36

Jasper climbed out of bed the next morning and took a hot shower. He felt tense, and didn't know how to relax. Knew he wouldn't relax until he fixed everything. Shit was out of control and he knew it was his fault. He shouldn't have told Carlisle that they'd found Hope, not until they had a plan in place to help Bella get her back. Of course, it wasn't going to be that easy. Angela and Ben Cheney were good people, kind people, and their entire world had been blown apart because they just happened to adopt the daughter of Bella Swan.

Still, Bella deserved a chance to be her mother. Sam Uley had stolen that right away from her, just like he had stolen everything else from her. But was Bella ready to be her mother? Jasper wasn't so sure, but he wasn't going to voice that opinion to anyone. Not after watching the way Bella turned against Carlisle. Not that he blamed her. She was naive in the way the world worked, saw things as right or wrong. Problem was: there wasn't a right or wrong when it came to baby Hope. Somebody was going to get hurt. He just didn't know who, and that scared him.

Once he was done in the shower, he dried off and got ready for work before heading downstairs, where he found Alice standing in front of the living room window.

"Hey," he said, walking up behind her and slipping his arms around her waist. She sighed and leaned against him. "You okay?"

"No," she admitted, turning in his arms so that she faced him. "But none of us are okay, are we? Not since that girl came into our lives."

"No shit." Jasper brought his hand up to her face. "Are we doing the right thing, Al? Going above and beyond like this for her?"

"Yes," she said, immediately. "She's angry right now, Jay, but she needs us. All of us, and we need her. Edward needs her."

Jasper leaned down and pressed his lips against hers once, twice, a third time. "I'd better go. Maggie said she'd meet me first thing, so . . ."

"Be careful," she whispered, thickly. "Please, just . . . just be careful."

"I promise." He kissed her again. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she murmured, before releasing her hold on him.

Leaving Alice was always the hardest part of his day. She'd rocked his world, been his savior, kept him together when his world came shattering around him. He never would have survived the last three years if it hadn't been for her. Grabbing his keys off the counter and filling his travel cup with coffee, Jasper headed out to his truck, and headed downtown, hoping they weren't making a mistake by reaching out to Maggie.

Half an hour and a traffic jam later, Jasper parked in the visiting lot of a tall skyscraper. He locked his truck and headed inside, taking the elevator to the fifth floor, before stopping at the receptionist desk, where he told the young blond behind the counter that he had an appointment with Maggie Thornton. He didn't have to wait long before he was being ushered down a long hallway, stopping outside a thick, wooden door. He raised his hand and knocked once, watching as the door drifted open.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Jasper Cullen," the fiery red-head behind the large, metal desk cooed, before standing and walking around him. She wasn't much taller than Alice. "Can't deny I wasn't surprised to get your text last night. Haven't heard a word from you since your parents passed away."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Mags," he said, frowning. "I could lie and say I've been busy, but well, that'd be a lie, so . . ."

"How's the family? You and your brothers doing okay?"

Jasper nodded. "We're hanging in there. Hasn't been easy, but we're managing."

"Why don't I believe you? And does it have anything to do with this help you said you needed?"

He smiled and nodded. "Been watching the news?"

"Of course," she said, leaning against the front of her desk. "You're talking about this missing girl they just found, aren't you?"

"I'm the one who found her, Mags."

Maggie's eyes widened.

"Well, not really me, but Carlisle," he corrected himself. "It's kind of a long story, one I can't really give you all the details on, but she needs your help."

"Help how?" she asked.

Jasper paused before saying, "She . . . She needs you to help her get her daughter back."

Maggie's eyebrows raised and she stood up. "I'm sorry? She what? She's only sixteen, Jasper. That's what the news is reporting: that she's only sixteen years old."

Jasper folded his arms in front of his chest before he explained. "She was thirteen when the man who kidnapped her, got her pregnant, and fourteen when she gave birth. Alone, I might add. The man who held her captive, took the baby from her. A little girl she named Hope." Jasper paused, shaking his head. "I found Hope. She was adopted by a couple named Ben and Angela Cheney, but I need your help to get Hope back with her mother. Her real mother."

Maggie shook her head, and walked around her desk, sitting in her chair. "Wow, Jasper, you don't ask for much, do you?"

He just stood there, staring at her.

"You have DNA, I'm assuming?"

"Of course."

"And these people who adopted her? The Cheney's was it?"

He nodded.

"They did everything by the book?"

"From what I can tell," he told her. "The baby was found after being thrown in a dumpster. He'd put her in a duffle bag along with a teddy bear, that belonged to Bella, and threw her away like she was nothing, Mags. The Cheney's fostered her until their adoption was finalized a year ago, but Bella never relinquished her parental rights. The adoption can't be valid."

"Come on, Jasper," Maggie scoffed. "You know it's not that easy."

"Never said it would be, which is why we need you to take her case."

Maggie sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "I need to meet her. Before I can agree to anything, I need to meet this girl, Jasper."

He nodded. "I'll set something up for this afternoon. Better if we go to her." And when Maggie raised an eyebrow, he added, "She's fragile."

"Not doing a good job on selling me on her, Jasper."

"You'll understand when you meet her. I promise. She . . . I don't know, Mags, she needs us to fight for her."

Maggie pressed her lips together for a moment before saying, "I'm not cheap."

"I'm not worried about the cost."

She smiled. "Is that so?"

Jasper nodded. "She's worth it."

