, she wasn't full of shit. She was telling you the truth, dipshit," I told him. "You just chose to ignore it." I rubbed my jaw, feeling the stubble under my fingers, and studied his face. He really wasn't sure where I was going with this line of questioning. "Kenny, do you know what a mercenary is?"
His eyes grew wide and his mouth gaped, but he gathered himself together quickly. "Paid soldier," he muttered, but he said it like he was asking me.
"Very good. Now, if I told you that I could find anyone, that I had access to just about everything about you, what would you say?" I asked him, tilting my head at him. He didn't answer me, so I went on. "Knowing what we did to Rusty, to every member of that fucked up D.O.A. group, and how we tortured you and your little friends at the cabin...what do you think I'd do if I really wanted to know something important, Kenny?"
He glanced nervously around the room, obviously confused and unaware of just what I had on him. Sam snickered, shaking his head, which caused Eleazar and my father to look at him curiously.
I cleared my throat, tugging out the folded piece of paper. I took my time spreading it out and smoothing it in front of me. I locked gazes with Kenny, unable to hide my sneer at the next question I asked.
"Who is...Ruby Abrams?"
I grinned when Kenny lost his shit. I stood up from my chair, because the young man was fighting the cuffs and chains that held him to the floor and table. I laughed, glancing up at Sam, who shot me a wink.
"You leave her the fuck alone!" Kenny spat at me, looking almost feral with his temper. "She's got nothin' to do with this shit!"
I slammed my hands down onto the table. "You answer my fucking questions, and I'll think about it!" I growled back at him. "Answer me honestly and without the goddamn attitude, and I won't take a trip to..."—I paused, reading the paper again—"Rising Sun Nursing Home and visit your little old grandmother."
"I should fucking kill you!" he screamed at me, his face garnet as he fought uselessly against his cuffs.
I wouldn't dare touch a hair on the old lady's head, but Kenny didn't know that, and I was about to use that shit to my fucking advantage.
I walked quickly around the table, slamming his head down onto the hard metal surface and holding him there. "You could try. Hell, I'd love for them to take the restraints off of you, because I can't wait to hear the sound of your neck breaking in my hands. You touched my family, you stupid motherfucker," I snarled in his face. "I've killed men for less offenses, and as far as I'm concerned, you've lived too fucking long. But I'm not fucking kidding you... If you don't give me what I want, I'll pay Ruby a visit. I'll sneak in through her window in the middle of the night or slip something into her morning meal... Maybe I'll just cut off her oxygen supply. Understand me?" I asked, but he didn't say anything. "Are we fucking clear?" I yelled in his ear, slamming his head onto the table again and squeezing his neck harder.
"Yeah...Yes! Jesus, fuck... What the hell do you want to know?"
I shoved off of him, barely able to stop myself from killing him right there. "Where the fuck is Walter going next, Kenny?" I asked, having to take two steps back in order to maintain my control.
"I'm not sure," he groaned, flinching when I slammed my hand down on the table beside him.
"Not fucking good enough," I sneered. "Give me something, asshole."
I slid the background check on Ruby Abrams closer to him, and he whimpered, his face now pouring sweat. Apparently, the only person on this goddamn planet that could get to Kenny Porter was a little old lady in her eighties, currently living in a nursing home, who loved to play Penny Bingo on fucking Monday nights. According to the background check on the table, she was the only one who gave two shits about the idiot in front of me. She took care of him when no one else did. It almost made me feel sorry for him. Almost.
"Look," he whined, breaking his gaze away from the picture of his grandmother to blink up at me. "I'm not lying when I say I don't know what building he was gonna blow. I know that Lilith had her own shit to take care of with the money we were supposed to get from you guys. Some drug thing. But Walter told us about a place up north...way up north. Canada. How the fuck he was going to get us there without any money, I had no fucking clue, but he said it would be his hideout until shit cooled down. After the train station, and then you guys showed up on the mountain, he knew he had to chill out for a bit."
