Chapter 6.15th June 2010 Springfield Virginia.

Chapter 6.

15^th June 2010 Springfield Virginia.

TraitorPOV

The sound of my cell ringing interrupted my musing, I'd been sat at my desk for hours and it seemed like my night was just going to get longer and all the more horrible. I ignored the shrill tinkle of the cell phone not wanting to talk to anyone. Last night had been hell. What had I done? How had I gotten myself into this? How could I have been so stupid, to get caught up with Volturi scum? Up until last night my mistakes had only affected me, now they were rippling out and hurting good people. Decent people were suffering for my stupid idiotic dalliances. I should've known better.

Sitting back in the leather chair memories of the phone call that would be my eventual downfall flashed through my mind.

The phone ringing interrupted my musings, Swan was being taken to a safe house, her own home compromised. I clicked the call button to answer, a tingle of trepidation started in my abdomen and worked its way outwards.

"Yes?" I asked tentatively.
"I want information on the Intel Bitch, where she is, security details, everything." The vile woman sneered down the line.

"That wasn't part of the deal, you promised no innocents would be hurt, yet so far we've got one Analyst dead, and admin in ICU and another analyst in a safe house, tell me how is going to help the mission?" I answered, regretting it almost immediately.

"I don't have time for your shit, now give me the information or it will be you that dies and not that bitch." She screeched angrily.

"Fine! she's at a safe house in Springfield, I'll text you the details. I-I don't like this, things are getting out of hand, you said this would be a simple job, promised that only the target would be harmed, you never mentioned involving anyone else." I stuttered down the line.

"Grow some fucking balls, honestly do you think we'd just go in half cocked, pull a trigger and blam mission over? Seriously, I wonder sometimes how you got to the position you're in. Now shut the fuck up and send me the information, if I have to call you for it again, I will reroute our man to have a word." The evil bitch growled before ending the call.

Seconds later I text her with the information that sealed my fate. I knew that if, no when they found out what I had done, that it would be the death penalty for me. It's what I deserve, my life in forfeit for those I betrayed.

They had acted swiftly, Swan was gone and we had four dead agents. I felt sick to my stomach. When I first came to DC I had this dream of being a big player here, top of the game, kingpin, the ear of the President my ultimate goal. How quickly I fell. All those years of hard work for naught. Had I not lost so badly at the casinos, I wouldn't be in this position. They had me by the short and curlies, my slate clean if I kept them updated. Someone on the inside, to run interference, gather information, point them the wrong way. Or I could say no and they would collect my debt, with my head on a platter and my family murdered. I had no choice, betray my country or lose those that I cared about the most.

Wrong choice. Hindsight is 20/20, knowing that I'm the cause of multiple deaths and potentially have put my country in a precarious position tells me I chose wrong. I wish I could end it all, if I had it in me to kill myself, I would, if I had the guts to tell them what I've done, I would.

I don't and I'm going to have to live with that.

I can only hope they don't want anything else from me, but even I don't believe they've finished with me.

Swan. She was good at her job. I mean really good at her job. She had such potential, she could be so much more than a simple analyst. I could see her going far. Well I guess not anymore. I'll regret what I've done to her the most.

I headed down to the server room, nodding at various analysts and agents as I walked. The atmosphere was subdued this morning, the events overnight open for discussion on all fronts. I sighed as I looked at the data terminal in front of me, the planted data that Swan had followed sat there like a beacon, calling to be noticed. Of course she noticed it, she is, or was the best. I pulled the small flash drive from my pocket and plugged it in, the files downloaded to the server and joined the streams of data that fed through the banks to the Analysts. It wouldn't be long before someone picked something up, they'd soon be off on a wild goose chase, while the Volturi did what ever they intended to do.

I strode purposefully from the server room. I contemplated heading back to my office, but decided to head out instead. I pulled out my cell, logging into my email I set up my away message, taking an early lunch. Not sure if I wanted or if I could in fact willfully return to work. My head was pounding, as I walked towards my car. The agitated voice inside of me yelling 'Traitor' at me. I didn't have it in me to disagree.

