A/N: Hello, everyone! I'm so, so glad that you all enjoyed the previous chapter! Edward's not that bad, is he?

We're back in Bella's mind now.

As always, biggest thanks to my pre-readers, Payton79 and Dazzled Eyes22. And as always, all mistakes, the plot, and OC are mine, but sadly, Twilight isn't.

I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Dazzled Eyes22 in honor of her birthday on Tuesday. Hope you have a lovely day, Danielle :)

CHAPTER 11

ANECDOTES AND ARTICLES

"This is it?" I asked Emmett as I took in the two large cardboard boxes.

"Yeah," he replied, setting one of them on the table. Edward placed the second one on the other side.

"Okay." I blew out a rushed breath. "Let's do this."

Alice, Rose and I attacked the first box, and Emmett and Edward set to work on the other. I grabbed a pair of scissors and tore through the tape before opening the flaps. Peeking inside, I had to pause for a moment. My breathing hitched as I swallowed hard, and my heart twisted at the sight of Charlie's things.

With a deep, shuddering breath, I threw my hand in and pulled out the first object I found. It was his leather jacket, the one he'd worn almost every day as he left for his shift. Memories of hugging him goodbye in the morning and welcoming him home in the evening filtered through my thoughts. I buried my face into the garment, inhaling to try futilely to pick up the remnants of his scent that'd long since faded.

Help me find out the truth, Daddy.

Alice's hand squeezing my shoulder pulled me back to the present. I wiped away the tears that'd fallen over my cheeks and placed Charlie's jacket aside.

One by one, we pulled out several books and papers and perused them diligently, but they turned out to be unimportant and unrelated to Mom's death. A few of the three-item grocery lists that Alice had recalled popped out, and we all shared a wry smile at the sight of the crumpled little bits of papers.

Em and I had not been in any state to deal with all of these things right after we'd lost Charlie. Though he had been fading away right before our eyes for years, his death had been sudden, and we'd been absolutely unprepared to deal with the aftermath.

I remembered our neighbors pitching in to help pack up all our stuff from the house. Em had asked me if there was something I wanted to take with me, but I had refused. At the time, I'd been far too broken to look at and touch Dad's things and still keep my sanity intact. In a few weeks, I was supposed to leave for college. I couldn't immerse myself into the grief I'd barely managed to keep at bay if I had any hope of surviving there.

That had led to these boxes getting stashed in a forgotten corner in Em's basement. I hadn't asked Em whether he had sorted through them, other than for recovering the essential documents, but apparently, he hadn't had the chance or the courage to do it either.

My brother had tried his best to move on.

Obviously, I hadn't been able to do the same.

We combed through the mountain of papers, separating them into two piles – one for those that were definitely useless and the other for those that might be important. My anxiety shot up several notches as document after document stacked up in the first pile with hardly any addition to the second one.

Finally, a couple of hours later, I leaned back in my chair and stretched, popping a weary joint in the back of my neck. Rose and Ali followed suite.

"Anything?" Edward called out.

"Not yet," I sighed. "There are just two files remaining. What about you?"

"These are mostly photocopies of records of his investments. There are some notes related to his cases, but nothing about Renee or Aro."

Rose excused herself and headed into the kitchen. She returned a few minutes later with coffee and some snacks for all of us, announcing a much-needed break. Since it seemed as though everyone's eyes were about to cross, we agreed and sipped at our glasses gratefully.

"So we're tackling the Renee angle, and there's not much left to do," Alice pointed out with a frown. "Hopefully we'll find something, but just in case… Why don't we discuss Volturi for a while? Bella, you know everything there is to know about him… well, everything that was possible to know. Just talk us through it. Edward and Rose don't know anything. With fresh ears, maybe something that we've missed will jump out to them."

I nodded. Placing my glass down, I took in a deep breath to put the words together in my head before speaking.

