Chapter 1

~~*~~
Edward's POV
~*~

3 months earlier…

My muscles were aching after waking up from an uncomfortable nights sleep. That, plus the amount of time that I actually had to sleep eventually had its effects on me. I shifted my legs so they moved off of the bed and rubbed my eyes in an attempt to get rid of any other signs of sleep from my eyes.

I looked over to the clock on the nightstand and saw the time. 5:30. Please remind me why you get up at this time nearly every morning. Oh yeah, your job!

I stood up and stretched my arms and legs whilst I yawned. I turned my body back to face the bed to see Bella lying on her side of the bed, the covers at her waist, her head on the pillow was facing me, whilst her brown hair fanned out beside her. She shivered slightly, but I took notice and strode over to her side of the bed and pulled the covers up to cover her small frame.

She moved and I was afraid incase I had woken her up, but her breathing continued at a steady rhythm and I knew she was still in a deep sleep. My hand was still on the duvet, and I watched as Bella subconsciously move her left hand and managed to find mine and hold it within her own.

I sighed as small rays of the early morning light shone through a small gap in the curtains and reflected off of her diamond ring that was on her ring finger. My eyes moved slightly to the gold band that was next to it, a solid symbol to show our everlasting love.

Some husband I've been.

We had been relatively distant ever since that fateful day a few years back, and we just grew further part these past couple of months, this routine had become an everyday thing. I would wake up at half 5 in the morning, work my hardest during the day, do an extra shift in the evening, and then wouldn't return home till around 11 o'clock. But that depended on how things at the station went.

I would spend all day without seeing Bella and it killed me to leave her every morning without hearing her say 'goodbye', and then return home to see her tucked into bed. Occasionally she would stay awake and wait for me, and it just made me feel that more guilty to know the most amount of time we had together as a married couple was perhaps and hour or more before we both fell asleep exhausted from that day.

I leant down and kissed her forehead before I got my shower and got changed. A good aspect of my job is that I can relatively wear what I want. It could be a suit or just jeans and a shirt. Well, it depended on what shirt, but I pretty much had a range of things to wear, rather than the uniform other officers had to wear.

I went downstairs and headed towards the kitchen, preparing a cup of coffee for myself from the coffee pot. As I waited I leant back against the worktop and thought over my current job.

I worked as a detective here in Chicago, and have been for only a couple of years. I am quite young to be a high ranked detective, as I was only twenty-eight, but the other detectives, the ones who promoted me, said they had never seen someone with such determination, skill and knowledge like I had.

I'll admit, I never wanted to be a detective, I never even thought of it as a career choice as I was growing up. But when I was seventeen something happened that changed my mind.

I hadn't even met Bella at that time. I was waiting in my house for my mum to return home from a business trip up in Seattle. I persuaded her to spend an extra day or so there so she could have some more time to herself, and to relax without worrying over me. My dad had died when I was only a couple of months old so I didn't know him, so it was only my mum and I. I was watching television when there was a knock on the door. I stood up to get the door with a huge smile on my face to welcome my mother home, but as I opened it my smile faltered as I saw two police officers standing on the front step. They basically came to tell me that my mother had been murdered up in Seattle, and had been one of the many people who had been killed in a string of attacks over the past month which was alleged to be from some gang up there.

I obviously didn't take it very well. I went into a bit of a depression and I was also told that I would have to live with some guardians until I moved to University. Apparently, the people my mum had chosen for me lived in a small town called Forks, which was a few hours away from Seattle. I couldn't believe that they actually wanted me to go so close to where I knew my mother died.

I decided to live with them anyway. Carlisle and Esme Cullen. I hadn't really heard of them, but apparently Carlisle was my dad's brother, therefore he was my Uncle. I learnt that Carlisle was a Doctor at the local hospital. When I learnt that I decided to watch him work one day, and as I watched him treat his various patients I had a new goal in life. I wanted to be like him, and help those who were vulnerable and suffering. I felt that I needed to repay for something here as I was unable to do anything for my mother.

I focused hard in school to pass the appropriate exams in order to get myself into a good medical school and fulfil my goal.

