Disclaimer: All the Twilight stuff belongs to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing in her sandbox.

Author's Note: There was an error in the ending of the last chapter, it was corrected but some of you had already read it. You might want to re-read the last few paragraphs of the last chapter, just to make sure you are on track! Sorry about that! I'm actually trying not to leave you hanging, it's just hard not to when more is revealed with each point of view! Don't shoot me! Updates are coming sooner than promised, at least! Thanks to all of you for reading my attempts at writing! Your reviews, comments and opinions make this worth the effort for me and literally make my day. If you are enjoying the story, or if the angst is driving you nuts, share it with me!

Chapter 76 Discovered

EPOV

I had not allowed myself to be this hopeful since she was taken. Jasper had met me halfway up the stairs bursting with excitement because he had come to the same conclusion I had.

Charlie followed us into the library as Jasper checked Riley's location on the map. He called and let Jacob know about the fireplace and Bella's scent, then I spoke with Jacob, seemingly repeating what Jasper had just told him.

"Bella called. There is a fireplace in the room where she's being held, and she's trying to get her scent out in to the open air where we can track her."

"That's my Chica! Brilliant! I'm not going nuts, it is her that I smell!" he yelled.

"I'll wait to see where Riley starts out on foot, then join you Jacob," I told him, "And Jacob . . . thanks man. I mean it. Thank you for being there for her."

"You don't need to thank me for that, bloodsucker. I love her, too, remember!" he said, hanging up the phone.

I turned to explain to everyone what Bella had realized about the fireplace only to find that Charlie had already told them. Sue had her arms around Charlie's neck and Emily was jumping up and down with Alice as Emmett high fived Jasper and Esme stood there with Rose, eyes wide as though she just couldn't believe it.

"Esme, you go with Rose and Emmett and see if you can catch a whiff of Bella in the area I've narrowed the search to. Edward is going to stay here till we see where Riley is headed, then he'll be out there with you as well. Jacob and Sam are already close, they followed Riley's tracks back through the snow and now Jacob swears that he smells Bella," Jasper told them.

Esme, Rose and Emmett left and Sue and Emily went into the kitchen to clean up after breakfast. Charlie, Alice, Jasper and I were in the library.

"So, Bella has one of these new smart phones. The old ones seem easier to use, simpler," Charlie commented, turning the phone over and examining it, "It was down all day yesterday because of the storm?"

"Yes. It works directly off the satellite rather than being dependent on the cell towers. It gives it range all over the world and makes it so that there is no place that doesn't get service," Jasper explained.

"I've heard of these, but only as something in the James Bond movies and CIA stories and such," Charlie informed us, "Not something that your average every day person would have."

"I got them for us when I found out Bella was pregnant, Charlie. I gave Renee one as well, thinking that she might need to talk to her Mom about . . . things. I wanted her to always be able to reach her, and I wanted to always be able to reach Bella so that I would know where she was and if she was alright," I explained.

"Well, I suppose if money is no object, this would be the way to go alright. Huh. This thing gets the Internet too?" he asked.

"Yes. It receives emails and you can take photos and send them and you can even press this button," I showed him, "and it will tell you the weather wherever you are."

"So, the phone knows where it is?" he asked, continuing to distract me from the screen I was viewing, and starting to annoy me.

"Yes."

"And what does this button do?" he asked, showing me a button simply labeled LL. I had never cared before . . . but I cared now. I heard the realization dawning in Jasper's mind.

"Edward, that button locates the phones current longitude and latitude and relays it. It relays the location to the phones on the primary contact list . . . Edward!" Jasper looked ecstatic.

"Charlie, Thank God for your inquisitive cop instincts!" Jasper all but shouted. He was absolutely elated.

"Jasper," I said in disbelief, "You mean all she has to do is press that button and her phone will send a signal telling us exactly where she is?"