*******

GeneralPOV

The condo on Castine lane was surrounded by police cruisers, a fire truck and an ambulance stood by, the front door was wide open, all the lights on. A team of officers slowly picked their way into the building, searching room by room, but found it empty. The only sign that anyone had been there, the burning wreck of the Suburban on the driveway, the bodies of the agents spread about the premises and the obvious signs of a fight of some sort in the front lounge area, the splintered and crushed coffee table along with the over turned chair the main victims.

Phil Dwyer and a small team of agents stood in the front yard eyeing the devastation, they'd responded to the panic button immediately, and now one of their own was missing presumed dead. Bella Swan, one of the best Intelligence Analysts they had ever had, was now it seems collateral damage in something far more frightening. Phil ran his hands down his face, this was an almighty clusterfuck. He needed the scene locked down, he needed to get Bella back, if she was even alive, he needed to stop these evil sons of bitches before things got any more out of hand.

Shit! He'd have to call her family. That was a phone call he never wanted to make for anyone, let alone Bella Swan. She wasn't meant to be in danger, she was an analyst, one of the silent few, a technological hero in her own right, working in the basement, in the darkened halls, fighting the fight in cyberspace, she should've been safe. How wrong they were.

The CSI guys took over the scene, while Phil and his team arranged for a security detail to remain on the site until it had all been cleared. The local police had mostly left, along with the ambulance and the fire department, a small contingent of officers had set up a barrier to stop the now present press from encroaching on the scene. Cameras and journalists jostled for prime position, firing questions and comments at Phil as he walked to his SUV.

He shook his head, muttering "No comment, an official release will be made later."

He didn't want anything to get out until he'd called the families of the agents, the family of Bella Swan. He felt like a failure, she wasn't even safe in a safe house. Phil drove back to CIA HQ, trudged with heavy feet and an equally heavy heart to make the calls that were the worst part of his job. Lauren Mallory sat in her chair outside his office; she grimaced as he walked past her, a broken man. He stopped as he got to the door, "Miss Mallory, I'll need Ms Swans file and also those of the agents on her detail.”

Lauren nodded and stepped over to the large closet attached to the office, it was decked wall to wall with row upon row of filing cabinets. Sure she could've brought it all up on the computers, but he had specifically requested the files, and she knew he meant the hard copies. He only ever did that when he had to make those kinds of calls. Lauren shuddered, sure she didn't like the Swan woman, but it wasn't anything personal, she just felt envious of her, that's all. She walked back into his office, placed the stack of folders on Phil's desk and returned to her own.

Phil slumped at his desk, and lifted Bella Swans file, she'd listed her father as primary next of kin. Charles Swan, Chief of Police in Forks Washington. Right now he hated his job. Lifting the receiver he made the hardest call of his life.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Edward, Emmett, Jasper and Jacob were currently sitting in Whitlows Bar and Grill on Wilson, they had 36 hours leave after dropping off the CIA girl at the safe house and were now relishing in much desired draft beer and good old fashioned Irish hospitality. Emmett's wife Rosalie and Jaspers wife Alice had agreed to meet them along with Jacobs’s girlfriend Leah for some food once Alice got off her shift at the hospital at 7pm. So the guys decided they'd head out to the bar, play some pool, let off some steam and shoot the shit. They'd been into some heavy training the past few months, what with undergoing a course in SERE, and a tour in Belize this was meant to be their turn to stand down for a few weeks, well that had been the plan before yesterday. It just happened to be rotten luck that they were the closest available team, and as such they'd lost a whole two days leave, the guys were not at all happy. So now they were reaping what time they could with gusto. Emmett and Jacob were locked in a battle of wits with a bowl of peanuts and each other, to see who could flick field goals through the others fingers. Edward eyed them sceptically, shaking his head in amusement, yeah they were goofy, but he would trust those guys with his life, hell he had on many an occasion. Jasper was sat parallel to the main doors, calmly palming his drink and watching for the arrival of his wife and the rest of the party.