It was during school where I had met Bella. Our time together in school varied as one day we could be teasing each other, the next we acted like the best of friends. She was one of the main people that helped get me out of my grieving depression. One day I just asked her out on a date, totally out of the blue, and to my surprise she said yes. Things from there progressed, from teasing each other to a serious relationship.

I knew that I loved her quite early on, and that we were meant to be together, even if I was a hormone-controlled teenager and my actions would be usually be seen as stupid. Some of our classmates thought we wouldn't stick together once we went to University, and to be honest I was quite worried myself. But it worked out for us though in the end, as although we went to different universities, we still kept in touch, and occasionally visited each other.

My feelings towards becoming a detective however didn't come to me until one night whilst I was waiting in my dorm. I was listening to some music whilst texting Bella when there was some noise in the hallway. Being curious, I got up and opened the door to see a group of police officers in the hallway heading towards one of the rooms a few doors down from my own.

My heart stopped for a moment as my mind automatically reeled back to the moment a few years earlier when my life changed. An officer infront of me turned to look at me and had told me to go inside. After he had said that the other officers had burst into the other room and went to arrest the person inside.

Apparently, the guy had been selling drugs to some of the people here at the University and he was getting away with it until one girl overdosed and ended up in hospital fighting for her life. Once she had recovered she ended up telling the police the name of the dealer.

It was then when I had an epiphany of sorts. As I watched the guy being dragged away by police, I thought about what I was doing. I was studying to become a doctor. I would be the person to save a girl who had possibly overdosed on a drug, and it would make me feel better knowing that I've helped save another life, and she would hopefully have a new perspective on life. But I felt that I wanted to do more. I wanted to be the person who arrested the dealer who put her in the hospital in the first place. Arrest him so he could hurt no one else in the future.

Yes, as a doctor you could save lives, but it wouldn't stop the crimes that occurred that lead to innocent people being hurt and having their lives saved. But as a police officer, or a detective, I could prevent things like that from happening. Another person could be safe because a drug dealer was off the street, or an abusive person was locked away, a murderer was in jail…

I had thought of my mother at that moment, and how her murder had been in a group of killings from a serial killer. I thought how I could be the person to stop things such as gang kills, and hopefully repay the guilt that I felt knowing I was partly to blame for her death.

I informed Bella of my decision just after I properly thought it through, and she was supportive of me as long as it was what I truly wanted. Carlisle said the same thing, more or less, as Bella. He knew my reasons in my decision and said that as long as I was safe, he was ok with it.

Soon after I visited Bella, I asked her to live with me back in Chicago once she finished university. I was overjoyed when she said yes. She still had some time left studying, so I immediately took up the career in becoming an officer, and hopefully work my way up to the top. I was determined to get that place as a detective, as it would fulfil my goal in being able to make a difference to peoples lives in a special, specific way that a doctor can not do.

Soon Bella and I were married; we were so in love that it was what we both wanted in our relationship, and I knew that she was the girl to live the rest of my life with. Not too long after the wedding, Bella discovered she was pregnant. Our first child, and he was taken away from us at such an early age…

The smell of fresh coffee brought me out of my thoughts and my sudden change in emotion as I remembered our son. I pushed past the upsetting feelings and I poured myself a mug, whilst leaving some for Bella. It was one of the things that made me slightly happy knowing I was doing something for her.

I took my cup of coffee with me into my office as I started to grab various things to take with me to the station. Some paperwork…my pager…car keys…I pulled out the top draw of my desk to see my handgun on top of various folders and pieces of paper.

Bella hated me having a gun. She thought it would be more of a risk to me if I was carrying one, and didn't think of the safety side of it that I did. She knew it would obviously help for protection, but that it would most likely draw any unnecessary attention to myself, and making myself more noticeable as a cop. i.e. putting myself in more danger.

I placed the gun in my holster as I made my way back into the kitchen to put my now empty coffee mug into the sink. I ripped a piece of paper from a notebook nearby, and searched for a pen that worked.

This was another of the things that I done for Bella, well I tried to do it as often as I could. Sometimes I would leave a note on the table, nothing overly long, just a brief note maybe saying a little thing that I couldn't tell her as she was asleep. It also meant that she would know if I was doing anything and wouldn't have to be worried over anything.

I saw a pen lying by a bunch of envelopes and picked it up and started writing…

B

Got another stake out tonight so don't keep yourself up. I'll call if anything changes.

