Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Intensity

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 34:

Paul’s POV

I was exhausted, but relieved to finally arrive in La Push. I was here with Crispy and Babs so we could attend Jeff and his mate Lisa’s imprinting ceremony. It was being held concurrently with Jacob and Tawny’s ceremony on Sunday. Bella had arrived earlier in the day. She was concerned about Jake’s well-being since his divorce and custody agreement was finalized today, and wanted to be there for him. Personally, I thought Angela relinquishing custody of the kids to Jacob was the best thing she ever did. The kids would be in a much better environment with Jacob, who loved his kids with everything he had in him.

The limo brought us directly to Charlie and Sue’s house. It was a little after eight pm. There were a ton of cars in the driveway, meaning there must be a game on. My father-in-law probably didn’t waste a minute inviting his buddies over now that he was back.

I knocked on the door. Charlie answered it looking ashen. “Is Bella with you?”

“No, of course not. Why? Is she missing?”

He nodded his head. “Come on in.” He held the door open for us and we all rushed inside. I noticed Collin, Seth, Leah, their imprints, Billy, Old Man Quil, and Tolinka were all here. There was another lady here, too. She must be Crispy’s sister.

“What’s going on?” I questioned without sitting down.

“Bella and Jake have been missing since the trial ended. Jake’s truck was found abandoned at Sekiu Airport with the window smashed. There has been no trace of them since then.”

“Have you tried calling them?” Crispy asked.

“Yes, and neither of them are answering their phones. Oh, Crispy I’m so worried!” the unknown lady stated.

“It’ll be okay, sis. We’ll find them. I promise.” Crispy held his sister close, and then turned to me. “Paul, this is my sister Tawny.”

“Very nice to meet you. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances,” I replied gravely.

Babs shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I know that all of you have tried calling Jake and Bella, but have any of you considered the possibly of using the GPS locater on your phones to find them?”

“Uh, no, we didn’t think of that.”

“I thought not.”

“Babs, aren’t you worried?” I asked.

“No, I’m not because if something bad has happened to them, that freaky, emergency stress gene would have activated and you all would have gone furry. I think it’s a simple miscommunication. And if Jake’s truck was at the airport, isn’t it possible they hopped a flight to somewhere exotic? Like Hawaii?”

Alright, now that she put it that way, maybe she’s right. I don’t feel stressed at all. In fact, I’m feeling completely at ease. “Let me call the pilot and see if he dropped Bella off somewhere.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Hello, Robert. This is Paul Lahote. I’m wondering if you dropped my wife and another passenger off somewhere prior to picking us up in Phoenix?”

“Yes, I did, Sir. I had the pleasure of transporting Mrs. Lahote and a Mr. Jacob Black to Las Vegas, Nevada.”

“To Las Vegas?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And when was this?”

“We arrived in Las Vegas at approximately one pm, sir.”

“Did Mrs. Lahote arrange for a pick up time?”

“No, sir, she told me that she would just ‘wing it’-those were her words, not mine.”

“Robert, please prepare the jet for me and a few passengers. We are going to need you to fly us to Las Vegas immediately.”

“Yes, sir, right away.”

I ended the call and turned to everyone. “They’re in Vegas.”

“What the hell are they doing in Vegas?” Charlie asked.

“Maybe they’re eloping?” Seth suggested.

“Now, why the hell would they be eloping? Bella is married to Paul, and Jake and Tawny are newly imprinted,” Leah reminded him.

Billy shook his head and chuckled. “Those two are up to no good again. I swear-ever since they were in their playpens together-they were always into mischief. Do you remember the time they took the tribe’s celebratory canoe out together when Jake was eight and Bella was nine, Charlie?”

“Oh, yeah. We had to call the Coast Guard to rescue them. That was a fiasco. Yep, those two are up to no good for sure.” Charlie laughed. “What about that time the two of them decided they would surprise us with dinner and tried to filet a fish?”

Billy clapped his hands and wrinkled his nose. “I remember that well. In fact, I can still smell it.” He turned to us. “They were about five years old. They couldn’t figure out how to filet a fish and were embarrassed about it so they took the fish and hid it because they were more worried about getting in trouble. Naturally, they forgot about it and the house started smelling like a tuna processing plant. Sarah and I decided to hunt down the cause of the odor. We found the fish tucked in the sofa between the seat back and the cushion.”

