6. COMING CLEAN

EDWARD'S POV

Turning down Charlie's street, I clenched my fist and counted the remaining seconds. If my heart could still beat it would be pounding with fear and anticipation. However, as a vampire my fear would be completely unnoticeable. My heart did not beat, I did not sweat, and I could not be any paler than I am now. Damn, Charlie's driveway. I pulled into it and killed the ignition. Charlie's cruiser pulled up right behind me. Just on time. I opened my door and stood outside.

I could see the fear in Charlie's eyes. His fear was more prevalent than mine was. His was unfounded though. I knew what he was afraid of. He was about to ask me if Bella was alright, if Renesmeé was hurt, what I could possibly be doing here. I remained as calm as possible but it was no reassurance to him. He knew I was always calm and collected, from his point of view anyway. He rushed out of the cruiser up to me almost stumbling in the grass.

"What? What is it? Is Bells okay? Nessie? What Edward what?"

"They're ok, Charlie. I just came to talk to you."

"Talk?" What could he want to talk about? I was listening to Charlie's mind. It was unfair that I could use this talent against him. If Bella could stand to be around a human, she would surely be here to shield Charlie's mind and force me to speak to him like everyone else. In that sense, it was lucky for me that she was in her current state. It was one small droplet of advantage in a sea of disadvantages.

"Inside?" I suggested. He nodded. I followed him in through the front door. Once inside, he lit the fireplace. Then he tossed leftover pizza on a plate and into the microwave. The aroma of the pepperoni was slightly overwhelming and my throat began to thirst. I suppressed the instinct. After thirty second, Charlie returned with a sizzling slice of pizza. He fell on the couch and relaxed. I found my seat in the lounge chair.

I sat up straight with my hands in the lap. We stared at each other for a moment. His mind was mostly blank but he was curious what I was doing here. This was it, I had to start somewhere.

"Charlie," I began quietly. "I realize you have never completely approved of me. Situations and circumstances have happened that you have not fully been privileged of knowing about. Now I am asking you to trust me that you cannot see Bella. The last time I asked you this your next meeting with your daughter resulted in an adopted granddaughter and drastic changes in your own daughter.

"I realize you are okay with this need-to-know arrangement we have had for well over seven years. But you have to have questions. You must. I cannot force you to continue with that arrangement. I owe you more. Bella owes you more. So I will answer anything you ask. The only condition is you cannot breathe a word of this to anyone. If I suspect you will, I will be forced to kill you. Bella will understand. The death I give you will be much better than what you would face."

Charlie tensed for a moment. He sat up on the couch and set his pizza aside and then reached for his gun. I ignored the reflexive move, it made him feel secure and it was not a threat to me. Then he relaxed.

"Except Billy, right?"

"Yes. But how?"

"Billy knows about Jacob, I assume he knows about you too." I nodded. "Nessie, she isn't adopted, is she?"

"No," I said. I agreed to answer his questions; I did not agree to go into details.

"She is Bella's daughter, and yours?"

"Yes," I said.

He took a deep breath. "How long does she have until she dies of old age?"

"She will never die of old age."

"Is there something else killing her?"

"No," I said calmly. He was not going the direction I wanted. I wanted him to examine me, examine my family, focus on the changes Bella has made. If he would go there, his questions about Renesmeé would make more sense to him.

"Why can't I see Bella?" Finally he was moving the right direction. Keep going Charlie.

"She is going through some hard changes."

"Changes." Suddenly images flashed through Charlie's mind that did not make sense. He knew everything. But how? He looked up at me. He knew everything, everything including…

"Stay out of my head," he said.

"Huh?" I asked completely off guard. I did not expect this.

"You read minds. Don't be surprised I've known for years and I've practiced watching my thoughts. It was easier with Bella around, you don't do it when she is around. Why?"

"She can block my abilities. It's rather aggravating."

He nodded. "Now I guess I get to answer the questions. I don't need your abilities to know what you're thinking now. So let me explain, Edward. I am a cop, it is my nature to investigate. Even a small town cop like me has connections. You're honeymoon to Esme Island," I gasped. How could he know? "It takes a passport to enter another country. I tracked down your passports to a man in Seattle. I made some phone calls and found out some interesting things about him.

"I paid him a visit. It didn't yield much except that your brother Jasper has been a client of his for well over thirty years and hasn't aged a day in all that time. He continues to look like a teenager. To any normal person he would seem crazy, but I have seen enough not to be normal. When Bells went missing, I had her computer searched. Did you know you can recover deleted searches? Of course it didn't make sense at the time, but pieces were falling into place.

