Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Bodyguard

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 15:

Jasper POV

It started out as simple day. Run around Houston using this wonder lotion Garrett provided and search for scents of Victoria or Marie or any vampire in general. Problem was Houston had a lot of smells that covered old scent trails quick. Many of these smells were not pleasant. So instead of running I drove my recently purchased Corvette convertible hoping to catch a whiff and stopping at likely hideouts.

Not making much progress I became lost in my thoughts. My worries. How could I get Bella out of this? How could I make sure she is never bothered again? How could I keep an idiot like Ty alive despite his best attempts so Bella does not hate me? What have I ever done that is so bad I deserve to be bound to an oath to protect the man of the woman I love?

Okay I admit I have done some pretty bad things. Probably karma on that one.

My mind also drifted to Esme. She was with Garrett all last night. She was with him today. I also saw Garrett speaking to Peter on a rooftop near downtown when I ran nearby. Peter hadn’t mentioned it and I didn’t ask. I didn’t have to. I knew what Garrett was doing. Recruiting.

A part of me was a bit flattered. After all these years he had never asked any other vampires to join him. He recognized that he could trust Peter, Charlotte and me.

It was true I did need a purpose in life.

However I had a very difficult time trusting the government. I also did not like the idea of Esme being involved in this.

You cannot hide emotions. You can hide thoughts but never emotions. I knew she did not love Carlisle but felt beholden to him for saving her life. I knew she hated Edward and Alice annoyed the hell out of her. I knew she felt indifferent to Rosalie but had genuine affection for Emmett.

I also knew what I felt from her at times in regards to me. It wasn’t love.

It was lust. I made innuendos at times and she simply winked and reverted back to her Stepford wife persona. Still though I did not give it much thought. I hadn’t had the best luck with women.

I made a mistake by staying with Maria as long as I did. I did run from her, but Peter was right. I believed she loved me. I know she loved me in her own sick, twisted way. Her love was obsessive and sadistic. It wasn’t enough to have me. She had to dominate me like everything and everyone else in her existence. She had no gifts unless you considered an uncontrollable rage and desire to destroy a gift.

Peter convinced me to leave. I probably should have killed her. I was still conflicted though. It was only after I had distance that I could see clearly.

I understood Esme’s desire to run from Carlisle. To live. But run to this? Garrett would get her killed.

I was drawn out of my thoughts by my phone.

“What’s up Peter?”

“Bad feeling. Bad, bad feeling. You need to get to Huntsville. Walls Unit. Something is going on or will be. I think our humans are going to be attacked.”

I raced back to my car at human speed and tried to call Ty, then Bella. No answer. I called Garrett and alerted him to the situation.

He stated he was on his way. He was in South Houston searching the bayou for Maria. I could be there in 35 minutes in my car.

I pushed my Corvette onto the Interstate to its top speed. If I saw a police officer I doubt he would be able to stop me. My speedometer pushed past 180 while I did mental calculations of my ETA. Garrett called.

“Yeah?”

“Connolly just made contact with Rudi. The prison is under attack by vampires. They are in a hallway in the main building holding the vampires off in a corridor.”

“Why won’t they answer their phones?!”

“Connolly had the two leave theirs behind. He doesn’t like anything that could be tracked easily. He only carries an earpiece he uses when he needs it.”

“Fucking brilliant.” I whispered to myself. “Prison is going to have a lot of witnesses Garrett.”

“Cells are locked down. Fighting is in the main building. We can handle the guards. I’m thirty minutes away. You?”

“Ten.”

“Rudi says they have killed two so far.”

They?

“Stay on the line and keep my updated.”

A few moments of silence and then…

“Connolly has killed one in the courtyard. Bella is in the chopper and is safely off the ground.”

“What about Ty?” I asked, remembering I’m supposed to be worried about him and not just feel relief that Bella was out of there.

“Holding the corridor still. He has vampires in front of him. Looks like four. Three coming behind him. Connolly is pursuing but he won’t make it.”

“He doesn’t need to.”

