Charlie was quiet for so long that I wondered if he heard the strain beneath my facade.
查理很久没回话，我怀疑他听出了我正努力掩饰我语气中的惊慌。
“Charlie, we’ve still got that strictly need-to-know company situation going. I know it’s been more than a week since you saw Renesmee, but a visit is just not a good idea right now. How about I bring Renesmee over to see you?”
“查理，我们有一个严格的‘知情小组’正在进行中。我知道你已经一个多星期没看到蕾妮斯梅了，但现在绝不是串门的好时机。要不我带蕾妮斯梅回去看你？”
But then he muttered, “Need to know, ugh,” and I realized it was just his wariness of the supernatural that made him slow to respond.
但他只是抱怨，“知情，哈”。我这才意识到他只是对这些超自然现象感到难以接受。
“Okay, kid,” Charlie said. “Can you bring her over this morning? Sue’s bringing me lunch. She’s just as horrified by my cooking as you were when you first showed up.”
“好吧，丫头。”查理说。“你能今天上午就到她过来吗？苏给我外送了午餐。她显然被我的烹饪手艺吓到了，就跟你第一次吃的时候一样。”
Though Charlie didn’t know anything about werewolf imprinting, no one could be oblivious to the attachment between Jacob and Renesmee.
即使查理不知道狼人的烙印那回事，雅各布和蕾妮斯梅的亲密也是显而易见的。
Charlie laughed and then sighed for the old days.
查理大笑，然后想起过去的日子又叹起气来。
“This morning will be perfect.” The sooner the better. I’d already put this off too long.
“再好不过了。”越早越好。这事我已经耽搁得够久了。
“Is Jake coming with you guys?”
“杰克和你们一起来吗？”
“Probably.” There was no way Jacob would voluntarily miss an afternoon with Renesmee sans bloodsuckers.
“可能吧。”其实想要雅各布放弃这个可以在零吸血鬼的环境下跟蕾妮斯梅一起的机会简直就是没门。
“Maybe I should invite Billy, too,” Charlie mused. “But… hmm. Maybe another time.”
“也许我该把比利也叫来。”查理若有所思的说。“但是…嗯，还是下次吧。”
I was only half paying attention to Charlie — enough to notice the strange reluctance in his voice when he spoke of Billy, but not enough to worry what that was about. Charlie and Billy were grown-ups; if there was something going on between them, they could figure it out for themselves. I had too many more important things to obsess over.
我只放了一半的注意力在查理身上——不过已经足够注意到他提到比利时那勉强的语气，但没什么好担心的，查理和比利都是大人，如果他们之间真有这么问题的话可以自己解决的。我还得重点解决其他那些大问题。
“See you in a few,” I told him, and hung up.
“一会儿见。”我告诉查理，挂上了电话。
This trip was about more than protecting my father from the twenty-seven oddly matched vampires — who all had sworn not to kill anyone in a three-hundred-mile radius, but still… Obviously, no human being should get anywhere near this group. This was the excuse I’d given Edward: I was taking Renesmee to Charlie so that he wouldn’t decide to come here. It was a good reason for leaving the house, but not my real reason at all.
这趟行程可不只是从27只可怕的吸血鬼嘴下保护我爸这么简单，虽然他们是保证过不在距此半径三百英里的范围内杀人，不过还是……很显然，任何一个人类都不能靠近这个地方。这正是我给爱德华的借口：我主动带蕾妮斯梅去看查理，这样他就不会自己过来了。这也是离开房子的好理由，虽然与我真正的目的无关。
“Why can’t we take your Ferrari?” Jacob complained when he met me in the garage. I was already in Edward’s Volvo with Renesmee.
“为什么我们不开法拉利？”雅各布在车库跟我会合时抱怨道，因为我和蕾妮斯梅坐进了爱德华的沃尔沃里。
“Too conspicuous,” I answered. “We could go on foot, but that would freak Charlie out.”
“太扎眼了。”我回答。“我们其实可以直接跑过去的，不过会吓到查理。”
Jacob grumbled but got into the front seat. Renesmee climbed from my lap to his.
雅各布嘴里抱怨着，但还是坐到了车里。蕾妮斯梅便从我腿上转移到他那儿。
Edward had gotten around to revealing my after car; as he’d suspected, I had not been capable of showing the appropriate enthusiasm. Sure, it was pretty and fast, but I liked to run.
爱德华一直在说服我开我那辆“以后的车”，就如他料想过的一样，我对此并没有什么理应有的热情。确实，那车又炫又快，可我还是比较喜欢直接用跑的。
“How are you?” I asked him as I pulled out of the garage.
“你最近怎么样？”将车开出车库时我问雅各布。
I had to smile. The Romanians weren’t my favorite guests, either. “I don’t disagree with you there.”
我不由自主地笑了，那些罗马人显然也不是我最喜欢的客人。“这点上我倒是和你一样。”
Renesmee shook her head but said nothing; unlike the rest of us, she found the Romanians strangely fascinating. She’d made the effort to speak to them aloud since they would not let her touch them. Her question was about their unusual skin and, though I was afraid they might be offended, I was kind of glad she’d asked. I was curious, too.
蕾妮斯梅不说话的摇了摇头，不像我们其他人，她对那些罗马人奇怪地非常感兴趣。他们不接受她的触碰的时候，蕾妮斯梅会努力地大声对他们说话，问一些关于他们不同寻常的皮肤之类的问题。虽然我有些担心他们会被这些问题惹恼，但我还是很高兴她问了，因为我也挺好奇的。
“How do you think?” Jacob asked bitingly. “I’m sick of all these reeking bloodsuckers.” He saw my expression and spoke before I could answer. “Yeah, I know, I know. They’re the good guys, they’re here to help, they’re going to save us all. Etcetera, etcetera. Say what you want, I still think Dracula One and Dracula Two are creep-tacular.”
“你觉得呢？”雅各布尖刻的反问回来。“我恶心所有这些臭烘烘的吸血虫。”他看到我的表情后快速接下去道。“好啦，我知道我知道。他们都是好人，他们来帮忙的，他们能救我们的命，等等，等等，随便你怎么说，我还是讨厌德拉库拉一号、德拉库拉二号那样讨人嫌的老古董。”
“We sat still for a very long time, child,” Vladimir had answered, with Stefan nodding along but not continuing Vladimir’s sentences as he often did.