"And then there was Jacob's transformation. That sealed the deal. It didn't take a huge leap for me to figure out you could read minds. You make it more obvious than you are aware. Most people just ignore it as a uncanny ability to read people's faces. Then it was a matter of thinking about other things when I was around you. The hardest time was when I met Renesmeé and saw Bella, my mind raged with the urge to think thing through. I wanted to examine everything. I had to focus. From what I've read about you, you're easily distracted. I had to hope you would not catch stray thoughts."

He stopped. I considered everything he said. How could I have missed this? Did Charlie posses some of Bella's abilities? Maybe it was some kind of gene. He couldn't block all my thoughts, but he obvious had hidden some. "I can't stop reading your mind, I'm sorry."

"You have no problem when Bella is around."

"She blocks me. She can not only block out her own mind but block out others as well."

"Can she read my mind?"

"No." I wondered if she knew though. Did she do this on purpose?

"She didn't know." I looked at Charlie. "Is it weird having it turned on you? The mind reading?"

"How are you reading my mind, Charlie?"

"It's easy. I don't do it like you do it. No, I'm not that skilled. I've been doing a lot of studying on body language. I knew you felt betrayed. I am not as stupid as Bella has made you think. I am not as simple minded as Renee makes me out to be." He was silent for a moment. "So now comes the big question. What are you and what have you done to Bella?" I opened my mouth but he raised his hand to silence me. "You're vampires. I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen Jacob. So seven years ago when the large bears were spotted, they were Jacob's friends. But the deaths…those were you?"

"No, my family does not feed on humans. Except for Bella."

"Bells murders people?"

"It wasn't her fault," I explained, "and she only did it once. It is why you can't see her right now. Bella accepted our way of life, drinking animal blood. Someone went wrong, she got out of control and it was an accident. She had a taste of human blood. Now she is going through changes trying to gain her control back. It is why you cannot see her. Those deaths seven years ago were other vampires, they were trying to kill her."

"Is that why you left? To protect yourselves?"

"No. We thought that by leaving we were protecting her."

We sat in silence for a moment each examining the information we've both been given. I felt like I have gained more information than I have given Charlie. He defiantly surprised me.

Nessie he thought. "Where is Nessie?"

"Alaska. It wasn't safe for her here."

"Because of Bells?"

"Because Jacob blew our cover."

"Hmm, Billy said Jacob went to Alaska. He went with Nessie?"

"Yes."

"How long will you be there?"

"I don't think we will come back to Forks for a long time."

"Then I guess I am moving to Alaska."

"Charlie…"

"Edward, you can't ask me not to be near my daughter. She may have made the decision to eventually leave me, but I will not leave her now. Please take me with you."

I nodded. Would Charlie eventually become a vampire too? I did not know. I did know that it was not my position to force him never to see Bella again. That was Bella's responsibility. She should have played dead after Nessie's birth. Jacob should never have invited Charlie over. Charlie should have never seen Nessie. Mistakes were made and it seemed there was a common denominator: Jacob.

"Okay, Charlie. When you are ready, pack your stuff and drive to Denali, Alaska. Call me when you arrive and I'll have Alice find you. We'll arrange for a house and I'll have Tanya find you a job. I'll need you to fax her your resume and records." I pulled cash out of my pocket. I only had thirteen hundred dollars; pocket change. I handed it all to him. "This should help you make it to Alaska. This should cover travel, food, and lodging. If you need anything more, call me and it will be arranged."

"Ok," he said quietly.

"Don't tell anyone, except Billy, where you are going. Renee cannot know. We'll also arrange for a new name, drivers license, passports, everything. Charlie Swan is going to die as far as anyone else is concerned. We'll arrange for your deaths."

"How rich are you?" he asked me.

"Charlie, isn't there another question that is more important? Think about everything you've witnessed about me. What you found out about Jasper. Think about it."

I could see he was thinking about Jasper and his mind was heading to his visit in Seattle. Then it clicked in his mind and his eyes locked on me. "How old are you?"

"By years, I am old enough to be your grandfather. By age, I am seventeen. I have a seventeen year old body, seventeen year old feelings, and a seventeen year old mind. The only difference between me and a seventeen year old is that I have several lifetimes of knowledge and then my more obvious enhancements."

This hurt Charlie a little inside. I knew he was comparing my actual age to Bella's but he had to understand that I really was seventeen. It was how I defined myself and how others defined me. Surely he could understand that I was not an old man preying on a young girl. Of course, preying could mean something else entirely to a vampire.

--

CHARLIE'S POV

As soon as Edward was out the door, I rushed to the kitchen and grabbed the phone. I dialed Billy's number. A few rings later he answered.

"Charlie? Is there a game on that I forgot about?"

"This isn't about a game, Billy. I'm leaving Forks and going to Alaska. You cannot tell anyone, but I need you to watch over Sue for me. The Cullens are going to fake my death and I am going to change my identity. I can't tell Sue."

"Why not?" asked Billy.