I pulled over as I entered Huntsville. I had to run to save time and hope I moved fast enough so not many people noticed me. Running the allies and back streets I found myself in front of the Unit.

“Jack has you on Satellite. Jump the wall and head straight through the next two walls. I will let Rudi know it’s you.”

I didn’t wait. Without a care for any humans seeing me I smashed through the old ass red brick and found myself in front of Ty.

“Sorry I’m late Boss.”

I turned my attention to the vampires while Ty explained to his father that I worked for him now. I admit, hearing that, Garrett did seem like the better option for employment.

Ty’s attention and mine turned back behind him as I saw three vampires rushing us. Ty fired and I saw two go down. I grabbed the third and slammed him to the ground. Gunfire broke out behind me. Not having time to play around I bet into the guy’s neck and ripped, leaving his head hanging by a thread.

Turning back to the four in front, I felt a bullet fly by my head and hit the vampire in the lead. It must be Connolly behind me. I sent a strong feeling of calm throughout the hallway.

Everyone relaxed. Ty and his father put down their guns and the one remaining vampire who had not been shot in the hallway went to his knees.

Ty calmly walked up to him and placed his gun to the vampire’s head.

“Ty don’t.”

“Excuse me? Motherfucker tried to kill me and my woman. Man tries to kill you, you got the right to kill him right back.”

“I need information. You can blow his head off as soon as I am done. Alright?”

Ty lowered his gun.

“Hurry up and make this fucker talk. Then I’m smoking his ass.”

“Gavin you all right?” Connolly asked, as he ran up.

“Yeah I’m good. Not a scratch.”

“Rudi let Bella know she can put the gun down. He is fine.” Connolly said.

“What the hell is Bella doing with a gun?” I asked.

“She wouldn’t let the pilot leave until she had Ty back with her. She grabbed his side arm and is holding him hostage a hundred feet in the air instead of following my orders to get her to a safe zone in Houston. I guess I’m keepin her up there until we are sure no more sparklers are going to jump out of the wood work.” Jason explained.

“Good idea.” I grabbed the remaining vampire by his hair and pulled him up, finally getting a good look at his face.

“Zachariah.”

“Jasper. Wasn’t expecting you here. We were told to expect three humans. Want to tell me about this new gift you have that can blow vampires to pieces?”

“You think that was me? I was late to the party.” I chuckled.

“So it was the humans. I suppose our race is fucked. Or maybe the real fun is about to start.” He said grinning.

“Why are you here? Why were you sent after Bella?”

“Really? You are curious as to why Maria is after your mate?”

“She ain’t his fuckin mate, princess.” Ty commented quickly.

“With all the vampires running around her residence we had to take advantage of the opportunity to catch her without protection. Maria felt we could take her anytime in Houston but preferred to avoid an all-out assault in a major city that might catch the attention of our friends in Italy.”

“Why does she want Bella? Bella is not with me. She has to know this by now.”

“And yet you stay around. Maria has given you time Jasper. She left you with that idiot pixie hoping you would get whatever the hell was wrong with you out of your system. She let you have your solitude in the desert. But make no mistake she was coming to reclaim you soon. Then Victoria showed up. She convinced Maria that you had found your mate and killed the vampire James to protect her. She wanted a partnership. Maria could take the girl as leverage against you and Maria would hide Victoria from the Volturi.”

“How did that work out?” I asked, already knowing.

“Victoria never made the trip to Houston. She left Edward Cullen torn to pieces in the cave in the desert and we attacked her ten minutes later. She is ash in the desert now.”

“Damn you vampires are some double crossin motherfuckers. Eddie planned to double cross Victoria who beat him to the punch. Victoria wanted to use Maria who double crossed her. I heard there is no honor among thieves but you vampires make thieves look like saints.” Ty observed. It was hard to disagree.

“So if I go back to Maria, she will leave Bella alone?”

Zachariah laughed. He had fought for me in many battles. He was a tough bastard. He didn’t bullshit very often.