I stood up straight, turning to Eleazar and my father, the latter of whom stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
"Kenny," he said, using a much calmer tone that I'd been using, "if Walter needed money, who would he go to? Who would loan it to him or back his operation?"
"His parents," Kenny stated with a shrug.
"No go on that one," Eleazar answered. "I've got them in protective custody. I thought the same thing, so I pulled them the same day I pulled Kurt's family."
"Yeah, he'd kill his dad for a dollar. He was pissed that Daddy cut the purse strings," Kenny snorted, rolling his eyes. "Then, I don't know... I mean, there was this call he'd take all the time. He'd never let us hear him – not even Lilith. Rusty and I joked that he had another chick on the side, you know?" he chuckled nervously, looking up at my dad, who nodded for him to continue. "But the way he would answer it... The calls made him nervous, like whoever was on the other line was in charge or some shit."
I exhaled roughly, looking up at my dad, and then back to Kenny. "Did Walter know any other D.O.A. members? Like, groups from out of state?" I asked, thinking maybe Jasper's theory was right, that Walter was being used by another splinter group.
"Maybe," Kenny said with a shrug. "I mean, some of the guys on the mountain were from out of state. You'll never know, because you killed them."
I laughed softly. "Not that you give a shit, right?"
"Aw, hell, no," he scoffed, shaking his head. "I couldn't fucking care less. I just wanted in on the money." He sighed, looking away from us.
I leaned into Eleazar's ear, whispering, "Walter will re-group in Canada. He's got someone backing him or some shit – supplying him with fire and man power. Sounds like Walter owes a lot of fucking people."
"I think you're right," he sighed, shaking his head. "God, I hope those girls can find out who, though."
I smiled, slapping his shoulder. "Have faith, El. Have you ever seen all of them at work?"
~oOo~
BELLA
"Here, Mommy, I'll do it!" Bethy chirped eagerly from the chair she was standing on.
I chuckled, handing her the picture Alice had just printed. Even my baby girl was working hard today. "Thanks, pretty girl," I said, still chuckling as she pinned the paper to the bulletin board.
I looked around the room, sighing in weariness. My back gave a slight twinge, but I shook it off. Rose was deep into research on the D.O.A. in Texas, Florida, and Georgia, Alice was using two computers at the same time, comparing images on the Canadian cabin, Makenna was on the phone, trying her best to get me in touch with the officer that had once arrested John Ervin, and Mickey was pulling phone records for every phone that Walter had ever used.
"Bellissima, take a break, yeah?" Alec asked softly from my side.
I shook my head, taking a deep breath and looking up at him. "I can't, Alec. I don't have time to relax. I want this over and done with. One little piece of information could be the key to stopping Walter and Lilith, and I don't want to miss it."
"At least sit down," he urged, not arguing with me. "Eddie'll kick my ass for letting you wear yourself out, especially after yesterday."
I snickered, knowing he was probably right on some level. "Okay," I said with a smile, easing down into one of the conference chairs in front of my laptop.
"Bells!" Mack called. "I got him! He's on line two!"
"Finally," I growled, rolling my eyes and pulling the phone to me. "Officer Duncan?" I asked, picking up my pen and dragging my notebook closer.
"Well, not anymore," the deep voice sounded over the line with a chuckle. "It's Lieutenant Duncan now."
"Oh, sorry," I laughed softly. "My name's Isabella Cullen with Gravity Investigations, and I'm looking into a group that call themselves the Disciples of America. My research led me to a man by the name of John Dwight Ervin. You arrested him once on a few things, and I was wondering if you could tell me anything about him."
"Ervin, Ervin..." he mused on the other end. "Hang on, I'll pull up the name." I could hear him typing, humming a bit to himself. "John Ervin... Oh, yeah! He was arrested for not having a permit for a fundraiser, but...there was more to it than that, if I'm remembering correctly. Something about that fundraiser made the townsfolk nervous. A bunch of men, some of them armed to the teeth, all looking like they were about to go hunting – and not for deer, if you catch my drift."
I huffed, nodding to myself that it sounded like them.
"Anyway," he sighed, "we broke it up the best and most legal way we could."