The girls finally arrived at 8pm, a little bedraggled from a brief rain shower, they stepped into the bar glancing around speculatively seeking out their other halves. The spied them in their respective positions along the bar and approached their partners, fixing them with loving kisses and hugs. Edward sat alongside and watched his friends, feeling a little left out, they were all paired, and he was the odd man out. It wasn't often that it bothered him, but sometimes he wished he had someone other than his mom to go home to. He could always get a dog, but he wasn't home often enough to be fair on the animal.

They headed over to a table and ordered some food, they did awesome burgers in the joint and Edward was particularly fond of the Diablo, a truly exceptional burger with Andouille sausage, pepper jack cheese, fried onions, lettuce and tomato. They settled into easy conversation, and once they'd finished eating headed down to the lower sandbar to shoot pool. The girls sat chatting while the guys teamed up to battle it out. Jake headed over to the bar to get beers, glancing at the TV while he waited his turn.

"Tonight on NBC, Four CIA agents found dead in apparent safe house shooting in Springfield, our sources at the CIA have stated that they were on an operation of national importance, more follows after these announcements.”

Jake did a double take as an image of the house they'd dropped the CIA Analyst at yesterday appeared on the screen. "Shit!" he muttered before calling the guys over.

"Guys! You've gotta see this, there's some serious shit going down," he called.

They all stepped up to the bar, eyes glued to the TV, Alice, Rose and Leah cuddled up to their partners, "What's happening?" Alice questioned,

"Nothing you need worry about Ali," Jasper whispered into her ear.

The news returned and they all stood, their eyes fixed on the scene before them.

"Early this evening, Emergency services were called to a home in Springfield, where they discovered a burning suburban and the bodies of four unnamed males. On further investigations the four males have been named as CIA agents, Tyson, Henry, Slade and Kline. A fifth person a female Intelligence Analyst Isabella Swan is currently missing presumed dead. The families have been informed.”

Edward glanced at his team; they all had the same look of shock on their faces, shit!

Alice shrugged from under Jaspers arm, pointing at the TV, she looked back at them in shock, "Oh my God, that's, that's, the girl from the hospital yesterday, but how, you guys took her somewhere safe right, she's not dead, she's in hiding right?”

Edward sighed, while Jasper hugged his wife, "You know we can't say anything Ali, but just know we'll find out what happened.”

Alice glanced at each of them, tears brimming in her eyes, her chin wobbled with emotion, she didn't know the girl from Adam, but in the few hours she'd spent with her, she knew she was a good person. Having now seen the news, her hunch was proved right, she was more than a good person, she was special and now she might be dead.

Edward held his head in his hands, roughly running his fingers through his untamed hair, he'd had a bad feeling about that place yesterday, the security detail were too gung ho. They seemed like a bunch of rookies, but they'd been under orders to leave her there, they'd checked out everything, hell the place even had a panic button. There was some serious shit going down if they could not only take down four trained CIA agents, but also get the girl out within the short time it would take for back up to respond to the panic call. He didn't like this one bit, something stank in the state of Virginia and Edward wasn't sure what was causing it.

The evening wound down after watching the news, everyone was left in a sombre mood, they'd all come out looking forward to some downtime, spend some time with family and friends, shoot the shit and sink a few beers, but now all they wanted to do was get home and find some answers. They parted ways in the parking lot, taking to their respective cars and heading home, Edward headed home to his parents place in Mclean.

His mother was in the kitchen when he arrived home, he came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder. He pecked her on the cheek, squeezing her just a little tighter after this evening's news. She reached up and patted his cheek lovingly, before he let her go and stepped back against the counter. Esme Cullen was a stunning woman in her own right, but more than that, she had a mother's heart, she loved unconditionally. Edward felt proud to have her; he'd grown up privileged and felt that his position in the military was not just a job but a calling, an essential service that despite his entitlements, he felt honoured to wear the uniform of his country. Esme eyed her son, he'd grown into an exceptional young man, a son to be proud of, and proud she was. He could've so easily taken his life of privilege and wasted it on unnecessary distractions, but he chose to live a life in service a very Cullen trait she felt.

