Chapter Twenty Nine

Jasper

While we flew Darius and Hunter sat with their laptops open checking for any sign of Maria's latest compound and just as we crossed the border I heard a curse.

"No luck Major. Shes down scaled I think and she's hiding her whereabouts. It's gonna be down to Alice I'm afraid."

Charlotte who had been sitting with Alice turned to look at her,

"Alice you need to concentrate on the feeling."

"Hey, how come Mystic Meg hasn't seen where her guy is?"

"She's confused and upset at the moment Peter. She won't regain her balance until we find her mate."

"Regain her balance? Have you been reading more of those fucking self help books Char?"

I scowled at Peter who rolled his eyes muttering about crazy women and sat back.

Hunter and Darius packed away their hardware and we pulled out an old fashioned map of Mexico and spread it on the table.

"Emmett mark where her old compound was and get the coordinates for Carlos and Pedro's compounds, we can rule out anywhere near either of those. If she's down scaled as Darius thinks then she won't want to risk trouble with them."

"Why would the Mad Mexican bitch downsize though? It doesn't make any sense Major."

I had to agree with Hunter, Maria had always prided herself on having the biggest, most ferocious army of newborns, its what kept her on top so if she were no longer doing so then she had a reason.

"You think it's tied up with this Jay guy?"

"I don't know Darius but if not then its one hell of a coincidence."

"That bitch wouldn't give up her spot as top dog without something. If she's got the clone then she's got him for a reason and the only reason I can think of is to create a copy of The Major although I don't have the faintest fucking idea why, one's more than enough."

Alice

I closed my eyes and tried to block out the sound of the voices around me. It was strange trying to pick up on someone I had never even met but who meant the world to me while sitting only a few feet from my ex husband. The pull was tenuous at best but it was there and as I concentrated I understood it was getting stronger as his body transformed. Not only that but the feeling was becoming more an ache than a pull. I found myself rubbing my chest where the ache seemed to be centered and wondered if this were normal or if it meant something was going wrong.

"Charlotte."

She came to sit by me and took my hand,

"Its getting worse isn't it?"

"Yes, its like a dull ache now. Is there something wrong? He's not..."

I couldn't bring myself to say the word... dead.

"No Alice its not like that. The longer you are away from your mate the more painful it becomes, its why most couples are together all the time. You never had this with The Major so you wouldn't understand."

"Will it ease off?"

"Only when you find him, until then I'm afraid you are in for a long painful journey. Of course as you and your mate haven't even met yet it will be worse, he's trying to pull you to him without even knowing it."

"Will he be feeling the same?"

"Its difficult to tell with such a new vampire, there's so much going on in his head but he'll know you when he sees you."

Charlotte

Alice reminded me of a small child as she curled up in her seat with her hands round her body looking confused and hurt. The mating pull was the strongest sensation a vampire would ever feel and the longer it took to find her mate the worse she would suffer.

"Will she be any help?"

I nodded at Darius question,

"Yes but we need to get on the ground as soon as we can, being airborne will only confuse her more."

"OK, I'll have a word with the pilot, see how much longer till we land."

I looked at the map of Mexico, terrain I knew only too well. A lot of it was wild and rural and a good vampire could hide there almost invisible to anyone else. Only a good tracker or a mate could be sure of finding their quarry. Well we didn't have a good tracker with us so we were going to be relying on Alice and the mating pull. I mused for a while on how they would greet each other. Would it be natural and automatic or would circumstances dictate differently?

Darius was back a few minutes later,

"We land in half an hour then it should be easier for you."

Alice nodded her thanks but didn't open her eyes and I could see from her clenched fists that she was in pain.

Jasper

Darius spoke to the pilot again and he told us we had about half an hour before we landed so I asked Hunter to check the transport would be waiting when we landed.

"Two SUV's. We're going into rough territory."

I had no idea how much time we had, presumably if this Jay was transforming now he would be static but I doubted Maria would stay in one place any longer than necessary especially if she were keeping him for, or from, someone.

"So what do we do? Wait for Mystic Meg to feel something? How reliable is it anyway Charlotte?"

"She'll find him but it may take some time especially if she's in pain, it makes it hard to concentrate."

"Great so we wander blindly about hoping on one hand to bump into the Mexican bitch and to stay away from any other nasties with the other? Mind I could do with a work out so I wouldn't mind finding a few newborns to practice on, how about you Major? It's been too long."

"I just want to find Maria, get this guy and find out what the fuck is going on. This is not a vacation."

"And you think Maria is just going to greet you like an old friend and spill her guts? Major you've been out of it too fucking long."

I was missing Bella already and just wanted to get back to her, I didn't relish the idea of seeing Maria again and I doubted she would be willing to tell us anything without being forced to. I just wondered how many soldiers she would have with her, maybe even Nathan. Now that was an encounter I wouldn't turn down.

"You don't think she's responsible for this though?"

I shook my head at Hunter as Darius spoke up,

"What concerns me is that I can't get a fix on who employed the bounty hunters. I should be able to break in but whoever set this up wants to maintain secrecy which points at someone with power and funds."

"Don't worry yourself Darius, once we find Maria I'll get what you need from the fucking bitch."

Any further talk was cut short by the pilots instructions to buckle up for the landing.

"As soon as we land I want to split up into two groups, I'll take Alice, Charlotte and Emmett in the lead car, the rest of you follow on but keep your distance. I don't imagine this is a trap but we can't take any chances so keep your eyes open."

Peter wasn't happy being in the rear but as I explained to him, with the exception of Charlotte and myself he was the only one who would recognize Maria. Once in the cars I turned to Alice who sat in the back with Charlotte hugging herself, her eyes filled with pain.

"Right Alice its all down to you now. Which way?"

She shook her head her lower lip trembling,

"I can't think, I can't get my head straight Jazz. I'm sorry."

Charlotte put an arm around her,

"Try to concentrate on the pain, it will lead you to your mate if you let it Alice."

She nodded and closed her eyes while I waited, the engine ticking over for instructions.