"What do you remember about Ervin?" I asked him.
"Strange fellow. Didn't like the police, that was for sure. Looked like he was about a decade behind in clothes. I mean, this was what...the late eighties? And he still looked like one of those hippies from the seventies – thick beard, long hair, sandals."
"Did he live around there that you know of?" I asked, sounding frustrated, I was sure, "because I'm not finding anything on him. It's like he fell off the face of the Earth."
Duncan chuckled. "There was a rumor that the group we broke up all lived on the same ranch just outside town. There wasn't much we could do about it, and small town people will talk, you know?"
"Okay." I brightened a bit, snapping my fingers to Makenna. I wrote down the name of the town with the word "ranch" next to it, sending her back to her computer. "What about a wife and kids?"
"Yeah, a son. He was there when we made the arrest. I remember that, because Ervin just about pitched a fit when we threatened to call Children's Services on him. Different last name..." he mused, typing on his computer again. "John Dwight Thornhill... that's it. Rumor has it that Ervin got a woman pregnant, and he didn't know about his son until she just showed up, dropping him off. I guess the son kept his mother's name. Though..." He paused, typing some more. "He goes by Johnny."
"No wonder we couldn't find him," I gushed, setting the phone on my shoulder and tugging my computer to me. I pulled up my own search. "Janice Thornhill didn't put Ervin on the birth certificate as the father." I clicked through, finding the same address of the ranch that Duncan had mentioned. "Lieutenant, is that ranch still there? I mean, is it still working?"
"It's still standing, if that's what you're asking," he answered. "We haven't been called out there in ages."
I sighed, rubbing my temple. "You don't think they're both still there, do you? I mean, this group...this D.O.A. seems to have spread up here to Washington, and it looks like they've become more intense."
"I could check it out, Mrs. Cullen," he suggested. "I have a few minutes today. Plus, I've got to head out that way to serve a summons to court."
"Do not go alone," I urged more harshly than I'd intended. "Please, Lieutenant. Take more than just one officer with you."
"What aren't you telling me?" he said, his voice growing a little stern.
"That this group isn't as...laid back as they let people think. It's not about a love of guns or hunting or even a dislike for the government. The splinter group up here was planning a bomb threat."
"Aw, hell," he sighed. "So much for my lunch date with Roberta."
I smiled, because the Lieutenant sounded like a pretty damn nice man. "Sorry, sir."
He chuckled, saying, "Aw, after twenty two years of being married to me, she's used to disappointment."
I giggled, shaking my head. "Will you do me a huge favor and call me after you go out there?"
"Yes, ma'am, I sure will," he said, and I could still hear the smile in his voice.
"And Lieutenant, please...please be careful," I begged, hating the thought of sending him out there without protection, other than whatever officers he decided to take with him.
"Yes, ma'am, sure will," he assured me, and we ended the call.
"Girls!" I snapped, and the activity in the computer room came to a halt, all four girls coasting their chairs around me. "We may have something," I sighed, pulling up a screen that held Johnny Thornhill's background check on it. "This," I said, pointing to the screen, "is John Dwight Ervin's son. I need everything on him. Rose," I said, looking over my shoulder at her, "see what connections you find between him and the D.O.A."
"On it," she said, pushing her way back to her computer.
"Mickey, see if you can narrow phone records down to Walter and this guy," I said with a shrug. "I don't know if you can, but give it a shot."
She nodded and rolled away.
"Mack," I sighed, rubbing my temple again. "You sit with me. We're about to scan through some criminal records. I see that Thornhill's had some trouble."
"Sure, Bellsy," she said, pulling herself closer to my right.
"Alice, don't stop what you're doing. Get Edward all the info he needs. I have a funny feeling about that cabin up north," I told her. "Something tells me we're about to head that way."
"I'm almost done," she called, dragging her chair back to her desk and leaving it. She picked up a few pages off the printer. "I've got his coordinates, an aerial shot – though it's tough to see with all the trees around it – and his thermal image. There's no one up there now," she stated, walking to the bulletin board, where my daughter helped her pin the pages to the cork.