“我们一动不动地坐了很长时间，孩子，”弗拉迪米尔回答了她的问题，斯特凡附和着点头但没有像平常那样接着说下去。
“Contemplating our own divinity. It was a sign of our power that everything came to us. Prey, diplomats, those seeking our favor. We sat on our thrones and thought ourselves gods. We didn’t notice for a long time that we were changing — almost petrifying. I suppose the Volturi did us one favor when they burned our castles. Stefan and I, at least, did not continue to petrify. Now the Volturi’s eyes are filmed with dusty scum, but ours are bright. I imagine that will give us an advantage when we gouge theirs from their sockets.”
“注视着我们的神主，它象征着我们的权利，以及一切附带品，食物，马屁精，那些想尽办法讨我们欢心的东西。我们坐在宝座上思考着我们的神，一直没有注意到自己的改变——几乎都石化了。我想这大概是沃尔图里在烧毁我们的城堡时做的唯一一件好事。至少，斯特凡和我，没有再继续傻愣下去。现在沃尔图里他们的眼睛被肮脏的污垢覆盖着，而我们的还是明亮清晰的。这在把它们从沃尔图里的眼眶里挖出来的时候还是有好处的，我想。”
They hadn’t seemed upset by her interest. Maybe a little rueful.
有一点可悲的是，他们好像并没有被她的兴趣弄得不耐烦。
I tried to keep Renesmee away from them after that.
自那以后我就一直尽量避免让蕾妮斯梅和他们呆在一起。
“How long do we get to hang out with Charlie?” Jacob asked, interrupting my thoughts. He was visibly relaxing as we pulled away from the house and all its new inmates. It made me happy that I didn’t really count as a vampire to him. I was still just Bella.
“我们要在查理那呆多久？”雅各布问，打断了我的遐想。在我们远离那所房子和里面的新室友后他明显轻松了很多。我很高兴雅各布没把我当成吸血鬼，我还是贝拉。
“Jake, you know how you’re pretty good at controlling your thoughts around Edward?”
“杰克，你知道自己有多么擅长多么拿手在爱德华面前控制思想吗？”
The tone of my voice caught his attention.
我说话的声调引起了他的注意。
“For quite a while, actually.”
“要呆很久，实际上。”
He raised one thick black brow. “Yeah?”
他扬起一根又黑又粗的眉毛。“是吗？”
“Is something going on here besides visiting your dad?”
“除了去看你爸还有其他事要做？”
I just nodded, cutting my eyes to Renesmee. She was looking out the window, and I couldn’t tell how interested she was in our conversation, but I decided not to risk going any further.
我马上点头，看了一眼蕾妮斯梅，她正往窗外看。我敢肯定这对话引起了她强烈的兴趣，但我不打算再增加风险了。
As we drove in silence, I squinted through the annoying contacts into the cold rain; it wasn’t quite cold enough for snow. My eyes were not as ghoulish as they had been in the beginning — definitely closer to a dull reddish orange than to bright crimson. Soon they’d be amber enough for me to quit the contacts. I hoped the change wouldn’t upset Charlie too much.
驾驶途中，我用余光看着窗外冰冷的雨，这令我联想到糟糕的东西。至少现在还没冷到会下雪的地步。我的瞳孔已经不再像刚开始如食尸鬼一般了，比起艳丽的红宝石更接近偏暗的橙红色。再过一段时间它们又会变成比较正常的琥珀色，我希望这种变化不会让查理太困扰。
Jacob waited for me to add something else, and then his lower lip pushed out while he thought about what little I’d said.
雅各布等着我继续说下去，嘴唇向外噘着，思考着我刚才说的那一点点话。
Jacob was still chewing over our truncated conversation when we got to Charlie’s. We didn’t talk as we walked at a quick human pace through the falling rain. My dad was waiting for us; he had the door open before I could knock.
雅各布一路上都在反复咀嚼着刚才断掉的对话，我们以人类的步速走在雨里时也没说过话。爸爸在等着我们，我还没敲他就打开了门。
“Well, come on in out of the cold, kids. Where’s my son-in-law?”
“进来吧孩子们，外面太冷了。我们家女婿去哪儿了？”
“Hey, guys! It seems like it’s been years! Look at you, Nessie! Come to Grampa! I swear you’ve grown half a foot. And you look skinny, Ness.” He glared at me. “Aren’t they feeding you up there?”
“嘿，伙计们！好久不见！看看你，内希！到外公这儿来！我发誓你肯定长了半英尺高，而且看起来有点瘦了啊，Ness。”他盯着我。“他们没给你吃饱？”
Renesmee flashed her dimples. She never spoke in front of Charlie.
蕾妮斯梅露出她可爱的小酒窝。她还从未在查理面前说过话。
“It’s just the growth spurt,” I muttered. “Hey, Sue,” I called over his shoulder. The smell of chicken, tomato, garlic, and cheese issued from the kitchen; it probably smelled good to everyone else. I could also smell fresh pine and packing dust.
“她只是长得太快了。”我抱怨。“嘿，苏，”我越过他的肩膀招呼道。厨房里传来鸡肉，番茄，大蒜和奶酪的味道，其他人闻起来一定很美味。此外我还闻到新鲜松木与家具上的灰尘。
I punched Jacob lightly in the kidney while Charlie cringed.
查理不舒服地缩了一下，我尽量轻的揍了雅各布一拳。
“Ow,” Jacob complained under his breath; well, I’d thought I’d punched lightly.
“嗷。”雅各布哀叫了一声。好吧，我确实是尽量轻了。
“Behind on your Christmas shopping, Bells? You only have a few days, you know.”
“圣诞购物，贝尔？你可只剩几天时间了，知道吗。”
Jacob shot a glance at me but said nothing.
雅各布瞥了我一眼，但什么都没说。
“Entertaining friends,” Jacob said, and then snorted. “You’re so lucky you’re out of the loop, Charlie. That’s all I’m going to say.”
“招待朋友呢，”雅各布说，哧了下鼻子。“你还是幸福的蒙在鼓里吧，查理。我就想说这些。”
“Actually, Charlie, I have some errands to run.”
“查理，事实上我有些事情要办，得走开一会儿。”
“Lunch’s on the table,” Sue called from the kitchen. “C’mon, guys.”