"Yes. Yes it will. You just have to find a way when she calls to tell her without Victoria hearing, and that will be tough," Jasper warned.

I couldn't believe it. We had the capability of locating her all along and none of us realized it. I was an idiot. I had purchased the phones myself, probably too caught up in being with Bella and Renee to even listen to the sales pitch. Thank God Charlie had gotten inquisitive about the fancy phones!

"Charlie, you're a genius! If I can just figure out a way to tell Bella without Victoria understanding what I'm telling her, we can locate her in minutes." I told him excitedly.

I double checked the area that Jasper had narrowed the search to and decided to go there and wait for her call. Jasper rigged my phone so that he could hear the call as well and pick up on anything Bella told us with no delay. Finding where they had her held was only the first part of the problem, but it was a step in the right direction. I still had to get her away from two angry vampires . . . and she was so fragile compared to us. She could be injured so severely just by having one of us knock into her too hard and send her flying across the room. I had to protect her, as well as my son. I ran to Cashiers, the phone held tightly in my hand so that I could feel the vibrations if it rang. It was close to three o'clock and she would be calling me soon.I knew that Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Jacob and Sam were all relatively nearby, continuing their search for Bella, and they would be alerted by Jasper as soon as we had a definite location coming from her phone, Jasper and Alice would run here full tilt as well. there were so many possibilities, Riley's tracks, Bella's scent and now the possibility of a signal from her phone directly to us . . . we were getting so close . . .

The phone vibrated in my hand, and the caller id verified what I had been hoping for . . .

"Bella."

"Edward."

"You sound off, sweetheart, has she hurt you?"

"No. I'm fine, really. I'm, okay. Victoria and Riley are in the room with me though."

I heard Victoria. She was shouting at Riley in the background and there was a loud noise as though something large was knocked over.

"You stupid son of a bitch! You brought it here? From her?"

"Bella! Bella! Listen while they are fighting, press the button on the bottom left of the phone that is labeled LL. Press it so I can hear you over all the commotion, Bella.

I heard another loud band and Victoria calling him an idiot. Bella was talking to someone else, desperately trying to get an answer from the girl named Bree.

"Bella, Bella . . . talk to me," I virtually yelled into the phone. I heard Riley in the background screaming,

"What the hell, Victoria. I thought it was a good idea! The battery in the girls phone could have died and you are hell bent on getting money from them."

"Edward," she panted, sounding out of breath," they're fighting, Edward . . ."

"Shit! What the hell are you doing Victoria?"

I heard the loud, metallic ripping sound that could only mean one thing . . .

"Oh my God, Edward. She ripped his arm off!"

"Bella! Bella!" I shouted. I could hear her labored breathing, struggling with something . . . and various muffled bumps. It sounded like she was dragging something.

"Loved you! Loved you? You stupid boy. I loved a man . . .a man that the Cullen's killed over that little human."

"Edward. I love you. I love you!" She sounded desperate and out of breath.

"I love you, sweetheart . . . ," I said as I heard the phone clatter as though it had been dropped.

"Bella! Bella!" I called into the phone, but there was no answer, only Riley's voice, pleading with Victoria not to kill him. I continued to listen as more ripping and tearing sounds could be heard, then only the not so quiet crackling of a fire.

"Oh, girls!"

Oh God. Victoria had finished Riley and she was looking for Bella. I looked down at my phone and took the message that was flashing . . . it was coordinates. She had done it! Bella had pressed the locator button and her location was flashing in front of me. There was only one vampire still there, or in one piece anyway, and she was stalking my girl. I needed to get to her, and now. I took off with more speed than I thought myself capable of.

Her smell was getting stronger with each stride I took. I could smell Bella clearly now . . . and I could hear a struggle. Victoria. Her mind was a range of emotion, but at the forefront was revenge. Werewolves had killed her friend Laurent, and she wanted to end the two that were in front of her. Sam and Jacob were fighting her.

