Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns it all.

Rated M for several reasons.

Chpt 27 Dead is Dead

BPOV

Stealthily I creep after Demetri but my mind is whirling.

How is Alice here? Why is Alice here?

Is she betraying us, was she in on this with Rutilio all along?

We are still tracking Rutilio an' Alice's scent is following the same path, pulling Demetri after them.

The closer we have gotten to our target the more cold an' calculating I have become. I want him dead. Eradicated from Jasper's life. Unable to cause us any more harm. I want all his secrets an' plans so that we can unravel them an' neutralise them. I thought I'd be looking forward to making him suffer for what he's done, but I'm not. I just want this over with so I can get back to Jasper.

This might be the right thing to do but I hate it. I hate doing it without my husband. And I hate that once again that fucking Spaniard is forcing me to do something I don't want to. Right now I feel almost unbalanced, like a newborn again.

Unthinkingly I reach forward an' capture Demetri's hand in mine as I tiptoe along behind him.

He gives it a reassuring squeeze an' I offer my other hand back to Char who takes it just as willingly.

Imaging what we must look like I snicker to myself. Dashing pirate, cartoon rabbit, Playboy bunny and Mister Average. Creeping along the dark streets of a sleepy fishing village in our drab flight suits, holding hands an' tiptoeing theatrically like Dick Dastardly and Muttley. All that's missing is that stupid noise they used to make an' the twirly moustache, which I can visualise on Demetri, after that performance in the Rio hotel.

Yep, unbalanced. Get it together Whitlock, we're after your worst, most dangerous enemy, not some poxy pigeon.

Not that he'll know we're coming.

Gradually Demetri slows us down until we reach a stop, peering over a crumbling stone wall into the street below us.

The junction is deserted, the only signs of life an' light coming from a ramshackle bar a little further down the hill.

When Demetri is satisfied the area is safe we hop over the wall an' edge closer. Alice's scent is strong an' so is the venom liberally coating the cobbles of the roadway an' nearby buildings.

"Whose venom is that?" Char hisses.

"I don't know." Demetri says quietly, nostrils flaring. "I don't recognise it."

"Where is Asturias?" Simon asks, eyes scanning the buildings warily.

"Here." Demetri answers, gesturing around us.

Without thinking I look up. Wouldn't surprise me if the bastard could fly.

"Mistress." Simon says gently. "I believe he means that the venom belongs to Asturias."

"I knew that." I snap, embarrassed.

Simon an' Char smirk at me while Demetri twists slowly around scenting the air like a bloodhound. Suddenly he stiffens before moving towards the doorway of an' incredibly broken down looking building.

We follow, beginning to scent what he has. Burnt vampire.

In the depths of the roofless ruin we find more venom, more of Alice's scent an' the remains of a hot fire which has scorched the bared rafters still resting weakly on the walls.

Demetri kneels down beside it, while we keep watch, sifting his fingers through the ashes an' bringing them to his nose to sniff.

"Whoever's venom that was died in this fire." He announces. "Or at the very least, most of their parts were consumed by it."

"Rutilio?" I ask, not sure how to take this news.

"I assume so Mistress." He says, rising fluidly to his feet. "Certainly his wife was not consumed by these flames and other than the venom there is no other vampire scent here."

"Well fuck." Char exclaims.

"You tracked him here." Simon observes. "You feel him here. If there are no other vampires this must be him."

Demetri nods an' puffs his chest up a little.

I roll my eyes. Why do the men I love have such massive egos, it's not normally considered an attractive quality.

"How can you still feel him if he's dead?" I ask, suspicious that we'll be attacked at any moment.

"It's not GPS Mistress." He answers, tapping his forehead. "He hasn't been dead long. His echo is here but it is fading."

"Not moving away?" I press.

"No Mistress." His red eyes lock with mine. "Rutilio Asturias is dead."

Abruptly my knees give out an' I fall to the floor in an undignified heap still looking up at him.

Frowning he crouches down in front of me.