I pulled up a search screen, looking to Mack out of the corner of my eye. "You've seen pictures of all the members that we took care of at the mountain cabin, yes?"
"Yeah, yeah," she said with a nod. "Definitely. So what are you looking to do? Match someone from our raid to someone in Thornhill's past?"
"That's exactly what we're going to do," I sighed, settling in for a frustrating search.
Alec, Emmett, and Jasper immediately started studying the cabin and the surrounding area in Canada. They sat at the other end of the conference table going over "what if" situations – if we had to go in, if Edward flew a recon flight over it, and if Walter and Lilith were up there. They were taking a military stance on it, but they wanted to be prepared.
Bethy sat down next to me with her paper and her crayons, coloring away. If she was bored, I wouldn't have known it. In all honesty, I think she was just happy that one of her parents was home. She probably would have been just as content had Edward been sitting in my chair instead.
I didn't know how long we all worked in almost silence, barely speaking. Bethy hummed to herself, the boys whispered to each other, drawing out scenarios, and the sound of keyboards tapping and mice clicking rattled around us all.
The door opened, and we all looked up to see Esme bringing in a large tray of food with a baby monitor for Caleb clipped to her belt. Sandwiches were stacked high on a platter that she set in the center of the conference table.
"I wasn't sure if any of you were ever going to see the light of day, considering the sun is about to set, so I thought I'd at least keep you nourished," she chuckled, giving me a wink.
"Yay!" Bethy cheered, hopping down from her chair and scurrying over to where the boys were already diving in.
I grinned when I watched Alec help make her a plate. When it came to food, my Italian friend took it oh so seriously.
I glanced up at Esme. "Thanks."
"Mmhm," she sighed with a smirk on her face, taking the seat that Bethy had just vacated. Her eyes followed Makenna as she left the two of us. "Eat, Bella," she commanded, pointing to the food. "I'm not kidding."
My eyebrows raised high, because I'd seen that knowing look before. In fact, I'd seen it almost four years prior when she figured out I was pregnant with Bethy.
"You know," I breathed, my mouth hanging open. "Did Edward..."
"Only after I beat it out of him," she laughed, reaching up to tuck my hair behind my ear. "I'm so happy for the two of you that it's all I can do not to squeeze the stuffing out of you in front of everyone, but I will snatch you up by the ear...if you don't eat something!"
I laughed, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "I love you. Have I told you lately?"
She scoffed, but she grinned up at me. "I want a boy," she whispered urgently with a raised eyebrow, but her gaze was warm and happy.
I laughed again, my head falling back. "You and me both," I giggled, thinking a tiny Edward clone would just about be the cutest thing ever. Visions of little black baseball caps, small cargo shorts, and tiny hiking boots just about caused me to squeal, but I maintained, because it was still so damned early.
I got up and grabbed a sandwich, some chips, and a bottle of water, falling back down in the chair next to her.
"How do you feel, sweetie?" she asked in all seriousness.
"My back is achy, my eyes are watering from staring at these computers, and I'm exhausted, but I'm okay," I told her, taking a big bite of sandwich.
"And not being able to go on the next mission?" she asked, tilting her head at me.
"Is killing me," I groaned, giving her a worried glance. "I've never...not been with him. That really scares me. And if this goes the way I think it will, they'll be taking that Canadian cabin without me."
She grimaced, probably just as worried about Carlisle as I was about Edward. She took a deep breath and let it out. "But you'll run the information team?"
"At Aunt Kate's...yes." I took another drink of water. "I think he was expecting me to fight him," I sighed, shaking my head. "And there's a part of me that wants to fight him on this, but..." I paused, glancing over at Bethy, who was happily feeding her Uncle Alec potato chips one by one. "I can't do that to her. If something goes wrong..."
"Then you leave her with no one," Esme concluded sadly.
"I can't do that to her, Esme," I breathed, tears filling my eyes, "but what if... I mean, if he doesn't come home..."
She winced, taking my now empty plate from me and setting it on the table. Loudly, she said, "Come with me. I want to check that back of yours."