Jacob's thoughts were single minded . . . kill the bitch that killed his father so that he could get into the house and find Bella. Bella. There was an urgency there that . . . oh dear God. The house was on fire! That was why he was in such a desperate hurry to kill her, not taking his time to torment or enjoy the kill. I ran faster. I would be there in moments.

I saw red hair separated from a body as I approached, but I didn't slow down. I was hell bent on getting to that house and finding Bella, so much so that I neglected Sam's thoughts. If I had read his mind a split second before I ran past him I would have been able to avoid his teeth sinking into my shoulder and arm. His thoughts were murderous. He was commanding Jacob to help him end me and burn the pieces along with Victoria's and blame my death on Victoria. I knew he hated us but this was beyond anything I had imagined. The man had accepted the hospitality of my home, grudgingly yes, at his wife's insistence yes, but he was there none the less. But to turn on me this viciously. I couldn't fathom it. From where he gripped me, I could so easily reach over and snap his neck, ending him. Some things even wolves did not heal from, but my thoughts centered on Jacob.

Jacob was resisting the command from Sam to come and help. He had only to grab me and, if I wasn't fast enough to break Sam's neck, they could rip me in two. Jacob was approaching, drawn to move forward by Sam's Alpha voice in his head. As I watched, Jacob's appearance changed. He grew taller, fuller around and somewhat more menacing as I watched. He growled loudly, his voice reflecting the command in his mind.

"Stop fighting. Release him."

Jacob was assuming the authority that had always been his, and Sam had no choice but to comply, removing his teeth from my shoulder and dropping me to the ground.

I paid no attention to the wolves as I heard Jacob phase to human form, I had to get to Bella. The house was fully engulfed in flames now. I headed in the front door feeling the flames on my arm as I entered only to feel myself being jerked backwards. Jacob had his arms around me from behind, restraining my unburned arm and forcing me away from the fire.

"Edward, no. You can't go in there. We have to hope she got out, Edward. We have to hope," he kept telling me.

I could not bear the thought of her burning, of loosing my wife and son. I dropped to my knees, overwhelmed for the moment with grief. I had already circled the house and I knew there was no evidence or scent of her having entered or left on foot, yet she had to have been there. I just talked to her from here . . . I heard Victoria on the other end of the phone, and the crackle of the fire. No, she had to have been here . . . dear God . . . in there . . .

I stared into the house and the flames that were consuming it. She was so fragile, so delicate . . . and the house was a raging inferno. "Bella! Bella!" I screamed as my mothers arms encircled me and venom flowed down my face. There was nothing for me. I felt nothing but pain and emptiness. Bella had been right, I had a heart and a soul because my heart was breaking as I sat there, realizing that she and Masen were gone. I could never have felt so desolate, such a bottomless pit of despair, had I not had a soul.

My mother and sister were tending to my wounds. They noticed the jagged, torn teeth marks, along with the burns and were spreading venom on them in an effort to help them heal. There was no point. It would never have time to heal. They wrapped it to keep it from view, as emergency personnel were arriving, firemen and medics. The arm didn't matter. Nothing mattered.

"I can't see anything, Edward. Nothing. It's probably just because the dogs are here. Honestly, let me go off by myself and see. We just don't know yet, Edward. Please don't give up hope yet, we just don't know!" Alice begged me.

We sat for what seemed like forever, the flames dying down with the firemen's efforts and night approaching. A fireman approached us holding his hand out to us as though to show us something.

"Excuse me folks. This was lying just inside the front door and we were wondering if any of you recognized it?" he asked as he held out the ash covered necklace that I had designed and given to my wife.

I heard a few sharp intakes of breath around me, as well as my own as realization overtook me.

I stood for the first time in what must have been hours. I felt myself shaking as I took the necklace in my hand. It was Bella's. My Bella . . . God, she was gone. I met Alice and Esme's eyes for only a moment, I had to get home. I could barely see through the venom that poured from my eyes and down my face, but I had to get home to Bella . . .