Love you

E x

I sighed and placed the note on the table. It seemed mechanical now, even as I wrote 'love you' on the bottom of the note, it seemed a little bit…forced. I grabbed my jacket from the back of the chair and my car keys and left the house pretending I didn't think of that last thought.

The parking lot was quite crowded this early in the morning, but I guess it was quite necessary on the case we were currently working. It was big, and most of the officers here were working on it, and fortunately for me, I was in charge.

I rounded the corner and went to turn into my usual parking spot when I noticed a silver motorcycle in the middle of the space. I recognised it immediately and laughed to myself as I pulled up alongside it.

The owner of the bike belonged to my partner Jasper. He was a friendly guy, who was exceptionally good at his job. He had this special quality when he was working, that he was able to keep calm and collected on the job, and he somehow passed this feeling onto others, yet if he was facing a suspect, they would somehow cower afraid and tell him what he wanted to know. I didn't know how he done it, and to be honest neither did he, but all he would say was that it came to him when working.

I entered the station and received a bunch of 'hellos' and such as I walked towards my office. I walked into my office to see Jasper sitting lazily in my chair, and he had a look on his face that told me he was tempted to lift his feet up and place them on my desk.

"You parked in my spot." I said whilst pointing a finger at his grinning face.

"I know." He said happily. Infact, happiness was radiating off of him that something must have happened.

"You're extremely happy, what happened?" I asked, whilst motioning for him to get off my chair. He stood up and sighed and walked over to the other side of the desk whilst I sat down in the seat he had been sitting in previously.

"I proposed last night." He started, and pausing for effect.

"Well?" I asked, leaning forward, interested to know. "What did she say?"

Jasper had been dating a woman called Alice for a few years now. She surprisingly was a good friend of Bella's, and it was fun to know that we were connected. She was extremely small and hyper which contrasted with his tall height and calmness, yet they were perfectly matched. He had been waiting to pop the question for a while now…

"She said yes. It's the best thing Edward, I'm so happy and I'm not even married yet."

I stood up from the desk to give him a hug, "Congratulations."

"What are we celebrating?" A voice from doorway asked. I turned my head to see a stocky man, who was probably in his late forties-early fifties. He was wearing a suit and it highlighted his status a bit more. We didn't normally see Chief Taylor as he would normally be in his own office, yet if he was here he must want something.

"Hale here just got engaged." I announced for him, whilst giving him a pat on the back.

"That's great, but don't have the party tonight, or for the rest of this week to be honest with you."

"Why what's happenin'" Jasper asked, his original southern accent coming through his speech.

"Well Cullen you know you're out tonight don't you?"

I nodded and in my mind I mentally added, not that I really wanted to. Listening to a wire wasn't the best things in the world.

"Well one of our undercover agents suspect something will happen sometime this week, something that will be solid enough to charge these bastards and allow us to put them behind bars."

"So what's it got to do with us? I do my part of the job properly; we do our shifts, plus the added ones. How come you need us?" I asked, gesturing towards Jasper and I.

"If something happens then I'll need my best men to be there, anything could happen and you two have both knowledge and experience to deal with most situations. So can I count on the two of you?"

"I guess chief." I muttered. Jasper looked like he was unsure but he eventually nodded his head and also muttered a "Yes that's fine."

"Great. I'll catch you two later. Congrats Hale." He left the room whilst Jasper nodded thanks, and the door closed leaving the room in silence.

"Alice won't be happy." Jasper whispered, "She's already planned most of the wedding, never mind the engagement party." He smiled and then headed towards the door, but he stopped and turned back around, "Who's on surveillance with you tonight?"

"Erm…I'm not sure, I don't think anyone has been assigned."

"I'll ask Taylor and see if I can join you."

"Thanks Jasper, I'll catch you later."

"Meet you by my new parking spot." He said as he left, and I laughed quietly to myself.

I switched on my computer and pulled out various case files and folders from the case as I waited for it to load. My eyes caught the small photo frame at the edge of my desk. It had been in the same place for years yet I hadn't moved it from its spot. People try and tell me that it was in the past, but maybe I can't let it go. A picture of the three of us was inside: myself, Bella, and Mason, our son. I quickly forced my eyes away from it and tried to focus on my work.

