Well folks that's it for another story. I will be starting a new one in the next couple of days but I am flu ridden at the moment so please forgive the delay. Thanks for all the reviews, I have read and enjoyed them all. Jules x

Chapter Fifty Seven

Jasper

I just hoped Charlie would do the right thing and go back home but I did half expect a call to tell us he was dead. When it didn't come I was relieved, he had gone back and hopefully he wouldn't try again because we wouldn't be there to help him if he did. We decided to sell the ranch that Alice had bought and look for somewhere in Montana, somewhere I could keep horses again. Once they knew Peter and Charlotte decided to find somewhere closer to us which was good because Bella and Charlotte had become firm friends. Garrett and Jenny married soon after we got back and it was good to see him happy and settled at last although I did wonder what Darius would make of it all. After all he thought he'd lost his sister once already but he too met someone. I never thought he would find a mate again, not after Sara, but just sometimes fate smiles on us and Amy was a complete contrast to Sara but the two of them soon became inseparable.

"You know Major I thought I'd been lucky to find Sara but to find another mate is just wonderful."

"I hope you are still working on the Players as well or Bella might take this one away!"

"I am and as a matter of fact Amy is helping me. She's a genius when it comes to computers and I think we'll have good news soon."

Bella

Darius came through as I knew he would, he got the list of serious players and we discovered there were only four of them besides Alice. They had closed their operations down after losing Domino but he'd still traced them and their quarry. It didn't take him long to come up with a way to make their lives intolerable. First he set up phoney bank accounts with trails leading back to drug money or stolen luxury car rings so they were forced to flee their homes. Then he added their details to the FBI most wanted list which meant they were all permanently on the run, unable to play or even settle anywhere for long. Then he contacted their victims with details of what had been done, how, and why.

After this we sat back and waited for justice to be served. Within a week two of the four were dead, killed by their victims and their money was sent to their bank accounts,

"Well its only fair, they paid the price so they should get the winnings."

I thought Darius had played this perfectly which made me think, he would have made an excellent Player himself! The third Player disappeared the following week and we knew he had been caught while trying to flee the country and burned in a furnace at the nearby steel mill. That left only one Player, the most cunning and powerful and the only other one with a backer, the backer being the Romanians. It seemed they played against Aro and that fit with their personalities and grudges. The two victims teamed up and followed Satan, the Player's nickname, to Romania. So he was trying to reach the sanctuary of his backers. It was touch and go but they caught up with him about a mile from the Romanians castle and pegged him out in full view knowing the Romanians wouldn't lift a finger to help, it would tip their hand to the Volturi. So he burned slowly, his screams echoing around the mountainside for hours or so we were told.

I wondered about my dad but he seemed to have taken our warning to heart, he stayed in Forks but he and Sue had argued over his disappearance. He hadn't told her where he was going nor where he'd been and she eventually left him to return to the reservation. After that he resigned his position as Chief of Police and started up a hunting service going into partnership with Mike Newtons father. He spent as little time as possible at the house, preferring to camp out when he could and then one day we got news. Jasper came in looking concerned,

"What's the matter? Don't tell me there's trouble in Volterra? Is it Sulpicia or Edward?"

"No not Volterra. I just got word from Forks, Garrett and Jenny were passing through and heard the news. I'm really sorry Bella but Charlie is dead. He was mauled by a bear they were hunting when his rifle misfired."

He wrapped his arms around me and I was sad but it wasn't the grief I would have felt a few years ago. At least he hadn't died at the hands of vampires and he'd been doing something he loved.

Things settled down after this and Emmett and Rose visited sometimes but although I had accepted them, after all the help they gave us, things were never quite the same between us or Jasper and Rose especially. I know this hurt hurt both of them but so much had happened that the only people I really trusted were Peter, Darius, Charlotte, and Garrett. I should be able to forgive Emmett and Rose but something held me back and I couldn't figure out what that was for a long time. Then one day it hit me, they reminded me of Carlisle and Esme and that hurt. I had felt utterly betrayed by them and I was taking it out on the only two members of the family still at large which was grossly unfair so I invited them to stay in the summer after talking to Jasper and as the days wore on and I found myself able to talk about what happened and my feelings we broke through the reserve and I was able to treat them both as true friends once more. Emmett presented me with one more charm for my bracelet and this one I didn't need any help understanding, it was the symbol for friendship and it meant a lot to both of us. I finally put the entire incident behind me and became the girl I had once been with one difference. I knew my mate would never ever betray me, we loved each other with all our heart and soul, just as it should be.

The End.