Chapter Twenty

Bella

I whirled round and he was there, standing behind me, dressed in faded jeans and a tee-shirt ripped at the shoulder as if straight from working on his friend's house. I ran to him throwing myself into his arms. Suddenly I felt complete. He stiffened but then his arms came round me.

"Hey so you are glad to see me. Makes the pain of being away worth it".

I looked up at his face, even more beautiful than I remembered.

"Did you feel it? Did you have a huge hole in your chest too?"

He took one arm away and touched his chest in the same place I felt it.

"Not any more"

"No me neither".

I stiffened as the door bell rang. "Wait in here" I said leaving him in the kitchen.

Alice was standing there and she didn't look happy.

"Where is he?" she said pushing past me and through to the kitchen.

"Jasper" she said as she leaned forward to take his hand.

I felt an irresistible urge to pull her away bodily and he looked over to me with a smile. He knew what I was thinking.

"Jasper you have to get Bella away and keep her hidden. Victoria is looking for her and so are the Volturi. Someone has told Aro about her and he's sent Jane and Felix to fetch her".

"Fetch not kill?" he asked quietly.

"No, fetch. Aro wants her, he's been told she may have a valuable gift. He knows she can block Edwards thoughts".

"A shield" he said taking his hand back.

"Yes and a powerful one".

"So what happens Alice? You must know with your gift".

She shook her head, "No there are far too many variables at the moment but you need to get her away and you'll need your friends if things don't change. I'm sorry Bella I never saw this until a few minutes ago. Charlie will check up on you in an hour or so. I'll stay here and fend him off to give you as long as possible but keep her out of sight and away from here".

"When will Victoria show up?" he asked suddenly.

Alice went quiet and seemed to be focusing on something.

"She'll come here first so I'll watch out for Charlie, once she knows Bella's gone I'm not sure, it depends what she decides then. I'll contact you when I know more. In the meantime go".

Jasper picked up my bag and took it out to his truck as Alice and I said goodbye.

"Make sure Charlie gets my letter Alice".

She nodded "I will but I don't think I'm going to be his favourite person when he finds out you're gone. I have to be careful because he's going to want to talk to Carlisle and that could go either way"

"How?"

"Carlisle might be on your side or Charlie's. You might have the Cullens after you too".

"And Laurent?"

She smiled, "You need to ask Jasper about him. Now go Bella and Good Luck".

As we drove off I saw Alice in the doorway, a grin on her face.

Alice

Well I'd done all I could to help them except keep Charlie guessing. If he knew Bella had run off with Jasper then he'd have the while country on alert for her, he'd also have Carlisle and the rest of the Cullens looking, especially Edward, he'd always been a sore loser. I thought back to the vision I had earlier, the one I couldn't tell Bella about. She had to disappear completely or Charlie would find her and Jasper would be forced to kill him. By running with Jasper they would be off the radar and she stood a chance at happiness, along with him, and he'd waited so long to find it. If Charlie wasn't sure what she'd done, he'd still put out an APB but he'd get nowhere looking for her boyfriend. Jasper didn't exist in his world. Carlisle might suspect but what could he do? Tell Charlie his daughter had run off with a vampire? No he'd have to work behind the scenes with just the family. What I needed to do was muddy the waters.

I headed to the kitchen and rang the Reservation, Emily answered which was ideal for my purposes, I did a pretty good impression of Bella, good enough to fool her.

"Emily I need to see Jake. I have to get away from the Cullens".

"You do? I thought you were with Edward until you went out with Jake the other night".

"Yes well Edward found out and he's really angry so I'm leaving Forks. I'll get to Renee somehow and I want him to meet me there".

"Why? He'll protect you".

"No he can't protect me from Edward and the other vampires that are after me. Ask him to get to Phoenix, I'll meet him there but don't tell anyone please Emily".

She wasn't happy but she would pass the message on. I'd left her with the impression when Jake got to Phoenix Bella would go off with him and he was deluded enough to believe it. Then I rang Edward.

"What's up Alice?"

"Its Bella, she's run away. She's scared of Jake".

By the time I'd finished I had my two main suspects headed for Phoenix, that should give Charlie pause for thought. Who was she with? The Cullens thought she was hiding from Jake, he thought she was running from Edward and only I knew the truth.

When Charlie rang I told him I'd called in on Bella and she was asleep, still sick. Then my luck got even better, he'd been called to Seattle so I said I'd stay with Bella tonight, perfect. I hid the letter she wrote behind the phone book as if it had slipped down. He'd find it but not too quickly and by that time Bella would have disappeared completely. I went hunting then came back just in case Charlie called in before leaving. He didn't but someone else did.

Sam Uley appeared on the doorstep. This was going to be an interesting conversation.
"What are you doing here?"
"Looking for Bella, I told Charlie I'd look in on her".
"Is she there?"

"No, she's gone".

"You know where?"

"She's running away. I thought perhaps with one of your dogs"

"No, Jake has followed her but I smell a rat Cullen"

"Really? If you knew she'd gone why are you here? Not chasing rats I assume"

"I don't think she's going to Phoenix Alice Cullen. Is she with your brother?"

"No. And who said she was going to Phoenix?"

"She did. She left a message for Jake with Emily and he went straight after her. But I had to ask myself why she rang Emily?"

"Well why don't you explain that to me Sam".

"Bella could have rung Jake, Billy, Harry or me. Why pick on Emily?"

"Wouldn't Harry or Billy have rung Charlie?"

"Maybe but why Emily?"

"I suppose you have a theory. Why don't you share it with me Sam"

"Emily wouldn't recognise Bella's voice on the phone, they haven't spoken very much".

"So you don't think it was Bella who rang?"

"No. I don't. I think someone wanted Jake to think she'd run to Phoenix. Away from your brother and other vampires. I don't think so Alice Cullen. I think she's run off with a vampire and somebody is trying to muddy the waters".

"Why?"

"I'm not sure but if Jake doesn't find her in Phoenix I'll be coming to your place for answers"

"Is that a threat Sam?"

"No I don't make threats, it's a promise. Charlie will find her you know, and we'll help him"

"That's good to know, Bella has friends after all. Is that it, or did you have something else to say?"

"I know who has been hanging around recently, what I don't know is why. Is Bella with him?"

"And who would that be Sam? I thought we'd established she'd either gone to Phoenix or run away with Edward".

"If she's with The Major you know she's in terrible danger."

"Who?"

"Don't play games with me. He's not the right person for Bella. If she is with him we will find them and we will get her back for Charlie. Hopefully in one piece".

"You are going looking for this Major with your pack of mutts? That sounds like a wild goose chase to me but go on, knock yourselves out. Charlie will be worried sick when you tell him and your going to have egg all over your furry faces when she rings from Phoenix".

Sam growled quietly then stepped away,

"You think you're very clever Alice Cullen. Just don't overstretch yourself. Tell Carlisle that I want to talk to him."

"OK I'll pass on the message as soon as I get back".

He turned and ran for the trees. He was too clever by half, unlike Jake who just needed a push to get him running in the direction you wanted. I would pass on Sam's message although it would make things more difficult for me, I had no choice.