Dirty Dollybigmomma was playing with me real beta nice all through this chapter.

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Chapter 45 – Making Plans

EDWARD

Something wasn't right with Alice. She was the one person in the world who could block me out of her mind, and I knew she was doing it now. She was singing nursery rhymes in her head, and it was driving me nuts. I wanted to pull her aside and ask her what the hell was going on, but I didn't have a chance.

Captain Whitlock seemed to hover around her like she was the fucking queen. I could tell by his thoughts that he was an emotional wreck, but somehow, he found some calm in Alice, which was ironic, because Alice reminded me of a child hyped up on Pixy Stixs. She was the opposite of calm, but for some reason, he found comfort in that.

Emmett surprised us all by making friends with Oliver. I had taken him and Oliver to wash his hands and told him a little about how Oliver had lost his mother, and that my falling out of the tree probably really upset him. I could tell by the way the little cretin clung to me that it had. Emmett felt a bit bad for upsetting the little guy, and we did our best to make Oliver see I was okay and that Emmett was nice. It took a lot more hugging my brother than I was comfortable with, but at least I had my brother there to hug, and I appreciated it.

Oliver sat perched on Emmett's shoulder as they shared some fried plantains. I had to laugh when Oliver would occasionally shove one in Emmett's mouth. That was what he got for feeding the monkey. He had put the food straight into Oliver's mouth instead of his hand, and so Oliver decided to do the same and would shove it in Emmett's mouth before he could protest. It was pretty funny as he choked down the food, smiling tightly and thanked him by giving him another piece in return. The idiot didn't realize that as long as he kept shoving food in Oliver's mouth, he'd be shoving it in his. I snickered to myself and thought I would keep this information to myself.

In my distraction, I didn't notice Captain Whitlock had slipped off somewhere, and Bella and Alice had snuck out as well. When I went to check on Jacob, I was surprised to find he was with Captain Whitlock, who was talking to him like a crew member.

"Now, First Officer Jacob, we have orders from Ms. Alice, and we have to complete them, because she has a way of knowing things."

If he only knew...

I quickly checked Alice's mind, and she was smiling and giggling as Bella hugged her. "Alice, you're the best!"

'Get out of my head, Edward. Go make something nice for dinner,' she mentally chastened me, and then I saw a flash of Bella and I kissing by a table outside under the stars. 'I'm babysitting for your date tonight, so get to work on something special!' she snapped, and I saw her vision of wild boars on the far side of my meadow.

She was babysitting, and we were having bacon! I was thrilled that Bella and I would have some time alone tonight on our date. Bella and I would be going on our first date. Holy shit! I was suddenly freaking out.

BELLA

Alice dragged me off into my room after whispering something to Captain Whitlock and handing him Jacob. At least he wasn't wearing the sock eye patch this morning, and I knew Edward could keep an eye on them, so I didn't fight her as she dragged me off.

She opened Edward's trunk and reached into the bottom of it, pulling out a small box. She handed it to me, clapping. "I was going to save this for another time, but since you're going to be leaving, you might as well get some use out of it tonight."

I opened the box and found lotion, Chap Stick, and a little bit of makeup. There was even nail polish!

"I didn't tell him what was in the box, so don't hold it against him for not giving it to you sooner, okay. He was originally going to give them to you as Christmas and Valentine's Day presents, but we won't be here for them," she said as she practically danced over to me. "I also brought you the perfect dress," she giggled.

She disappeared for a moment and then came back with a bag in her hand. She held it out, and I took it, pulling out a cotton gauze sundress. I shook it out and smiled. It was beautiful.

"You don't need a bra with it, and if things go your way, you won't need panties, either," she winked at me.

I looked down at my bra and panties that were worn, discolored and holey. I decided I'd go without them tonight, so I could feel almost normal and not like a stranded hobo.

EDWARD

I was tracking the boar. I finally cut it off, perching up on some rocks, and I thought it interesting that I was hunting much like the wild cats whose cave I occupied. I saw a wild boar come through the clearing and realized if I wanted to have bacon, I was going to need something stronger than the arrows I had.

I found a long semi-straight broken branch and decided that this would work. I pulled out my knife and quickly started sharpening the end of it. I cut a slit once I had it close to a point and stuck the tip of one of my arrows into it.

I just hoped it worked.

I crawled on my belly back to the edge of the rocks I had been hiding on and peeked over to see if the boar was still there.

There were a few that had joined the first, and they were lingering around the rocks. If I was going to get one, I had to make my move fast, before they wandered away from my prime position. I looked down at the boar that was closest to me. It was medium-sized, so it would easily feed us all for the next few days, if I could get it.

I grabbed my makeshift spear and jumped off the rock, holding it tight as I slammed the spear into the boar. I quickly realized this was not a well-thought-out plan, as I was now perched on the end of the spear like it was a pogo stick, surrounded by angry boars. Yeah, not well thought out at all.

I quickly scrambled off the dead boar and up the rock I had been hiding on. To my great distress, the boars knew a path to get up the damn rocks, and so I found myself diving off the rocks and clinging to a tree out of their reach.

Just when I thought I was safe, a monster boar started pushing against the tree, making it rock. The bastards were going to take the damn thing down with me in it.

When I heard Sam barking in the distance, I didn't know whether to be happy or tell him to run. I didn't want him getting hurt. I was relieved to see that Emmett and Captain Whitlock were in tow, along with Oliver, who quickly joined me in the tree, throwing shit at the boars, screeching at the top of his lungs. I think to everyone's surprise, Captain Whitlock pulled out a gun and fired a few shots toward the boars, scaring the damn things off.