“午饭等着你们呢，”苏从厨房里叫道。“来吃吧伙计们。”
The roads were slick and dark, but driving didn’t intimidate me anymore. My reflexes were well up to the job, and I barely paid attention to the road. The problem was keeping my speed from attracting attention when I had company. I wanted to be done with today’s mission, to have the mystery sorted out so that I could get back to the vital task of learning. Learning to protect some, learning to kill others.
公路上又黑又滑，但开车对我来说已经不算什么了，即使不看路，我的反射神经也能很好的处理这种情况。问题只是我得控制速度以免太引人注目。我想要把今天的任务顺利完成，将谜题揭开，以便能专心致志地学习那些性命攸关的重要技能，学习保护一些人，然后杀掉其他的。
“Yeah, Christmas shopping,” I said lamely. That explained the packing dust. Charlie must have put the old decorations up.
“恩对，圣诞购物，”我别扭地说道。这就解释了家具上的那些灰尘，查理肯定是把那些旧的装饰品都折腾出来了。
“See you later, Dad,” I said, and exchanged a quick look with Jacob. Even if he couldn’t help but think about this near Edward, at least there wasn’t much for him to share. He had no idea what I was up to.
“一会儿见，爸。”我说，和雅各布交换了个短暂的眼神。这样的话，即使他无法在爱德华面前控制好思想，爱德华也看不到多少东西。因为他也不知道我到底要干嘛。
I rolled my eyes at him, but in truth, I hadn’t thought about the holidays at all.
我对他翻了翻眼睛，但说真的，我把假期都忘得一干二净了。
“Don’t worry, Nessie,” he whispered in her ear. “I got you covered if your mom drops the ball.”
“别担心，内希。”他在蕾妮斯梅耳边小声说道。“我会罩着你的，如果你妈把球弄丢了。”
Of course, I thought to myself as I got into the car, it wasn’t like I had much idea, either.
在回到车上时我想了一下，其实我自己也不知道多少要做的。
I wasn’t very good at it. I had only gotten one glimpse of the jungle river she was trying to show me.
这个我做的不是很好，到现在也只瞥见过一眼她想呈现给我看的雨林里的河流。
I was getting better and better with my shield. Kate didn’t feel the need to motivate me anymore — it wasn’t hard to find reasons to feel angry, now that I knew that was the key — and so I mostly worked with Zafrina. She was pleased with my extension; I was able to cover almost a ten-foot area for more than a minute, though it exhausted me. This morning she’d been trying to find out if I could push the shield away from my mind altogether. I didn’t see what the use of that would be, but Zafrina thought it would help strengthen me, like exercising muscles in the stomach and back rather than just the arms. Eventually, you could lift more weight when all the muscles were stronger.
我对盾的控制能力正在进步，越来越好。凯特不再需要刺激我了——既然我已经掌握了诀窍，想找个理由生气并不难——所以现在更多的是与查弗丽娜合作。查弗丽娜对我做出的扩展很满意，现在已经能在扩展十英尺的情况下坚持一分多钟了，虽然这会让我筋疲力尽。今天早晨她甚至想让我将身体上和脑袋里的盾一块儿推出去，我不知道这有什么用，但查弗丽娜认为这会令我更强大。就像除了胳膊外再多锻炼锻炼胃和背部的肌肉一样，你的体重最终会因为所有这些肌肉的强壮而大增。
But there were different ways to prepare for what was coming, and with only two weeks left, I worried that I might be neglecting the most important. Today I would rectify that oversight.
但其实是有两种方法可以为即将到来的状况作好准备的，在还剩两个星期的时候我才猛然意识到自己可能忽略了其中最重要的一种。今天我便要去弥补这疏忽。
I’d memorized the appropriate maps, and I had no problem finding my way to the address that didn’t exist online, the one for J. Jenks. My next step would be Jason Jenks at the other address, the one Alice had not given me.
我已经把地图都记了下来，想要找到网上根本就不存在的那个J。詹克斯地址也不是什么难事。但我首先要去找另一个杰森詹克斯的地址，而不是爱丽丝告诉我的那个。
The buildings — all three stories, all narrow, all leaning slightly as if bowed by the pounding rain — were mostly old houses divided up into multiple apartments. It was hard to tell what color the peeling paint was supposed to be. Everything had faded to shades of gray. A few of the buildings had businesses on the first floor: a dirty bar with the windows painted black, a psychic’s supply store with neon hands and tarot cards glowing fitfully on the door, a tattoo parlor, and a daycare with duct tape holding the broken front window together. There were no lamps on inside any of the rooms, though it was grim enough outside that the humans should have needed the light. I could hear the low mumbling of voices in the distance; it sounded like TV.
这片建筑物——都是三层楼，非常狭窄，倾斜着仿佛屈服在暴雨之下——大多都是被分割成复式公寓的老房子。很难辨认原先的墙面是什么颜色，所有的一切都褪色成暗灰暗灰的。建筑物的一楼有些小店面：一个窗户被涂黑的脏兮兮的酒吧，一个从门里透出鬼手和塔罗牌断断续续光亮的灵异用品商店，一个纹身房，一个窗户破得用绳子绑起来的托儿室。虽然天已经阴到就算走在街上的人也想明亮些的地步，那些房间里却一盏灯都没有。我听到远处传来含糊的说话声，大概是电视。
To say that it wasn’t a nice neighborhood would be an understatement. The most nondescript of all the Cullens’ cars was still outrageous on this street. My old Chevy would have looked healthy here. During my human years, I would have locked the doors and driven away as fast as I dared. As it was, I was a little fascinated. I tried to imagine Alice in this place for any reason, and failed.
说卡伦家不是个讨人爱的邻居还不完全，因为即使把卡伦家最最普通的车开到街上去都是件不怎么道德的事，在这里我的老卡车才比较正常。如果在人类的时候，我肯定早就关起车窗能开多快开多快的溜走了。但现在，我有些入神地慢慢开着，想象着各种理由让爱丽丝出现在这，却以失败告终。
There were a few people about, two shuffling through the rain in opposite directions and one sitting on the shallow porch of a boarded-up cut-rate law office, reading a wet newspaper and whistling. The sound was much too cheerful for the setting.
周围有几个人，两个朝着相反的方向慢慢走在雨中，一个坐在破烂的律师办公室浅浅的门廊里，吹着口哨读着一份湿巴巴的报纸。在这种场景下，欢快的口哨声显得有些格格不入。
I pulled up to the curb and idled for a second. I was getting into that dump one way or another, but how to do so without the whistler noticing me? I could park the next street over and come through the back… There might be more witnesses on that side. Maybe the rooftops? Was it dark enough for that kind of thing?