"Well she doesn't know. What would I tell her? Jacob is a werewolf and Bella and Edward are…"

"Are what?" asked Billy.

"Uhh, nevermind. Sorry."

"Vampires?" he asked. I had a feeling he knew but even Edward's visit hadn't assured me. I wondered just how much Billy knew and hadn't told me. Did he know that Edward was a vampire all along? Why would he allow Bella to be in that kind of danger? It all made sense now why Billy had such a problem when Carlisle began working at the hospital.

"Yes."

"She knows," he said. "She knows everything. She knows more than you know. And she'll know if you go to Alaska too. Seth and Leah are both with Jacob."

"What? Why?" It all clicked. He didn't need to say it. He knew he didn't need to say it. The phone was silent while I worked it out myself. "Seth and Leah are both werewolves too?"

"Yes, Charlie. I wanted to tell you, but the situation is complicated. Are you upset?"

I wasn't. I really wasn't. Billy was doing me a favor by not telling me. Ignorance has been bliss up until this point. "No Billy, I'm not upset. But I guess I have a hard conversation ahead of me."

"Okay Charlie. Good luck on your trip, I really hope we see each other again."

"Me too, Billy. Thanks." I hung up the phone. It would be another half hour until she returned. I rushed upstairs and began packing my bags -- and her's. I packed clothes, food, and toiletries. I was not exactly sure what Sue needed, so I left her bags open. After awhile I heard the door slam.

"Charlie? I'm home." It was Sue. She was home from work.

"Up here," I called. I heard the steps squeak as she ascended them. Seconds later she was entering the bedroom and giving me a surprised expression. "I'm leaving, Sue. I'd like you to come with me."

"Leaving? Where are you going? Why? What happened? Charlie?"

"Bella and Nessie can't live here anymore. If I don't leave, they will leave me forever. I have to go to Alaska. Please Sue, please come with me."

She nodded. "I didn't know the situation was that bad. Well what about our lives here? People will want to know what happened."

"The Cullens are going to take care of it. We will start new lives, new names. We can't ever talk to our families or friends ever again."

"Billy told me something like this would happen someday and I'd have to be ready to make a decision. I already made it." She was silent. I wish I had Edward's abilities. I really was not as good at face reading as I had led on. Why was she waiting? Now was not the time for dramatic effect. "I decided that when we got married I would follow you anywhere; whether that means I have to become like them or not."

I shuddered. What did she mean like them? If she meant that we would have to be vampires, she was wrong. I could not imagine Bella asking me to do that. But what if that was the plan? Would I do it? This is something I would have to think about. I would need to talk to Bella before I could make this kind of decision.

"Ok, than let's go. I want to get to Alaska as soon as possible. We're leaving tonight."

Sue nearly unpacked everything I had packed. Then she put her stuff together. As we gathered our final belonging and left the house, a Jeep Liberty pulled up to the house and parked on the street. Edward brother, Emmett, stepped out and approached us. I didn't know much of the Cullen family besides Edward, Alice, and Carlisle but I knew Emmett had become a sort of big brother to Bella. Still, I wasn't sure what he was doing here. Edward had said that if I told anyone else besides Billy that he'd have to kill me, but surely that exception included Sue; she already knew.

I grabbed Sue's hand and we both stopped in the lawn watching Emmett approach. Could I expect to be told it's happening before they decide to kill me? Had I really failed to keep their trust in less than an hour? I gripped Sue's hand tighter. I regretted telling Sue. Not because it caused my death but because now she was going to die. Why else send Edward's biggest brother? He was only a few feet away. We had seconds maybe. Would he do it here in the front lawn?

And then he reached…for our bags. "Let's go," he said.

"Go where?" I asked. If he was going to kill us, I wanted to know where it was going to happen. I wanted to know so I knew how long Sue and I had left to be with each other. Sue shook and I slowly took each step with hesitation as we proceeded toward the Jeep.

Emmett threw our bags into the back. Then he turned. "Well come on. We're in a hurry."

"In a hurry for what?" I managed to get out. If what I knew was right about vampires, my gun would not help me. I had no chance of fighting him and he could outrun us without breaking a sweat. Maybe if we split up one of us could manage to escape, but I would not take the chance that the survivor might be me.

"Alice says there is going to be an ice storm tonight. A cold front is moving down from Canada. Jasper and I are going to push your cruiser off a cliff. It's going to be a lot of fun. But now we need to find another body."

I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. I could not help the huge smile and the release of air from the lungs. I almost wanted to cry. Then I noticed Sue was crying, I turned to hold her.

Emmett began to laugh. "Why so tense? What? Did you think I came here to kill you?" We didn't laugh and his smile quickly washed away. "Ohh. Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." There was another moment of silence and then Emmett's smile returned. "Alright, load up. Road trip!"