DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT OR ANY OF S. MEYER'S CHARACTERS… UNFORTUNATELY.

I JUST PLAY WITH THEM.

Blood In The Snow Chapter 28

Previously:

Hand in hand we move downstairs, he grabs his phone and we settle on the couch. He looks at me, one eyebrow raised. I nod and he flips the phone open and after blocking his number, dials Jacob's number. Putting the phone on speaker, we listen to it ring. Then, Jacob picks up.

"Hello."

JBPOV

"Jacob."

"Jasper! Man, are you all right?" I had been hoping he would call me back and he has.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He pauses for a minute. "Jacob… we had a rather disturbing call from Edward's dad."

"What's happening?" Glancing up, I realize my office door is standing open. "Hang on a minute, I need to shut my door." Before closing the door, I look up and down the hallway, but there is no one around. Good. I close the door and then just to be sure, I lock it. "Okay… we can talk now. So… what's going on?"

"Apparently, one of Det. Swan's men was shot when he caught one of their men giving information to the Volturi."

"Charlie found his mole? Who was shot? "

"James Hunter caught this other cop and then got shot when he tried to arrest him. I think he killed the other guy, but we don't know who the other guy was."

"Wait. Edward, how does your dad know all this?"

"He said that Det. Swan came to his office, asking a lot of questions about Jasper and me. Wanting to know where we are. But, my dad refused to tell him anything until he told him why he wanted to know. So, Swan had to tell him what was going on. The moles, the shooting… everything."

"Damn. I told him not to try to find you." I can hear Jasper whispering something to Edward, but I can't quite catch the words. "What? Tell me what's going on."

"Swan told my dad that he thinks there is more than one mole in his department. And Swan wants to know where we are so he can supposedly protect us."

"Yeah, like he did such a great job with my parents the first time."

Jasper's sarcasm was laced with pain. My heart broke for him. "Jasper, man I'm sorry for that. We didn't know. "

"What do you think, Jacob? Do we tell anyone where we are… do we not… what the hell should we do? How are we supposed to know who to trust?"

The desperation in Jaspers voice cut me to the bone. I had to make this right. "Man… for now, just sit tight. Don't tell anyone anything… not even me. Charlie and I are working on getting rid of the moles and getting the Volturi off the scent. As soon as we are sure it's safe, I'll let you know."

"Look, my dad said they could find us just by going through the property records down at the courthouse. They can find all the properties that our family owns and then it's just a matter of elimination."

"That's true. But first, the Volturi have to know about you, Edward. And I don't think they do yet."

"Yeah… yet."

Jasper was starting to sound defeated. "Man, don't give up. So far, no one knows about Edward and we are working to keep it that way. The only ones who know are Charlie and I. I don't think he even told his partner, James."

"Maybe so, but what's to stop Swan from finding out where we are and leading them right to us?"

"Well, hopefully, he has more sense than to let information like that out to anyone. And I specifically told him not to try to track you two down. Just hope he listened to me…."

CHPOV

When did they put all the property records on computer? Hmmm… they claim it makes finding information faster. Yeah… well, we'll just see about that.

As I 'single finger' type Carlisle Cullen's name into the little box on the screen, I can't help but wonder if it can really be this easy. I was expecting to have to rummage through drawers of paper records, looking for a specific document number. According to the instructions on the screen, typing in the name should get me a listing of every property listed under that name. In less than thirty seconds, I have a list of properties, complete with addresses and GPS co-ordinates scrolling down the screen. Damn, this guy must own half of Washington. At the bottom of the screen is a small picture of a printer. That must mean I can just print all this out. I click on the little printer and sure enough, the printer on the table next to me begins to spit out sheet after sheet of paper. When it finally stops, I grab up a big handful from the tray, clear out my info on the computer and stuff the papers in my case.

Driving back to my office, I realize that I should not take this information in where anyone could see it, so I head for home instead.

