A/N: I hope that everyone had an awesome New Years and welcome to 2013! For those interested, I started writing a new Twilight fanfic in addition to this one called Wedding Day Jitters. It is currently an Edward/Bella pairing, but I don't know that it is going to stay that way. LOL. Enjoy the next chapter of Moving On. Poor Bella can't see to catch a break. Let's see what happens next… Review if you get a chance. Thank you everyone!

Chapter 23 – Missing

"Was there only one? Where did they catch it?" Jasper growled.

"Calm down. You need to stay with Bella. There was only one and Sam had the pack search the area. They picked up the scent of two more, but have been unable to locate them. The one was caught on wolf side of the border. They are continuing to look for the others. Rose, Emmett, and Edward are joining the hunt on our side of the treaty line. Esme is at Bella's house to make sure none of them show up there. I am sticking around our house in case one of them pick up Bella's scent and come here," Carlisle explained calmly. He knew that Jasper would want to fly off the handle in order to keep Bella safe, and right now that was not going on the hunt, it was staying with her.

"Let me know what you find out," Jasper ordered as he ended the call. "Another one? How many of these fiends did she make? I think it best that we are leaving soon so that they cannot find her," he said to himself. He took a couple of deep breaths in order to calm down. He needed to keep his head and be there to protect Bella. It would not help her to lose it now. He put his phone in his pocket and returned to dinner.

Bella looked up as soon as she heard the door to the restaurant open again. She was curious about the phone call he received and when he walked in with a tight look upon his face, she knew that it was bad. She didn't know who had called or what was said, but she immediately started to worry. She watched Jasper force a smile and sit back down. Her parents didn't seem to notice the change in her boyfriend, but she could not miss it. She brought her napkin up to her mouth to make it look like she was wiping her face and whispered softly, "Is everything ok?" She knew that with his hearing he would be able to hear it regardless of the ambient noise that invaded the restaurant, and she knew that her parents would not hear anything.

Jasper turned and looked at Bella. He should have known that she could see right through him. He leaned over to kiss Bella on the cheek and whispered back, "Yah, it was Carlisle. I will tell you about it when we don't have a crowd." He kissed her again and sat up straight.

The rest of the meal passed without any further interruptions. When they were leaving, Charlie offered to drop Jasper off at his house so that he would not have to get his father to pick him up. Jasper wanted to decline, but knew that it may look suspicious when Carlisle never came and Jasper pretended to leave.

When they pulled up to the front of Jasper's house, Bella turned to Charlie and asked, "Can I hang out with Jasper for a little bit longer dad? He said he needed to show me something. I will be home within the hour." She knew that Jasper didn't want to leave her and he had been tense since he got off of the phone. This was the best solution under the circumstances.

Charlie looked unsure. He knew that Renee was leaving tomorrow and would probably want to spend as much time with Bella as possible, "I don't know Bells. You can always see him tomorrow and your mom leaves tomorrow…" He turned to his ex for help with this situation.

Renee looked at Bella and then at Jasper. She wasn't sure what was going on, but mother's intuition told her that there was more to the story than Bella was saying, "That will be fine. Why don't you have Jasper drop you off at my hotel when you are done and we can hang out for a little bit. Since you and Jasper are taking me to the airport tomorrow, if you want you can stay the night and sleep in the extra bed. Then he can just pick both of us up from there."

Bella wasn't sure that was such a good idea, but the look her mother was giving her told her that she didn't have much of a choice. She grimaced inwardly and said with a smile externally, "Sure mom that sounds like a plan." She turned to her boyfriend, "Is that ok with you Jasper?"

Jasper didn't want to think about not having Bella snuggled up against him while she slept. He also didn't want to be too far away from her with the other vampires running free, but he didn't have much of a choice. He gave her a small smile, "Sure darlin' that will work." Cringing inwardly, he said to himself, "But I will be there the whole time and no one will get near you."

Bella and Jasper got out of the police cruiser and watched Bella's parents drive off after saying one last good bye. Jasper took Bella's hand and led her into the house. He felt her pull back a little and when he turned to look at her, her eyebrow was raised in silent question. He exhaled sharply and picked her up to get her into the house faster. When he set her down in his room, he had to contain the laughter at the go to hell look she was giving him. He leaned down and gave her a kiss, "Sorry Bella, but I needed you in the house and not out in the open."