When the last one finally ran from the clearing, Emmett started laughing his head off. "You know, Bro, if you weren't hiding in a tree with a shit-throwing monkey, I'd think you were pretty cool," he smirked, walking over to my dead boar.

"Shut it, or you're not getting any bacon," I threatened.

He shoved the spear further through the boar, and Captain Whitlock grabbed the other end, hoisting it up on his shoulder. "Let's get this back to camp so we can dress it for dinner."

Sam barked a few more times at the retreating boars. "Don't worry, boy, you'll definitely be getting bacon."

ROSE

Garrett was quick to get Edward's files to me, and I was able to reapply for his medical license. I had my house listed as his current address. I didn't want to draw any attention to Emmett's place, where Charlie and our legal crew were working.

I told them about my little encounter with Alec. Charlie was upset, until I reminded him that I'd had Demetri with me. I kept him with me most of the time I was out, not really for security, though. I mostly used him to help me around when my body became too sore, and moving hurt too much for me to do it on my own.

Being crushed under two cars and dragged fifty feet through glass tended to stick with you. I'd always have pain, but at least I had a life. Alice had a way of making me feel like I was important, and between her and Margaret, I knew the accident was not the end of my life.

Judge Talbot suggested that we set up a circuit of lawyers. They would call in a large group of plaintiffs all at once. It had to be done simultaneously to keep the Volturi from finding out until it was too late. Conversations would be recorded, and the DA had settlement deals ready for the lying plaintiffs if they came clean and ratted out the crooked law group.

Since the group of people we were dealing with were money-hungry scum, we used the guise of a cash prize to lure them all in. It would take at least two weeks to be sure that everyone received their prize letter. The date was set, and I had a "prize hotline" set up for them to call and confirm their pick-up time. I had a list of lawyers and gave the caller a time, place and person they were supposed to meet at the lawyer's office, because that "large sum of money" would have to be handled by legal.

If everything went according to plan, we'd have a solid case against the Volturi.

I was surprised when I received a call from Garrett. "I've got a ping, and I'm worried it might be your sister."

"A ping?"

"It's what we call someone who might get in trouble," he said, and it sounded like he was fumbling with someone.

"Tell her! Tell her!" a little girl's voice shouted in the background.

"I am, Emily, just give me a dang minute," he griped. "Sorry for the interruption, Ms. Hale. As I was saying, we believe your sister may have warned people about a hurricane hitting the coast of Louisiana in the next few hours. The storm has taken a sudden unexpected turn, but surprisingly, the whole lower half of the town it was going to hit has already been evacuated. Word on the street was that a woman told their friend of the coming storm, and we believe she's being hunted."

"Tell her I saw them!" the girl shouted.

"Damn it, Emily, I shut my office door for a reason!"

"Tell her!" she insisted.

"Ms. Hale, I suggest a plan of action be made to make sure your sister stays safe."

"Let me talk…" the little girl tried to butt in again.

"Child, where is your mother? You can't be grabbing my phone while I'm working."

"Daddy!" the voice whined, making me smile.

"Sorry, honey, I was working on an extraction. I didn't realize she left the playroom." It sounded like a woman had come into his office.

"Mommy, I had a big vision, my first big one like you, of a girl, and she saved everybody, now we got to save her and her friends and her baby and her monkey and her silly birds and..."

"Okay, honey, Daddy will take care of it," the woman placated the little girl.

I heard the door close, and Garrett let out a sigh of relief. "As I was saying, Ms. Hale, we believe your sister and the group of people she's returning with from fetching Dr. Cullen will be tracked. If you'd like our help with picking them up, I'd gladly give you a hand. Just make sure your sister knows not to say anything again. She should've been taught about being quiet in her facility. Alistair was a bit lax with patients he didn't see leaving right away. When I looked at Alice's file, I saw she'd been with his group for over a decade. Honestly, I don't know how that wasn't pounded into her head. I feel like we failed her."

"Thank you for the heads-up, Garrett. I'll let you know if I need help."

"Just get a car down there to pick them up. They can't take the van like they originally planned. It'll be followed. You need to pick them up on Tenth Street, by Lucky's Market. Emily doesn't know how to establish time yet, but they show up after the hurricane hits, but before cleanup is started or people return. She said the town was still deserted. Can I trust you to pick them up, Ms. Hale? I really need this done safely. I know Emily will be watching, and I don't want her to get discouraged."

He sounded so commanding one moment and like a big softy the next. I knew he didn't want to upset his daughter. I actually really wanted to meet his family.

"Garrett, do you live at the Black Land facility you manage?"

"Yes."

"I'd like to come for a visit and maybe tour the place."

"I'll need to clear it with my wife, but I don't see why it'd be an issue. Are you considering readmitting your sister?"

"She might like the option open to her, and I just want to make sure this isn't some ploy to collect gifted people."

The man laughed. "Alright, Ms. Hale. Just let me know when you're coming, and I'll show you around myself."

I suspected the Black Land facilities did more than just house gifted people. Alice never spoke about what they did there, other than a few craft classes, but I had a feeling more was going on. It was so obvious now that I thought about it. There was no way Alice would have been so content or sane in the hospital for so long, with having the visions she did, unless someone was stepping in and taking actions to prevent things. It sounded like a magnificent organization, if what I suspected was true.

I'd set up my visit later. The most pressing matter I had to deal with now was getting into a hurricane-blown town and save my sister. I was beginning to think I just might have to call Garrett back and ask for his help.

A/N: Thanks for reading and please review!