我靠路边停下思考了一秒，该怎么进到那垃圾堆似的地方去而不引起吹口哨人的注意呢？也许我该停到街对面从后面进去…不过那面可能有更多人。还是从屋顶？天黑到够做这种事了吗？
I was so bemused by the carefree whistler, I didn’t realize at first that the abandoned building was right where the address I was looking for should exist. There were no numbers on the dilapidated place, but the tattoo parlor beside it was just two numbers off.
我被那无忧无虑的吹口哨人弄得有点困惑，差点都没意识到这就是我要找的地址。这破烂的地方连个门牌号都没有，但旁边那纹身房与我知道的地址只差两个号码。
I rolled the passenger window down as if I couldn’t hear him.
我假装没听到他说话，摇下车窗。
The man laid his paper aside, and his clothes surprised me, now that I could see them. Under his long ragged duster, he was a little too well dressed.
那人把报纸放到了一边，露出他的衣服，那穿着让我有些吃惊。在这种脏兮兮的地方，他穿得似乎有些太好了。
“Hey, lady,” the whistler called to me.
“嘿，女士。”吹口哨的人叫我。
There was no breeze to give me the scent, but the sheen on his dark red shirt looked like silk. His crinkly black hair was tangled and wild, but his dark skin was smooth and perfect, his teeth white and straight. A contradiction.
没有微风吹来的气味，而是他暗红色衬衣上的光泽，看起来像丝质的。浓密的黑色卷发纠结着很邋遢的样子，但黑色的皮肤却很平滑细腻，牙齿又白又整齐。这人还真矛盾。
I shut off the engine and got out. Perhaps my whistling friend could give me the answers I needed faster than breaking and entering. I opened my big gray umbrella — not that I cared, really, about protecting the long cashmere sweater-dress I wore. It was what a human would do.
我熄了火走下车，想着也许能直接在这个口哨朋友身上得到答案，比闯进去还快。我撑起我的雨伞——并不是关心我身上的开士米羊毛衫。只是人类都这样做。
“Maybe you shouldn’t park that car there, lady,” he said. “It might not be here when you get back.”
“你不该把车停在这的，女士。”他说。“也许回头就不见了。”
“Thanks for the warning,” I said.
“谢谢提醒。”我说。
“I’m someone,” he offered with a smile. “What can I do for you, beautiful?”
“我就是某人。”他微笑着答应道。“有什么我可以帮忙吗，美丽的小姐？”
The man squinted through the rain at my face, and then his eyes widened. He swallowed, and I heard his heart accelerate as I approached.
男人透过雨点眯着眼看着我，然后睁大了眼睛。他咽了一下口水，当我靠近时，他的心跳得越来越厉害。
“I’m looking for someone,” I began.
“我在找某人。”我说。
“Oh,” he said, and his expression changed from anticipation to understanding. He got to his feet and examined me with narrowed eyes. “Why’re you looking for J?”
“噢。”他说，表情从期望变成恍然大悟。他退后了一步，用那双小眼睛审视着我。“你找J干什么？”
“Are you J. Jenks?” I asked.
“你是J。詹克斯吗？”我问。
We faced each other for a long moment while his sharp eyes ran up and down the fitted pearl gray sheath I wore. His gaze finally made it to my face. “You don’t look like the usual customer.”
他对我穿的贴身珍珠灰羊毛衫上下打量了很长时间，最后终于看着我的脸说道。“你看起来不像一般的客人。”
“Nice to meet you, Max. Now, why don’t you tell me what you do for the usual?”
“很高兴见到你，马克斯。现在，告诉我，对一般客人你是怎么做的？”
“If you were up to any good, you wouldn’t be here.”
“如果你是想从我这套出什么的话，你来错地方了。”
“I’m probably not the usual,” I admitted. “But I do need to see him as soon as possible.”
“也许我确实不是。”我回答。“但我极需马上见到他。”
“No.”
“不是。”
I pursed my lips. I’d never been much good at bluffing, but Alice hadn’t left me a lot of alternatives. “Maybe I’m not up to any good.”
我瘪了瘪嘴。我一向不擅长演戏，不过爱丽丝并没有给我多少选择的余地。“大概我并不是想从你这套出什么。”
He grinned. “Max.”
他笑着说道。“马克斯。”
His grin became a frown. “Well, J’s usual clients don’t look a thing like you. Your kind doesn’t bother with the downtown office. You just go straight up to his fancy office in the skyscraper.”
他的笑容马上又皱成一团。“是这样，J的当事人一般不像你这样。你这样的客人不会到这个乡下小办公室来的。应该直接去他那个摩天大楼里的豪华办公室里。”
“Why don’t you tell me your name?”
“何不告诉我你的名字呢？”
“Yeah, that’s the place,” he said, suspicious again. “How come you didn’t go there?”
“对，就是那儿。”他说，又开始疑惑。“你干嘛不直接去那？”
“This was the address I was given — by a very dependable source.”
“这是我从别人那得来的地址——从非常可靠的消息来源。”
I repeated the other address I had, making the list of numbers a question.
我复述了一下爱丽丝给我的那个地址，以疑问语气结束。
“I’m not sure what to do,” he admitted.
“我不确定该怎么做。”他回答。
“That’s my business.” Besides, I didn’t have a clue. “Are you J?”
“这是我的私事。”而且，我自己也不知道干什么。“你是J？”
“Bella.”
“贝拉。”
“Right. Bella. See, I need this job. J pays me pretty good to mostly just hang out here all day. I want to help you, I do, but — and of course I’m speaking hypothetically, right? Or off the record, or whatever works for you — but if I pass somebody through that could get him in trouble, I’m out of work. Do you see my problem?”
“好的，贝拉。你看，我需要这工作。J付我很多钱只是让我每天在这装装样子。我很想帮你，真的，但是——当然我只是打个比方，如果我私下或怎样的帮了你——但是如果因为我的关系而让他陷入麻烦的话，我就失业了。你明白我的难处了吗？”
I thought for a minute, chewing on my lip. “You’ve never seen anyone like me here before? Well, sort of like me. My sister is a lot shorter than me, and she has dark spiky black hair.”
我思考了一分钟，咬着嘴唇。“你以前从没见过我这样的客人吗？就是，跟我有些类似的，例如我姐姐，她比我矮很多，头发黑色的刺刺的。”
“J knows your sister?”
