WRONG DECISIONS

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she brought them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.

Esme spoke up then and suggested, "Why don't I and Mr. Volturi go to this motel and see if it is indeed the children and his daughter. That way he would be a familiar face to the woman and not scare her and I can take control of the children."

"Do it while the rest of us clear up here." Carlisle told her.

CHAPTER 23: REUNIONS

Marcus and Esme left immediately to head for the Hunter Retreat motel. Everyone was hoping that no more problems were lurking around the corner other than trying to locate and get a hold of James Hunter. It was a foregone conclusion that he was going to be learning a great many lessons about his proper place and what happens to betrayers once they had their hands on him. He would be lucky if he survived the process which in everyone's mind was a doubt situation at best.

Meanwhile the Cullen's and Mario began the process of removing the bunch they had found waiting for James's return. Even this bunch was going to be undergoing a rigorous interrogation before any decision was made regarding what would finally happen to each man involved with James. That is everyone but Lorenzo since he was a mole working to get information to Marcus.

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Victoria, not being aware of what had happened to James and being concerned about going too far into the woods with the children, found a small hidden cave where she and the children took cover. It was there that they waited for some time before Victoria felt she needed to try to check things out.

She told the twins to stay where they were and that she would be back very shortly after making sure everything was safe for them to return to the room. They weren't happy about being left by themselves but agreed to wait. Victoria gave each one a quick kiss to the forehead and promised that she wouldn't be long.

Victoria wasn't happy about leaving the two little ones alone, but she had to make sure that it was safe before returning them to the motel room. She couldn't take any chances that James was there waiting for their return. So, on the way back to the motel Victoria was trying to be very careful to make her approach back as quietly as possible and she would stop ever so often just to listen to see if she could hear any sort of movement taking place that might indicate James's location.

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They finally got all of the scum removed from the house where James had left his bunch of misfits to an empty warehouse that Marcus had told them about. Alice and Rose were sent back to the hotel to wait for Esme's return. None of the guys wanted the women present due what was going to be an intense interrogation.

Of course, the two women protested but to no avail, Emmett escorted them back to the hotel and then returned to the warehouse. Upon his arrival he found the process of getting answers was already happening. And what surprised him the most was that Edward was working on one man as Jasper and Carlisle, each, were also working on man at the same time.

Wasting no time, Emmett chose someone and began seeking answers from his choice.

The loudest individual was the man that Edward was hammering away on with no let up. Edward was starting to get a bit out of control; his temper was taking over along with his anxiety about the safety of his children. He kept switching from using his fist on the man to using any instrument that he could instantly lay hands on which included using a knife to make deep, blood-dripping cuts anywhere he could reach without thought to using pliers to pull out fingernails or a saw to cut off fingers first and then hands.

Carlisle had given the order for the women to return to the hotel which no one dared to disobey and now he was walking over to haul his son from getting totally out of control.

No one had ever seen Edward behave this way. He had always been the one that spouted caution and urged for all of the businesses that could be turned into more legal avenues to be done as soon as possible.

"Edward, stop." Carlisle told his son, but to no avail. Edward's mind was closed to everything else around him but to what he was currently doing. It was as if Edward couldn't hear him or maybe didn't want to hear him. He was almost beyond reach. "Edward, I said stop!" Carlisle yelled as he jerked Edward away from the mutilated body of the man that he was supposed to have been questioning.

Edward quickly turned with his fist drawn back to deliver a striking hit to whoever had interfered with what he was doing. But before it could make connection Emmett had grabbed his arm and asked, "What the hell, man?" That alone seemed to snap Edward back to the present and to the realization of what he had done.

"Sorry, Dad." Was all that he said as he looked at the body, he had been making a mess of. That scene caused him to flinch as he surveyed the damage. Needless to say, the man was dead and wouldn't be able to give anyone any answers if he knew them.

"Has anyone received any sort of intelligent answer from anyone they have questioned so far?" Carlisle asked as he looked at each of the other three men.

"No, sir, it's as if they are just a bunch of sheep with no will of their own or just plain ass greedy since it seems that James was willing to pay them a huge amount of money." Jasper answered while turning to look at the other men left to question.

"Someone has to know something." Edward tossed out his opinion.

"I agree, so let's continue with the questioning, but Edward watch how far you go this time around. We need all the information we can get about what government agency James was working with so we can try to counteract anything that he might already have set in motion." Carlisle told everyone.

So, with that said each man went back to trying to get any information as to where James Hunter might be planning to be next or what were his complete plans, anything that they might not already know.

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Marcus and Esme arrived at the motel and went into the office to ask what room Victoria might be using. Not being sure of what name Victoria might be using, he showed the desk clerk a picture of his daughter. With seeing that the clerk was able to confirm that indeed the lady and two children were staying there.

"But you are the second person to be asking about her today." The clerk remarked. "Has she committed a crime or something?"

"No, we're just checking to see if she has arrived and what room she might be occupying." Marcus was quick to answer his curious mind. And, with that answer the clerk didn't hesitate to give them the room number.

Then as Marcus started to turn away, he paused to ask the clerk, "You said that I'm the second person to be asking today, correct?" And as the clerk nodded yes Marcus asked, "Who was the other person?"

"It was a younger man who could benefit from learning some manners or social skills. He was rude and abrasive. He was tall with long blonde hair tied back and looked to need a good washing if you know what I mean."