"You look tired dear," Esme sighed at her son.

"Lots going on mom, I think things may be coming to a head soon.”

Esme raised an eyebrow at Edwards cryptic statement, she knew she couldn't push him for details, and she understood he'd never give them if she did, but that didn't mean she wasn't worried for him, he had a very demanding and dangerous job, she worried for him all the time and she couldn't bear to watch the news when he was on tour. Edward ran his hand through his hair and squeezed the bridge of his nose, it reminded Esme so much of his father, and they were more alike than either believed.

"Did you see the news tonight mom?”

"Yes dear, such a shame about those agents in Springfield and that poor girl.”

Edward scrubbed his face, "yeah, I knew her, we took her there yesterday, she did Intel for the teams.”

"Oh my, the poor dear, does that mean things will be more dangerous for you and the boys?”

"No mom, no more than usual." Edward sighed. "I'm heading to bed, I'll see you tomorrow ok.”

"Night dear," replied Esme, wrapping Edward in a brief hug before grabbing her cocoa and walking to her study.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

16th June 2010 - Mclean, VA.

Edward woke early the next morning, the sun hadn't even risen, but he couldn't sleep anymore, he'd been restless all night as it was, something was seriously off about the events of the past few days, he couldn't figure out exactly what, but whatever it was he didn't like it one bit.

After taking a quick shower he dressed in fatigues and headed out to his car, he needed answers and he knew that the only place that would have them was CIA HQ. On entering the building he headed direct to the Director of Operations office, he needed to see Phil Dwyer and get a handle on what was going down. It seems as if everything that had been discussed in the ready room was coming to play and Edward did not like being blind. His guys depended on him knowing the game plan, hell he depended on them too. The team was only as good as the Intel, with the taking of Bella Swan, their vision was greatly diminished.

As he entered the fourth floor anti-room of Phil Dwyer’s office, Edward was greeted by the sickeningly repugnant Lauren Mallory, a vile young woman, that Edward often took great lengths to avoid. Her ruby red talons made shivers run down his spine, and not in a good way. Considering her position as assistant to the Director of Operations, you'd think she had more class. The young woman eyed Edward as if he was a juicy steak that she could devour, he couldn't wait to get away from her.

"Ah Master chief, I wondered if I'd see you, I expect your here about the terrorist threat, that Ms Swan discovered prior to her disappearance last night.”

"Yes, sir.”

"It appears things are starting to build up son, I've spoken to General Garrett and we'd like your team to convene in the ready room at 1500hrs, there's a lot to prepare and unfortunately we're a little short on good intelligence, considering we've lost two analysts in as many days.”

"Two sir? I'm aware of Ms Swans disappearance, but not of any other.”

"Of course, you wouldn't know that her direct manager Albert Berty, the analyst who led the meeting the other evening was found dead in his apartment that same night. Needless to say, we're a bit like a chicken with no head at the moment. Not to worry though we've called in a favour and have a small team tracking Ms Swan’s data streams, she appears to have hit a jackpot of information, it's quite incredible how she caught it, that girl certainly has a talent and with her being MIA, things are going to be difficult. She had a gift that one.”

"We'll do whatever needs to be done sir, but I have to be sure my guys aren't going in blind, that's just asking for trouble and I don't want my guys coming home in flag draped coffins." Edward responded despondently.

"General Garrett will be here in the hour, what say we grab some breakfast and then get your team in and take it from there.”

Edward nodded his approval, too many things were going through his head, such as how can not one but two leading Analysts, specialising in counter terrorism being taken out in less than two days? It panged of an inside job, but there were so few people present in the ready room two days ago, that Edward really didn't want to believe it was one of the few people present. Either way, something was off, it felt wrong and Edward knew better than to ignore his gut.

