Chapter Thirty One

Carlisle

Luckily the weather was due to break for a couple of hours and the pilot agreed to fly in with us, for a larger fee than normal, but it would be worth it if we could get Bella out. As we flew from the airfield Alice rang me,

"You really should leave them alone Carlisle. If you snatch Bella its going to start a war with The Major, a war you can't win."

"Well Alice as you started this particular skirmish with him perhaps you could help us out. Can we get Bella out safely?"

She hesitated although whether she wasn't sure she wanted to tell me or was checking the future I had no idea.

"If you can get there in the next twenty minutes then yes. She'll be more or less alone for a while, nearly everyone is out hunting but it will be tight. If she wakes up and struggles then he'll know and he can get back in time, he's very fast Carlisle, as fast as Edward almost. If you want my informed advice though I'd tell you to leave her alone."

"That's not an option Alice, Chief Swan is with us and he knows everything, he wants her back while she's still safe."

I heard her sigh in vexation,

"He really doesn't know his daughter at all if he thinks she's going to sit back and accept being separated from Jasper. She'll find a way back if he doesn't find her first. You can't protect her or Charlie from the Major Carlisle, you know that."

"Alice, he knows all about us, sitting back and doing nothing isn't an option"

Charlie held his hand out for the radio and headset so I handed them over.

Charlie

I'd heard stray words of the conversation over the noise of the rotors, enough to understand it was Alice on the other end and I wanted a word with that young lady myself.

"Chief Swan I'm really sorry about all this but..."

I cut her off mid sentence,

"I want to know why you covered for my daughter when she went to Seattle Alice and again when she went back?"

"Its difficult Chief, she wanted to spend time with Jake and I thought it would be good for her, she and Edward were through anyway."

"Did you know where they were taking her?"

"Well yes, but I wasn't sure who would be there"

"Bullshit Alice, you knew exactly what was going to happen, you know this Jasper Whitlock, how dangerous he is?"

"Not to Bella, and I owed him."

"What do you mean?"

"It's partly, well mainly, my fault he's done so badly on his own, I can't explain any better it's too complicated, but I knew Bella could help him and he would be good for her too. She needed looking after Chief. He wont hurt her, I guarantee it but he will kill anyone who tries to come between them."

"So you're telling me I could get killed trying to get my daughter back?"

"If he finds you, yes."

"Will he come looking for her?"

"Yes. He has to."

"Why?"

"Because she's his mate"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean Alice?"

"It means they love each other, they need each other to survive."

"Crap Alice. I'm getting my daughter back and you and the rest of the vampire population had better leave her alone or I'll find a way of destroying you all. I'm carrying my gun and I'm not afraid to use it to get Bella back"

"I don't doubt you'll try Charlie, but we aren't that easy to kill."

"Maybe not but I can slow you down, even vampires can't shrug off a gun full of bullets just like that."

The rest of the flight I spent thinking about her words, I didn't like the idea of Bella and this Jasper being mates or anything else. She might be correct that I couldn't kill them but I could expose them to the world, it might be difficult to get anyone to believe me but there were enough monster hunter crackpots out there to make their lives extremely difficult. I just wanted my girl back home, I'd find a way to protect her then, they couldn't be unstoppable, I just had to discover the correct weapon and I knew Billy and Harry would help me with that. They owed me big time, it was Jake who'd got her into this mess in the first place. As we flew closer the pilot started to talk to Carlisle, pointing out certain things and I tapped him on the arm, I wanted to know what he knew. He gave me the spare headset and I listened in,

"We're in luck, the weather's cleared but only for an hour, then the blizzards come back so I can't stay on the ground long. There are a few helicopters around doing research work so we won't stick out like a sore thumb. When I set down you have ten minutes max, then we go."

When we started down I couldn't see anything except snow until Carlisle pointed out a cabin half hidden by snow drifts with a curl of smoke coming from the chimney but being blown away almost instantaneously by the strong winds. The helicopter jerked as a particularly fierce gust caught it and the pilot looked over,

"Ten minutes and we go"

As soon as the runners hit the ground we were out, Carlisle and Edward running through the snow so fast I couldn't see them while Esme walked along at my speed. We couldn't talk, the wind was too strong, words blowing away from our lips. She looked around constantly and I felt her concern, this was a dangerous undertaking that she was taking very seriously. As we approached the cabin the door opened and Carlisle came out followed by Edward with Bella in his arms, she wasn't struggling so maybe she'd come to her senses. We went back to the helicopter both Carlisle and Esme watching out for Jasper or his friends to return and had just reached it when Carlisle tensed and I turned to see a figure running towards us so fast the snow blew around it like an agitated snow globe.

"Get in Chief quickly"

I scrambled in as Edward changed places with Esme, taking his place at Carlisle's side. Carlisle and Edward crouched ready to fight, and I aimed ready to fire when it was in range. Edward moved suddenly and collided with the figure with a terrible crash. The pilot looked round and swore and I saw him push the collective, the rotors ready to lift off.

The stranger went flying and Edward joined us but then the figure reappeared grabbing hold of Carlisle and took off with us, dangling out of the door but unwilling to let go of Carlisle's arm. I saw with horror his arm start tearing at the shoulder but there was no blood just a clear liquid which oozed down the almost detached limb then Edward appeared and stomped down on the hand still tugging at Carlisle as I fired point-blank into its face. Still the grip didn't loosen so I fired again into the hand and it let go and went tumbling down to the ground. I turned to look at Bella who lay, still sleeping, on the floor of the helicopter.

"I gave her a sedative Charlie. I didn't want her struggling."

He held his injured arm close to his body and I saw to my amazement that the flesh was knitting together in front of me.

"Thank you Carlisle"

He nodded and looked at Esme who was kneeling beside Bella cradling her head as my daughter stirred uneasily in her drug induced sleep.