Grabbing a beer, I settle down at the kitchen table and start going through the papers. Okay. We know that the Volturi killed his parents and burned the house in Seattle. They also snatched Jasper in Seattle. Now, did they take him to one of their houses here in the city or did they take him out of state? I think they wouldn't have taken him too far before they tried to get information out of him. Plus, they wouldn't have wanted to risk anyone seeing him… soooo… I need to concentrate on properties fairly close to Seattle, but not necessarily in town. Jacob said that Jasper told him that he was dumped somewhere out in the woods and that Edward found him under a deep covering of snow. We haven't had a heavy snow yet this year. At least not down here, close to the Sound. But… up by Rainier… holy shit. The snow has been so bad in the higher elevations that all the passes have been closed down. The meteorologists have been predicting that this year's snowfall in the Park will be record breaking.

Quickly thumbing through the listings, I'm looking for something close to the mountain or the Park… and there it is. Seems the good doctor owns about a hundred acres completely surrounded by the northwestern section of Rainier National Park. And… there's a rather large lodge right in the middle of the property. Perfect hideout. That has to be where they are. Now, where did I put my maps?

Thirty minutes and three file drawers later, I finally spread my map of Rainier National Park across my dining room table. Checking the map co-ordinates, I pinpoint the location of the Cullen lodge. Wow. This place is really isolated. One highway… well… road into the park and then an unpaved private road the rest of the way in… hmmm. The official site for the park indicates that the only other road that comes anywhere near their place is closed for the majority of the winter months, due to excessive snow fall. And the closer one tends to flood out during the spring thaw.

After getting another beer, I sit and just look at the map. The only way in or out right now is by snowmobile, skis or helicopter… and the chopper would run the risk of causing avalanches. Maybe the guys will be safe until spring. Then, we can get them out of there and in to a safer location that we can keep an eye on. Wonder if they have any snowmobiles at the lodge. Surely they do. We can get the guys out of there and into a protected environment sooner, if they do.

I need to talk to Dr. Cullen. Now. Picking up my phone, I call the hospital to see if he is working this afternoon. The nurse on the floor assures me that Dr. Cullen is on duty and will be until 11pm. Before she can get off the phone I ask how James is doing. She assures me that he is 'coming along nicely'. In other words, he's being a prick, but hasn't hit anyone yet. I can't help but chuckle as I thank her and hang up the phone.

I get a quick shower and change into jeans and a button up shirt. Casual, but neat.

I get lucky on my drive to the hospital, it's just a bit too early yet for rush hour traffic and once there, I find a parking space right up front… must be too early for regular visiting hours. As I walk in the doors, I see that same blond woman that was here the other day. She's beautiful, but someone needs to show her how to dress like a lady… she looks like a slut… barely there shirt… breasts nearly falling out of the low cut top and she can't possibly be wearing a bra. Shame. She could be really spectacular. I smile and hold the door for her. She gives me a surprised look and a sweet 'thank you'. Maybe if more men treated her like a lady, she'd behave like one. I can't resist turning to watch her walk away. I see a black sedan with heavily tinted windows pull up along side her, the door opening and gruff voice demanding that she 'get her ass in the car right now'. That voice is familiar, but I just can't place it. I know that it will come to me, eventually.

Going on in, I head for the elevators to take me up to James' floor. I may as well visit him while I'm here… get him to not harass the nurses.

Stepping out of the elevator, I see Dr. Cullen making his rounds. He looks up and sees me, nodding. Walking over to him, I reach out and shake his hand. "Can I talk to you when you finish up?"

"Yes, of course. I should be finished in about an hour. I'll come by Mr. Hunter's room when I'm finished. "

"Thanks, that'll be fine. It'll give me a chance to check in on James." Dr. Cullen nods and goes off down the hallway.

Tapping lightly on James' door, I ease it open. "You awake?"

"Hey… Charlie! Come on in." James is sitting up in the bed looking a lot better than he did the last time I was here.

"Son, you're sure looking better than the last time I saw you. Any news on your leg?"

James shifts in the bed. "The physical therapist was in today to look at the leg and see what can be done. He seems to think that I'll get back full use of it, but it will take a while."

"Full use… great! Soon as you're out of here and feel up to it, I'll get you set up on a desk job until you can get back to your own territory."

