Chapter Ten – Report

Edward

I only gaped. That's impressive. She laughed softly, placing a chaste kiss on my cheek before leaving the room.

"Now I need a cold shower," I muttered to myself. I grabbed my things and proceeded to the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, clean and refreshed, I left the bedroom. Sitting around the table was Bella and her friends.

"Breakfast is ready," Bella said with a brilliant smile. Damn. Every time she smiled I was stunned stupid. I only hoped I had a similar effect on her.

She looked confused as I stood there, staring with likely a vacant expression. "Come and eat, Edward."

"Okay." I had to figure out a way to turn the tables on her every once and a while. Walking over to the table, there they had just about every breakfast item on the menu. Bella patted on chair seat next to hers and offered me an empty plate.

Once everyone seemed settled with their food, Bella turned her gaze to Jasper. "All right, we're all here. Tell me what happened last night after I fell asleep. That last thing I remember was something about the type of cameras on this floor. Did we catch him on video?"

Everyone at the table shifted uncomfortably and looked at their plates instead of her. Jasper sighed and took a deep breath before he answered. "Yes, we have him on several cameras, the thing is, the only time he faced one, was on this floor. Since they're only thermal images, we don't know what he looks like."

"That could mean that he had thorough knowledge of the surveillance system," Bella said, shuddering slightly. "Well, that's not good. May I see the videos after breakfast?"

"Yes, but I'm warning you now," Jasper said. "You're not going to like what you see."

"Why?" she asked, with a fork poised near her mouth. Before Jasper could answer, she shook her head instead. "Wait, don't tell me," she said quickly. "Let's just enjoy our breakfast and soon Edward's parents should be here. We can wait until after that to see them."

I looked down at my plate, my appetite gone. I was afraid that she wouldn't react well to what was on the video and worse, if I'd be asked to leave. A surge of protectiveness coursed through me, settling deep down. I wanted to hold her if she got scared, run and battle anything that tried to hurt her. I wished she didn't have to go through it in the first place.

For about ten minutes, we all ate, discussing meaningless topics, like the weather or the latest topic on the news. There was a knock on the door then, and Jasper excused himself from the table and asked for me to come with him.

He had me check to see if I recognized the people behind the door, my parents. After a nod from me, Jasper opened the door wide, letting in my parents and quickly sweeping the hallway before closing the door again.

I smiled at my parents, but grimaced when Mom's eyes immediately sought Bella over my shoulder.

"Jasper, these are my parents Carlisle and Esme Cullen. Mom, Dad this is Jasper Whitlock, Ms. Swan's bodyguard and good friend."

Jasper shook both their hands and offered them a tight smile. "I need to check the bag before you come in any further," he stated to Dad. My father handed it to him without a comment.

"Jasper," Bella said as she approached us. "I hardly think Mr. and Mrs. Cullen would be out to get me, especially when their son is present." She walked over to him and placed one of her delicate hands on his shoulder.

"Sorry, it's a habit," Jasper said with a shrug. "Come on in." It was much more than a habit it seemed, it was his need to protect Bella and those she held dear, including his wife. I watched as he walked over to the table, placing a kiss on Alice's head.

I returned my attention to my parents, who were busy appraising Bella. "Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, I'm Isabella Swan," she said with a small smile. "Please call me Bella. It's so nice to meet you. I must say, you're both more beautiful in person."

Dad took her offered hand, turning it slightly to press a kiss to her knuckles. Smooth, Dad, real smooth. "I would say the same for you, Bella. Please call me Carlisle."

"I see where Edward gets his charm from," she teased, giving me a sidelong glance and wink.

"Mrs. Cullen, please call me Bella." My mother took Bella's hand and beamed.

"Please call me Esme, dear," Mom said when Bella introduced herself.

"Please come in," Bella stated, leading us toward the table filled with food. "There's some breakfast on the table. Please help yourselves, there's plenty."

"We were just having breakfast when you knocked," I said, taking my seat again.

"No breakfast, but some tea would be nice," Mom said, smiling brightly. I knew from the look on her face that she was just as star struck as I'd been. She'd seen Bella's independent film and admired her abilities as an actress.

Bella was incredible as she spoke with them. She was so confident and charming at the moment, so different from the scared woman I'd see the night before.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Edward's parents, Carlisle and Esme Cullen," Bella said as she served Mom some tea.