“I hope you threw the sofa out.” Crispy scrunched his nose, looking horrified at the thought of the smell.

“Of course, we did. That stunt actually cost me an entire new living room set. The odor was horrific.”

I really didn’t have time to sit here and reminisce about the past so I decided to change the subject. “Alright, who is going to Vegas with me?”

“Why are you going to Vegas, Paul?” Seth asked. “I’m sure they’ll be back.”

“I just want to make sure she’s okay.” And I didn’t like the idea of my imprint hanging out with another wolf for too long of a period of time. I’m a jealous guy.

“I’d like to know what business this Bella person has going to Las Vegas with my mate?” Tawny asked.

And clearly, Crispy’s sister is a jealous imprint.

“They’re just friends, Tawny. They grew up together,” Billy explained

“Paul?”

“Yes, Old Quil?”

“Just remember that Bella and Jake have been friends for a very, long time. Bonds like that are special so do not lose your temper.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Hey! Watch that attitude, boy! I’m an elder! I’m just warning you and Jacob’s imprint…” He paused, and then turned his glare on Tawny. “Yes, I’m talking to you, too, young lady. I’m warning you both to be accepting of their friendship. You know in your hearts that whatever they’re doing in Las Vegas is innocent. You don’t want them to feel guilty about being friends. This is coming from your shaman, mind you.”

“I second that,” Tolinka stated.

Charlie, Sue, and Billy all agreed with them.

“I’m not going to lose my temper with Bella,” I promised.

“Oh, I’m not worried about you, Paul. It’s Tawny I’m worried about. I’ve known her all my life, and she has the bad habit of making assumptions and putting her foot in her mouth without thinking things through,” Tolinka informed us.

“That’s why I’ve always said she’s a bitch,” Babs chortled merrily.

“I am not a bitch! You’re like the queen ice bitch visiting earth from hell!”

“There’s a difference, my dear sister-in-law, I’ve always admitted to being a bitch, unlike you. Anyway, don’t be a bitch to Bella because she is as sweet as apple pie and she wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Jesus! I never said I was going to be a bitch to Bella! I’ve never even met her.”

“Yes, but if you’re a bitch to Jake, then you’re a bitch to Bella. And don’t be a bitch to Bella or I’ll slap you silly,” Linda added. She looked up at me and smiled. “By the way, Collin and I will be accompanying you to Las Vegas.”

“What?” Collin asked. “I have the business to run.”

“It’s not the first time you’ve shut down on a Saturday. I want to see Bella!”

“But, Linda, I’m sure Paul will be bringing Bella back here tomorrow.”

“I want to see Las Vegas, too. Keep in mind that it was your idea to blindly follow Jake and Angela on vacations, which for some reason always involved shopping in Seattle or Vancouver. So, help me God, I want to go to Las Vegas. Clearly, Bella has better taste than Angela.”

“That’s it, we’re all going to Vegas,” Leah decided. “Mom, you can watch your grandkids.”

“Leah, I have a newborn! I can’t be responsible for your children, too.”

“Yeah, well, you can handle babysitting for one day. In fact, all of you parents can. We’re going to Vegas!”

One hour later, the part of my pack that was in La Push, with the notable exception of Seth and his imprint who declared they would assist with babysitting duties, was on board my private jet headed to Las Vegas, Nevada. When we landed on the ground around midnight, I tried calling Bella again. Her phone was on, but she wasn’t picking up so I used the GPS tracker, which led us to some swanky nightclub at a hotel on the strip. I wasn’t about to wait in line so I led my party to the front and attempted to walk inside. Several bouncers stopped us.

“You either have a VIP pass or you wait in line, buddy!”

Is this guy kidding me? No one, and I mean no one, tells me no. I tried greasing his palm with a few hundred bucks. He laughed in my face and gave my money back to me. “First of all, you guys don’t have VIP Passes. Second, do you see those cameras up there?” He pointed above him. “They’re there to make sure we don’t take any bribes, and I ain’t getting fired because of some upstart asshole. So, again, I’m telling you that you aren’t getting in tonight.”

Upstart asshole? “Fine,” I stated. Now, I was pissed. “What is your name so I can make note of it when I inform your supervisor?”

“Be my guest. It’s Edward.” He chuckled arrogantly. “Oh, and unless you know Brantley Davis personally, you aren’t getting in my club!”

It just figures his name is Edward. He probably drives a fucking Volvo, too. I stormed off angrily with my party following in my wake.