“You of all people know Maria. She loves you in her own twisted way. She believes you have a mate. She will never stop until she kills the girl, on the off chance the girl ever decides she wants you. She also wants Peter and Charlotte dead. Do what you will Jasper. Promise her whatever you want. She ain’t stopping. It ain’t in that bitch’s nature. Ain’t in yours either.”

“You don’t know a damn thing about my nature.” I growled.

“I’ve seen you slaughter humans because you were bored. I’ve seen you torture and cull newborns showing no emotion or attachment. The only real attachment I ever saw you have was to a sadistic psychopath bitch and Peter. You wouldn’t give a damn about Charlotte if she wasn’t with Peter. What does that say about you?”

“If you hate Maria so much why are you still with her?” I asked, ignoring his question.

“You know. You made us this way. What else am I gonna do? Start eatin animals and go to medical school? You turned me into a monster. So I do what I do.”

“How many fuckers she got with her?” Ty asked.

“Why the fuck would I tell you nig…”

I grabbed the fucker by his throat and cut off his ability to speak.

“This man is a friend of mine and you will address him with respect. How many of you are there?” I sent fear his way. I didn’t need to try hard. He was a survivor and he knew I would never let him out of this. He had crossed me. He knew what happened to those who crossed me. He was praying for a quick death right now to whatever god would listen to him.

“After today? We took a hit when you left. Only 6 of us survived the first battle and we went underground. But we rebuilt over the years. We stayed underground in the caverns, feeding on village girls and letting the Cartel take the blame. Maria wants more. She wants the world. She wants…”

“Italy.” I finished.

“And Romania. She needs you to do it. But she won’t trust you with a mate alive. She may leave Peter and Charlotte alone to get you. But she will kill this human. The fact that she is protected is making it a challenge she can’t pass up.”

“How many?” I asked again.

“With everyone here dead? 26.”

Oh fuck.

“That crazy bitch has 26 newborns in Houston?”

“Newborns? No. She has 26 vampires loyal to her and ready to leave the Mexican cave system and take on the world. About half those are gifted.”

“What gifts?”

“Fuck you. Kill me if you gonna kill me. You want to know more information we can negotiate. I gotta go back though. You let me go and work for you.”

There it was. An offer to be a double agent. Legitimate?

He was good but it was there. Deception. He had been honest about the vampires though. I turned to Connolly.

“What do you think Jason?”

“Blow his fucking head off Ty.” He said immediately.

Ty raised his gun and fired a split second after Zachariah screamed. The scream was cut short in a ball of fire.

I looked at them, annoyed.

“I wasn’t finished speaking to him. I needed to know how he knew where you two were today. Where they are hiding out. We could have at least followed him.”

“I know how they knew and I know where they are hiding. I would bet they have heard everything discussed in Donna’s house. I don’t need your old buddy running back and telling her about our weapons.” Connolly explained.

“You know?”

“Yep he told you.” Jason responded.

“He didn’t…”

“Fuckin bitch is underground.” Ty whispered.

Okay I felt stupid I hadn’t thought of it first.

“Yep. Houston doesn’t have a tunnel system like New York but like every other major city it has a waste water system, sewage tunnels, mostly built in 1939. They don’t stretch the system as one unit but they are there. I know there are at least fifteen miles of them that feed into the Port alone. Also I have always heard rumors of bunkers built in the sixties during the Cold War underground, in the event of a nuclear war. Our satellites can’t pick up shit. Your noses can’t. Only place they could be.”

Okay. Point to the humans.

“How do we clean this up and get out of here?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about it. Cavalry is on its way. Let’s get Ty back to Bella and get them both home. We can decide our next move there. Oh and Mr. Gavin? You died here today. You are coming with us.”

“To where?” he asked.

“To freedom.” Connolly answered. “Consider your sentence served.”

Donna POV

“Garrett are they okay?”

“Yes Donna. Perfect. We are flying the chopper straight to Hermann to have Bella checked out for precautionary purposes only and then they will be home.” He explained calmly. I didn’t feel calm.

“I understand your concern…” he began…

“How the fuck did this bitch know where she was going?” I asked. Concern? Kiss my ass concern.

