By the time Isabella made it in the door of Tsunami Storm Sushi Bar, a downpour had hit the streets of Seattle. She pried her coat off and stood carefully on the rug so not to create a puddle. A waitress swiftly made her way over with a heavily accented greeting and an offer to take her coat. She accepted, quickly withdrawing her wallet. "Hello Saki, I'm here to meet Jacob." The waitress's eyes lit up with a smile; clearly, Jacob had brought his appetite with him today.

"Yes-yes! Mr. Jacob is here now with Ms. Nessie. You join them today?" Saki inquired, quickly grabbing a menu.

"Yes, I am," Isabella returned her infectious grin.

"This way please," Saki quickly turned elegantly on her spiked stiletto heel and walked away. Isabella suppressed a shudder as she watched, cringing as she anticipated a fall. But Saki was not her. She was graceful despite the thin heels that held her up. She was very comfortable and found her center of gravity easily. It was a talent that Isabella's mother, Renee, had tried for years to teach her. However, much to her ire, Isabella was a klutz; Class A in Renee's words.

"Bella!" Jacob stood with a grin. Another server swiftly moved to pull out her seat. The Private Investigator smiled warmly at the nickname. Only those closest to her would ever be able to call her Bella. "I was beginning to get worried."

"I'm sorry, I got... I got called into a case last minute. I didn't expect to get caught in the storm."

"Oh don't tell me you walked all the way here," Renesmee Swan groaned.

"Okay, I won't tell you."

"Bella!" her half-sister groaned, falling back. "You have a perfectly good car!"

"And I have two perfectly good legs as well. Besides, this place isn't that far from PD." Jacob arched a dark eyebrow and met Nessie's dark eyes. They turned to the matching pair in the older sibling, and Bella sighed softly before answering the silent question. "I got called in on a case that's based in the ritz. I don't know how much I can say right now, but I can tell you that this one started sloppy."

"Who's the lead?" Jacob asked, sipping his tea.

"Detective Michael Newton-"

"-I feel sorry for the victim already," Jacob cut her off, finishing his cup before pouring out another. Nessie and Bella shared a look. It was amazing to Bella that they had so much in common for half siblings. They were only two years apart in age, Bella being oldest at twenty seven, yet they shared the same eyes and pale skin and the cursed ability to blush practically on command... yet they were also very different. Bella followed their father, somewhat, and became a Private Investigator while Nessie went off and became a reporter; which was how she met Jacob. She interviewed him since he was the lead Sheriff's Deputy in a smuggling case. "So what's the story?" Jacob broke their strange, almost twins-ey connection.

Bella hesitated, picking her words carefully. She focused her eyes on the menu, although she didn't need to. She practically ordered the same thing every time. She looked up and Saki swiftly moved to her side. "The usual?" she asked. "Tuna tataki, salmon roll, volcano roll and four salmon sashimi? Green hot tea."

"You know me so well," Bella smiled, a light blush coloring her cheeks. Saki only beamed, pleased with remembering and turned to Jacob.

"Another Boston roll?"

"Yes and more ginger this time, please."

"Hai! I mean, yes! And Ms. Nessie?"

"I'm good for right now. I don't have the appetite these two have," she gestured wearily to her sibling and her boyfriend. "I don't know where they put it." Saki only smiled and hurried away.

"Bella?"

She ducked at the quiet prod. "A kidnapping... the kid's seventeen, only three days away from her eighteenth birthday. There's ransom involved, but I can't say who or what."

"Sounds juicy," Nessie sipped her water

The table went silent while Bella inadvertently slipped into her new case. It was unusual for a police force to call a P.I into a case... but for her in particular it wasn't the first time she was called to consult. But this time, she was called into the case, to investigate. Why? What was the purpose of this?

The next thing that bothered her was Sondra Halloway's behavior. It was clear she was worried about Jessica, but the sudden dismissal of the police had caused her to raise eyebrows. The ransom note was odd too. Amateur as she thought before, to where she was certain that Jessica had written the note herself, but still the way things played out was odd. Everything seemed... too perfect. The logical assumption would be that Jessica simply ran off under the guise of the ransom note since she was reported to have a history doing so. But something... didn't add up. There were pieces missing. That by itself, until Bella was proven wrong, told her that an actual crime had been committed.

"You've got that face," Jacob leaned forward. "You're on the scent of something, Bloodhound."