"Are you going to tell me what is going on or did I just blow my parents off for no reason?" Bella frowned.

Jasper stared at her for a minute before he broke eye contact and walked away to sit on the bed. When he looked up, she had turned so that she could watch him, "The phone call was from Carlisle."

"Is everything ok with the family?" She immediately wondered if something had happened to one of them and although she should have been expecting his next words, she wasn't.

"The family is fine, but Sam's pack caught another one on their side of the line. They caught the scent of two more, but have not found them. So everyone is on the hunt to look for the two strangers. Don't worry: Carlisle has Esme at your dad's house in order to make sure that no one enters that shouldn't. The others joined the wolves to search on our side of the line."

Bella was shocked and once again she was reminded that she was still in danger. She looked at Jasper and thought about how easily she could be taken away from him and shivered. Step by slow step she made her way over to the bed and stood in front of the man she loved. She cleared her throat and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. In the next moment she was in Jasper's arms and she was clinging to him.

"Don't worry Bella, I am here and everyone will do anything they can to make sure you are alright. No one will get close to you or your family. Ok sweetheart?" Jasper said into her hair.

"I know. I was just kind of hoping that everything was done. We are so close to when I will be changed and now I am worried that something will happen to Charlie once we leave. Who is going to watch out for him?" Bella cried.

"We will work something out to make sure that he is safe after we leave. I am sure that Sam and his boys will help to watch out for him."

Bella nodded and held on just a little bit harder, "I trust you." She stayed in his embrace for a while longer, neither moving. Soon enough reality imposed and she realized that they needed to get going. She told her mother that she would be at the hotel in an hour and she didn't want to be too late. If should could though, she would not go. She did not want to leave Jasper and she did not want to be without him right now. She wanted him with her in her bed with his arms around her and telling her that everything was going to be alright. She croaked, "I guess we need to get going."

Jasper pulled back and looked at Bella in the face. She needed to calm down before he could talk her to her mother. He sent her calming vibes and when he knew that she was feeling better, he told her to go wash her face and he would take her to the hotel. He watched her walk away and when she came back, he gave her a hug and kissed the top of her head, "I will not let anything happen and I will be right there tonight. I may not be in the room with you, but I will be right there. I promise." When she nodded her agreement, he let her go and took her hand. Together they walked down to the garage and got into his truck.

Less than fifteen minutes later, Bella and Jasper pulled up to the hotel and went in search of her mother. Bella knocked on the door and there was no answer. "Jasper do you hear anything in there?" She asked turned to him when there had been no response to their repeated knocks and attempts to get the inside occupants attention.

"No nothing, let me try," he said trying to stay calm for the sake of the woman next to him, but he didn't hear any breathing or heartbeat coming from the other side of the door. He banged and still no response. He felt Bella's fear and anxiety growing by the second and tried to keep her calm using his gift. It wasn't easy because he was feeling anxious also. "Let's go check in with the front desk clerk to see if he saw anything." He grabbed her hand again and pulled her to the lobby. When he finally got the attention of the front desk clerk, he asked, "Do you know if Renee Dwyer has returned to the hotel yet?"

"I'm sorry sir, but my shift just started ten minutes ago and I haven't seen here since I have been here," the clerk replied.

"Jasper what if…?" Bella said panicking.

It took all of Jasper's concentration to keep the panic from rising in both of them. He looked from his girlfriend to the clerk, "Do you have a piece of paper that I can write a message on?" He took the paper and pen and wrote his name and phone number down before handing everything to the hotel employee, "If you see her, please give her this number and have her call me immediately. It is urgent." He turned to Bella, "Try calling her cell phone and if she doesn't answer then call Charlie."

Bella nodded. She needed to take a deep breath and stay calm. She tried her mother's cell phone first and it immediately went to voice mail. She looked at Jasper with worried eyes, "Voicemail." She nodded when he reminded her to call Charlie. She swallowed and took in another breath letting it out slowly. She hit the button for her father's cell phone and heard him answer. She wasn't very calm when she yelled into the phone, "Dad, Jasper brought me to the hotel, but mom isn't here. She is missing!"