This specific case I was working on had been studied and processed by dozens of detectives, but no one has yet cracked it. All data and information had to be stored onto a computer as there was far too much paperwork that covered the years in which the case has been looked at.

The problem was we were looking for not one individual, but a group of three of them. It was suspected that there were over a hundred in the higher circles of the gang, and then there were even more that led to those who walked on the streets selling drugs or committing other crimes.

I wasn't sure whether it was one of the biggest in America, but it was estimated that many of the members resided in Chicago.

I looked down onto the pieces of paper were the name of this notorious gang was repeated over and over again.

Volturi.

The difficulty with these was that in order to stop everything that was linked with this gang, you would have to arrest the supposed leaders. However there had been no evidence that these three men had ever done anything to be charged with a specific crime. They even paid their taxes.

It seemed that it was people lower down that would do their dirty work, and on occasion one may get sloppy and we could arrest that one person. But as I mentioned earlier, there were hundreds.

They liked to work in groups. That way any evidence found at a scene of the crime would be insufficient to charge one person specifically, and also to charge the suspected group.

It was almost impossible to take down the Volturi gang, but we were determined to put them in prison. I was determined even more as it was one of the Volturi gang members that had murdered my mother as a rite of passage in order to move up in the gang. No one knew this however, not even Bella. I would be deemed emotionally involved and would most likely kicked off the case.

My work on the case had only been a few months, well not a few, a bit more than that to be honest. Although I hadn't been working on it, I was well aware of the work that occurred in the station in relation to the Volturi case. At first I wasn't fully interested in the case, and then I spotted my mother's name in a list of dead names of people who may have been killed by the Volturi gang. The police had never told me who was actually behind her death, leaving me completely in the dark.

I started to take an interest in this particular case, and as I watched officer after officer attempt to solve the case, but then fail, I wanted nothing more to take on the case myself.

Some of the other commanding officers didn't believe I was ready to take on a case of this scale, and what the effects would be on me physically and emotionally. I wanted to prove my ability as a detective, and my chance came. I learnt from mistakes I watched other officers make, and I became increasingly close to closing the case.

It was after a few breakthroughs that this case became the forefront of most of the officers here in Chicago. As we got closer and closer to the arrests, time spent on the case increased, and therefore my already distant time spent with Bella decreased to almost nothing.

We found various locations which we suspected were safe houses for the gang. We had no warrant to search the places, but we were led to believe these were significant places from hunches and small pieces of evidence, but they were too small to lead to a warrant. Hence the reason for our surveillance this evening, and most evenings since I have been on this case.

Although most of my time was spent with this case, especially as our number one priority, not all of my nights were spent specifically on this case. It wasn't as though I was needed for every single minute; I did have other things to be doing. And the one thing I was constantly doing was trying to find Mason.

Ever since he was taken away from us, ever since he was kidnapped, it was a habit of mine to stay behind a few nights, or come in earlier in the morning so that I can spend time to find out if there was any new information. If there was anything I could do to find my little boy.

As with the murder of my mother, this was another of my secrets. Jasper just thought I was devoted to the case, whilst Bella on the other hand, I couldn't even tell Bella I was doing this. I could imagine how distraught and anxious she would be if she found out I've been trying to find Mason behind her back, how all the bad memories from that time be brought up and be a reminder of what we lost…

It was about five o'clock in the afternoon when Jasper knocked on my door and said "Time to go." I grabbed the essential things; my gun, special ear pieces to keep in touch with the chief or anyone here at the station so we can react quickly if they find anything new, and some sports magazines and more to keep ourselves slightly entertained whilst we kept watch.

We walked past our own vehicles in the parking lot and headed to navy blue ford. It was safer to go with a 'company' car in order to protect ourselves. We didn't opt for a SUV with tinted windows. We wanted to be inconspicuous.

We stopped off to get a coffee and something to eat whilst we were in the car watching. We were going to take the earlier shift so we could finish up at our usual times.

The house we were surveilling wouldn't be thought of anything gang related. It was a house first of all, not a huge warehouse on the outskirts of the city. Instead it was just down the road from a school. I guess it would be clever to hide in a place were they least expect you to be. A group of gang lords staying in a house close to a school in a populated area. You can see were people would have their doubts.

