24

Bella didn't give Marcus the pleasure of watching her react, but inwardly, she was reeling. He'd threatened her mother, the purest, most innocent soul Bella had ever known. They'd just exited into the lobby when Edward wrapped his hand around her arm, pulling her to a full stop.

"Hey, look at me, Swan."

She shifted her eyes up to his. "Masen."

"Take a deep breath," he told her.

Her eyes closed as she did as he told her. "He's going after my mom. You heard him. Dwyer is going after my mother."

"We are not going to let that happen." He brought his hand up to the back of her head. "I won't let that happen."

"What if we're already too late?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"We're not."

Giving her a look, the two hurried down to the warden's office, bypassing his secretary and throwing the door open with more force than needed. Charlie and Carlisle glanced at them before standing.

"Have you talked to Mom this morning?"

"I did," Charlie confirmed. "Before we left the hotel. I texted her and made sure she and Jessica were okay. She said she was fine."

"But did you actually speak to her?"

"No, it was just texts." Charlie's eyes widened. "Why?"

Bella clenched her hands into tight fists, but instead of speaking, she dug her phone from her back pocket and found her mother's number. Her fingers trembled as she pressed the call button, bringing the phone to her ear. After two rings, she heard a click and started to relax. But then she heard a low, eerie chuckle.

"Hello, my love. Did you have an enjoyable conversation with Marcus?"

"Not particularly," she replied, her eyes shifting to her father's. "You don't need to hurt her, Dwyer."

"Need? No. Want? That is something I very much want to do."

Charlie slumped into his chair, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

"You didn't find her, my love. You didn't save her. Now, I have to up the ante."

"Let her go," Bella whispered, unable to keep the tremor from lacing her words. "Please, just . . . just let her go and I will do whatever you want."

"Oh, no, that's not how the game is played."

"This isn't a fucking game!" she screamed.

"Everything is a game," he bit back. "Now, you know where we're at. You should hurry, my love. She's not going to be able to take as much as the others, so I suggest you stop fucking that boy and find me."

"Please, don't hurt her," Bella cried.

"Tick-tock, my love. Tick fucking tock."

And Phillip Dwyer ended the call.

"Goddamn it!" Bella screamed, falling to her knees. "You dirty, motherfucker!"

"Bee."

She tilted her head up, looking at her father.

"He . . . he has her?"

Bella nodded.

"Oh, my God," Charlie whispered, dragging his hand over his mouth. "I thought I was keeping her safe."

"Where did Marcus and Dwyer live in Oklahoma?" Bella asked. "What was the name of the town?"

"Broken Bow," Edward said, kneeling next to her. "They lived in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. You think that's where he took her?"

"Back to where the game started for him."

"I was keeping her safe," Charlie murmured. "I told her I was keeping her safe."

Bella stood. "We need to go. We need to go right now."

Edward placed his hand on her back as they hurried out of the prison to their car. While Carlisle called the bureau located in Oklahoma City, Edward called Rosalie, telling her and the rest of the team to meet them in Broken Bow as soon as they could, simply stating Dwyer had made it personal. He also told Rosalie to try to get a lock on Renee's phone, even though they both knew Dwyer was too smart for that. Not only would he have turned her phone off the second their call ended, but he probably had also figured out a way to block any type of tracing ability they had.

Still, they would try.

"Bee," Charlie whispered, causing her to look at him. "Could you hear her?"

"No."

"I can't get Charlotte on the phone. Nobody is answering. They were there yesterday morning. I talked to her Bee, and she was fine."

Bella nodded. "You should call the local PD and send them to the house. Prepare them for what they're going to find."

"Goddamn it," he cursed before yanking his phone out of his pocket and calling the police department in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The four climbed into the car, with Charlie riding in the front seat, Carlisle driving, and Edward and Bella in the backseat. She replayed Dwyer's words over and over inside her head. It really was a game to him, and she was just his pawn.

Why?

That's what she couldn't understand. Why was he obsessed with hurting her? Was it because she'd been the agent who took Marcus Henderson down? The man had tortured him as a little boy; why did he feel any sense of loyalty to him?

"Holy shit," Carlisle snarled, slamming on the brakes. Bella braced herself before she could hit the front seat, ready to unleash a series of four-letter words, but when she looked out the front window, she understood why he'd stopped.

Standing in the middle of the road was Angela Webber.

Bella was out of the car before anyone could say anything, and Angela tilted her head to the side as she walked toward her. Just like in the video, she was wearing a pair of black pants and a black hoodie pulled over her long, dark hair. Her eyes were dull and lifeless, and Bella could see the bruising around her neck — bruising that had started to turn yellow and green.

"Angela."

"Agent Swan. He said you would be here."

"I bet he did."

Her eyes flickered behind Bella, her dry, cracked lips curling into a smile. "Oh, he's cute. I can see why you like him."