“Paul-calm down. The guy was just doing his job even if he was rude about it. Where the hell are you going?” Crispy asked.

“To the lobby to place a call.”

I walked into the hotel, found a quiet spot, and called the developer of the hotel who was a friend of mine. He happened to live in my neighborhood, and we frequently golfed together. I’ve done him a few favors in the past. Within ten minutes, I had both the hotel general manager and the general manager of the nightclub greeting me and apologizing for the bouncer’s rudeness. They offered my entire party free rooms for the weekend, which I quickly took advantage of because I had no plans to leave the city until at least the morning after tomorrow. I explained that I wanted to go to the nightclub right away so I could meet my wife who was already inside with a friend.

“Your wife is in the nightclub now, sir?” the nightclub manager asked.

“Yes, she is.”

“Her last name is Lahote?”

“She is my wife.”

“Yes, if you could all follow me, I will escort you there immediately.”

We followed the managers to the entrance. He spoke to the lead bouncer and asked to see the VIP list. “Edward, this is Mr. Paul Lahote of Lahote Engineering Design Concepts and Construction and his guests. Mr. Lahote is a close friend of Mr. Brantley Davis. His party and he are personal guests of the big boss this weekend.” Eddie the Bouncer’s eyes widened. He looked as if he had swallowed a cow whole after seeing me again. Being the asshole that I am, I wagged my eyebrows at Edward. Yeah, I know he was just doing his job, but I didn’t like his attitude. He could have been more polite. “Mr. Lahote is searching for his wife who is already inside with a friend. Would you happen to know what section she is seated in?”

“No, sir, I do not.” Eddie turned to me. “I would like to apologize for my behavior earlier this evening, Mr. Lahote. I didn’t realize you and Mr. Davis were friends.”

I didn’t bother acknowledging him. I turned my attention to the club manager who was scanning the VIP list. “Sir, I can’t seem to locate her. What is her name?”

“It’s Isabella Lahote.”

“Hmm… I looked through the L’s and the I’s, and I don’t see her name listed anywhere.”

“Isn’t that the girl who won the bikini contest at the pool party earlier?” a different bouncer recalled. “She was the one in the red bikini. I know because I was working there earlier this afternoon, and there’s no way anyone could forget that outstanding body.”

Pool party? Bikini contest? I pinched the bridge of my nose and gritted my teeth. “What bikini contest?”

The bouncer turned to me. “Sir, we believe your wife was a contestant in a bikini contest at our ‘Wet and Wild Pool Party’ earlier today. Does your wife have long, wavy brown hair and an extremely toned body? She’s about 5 feet 4 inches with really nice tits, real ones, not fake like the blonde she was up against. By my visual estimation, she’s a D-cup.”

My mouth popped open at the bouncer’s open, but accurate description of Bella’s breasts.

“That’s definitely her,” Eric Yorkie confirmed. “I venture to say she’s a 34-D, possibly a 32-DD.”

“What the hell is your fascination with my wife’s bra size?”

“Are you kidding me? All the guys at Forks High used to be obsessed with Bella Swan. Gee whiz! You’d think her husband would know this fact.”

“Excuse me, did she look like she was in desperate need of a tan?” Babs asked.

“Um… well… yes, she had very milky, white skin.”

“That’s her. Where is she?”

“Unfortunately, she could be anywhere. The pass she was issued allows her immediate entry into the club and a seat in the ‘regular’ VIP section.”

“Why don’t you just let us in so we can find her,” I suggested.

“Right away, sir,” the manager stated. “In the meantime, Craig here will attempt to locate your wife since he is familiar with her looks.” We were taken to the ‘exclusive’ VIP section and seated. I tried to hand him my credit card, but he declined. “I have express instructions from Mr. Davis that you are his special guests this weekend. I’m to inform you that he would fire me if I took any form of payment from you.”

“Thank you,” I told him as a cocktail waitress started our bottle service immediately.

As soon as he left, Linda gasped, “Oh my God! This place is so cool. I’ve never been in a nightclub.” She looked at the alcohol spread on the table. “Ooh! Patron! What a treat!” Yep, Linda was going to get hammered.

I had to admit that it was a cool club. The music was pumping and there were purple and pink strobe lights flashing throughout the club. There was a large stage where the DJ spun his tunes with a bevy of scantily clad women dancing in the background. Wall-to-wall people crowded the dance floor and there were huge screens surrounding the club depicting scenes from the party going on in the club and from the pool party earlier.