"The Volturi family was the most powerful and most dangerous part of the Italian mafia around the 1950s. Marcus Volturi was the man responsible for putting them on the map. From what I've researched, no one knows where he came from. Whatever he did to win over associates and acquire monopoly in the business, he did it covertly enough that nobody realized that the previous big shots had been overthrown until Marcus himself announced his… status, I guess we could call it. Some tip offs to the news agencies at the time described him as an intelligent, charismatic man, who you would never guess to be one of the most ruthless drug cartels of the country if you didn't know his real identity. Under him, the Volturis rose to new heights in the society, both the legal and illegal ones.

"Marcus' immediate family included a wife and a son – Aro. The wife, Didyme, was - as per the norm in these families - meant to be seen and not heard, but instances of her public appearances were also far and few. Aro, however, had always basked in the spotlight that his father's position granted him." I grimaced. "And I'm quoting this from Aro's own accounts about his life."

Edward's eyebrows shot up to his hairlines. "He has commented on this stuff?"

I shrugged. "Yeah. He has always been very open about Marcus' way of life. In fact, he has used it to gain sympathy in the public eye by portraying himself as the misguided boy who didn't know that there was a different, better kind of lifestyle separate from the one he'd lived through his entire childhood. His image in the public eye was carefully crafted as someone who has successfully managed to leave the world of crime behind him. There was no evidence per se that could implicate him when the Volturi clan fell apart after Marcus' death. It gave him a lot of boost in the society when he launched Volturi Inc. several years later."

"How did Marcus die?" Rose questioned.

I paused to listen, while Emmett replied, "Honestly, that is a mystery all in itself. There are speculations of a rival family having assassinated him, but nothing could be confirmed. He died from a GSW to the chest when he'd been walking to his car. The killer wasn't found. After the incident, their cronies scattered apart, and the police had a hard time rounding them up, especially since some of them had attempted to start their own… business."

"Wait." Edward leaned forward. "In what year did this happen?"

"Marcus' murder, you mean?" I confirmed.

He nodded quickly.

"1975. Why?"

"I don't know yet." He pursed his lips and frowned, deep in thought. "Just something to keep in mind, I guess. That was the time Aro would've taken charge of the whole organization, and then they supposedly split up. I don't know why, but I just… feel like it could be significant… somehow."

Emmett shrugged. "Gut feelings are all we've got for now. We'll put it in the timeline, and see where it takes us."

"Okay, so Marcus died, then Aro painted himself as a… reformed man and built up Volturi Inc., possibly with a portion of the money they'd made through their criminal activities," Rose surmised, and I nodded.

"Exactly. Only, in reality, Aro never did leave it all behind. He might've cleaned up his act for a few years until his company had flourished into a huge corporation. Once that'd happened, once he had been accepted as an honest businessman, he started rebuilding the Volturi empire," I stated. "He had learned enough from his father to know exactly how to keep the criminal aspects of his dealings away from the public eye, and he succeeded. The only reason I came to know about it was because of Alice's help. All those times when I followed him out of his office… More than three-fourth of those trips were innocuous ones, but the remaining were enough to confirm my suspicions. I'm sure there must've been a few people in his company, who were extremely close to him and whom he trusted, that knew about his real self, but they never talked. So, the police had nothing on him for all these years."

Alice grinned. "Until now."

"Until now," I agreed.

"Now where does Renee fit into this?" Edward muttered, running a frustrated hand through his hair. "We need those foster records, Emmett. Maybe that could help us find a common ground between Aro and her. What about some city they'd been together? If Renee had lived in one of the places where Marcus operated from, then Aro might have met her there. That could be the missing connection."

Em nodded. "Yeah, I guess the sooner we get them, the better. As soon as we're done here, I'll head over to the precinct. I don't want to tell Jasper anything over the phone."

"Em, are you sure he is trustworthy?" Rose asked sharply. "We can't involve him if you have even the slightest of doubt about him. We can't just… we can't take that chance."

