Finding Fred

Chapter 3 – The Plan

I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Please review! I would love to hear feedback. I do a lot of business writing, but I really almost never write for fun. I'd like to improve my fiction writing, so please let me know what you like or don't like.

Just playing with Ms. Meyer's characters a little.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Edward said suddenly.

"Who are you talking to?" I asked. He knew I despised his silent conversations.

"Oh, Alice was just wondering if she could take you shopping in Vancouver."

Alice kicked Edward so fast, it was not much more than a blur, but his wince let me know that I really did see it.

He glared at her. "OK, fine. Bella, Alice was actually wondering if I'd explained the plan to you, and then after we'd resolved everything with Fred, she could take you shopping." He turned back to Alice and added, "Is that better, your highness?"

"Yes, and you can keep calling me that, too!" she said with a giggle. "But seriously, I see this going much better if we're all in on the plan."

I was confused, again. "Wait. There's an actual plan? And we're all involved? I thought I was just coming along for the ride. If I'm involved, why wasn't I included in the planning? Hmmmm?" I looked at Edward expectantly. He didn't look happy.

"Bella, I'm sorry, but you are not involved in the plan. Alice seems to have this idea that you should be close by, but I told her already… SEVERAL TIMES," he emphasized as he glowered at her, "that you will be nowhere near us when we go to meet Fred. And one of us will be with you at all times. You will never be within a mile of him. I thought that was understood, Alice," he reprimanded firmly.

"Yes, dear brother. I understood you. Understanding and agreeing are two different things."

I was immediately suspicious. Alice would never put my life in danger any more than Edward would, so why would she think I should be there? Certainly this Fred would catch my scent. Did Alice want to use me as bait? She would never do that, and Edward would be furious if she tried. He was irritated with her right now, but nowhere near furious. Jasper would like the idea of bait to draw Fred out, but after he even hinted at it with the newborn army, Edward practically tore him limb from limb. And that's a serious threat in vampire world.

A door at the rear of the cabin opened, startling me. I'd completely forgotten there was a captain on board. He looked at me and my three companions with a mix of fear and confusion, fear of them and confusion about my place in this odd little group. He visibly shook it off, regaining his senses, perhaps also remembering how much money he was being paid for this short trip.

"We'll be there in about 45 minutes, folks," he said. "Once we're docked, I'm going to need you to exit the ship immediately, cuz ya see… I can't be hangin' around in Canadian waters without proper clearance. In the meantime, do you need anything? Did you get some coffee? I found a box of donuts up on the bridge. They're from yesterday… not that you'd want those… ummm… yeah… so… I'm just gonna…" he trailed off nervously as he exited the way he came in.

"He and I made a sort of don't-ask-don't-tell agreement earlier," Edward explained to us. "He's rethinking it. He's wondering what kind of trouble we're trying to avoid and what kind of trouble he might get in if the authorities catch him."

Alice chimed in, "Just give him a nice tip and a promise to do business again in the future and that will shut him right up." She grinned, pleased with herself.

"Wow, that really IS a nice tip I give him. Do I really need to give him that much on top of what he's already being paid?" Edward laughed.

Alice sighed. "Yes, you do. And don't you start getting all cheap, like Bella!"

"Alice!" I huffed, feeling just a tiny bit offended. "I am NOT cheap! I just spend judiciously. I'm careful, that's all."

"If you keep being so careful, your clothes will be so old and raggedy, they'll just fall apart while you're walking down the street someday, and then you'll be sorry you didn't listen to me."

I rolled my eyes. "Is that in one of your visions, or did you just make that part up?"

"It could have been a vision. Yes, come to think of it, it WAS a vision. So there!" she lied, badly.

"Well, if I end up walking down the street naked because my clothes fell off, I'll call you. In the meantime, I don't need anything, Alice. I'm fine with what I have," I answered, much to her chagrin.

"Can I watch?" Edward quietly teased, earning him another smack.