“J认识你姐姐？”
Max’s face turned apologetic. “Look, lady –“
马克斯有些歉意的说。“听着，女士…”
What did J. Jenks know? Would my description mean something to him? That was a troubling thought.
J·詹克斯知道些什么？我的描述真的起作用吗？真是伤脑筋。
Max pondered this for a moment. I smiled at him, and his breathing stuttered. “Tell you what I’ll do. I’ll give J a call and describe you to him. Let him make the decision.”
马克斯仔细考虑了一会儿。我对他微笑，他的呼吸起伏起来。“好吧，告诉你，我去给J打个电话向他描述一下你。让他自己决定。”
“My last name is Cullen,” I told Max, wondering if that was too much information. I was starting to get irritated with Alice. Did I really have to be quite this blind? She could have given me one or two more words…
“我姓卡伦。”我告诉马克斯，怀疑透露的信息是不是过多了。我开始有些恼怒爱丽丝，真的有必要让我这么茫然？她只要多写一两个单词…
“I think so.”
“我想是的。”
“Not likely. What does she look like?”
“不太可能。她长什么样？”
“She looks like…” His eyes ran from my face to my shoes appreciatively. “Well, she looks like a freaking supermodel, that’s what she looks like.” I smiled and he winked at me, then went on. “Rocking body, pale as a sheet, dark brown hair almost to her waist, needs a good night’s sleep — any of this sounding familiar?”
“她长得…”他欣赏地从头到脚把我看了一遍。“呃，她看起来像个超模，就是这样。”我微笑，他向我眨了眨眼，然后继续道。“曼妙的身材，纸一样苍白的肌肤，深棕色及腰长发，看起来有点缺少睡眠——这些有听起来熟悉的吗？”
“No –“
“不…”
“Well, not exactly. It’s this girl who wants to see you…”
“呃，应该不是。是现在有个女孩要见你…”
“I didn’t follow normal procedure ’cause she don’t look like any kind of normal –“
“我没按一般的步骤是因为她看起来不像一般的…”
I fail to see the emergency in that. Why didn’t you follow normal procedure?
“我不觉得这是什么紧急状况。你干嘛不按一般的步骤来？”
I watched as he dialed, easily picking out the number. Well, I could call J. Jenks myself if this didn’t work.
我看着他拨通电话，轻而易举地就把号码记了下来。这样的话，如果他不管用我就自己打给J。詹克斯。
Is she a badge?!
“她是警察？”
Is there an emergency? I heard faintly from the other end.
“现在有紧急状况？”我听见话筒那头的声音很轻地说道。
“You can’t be sure about that. Does she look like one of Kubarev’s –?”
“这你可判断不了。她看起来像不像库巴雷夫那些的…？”
“Cullen, got it.”
“卡伦，记住了。”
“No — let me talk, okay? She says you know her sister or something.”
“不是——让我说，好吗？她说你认识她的姐姐还是什么的。”
“Hey J, it’s Max. I know I’m never supposed to call you at this number except in an emergency…”
“嘿，J，我是马克斯。我知道在非紧急状况下我是不能打这个号码找你的…”
“Because you didn’t ask!” Max yelled back, panicked.
“因为你没问！”马克斯惊慌的喊回去。
There was a beat of dead silence, and then the voice on the other end was abruptly screaming, using a lot of words you didn’t often hear outside of truck stops. Max’s whole expression changed; all the joking vanished and his lips went pale.
电话那头死一般的寂静，然后突然爆发出不连贯的大叫，用了一大堆在卡车铺外很难听到的脏话。马克斯整个表情都变了，所有的幽默在他的脸上一扫而空，嘴唇惨白。
“Name,” I whispered.
“名字。”我小声提醒道。
There was another pause while J collected himself.
J整理着自己的情绪，又是一阵停顿。
No, it doesn’t. I’m not happy that you let your weakness for pretty women interrupt —
“没有。我很不高兴，你就因为拒绝不了美女的请求而来烦我…“
Max waited for a minute through another volley of shouted insults and instructions and then glanced at me with eyes that were almost frightened. “But you only meet downtown clients on Thursdays — okay, okay! On it.” He slid his phone shut.
马克斯又等了一分钟，听着电话那头新一轮羞辱和命令的轰炸，然后几乎是害怕地看着我。“但你不是只在周二见乡下的当事人吗——好好！知道了。”说完小心翼翼地迅速挂了电话。
Beautiful and pale? J asked, a tiny bit calmer.
“美丽和苍白？”J问，比刚才冷静了一些。
“Oh right. Wait,” Max said. “She says her name is Bella Cullen. That help?”
“噢对了，等一下。”马克斯说。“她说她叫贝拉卡伦。怎样？”
“I said that, didn’t I?”
“我之前说过了不是吗？”
“Yeah, so I’m a sucker for the pretty ones, what’s wrong with that? I’m sorry I bothered you, man. Just forget it.”
“是，我确实是受不了美女的诱惑，那又如何？真抱歉打扰了你啊先生，就当我没打过电话。”
Beautiful and pale? What did this man know about vampires? Was he one of us himself? I wasn’t prepared for that kind of confrontation. I gritted my teeth. What had Alice gotten me into?
美丽和苍白？这个人知道吸血鬼的事吗？还是说他也是其中一员？我丝毫都没想过会碰到这种状况，我咬紧牙齿。爱丽丝到底是想让我怎样。
Max cussed under his breath. “Married. Can’t catch a break.”
马克斯悄悄骂了一声。“已婚。连个机会都没有了。”
I had to admit, I was enjoying myself a little. I hadn’t interacted with humans much besides Charlie and Sue. It was entertaining to watch him flounder. I was also pleased at how easy it was not to kill him.
我不得不承认有点小开心。除了查理和苏之外我还从没和别的人类交流过，看着他这样惊慌失措的还真好玩。同时也为自己如此轻松就克服了想要杀他的欲望而高兴。
“I thought you might be a cop,” he admitted. “I mean, you don’t look like a cop. But you act kind of weird, beautiful.”
“我之前还觉得你是个警察。”他承认道。“我指，你看起来不像。但你的行为又这么神秘，这么美。”
“Drug cartel?” he guessed.
“毒枭？”他猜道。
“I didn’t know I was.”
“我也不知道我是。”
“Who, me?” I asked.
“谁，我？”我问。
“Nope.”