"I know, baby. The Captain made sure that every single officer on that team has a clean record and background, since we can't turn a blind eye to the possibility of some of our own being bribed by Aro," he asserted. "Plus, I've known Jasper and Peter for years. They're both good guys and are working day and night to ensure that Aro's entire organization pays for their crimes. I'm certain that Jasper would help us if he knew..."

"But," Alice interjected. "That is a risk we should take only if there is no way around it. You can check the foster records by yourself, Em. You don't need him for that. I'm sorry, but I don't think we should tell him right now. We haven't gotten any closer to figuring this out ourselves. Once we find something more concrete that can convince him, he will be more receptive to the idea of helping us and possibly even be willing to keep our secret."

Emmett looked between the two women, who stared right back and refused to back down. I remained silent, but in my mind, I agreed with them. Bringing more people into this circle, especially someone who had nothing to gain from proving Aro guilty of killing Mom and who upheld the laws we'd shown no regard for, was certainly not a good idea.

"Fine," he sighed. "I won't tell him anything, as long as I'm capable of managing the show on my own."

I nodded my agreement at Emmett, then my eyes travelled to the man sitting beside him, silent and lost in thought.

"Edward?" I prompted.

He turned to me immediately, startled.

"What's going on in your head?"

He said nothing for a moment, pursing his lips thoughtfully. I raised my eyebrows in question, refusing to give up until I'd received an answer. This was never going to work if we kept secrets from each other. Every thought and every insight, no matter how unimportant it might seem, could turn into a much-needed clue.

"I was just thinking about my theory about the cities," he finally admitted. "It might not work, you know. If this had something to do with their pasts, why would Aro wait for more than a decade to… do what he did? There had to be something that happened suddenly that brought Renee to his attention. Something she did… something she said. But if she knew about the danger he posed, she wouldn't do that, would she? If she'd dodged that bullet in the past, why would she ever bring it up again, especially now that she had a whole family to think of? From what you've told me, she loved you both and your father more than anything. She wouldn't dredge up anything that could put you at risk… at least, not willingly."

We stared at each other for a few seconds, our expressions contemplative as we begrudgingly considered the loopholes in the only theory we had so far. Emmett grumbled slightly, shifting in his seat, and I dropped my gaze. I leaned back in my chair, throwing my head back and staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, as I pondered over Edward's questions. "Pasts," I mumbled to myself.

A few minutes passed in silence. I cast my mind back to that day and replayed the memory over and over, pushing down the pain and trying to focus on the bare facts.

What had I missed?

Still staring at the ceiling, I spoke. "I don't think you're entirely wrong. It could be related to something that happened in the past. Maybe something she saw… Maybe she witnessed some incident that could incriminate Aro. Why Aro didn't do anything for all those years is an answer I don't have. Maybe he didn't know that she'd seen him?" I thought aloud.

"Why even bother, then?" Alice pointed out, sounding as frustrated as I felt. "If she hadn't gone to the police by that time, she wouldn't do it suddenly now, would she? And who would believe her? The way Aro did it… so brazenly… There has to be a big enough reason that prompted his actions."

I closed my eyes and scowled, once again willing myself to put the emotions aside and focus on the events that'd occurred. The entire day flashed in my mind like a series of photographs as I struggled to separate myself from all of it and scrutinize the worst day of my life from a third person's point of view.

I sat up suddenly, my eyes wide and agitated as I recalled the one thing that'd happened that day, but had been pushed aside in light of the other, much more devastating occurrence.

"That man," I gasped. "The man she met outside the bookstore."

Edward leaned forward eagerly. "What about him?"

"What if he worked for the police?" I looked at them frantically. "What if Mom met him to tell him about whatever she knew about Aro? I can't figure out her motivations, but no matter what they were, it's possible she finally revealed what she'd known all those years… something that could bring down everything Aro had worked hard to build. He wouldn't take that lying down."