Bella looked back at Edward, who, like Carlisle and Charlie, were standing in front of the car. Carlisle was on the phone, no doubt calling for backup. "I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner."

"He said you would. Said you were going to save me."

Bella looked at her again. "You know he was never going to let that happen."

"I do. Still, I was hoping." She pushed down the hood, showing how Dwyer had shaved off part of her hair. Bella could see the word 'whore' carved into the side of her skull. "Like you did, Momma. You saved her, Agent Swan, but you never even looked for me."

"I didn't know you were missing."

"You should have known!" she screamed, stepping forward before moving backward. "I'm sorry. He told me not to get emotional. Emotions are for the weak."

"Nothing wrong with being angry, Angela. I am."

Angela tilted her head to the side. "Because he killed Garrett."

"Yes."

"He told me how you refused to play the game. You cheated, and that's why he had to die."

"You can't cheat when he keeps changing the rules."

"There are no rules. There never were."

"Why did you leave flowers in front of my hotel room?"

"He told me to. I'm a good girl, Agent Swan. I do what he tells me to. I learned to do what he told me to do. You should know that by now. If you just played the game, none of us would have suffered."

"Wow, you really believe that, don't you?" Bella tilted her head to the side. "You don't even see how much he's hurt you."

"He loves me."

"He doesn't love anyone." Two squad cars pulled up behind her, causing Angela to pull a black pistol out of her pocket. "Hey, calm down."

"You're trying to take him from me. He's mine, Agent Swan. He's mine!"

"Oh, honey, no, he's not." Bella put her hands up in front of her. "You didn't deserve anything that happened to you. None of it. Phillip Dwyer is a bad man, honey. A very bad man."

"He said he loves me. He said he picked me because I was special," she cried, tapping the gun against the side of her leg.

The officers in the squad car climbed out, their weapons pointed at the young, fragile girl. Bella shook her head at them.

"Love isn't supposed to hurt, Angela. Not like that."

"He said it did."

"He lied to you." Bella took a step toward her. "He manipulated you into believing that you owed him your loyalty, but you don't. You don't, Angela. Let me help you. Let me get you back to your mom and dad. They've missed you so much."

Angela frowned, her head moving from side to side. "How can they miss me when they're dead?"

"They're not dead. I just spoke with them last night."

"No, no, no, no, he . . . he said they died. They died when he took me from school. He said they refused to play the game, too, so they had to die."

Bella kept one hand up while grabbing her phone from her back pocket. "I can prove they aren't dead, Angela."

"You . . . you can?"

She nodded before finding Charles's number and pressing send. She put the call on speaker and listened to it ring once, twice, and a third time before they heard a click followed by a rushed, "Hello? Bee, is that you?"

Angela dropped to her knees, tears sliding down her face. The officers moved toward them, but Bella once again shook her head. She knelt next to Angela, slowly wrapping her arm around the girl before she said, "Someone would like to speak to you, Charles."

"Who?" he asked. "Who, Bee?"

"Daddy?" Angela cried. "Daddy, is that you?"

"Angie? Oh, my God, Angie, where are you? Are you okay, baby?"

"Daddy!" Angela screamed, crumbling into Bella's arms. "Daddy!"

"Baby, I'm here. Momma and I are here. Tell me where you are, baby, and we'll come get you."

"Daddy, oh, Daddy," Angela sobbed.

Bella brought the phone up to her ear after taking it off speaker. "Charles."

"You found her. You . . . you really found her?"

"She's in Ionia. Local PD are going to escort her to the hospital. You and Mary should hurry."

"And Dwyer? Did you stop him?"

"Not yet," she said, holding Angela across her lap. "It's not good, Charles. She's . . . she's been through a lot."

"Are you going to stop him, Bee?"

"I'm sure as hell going to try."

—^—

They lost valuable time getting Angela into protective custody. Charlie, Edward, and Bella rushed to the airport, Carlisle stayed behind with Angela. Mike and Alice were going to meet him while Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper made the trip to Broken Bow, Oklahoma.

"What'd Henderson say to you?" Charlie asked. "What'd he say, Bee?"

"He confirmed what Masen had surmised. They knew each other when they were little. He was nine; Henderson would have been eleven or maybe twelve. Henderson tortured and raped that little boy until he was begging for it. Probably why his parents left Oklahoma, why it's not in any of his history. They didn't want anyone to know he'd been Henderson's victim."

"When he took a hit to the head, it all came back to him, didn't it?"

Bella nodded. "It would explain the sudden change in behavior. When I stopped Henderson, Dwyer took it personally. That's why he's targeting me. Because in his eyes, I stole Henderson from him. Now, he's making me play his game."

Son of a bitch," Charlie grumbled, leaning forward and placing his face in his hands. "I thought I was keeping her safe. I really . . . I really thought I was protecting her."

