CHAPTER 13

EPOV

The flight to Seattle was the longest of my life. I was glad Alice was with me because if she wasn't I swear I would have snapped the flight attendant's neck after she asked me if I was okay for the 22nd time. When we landed we made our way to the rental car, a silver Lamborghini Diablo, and drove towards Forks. We hit the town limits in under an hour. We agreed to split up and meet back at our place.

"I'll check her house and the school." I said, "You check our place and call Charlie at the station. Pretend you just got back into town and see what information he has."

"Got it. See you in an hour." she said giving my hand a squeeze.

I let Alice take the car and ran to Bella's house. Charlie was not at home. I climbed the house and entered through her window and into her room. Her sweet scent assailed me. I looked around quickly. The only things that I could see missing was, her backpack, some clothes, a few books, her scrapbook and her CD that I gave her. Everything else was there. It seemed odd that if she was planning an extended trip she wouldn't take more. I did a quick search of the rest of the house and found nothing amiss.

The newspapers on the coffee table showed her picture with the caption "MISSING", but honestly it was such a bad picture that there was no way anyone would recognize her. Charlie sure wasn't keeping up with the housework in her absence.

I ran back upstairs and jumped out her window, closing it carefully. Where was my Bella?

I dashed to the school listening for stray thoughts that might include her but since it was Saturday night there were not a lot of people around. I decided to take a quick run to our meadow before meeting Alice.

To my utter disappointment there was no trace of her there. Where was Bella?

APOV

I was glad I came with Edward. Honestly if I didn't there would have been trouble on the plane. He was so tense that I thought he was going to snap. We got out of the airport and made our way to Forks in under an hour, faster than the flight to Port Angeles.

We split up at the entrance to the town. Edward went to Bella's house and the school while I went home and called Charlie.

There was no sign of her at the house so I picked up the phone and dialed Charlie at the station.

"Hello Forks Police Department." the voice said

"Hello, This is Alice Cullen. Is Chief Swan in?"

"Hold the line please."

"Alice??" Charlie came on. "Are you back in Forks? Have you heard from Bella?"

"Charlie. What do you mean have I heard from Bella? I was calling to see where she was. Edward and I just got back and the rest of the family should be here in the next day or two. Where's Bella?"

"Oh Alice. She's gone. She ran away. Something about being a burden. Is Edward with you?" he said sadly

"Well not right now. He's on his way to your house to see Bella." I told him.

"Has he been with you the whole time?" he asked

"No Charlie I was in Paris and just got word of my family situation a few days ago." I said. "Edward and all the rest have been on Isle Esme for weeks."

"Isle Esme? Where is that?" he asked

"It's a small private island off of Brazil." I told him

"I was really hoping that maybe she had run away with him. At least then I would know she is safe." he said sadly.

"Do you have any leads Charlie?" I asked

"All I know is that she got on a ferry out of Port Townsend on Friday, a week ago. Her call came from Oak Harbor. Nothing more than that."

"Charlie I have to find Edward. He will be devastated to hear she's gone." I told him. "We may have to go join the others if Mom and Dad aren't here tonight. I don't know how to deal with Edward. How to tell him."

"Take care Alice. Is there a cell number I can reach you at if I hear anything more?"

"Sure Charlie. The number is 204......" I said quickly, " I will talk to you soon."

As I put down the phone I saw Edward walk into the room.

"I heard it all. I guess we catch the ferry next. Her little red truck shouldn't be hard to follow, right?" he said.

We ran out of the house and jumped in the rental car again.

"I like this car so much I may need to get one." I said lightly to Edward.

"When we find Bella I'll buy you one." he said and grabbed my hand giving it a squeeze.

I called Carlisle and filled him in on all the details we had so far. They are going to be home in the next few hours. I told him to give Jasper my love and that we would meet them back in Forks as soon as we could.

The drive to Port Townsend took no time. We had 30 minutes to waste before we got to the ferry and Edward wanted to sniff around bit. We started at gas stations knowing that Bella's truck would need gas frequently. We found her scent at one and near the bathroom and decided that we would get on the ferry.

On the ferry I knew I would have to confess to Edward what I had done. Once on the ferry we sat in the car. I was thankful for the tinted windows because everybody came to gawk at the car.

"Umm Edward. I need to tell you something." I said quietly.

"What is it Alice?" he asked looking me in the eyes.

"I did something. I think it was the right something but it may make finding her harder." I confessed.

"What do you mean Alice?" he asked warily.

"When Jazz and I got into the car to leave for Paris, I had a vision of Bella. In the vision she needed money, and lots of it. So I left her one hundred thousand dollars in an envelope with a note. I know she has the money now." I told him.

"Oh Alice!! You don't know how happy that makes me." he sighed as I looked at him confused. How could he be happy when I had just made it a lot harder for us to find her.

He smiled, "Alice at least she'll have what she needs, she won't be hungry or cold. No matter what money means she has been near people and then we'll be able to find her."

"Oh" was all I could manage to say.

We spent the rest of the trip staring at the map, trying to figure out where she might go. Edward was certain that she would stay in the US and probably stay near lots of people. I wasn't so sure. It seemed like Bella would always do the opposite of what we expected. I searched my visions for a clue and came up with the one of her packing her bag. She had her passport.

"Canada." Edward and I said together. We passed Oak Harbor, not bothering to stop. I looked at the map as he drove north.

"There are two main border crossings and one small one." I said.

"I'm guessing she took one of the main ones." he said.

"Little one it is." I smiled.

"What do you mean Alice?" he looked at me

"Well so far she always seems to do the opposite of what you expect so lets just go with it." I smiled

He couldn't help but laugh at the logic and truth behind what I had said.

As we pulled up at the border and opened the window the soft scent of Bella was in the air. I was right! We were across into Canada quickly but where would she go from there? Did she continue north or stay local. It was late so we made for a nearby city, Abbotsford. We knew she would have come at night and probably needed a place to stay so we started searching motels. On our second try we got it. We followed her scent to a little restaurant and then to a bedroom door. The trail was still over a week old. We followed it down to the parking lot. Her scent was strong here. We saw a huge puddle of oil from her truck. Edward smiled, thinking she couldn't have gone far if her truck was leaking oil.

We decided to stay in Abbotsford to pick up her scent. We split up and agreed to meet back at the restaurant before dawn.

I prayed we were on to something.