The cocktail waitress served us our drinks and quickly disappeared into the background. I’ll have to leave her a big tip. God, I hope Bella has cash on her because I only have a few hundred bucks on me. We’re going to have to hit the bank tomorrow.

“Holy shit!” I heard Jeff cry out. I turned to look at him, but he and everyone else were staring directly at the big screen across from us. I looked up and my jaw dropped. There in high-definition color was my wife in a skimpy, red bikini cheering Jacob on as he did vertical push-ups on a keg while drinking beer. Just what the hell did those two get into?

Right at that moment, Craig the Bouncer came walking into our section, “Excuse me, Mr. Lahote, I’ve located your wife and her friend, and brought them here.”

“Thank you.” I tipped him a hundred bucks for his services before turning to my wife.

“Paul!” Bella chortled excitedly and dove into my arms. “I’m so happy you’re here!” Now, how the hell am I supposed to stay angry with her with that kind of greeting? “Jake and I are celebrating his divorce!” I looked over at Jake who was cuddling Tawny in his lap; all the resentment she had earlier seemed to be forgotten.

“What’s everyone doing here?” Jake asked.

“Oh, we found out you were here so we decided to come and have fun with you,” Tawny explained. I noticed Babs was rolling her eyes at her. Crispy told me that his wife and his sister didn’t get along very well.

“Great! So, um since we’re in Vegas, I think you and I should get married. What do you think? This way, we won’t have to disappoint your dad or mine for not getting hitched on our reservations,” Jake suggested.

“Wait a minute! You can’t marry my sister in Las Vegas! You have to marry her on the Wa-Ya Reserve!” Crispy argued.

“Oh, stuff it, Crispy!” Tawny turned to Jake. “I think it’s a great idea. Let’s elope tomorrow.”

“Anything you want, babe!”

“This is soooo romantic!” Linda cooed.

Bella, who was completely not paying attention to anything because she was looking down at the dance floor declared, “I feel like dancing.”

I was about to respond to her when Jacob took her hand and said, “Sure, sure. Let’s go, honey!” Tawny and I stared at each other dumbfounded.

“What the hell was that?” I asked. “Did he just propose to you and take off with my wife?”

“It sure seems like it.”

“Who cares? I’m going with them,” Leah declared. Linda and Babs also decided to take off in search of the party animals. The rest of us decided to join them.

We danced, we drank, we ate, and let loose for once. After a few hours of partying, we headed to our hotel rooms. Everyone was given deluxe hotel rooms except for Bella and me who were given the best suite in the house, which was a complete waste because we both passed out cold as soon as we hit the mattress. We were exhausted.

The next morning…

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Bella whispered into my ear before kissing me softly on my neck.

I drew her lips to mine and kissed her deeply, my hands roaming the length of her body and settling on her beautifully, rounded bottom, caressing it.

I slid lower to squeeze her thighs before moving my hands around to stroke her folds.

“Mmm…” she moaned as she climbed on top of me and guided my length inside of her. I reached for her breasts as she slowly rose and descended onto my cock, her nipples pebbling under my touch. I closed my eyes and immersed myself in the feeling of her walls surrounding my sensitive cock.

She quickened her pace; our breathing quickly became erratic as we found ourselves more and more embroiled in our passion. I moved my hand to her mound and stroked her sweet spot. She responded by plunging down my length at a harder, faster pace. My abs tightened as my lust began to peak, our bodies coated in a fine sheen of sweat. Her back arched as she rocked on top of me. I needed her close to me; she felt too far away. Sitting up, I gripped her hips and met her thrust for thrust. I slanted my lips onto hers and tasted her. She was driving me into a near frenzy. I didn’t think I could hold it in anymore; I wanted to… I needed to… I felt her clench and spasm on top of me just as an overwhelming urge to claim her took over my body. I nuzzled her neck and exposed my favorite spot before sinking my teeth into her as we climaxed together. My imprint collapsed on top of me, breathless with passion.

I ran my fingers through her hair and murmured, “I love you,” to her over and over again.

“I love you, too, Paul.”

I pulled her tight against me and closed my eyes, completely content and relaxed with my imprint in my arms.

“You’re not going to sleep now, are you?” she abruptly interrupted my rest.

“Huh? What?”

