Chapter Thirty Two

Jasper

I arrived back in Seattle a week before Bella was due back and made sure the apartment was aired and ready. I shopped for her favourite food, stocked up with her favourite coffee and magazines so all I needed was a word from her and I would be there ready and eager to pick her up. Waiting was pure hell and when the end of the week came with no word I was sad but not surprised, I'd been warned they weren't hot on keeping to dates or deadlines.

By the end of the second week with no word from her I decided to try the rangers in Yellowstone but they had no record of the Dwyer party, only the on line reservation they had made which in itself wasn't that unusual,

"Lots of folks don't see how important it is to check in with us but I wouldn't worry sir we've had no word of any accidents or animal attacks in that area."

I waited a further few days then rang Charlie who didn't seem that surprised either,

"Son Renee has got air for brains. She probably got the dates all twisted round. I remember one time she told me she'd pick Bella up and arrived two weeks late!"

"But Bella told me the dates Charlie and they are well overdue."

"OK Let me see what I can do but don't worry this is typical Renee."

Charlie

It was typical Renee but not Bella so I rang Yellowstone myself but they couldn't tell me much more than they'd told Jasper except that they would send out rangers to check the places the Dwyers had said they'd be. I couldn't help worrying about it a little until they got back to me three days later, and the news was puzzling. They hadn't been seen at any of the camp grounds they had put on their itinerary, in fact they hadn't been seen entering the park at all and there were no uncollected vehicles in any of the parking lots.

"Maybe they changed their minds and went somewhere else Chief Swan. We'll keep looking but chances are at this point that they never came."

Now that did worry me, if they hadn't gone to Yellowstone why wasn't Bella answering her cell phone to Jasper? Hell, why weren't any of them answering? I tried Phil's but that just went to voice mail so I left a message asking him to ring me back urgently but I got no return call and by the next morning warning bells were going off loudly in my head and I contacted Yellowstone again but they had no better news for me. They'd called all the ranger stations and no one had sighted the Dwyer party anywhere. It was time to start an official search for them. I rang Jasper to find out everything he knew and he gave me the registration plate of Phil's truck plus make and color and told me he was flying to Yellowstone but I persuaded him to hold off until I had chance to find out if the truck had been seen anywhere.

When I finally got back to him there was little news, Yellowstone didn't think they'd entered the park, the truck hadn't been involved in an accident anywhere nor had it been reported stolen. There were no John or Jane Does in the morgue or in any hospital between Seattle and Yellowstone answering the descriptions I'd given. To all intents and purposes they had just vanished from the face of the earth. Of course with a suspicion of foul play the first people to come under suspicion were myself as the ex husband and Jasper as the boyfriend and we were both questioned although I had a cast iron alibi, besides being a police chief, I was working most of the time looking for missing hikers and a child who'd absconded from home after a row. So I was pretty tied up for the first two weeks of their holiday. Jasper however wasn't so lucky, he'd been out of the country but they wanted witnesses to prove it.

Jasper

When the police arrived at my door to take me in for questioning I was confused, questioning for what? They thought I might have something to do with Bella's disappearance and that of her mother and step father? Had they found something that led them to believe I had something to do with the disappearance? I'd been the one who contacted her father in the first place when I became worried about Bella's continued absence. They took me to the station and left me in one of the interview rooms with a phone so I could call my foster father. Carlisle promised to fly straight back but he wanted to speak to the police officer in charge and Charlie too.

When the two police officers came in and took their seats they no longer looked quite so suspicious and they were accompanied by Jenks so Carlisle had been busy and it accounted for the long delay before they returned. They made me go through everything that I knew about the holiday and my own whereabouts during the time in question, from when I said goodbye to them at the motel and Jenks sat listening to every word.

"I understand my client was seen watching the Dwyer family drive away from the motel in question?"

"Yes the motel manager saw that but it doesn't mean he couldn't have caught up with them later now does it?"

"True but I think he might have found that rather difficult as he was at 30,000 feet about four hours later, after all we aren't talking about Superman now are we Detective Jones?"

"He still had at least three hours in which to catch them up and..."

"And what precisely? Murder three people, a grown athlete, his wife, and my clients own fiancée and hide not only their bodies but also a truck before driving to the airport for his flight. Quite a feat I'm sure you will agree. I'd also like to know if you have traced the cell phone records for the Dwyer family?"

"We did, Mr Dwyer pays the cell phone accounts for all three members of the family, including Bella Swans by automatic billing hence the accounts are still active. The last call made by Miss Swan was to your client using her step fathers cell phone, a voice message that we put at two and a half hours after she left Seattle."

"So not only did my client manage a feat of daring in killing all three and hiding both them and their truck but he also arranged for Bella to make a call to him two and a half hours after they were seen to leave and make his flight? Where was the origin of the call? Seattle I assume?"

There was a pause as they looked at each other and one shuffled some papers looking for the information.

"Actually no, it was made from a truck stop about 132 miles from Seattle."

"Then gentlemen I think my client is free to go for now don't you? Or do you think he is really Superman's twin brother in disguise?"

Although they were forced to agree they were reluctant to release me until Jenks threatened them and then they relented but warned me not to leave town and to report back the following morning for more questioning. I walked out of the station with Jenks my mind in a whirl, what had happened? Where was Bella and her parents?

"I see you managed to get yourself in the shit without me watching your back again Major."

Jenks turned and looked at the speaker before deciding he'd rather be somewhere else and promising to meet me back here at ten sharp he left hurriedly.

"What brings you here Peter, news doesn't travel that fast and I doubt Carlisle rang you."

"Didn't need a call, I got that fucking tingle between my shoulder blades that always tells me there's something going down. Should have listened to my devil when I spoke to you last. She's missing isn't she? Bella I mean."

I nodded still unable to speak the words that might mean I would never see her again.

"Well, your tame lawyer seems confident enough and I have no doubt that the intrepid Doc is even now flying to your aid so what's the plan when they decide you aren't Jack the Ripper reincarnated?"

The very idea that Bella might have been taken and raped hadn't entered my head and to hear it was like a blow to the solar plexus, making me want to double over and curse.

"Can you track her Peter? Using your gift?"

"Can you, using the pull?"

"No, it doesn't work that way you know that, not with humans."

"Me neither so it looks like its gonna take some old fashioned fucking detective work which is where Char and I fit in. Tell me where they left from and where they were supposed to be heading and we'll see what we can find out while you talk to the nice cops and try not to get your ass thrown in jail, that would cause problems now wouldn't it? Come on, lets get back to your apartment and if you've got a photo of Bella it would be a good idea to get copies made, after all we don't have the faintest idea what she looks like."

"Thanks Peter, I think Charlie is driving down too so you might as well meet him."

"And just who the fuck is Charlie?"

"Bella's father, Police Chief in Forks."

"So you have a cop on your side? Or does he think you did away with the family?"

"No, not as far as I can make out. I have to find her Peter but my hands are tied until I can establish my alibi."

"Hey that's what friends are for Major. Just get things straight and join us as soon as you can."