Chapter Six

Charlotte

Bella was silent as we drove away but I could tell she was livid. I thought about speaking but it was obvious she didn't want to so I just drove, with no idea where to go. Keeping on the move was our only option for now, hoping we could keep a few steps ahead of our pursuers, or die. Looking in the rear view mirror I saw a huge truck coming up behind us at speed.

"Bella we're being followed."

"Is it them? Have they caught up with us?"

"I don't think so, its flashing us"

She turned round and I saw recognition in her eyes,

"Its Emmett and Rose. Pull over Charlotte, please"

I did so reluctantly, from our earlier reception I didn't expect much from them. Rose got out first and approached, crouching down to look in the window at Bella.

"It's too late for apologies so I'm not even going to attempt one. Emmett wanted to see you before we left with Edward but I persuaded him not to. I was wrong, wrong about you and wrong to try to stop him. If you'll accept it we'd like to help."

She stopped talking then and just waited as Bella turned her attention from the windscreen to Rose,

"I know you hate me for putting your family in danger and for being Edwards obsession. This time it will be you in particular, and Emmett who are at risk personally. If Peter is right, Jasper may not recognise any of us."

"We're willing to take that risk, to try to put the wrongs right. We owe Jasper as well as you. Will you let us help?"

"OK Rose thank you. We'll talk when we find somewhere to stop."

"Carlisle has a flat near the hospital. Follow us."

Rose ran back to the truck which overtook us and Char pulled in behind it.

"You trust them?"

She looked at me and nodded sadly,

"I don't have much choice and I know Rose hated me but I don't think she's a liar Charlotte and it would be good to have someone like Emmett on our side. Not that I think he stands a chance against Jasper but it might slow him down a fraction of a second and give me time to get his attention."

When the truck pulled up in an underground Car Park we got out warily but it seemed deserted except for us. Emmett smiled tentatively and Rose led us to the elevator and up to the fifth floor where Carlisle's apartment was. It was basic but only used for cover, he never slept but it had to appear he did when on duty.

We all sat down at his work table and looked at each other.

"Why don't you fill us in" Rose said.

Charlotte explained what had happened from the time Jasper appeared in a mess on their doorstep until he disappeared to Mexico. Emmett swore bitterly blaming himself for not sticking up for Jazz to the others. It sounded like he was a lone voice in the wilderness at the time. Then I took up the story and told them about arriving in Mexico and the village before meeting Peter.

"So Peters gone back on his own to try to stop Jazz and this Nathan while they are busy hunting Bella?"

Char nodded in response to Roses question.

"What are your plans?"

"I don't have any. Alice warned us and we ran. That's as far as it goes. We decided to try you guys because there wasn't anyone else."

"Well you can't just keep running. Otherwise Bella will never get a chance to talk to Jazz. The longer he's with Maria the more difficult it will be to reach him. We need to get him alone, away from Nathan."

"Do you have a foolproof plan or is it just a wild suggestion?"

Char snapped at her while Emmett looked at me and grinned.

"Emmett I have to tell you that if I had any other alternative I wouldn't be sitting in this room with you."

"Well I guess we asked for that but please give us a chance and Bella if you're going to blame anyone it should be me, not Em. He fought against leaving you the way we did and he fought against Jasper leaving, he was the one who realized it wasn't really Jaspers fault but he'd gone by then. After Esme called him a murdering monster."

I felt so bad for Jasper, the woman who was his mother figure had condemned him without even trying to understand what had happened, thought him no better than a monster. No wonder he had gone South, back to the one place he would be accepted however bad the deeds he did. I felt so angry and so sorry and couldn't understand why. This rage had been with me since Edward had left and I'd always thought it was anger at being abandoned but now I wasn't so sure. I wondered if what I was feeling was in any way connected to Jasper. He and I had never been close, never been alone together, and hardly ever spoken more than a few words. I had been protected from him by Edward and Alice but it was he who had needed the protection when it came down to it. He was the one who had been abandoned, left with nothing and nobody.

"What happened to Alice?"

Rose looked at me long and hard before replying,

"She's in Paris shopping but you don't mean that do you? She had a terrible scene with Jasper a week after the party when we were all in Denali with Tanya's family. She called him some dreadful names and accused him of ruining her life with his violence. Carlisle tried to calm things down but it was very half-hearted, he felt Jazz had let us down in the worst possible way. Esme of course sided with Alice and between them they more or less threw him out. Em and I walked in to the middle of it and by the time we were up to speed he'd gone. He just ran out and we never saw him again."

"Alice must have seen what he'd do though"

"If she did, she never said anything. All she did was lock herself in her room for a couple of days then we came home one day to find her burning all his stuff in the garden. She shredded photos, threw her wedding ring in the river and told us she never wanted to hear his name again. She even burned the only photograph he had of his parents. Within a week she was back to her sunny self and took herself off with Tanya to Switzerland for a holiday. I think that's where she met Stefan, her new boyfriend. They plan on getting married soon."

"Is that why she warned us about Jazz? Do you think she felt guilty at last?"

Emmett laughed loudly and scornfully,

"If Alice did anything you can bet there was something in it for her. She still hates Jazz and I doubt she'd do a lot to help you either. After all, it was your fault she and he broke up."

I shook my head,

"I don't buy that. She must have seen what was going to happen at my party. Alice had her own agenda and destroying her relationship with Jasper was part of it."

"So what do we do now? Wait for Jasper and his Psycho friend to turn up?"

Emmett had obviously had enough of speculating.

Charlotte looked at him, rolling her eyes in disbelief,

"If we sit around waiting no one is going to be left alive to talk to Jasper, especially if Nathan gets here first. Just because Maria sent the two of them doesn't mean they'll be working together. Nathan sees The Major as his arch-enemy where Maria is concerned and if he can solve her problem first then he will and that won't include taking any prisoners. No we need to keep moving unless anyone has a brilliant plan to put forward."

Rose looked at Em as if she had an alternative,

"There's always the Quileutes"

What possible good would going to the Res achieve? I wondered.

"No way, why should we put them in danger? They can't fight off vampires."

"Wrong Bella it's probably the safest place for you if they agree to protect you and with Charlie being friends with the Tribal Elders they just might."

"Protect me? I don't understand."

"It's not our secret to tell you but they are able to protect you from vampires."

"And what do we tell Charlie when he finds out where I am? Sorry Dad I can't come visit in case I lead the vampires to you? Not going to happen folks."

"Do you think they would agree to supply a couple of Bodyguards for Bella?"

I looked at Charlotte, they were all mad. I was surrounded by vampires and they wanted Bodyguards for me!

"Jake was your friend. Will you speak to him for us?"

I shook my head firmly,

"No. No one else gets hurt on my account. No one"

Emmett shrugged,

"Its Bella's call. I was talked into doing something once. Something I believed was wrong and I've felt guilty ever since. I vowed I'd never do it again nor make anyone else so Bella has my vote. I'm not sure bringing in the wolves is such a bright idea anyway. If Jazz sees them he'll automatically think the worst and attack."

"Wolves? What wolves?"

I stopped questioning as I remembered the conversation I'd had with Jake on the beach in La Push. He told me about the Tribe's Legends, how they changed into wolves to protect the Tribes people from the Cold Ones. If the Cold Ones existed, proof of which was standing in front of me, then so did the wolves. Was Jake a wolf protector? Had the two men who both loved me been deadly enemies? If so I couldn't expect help from Jake.

"So, if not the Quileutes, who and where?"