She was giving me an out, and she was getting me away from everyone so that we could truly talk. She understood our wishes of keeping the pregnancy a secret, simply because it was so soon, so she quietly led me from the office to my house. She placed me gently on a stool in my kitchen, brushing my hair from my face.
"I'll die if something happens to him," I sobbed, looking up at her. "Bethy needs her dad... This one needs him," I cried, rubbing my stomach.
She wrapped me up in a hug, enveloping me in comfort. She soothed me with kisses to the top of my head and gentle fingers through my hair, telling me that Edward was just as scared, just as determined to stay safe for me and Bethy and our new little one.
"And it doesn't help that I'm this one second," I sniffled, gesturing to myself and wiping my eyes as I rolled them, "and just normal the next."
Esme chuckled, kissing my forehead. "It's okay, Bella," she said, still chuckling. "But I want you to see your doctor before we leave...if we leave. Okay?"
I nodded, tucking my hair behind my ears.
"Now...I wasn't kidding," she huffed, turning me around. "Let me see that back."
I started to lift my shirt, but the slamming of the screen door caught both of our attention.
"Mommy!" Bethy called, looking frantic.
"Right here, pretty girl," I called her, and the sound of her little sneakers on the floor got closer. "Hey, hey," I said, getting down from the stool and scooping her up. "You're okay. I'm right here."
"I didn't know you left!" she chided, shaking her head, and I couldn't help but smile, because left had started with a W, but her little chin was trembling as she gripped my shirt in two tight fists.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," I said, sitting back down. "Gamma was just making sure my bruise was getting better. You want to keep me company, make me feel better?" I asked her, kissing her little nose.
"Yeah," she whispered, nodding slowly and settling on my lap as Esme lifted the back of my shirt. "Does it hurt?"
"A little, yeah," I giggled, wincing when Esme put a little pressure on it.
Two small hands grabbed my face, making me look at her. "Daddy says if you don't think about it, it doesn't hurt," she said wisely.
I grinned down at her, hearing Esme's chuckle behind me. "Daddy should know," I told Bethy. "He's no stranger to being hurt."
Bethy smiled, all sweet and crooked, just like Edward. Deep green eyes watched my face as Esme examined my back. She soothed me with soft touches to my face and fingers through my hair. She even wiped away a tear I'd missed.
"Don't cry, Mommy. It's almost over," Bethy whispered.
"Why's Mommy crying?" we heard from the doorway, and we all turned to see Edward walking in, his face filling with concern at the sight in front of him.
"She's not, baby," I told him.
"Hi, Daddy," Bethy chirped, but made no move to get down.
"Hey, my girls," he purred, kissing us both, but looked over my head to Esme. "Everything okay?"
"She's fine, son," Esme chuckled, pulling my shirt back down gently. "I just wanted to see how that bruise looked." She walked around to face me. "I know it's tender, sweetie. Take a bath tonight; it'll help you sleep. Okay?"
"Okay," I agreed, burying my nose in Bethy's hair, before placing a kiss to the top of her head.
"Bethy, why don't you come with me? Hmm? You can help me clean up after all the pigs that just raided my food," she told her, holding out a hand for her.
"Okay, Gamma," she said, wriggling down from my lap. "Does that make me a pig? I ate, too!"
"Absolutely," Esme laughed, and they both disappeared through the screen door.
"You were crying, love. Why?" Edward asked softly, tracing a finger gently under my eye.
"A minor freak out moment, Edward," I huffed, shrugging. "They're bound to happen with more frequency now."
He chuckled and stepped closer so that he was between my legs. He wrapped his arms around me, and I buried my face in his chest, my fingers tugging him closer by his belt loops. God, he smelled like home and comfort, like sex and want, like...ketchup.
I pulled back, looking at his shirt. "Problem with your lunch, baby?"
"Eleazar slammed on the brakes. I lost a French fry," he explained with a grin.
I giggled up at him, shaking my head. Sometimes, he honestly reminded me of the thirteen year old I'd met so long ago – all goofy and awkward, simple and sweet.