"You are not pleased?" He asks as Simon an' Char busy themselves shuffling around the debris as if looking for clues.

"Yes, no. Yes. Definitely."

He smiles at my confusion.

"He's dead. But I have no answers, no closure." I huff eventually.

"And you would have had these if you had captured him yourself?" He asks softly. "You would have been pleased if he had died or been tortured at your hands?"

"What? Yes!"

He arches a perfect eyebrow.

"Well no. A little bit." I admit, dropping my eyes an' wringing my hands. "He deserved it!"

"Indeed he did Mistress. I don't think your feelings on the matter are anything to be ashamed of."

I sigh, looking up into his sympathetic eyes.

"A part of me feels cheated. I have wanted to punish him for what he's done to Jasper for so long! What right does she have to take my satisfaction?"

"I think she has reasons enough of her own to feel she deserves it." He points out reasonably.

I sigh again. Why am I always surrounded by grownups?

"Dead is dead, Bella." He says gently taking my hands in his.

"Mistress!" Simon claims my attention.

Reluctantly I get to my feet an' join him at the back wall.

"She went this way." He points into the vegetation that slopes gently away from the back of the property. "There is only her scent. I don't know how she did this but it appears she did."

Anger an' resentment writhe inside me as Simon backs away to stand beside Demetri.

"Are you insane?" I hear Simon hiss quietly, receiving an answering growl.

With a deep sigh I close my eyes an' relax back against Char who has moved up behind me an' wrapped her arms around me.

My enemy is dead. I don't know the things I need to in order to keep Jasper safe. I will never get an explanation as to why he did the things that he did. My mate loves me but is no longer bound to me. A man I respect and admire is in love with me an' I cannot return his feelings or ease his pain, no matter how much I want to.

My enemy is dead and yet I feel no better. If anything I feel worse.

Sobbing I turn into Char's ample chest.

Her arms tighten around me.

"If you say I told you so I'll kill you." I growl between sobs.

"Oh hun." She breathes burying her nose in my hair. "If anyone's got the right to a good sob it's you. But I did tell you so."

"Would I have felt better if I'd killed him myself?" I laugh / wail into her chest.

"Maybe." She allows. "But after you'd tortured him to find out what you needed to know? I somehow doubt you'd have felt much better. You may be The Major's Mate but you ain't him an' you shouldn't try to be. Whatever the consequences she's saved you from doin' somethin' you might have regretted for a very long time."

"But we still don't know what we need to do to keep us safe." I sob.

"Leavin' aside your naivety at thinkin' we would have got that information anyway I should point out that the world's best tracker is standing behind us. If you ask him nicely I'm sure he'll help us find the Darth Midget so we can find out what the fuck was goin' through her tiny mind when she offed our only source of information."

I look up over her shoulder an' Demetri grins, flashing his pirate's teeth at me.

I settle back into Char's embrace for a moment an' close my eyes. I want Jasper. So badly it hurts. Why does my life have to be so complicated that even that simple need makes me feel guilty?

"Okay." I huff, pulling myself together an' away from my sister. "Let's go find her so we can go home."

"She is headed north Mistress." Demetri looks up into the night sky. "Probably heading home also. And she isn't too far ahead. How do you want to proceed?"

"I think we should leave the humans out of it now we have what we came for." I decide. "We don't want Evans thinking he's built up too many favours. It's a couple of hours before we're due to check in with everybody so shall we get after her? I need to hunt anyway."

The others nod an' wait while I turn back to look at Rutilio's ashes.

"I hope you're in hell." I whisper savagely. "An' I hope you suffered right up until the end. Alice might have got you but we're all real happy that you're gone."

I close my eyes thinking of Gus, Jonathan, their family and poor Edward whose death will haunt me forever. Innocent victims of one vampire's delusions of grandeur. An' for a moment I curse Alice for robbing me of my chance to look into his eyes while I tell him who he's dying for.

But Demetri is right. Dead is dead an' in the end that's all I really wanted.