“不是。”
“Please! Is that the kind of people you usually deal with, Max? Maybe you need a new job.”
“拜托！你都经常跟这些人打交道吗，马克斯？那也许你该换个工作了。”
Max glowered. “You could have told me you were a priority client.”
马克斯怒气冲冲地瞪着我。“你应该告诉我你是优先顾客的。”
I smiled.
我微笑。
“That’s what they all say. But who else needs papers? Or can afford to pay J’s prices for them, I should say. None of my business, anyway,” he said, and then muttered the word married again.
“那些人都这样说。而且，还会有其他人需要这些文件吗？或是应该说能够付得起J的价码？反正不关我的事。”他说，接着又开始抱怨我已婚的事。
“Mafia?”
“黑手党？”
“Nope, sorry. I’m not really a fan of drugs, and neither is my husband. Just say no and all that.”
“不是，抱歉。我对毒品可没多大兴趣，我丈夫也没有。完全跟那一点关系也没有。”
“It’s not really like that.”
“并不完全是那样。”
“Yeah. Or your boyfriend or whatever.”
“对。或是你男朋友什么的。”
“You’ve got to be involved in something big. And bad,” he mused.
“你肯定是跟什么大事有关。而且是坏事。”他若有所思的说。
“He wants to see me?” I asked brightly.
“他要见我？”我高兴地问。
“Diamond smuggling?”
“走私钻石？”
I shrugged.
我耸了耸肩。
At this point, I was ready for almost anything — some kind of James Bond villain’s high — tech lair seemed appropriate. So I thought Max must have given me the wrong address as a test. Or maybe the lair was subterranean, underneath this very commonplace strip mall nestled up against a wooded hill in a nice family neighborhood.
事已至此，对任何将要到来的情况我都做好了准备——就算出现007里那种坏人的高科技巢穴也没什么好奇怪的。我在想，马克斯肯定是给了我一个错误的地址来考验我，其实那个隐蔽的基地，坐落在一个极其平凡的小树林边的乡下购物中心旁，隐藏在一个貌似美满的家庭里。
He gave me an entirely new address with basic directions, and then watched me drive away with suspicious, regretful eyes.
马克斯给了我一张崭新的注有详细地址的名片，然后疑惑又遗憾地看着我开车走远。
The office inside was beige with celery green accents, inoffensive and unremarkable. There was no scent of vampire here, and that helped me relax. Nothing but unfamiliar human. A fish tank was set into the wall, and a blandly pretty blond receptionist sat behind the desk.
事务所里装饰着米黄色与芹菜绿相间的墙纸，但看起来一点都不突兀和讨人厌。这里没有吸血鬼的气味，只有些陌生的人类，我松了口气。墙壁上镶嵌着个大鱼缸，一个和善的漂亮金发接待员坐在办公桌后。
“Hello,” she greeted me. “How can I help you?”
“您好。”她问候道。“有什么事吗？”
“I’m here to see Mr. Scott.”
“我来见斯科特先生的。”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“请问您有预约吗？”
“Not exactly.”
“没有。”
She smirked a little. “It could be a while, then. Why don’t you have a seat while I –“
她微微笑了一下。“那就得稍等一下了。先请坐吧我去…”
I pulled into an open spot and looked up at a tastefully subtle sign that read: JASON SCOTT, ATTORNEY AT LAW.
但我的车却停到了一个开阔的地方，抬头就看到那个高雅精致的招牌。写着：杰森 斯科特 律师事务所。
“April!” a man’s demanding voice squawked from the phone on her desk. “I’m expecting a Ms. Cullen shortly.”
“艾普丽尔！”她桌上的电话里传出一个男人粗厉地命令声。“我在等一位卡伦小姐。”
Send her in immediately. Do you understand? I don’t care what it’s interrupting.
“她来了的话就马上带进来，明白没？别管其他那些冲突的预约。”
“Right away, Mr. Scott!” She got to her feet, fluttering her hands as she led the way down a short hallway, offering me coffee or tea or anything else I might have wanted.
“马上就到，斯科特先生。”她起身，边用手指示着一条门廊，边询问我需要喝咖啡、茶还是别的什么。
I could hear something else in his voice besides impatience. Stress. Nerves.
我听到他的声音里不只是不耐烦，还有压力，神经质。
I smiled and pointed to myself.
我微笑着指了指自己。
“She’s just arrived,” April said as soon as she could speak.
“她刚到。”艾普丽尔马上回话道。
“Here you are,” she said as she ushered me through the door into a power office, complete with heavy wooden desk and vanity wall.
“给您。”她说，然后将我领进了一间被巨大的木质办公桌和繁复奢华的墙面塞满的主办公室。
“Close the door behind you,” a raspy tenor voice ordered.
“出去，带上门。”一个焦躁的男高音吩咐道。
What? Send her in! What are you waiting for?
“啊？那你还等什么，领她进来！”
I examined the man behind the desk while April made a hasty retreat. He was short and balding, probably around fifty-five, with a paunch. He wore a red silk tie with a blue — and-white-striped shirt, and his navy blazer hung over the back of his chair. He was also trembling, blanched to a sickly paste color, with sweat beading on his forehead; I imagined an ulcer churning away under the spare tire.
趁艾普丽尔急忙退出去的时候我观察了一下桌子后的那个人。是个秃头的矮个子，55岁左右，啤酒肚，穿着蓝白相间的衬衫加红色丝质领带，藏蓝色西装外套搭在椅背上。他焦虑着，脸色病态的苍白，像浆糊一样，额头上尽是汗珠。这让我联想到后车厢里腐烂融化了的备用胎。
This seemed to clear up some of J’s confusion. He nodded to himself and templed his fingers. “Just so. You should have come to the main office. My assistants there would have put you straight through to me — no need to go through less hospitable channels.”
这似乎减轻了些J的困惑。他自顾自地轻轻点了点头，手指交叉着说，“这样的话，您应该直接到主办公室来的，助理会马上安排您与我见面——不必要那么麻烦的。”
“I’m sure he is in excellent health. He’s on an extended vacation at the moment.”
“放心，他非常健康，现在正在度长假。”
“Mr. Jenks. Or do you prefer Scott?”
“詹克斯先生。或您更希望我叫您斯科特？”
I crossed to him and shook his hand quickly once. He cringed slightly at my cold skin but did not seem particularly surprised by it.