~oooOooo~

Carlisle POV

I asked one of the medics for the exact location of the accident, and it made no sense to me. I thought perhaps it had occurred near where Bella's stunt with the fireplace ash could have left her scent falling on some of the victims . . . well, one of the victims. When I had returned from helping move a critical care to the OR I had smelled her. A young woman about Bella's age lay on a stretcher unconscious, her face bruised and her ribs apparently broken. The nurse said that a young pregnant woman with short brown hair had driven her in and orderlies had gotten her out of the car. The woman that had brought her in was no where to be found. How odd. Why the hell would this young woman smell like Bella?

My phone rang, it was my wife calling.

"Petal, what's going on?"

"Oh, Carlisle," she cried. Though no tears would ever fall, my wife was sobbing almost uncontrollably.

"Petal, how is Edward? His arm?"

"Alice and I coated it with venom and bandaged it, Carlisle, but it doesn't matter. We're going to loose him, Carlisle. There is no way he is going to survive loosing her," she cried.

"Oh My God. We don't know that she's gone!" I tried to tell her, but she cut me off.

"Carlisle, no one could have survived that fire, it isn't possible," she sobbed.

"Petal! Have they found a body?"

"What?"

"Have the fireman found a body?"

"We'll no, but the fire is still burning in places," she said softly.

"Listen to me. Until her body is found, we can't be sure. Do you understand, Petal, we can't be sure!" I insisted, "Petal, there is a young woman here who has Bella's scent all over her. She has to have been near Bella, there is no other explanation. The nurses say a young pregnant woman drove her here, then left."

"Carlisle . . ."

"I think it was Bella. It had to be her. You all stay there and wait to see if a body is found. I'm going to see if I can talk to the girl. She was unconscious when she came in, but they are trying to revive her now. Has Alice seen anything?"

"No. She can't see with Jacob near."

"Ask her to go off by herself and try her best to see anything to do with Edward or Bella. Anything, Petal. Call me back, please," I asked as I made my way to the room the girl was in.

I approached the door as the intern emerged.

"Dr. Cullen," he acknowledged me as he walked out.

"What have we got here?" I asked, gesturing to the girl on the stretcher in the room he just emerged from.

"Multiple broken ribs with a lung puncture, possibly a slight concussion. She has some bruising on her face and a black eye that appears to have been there a day or two, the lung puncture is fresh. Appears that she was ruffed up a few days ago and then it was added to today. She's starting to come around but she's pretty incoherent. Keeps mumbling something about fire," he told me.

Fire. Dear God, could it be . . .

I walked into the room and placed a cool hand on the girl's forehead and she flinched away from me immediately, starting to scream for me not to hurt her. I removed my hand and she stilled, opening her eyes, well, the one that wasn't swollen shut.

"It's alright. No one is going to hurt you. You're at Highlands Hospital and you're safe," I told her calmly.

"Safe? Safe?" she repeated, somewhat incoherently.

"Yes, you're safe now. I'm Dr. Cullen and . . . ," she cut me off.

"Cullen? Cullen?" she screeched, grasping my lab coat as though it was a lifeline.

"Yes, dear. Calm down. What's your name?" I asked.

"Bree, Bree Tanner," she whispered. Had I not been a vampire, I never would have been able to hear her. This was the girl. This was the girl that Victoria had captive with Bella. It had to be.

"Bree, do you remember anything about how you got here, who brought you here?"

"Bella. Bella drove me. There was a fire . . . ," she said so softly.

"Is she alright, Bree. Is Bella alright?"

"She's fine. She was holding her belly . . . she kept saying she had to get to Edward . . . Edw . . "

She passed out again, just at the intern returned with the supplies he needed. I ran outside to use my phone with some semblance of privacy.

"Petal, has Alice seen anything?" I asked almost frantically.