"You need everything! Have you even looked at your wardrobe lately? Let me buy you some new things. Just a few?" Alice pleaded while bouncing up and down in her seat.

"Well…. if you just have to get me something, I want a bulky orange sweater and a pair of striped polyester pants. And how about some second-hand Keds from the thrift store?" I joked.

"Oh, Bella! You're so mean to me! What did I ever do to you?" She whined.

"Well, for starters, you called me cheap!"

She flashed the saddest pair of puppy-dog eyes I'd ever seen. It was a pathetic display that caused me to laugh out loud.

"I'm sorry, Bella. Really, I am. Will you forgive me?" she added with a few extra blinks of her long, dark eyelashes.

"I'm not really mad, Alice. You know that."

Suddenly she was jumping up and down, clapping, and grinning like a child at Christmas. "We're just going to have the best time!" she announced. I was confused, and I wondered if maybe, in her mind, I'd somehow promised to go shopping with her. I most certainly did not do any such thing. Edward just shook his head and smiled, while Jasper pulled Alice into his arms, obviously enjoying her happy mood.

While we let Alice enjoy her moment, I returned to thinking about our upcoming encounter with yet another newborn. From what I could gather from their obscure comments, Alice was insisting I needed to be there and Edward had forbidden it. I understood his motives. They were the same as always – keep Bella safe. It was his mantra. But Alice… that I didn't understand. What benefit could I possibly provide that would help our mission? One that didn't involve me being the lure?

"… and then the leopard print won't look out of place," Alice finished an entire ramble that I hadn't heard. She shook her head. "Bella, you weren't listening to me, were you!"

"Something about leopards?" I asked, confused as to what she might have been talking about.

Alice sighed melodramatically. "Geez, Bella, sometimes I wonder if you're even a girl!"

At that comment, Edward pulled me closer and kissed my temple. "I can assure you, Alice. Bella is ALL girl."

I probably turned 14 shades of red until Jasper decided to taunt Edward further. "How do you know, Edward? I thought the two of you weren't... You know… Are you?" Make that 15 shades.

"That is really none of your business, now is it," Edward chastised him, causing Jasper to laugh heartily.

"That's a 'no' if I've ever heard one," he all but snorted. Edward continued to glare, I continued to blush, and Jasper continued to laugh at both of us.

"It's time to go back to the car," Alice interrupted, thankfully.

A few seconds later, the captain's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Folks, I'm going to ask you to return to your car now. I'll meet you on the parking deck when we're docked."

We made our way down to the lower deck and piled into the car. The ferry pulled into a small cove, up to what appeared to be an old boat ramp that had been upgraded to accommodate a larger ship like this one. It was obscured by brush and overhanging trees. If you weren't specifically looking for it, you might not see it at all. There was a one-lane dirt and gravel road leading up a little hill, and we couldn't see over it to the other side. I felt a little adrenaline rush as I wondered if the Canadian police might be watching us… waiting for us to disembark so they could arrest us for illegally crossing their border.

Of course, if that had been the case, Alice would have seen it and Edward would hear their thoughts, but it was sort of fun to think about some type of James Bond-style chase through the Canadian wilderness. Again, I was allowing my imagination to run wild, and again, I was glad Edward couldn't hear my ridiculous thoughts.

Once the ship had docked, the captain opened the front gate and motioned us forward. As we drove up the ramp, Edward handed the captain an envelope that I guessed held some large amount of cash. "Nice doing business with you," Edward said. "If you keep our agreement, I'm sure we can do business again."

The captain nodded and shook Edward's hand, despite the fact that he looked quite wary. "Thank you, Mr. Cullen. It was my pleasure, and you don't have to worry about me. As I like to say, I run a tight ship, and keep a tight lip." He chucked at his own joke, waving to us as we drove out of sight.

We went north through the town of Tsawwassen (which I could not figure out how to pronounce for the life of me), and it had been fairly quiet for about 10 minutes, all of us lost in our individual thoughts.

