24

Jasper was starting to get frustrated. No, he was more than frustrated. Every time he thought he had a lead on Sam Uley, it turned out to be a dead-end. The man was a mediocre student, had no friends that Japer could find. Even digging into his parents turned out to be fruitless. Jared and Claire Uley were . . . boring? No, that wasn't the right word: they were just normal people. For a supposed wife-beater, Claire Uley had never been seen in any of the emergency rooms in Forks, or Portland. Of course that didn't mean much. Plenty of women didn't seek help due to domestic battery, but not one time? Never in the twelve years they were married? Just seemed . . . unrealistic.

Jared Uley was fourteen years older than Claire. They met when he was twenty-eight, and she was fourteen, which would have made him forty at the time of his death. They were married less than a year later, and Sam was born sixteen months after their wedding. Jared worked as security guard, Claire was a homemaker. They owned their home, lived paycheck to paycheck, but hadn't racked up a lot of debt at the time of their death. Jared had a twenty-five thousand dollar life insurance policy through his employer, but nobody had ever claimed it after his death, which struck Jasper as odd. Why wouldn't Billy Black want Sam to have that money?

No matter times he played it over in his head, Jasper just didn't understand how Sam Uley had gotten away with multiple murders, sexual assault, kidnapping? How could one man be so . . . evil? Jasper wasn't religious by nature. He believed in a higher power, just not necessarily a guy in the sky holding everyone on earth to a certain standard of right or wrong. If a God existed, his parents wouldn't have been stolen from them like they were. Girls like Bella Swan wouldn't have been kidnapped, raped, beaten, had a b aby when she was still a baby herself, and then have her child taken from her. No, God wouldn't do that to people like Bella Swan. Only pure, fucking evil could be behind acts so heinous.

"Maybe we've been looking at this the wrong way," Garrett said, drawing Jasper's attention away from his laptop. He spun in his seat, facing him, as Newton, Crowley, and Yorke moved from their perch in front of the map, like Sam Uley was going to sudden leap off the page and slap them in the face.

"How so, Cap?"

"Well," he said, chewing on the tip of his straw. "Been thinking about this little girl, our Jane Doe off of Bainbridge Island. She was nine or ten year's old, right?"

"Yes," he confirmed.

"Pretty ballsy of him to take two little girls, basically the same age, in the span of a year, don't you think?" he asked. "Now, we know he lived on the reservation until Bella Swan was kidnapped, right? So he rapes Leah and Emily, kills Charlie and Renee, kidnaps Bella, and then sometime in the next year, year and a half, he finds another little girl, kidnaps her. But unlike Bella, who is never seen by the people of Bainbridge Island, this little girl was seen all over the place. She walked into that market a dozen times and shoplifted milk, for fuck sake, but Bella Swan wasn't seen once. Not even by the police who were called about our Jane Doe and her kleptomania. If they were being honest, of course. May just be covering their ass."

"What's your point, Captain Mitchell?" Yorke asked.

Garrett huffed. "Why would Sam Uley allow that little girl to come and go as she pleased, yet he kept Bella locked away for . . . years, from what we can tell?"

"You think he knew her," Jasper said, standing up.

"I think he was related to her," Garrett said, folding his arms in front of him. "Think about it. According to the Tribal Council, they kicked Jared Uley off the reservation for beating Claire. How old was she when she and Uley met, Cullen?"

"Fourteen," he admitted. "Married at sixteen, Sam was born when she almost seventeen."

"Pretty young for him, don't you think? Any normal civilized person would call that predatory behavior on Jared Uley's part."

"You think Jared Uley is the father of our Jane Doe?"

"Makes more sense than Sam Uley snatching two little girls at the age of eighteen years old. Maybe he did, and maybe broke that girl down faster than he did Bella Swan, but a girl who walks into a market every fucking day and steals milk is looking for help. Begging for someone to help her, and nobody did."

"They can't be related to each other. Jared and Claire Uley were both Native American," Newton pointed out. "Our Jane Doe had red hair."

"What if she was only halfway related to Sam Uley," he suggested. "Say a half-sister."

"You think Sam Uley is following in his father's footsteps," Jasper murmured.

"Makes sense, right? I mean, it doesn't, because nothing about that son-of-a-bitch makes sense because we ain't child-raping bastards, but the guy was barely getting boners when he started molesting Leah Clearwater and Emily Young."

Jasper pressed his lips together. "Let's broaden our search for missing girls, ages eight to eighteen, who went missing around the same time the Uley's left the reservation, let's include —"

But before he could finish this sentence, his cell phone rang. He gave Garrett a look as he pulled the device out of his pocket, fully expecting to see Carlisle, Emmett, or even Alice's name. However, none of their names were flashing on his caller I.D.

"It's James Swan, the girls' uncle," he muttered before accepting the call and bringing it up to his ear. "Hey, this isn't a good time, James."

"Jasper," the man whispered hoarsely. "Jasper, hurry."

"What's wrong, James?" Jasper asked, motioning for Garrett to get ready to move out. "You don't sound too good, man."

James chuckled, though it sounded painful. "I'm not, but I can hold him until you get here."

"Hold who?" he asked, alarmed as his eyes shifted to Garrett, who had stopped and turned back to him. "Who are you holding for me, James?"

There was a pause followed by a tired, "Sam Uley. Hurry, Jasper. Just . . . hurry. I can't . . . I can't hold him for long."

"Gotta give me your address, man," he said, gesturing for Garrett to call for backup.

"6543 Bell St. After my sweet Bella," he whimpered. "Hurry."

Before Jasper could say anything else, the call ended. He blew out a heavy breath before he turned to Garrett. "We gotta go. James Swan has Sam Uley. . . He didn't sound good, Cap."