“We don’t know.” He replied and put his finger to his lips. That can’t be good.

“Okay. Figure it out.” I ordered, playin along hoping he damn well knew how this bitch knew. I hope she ain’t got some messed up vampire power that makes her invisible or something.

“I assure you we are doing everything we can. In the mean time I hear a truck outside. I am betting that is Bella and Ty’s essentials. These men are National Guard and have no idea what is going on so let’s keep quiet.” He said and winked at me. Then he was gone out the back.

I answered the knock on my door and saw several men in plain clothes carrying boxes.

Good Lord how much shit did those two have?

Ten damn boxes were brought inside.

“Mercy, how many clothes does this girl have?” I asked myself. One of the fella’s heard me.

“No ma’am. Those two boxes are hers including shoes. These eight are his clothes. We have three more boxes with his shoes we are bringing in. Two boxes with miscellaneous items were also packed. Items we felt they may wish to have.”

The guy smirked when he said that last part. I probably didn’t want to know.

More boxes and soon my living room was damn near full. My house ain’t big enough for this but at least my kids and grandbaby would be safe.

“And last but not least, this guy.” The last soldier told me bringing in…

“Oh hell no. You… uh uh. Get! Get on. Put that dog back where you found it. I don’t take in strays!”

Biggest damn dog I ever saw. Maybe not the biggest but the meanest lookin. A damn blue pit bull.

“Ma’am this isn’t a stray. We were told they had a dog and to bring the dog here. I believe her name is Feather.”

“Feather! That dog ain’t a feather.” Huge ass head on that dog. She was just starin.

“The crate is being brought in now but she has done well on a leash. Sat up front with me on the drive down. Very well behaved. Enjoy.”

A guy followed and dropped a huge crate. Feather just sat there staring at me. Shit.

The soldier closed my door.

A damn dog. A monster dog. Feather? Ty never told me he had a dog.

“Hey Momma what…”

Jeff just walked in.

“The hell is that?!” he finished noticing the dog. He didn’t like dogs either.

“That’s Feather.” I explained. “Put her in that crate Jeff.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Do as your Momma tells you.”

Jeff stepped near the devil beast. When he got near the crate the beast started growling lowly. She never moved. Just sat there staring at us. Growling.

The dog took a step forward and Jeff ran back and jumped on the couch. I joined him.

She started sniffin the floor and began walking down the hallway. I suppose she found Ty’s room. Jeff and I snuck around the hallway and didn’t see her.

“Go shut Ty’s door.” I told him.

“No, you do it.”

“You sold me out to Renee. This is your punishment. Now do it.”

“That’s child abuse! You can’t expect me to get mauled by a monster as a punishment!” He hissed.

“Yes I can. Go protect your Momma. Ty would do it if he were here.” He hated when I did that. I did the same thing to Ty.

“Ty brought that monster here! Stop comparing me to Ty. You only do that when you want something. You know I got three times that boys IQ.”

“No you don’t.” I tried. He probably did.

“Yes I do. That’s why I’m smart enough not to go down there. You know I saw a video where one of those dogs chew through a 2X4 once? No kiddin Momma. What you think it’s gonna do to me?”

“What do you think I’m gonna so to you? You want your mother to go down there? Shame on you boy.”

“Let’s just leave. Ty and Bella can handle that damn beast when they gets back.”

“Jeff.”

“Yeah Momma?”

“Go close that door or I am going to beat the hell out of you and leave you with that monster roamin free.”

I met his eyes and saw shock and then belief.

“You cold Momma. I love you but you cold hearted.”

Jeff took a deep breath and sprinted down the hall. He closed Ty’s door quickly and ran back.

We both let out a breath and then started laughing.

“That was crazy. Big silver monster.”

“Yeah,” I agreed.

We walked in and began looking at the boxes. I supposed I could start putting these clothes up so Bella didn’t have so much to deal with. I opened the first box and too late realized it was one of the miscellaneous boxes.

“What the hell is that? A saddle?” Jeff asked.

“Ain’t none of our business.” I said quickly and moved to close the box.