"Okay," she said, quietly. "When and where?"

"Let's do three this afternoon, and I'll text you the address."

"Guess I'll see you then." Jasper turned and walked over to the door, but stopped when Maggie asked, "Would she have loved her? Your mother, I mean? Would Elizabeth have loved her the way you do?"

Jasper grinned. "Mom would have called you long before I did."

"I don't doubt that one little bit."

Jasper threw open the door to Maggie's office, and headed back toward the elevator, sending Rosalie a text letting her know about Maggie's visit at three. A few seconds later, she replied with a simple, "K."

—SfH—

Peter sat at a small table in the back of a small diner, his eyes locked on the front door, and his nails tapping nervously on the table. He glanced at his watch for at least the fifth time in the last half hour. Just as he picked up his coffee cup, the door opened and the person he was waiting for walked in. The tall, thin man with dark hair and eyes searched the room, his eyes landing on Peter.

Marcus Volturi bypassed the hostess and pulled the chair across from Peter out before sitting down. The two men stared at each other for a long moment before the waitress came over and refilled Peter's coffee.

"Can I get you something, sugar?" she asked the man sitting across from him.

"No," he replied, not bothering to look at her.

She frowned and walked away. Peter picked up his cup and took a sip before saying, "That was rude."

"Maybe," he said, tilting his head to the side. "I've been expecting your call. Have to admit, I figured you'd reach out sooner, rather than later."

"I should have called you the minute I met her," Peter admitted.

"Yes, you should have." Marcus leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table. "Tell me about her."

Peter smiled softly. "She's . . . fragile and delicate yet amazingly strong considering what she's been through."

"You're attached to her," he accused.

"I am," Peter admitted. "I want to help her, Marcus. I do, but I don't know how. She's . . . Remember the Stanley girl?"

Marcus nodded.

"She reminds me a lot of her. The hell that bastard put her through," he whimpered, blinking back his tears and blowing out a deep, heavy breath. "Sorry."

"She's really gotten to you, hasn't she?" he asked.

"She has," he confessed, using the back of his hand to wipe away his tears. "She's beautiful, Marcus. Just pure and innocent, yet she's been through Hell at the hands of the devil, you know?"

Marcus just sat there, staring at him.

"She had a baby with him," Peter said, causing Marcus to raise an eyebrow. "The man who took her, who killed her parents, who destroyed that little girl's world, locked her in a box, raped her every damn day, and got her pregnant. And then he stole her baby away from her because he couldn't stand sharing her with anyone, including their child. She needs your help, Marcus. She needs . . . I don't know, she needs someone who can give her the tools to heal, to realize that she's not a nobody, a nothing like he's told her she was for eight Goddamn years, and I . . . I can't help her. I'm out of my league here. She needs you."

Marcus gripped the back of his neck. "It won't be easy, you know that, don't you?"

Peter nodded. "She's worth it, though."

"I need to meet her," Marcus said. "And she needs to meet me, feel that she can trust me and my process. If she's as fragile and delicate as you claim, the choice has to be hers, Peter. We can't take that away from her, not like he did."

"Of course," Peter agreed, quickly. "I, um, can reach out to her sister, try to get a meeting set up for this afternoon. If . . . if that works for you."

Marcus smiled and nodded. "I have some time available after two."

"I'll get it set up and let you know."

"She really worth all of this, Peter?" Marcus asked, leaning forward. "What makes her different than other girls? She's not the first little girl to go through Hell."

Peter frowned. "You're right, she's not, and I can't explain it. When Carlisle told me about her, asked me to evaluate her, I didn't understand, but she's . . . she's got this energy about her. You'll just have to meet her, and see for yourself. Trust me, you'll understand when you meet her."

"I look forward to it," Marcus said. "I truly do."

—SfH—

Esme stood in the doorway to the bathroom just off hers and Carlisle's bedroom and watched her husband getting ready for his shift at the hospital. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't worried about him, about how he was handling the way Bella had lashed out at him, called him a liar, compared him to Sam Uley. She saw the hurt in his eyes, the anguish at not being able to keep his promise, even if he wasn't giving up yet.

"Maybe you should go talk to her," Esme suggested, and when Carlisle looked at her through the mirror, she added, "She was hurting, Carlisle. She didn't mean it."

"Didn't she?" he challenged. "She wasn't wrong, either. I made a promise, and I didn't keep it. That does make me a liar, doesn't it?"

"No," she disagreed, though when he scoffed, she said, "She just doesn't understand it's going to take time. That we can't just snatch Hope out of the only home she's ever known."

"Jay says the people who adopted her are good and kind. That they love her so much," Carlisle whispered, bracing himself against the vanity. "They can't have children of their own, he said, and here we are taking away their daughter, her daughter." Carlisle turned and looked at her. "No matter what happens, whether Bella gets Hope back, or they get to keep her, someone is going to get hurt."

"Yeah, they will," Esme agreed, pushing off the doorframe and walking over to him, placing her hands on his chest. "But that's not your fault."

"Feels like my fault," he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers, his eyes filling with tears. "I hurt her, Esme. I . . . I hurt her."

"No," she disagreed. "Sam Uley hurt her, more times than we can count. We're going to make sure that son of a bitch never sees the outside again, and we're going to do everything possible to reunite Bella and Hope."

"And if we don't?" he asked, frowning.

"Then we keep fighting, because Bella's worth it."

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