I pulled up on a street that gave us a clear view of the house and anyone about to turn onto that particular street, without us being suspicious. I pulled the lever under my chair and pushed my chair back to give myself more leg room. Jasper done the same and we started our watch on the house in silence.

I eventually broke the silence.

"So what did Alice say about the whole extra shift thing?"

"She's fine with it actually; she moved the party to next week. You and Bella are invited by the way." He said turning his head to give me a smile.

I sighed at Bella's name and Jasper noticed.

"What's the matter? You and Bella having problems?"

"What? No."

"Well something's up, I can tell."

I ran a hand through my hair by habit and answered, "You know since that whole thing with Mason?" I asked him, hoping I wouldn't have to remind him of the details. He thankfully nodded so I continued, "Ever since then we've been distant, it's like we're blaming each other over what happened. Then ever since I started this case, it seems we're even more distant than we used to be. It's just…we haven't spent that much time together, almost any at all for ages, I've been focused on the case, and I'm worried we're going to fall apart."

"And you don't want that do you?"

"No of course not, I love her." Even as I said it out loud, a small part of me was asking myself for reassurance that it was true. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, "I want us to be together, but be together the proper way. Not just knowing you're married and then spending a few hours a day with her. I mean we haven't even had…" I shook my head in embarrassment for telling him this.

"How long?" He asked, no hint of him joking in his voice.

"I don't know, a few months." I waited in silence for him to laugh at it, but instead he answered calmly, and I was thankful for a guy like Jasper for a friend.

"Edward, you need time to be with Bella, just to help your relationship. Ask Taylor if you can get a week off. He'll understand."

"I can't though. Not when we're this close to closing this case, not to mention it'll probably be a shock on Bella if I spring something up on her totally out of the blue." I said, whilst watching a car turn into the street we were watching, but then drive past the house and I turned my attention back to Jasper.

"Edward, you're spending too much time with your job. You can't forget you have a loving wife back home. I don't care what you say but let me speak to Taylor, I'll see if I can get Eric to cover you for a night this week, maybe tomorrow"

"Jasper it's not necessary." I said, whilst I watched him write a reminder on the back of his hand. He didn't answer me back though so I let it drop. We continued watching the house whilst listening to some music.

Nothing interesting happened whilst on watch. Cars passed, and some people walked past the house, but nothing suspicious, so at ten-thirty we called it a night and I drove us back to the station where we collected our vehicles. We said good-bye and then I headed back home.

There only seemed to be one light on when I pulled up into our driveway. I wouldn't be surprised if Bella was up watching television or something, it was only 11pm.

"Bella?" I called out quietly as I entered the house, loud enough she would hear me if she was awake, but not too loud to wake her up if she was possibly asleep. I placed my things in my office and then headed back through the front room were the lamp was on, but there was nobody there. I walked into the kitchen where there was a note on the table. At first I thought it was mine from earlier on in the day, but then I noticed my name on the top and that it was written in Bella's handwriting.

Edward,

Thought that you would be late so dinner is in the oven for you. I'm sorry I couldn't stay up, but I had a long day so I headed to bed earlier.

Love you, B.

I looked up from the note to the oven were there was a light on and I could see a plate with tin foil wrapped around it. I smiled at the way she looked after me even though I wasn't here to spend time with her.

After finishing the plate of food Bella made for me I made my way upstairs and to our bedroom. Upon entering, I saw the same scene that I saw earlier that day, except moonlight shone through the curtains and not the early morning rays.

I stripped off my clothes and dressed into my pyjama shorts and climbed into bed next to Bella. I watched her sleep for a while, and before I fell asleep I brushed the hair that had fallen over her face and kissed her forehead before lying down and wrapping my arm around her.

I tried to sleep, yet I couldn't as what Jasper told me earlier was pushed to the front of my mind. I was reminded of the care I received off Bella and I wanted to do something in return. I wanted to show I still loved her after the past few years. I opened my eyes and carefully moved my arm from around Bella and stood up, and headed out to go down to my office, where I hoped to plan a nice evening tomorrow for Bella.


A/N: Thanks for reading, depending on the response, I'll decide how quick to update the story.

Review, and you'll be able to see a sneak peak of the next chap :)

Thanks, Jaimie