“Paul, it is 10:23 a.m. We’re in Las Vegas. I have no clothes, I’m hungry, and I want to go swimming again.”

“What happened to the red bikini?”

“It’s being held at the bell desk downstairs along with the rest of my clothes. Besides, they stink. It was hot yesterday.”

“Wait a second, your stuff is being held at the bell desk? Why?”

“Duh, because we didn’t have any other place to put them. We weren’t planning to get a room or anything. We were just planning on partying until morning then hopping a flight home.”

“Okay, so we need to go shopping?”

“Yes, we do. It looks like you didn’t bring any luggage either.”

“I didn’t. I dropped everything off in La Push. I just came to pick you up and bring you back to La Push. Remember, Jake and Tawny have to have their imprinting ceremony on Sunday.”

“So, we can stay for one more night. They’re getting married. We should celebrate in Las Vegas. I know why Crispy, Babs, Jeff, and Lisa are here, but why are everyone else here?”

“I have no idea. They all just tagged along. Linda claimed she needed to hang out with you. I think she missed you.”

“She’s sweet. She’s a lush, but she’s sweet.”

“That she is.” My stomach groaned all of a sudden. All of the activity last night and this morning must have caught up to me. “I’m hungry. Let’s grab a bite to eat,” I suggested.

“Forum Shops?”

“Yep, let’s get going before everyone catches up with us. I want a little bit of alone time with you.” I kissed her on the lips. “Oh, and see that private pool we have right there?”

“Yes.”

“I want you in there naked sometime tonight. Is that understood?”

“Absolutely, as long as you get naked with me.” She gave me a little wink before we got dressed in the only clothes we had and took off for the Forum Shops.

Four hours later, we were at the exclusive pool party at the hotel, dressed in bathing suits and sitting in a deluxe, air-conditioned cabana discussing Jacob and Tawny’s wedding. Crispy was doing his best to persuade the couple not to elope and get married the proper way in Arizona or Washington in front of their families, but the couple was a united front and unwilling to concede to his plea. They had already applied for their marriage license in the morning and were now planning the wedding, with or without big brother Crispy’s consent.

Through the course of the conversation, we had learned that Tawny was two years younger than Crispy, and used to date Jeff during high school with the knowledge that they weren’t mates. They broke up when he went off to college, and he eventually met Lisa. Tawny and Jeff were still close friends, much like Bella and Jacob.

“Jacob, look at this!” Tawny was looking through a brochure on themed weddings. “We can have a vampire themed wedding. Oh, please, please, can we do it?”

Jacob choked on his drink. “Vampire?”

“Yes! The officiant walks out of a coffin wearing a cape, fake fangs, and everything. They also give us a vampire themed cake and vampire cocktails.”

“Are you serious? You do realize that I kill vampires, don’t you?” Jake asked.

The wolves looked horrified at the thought; the coyotes-not so much, but still a bit stunned. Even the imprints looked shocked.

Hang on. There’s one imprint who looked amused. “You are aware that real vampires don’t have fangs, aren’t you?” she asked

We all turned to her in curiosity.

“Really?” I asked. “I’ve never really been close enough to a vampire to check out his teeth, but how exactly do they feed if they don’t have fangs?”

Bella held her wrist up to show us her bite mark from the bloodsucker James. “Tell me, does this look like just two pointy teeth marks or a real human bite mark?”

I checked out her wrist. “Huh. You learn something new everyday. I thought their fangs just descended at feeding time.”

“Paul, that was in True Blood, not real life. Geez!” Bella huffed. “Anyway, vampires have super strong teeth. They first bite their victims to pierce their skin, and then quickly suck out their blood. They use all their teeth, not just their cuspids.”

“Oh my God! You are so lucky that you got to meet a real vampire!” Tawny exclaimed to Bella, who had a nonplussed expression on her face.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because it’s a completely different type of supernatural creature! Was it fun when he bit your wrist?”

“Uh, no. It was an evil vampire who bit me, and it really hurt. He actually wanted to drain me dry, and kill me.”

“Really?” Tawny questioned as if my wife were a research project.

“Yes,” Bella confirmed with a nod.

“Wow! What an experience! So what are vampires like?”

I looked around the cabana and everyone had completely dumbfounded expressions on their faces.

“Not all are evil, but the majority who survive on human blood tend to be. You have to remember that they have to completely drain the human they’re feeding off of in order to get their meal, and even the ones who feed from animals can become tempted by just the scent of human blood.”