我走近他，迅速地握了下手。在碰到我冰冷的皮肤时他抖了一下，但样子并没有特别惊讶。
“How about you call me Bella, and I’ll call you J?”
“那你叫我贝拉，我叫你J如何？”
J recovered himself and rose unsteadily from his chair. He reached his hand across the desk.
J镇定了一下，晃悠悠地从椅子上站起来，从桌子对面向我伸出手。
He pursed his lips, as if he were grasping for meanings just as desperately as I was.
他瘪起了嘴，似乎跟我一样绝望地想要抓紧话里的每一点信息。
He winced again. “Whatever you wish, of course.”
他又缩了一下。“当然，随您喜欢。”
I weighed that for a second. So this man knew Jasper, not Alice. Knew him, and seemed afraid of him, too. “His sister-in-law, actually.”
我考虑了一秒。这样说的话，他认识的是贾斯帕而不是爱丽丝。不仅认识他，而且恐惧他。“事实上，是他嫂子。”
“Ms. Cullen. What an absolute delight.”
“卡伦小姐。见到你很荣幸。”
“I trust Mr. Jasper is in good health?” he asked carefully.
“我衷心希望贾斯帕先生身体还安好？”他小心翼翼地问。
“Like old friends,” he agreed, mopping a silk handkerchief across his forehead. He gestured for me to have a seat and took his own. “I must ask, am I finally meeting Mr. Jasper’s lovely wife?”
“像老朋友一样。”他赞同道，用丝质的手巾擦了下额头，示意我请坐然后自己也坐下。“冒昧地问一句，我面前的就是贾斯帕先生那位可爱的太太吗？”
The only reason Renesmee would need a forger was if she was running. And the only reason Renesmee would be running was if we had lost.
现在蕾妮斯梅唯一用得着假证的地方就是逃亡途中，而让蕾妮斯梅不得不逃亡的唯一一个原因就是，我们输了。
“Certainly,” J agreed at once. “Are we talking birth certificates, death certificates, drivers’ licenses, passports, social security cards…?”
“当然。”J立刻答应道。“是需要出生证明、死亡证明、驾照、护照、还是社安证…？”
I just nodded. I wasn’t sure why Alice had given me the ghetto address.
我只是点了下头，自己也不明白爱丽丝给我那乡下的地址干什么。
“Ah, well, you’re here now. What can I do for you?”
“啊，那么，您现在来这是想让我为您做些什么呢？”
“Papers,” I said, trying to make my voice sound like I knew what I was talking about.
“文件。”我说，努力让自己的声音听起来像知道自己要做什么。
If Edward and I were running with her, she wouldn’t need these documents right away. I was sure IDs were something Edward knew how to get his hands on or make himself, and I was sure he knew ways to escape without them. We could run with her for thousands of miles. We could swim with her across an ocean.
如果是爱德华和我带着她逃跑的话根本就用不着这些文件。我敢肯定爱德华知道如何把这些东西弄到手或是自己做。而且我也敢肯定我们不用这些东西也能逃走。我们能带蕾妮斯梅跑出几千英里，能带她游过整个海洋。
I took a deep breath and smiled. I owed Max big time.
我深吸了一口气，微笑，心想着欠了马克斯一个大大的人情。
If we were around to save her.
如果我们能守护着她的话。
And then my smile faded. Alice had sent me here for a reason, and I was sure it was to protect Renesmee. Her last gift to me. The one thing she would know I needed.
但接着笑容就渐渐消去了。爱丽丝让我来是有原因的，而且肯定是为了保护蕾妮斯梅。这是她送我的最后一个礼物，就一定是我用得着的东西。
It was as I had suspected. We couldn’t win. But we must have a good shot at killing Demetri before we lost, giving Renesmee the chance to run.
就如之前疑虑过的，我们可能赢不了。但我们必须在输前全力将德米特里干掉，这样蕾妮斯梅才能有机会活下来。
Who would I put this on? Charlie? But he was so defenselessly human. And how would I get Renesmee to him? He was not going to be anywhere close to that fight. So that left one person. There really had never been anyone else.
那我该将蕾妮斯梅托付给谁呢？查理？但他只是个毫无招架之力的人类，怎么可能将蕾妮斯梅交给他？他绝不会出现在那战场周围。所以现在，只剩一个人选，而且非他莫属。
And all the secrecy to keep this out of Edward’s head. Because there was a good chance that everything he knew, Aro would know. If we lost, Aro would certainly get the information he craved before he destroyed Edward.
但这些秘密绝不能让爱德华知道，因为这是个让阿罗也知道一切的绝好机会。如果我们输了，阿罗一定会在摧毁爱德华前从他脑袋里挖出自己想要的所有的信息。
My still heart felt like a boulder in my chest — a crushing weight. All my hope faded like fog in the sunshine. My eyes pricked.
我硬邦邦的心脏在胸腔中就像个巨大的卵石——沉重无比。所有的希望都像阳光下的薄雾般消散了，毒辣的阳光刺痛着我的眼睛。
“Two birth certificates, two passports, one driver’s license,” I said in a low, strained tone.
“两个出生证明，两个护照，一个驾照。”我虚弱地小声说。
I’d thought this through so quickly that J didn’t notice my pause.
我思考得飞快，J没有注意到我的停顿。
“The names?”
“名字？”
“Jacob… Wolfe. And… Vanessa Wolfe.” Nessie seemed like an okay nickname for Vanessa. Jacob would get a kick out of the Wolfe thing.
“雅各布…沃尔夫，和… 凡妮莎 沃尔夫。”内希用作凡妮莎的小名也不错，看来除了姓沃尔夫外，雅各布又有件值得兴奋的事了。
If he noticed the change in my expression, he pretended otherwise.
即使J发现了我神情的变化，他也假装不知道的继续问。
“Just put something generic in.”
“随便弄个一般的就行了。”
This was luck. I had several family pictures shoved in my wallet, and the perfect one — Jacob holding Renesmee on the front porch steps — was only a month old. Alice had given it to me just a few days before… Oh. Maybe there wasn’t that much luck involved after all. Alice knew I had this picture. Maybe she’d even had some dim flash that I would need it before she gave it to me.
真是幸运。我的钱包里装了几张家人的照片，其中最完美的一张——雅各布抱着蕾妮斯梅坐在大门台阶上——就拍在一个月前，而且爱丽丝前几天刚好给我…噢，也许这根本就不是什么幸运，爱丽丝知道我需要这照片，大概她早就朦朦胧胧地看到我需要它的场景了吧。
His pen scratched swiftly across a legal pad. “Middle names?”