“No! Wait, let’s check this out.”

To hell with it. I was kinda curious myself. Maybe it was harmless. Maybe they owned a horse too.

Jeff pulled it out and kept pulling. It had a chain and a lot of black straps.

“Oh Lord this like that stuff from that book Fifty Shades of Grey.”

“What do you know about that book Momma?”

Only read the damn thing ten times.

“Nothing. Ladies at Church were talkin about the sinfulness of that book.”

“What the hell is this?” Jeff kept turning it over in his hands.

“That part looks like it would wrap around a leg or something.” I pointed out.

“This chain got a latch. It latches on to something. Like it hangs… ahh hell I know.”

“Know what?”

“This one of those sex swings Momma!”

“No shit?” I was a bit surprised. I had read about these but never actually seen one.

“I wonder if they got a weight limit?” I murmured. Jeff apparently heard me.

“Momma that’s gross!”

“Oh shut up boy. How the hell you think you got on this Earth? Only one virgin gave birth and you ain’t Jesus. You wanna be a doctor one day figure that out. Now hush and let’s go through this. See what else they got.”

“Ain’t we invading their privacy?” he asked.

“Yep and their monster invaded my house. You gonna stand there and be judgmental or help me look before they get back?” I asked him.

“Hell yeah we gonna look.”

Garrett POV

I sat in the car within sight of Donna’s house with Connolly. Jasper and Esme were with Belal and Ty at Hermann while Bella underwent a series of tests to confirm that everything was fine. Peter and Charlotte were watching Donna’s house from a roof across from her backyard. Connolly’s team was preparing for an assault on the underground drainage tunnel that we found on the city maps I pulled up. The tunnel drained directly underneath Donna’s house. Only two feet of concrete and a foot of soil between her floor and the tunnel. Not an impossible feat for a vampire to listen through.

Because we were preparing for a sneak attack on an unknown number of superhuman combatants underground in the third largest city in the United States, I felt obliged to make this phone call.

“So let me get this whole thing straight. This started because Bella Swan’s vampire ex boyfriend wanted her back. He made a deal with this Victoria to attack her so Edward could save her and force her to accept him into her life. Edward planned to kill Victoria in reality but she killed him first. She then ran to Mexico and enlisted the help of this Maria warlord we have looked for years for. She convinced her Swan was a girlfriend or mate or some shit of this Whitlock guy you want to bring on board along with his two friends and some woman who has recently decided to leave her husband, a vampire masquerading as a doctor. So Maria agrees to take Swan but in reality plans to kill her because she thinks this girl is the mate or whatever of this Whitlock guy who used to fight for her and Maria is in love with. Maria also turns on this Victoria girl and kills her. Now after all this shit, Maria is in Houston with an army of well trained battle hardened vampires intent on taking out Swan, and probably Gavin and his family. I got all this straight?”

“Yes Mr. President.” Connolly answered.

I heard the President’s sigh through the phone.

“What the fuck guys? I got spec op teams in Russia trying to stay hidden and observe possible civil war, while werewolves are sniffing around. I got China playing Naval games in the Taiwan Strait, North Korea trying to make inter- ballistic nukes, and oh yeah, two wars in the Middle East going on with Al Qaeda cells popping up faster than McDonalds in countries they never had a presence in. Despite this going on I got my best spec ops team, and my favorite secret weapon, loading up in Houston Texas, preparing to battle an army of vampires because Garrett, you had a crush on this Gavin guy’s mother in the eighties and Connolly, you are a huge Houston sports fan.”

“That’s not my only reason sir.” Connolly said quickly.

“What is the other reason?”

“I think if you looked at the photos of her, you would see she is uh… pretty hot. Sir.”

I shook my head. He just grinned. Idiot.