Garrett nodded before motioning for everyone to follow him out, which they did. While Jasper jumped into the driver's seat of his truck, Garrett climbed into the passenger seat, pulling his phone out and calling for backup. They shared a look before Jasper pulled out of the parking lot, turned his siren on, and headed to their crime scene.

By the time they arrived at James' house, there were half a dozen black and whites parked in front, two ambulances, and a crowd of spectators, who clearly wanted to know what was going on at the neighbors. While Jasper and Garrett headed inside, Newton, Crowley, and Yorke started questioning James' neighbors. Jasper went inside first. The house had been trashed. The coffee table had been broken, lamps crashed, pictures thrown off the walls, which were cracked in several places.

James was laying on top of a long, white stretcher. Two paramedics were taking his vitals. It didn't take much to figure out that he'd taken a beating. His eyes were black and swollen, his lips busted, and he could see handprints around his neck. There were cuts on his arms, but his attention was pulled to the obvious stab wound on the left side of his abdomen.

Jasper walked up to the side of the stretcher. "Hey, man. You okay?"

"Been better," James said, his eyes opening and grabbing the front of his shirt, pulling him against him with a wince. "I didn't tell him where she was. I swear to God, I didn't tell him anything, Jasper."

"You did good, James." Jasper smiled. "Can you tell me what happened?"

James' face contorted into pain. "I'd just gotten home from work, when he came up behind me. He forced me into the house, demanding I tell him where she is. I refused, I fucking refused, Jasper!"

"Hey, calm down, okay? I know you didn't tell him. You kept her safe, but I need to know what happened next?"

"He . . . he tried to force me . . . tried to force me to tell him, but I didn't. He started hitting me and . . . I ran for my bedroom, but he caught up with me, and um, I felt this sharp pain in my stomach, but I managed to get my gun out of the night table. I shot him, I shot him in the leg," he cried. "I kept her safe. I fucking kept her safe."

"I know, man, I know," he murmured. "Where's he at now, James?"

James tilted his eyes to the side, looking him in the eye. "In the closet, at the end of the hallway. He tried to run away, but I stopped him. He won't hurt another girl, not like he did her."

Jasper placed his hand over his heart, giving him a smile. "You did good, James; you did real good."

"I had to protect her," James cried, lobbing his head to the side. "I kept my Bella safe. I kept her safe."

"We need to move him," One of the paramedic said, drawing Jasper's attention to him. "Now."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"I don't know. If he has any family, they should be called. Soon."

The two paramedics gave Jasper a look before they wheeled James out. He took a deep breath before following Garrett down the hallway to where the other pair of paramedics were loading Sam Uley onto a stretcher. Like James, he had bruising on his face, his eyes were swelling, his nose looked broken, and it looked like James had shot him in the thigh.

Pity it wasn't his dick, he thought.

"Is he going to live?" Garrett asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"Yes, pretty superficial wounds. Gunshot is a through and through, most of the rest is cuts and bruises." one of them said, putting a little more pressure on his thigh.

Sam screamed. "Get your fucking hands off me!"

"Shut the fuck up," Jasper snarled, taking a step toward him, but Garrett threw his hands up, stopping him. He blew out a heavy breath and stepped backward.

Garrett turned back to Sam. "Sam Uley, you're under arrest for . . . Well, should I list them all? Let's just say you're under the rest for multiple murders, kidnapping, rape, assault, and being a general pain in the ass. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. Do you understand these rights as explained to you?"

And without giving Sam Uley a chance to utter a sound, Garrett slapped a pair of handcuffs on one wrist, yanking his arm over and cuffing him to the gurney. "I'm riding with him."

While Jasper could tell neither paramedic wanted him with them, but they simply nodded, which was good, because there was no way in Hell Jasper was going to let Sam Uley out of the house without one of them with him. The guy was too smart, too slippery to take the chance.

"Cullen," Garrett grunted, drawing Jasper's attention to him. "You coming?"

Jasper shook his head. "I should tell them myself."

"Yeah, I suppose you should," he agreed, placing his hand on Jasper's shoulder. "You need me to go with you?"

Jasper shook his head. "Stay with him. I'll take care . . . I'll care of them."

"If you need anything, any of you, you call, Cullen. Do you hear me?"

He nodded. "Thanks, Cap."

Garrett nodded before following the paramedics out of the house, climbing into the back of the ambulance with Sam Uley. Without even thinking, Jasper walked over to his truck, climbed in, and headed to his brothers. He drove on autopilot, not even really paying attention to turns, or other cars. He felt . . . anxious and uneasy. In that moment, he needed his family, needed to breathe, to . . . to something. He just didn't know what.

He parked in front and headed up the front pathway. He could hear everyone inside, all the lights in the house were on, and he could smell Esme's lasagna from the porch. He braced himself against the house, trying to keep from dropping to his knees and weeping. The something he need hit him like a ton of brings: he needed his mother, his father, to feel them hold him and tell him everything was going to be okay, that Sam Uley was never going to hurt someone he loved again.

Swallowing against the lump in his throat, he reached down and opened the door, stepping into the house at the same time Bella stepped off the bottom step leading to the upstairs. Her eyes landed on him, widening with fear. His knees gave out on him, and he crumbled, feeling Alice at his side in a heartbeat, wrapping her arms around him. Always there to hold him, to support him, to love him.

Jasper tilted his head back and looked right at the girl who had invaded his family, made them love her. His lips trembled and his eyes filled with tears again as he opened his mouth and said, "We got him, Bella. We got Sam Uley. He can't hurt you ever again."

Thank you for all the AMAZING reviews! Just because they got him, doesn't mean they got him. ;)