DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT OR ANY OF

S. MEYER'S CHARACTERS… UNFORTUNATELY.

I JUST PLAY WITH THEM.

Blood In The Snow Chapter 19

Previously:

JBPOV

"Charlie…" warning sounding in my voice, "don't rush into that. If we can find him that easily with a name, so can the Volturi." He nodded in agreement. "We need to keep this just between us for right now." He didn't answer me for a few minutes and I could see his mind working. I just stared at him. "Charlie."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." He took a long pull on his beer. "But, you know… if we knew where they are, we could give them some protection", he hedged.

"NO! Jasper is like a brother to me and I will not take chances with his life." I reached behind me, to the gun I always carried, tucked in the small of my back. "We are going to do this my way, Charlie. Agreed?" I sat very still, watching him closely. Was he the mole? Did I really screw up by trusting him? I could see in his eyes, he knew I had my gun in my hand. "Charlie? What's it gonna be?"

JPOV

Charlie held his hands up, in plain sight. "Easy, Jake. I want him safe, too."

I pulled my hand back away from my gun, resting it on the arm of the sofa. "Charlie, you need to realize that when it comes to Jasper Whitlock, I will put
his safety ahead of everyone else… including you." I looked him straight in the eye.

"You made your point." Charlie sat back and finished off his beer. After a few minutes of silence, he looked over at me. "Jake… I've got two years until I can retire with a full pension. My record with the department is spotless. I'm not going to mess that up now. Not for the Volturi or anyone else. I liked Jasper and his folks and I felt horrible when I heard they all died in the house fire. I'm glad the kid survived it." He rubbed his hand across his face. "I'd love to take down the Volturi before I retire. It would be the perfect send off." He gave me a predatory grin.

"All right." I grinned back at him. "Let's get the three stories figured out so we can get this show on the road."

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening hashing out the details of the bait stories he was going to put out to the three guys in his department. I still thought he should not tell his partner, James, the truth, but Charlie insisted that he was squeaky clean. I guess I have no choice but to trust his instinct, whether I like it or not.

The sun was starting to peek over the horizon by the time we had all our details worked out. We decided to call it a night and head for the bunks to get some sleep.

Since we told everyone back at the department that we were going to be gone a couple of days on this 'fishing' trip, we decided to take the next two days and just relax, maybe explore the area around us and just have a small vacation before everything hit the fan. Charlie and I talk about our lives and our time spent in police work. We get to know each other quite well and by the time we are headed back to Seattle, I feel confident that he is the straight as an arrow cop I thought he was. I still have my reservations about his partner, though.

He tells me that James Hunter has been his partner for two years now… ever since he transferred in from Chicago. I'm surprised that I've never met him. Of course Chicago is a big city and I worked the Northern Division. If he worked in the Southern Division, I might have never met him. I try to rationalize it, but it still leaves me feeling uneasy. Charlie says that James left Chicago for Seattle to find a less stressful place to live and work and possibly find someone to settle down with and start a family.

Seems James knows exactly what to say to Charlie to make him comfortable. Ah hell, maybe he's completely clean. I just have a gut feeling about him that I can't shake.

Charlie drops me off at my hotel so I can get my things and pick up my rental car. I need to head back home. He's going to take the rest of the weekend off and then on Monday, he will start spreading the bait. We'll just have to wait and see how it goes. That's the hardest part.

Thankfully, I have a quiet flight back to Chicago. I tried to sleep, but Charlie's partner kept coming back into my thoughts. I finally decide that I will see if I can check into his records when I get back to work. I just hope Charlie is right about him.

As the plane is coming in to land at O'Hare, I look out the window to see snow falling. Looks like well have a fresh, white Christmas. I wonder what Jasper and his friend Edward will do for the holiday.

CHPOV

After dropping Jake off at his hotel, I head home. I have a lot of planning to do. I know Jake doesn't trust James, but he doesn't know him like I do. That boy comes across as absolutely dedicated to law and order. I just can't make myself distrust him. Maybe I'll tell him most of it, but not all. I just don't know.

As I pull up to my little house, I can almost see my late wife waiting on the porch for me. We always regretted not being able to have any children, but Renee and I shared a love so all-encompassing… I can't regret any part of our life together, except for its short duration. But I miss her terribly. The house is so silent and empty without her. When the doctors told us about her cancer and said it had spread throughout her brain, we knew there was nothing they would be able to do. My love managed to hold on for nearly six months before she lost her battle. I thought about selling the house, but I can still feel her here. As I walk through the door, I can almost smell her distinctive perfume. "Hello, my love." I always greet her when I get home. Makes me feel like her spirit is still with me.

After putting away my gear, I rummage through the kitchen and put a frozen pizza in the oven for dinner. Grabbing a 'vitamin R" from the fridge, I flip on the TV and tune to the sports channel. Relaxing on the couch as I wait for my pizza to heat, I think about the stories Jake and I came up with. I'm going to give each of the three guys in my squad a different location where I "heard" Jasper has been seen. Then, I'll have the surveillance team watching the Volturi to see where they go. I'm also going to have the tech boys bug their telephones, I hope. I hope I can get a judge to agree with me that there is cause for the bugs. Shaking my head, I think that I know just the judge to go to. Judge Newton. He is always ready to help the department and is not as picky about the reasons as long as they are valid. He also loved Renee's cooking and sometimes I think he misses her as much as I do. I'll call 'Newt' Sunday afternoon... give him time to go to church and have dinner with his family. I'd like to have the orders in my hands on Monday so I can get the surveillance teams and bugs organized before I set the traps.

God, I hope Jake is wrong about the mole. It just tears me up to think that one or more of my guys is responsible for the Whitlock's deaths. But, if they are, they will pay dearly. I'll make sure of that! In the remote possibility that Jake could be right about James (and I don't for a minute think that he is right), I will with hold the information about the telephone bugs. That will give me the perfect way to show that he's clean.

After I finish my pizza and clean up, I decide to write down, at the very least, a brief outline of what I am going to tell each guy. Gotta make sure I keep it straight… who was told what. Okay… time to get started.

Quil Atera. I'll give him the California story. That Jasper hitched a ride with a trucker headed south. He's in a little cabin on the beach near Malibu.

Embry Call. Same trucker, but headed to Arizona. Phoenix. In a small house in the desert outside Phoenix.

Paul Atera. (Older brother to Quil) He gets the Chicago story. Same trucker, but he took Jasper back to Chicago. Hiding out in his old apartment, doesn't think they will think to look for him there.

I'll need to brief James before we talk to the guys. Make sure he has the stories straight. I want him to help with the surveillance on them and report back to only me. I will let James know that Jasper is really alive, but I think I'll keep Edward Cullen's name to myself for a while. I don't plan to let anyone else in on this… not even my boss.

Gathering up all my papers, I put them in the briefcase Renee gave me for the last Christmas we had together. I love it. I'll carry it until it falls apart. Setting it on the table next to the door, I head upstairs to shower and get ready for bed.

Lying in my bed, I think about how I want to approach Newt. I know he'll sign off on the order for the bugs if I make my case logically.

I also plan to go down to the property records department at City Hall and see if I can find out where this Edward Cullen may have Jasper. The way I figure it, the family probably has a place out I the middle of nowhere. The Doc has plenty of money, so I need to see where he has property. I feel like I need to know where he is, so I can better protect him.

The sounds of the city outside the windows lull me to sleep.

AN: And the traps are being set… Next chapter, back to our boys! I've missed them!