On leaving the office, Edward requested that Lauren page the rest of his team, asking them to meet him in the ready room at 1500hrs. He then followed Phil down the hall to the lift and through the building to the staff refectory. They chatted casually over breakfast; the subject of Bella Swan was mulled over, while they devoured hot buttered toast and strong black coffee. Edward discovered that she was well liked and had a quick wit and easy going humour. She was fiercely protective of friends, and took her job so serious that the three weeks she'd been tracking this data stream, she'd slept in her office, only going home when she'd been forced to by Mr Berty. Edward also learnt that she came from good patriotic stock; her father was a Police Chief in Washington State, her mother a teacher in Phoenix. She'd been recruited at MIT after graduating with honours in computer sciences and a minor in languages particularly specialising in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dialects. This girl was a huge loss.

Edward sat in the ready room, a large paper file spread across the table, a laptop wired up to the Intelligence network, collecting real time data updates from Bella's tagged Data Stream. He scanned through the images of container ships in the Port Angeles harbour, paying attention to cargo holding and the depth of the plimsoll line on the hull. One Ship stood out among the others, for despite being apparently empty, it sat low in the water, which to Edwards trained eyes meant that it was holding something more, something heavy. The Ship wasn't due to sail for another week, yet barely hours after docking, it appeared to be already packed for another journey. He wondered if this had anything to do with the ship that had docked two days earlier in San Francisco, perhaps the missing plutonium had been transferred to this ship, in which case, why take it to Port Angeles? Edward scrubbed his face roughly with his hand, stifling a yawn, this is why he didn't do Intel work, he was better out in the field. He zoomed in on the bow of the ship, to get the name, he could run a trace with that and use Fleet AIS to see where it had been, he gaped at the name as it came into view, now that had to be one hell of a joke someone was playing he thought. The container ship 'Bella Principessa' from Italy, sat idly in the docks at Port Angeles, the captain blissfully unaware of the extra baggage he carried in his hold. His ship had been processed hours before and was ready to return to sea, all that was holding them was corporate red tape, as usual and waiting on a special shipment bound for Italy.

Edward logged into the Fleet AIS system and searched the past 2 weeks course logs for the 'Bella Principessa', the ship had stopped twice on its journey from Italy, once in Australia, before continuing across the Pacific to San Francisco. Edward rubbed his hands together, eager to see if its course matched the 'Embassy Star' he hoped that this may just be the break they needed, if nothing else, Ms Swan had steered them well, he could only hope to do her proud by following her lead.

A few hours later, Jake, Jasper and Emmett strolled into the ready room, they were somewhat shocked to see Edward camped out at the table, and the mass of papers and computer transcripts, made them wrinkle their brows in confusion.

"Dude you look like you've been camped here for weeks, what gives?" Jake said with a grin.

Emmett leant across the table, scanning the satellite photographs of container ships, warehouses and the day to day comings and goings of a working port.

"Dang, this looks like some heavy shit," he exclaimed while lifting a close up print out of the 'Bella Principessa'.

Jaspers shrugged and slumped into a chair, propping his feet up on the table, he knew that Edward would fill them in when he'd figured it out in his head. Jasper casually sipped his coffee from the travel mug that he carried with him religiously, gazing wistfully around the room, he could see that Emmett was vibrating in his seat, with wonder as to what the hell all this stuff was about, Jake was hooked into his cell, playing slots or some such. Edward continued to pour over the various sheets of paper and occasionally he would glance excitedly at something on his laptop. Jasper lifted an eye brow at this before sinking back into his seat and savouring his coffee.

General Garrett joined them a little after 1500, along with Phil Dwyer and they each took up a station around the large table.

"As you were gentlemen, no formalities here."

Phil glanced over at Edward, taking in his dishevelled hair, tired looking face and the stacks of paper that surrounded him.

"I take you've got something Master Chief?"

"Yes Sir, I think we have.” replied Edward

"Ok let's see what you have." said the General.