"How'd it go?" I asked, wrapping my legs around his so he couldn't go anywhere. I wanted him right where he was.
"We think it's Canada," he murmured, gazing down at me.
I took a deep breath and let it out, nodding once. "I figured. I think Alice has your info..." I started, but the door slammed open, Makenna rushing in.
"Bells, that Texas cop is on the line! He said he's got something for you," she gushed, her cheeks pink from rushing to me.
"Shit," I hissed, easing down from my stool. "That didn't take long."
"Baby, I'll be right there," Edward said, reaching back to grab his shirt and tug it off over his head as he walked into the laundry room.
The office was much more crowded when I walked back in. Eleazar and Carlisle were huddled with Kurt in the corner. Sam was now looking over the cabin layout with Alec, Emmett, and Jasper, and Edward rushed in, wearing a clean t-shirt. My girls were huddled over one computer in the office, with Bethy and Esme, talking loudly.
I reached for the phone, but realized that I wouldn't have been able to hear shit. "Guys!" I snapped, shaking my head, and the office sank into silence. I picked up the receiver. "Lieutenant? Everything okay?"
"Mrs. Cullen, you were right," he started. "John Ervin was living out there, and from the looks of it, so were a lot of other people. It was like a commune out there. Complete with...cemetery and everything."
"Oh," I said, my eyebrows raising. "So Ervin's dead?"
"Looks that way, ma'am, but it also looks like the place was just abandoned. I mean there was still fresh food in the fridge and the garbage hadn't even started to smell yet. And I'm no expert, but I think there was heavy ammo stored out there, including TNT."
I let out a breath. "Damn," I groaned, thinking this shit was starting all over. "I'm pretty sure where they went, too. What about Thornhill?"
"No sign of him."
Mickey rushed to me, slapping down a piece of paper. She had traced phone records to the ranch in Texas and back to Shady Glen during the time that Walter had worked there. She'd also traced calls to Walter's parents and a cell phone he used to have.
"Thank you, Lieutenant," I sighed, because I knew we'd found our answer.
"Anytime, ma'am, and good luck," he said, ending the call.
All eyes were on me as I hung up the phone, but I turned to Mickey. "You're absolutely sure?"
"Yeah, definitely," she said, turning to Rose and Makenna. "And that's not all."
Mack stepped forward, slapping down one picture after the other. "Texas, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Texas...all at the mountain cabin," she stated, looking up at me. "All dead."
"And all connected to Thornhill," Rose added, slapping down another piece of paper on top of everything else. "Arrested multiple times for inciting riots, illegal gun trading, having a concealed weapon without a license...on and on and on."
"But..." Alice rushed forward and added the final piece of paper that completely sealed my suspicions. "He's loaded...more money than he knows what to do with. It was the ranch that made it, and then he inherited it from Ervin. According to this, it wasn't always in the bank, but now it is."
I rubbed my face, and then shuffled through all of the evidence in front of me. I shook my head slowly. "Then all we need is an alert when they cross the border," I mumbled.
I glanced up to Carlisle, and then Edward. "Did you get anything from Kenny?"
"Yeah, we think someone is backing Walter...or that he's borrowing money from someone...either way, he's answering to someone else, someone in charge. He's going to use the cabin in Canada to stay until the heat blows over," Edward explained, his eyes darting to the pile of paperwork in front of me.
"I think he's answering to Johnny Thornhill," I stated, looking around the room. "John Ervin's son."
I sorted all the paperwork into stacks as everyone took a seat at the table. I slapped down the photos of the dead D.O.A. members, pointing to each one.
"These were at the mountain top cabin. All from out of state, all arrested with Thornhill or Ervin at some point," I stated, pushing the photos forward. "The ones from Texas came from this ranch – Ervin's ranch." I pulled down a picture of the large property and slapped it down onto the table. "The phone linked to this ranch made phone calls to Shady Glen and to Walter's parents home," I added, setting down the page that Mickey had given me, "not to mention Walter's legit cell phone before he shut it off.
