Chapter Fifty Two

Jay

To my relief both Carlisle and Esme were extremely friendly and thrilled to see Alice so happy.

However as she pulled me over to meet her "brother" Edward I could see he was more interested in his ex girlfriend and brother who were now talking to Esme and Carlisle hand in hand, flashing off Bella's ruby engagement ring. It was easy to see he was jealous but from what Bella and Alice had told me the best man had won and Edward had only himself to blame for losing her. Of course I had totally forgotten Alice's warning and Edward scowled at me after reading my thoughts.

"I guess if you don't want to be offended sometimes its best not to pry."

HIs eyes narrowed and I tensed but then he smiled ruefully,

"You even sound like Jazz."

He held out his hand,

"Its good to meet you Jay if a little strange to be seeing my brother and his double almost side by side."

We shook and he gestured for us to enter leaving the others still on the porch talking.

Jay

Sitting with Alice chatting about my transformation and meeting Maria I understood just how concerned everyone was at the reasons behind my kidnap. I hadn't truly understood how dangerous this Caius could be but Carlisle who knew the Volturi well having lived with them for some years explained.

"So what you are saying is that if Maria hadn't decided to help us then whatever this Caius is up to could have gone on undetected until it was possibly too late?"

"I think we have Bella to thank most of all, if she hadn't seen you and tried to help once she understood what was going on then perhaps things could be far more dangerous for all of us."

I went over everything Maria had told me and we discussed what could possibly be going on but until we understood what Caius was attempting it would be perilous for everyone.

"Caius knows I would inform Aro if I knew anything and if he finds out I know about you or ties Bella to the family we could all be in serious danger Jay. Lets hope Darius or his friend Hunter can find out what is really going on. I have to agree with Jasper, your value is limited while he lives, you can't use a double if the original is still in circulation and I suspect the attempt to kill Jasper is ongoing, Bella too. Hopefully while you are here you will be safe, Caius will not act decisively against me or my family for fear of incurring Aro's wrath so he will be forced to act very carefully for now."

Darius

Hunter picked up on the communication from Volterra to the airport in Pisa requesting their jet to be ready to fly to the United States in three days at the same time one of my trapdoor bugs finally earned its keep in the Volturi main frame. It told me that a small party of the guard including Jane and Felix were joining Demetri and Santiago in Chicago. Now call me a suspicious soul if you like but that was way too many of the guard way too close for comfort and I then discovered a communication between Marcus and Aro with regard to Caius. They were suspicious of his motives in wanting The Major dead but couldn't find anything that explained why. The guard had orders to kill The Major and Bella Swan and to dispose of their bodies which was quite usual but Caius had wanted The Majors death to remain a secret. His reasoning was that it would stop his friends from staging a revolt, looking for revenge and though Aro had agreed Marcus thought it a very weak argument. Never the less he acquiesced so no one in our world would would be aware of The Majors death. This was proof that Caius was getting ready to act which meant Jay was once more in danger and along with him Maria who was now our ally.

We decided to speak to Maria next and see if she had heard anything and sure enough her orders had been sent too. Jay was to be delivered to Demetri Volturi as soon as Caius gave the word which presumably would come once the real Major was dead. But we were no nearer to understanding what he planned to do with the imitation Major and that was what we needed to find out as quickly as possible.

"I have an idea Darius, one you might want to put to The Major."

"Go on."

"Caius wants Jay to pass off as The Major so why not give him the real thing? Jay could never pull it off, he doesn't know enough but Caius doesn't know that. He would just be happy that his fake can pass as the real thing. It would be safer all round."

I hated to admit she had a point but I promised to pass it on to him,

"Either way I need someone to hand over or it's all been worthless just remember that. I don't intend dying for helping you."

Her unspoken threat was that she would tell Caius exactly what had happened if her hands were tied, self preservation was still high on her agenda and I didn't doubt she could come up with a story that he would believe.

I hated breaking up the happy Cullen reunion but we were almost out of time so I was forced to speak to The Major and tell him everything we knew.

"OK, We'll be back tomorrow Darius and decide what to do from there."

"You're going to take up her offer aren't you? Take Jay's place? What do you think Bella will say about that?"

He didn't answer but I knew him too well, its exactly what he would do.

Jasper

Luckily I'd been out in the garage alone when I got the call so I decided not to say anything about Darius phone call until I had to. First I wanted to speak to Jay and get Carlisle's advice so I suggested we guys went to hunt leaving the girl's to carry on with the wedding discussions. Alice looked at me oddly and I wondered what she'd seen but with a slight shake of my head I told her to keep whatever it was to herself for now. Edward of course knew why we were going but he too kept silent until we found ourselves a quiet clearing miles from the house.

"What about Bella Jazz?"

The others looked at him puzzled so I explained the situation,

"You can't do it Jazz, Caius will spot you"

"No he won't, he's expecting my double and that's exactly what he'll get. It's too dangerous for Jay to go, he doesn't understand the Volturi or our world well enough to pull it off successfully.

"But surely its as dangerous for you to go"

"No Jay because I can fight my way out, I have the experience, you don't."

"Like Jay said, what about Bella? She's not going to accept that"

"Emmett I'm relying on you and Carlisle to keep her out of harms way. She'll be safer here with you."

"She won't stay"

Edwards comment was said with conviction and I feared he might be right.

"What do you plan on doing? Tying her up? Keeping her prisoner?"

"No Edward I'm hoping to persuade her."

Yeah well good luck with that enterprise Jazz, I never could and you know how stubborn she can be"

"Hell I do and I've only known her a little while. I think that's one plan doomed to failure Major."

Carlisle promised to speak to her and also offered to speak to Aro once I was in place with Caius.

"If Caius is planning trouble for the Volturi Aro's going to want to know and he might even be able to help"

He saw my sceptical look,

"I know you don't trust uim Jasper but I do and I think he'll want to help out especially if Caius is looking for his crown and that would be my guess."

"But how does having a fake me help him accomplish that Carlisle?"

"I have no idea Jasper but hopefully you will find out and get the information to me so I can pass it to Aro."

I wasn't comfortable with the idea of working with Aro but as Carlisle pointed out, if Caius was working alone or with others to overthrow him then Aro would be only too happy to help us out.