“I’m not saying she isn’t hot Connolly. I also agree these citizens need protection from supernatural forces and that is what your team was made for. To assist Garrett. Garrett I can’t stop you from bringing in other vampires. That is your call. You do your thing. You guys want to go toe to toe with this Maria lady, then do it. But not there. Not in Houston. The fall out if this goes south would be too great to hide. I can pay off people and send the guys in suits to take out videos of certain stunts like this Whitlock guy running in broad daylight through Huntsville Texas, and remind people that the story is crazy and nobody would believe them, but Houston? Street cameras everywhere, over a million people? No. Too great a risk. It needs to be remote. I can order a new identity for Gavin’s father but until he shaves his head or grows a beard or something people are going to recognize him there. Donna, I can get her retirement pushed through early, no big deal. Jeff can be on an extended overseas study opportunity sponsored by somebody. These are all things I can do to get you and those people out of Houston. Find someplace else. Someplace remote.”

I was afraid of this.

“Dave I believe Forks may be a suitable place. It would allow us to protect the girl’s father as well but…”

“You are worried about the shape shifters?”

“Yes.”

“Do what you have to, to bring them on board Garrett, or at least guarantee they stay out of the way. I will call this Uley guy if I need to. I assuming you are using this as an opportunity to try out some of the strategies we discussed in regards to the Italian Job should the need for that operation arise?”

“It would be a good exercise sir. But I do need one other thing.”

“What Garrett? A Stealth bomber? Fast attack Sub? Armored tank division? Just tear the band aid off.”

“Nothing so dramatic sir. As you know, no vampire gifts that affect the mind seem to work on Bella Swan. We would like to run some harmless non invasive EEGs to see if we can determine what wave patterns she emits and determine if we can duplicate the electrical impulses.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“We are going to need top secret level black clearance for her and Gavin. She won’t do this without wanting something in return.”

“You are protecting her life and family from shit she got involved in herself. Why the hell would she want anything?”

“You see Dave, Bella knows that I will protect her and Ty for Donna’s sake and Whitlock will protect her as well because he swore to her he would. She is going to want something. I listened to her negotiations with Leggett. She is a bulldog. Figuratively of course.”

“So what is she going to want?”

“She is going to want to see Area 52.” I admitted.

“No! I can’t do that! I can’t just give that kind of clearance to two citizens on your word.”

“Technically you can sir. I mean you are the President. You can do things like that.” Connolly said.

“I can?”

“Yes sir.” I confirmed. “Plus having her there would allow us to run more tests if need be to help develop a device I believe will make us all immune to vampire gifts. She kept the secret of vampire and shifters. She can keep this a secret.” I told him with certainty. I had already spoken to Rudi about this. He and Demond had been experimenting with different brain wave frequencies to determine if gifts could be blocked. We had rough copies of other gifted vampires brain waves we had encountered but considering they were taken in a less than controlled environment it was difficult to measure the effectiveness of Demond’s counter measures.

Now we had a brain wave pattern proven in the field to block vampire gifts. The tests would not harm her or the baby. I just needed her cooperation.

“Fine. They have clearance.”

“Very well. I will speak to Esme about making the Cullen mansion our base of operations and make it obvious that we are leaving Houston. Hopefully Maria will follow and the shifters will not interfere.”

“Do what you need to do Garrett. I have other things on my plate. That’s why I leave this shit to you. Did you ever put any other Presidents through this much stress?”

“I bothered Nixon quite a bit but that was mostly because I wasn’t fond of him.”

“That right? I don’t suppose you were feeding information to Woodward and Bernstein were you?” he laughed.

“No but I did give Felt the idea for the name Deep throat.” I answered honestly. I still can’t believe Mark went with that name.

“Okay guys. Happy hunting. Get your asses away from Houston. Try not to blow up the Pacific Northwest while you are doing this.”

“Thanks Dave.” I said and ended the call.

“You want to break the news to Gavin?” I asked Jason.

“We both will. He ain’t gonna be happy.”

Ty POV

This would definitely be a day I never will forget. It wasn’t because of the shootout in the prison either.

Today I heard my baby’s heartbeat.

