Chapter Fifty Four

Charlie

I read Bella's note at least a dozen times and it still made no sense whatsoever, why would she suddenly take off just like that? Just as the new school year got under way and she had such good grades? Why run back to Renee when she wasn't even in the country? There was something very wrong here but I had no way of knowing what. We found Bella's car abandoned at the Greyhound bus terminal in Port Angeles and computer records show she boarded a bus heading south and then on to Phoenix. Yet she'd taken hardly anything with her, only her money, a few photographs, her coat and as far as I could tell only one set of clothes that she must have been wearing when she left.

I tried Renee's but there was no answer, I rang her cell phone and was relieved that it was switched on but there was no reply and the next thing she was ringing me to tell me not to worry, that she was fine but had some things to work through. She wouldn't tell me where she was, I knew she wasn't at Renee's because the local police had checked out the Dwyer residence and reported back it was empty. I even rang Renee to ask if she'd heard from Bella to find she had but she had no idea Bella had left Forks,

"She sounded fine when I spoke to her some days ago. Why? What's happened Charlie? Did you do something to upset her?"

"No, she just upped and left but if you hear anything..."

"I'll be in touch, I'll ring her now."

Renee

This was so out of character for Bella, she never did things on the spur of the moment so it had all been worked out in advance. I rang her and was relieved when she picked up almost immediately. All she would say was that she was fine and had taken off with some friends for a few weeks.

"What about school Bella? I'll come home, don't worry we can sort things out I'm sure. It's a boy isn't it? I warned you about getting involved with an older guy, that's what this is all about isn't it? Bella you talk to me, we'll get this sorted out and you back in school in no time. Now where are you?"

She wouldn't answer me although she still sounded strained and I guessed someone was standing with her.

"Are you in trouble Bella? Is someone forcing you to stay away?"

"No mum, really I'm fine, I just wanted some time out, I'll be back in a while, please don't come back, it really isn't necessary. If you do I'll leave and then you won't find me. I'm safe and well I promise you."

Well I spoke to Phil and then Charlie and we all decided there was something Bella was keeping from us. I made arrangements to fly home anyhow, although money was really tight right now but found my ticket had been cancelled, insufficient funds which was very embarrassing. Charlie offered to pay for a flight if I was really worried but said he had her cell phone traced and she was in Phoenix, exactly as she had told him she was so maybe the local police had just missed her and as there were no close neighbors there was no one to ask if she'd been seen there. He also had her bank account checked and sure enough she'd done shopping, the kind of things she liked to eat at a local store. After hearing all this we decided to give Bella some time, after all she was an adult how so we could hardly go storming after her and the Phoenix police had only done a drive by as a courtesy to another cop.

Charlie

Although I was still concerned with Bella's actions, so out of character I had a heavy week at work and had to put her on the back burner, especially after she rang me again to assure me she was fine. Then we got a call, the old Cullen house was on fire and a couple of young men had been seen on the drive way just hanging around and watching the flames. I hated arsonists they were so unpredictable and dangerous.

By the time the fire engines arrived there was no sign of the men who had set the fire but I decided to mount a watch for the night just in case they returned to see what damage they had caused. Andy stood first watch from his patrol car parked in the trees just off the driveway but saw nothing and I took over from him at three in the morning leaving my car for him to pick up a few hundred yards down the road. I got comfortable, or as comfortable as I could considering I couldn't have the engine running or the radio on. Still it was quiet and I didn't see anyone for the first hour.

Peter

I had never seen The Major in such a rage as now, he'd been ready to take out the Cullens and the Denali's and then at the eleventh hour they both got a reprieve and that pissed him right off. Our orders were now to leave the Cullens alone unless they left the city and leave the Denali's full stop which only left the human girl who would bear the brunt of this rage.

Then we discovered she had gone too and he suspected she was with the Cullens and hence also out of reach. The three of us knew the signs and kept our mouths shut and a good distance from The Major as he sat fuming, cursing the Volturi for their weakness. Then he went real quiet and I knew he was trying to find a loophole in our orders. When he suddenly shot to his feet and called for us to follow him we did so without argument and after running for a few miles I could see we were headed for Forks anyway so I took a deep breath and caught up with him.

"We going to Forks?"

He looked at me coldly, stupid question of course we were, what I didn't know was why.

"She's not there."

Again the cold look and I thought about it, suddenly a light popped on in my brain,

"She's not there but her father is. You're going to snatch him, use him to lure her away from the Cullens."

He slowed slightly,

"So there is a brain in there somewhere, I'm impressed but you're still thinking too small. The Cullens took the trouble to collect the girl before running, what makes you think they'll just let her go now? Especially into a trap, no, I plan on drawing them all out using her father. They'll walk straight into my outstretched arms."

"So we gonna snatch him from his house?"

He shook his head, in a better mood now he was going to see some action,

"I thought we might have a little fun, we'll burn the Cullen house down, that will get the emergency services out and its my guess the police will watch the place for a couple of nights, just to see if the culprits come back to admire their handiwork. The police chief will take his turn and with no dependents at home I'm guessing he'll take the night watch. All we have to do is wait and take him whenever we like."

It was a good idea although I wasn't sure it was quite what our masters had in mind, I think Aro at least was hoping the Cullens would stay out of our reach until things settled down. Find us another job and once we were out of the way he could cancel the contract altogether. If so Aro didn't know The Major as well as he thought he did, we never left a job undone, however long it took and while he might ignore the Denali's there was no way he would give up on the Cullens. Ever since he saw Esme Cullen in Volterra he had been waiting to receive their names, it was as if he needed to kill that particular family for some reason, maybe because they were friends of our master Aro Volturi.