J迅速用笔在一张登记表格上记下。“中名？”
“I’ll need pictures if you prefer finished documents,” J said, interrupting my thoughts. “Mr. Jasper usually liked to finish them himself.”
“想让我完成这些文件的话您还需要提供照片。”J说，打断了我的思考。“不过贾斯帕先生一般都是自己去完成最后一步。”
Well, that explained why J didn’t know what Alice looked like.
那么这就解释了为什么他不知道爱丽丝长什么样了。
“Hold on,” I said.
“稍等一下。”我说。
“If you prefer. Ages?”
“好的，随您吩咐。年龄？”
J examined the picture for a moment. “Your daughter is very like you.”
J仔细看了一下照片。“您的女儿跟您长得真像。”
I tensed. “She’s more like her father.”
我警觉起来。“她像她父亲更多一些。”
“Here you go.”
“来，给你。”
“Twenty-seven for the man, five for the girl.” Jacob could pull it off. He was a beast. And at the rate Renesmee was growing, I’d better estimate high. He could be her stepfather…
“男的写27岁，女孩子写5岁。”这个年龄对雅各布来说肯定没问题，他那么壮。根据蕾妮斯梅的生长速度来说，我得给她写大些，然后雅各布可以是她的继父。
“Who is not this man.” He touched Jacob’s face.
“是这个吗？”他指着雅各布的脸。
My eyes narrowed, and new sweat beads popped out on J’s shiny head.
我眯起眼睛，于是J的额头上又开始冒出豆大的汗珠。
“Can I get them in a week?”
“一个星期内可以吗？”
“Forgive me,” he mumbled, and the pen began scratching again. “How soon will you need the documents?”
“原谅我的失礼。”他紧张地说道，又用笔记了下来。“您想多快拿到这些文件呢？”
Clearly, he knew Jasper. “Just give me a number.”
显而易见，他知道贾斯帕的性子。“开价就是了。”
“No. That is a very close friend of the family.”
“不是。他是我们家的密友。”
He seemed hesitant to say it aloud, though I was sure, having dealt with Jasper, he must have known that price wasn’t really an object. Not even taking into consideration the bloated accounts that existed all over the world with the Cullens’ various names on them, there was enough cash stashed all over the house to keep a small country afloat for a decade; it reminded me of the way there were always a hundred fishhooks in the back of any drawer at Charlie’s house. I doubted anyone would even notice the small stack I’d removed in preparation for today.
他似乎不敢把价钱大声讲出来，虽然我很肯定跟贾斯帕交易过以后他应该已经知道，钱对卡伦家来说完全不是问题。不用说世界各地那些卡伦名下的银行户头，光卡伦家放在房子里的现金都够维持一个小国家十年的生计了；这让我想起查理家装饰画后面总是藏着的上百个鱼钩。我怀疑谁都不会注意到我为了今天而偶尔挪出的那一小点资金。
J wrote the price down on the bottom of the legal pad.
J把价钱写在了登记表格的最底部。
“That’s a rush order. It will cost twice as — but forgive me. I forgot with whom I was speaking.”
“那就是加急业务了，价钱是一般的两倍——噢抱歉，我都差点忘记自己在跟谁说话了。”
“There.”
“给。”
I nodded calmly. I had more than that with me. I unclasped my bag again and counted out the right amount — I had it all paper-clipped into five thousand dollar increments, so it took no time at all.
我带在身上的比这多得多，于是平静地点头。我再次打开钱包，拿出恰好那么多的现金——钱已经被我五千五千的捆起来，这样就不用浪费时间去数。
I smiled wanly at the nervous man. “But I trust you, J. Besides, I’ll give you a bonus — the same again when I get the documents.”
我对这个紧张的男人微微笑道。“我信任你，J。而且，等拿到文件后，我会额外再多给你一倍。”
“Ah, Bella, you don’t really have to give me the entire sum now. It’s customary for you to save half to ensure delivery.”
“啊，贝拉，你不必现在给我全额。按照惯例，你只用先付我一半的定金。”
“Of course. I’m sure I’m not doing this the way you expect.”
“当然。我希望这次拜访也没有让你为难。”
“That’s not necessary, I assure you.”
“没必要那样，请您放心。”
He gave me a pained look. “Actually, I prefer to make such transactions in places unrelated to my various businesses.”
他无奈地看着我。“实际上，为了不牵涉到其他的业务，我觉得在工作地点之外的地方见面较好。”
“I’m used to having no expectations when it comes to the Cullen family.” He grimaced and then quickly composed his face again. “Shall we meet at eight o’clock a week from tonight at The Pacifico? It’s on Union Lake, and the food is exquisite.”
“我已经习惯了，跟卡伦家打交道都是特殊情况。”他的表情有些扭曲，但马上又镇定了下来。“那我们一星期后的8点在帕奇菲科见？就是联合湖那儿，那里的菜色很不错。”
“Don’t worry about it.” It wasn’t like I could take it with me. “So I’ll meet you here next week at the same time?”
“别担心。”这话真不像我会说的。“那么，下星期同时间这里见？”
“Perfect.” Not that I would be joining him for dinner. He actually wouldn’t like it much if I did.
“就这么定了。”一起吃饭是不可能的，如果真是那样的话我敢肯定他受不了。
I rose and shook his hand again. This time he didn’t flinch. But he did seem to have some new worry on his mind. His mouth was pinched up, his back tense.
我站起来再次和J握手。这次他没有抖，但似乎又有其他的心事顾虑了，嘴巴抿着，身体绷得紧紧的。
“Will you have trouble with that deadline?” I asked.
“你对这个期限有什么问题？”我问。
“What?” He looked up, taken off guard by my question. “The deadline? Oh, no. No worries at all. I will certainly have your documents done on time.”
“什么？”他抬起头，对我的问题警觉起来。“期限？噢，不是，完全没问题。我绝对能将您的文件及时做好的。”
It would have been nice to have Edward here, so that I would know what J’s real worries were. I sighed. Keeping secrets from Edward was bad enough; having to be away from him was almost too much.
要是爱德华在这就好了，我就能知道J到底在顾虑什么。对爱德华有所隐瞒就够难受的了，不在他身边的感觉似乎也一样糟糕。
“Then I’ll see you in one week.”
“那么，下星期见。”
0 条评论