Still grinning he turns at my nod an' leads the way out into the night.

The run turns out to be pretty short, terminating abruptly at the runway of the nearby town's airport.

Simon, Char an' I hang out, vampire bat style, in the trees that line the concrete strip while Demetri breaks into the closed building to find out where she's gone.

"I assume he had a plane here for his next hop." Simon observes pointlessly.

Char swats listlessly at him. Whatever the vampire equivalent of adrenaline is, it's used up now, we all just want to go home an' the only thing stopping us is fuckin' Alice. I hope it occurred to the little bint to ask her husband who our traitor is.

With no vengeance on Rutilio to occupy my thoughts I find myself worrying more an' more about how the battle is going in Seattle. Wishing I was there too, fighting with my family. Wondering if it would be an abdication of responsibility to say 'fuck it' to finding Alice an' just order everyone home.

I won't. The Major wouldn't do that, no matter how much he wanted to. I'll just have to hope we catch up with her quick.

I perk up a little as Demetri trots back across the runway an' scales the tree next to mine. He surprises me by immediately shifting to hang upside down, Simon style, t-shirt flopping down to show his swarthy musculature to full effect.

Stupid sexy vampire.

"There was a plane here." He informs us. "Original flight plan was heading south. A new one was filed heading for Mexico City. I suspect she'll get a commercial flight back to the states from there."

"Then can we please do the same?" Simon asks. "I need a shower and proper clothes that fit me."

"How are we goin' to do that?" I snark.

Char laughs.

"Steal a plane of our own of course." Simon explains as if he's talking to an idiot.

"What?"

Char laughs again, she knows me so well. I've come a long way from being a police chief's daughter an' a cop in my own right and I've stolen a lot of stuff since becoming a vampire. But a plane? Charlie'd spin in his grave if I made the FBI's most wanted list.

"Look around you Mistress." Simon drawls. "We are unlikely to find a Lear jet in that rather scruffy excuse for a hanger."

"Agreed, it'll probably be a ratty old crop duster or something." I scold him. "But that doesn't make it okay to take away someone's livelihood. And Mr Smarty Pants, who is goin' to fly this plane?"

"I have a pilot's license." He says with a smirk.

"As do I." Demetri adds.

"Me too." Char chips in.

Great. I close my mouth with a snap. I suppose Jasper an' Pete both have licenses as well. Hell I'm probably the only one in the Cowboy Coven who can barely drive a car, let alone fly a plane.

"There is plenty of time for you to learn Mistress." Simon soothes. "You might find it easier than driving."

Ignoring him I drop down from the tree.

"Couldn't possibly find it any harder." I hear him whisper to Demetri as I walk away followed by the uncomfortable sound of schoolboy sniggering.

He can stick that Ferrari I was gonna get him where the sun don't shine. Which he'd probably enjoy.

Stupid supercilious vampire.

"Alright." I snap. "Let's steal a damn plane already. I want to go home."

With some effort I manage to free my cell from the complicated pockets of my flight suit so I can call Evans an' let him know we don't need his help anymore. Behind me I hear Char ring Pete an' I tune their conversation out to concentrate on mine.

It doesn't take long, Evans has very little news from Seattle an' is still waiting for Jasper to call in. Impatient to talk to him myself I end the call an' turn back to Char.

"Anyway." Pete is saying. "J was right, these fuckers were much older an' better trained than that horde in Brazil, they put up quite a fight. We got 'em all in the end an' that Sebastien. One of the Lieutenants got away, we're goin' after the fucker in a bit when the wounded have healed."

"Are you okay baby?" Char asks.

"Of course I am sugar lips." He chuckles, then his voice turns serious. "Is Bella there?"

"Where's Jasper?" I growl, holding my hand out for Char's phone.

"Yeah, well, about that . . . ." Pete's voice floats out of the device as I slap it my ear.

A/N Happy 4th July to those of you that celebrate it. To the rest of you, stop reading this crap and get your chores done, you gotta go back to work tomorrow . . . .