"Carlisle, what is it?" she asked.

"Bella. Bella was here. She drove the girl, Bree here to the hospital, but she left almost two hours ago," I told her.

"Here, Alice wants to talk to you," Esme said.

"Carlisle. We have to get to Edward. He wants to die. He decided to burn their house with him in it, Carlisle," Alice told me. Dear God.

"When, Alice, did you see?" I asked.

"He's going to wait till he has her with him. He wants her body with him, Carlisle, so he can burn both of them together in their bed," she explained. I heard Charlie gasp in the background, having heard what Alice was telling me.

"Thank God," I exclaimed, relieved, "Alice, you're sure he's waiting to have her with him?"

"Yes. Why, is that good?"

"Because, Alice," I said, unable to keep the smile out of my voice, "Bella is alive. He won't be able to have a body to find, at least not as of a couple of hours ago. Bella dropped Bree off here at the hospital, I just spoke with Bree. Bella drove her here!"

The cheers of my family in the background were deafening. They heard me over the phone, of course, and were overjoyed. Now we just had to find her, as well as Edward. There was only one place that Bella would have headed . . . probably the same place Edward headed . . . home.

Emmett POV

I couldn't believe my ears. My baby sister had gotten out! Not only had she escaped, but she had apparently managed to get the other girl to the hospital. God, I hoped Bella wasn't injured.

"Did Bree say anything about Bella? Was Bella injured?" I asked loud enough for Carlisle to hear on the other end of the phone.

"Tell Emmett that I don't know how Bella is. Bree is unconscious now and I can't ask her any further questions," Carlisle said on the phone to Esme.

Damn. It was just like her to take care of someone else.

"If she was hurt, she would have gone in and found Carlisle, right?" I asked out loud.

"Maybe . . . or maybe she would just want to get to Edward," Rose answered.

"Yea. But she had no way of knowing where he is," Jake added.

"Well, the last time he talked to her, he was out looking for her, so that's no help," Jasper exclaimed.

"Every other time she talked to him he was at home, wasn't he?" Charlie asked, "If I know Bells, she'll head home. She hates hospitals and doctors, been around them too many times in her life."

"Can she drive in this?" I asked Charlie, gesturing to the snow.

"Road's clear all the way to your Dad's house, Emmett. Edward's driveway is tough, though. Not sure they plowed it all that great. Probably not used to doing it, since the house is so new," Charlie explained, having driven a car to get here. The rest of us had come by foot, so he was the one that knew about the driving conditions far better than we did.

"Well, in any case. We know she's not here." Sue smiled, relieved as she stood with her hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"Thank God for that," Esme whispered.

"What the hell happened to Edward's shoulder, Jake," I asked, knowing that wolf teeth were the only thing other than another vampire that was capable of hurting him.

"He saw that Sam and I had Victoria in pieces, so he took off towards the house. I phased and pulled him back just as he started in the front door," Jake told us.

"He was going in there?" Esme gasped.

"I thought you guys were invincible, indestructible and all that," Charlie queried.

"We are, Charlie. Except for fire. It's the one thing that will destroy us completely," Rose told him.

"And he was headed into the house?" Charlie asked in disbelief.

"He sure as hell was. I had to drag him away. He was determined to get to her, regardless . . . ," Jake recounted.

"But . . ."

"I know, Charlie. I know," Jake said, hugging Charlie awkwardly, "He loves her."

"Well, the venom will help his arm to heal. It'll take time, but he should be alright," Alice told us.

"Yes, but what the hell were the teeth marks in his shoulder about?" I asked, looking directly at Jake.

"Sam," Jake said, by way of an answer.

"Sam?" Emily gasped.

"Yes. He ran off into the woods," Jake told us, a fury showing in his dark eyes, "Let's talk about this later. We all need to get to the house. If Bella isn't there, we still need to find her!"

Rosie called from the other side of the garage, "Over here guys!"