I hadn’t stopped touching Bella since she jumped out of the helicopter and ran into my arms. I had been so damn scared for her. She was scared. It was ridiculous. We had to tighten things up. But finally after test after test I had her back home. Connolly gave me a fresh clip at the hospital instead of taking his gun back from me and told me to keep it on me at all times. It meant a lot that he trusted me like that. I hoped if I used it Bella wouldn’t be around.

“Come on darlin, let’s get you to bed.”

“We need to unpack Ty.”

“I will unpack. You get rest.”

“No, come to bed with me.” She insisted. “The boxes can wait.”

“Alright boo. Whatever makes you happy.”

We walked in and I saw…

“What the hell?”

“Oh shit.” Bella whispered.

Our fun swing was hanging from the living room ceiling.

“Hey you two. Me and Jeff was just admiring this. Is it a plant holder of some sort? Big plant if you ask me.” Momma commented.

“I bet it’s for a fern Momma.” Jeff added.

“Yep. Definitely a big fern. Come here Bella.”

Bella was frozen but she snapped out of it. Momma wrapped her arms around her.

“Sorry Bella. Though a little levity might help. I shoulda known better. Jeff take that damn thing down.”

“You two okay?” she asked. I nodded.

“Yeah we are fine Donna. Just tired. I will get these boxes put up…” Bella started.

“Don’t worry about it girl…” Momma was interrupted by my baby barking. Guess she smelt us. I heard a crash against my bed room door.

“Oh my God Feather is here!” Bella squealed and ran down the hall. She opened the door and our baby jumped on her, nearly knocking her back.

“Yes, yes Mommy is home. I missed you. I missed you so bad. Have you been a good girl? Yes you have.”

Bella could talk to this dog for hours.

“You ain’t worried that dog gonna eat her?” Jeff asked.

“Bella and I got that dog abandoned in a box in an alley. Purebred Blue Pit puppy according to the vet. Those suckers go from $700 to $1500 a piece. Why the hell somebody would leave a puppy in a box in an alley to starve I got know idea. Anyway we were coming out of this club and walked to the alley because we always wanted to… anyways before we could… we heard her whimpering. Bella fed that dog by hand for the longest. She wouldn’t ever hurt either of us. She named her Feather because she had one of those pens with a feather at the end. It tickled the puppies belly and she kicked her back leg out every time.”

“What about us? Me and Momma? Will she hurt us?”

“I’d watch my step until she learns ya. But no, she won’t hurt you, just growl a bit. She is a gentle dog.”

I didn’t tell him if he tried to sucker punch me or roughhoused with Bella, Feather be chewin on his spleen about ten seconds later. Some things it’s better to learn by experience.

“Ty I wasn’t aware of this dog. You got any other surprises you gonna spring on me?” Momma asked.

I took a deep breath and let it out. Walking to the door I opened it and motioned for him to enter.

“Oh hell…” Momma whispered.

“Mom, you remember Dad?”

“Uh… what…”

“Hi Donna.” Dad said real quiet like.

“What are you doin here?” Momma asked.

“Apparently I’m dead now.” He told her. Garrett and Connolly walked in behind him.

“Good. Glad to see you haven’t unpacked those boxes. We are moving.” Garrett announced. Momma was still standing staring at Dad, not saying a word.

“Movin where? What the hell Ty? More white guys? Why is your stuff and your monster dog here? What is goin on? Somebody better tell me something.” Jeff whined.

“All will be explained Jeff, for now though we have to move.” Garrett told him. I guess it was time for little brother to be let out of the dark.

“Where are we goin?” Bella asked, concerned. I was too.

“Forks.” Garrett answered. “Everything has been arranged. Donna you are now officially retired. Your retirement date has moved up a few months. Jeff your school thinks you have been selected for an overseas learning experience in France. School will have to wait for a few weeks. But we really have to move.”

“Forks? What the hell? No! No! You know how damn cold it is there?” I asked Garrett. Connolly answered me.

“Yeah. 22 degrees with 3 inches of snow on the ground. Look on the bright side Ty.” he told me.

“What bright side?”

“You were sayin how the lazy hack writer writin your life keeps you in one spot. Now you get to go to Forks. A change of scenery should make you happy.”

That motherfucker.