Bella looked out the plane window. "Me too."

Five and a half hours later, their plane touched down at a private airstrip just outside of Broken Bow. When Charlie, Edward, and Bella walked off the plane, they found Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper waiting with two local police officers.

"They found Charlotte," Rosalie told them as soon as they were within earshot. "She's alive," she added. "He'd tied her up and locked her in a closet."

"Did he hurt her?"

"He beat her pretty badly. They were taking her to the hospital but said she should be okay."

"And Jessica?" Bella asked.

"She wasn't there. She and Renee are both gone."

Bella nodded. "He wasn't going to let either of them get away from him."

"We've searched both Henderson's and Dwyer's childhood homes, but there's no sign that he, Renee, or Jessica have been there. Are you sure this is where he would have brought them, Bee?"

"Yeah, this is where it started for him." Bella closed her eyes and blew out a deep breath. "Henderson wouldn't have touched him inside their houses. He would have taken him somewhere private, somewhere nobody would have heard him screaming."

"There's an abandoned lumber mill about three miles outside of town," one of the officers said, a young Native American with long black hair and dark eyes. "Northeast side of Beavers Bend State Park."

"Why is it abandoned?" Edward asked. "I didn't get your name."

"Clearwater, Seth Clearwater. The company went belly up back in the sixties. Been abandoned ever since. Kids like to go out there and party, though. Busted more than a few myself."

"It would fit his M.O.," Edward said, glancing at Bella. "What do you think?"

"We should check it out."

Since there were so many of them, they had to split up. While Emmett Jasper rode with Clearwater, Charlie and Rosalie rode with his partner, a man named Andrews. That left Bella and Edward in the third car. While she could tell Charlie didn't much like them being by themselves, Bella needed some time to get herself together, to pull her mask of control back on, and she wouldn't be able to do that if her father were constantly repeating how he thought he was protecting her mother.

They parked along the side of Beaver Bend State Park and followed everyone up the path about a mile before they found themselves entering the abandoned lumber company. There was a sign hanging from one hinge that read Choctaw Lumber Company. There were more than a dozen buildings surrounding the overgrown clearing.

"Okay, this is a lot of ground to cover," Charlie said, looking at each of them. "Masen, you and Ro head north. Take Clearwater with you. McCarty, Whitlock, you two, and Andrews head east. Bee and I will take west."

"I'm going with Masen."

"Bee."

"He's my partner. I am going with him."

Charlie shook his head. "Fine, you and Masen go with Clearwater. Ro, you're with me. Everyone stay alert."

"Yes, sir," everyone said but Bella.

As she, Edward, and Clearwater started toward the east, she felt her father wrap his fingers around her arm, pulling her to a stop. "Be careful, Bee. Please."

"I always am," she said as she turned and hugged him. "I'm going to find her, Dad. I'm going to find her."

"Bee."

"I love you, Dad."

"Love you, too, kid."

The first three buildings they searched were empty except for a few dozen empty beer cans and an old pizza box that looked like it had been there for a while. Each building smelled of rot, decay, and marijuana.

When they entered the fourth building, they found themselves faced with a set of stairs. Edward and Clearwater started up, but before Bella could follow, she saw a shadow move from the corner of her eye. She glanced at them before she turned and started toward the back of the building, down a long, narrow hallway, to another door — a door that had been left wide open. There was a dull glow coming from down below.

Bella tightened the grip on her weapon before pressing her back against the wall as she slowly made herway down the steps. Spinning, she looked behind her but found nothing but a wall. She turned and walked around the staircase, her heart racing.

Strapped to a chair in the middle of the room with dozens of candles surrounding her was her mother. Bella hurried to her, placing her fingers on her neck to search for a pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the pulsating beat, though it was weaker than it should be.

"Mom," Bella whispered, shaking her shoulder. "Mom, wake up," she whisper-yelled.

"She's not going to wake up anytime soon."

Bella turned just before Jessica Stanley pounced on her, pinning her arms against her side. The woman smiled. "You made this too easy. Way too easy."

"What are you talking about?" Bella said, her eyes widening when Jessica held up a syringe. "Jess?"

She leaned forward, placing the needle against the side of her neck. As she pushed it into her skin, she said, "He's waiting for us, Bee. And we don't want to be late."

"What?" she asked, her eyes widening when she felt the drugs being pushed into her bloodstream.

"Help!"

"Shh, nobody can help you," Jessica cooed before she climbed off her.

Bella turned and tried to crawl away, but when she felt a pair of hands wrap around her ankles, she screamed and turned.

Her eyes started to close as Phillip Dwyer dragged her away from her mother, through a hidden door, and away from anyone who could help her.

Thank you for all the AMAZING reviews! Huge thank you to Sunflower Fran for being an awesome beta! I'm going to go hide now!