“Can you introduce me to one? I’ve always wanted to meet a vampire.”

Bella’s jaw dropped open, and I’m pretty sure mine did, too.

“Uh… Tawny,” Jacob interrupted, “I’m sure Bella isn’t in touch with the Cullens anymore.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. It would have been so cool to meet a vampire.”

Bella took the wedding brochure from Tawny, and rifled through it-most likely to change the subject. “Hey, now, look at this. You can get married on the rooftop of that new hotel across the street and go sky-jumping together afterwards.” She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. “Oh, no, it won’t work. Jake is a chicken shit.”

“I am not!”

“Yes, you are. You got scared going on a damned zipline yesterday.”

“Wait a minute! Wait a minute! What zipline?” I asked.

“Bella forced me to go on some sort of zipline between two high-rise hotels. If the thing had malfunctioned, we would have gone splat on the concrete. Can you believe that?”

“I swear to God. After I have this baby, we are so going to Vegas together, Bells,” Babs murmured. “You get to have all the fun.”

Crispy and I shared a look agreeing there was no way in hell we were letting our wives loose in Vegas without us. There was no telling what kind of trouble they’d get into!

“I’m putting my foot down. No vampires and no sky-jumping,” Jacob decided.

Tawny grabbed the brochure back from Bella and her eyes brightened up. “How about this? We can have a beach party themed wedding. The minister will just come here and get us hitched. We can just get married in our bathing suits.”

God damn! I think this Tawny chick is just a little too laid back. I’m glad Bella and I had an actual wedding of sorts. My wife looked gorgeous in her gown. Whenever I think about our wedding, I turn to mush. I glanced at Bella, who flashed her beautiful smile my way and gave my hand a squeeze.

“I’m game. I’m all for getting hitched right now. Let’s go and find a minister.” The couple disappeared from the cabana hand-in-hand without giving it another thought.

“You know she’s perfect for him,” Bella noted. “She’s relaxed and down-to-earth-exactly what Jacob needs. She likes to have fun, too. It’s important, especially after the hell he went through with Angela.” She headed for the exit of the cabana.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“I’m going to watch the bikini contest from up close. It looks like Linda is about to win.”

“What?” a horrified Collin gasped and went rushing towards the stage.

“When did Linda leave?”

“A few minutes ago. She got sick of Jake and Tawny’s indecisiveness.”

I put my arm around Bella and we got to the stage just in time for Linda to rip her bikini top off and take the top prize.

“Just to let you know, I never took my top off. I won completely covered up.”

“Well, good.” I kissed her on the lips. “So, how much longer do you want to stick around here? I’m getting hungry.”

“So am I. I also want to do the sky-jumping thing off of that new hotel.”

“Okay, I’m coming with you, though.”

“You’re not going to be scared like Jake, are you?”

“No, not at all. It’s why you married me.”

“It’s just one of many reasons.” Just then some idiot decided it would be a good idea to cop a feel of my wife’s ass. I clocked him right on the jaw, and knocked him out. “See, yet another reason why I married you. You always keep me safe. I love you, Paul.”

“I love you, too, Bella.”

The next afternoon…

We arrived back in La Push after our impromptu getaway in Las Vegas, and proceeded straight to Billy’s house where we were greeted by the sounds of Billy Black and Christian Hodges, Crispy and Tawny’s father, in a heated argument about which reservation Jake and Tawny should have their wedding.

Both men argued that the wedding should be on their own reservation because they were chiefs of their respective tribes.

“Daddy, we solved that issue for you. Jake and I were married in Las Vegas yesterday,” Tawny stated.

“What. Did. You. Say?”

I just said Jake and I tied the knot in Vegas.” Tawny grinned at her scowling father. “Oh, don’t look at me like that and give me all your talk about respect, tradition, yada… yada. You’ve got Crispy to do all of that.”

“You did what, young lady? How could you do something like that without considering your family or his?” Crispy’s mother chastised.

“Mother, we are mated. We wanted to get married right away so we could begin our lives together. In the last two weeks, I’ve gotten to know Jake’s children and we get along great. In fact, Jake and I have decided that we’re going on a family honeymoon together with them instead of just the two of us. I’m not into big weddings, ceremonies, and hoopla. Just be happy for us. We’re living our lives the way we want for ourselves, not for you or anyone else.”