"Jacob," Bella ground out in warning. Nessie reached over and wrapped her arm around her boyfriend.

"Stop it, don't bug her about it. It's her day off- it is still your day off, right?"

"Yeah, I told Newton I was going to give the family twenty-four hours before we would return. I want to talk to S- the victim's family first." She blushed when she nearly tripped and gave away their names.

"They're not calling for an immediate rescue?" Jacob asked, eyebrows shooting into his dark hairline. His native american features stretched into an expression of pure shock. "No news crews, no grid searches... nothing?"

"The PD was suddenly dismissed... or that's what I'm lead to believe. I'm not sure why normal protocol isn't being followed in this case. I think it's due to the family's insistence. Who knows, but I'll find out tomorrow."

"This case stinks like a bowl of bad meat," Nessie huffed. They quieted as Saki set down Bella's and Jacob's meal. Her companion behind her appeared and removed the now empty teapot and replaced it with a fresh one.

Bella quickly snapped her chopsticks, poured and mixed her wasabi-soy sauce and clapped her hands together once. "Itadakimasu," she announced quietly and dug into her meal.

It was nearly three hours later when Bella arrived home at her apartment, setting down the new books she purchased from her favorite bookstore on the table. The mrrow of her black cat Jinx alerted her that her bowl was empty. She quickly opened a can of wet food and refilled her water dish and sat down at her desk. The fist thing she pulled out was the ransom note from her bag and laid it out in front of her. Bella always preferred to keep the original copy, but the original this time was in evidence lock up. But this photocopy had come out extremely well, even though she would never tell Detective Newton. She didn't want any advances from him... at all of any kind.

The note, from her memory, was on cream, obviously high class, paper with the Halloway family crest as a watermark in the background. That meant only a Halloway or someone who worked directly for the household had access to it. The script was clean and and written, but it was difficult to tell from this picture. The more she looked at it, the more she felt certain that Jessica had written this note herself. For what purpose remained to be seen but she had a distinct feeling behind her reasoning that the will was really the more important document here. It was the only thing that came up in Newton's interview with Sondra Holloway.

The will was particularly written... and no statement about the family fortune nor the estate documents.

She notated into a new case file she brought up on her laptop. Every thought, every suspicion she had went into this file. She copied the notes she made from her meeting with Newton into the file before hitting save. She labeled the appropriate case number and sat back in her comfy, leather swivel back chair and closed her eyes. Tomorrow, she will be headed to the Halloway Estate to talk with Sondra. Only then will this headache of a mess alleviate itself. Don't make assumptions without evidence, Charlie Swan's voice echoed in her mind. However, there was no harm in speculating.

Thinking about the case lead her thoughts to her abrupt meeting while leaving the precinct. She didn't think about it, but she checked the Wanted lists for James Hunter and sure enough, his picture was updated and marked 'CAPTURED.'

"Good riddance," she told Jinx. The feline blinked her bright green eyes at her and jumped into her lap, turning once and then sitting comfortably as if to look at the computer. "The rapist that escaped last week was caught, it looks like some bounty hunter got him." She clicked and found a news article linked to the site.

Women of Seattle can rest easy now that convicted serial

rapist and murderer, James Hunter, Age twenty-seven,

was arrested by Detective Edward Cullen of Seattle Police Department.

Cullen is a Bounty Hunter turned Cop

and clearly his skills are clearly honed in on finding even the

best hidden of rats!

"So... Edward Cullen, huh?" she gazed at the picture snapped by the reporter's photographer. She had heard his name in passing... and not all good things. He was rough, tough and not afraid of grit from what she heard. But there were fearful whispers of him being a dirty cop. There was very little to be said about gossip, but there could always be an under layer of truth to it. In the picture, Edward looked to be cool, calm and professional in his uniform. She couldn't see any other officers in the photo, but that didn't mean there weren't any. She was sure he was the one she ran into at the precinct entrance.

She took in his image, from his copper hair to his sharp jaw. She wondered quietly what color eyes he had. What was he really like? What happened to present the raging beast that demanded her to follow his orders. She tensed, jaw tightening. Jinx tensed up as well as Bella's nails dug a little further into her velvet fur.

We're just strangers in passing, right? No need to hold onto this animosity. Yet Bella couldn't shake the anger... something in her gut told her this wouldn't be the first time she saw Edward Cullen.

**Side note: Itadakimasu is Japanese for 'Let's Eat' and is often said before a meal.