"I've been following the Data that Ms Swan had tagged, it appears that another ship, 'Bella Principessa' crossed paths with her in San Fran, and the ship is docked in Port Angeles Washington. According to records it was emptied about 5 hours ago, but look at this, pay particular attention to the Plimsoll line, now if that ship is empty, then tell me why it's sitting low in the water, and you can't tell me it’s about temperature and salinity, the water up there is damned cold, the only reason it should be sitting like that is if it has a cargo, there's nothing on the manifest, so I'm concerned that the missing shipment from the Embassy Star is now sitting or at least was sitting pretty on the 'Bella Principessa'."

"That's a strong hunch you have there Master Chief, what do you propose we do about it? We can't just send a team in on a hunch."

"I agree sir, I'm thinking we do a standard Customs and Immigration search, they have jurisdiction and can board on a hunch, hell they can board just because it's sitting low in the water despite apparently being empty."

"And if they're met with opposition?" replied Phil.

"We'll be there as backup, I can call in the rest of the guys, have a sniper team on a crane, it'll give us a bird eye view and Jake and Quil can take to the water, a dive survey may be an ideal way of getting some more Intel on this."

"Hmm, ok, I don't want you guys going in guns blazing, the last thing we need is a shoot out at a civilian port. Phil, can you call up the Customs guys at Port Angeles, tell them to expect Edward and his team tonight," the General said assuredly, looking at Edward he continued, "we'll reconvene via secure line when you arrive," then turning back to Phil, "ask them to hold the 'Bella Principessa' that ship is not permitted to leave until we're satisfied that it's not holding our missing goods."

"Thank you sir, we'll get to the bottom of this," responded Edward, while pulling together all of the data and wrapping it tidily into the card folder.

"Master Chief, there's a lot riding on this, prepare your team, thank you gentlemen, carry on." said the General before standing and walking from the room.

They let out a collective breath, as they slumped into their seats, itching to get into action, nervous for the exact same reason, the Intel was rough at best, but they trusted what they had, Edward felt it in his gut, that something about this ship was leading them in the right direction, he just wasn't sure what or how. He could only hope that he'd read Bella's data correctly.

"Ok guys, I've got some calls to make, we'll meet at 1900hrs at Fort Meyer, then we'll drive in convoy to Andrews for our flight to Washington."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The C-130 climbed steadily into the night, before settling at 30,000 ft. Edward looked around at the team of guys around him, Emmett was laying happily across a row of benches, playing NBA on his PSP, whooping every time he scored, Jasper had his head tucked into a book about the civil war, Jake, Sam, Embry, Seth and Quil were huddled together playing dominoes or some shit. Edward stood from his seat and walked across the cabin, checking out the two black SUV's that had accompanied them on the flight, they'd been hastily stocked with all the equipment they could possibly need, a lockbox in the rear of each contained an arsenal of weaponry and urban warfare essentials. Edward hoped they wouldn't need them, although it didn't hurt to be prepared.

He sat back down on his bench up front, the toughened laptop that accompanied him everywhere sitting firmly beside him. He eyed maps and blueprints of the port at Port Angeles, not an ideal place to undertake a mission, far too many choke points for his liking, but that couldn't be helped. He needed to come up with a counter plan, should things turn dangerous, and perusing the plans helped him focus, Edward took the time to learn every nook, every cranny, every alley, every minute dent in the port and then he checked them again. He had a continued stream of satellite imagery pointed directly at the ship and its surrounding dock, every movement captured and observed to aid him in this mission.

A little over four hours later the C-130 landed at Fairchild Air Base, the team loaded up their SUV's and headed out into the night, taking I-90 to Seattle, then joining I-5 before joining route 101 to Port Angeles, by the time they reached the Flagstone motel, all they wanted to do was sleep, travelling a little over 10 hours is enough to make anyone weary and they needed their A game if they were going to do this right.

They paired up and headed to their rooms to grab some sleep, Edward took the opportunity to set up his sat phone and book in with Washington, he arranged a 9am conference call and then headed to bed.