Soon, everyone at the table broke out in quiet conversation. I grabbed my bag from my father and put it in Bella's bedroom. When I returned, Rosalie was quietly talking to Dad with what looked like a day planner on her computer. They had to be discussing schedules for the photo shoot that the studio wanted done immediately.

There had been so much talk about the upcoming movie that the book fans were rabid for anything pertaining to the film. The studio wanted the cast photos at the very least put up on the website in a week's time.

Shortly after breakfast, the hotel room phone rang and Jasper answered it in another room. He returned with the information we'd been waiting for.

"That was Mr. Diamond, head security," he said as a reminder and for my parents benefit. "He won't be able to join us, but has sent the blown up pictures and footage concerning the situation to the living area television. We could take a look now, if you'd like."

With a nod, Bella rose from her chair and everyone followed suit. Taking my hand, we sat next to each other on the couch. The look Jasper gave Bella seemed if he was about to protest. It appeared that perhaps he didn't like my presence.

Bella lifted her hand to stop him from saying anything. "Edward is staying, and if his parents want to stay they can," she stated. "They might as well know what I may have gotten their son involved in." She turned her attention to my parents who nodded quietly and took chairs further back in the room.

Jasper sighed and started to fiddle with the fancy remote. The television turned on and the thermal images from last night were on the screen.

"Well as most of you all know," Jasper started, running a hand nervously over his mouth. "This floor only has thermal imaging cameras for the privacy of their high end clients. The stalker faces the camera, but we won't be able to see his face. The blue areas are colder and usually surfaces. The heat from people is in shades of orange and red. Now Bella, despite all that, it is kind of graphic." He touched the screen on the remote and the video started to play.

My earlier worries of dismissal disappeared as Bella kept her hand in mine, squeezing it tightly as the images came to life on the screen. I put my arm around her, pulling her closer to my side. We all watched the video in silence. Even though it was my second viewing, it still made my skin crawl.

My parents and Bella gasped when the stalker had cut his own hand to "decorate" the flowers he'd left her.

Bella's breath was a little unsteady as the video stopped with his fingerprint on the camera lenses. There were tears starting to form in her eyes, whispering in her ear, I asked, "Are you all right?"

"Yes," she said quietly. "Jasper, please continue." Her voice rose and gained strength with every word she said. "You said you have video of him coming and going but not his face. Does that mean just his back and part of his profile?"

"Yes, this is him in the elevator coming and going," he said, pressing a button on the remote. The screen changed and showed two different scenes that started to play. "He avoided all the cameras and people it seemed. Each time he was on the elevator he rod alone. He even avoided anyone looking directly at him. Here we have him taking flowers from the florist carts before they were placed into a vase. White roses are only on the floor below and then he returned to the elevator and went directly to your door. On the way back down through the lobby, there is one shot of the left side of his face. As you can see, he looks pretty unremarkable which he likely did on purpose. He's in plain clothing, no distinguishing marks on the back of his neck. He made himself fairly invisible."

"Can you take a better look at his shoes?" Alice asked, getting up from the couch and walking closer to the screen for a closer look. Bella rose to her feet, walking over to her. I followed closely behind, since she still held my hand.

Jasper zoomed in on the man's shoes. "Hmm," Alice said, cocking her head to one side. "The stalker has money. Those are Italian loafers and cost about fifteen hundred for a pair. His jacket is Nemus Marcus and jeans are just as expensive."

"Well, that's something we didn't know," Jasper stated as he wrote down some notes in a notebook. He smiled at Alice as she passed him to sit back down again.

Bella continued to stare at the man on the screen, her brow furrowed. "Zoom in, back to his face, closer to his eye." Jasper complied and the stalker's face became larger than life.

I felt the sudden change in an instant. Bella's whole body tensed as she gasped, before she fell to her knees.

Her whole body shook as I knelt beside her, wrapping my arms around her. "Oh my God," she cried out, her face in her hair. "It's him. He's back. No, No!" I quickly lifted her up and walked back to the couch where I sat her on my lap. Her body wracked with shudders.

"What is it?" Jasper asked, kneeling in front of us. "Do you know who that is?"

"Yes," she gasped, her hands clutching at my shirt in desperation. "He has a scar coming out of his left eye."

We all looked at the screen and confirmed that there was a long scar that seemed to be coming from his eye to his hairline near his ear.

In a soft whisper, Bella continued, "He wanted me to know it was him. I'm the one that gave that scar to him."