Once again Marcus showed the man a photo and asked if that was the man that had been in earlier. "Yes, yes it was." The clerk replied. Marcus told him that if that man returned to call the police since he was the woman's abusive boyfriend. The clerk agreed immediately to do as he had been instructed and he handed over a duplicate key for Victoria's room.

Marcus and Esme left the office, went down to Victoria's room and went inside. They begin looking around for some clue as to where Victoria and the children might be. Even looking for some sign that James had been there and hopefully a clue as to where he might have gone.

As Marcus and Esme were looking around neither noticed the door being slowly opened. Victoria was surprised to see two people in the room but didn't realize who any of them were as their backs were turned to her. It was when she spoke asking, "Who the hell are you?"

Both Marcus and Esme swung around quickly in surprise to hear a voice behind them. It was they came face to face at the same time that recognition happened between father and daughter; each called the other's name at the same time. Then Victoria quickly ran to her father as he gathered her up in his arms, holding her closely and whispering that all was going to be okay.

As all three got passed their surprised state Victoria was introduced to Esme. That was when Victoria knew she needed to make a quick decision about what to do about the twins. Should she turn them over to their grandmother since she recognized the woman's last name or wait until she could talk with her father privately and quietly as to how she should handle the situation.

"Dad, I need to talk to you. I knew James was here and I barely managed to get away and hide without him seeing me. But I know that he is still around in this area." She whispered to Marcus.

He quietly asked, even though he knew that Esme could hear their conversation, "Where was he when you last saw him?"

"Coming out of my room and then entering the woods behind the motel."

Marcus gave some thought as to what he should do and then made his decision. "Esme, if you will, please stay here in case he returns but be careful. He won't know who you are and as you wait call Carlisle to inform him of what we know from here."

She agreed and Marcus then turned to Victoria and told her, "Tori, show me where James Hunter entered the woods." So, with that being decided father and daughter left the room.

As Marcus and Victoria walked around to the back of the motel and were about to enter the woods, Marcus halted and looked at his daughter. "Okay, Tori, where have you stashed the children?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." She remarked back to Marcus. Pausing for a moment as if to gather her thoughts, Victoria continued, "I recognized the name for Esme and was confused about if I should give up that information to her since she's their grandmother or to keep that information to myself. I was confused as to what would be the right thing to do."

"I'm glad you waited because I promised the mother that I would return her children to her since she and young Cullen are divorced. After that it will be her decision as to how she wants to proceed with the Cullen family."

"Dad, I was wrong about James, you can do what you want with him. He didn't care about me; he only wanted to use me and then kill me after my usefulness was done."

Marcus looked at his daughter for a moment or two before replying, "Sweetheart, I made a promise to a young mother, and I made a promise to you. I'm going to keep both promises, but I can't be held responsible for what the Cullen's will do to James.

"Now, take me to the children and we'll return to the motel where I'll get the car and take the children to their mother."

So, without any further delay Victoria took her father back to the cave where she had left the children. The whole way there both father and daughter kept a lookout for any sign of James being in the area.

As they arrived back at the cave Marcus had Victoria go in first so the children wouldn't be frightened by his sudden appearance. Both wide-eyed, scared-looking young ones screamed as Victoria walked in but once they saw who was coming into the cave, they ran to her just glad to see that she had come back for them.

Next Marcus walked into the cave and Victoria was quick to explain to them that the man was her father. Marcus knelt to be on the same eye level as the twins and quickly explained that he was going to take them back to their mother to which they both gave him a quick hug and a smile.

"Tori, help me get them to the car and then what I want you to do is to return to your motel room and let Mrs. Cullen know that I have the children and that I'm taking them back to their mother."

After that not another word was said as Marcus and Victoria each picked up a child and walked back to the car parked in front of the motel. They got the twins loaded in the car and as Marcus pulled out of the parking lot Victoria did as her father had instructed.

Little did they know that Carlisle Cullen was about to arrive at the motel or that James had already been dealt with by Bella.

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Bella heard a car door slam and then there was a delay before someone knocked on the door. Two things happened at the same time, James started to come around again and the person knocking on the door called her name.

Not thinking about what she was doing, Bella knocked James out once again and then hid behind the door as it slowly started to open. She had the skillet raised above her head to be ready to hit the person coming in until she heard the giggle of two children. That is when she darted out from behind the door, dropping the skillet and gathering upon her babies.

At that point, Marcus said, "I made you a promise and now I've kept that promise. The Cullen's are here in Seattle and not far away, so I need for you to take the car and your children and return home." It was then that he noticed the body of a man lying on the floor and that he was tied up.

Without saying anything he walks over to see if he can recognize the unconscious man. Reaching down and lifting the head a little way up by the hair he saw that it was James Hunter.

Turning back to Bella, he told her, "I would leave now if I was you. This is the man that had your children and the Cullen's will want to talk with him." She didn't have to be told twice to leave, she got her babies out to the car and loaded them into the backseat. Next, she saw the keys in the ignition, got in the front behind the steering wheel, started the engine and left after thanking Marcus for keeping his promise.

Once Marcus was sure that Bella was away safely out of the area he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He dialed Carlisle's number and informed him that he had discovered James and would wait for someone to come pick him up.

AN: The children have been reunited with their mother, Victoria is safe, and James is about to be dealt with. Marcus has kept his promises. What is going to happen once Marcus sees the Cullen's once more after taking the children to Bella? How are Bella and the Cullen family going to handle the children meeting Edward and the rest of the family?

Thanks for reading and looking forward to your comments.