"The money Walter needs is coming from this account," I continued, picking up the financial statement Alice had pulled. "But it's the phone call I just received that worries me," I sighed, shaking my head. "If my original research is correct, then John Ervin started the D.O.A. in the mid- to late seventies. He took himself away from society, opting to live off the land, avoid the government, and protest anti-gun laws. He was a hippie, basically. No harm, no foul. But his son, on the other hand, isn't so...passive."
I slapped down Thornhill's criminal record. "He's been arrested in Texas, Florida, and Georgia. In fact, according to this, he's still wanted in Florida. I think he's Walter's boss. I think he's the one starting these splinter groups, but he's not doing it the way his father did. He's more violent, according to his record." I shook the page in my hand.
"And the call, sweetness?" Edward asked tentatively.
I wrinkled my nose. "The ranch is abandoned. Empty. Like in the last few days, empty. And that was Johnny Thornhill's last know whereabouts." They all started to talk, but I held up my hands. "Wait...I'm not done. The officer I just got off the phone with found traces of heavy ammo and...TNT. They're going to re-group."
I sat down heavily in my chair, because I was done, spent. And the mere thought of another fight like we'd already had just scared the shit out of me, because I couldn't help them more than over the radio this time.
The room broke apart in several different conversations. Eleazar was immediately on the phone, requesting alert at the border for Thornhill. Alec, Sam, Jasper, and Emmett all dove back into planning the cabin raid in earnest. But it was Carlisle's phone call that caught my attention; he was already letting Aunt Kate know we were coming. All of us.
Edward appeared in front of me, kneeling down to look me in the eye. "You're done, love. That's enough for today, okay? You girls did fantastic, baby, but I want you to rest. You didn't sleep well last night."
I nodded, cupping his face. "I'm so fucking scared, Edward," I whispered, shaking my head. "This will be different than the mountain cabin. This won't be homeless people and criminals and people recruited from Shady Glen. This will be people that have trained for this shit."
He picked up my hands and kissed each one, leaning in to then kiss my lips. "Yup, you're probably right, sweetness. But so have I."
His eyes were fierce and dark, leaving no doubt that he was determined to end this. As sweet as my husband was, I could easily forget he had the ability to kill a man with his bare hands. He could fly a helicopter, take apart an automatic weapon and put it back together again in mere seconds, and still hold his daughter when she slept. He could build an infant's crib with astonishing detail, and had the knowledge to blow up a small village. He could pull the trigger at an enemy, and he could soothe my very soul when I was falling apart.
"I love you," I sighed, shaking my head, because I just didn't have anything else to say.
"I love you, too, Bella," he chuckled, sensing I was losing it. He helped me to my feet, bending to my ear. "Bath. Bed. No arguing." He turned from me, calling our daughter and scooping her up when she happily ran to him. "Let's go take care of Mommy. What do you say, little sweetness?"
She grinned at him and nodded. "Gamma said she's suh-posed to take a baff."
Edward chuckled, kissing the side of her head. "That's right! She did," he sang, giving me a pointed glare.
I rolled my eyes at the both of them ganging up on me, but giggled anyway, letting them lead me away from talks of fighting and weapons and planning – if only for one night.
A/N... So they're going to Aunt Kate's. I know some of you have asked about her, and believe me, she's been missed. So Walter wasn't acting alone, though Lilith was along for the ride...and now SHE has a gang calling in a hit on her.
Bella's chat with Esme was important, because her worst fear is losing Edward, but leaving Bethy alone overrides that fear.
Up next is getting ready to leave, the last doc visit before they go, and a reappearance of Pilotward... Gotta love him flying, yes? :)
I need to thank JenRar for her quick beta skills. To GooberLou, who pre-reads this shit, and lets me root around in her brain. And MedusaInNY for helping with my blog and many more things.
My thoughts are with those that are dealing with this storm or the aftermath. Being from Florida, I'm used to it, but it still can get scary.
Chapter 18 is done, so the next posting will be Wednesday. Let me know what you think. We've got a fight coming, so I'm pretty sure some of you are worried. So until Wednesday... Later. :)