Just then, Sarah popped into the house. It was clear she had been playing outside. She rushed to Jake and gave him a hug. “Daddy, you’re home!”

“I am. I missed you, princess.”

“I missed you, too. Where were you, Daddy?”

Before he could answer, Jake’s other kids ran into the house. “Dad!” Willie cried.

“Hey, kiddo. Have you been holding down the fort?”

“I have. Grandpa has been mostly good about going speed limit. Oh, and he taught me how to change a flat tire yesterday.”

“Dad, did you get a flat yesterday?” Jake asked, concerned.

“I did, on the way home from Forks Outfitters. Willie and I were able to get the spare on. You’ll have to look at the tire, I’m pretty sure there’s a nail in it.”

“Why didn’t you call AAA?”

“I’m not helpless, Jacob. Besides, it was a good opportunity for me to teach Willie how to change a flat. Keep in mind that I taught you how to change a flat when you were around his age.”

“I’ll take a look at the tire later, Dad.”

“Good. Now, I think this might be a good time for you to tell us what happened yesterday.” Billy raised an eyebrow at Jacob. Clearly, he wasn’t happy with the events that transpired, but there was not much he could do. Jake was an adult and he had made his decision. In any case, we all believed Tawny was “the one” for him. She was a sweet girl-highly intelligent and professional when necessary, but otherwise down-to-earth. She seemed to care deeply about Jacob and about his kids.

“Kids, come here please. Tawny and I have something to tell you.”

Each of his kids went obediently to Jacob and sat on the floor in front of him. Sarah raised her hand.

“Yes, Sarah?” Tawny asked sweetly.

“Did you and my dad get married?”

“Um… uh… Why would you ask that?”

“Because that’s what people do when they’re in love. When people are in love, they get married. When they’re not in love, they get divorced.”

“Yeah, and you’re both wearing wedding rings. You weren’t wearing those on Friday,” Willie added.

Each and every adult was speechless. The kids were much more perceptive than we took them for. I think Jake’s kids are actually more intelligent than he is. Well, someone had better say something.

It was Bella who finally spoke. “You’re right. Your father and Tawny did get married because they’re in love, but more so because they love you four kids very much. They couldn’t wait to become a family-a happy family.”

I swear my wife always knows the right thing to say. Damn! I’m a lucky guy.

“Thank you,” Jacob mouthed to Bella who gave him a sweet smile.

“Really, Daddy?” Sarah asked.

“Yes, Princess, really.”

And all of the kids ran up to hug Jake and Tawny-except for little Rebecca who wandered over to Babs to sit on her lap. Bella had told me previously that little Rebecca was drawn to Babs from the moment they met.

“Oh, you’re going to be my favorite niece,” Babs chortled as she played with the little girl’s hair and cuddled her.

We left the Black and Hodges families to themselves so they could get to know each other. We were meeting at twilight for their imprinting ceremony, and Jeff and I had some important business to handle prior to it.

Just as we left the house, Eric Yorkie came rushing outside. “I was able to hack into Fuller’s personal computer.”

“How?” Jeff asked.

“The hard-drive on his laptop went kaputz. He took it to Forks Computers to get a new one installed, stating to the owner that it was imperative that the files be retrieved from it. Anyway, the owner of the store is a good friend of mine, Ben Cheney. Actually, he knows Bella, too, we went to high school together. Ben calls me up from time to time when he becomes backlogged with work. Last Saturday, he was severely backlogged so I took the kids to my parents’ house and went to give him a hand. As soon as I saw the name on the ticket, I knew I’d hit the jackpot. I quickly went to work on it, extracted the files from his old hard-drive and put it on an external drive to add to his new hard-drive.”

“And so?” Jeff and I both questioned. We were both clueless when it came to computers.

“And so I never deleted the information from the external hard drive. It’s at my house.” He flashed us a big grin.

“You know, this is all kinds of illegal and the evidence will be inadmissible in a court of law.”

“I’m sure you’ll find a way around it, Jeff. If anything, it’ll give us an idea of where we should look.”

“True.”

“So, you guys want to come to my house? My computer is completely encrypted.”

“Absolutely.”

“Let’s go. We’ll be able to make it back in time for the imprinting ceremony.”

So, we dropped our wives off at the hotel, and then followed our unlikely hero, Eric Yorkie, to his house. Hopefully, he uncovered a truckload of information on Tony Fuller because we needed to locate the missing tribal funds.