"Desk job?" He grimaced. Then a sly smile spread across his face. "In the office with the female officers?"

I have to laugh. Leave it to James to think of the women. "Boy… those women will eat you for lunch!"

"Maybe so… but what a way to go!"

We both laugh because we know I'm right. Those women won't take any of James' shenanigans. We chat about everything and nothing for a while and I notice James is starting to drift off. "Go on and sleep, son. I'm just going to sit here and wait for Dr. Cullen to finish his rounds and then I need to talk to him. I'll be back to see you tomorrow."

"Okay, Charlie." Settling farther down in the bed, he closes his eyes.

I can't help but notice how James keeps shifting his injured leg… it obviously hurts him more than he'll admit. I hope that the docs are right and he can get out of here soon.

A soft knock at the door pulls me from my thoughts. Ah, Dr. Cullen motions for me to step out of the room. Glancing at James, I see he is sleeping. Stepping out into the hallway, I pull the door to and reach out to shake hands with Dr. Cullen.

"You had something you wanted to talk to me about, Det.?"

"Yes. It's about the boys and where they are."

Concern shows in Dr. Cullen's eyes. He looks around to see if anyone is close. "We can go to my office…"

"No, that's okay… this will just take a minute. As long as we don't draw any attention, we should be fine right here." I glance around and see that all the nurses seem to be at the central nurse's desk, busy with patient charts. "I think I know where they are… Rainier National Park… your property there."

Dr. Cullen's eyes get wide and all the color drains from his face. "How…?"

"Sorry doc, but property records are public information. Very easy to find."

"Who have you told? I have to get them out of there. What have you done?" His voice lowers and octave and sounds threatening.

Raising my hands, I try to calm him. "No. No, doc. I haven't told anyone. But you have to understand, if I can find them that easily, so can the Volturi. All they need is your son's name."

"Who else knows?"

"No one, just Jacob and I know about Edward…"

"Let's take this to my office."

"Sure." We head down the hallway toward his office. He stops at the nurse's desk to tell them not to disturb him for a while.

JHPOV

Ha. Charlie thinks I'm asleep. I can hear him talking to Dr. Cullen right outside my door. Luckily he didn't pull the door all the way shut… I can hear every word. So… Whitlock has some help… Cullen's son. Demetri will want to know about this. This information will be worth a lot to the Volturi. Listening carefully, I finally hear the doc insist they go to his office. Damn. Well, I have enough to give Demetri. They can find them easily with this information.

I give Charlie and the doc a few minutes, just to be sure they're gone, then reach over to grab my cell phone off the bedside table. Flipping it open, I key in Demetri's number and wait for him to pick up.

"Yeah."

"Hey man, it's me."

"How's it going, James? Did Heidi make it all better?" He sniggered.

"Oh man… did she ever! Thanks for the encore performance."

"No problem. So… surely you didn't call just to thank me for Heidi. What's up?"

"I know where Whitlock is."

"Where?"

"Hang on… this has to be worth something… right?"

"Depends on how good the info is." Demetri nearly growls into the phone. "Spit it out, Hunter. Where the hell is he?"

"Apparently, he was rescued by my doc's son… one Edward Cullen."

"And…?"

"His dad, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, just happens to own a place in Rainier National Park. Ring any bells?"

There is silence on his end for a couple of minutes. "Shit. Yeah, it does. You got an address or directions?"

"No, but you can get it the same way Charlie did… public records, down at the courthouse."

"Anyone else up there with them?"

"Nope."

"Okay… we'll take care of them."

"Hang on a minute… what about my money? I need to get out of here."

"Now James… you know we have to be sure this info is right before you get yours. You know that."

"Okay. Just checking. I'm looking forward to retiring to a nice, white beach… far, far from here. Preferably in a country with no extradition."

Demetri laughs. "Don't worry, you'll get what's coming to you. Later." He disconnects.

Lying back, I let my mind wander. White beaches, palm trees and lots of native girls wearing very little. Heaven. As I drift off to sleep, I can see the girls begin to sway to the soft music playing in the background

AN: Dun, dun, dun duuuun….

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