We all moved to join her as she excited explained that the last car to leave was diesel powered.

"They make diesel powered cars? Luxury cars like the folks up here drive?" Sue asked.

"Yes, the Volvo C30, Audi A3 TDI and the A4, Lexus HS 250h and ES 350 not to mention the Cadillac CTS and BMW 335d," my Rosie told us, "but this smells like the Cadillac. It was the last car pulled into this garage, and I think I can follow it."

"Damn, girl," Jake exclaimed, looking at Rose in amazement, "How do you know all that?"

"Alright then. Keep your phones on you. Rose will cover the road with Emmett. Charlie, you take Sue and Emily and see if she is at the house. Alice, Esme and I will go to the hospital and see if Carlisle has gotten anything else out of the girl, and if Alice can see anything," Jasper planned it out.

"What about Edward?" Esme asked.

"Mom, he dropped his phone as he walked off. We have no way of reaching him," I said. I guess they had all been wondering why someone hadn't called to tell Edward the news.

"Fine. Then Jasper and Alice can go to the hospital, I'm going to follow Edward. Someone has to make sure he doesn't harm himself before we can let him know that Bella didn't die in that awful fire!" Esme insisted, as she took off in the direction he had headed.

~oooOooo~

Alice POV

By the time we arrived, Carlisle was not at the hospital. The staff told us that he had said he had a family emergency, and he had taken off apparently quickly enough out of the parking lot in his car to be noticed. The girl, Bree, was in x-ray, so we sat and waited to see her. I laid my head back against the emergency room wall, my hand in Jasper's as I tried to concentrate on Bella. I got a short glimpse, nothing more than a flash as I cried out, "Jasper, she's in pain. She's in so much pain!"

I saw the gurney approach carrying the small girl. She was similar in stature to Bella herself, with much longer straight hair . . . and she was younger. Bella had told Edward that she was a college student at Clemson and that she had been taken last Saturday afternoon on the way to watch her boyfriend's band rehearse. Clemson wasn't all that far from here, a couple of hours in a car. Surely someone was looking for her. Jasper walked outside to place an anonymous call to the authorities at the University, alerting them that a girl named Bree had been injured and taken to Highlands Hospital. I waited till the attendants had made her comfortable, then I went into the tiny exam room to see her.

She was awake. Her face was a mess, and I doubted she could see me clearly through the one eye that wasn't swollen completely shut.

"Hi, Bree. I'm Alice, Bella's sister," I told her quietly. She looked around as though she was frightened.

"It's alright. You're safe. Victoria is dead and you are in the hospital," I assured her.

"Victoria is dead? You're sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure. Can you tell me where Bella is?" I asked her.

"She wouldn't stay! I tried, I tried!" she insisted, frantically looking around.

"Quiet, it's okay. You're safe. Do you know where she was going?"

"She said she had to get to Edward, her husband. She thought she was having contractions. I told her that if she was in labor, she needed to stay here and just call him, she needed to be at the hospital to have the baby . . . but she wouldn't listen. She was determined to get to him and nothing else seemed to matter," Bree explained.

"That's my sister. She didn't even think to come in and call, did she?"

"No. She was frantic. She only wanted Edward," she said, calmer than before, "She really loves him, and that baby. She kept talking to the baby, Masen isn't it? She kept talking to him almost the whole time we were locked in the basement," Bree recalled.

"Don't worry. Now that Victoria is gone, we'll find her. She probably just drove home, that's all. You feel better and I'll come back to see you tomorrow, okay?" I told her.

"Okay then . . . tomorrow," she said as she drifted back off to sleep.

I found Jasper just outside the emergency room doors to the parking lot, still on the phone to family members. I stopped cold, Jasper reaching to hold me as a vision flooded my mind . . .

Masen . . .

"Jasper, I just saw Edward . . . he's holding a newborn baby!"

"Come on, darlin' . . . we have to find them!"