Finally, I broke the silence. "OK, I'm tired of being kept in the dark here. I know there's a plan and I want to know what it is," I demanded.

"Edward…" Alice said in a voice that was both a whine and a warning. She obviously wanted to tell me and felt it was important enough to argue with Edward about it.

"No, Alice. I don't care what you see. It's not going to happen that way. Look for another way, because this way isn't it," he countered.

"Edward, you know it doesn't work like that! I see what I see. It's just not going to work any other way," she nearly shouted.

"But your vision doesn't make any sense. Explain to me why it has to be that way. Why can't I take point and Jasper be the watch? Or vice versa?" Edward challenged.

"I don't know exactly," Alice admitted. "All I know is that it won't work. Something happens. Something I can't see, but I know it's not going to work. You just have to trust me on this one. I'm as sure as I can be."

"Alright you two," Jasper cut in. "I've had enough. Edward, you know Alice is right. We can't risk the outcome she sees. We need to follow her plan."

"But Bella might be in danger," Edward retorted.

The three of them started arguing in their fast-talking buzz that was usually too quiet for me to even hear, but this time, it was actually pretty loud. Still a buzz, almost like a swarm of bees, and too fast for me to decipher even a single word.

"STOP IT!" I yelled a little louder than I probably needed to, but this was getting out of control. "Guys, just talk to me. Despite what you all think, I'm not just a weak little girl. I can handle it. And maybe, just maybe, I could even think of something to make the plan better. I know it's hard for you to believe that I might be smart enough and strong enough to actually be of some genuine assistance here, but I would also think you would know better than to underestimate me. I mean, how many humans do you know who've faced the Volturi and lived to tell the tale? "

They looked at each other with various amounts of shame on their faces. All at once, they started apologizing and explaining over the top of each other, which was a good solid 10 percent worse than the buzzing.

"Edward, you have to listen to Alice on this one. Bella will be safe. You know we wouldn't do anything to risk her," Jasper broke through, seeming quite frustrated.

"I don't like it. Not at all. Too many things could go wrong," Edward defended, but I could see he was softening. That meant one thing: Alice was right, and he knew it.

"Alice, if you're sure I have to be part of the plan for it to work, then I have to do my part. I know you'll keep me safe. I trust you. All three of you," I said with a particularly meaningful glance toward Jasper. He nodded appreciatively.

"Alright! Fine!" Edward boomed. "If we're going to do this right, I guess we don't really have a choice. I have half a mind to turn around and forget it, though." He paused, then softened as he turned to me. "I guess if your life is going to be in danger either way, Bella, I would rather face it head-on than wait for it to sneak up on us."

"He wouldn't be able to sneak up on us if I understood his power better," Alice grumbled. "I can't see the wolves, but I figured out a way to find them. Just look for the blank spots! But Fred… the more I watch him, the less I see of him."

"I don't understand what you mean. I thought you said you could see him in your visions," I questioned.

She pondered her response. "Well, I figured out that I can only see him in the flesh when nobody else is around. He must drop his guard sometimes. As soon as someone enters the picture, he disappears completely. There's not even a blank spot where he should be. Yet I know he's there. I can't explain it any better than that."

"So, you think I'll be able to see him," I guessed. It was the only logical conclusion, the only reason it would make sense for me to be there.

"I'm hoping so, yes," Alice answered. "I mean, I see you knowing where he moves, but right now, it's all pretty fuzzy. What I see more clearly is him going dark and disappearing from us entirely if you're not there."

"Bella, you don't have to go with us if you don't want to," Edward added. "We'll find a way to deal with Fred if you don't want to be there."

"You've got to be kidding! There's actually a role for me this time and you think I'm going to sit on the sidelines and let you tell me about it later? I have a chance to help, so of course I'm going to do it."

Edward sighed. "I can't read your mind, yet I knew that's what you were going to say…"