"It's possible," Alice breathed, the fear in her eyes mirroring my own. "Why? Why did she do that?" she almost whimpered.

"That is something we might never know, so don't think about that, Ali," I told her and reached out to squeeze her hand. "I don't remember seeing her give something to that man, but I might have missed it. They'd already been talking for a few minutes before I saw them, after all."

"Wait a minute!" Rose exclaimed. "How did Aro come to know about it so soon? It was only a couple of hours between Renee's meeting at the bookstore and your… accident, right?" She looked to me for confirmation, and I nodded. "So how did Aro realize what she was doing within such a short span of time?"

"The man must've been a mole," Edward whispered. His eyes blazed as they roamed across our faces, and his hands balled into furious fists on his thighs. "He must've lured Renee out to gain the evidence, whatever it was, from her and then he probably informed Aro about her whereabouts."

I exhaled sharply as his words registered in my mind. An aching sense of betrayal washed over me as I imagined that possibility. For whatever reason, Mom must have trusted that man, and he had abused her trust in the worst possible manner.

I looked up to find Emmett's eyes trained on me, and they held the same tumult of pain I'd felt on behalf of our mother.

"Can you recall his features, Bella?" Em asked me desperately. "Finding him is going to be one hell of a job, but having a sketch is the only way it can be done. We can try to match it with the officers' database."

"I… I can try," I replied, but my voice was uncertain. "It's been so long. I think I was always so focused on Aro that this man has slowly seeped out of my memory. I always dismissed him as Mom's acquaintance, but now… maybe he played a much more important role in this. I think I can recognize him if we had a picture, but a sketch… it will be much more difficult. I'll do my best, though."

"We'll work together," Alice reassured and placed her slender arm around me. "No matter how long it takes. This guy is the first lead we have. You describe him, and I'll do my best to recreate his slimy face."

I patted her hand and smiled tentatively at her, not so sure about a positive outcome, despite her encouragement. Suddenly, she turned toward Edward, rolling her eyes. "Yes, Cullen, I can sketch and do it well. Wipe that surprise off your face."

Edward held up his hands, his eyes a little wider than usual. "Hey, I was just… I didn't know you could… Anyway, I'm glad we don't have to involve anyone else, then."

"Hmph," she huffed with a glare.

We finished our coffees, and after a silent, mutual agreement, the discussion was adjourned. We made our way back to our respective boxes. Just as I was about to pull out the first folder, another idea struck me.

"We should check out Mom's stuff, too. I know she wasn't one to write things down or save anything, but there may be some clue about the mystery man's identity in there," I said, turning to Rose and Alice. "Could you do that? I just have these two files to get through, and then I'll join you."

"Of course," Rose replied. "It's just one box, anyway. Ali and I will manage. Em said Charlie donated most of her clothes and stuff to Goodwill?"

I bit my lip and nodded. "He told us… she would want that. Plus, it was too painful to box them up and just discard them into the attic. This way… she could live on by helping someone in need." I paused, recalling the image in my head. "Okay, this might be too much to hope for, but just in case fortune smiles down upon us and you find a picture, let me tell you what I can remember about the man's appearance. He was tall, about six feet, and he had… well, not exactly olive-toned skin, but he wasn't as pale as us either. You know, somewhere in the middle. His hair was black and short. At the time, he looked to me anywhere between forty and fifty years of age. Fuck, I guess that's not very useful, but I…" I shrugged helplessly.

They nodded solemnly at my description. Alice gave me one last squeeze before following Rose down the stairs.

Pushing the flaps aside, I dove into the box once again and pulled out the first folder. The familiar deep blue cover immediately brought a smile to my face. I flipped it open quickly. One look at the picture on the first page brought tears to my eyes. I don't know how long I stared at the photograph, but it must've been a few minutes, because my frozen form caught Edward's attention.

"Bella?"

I heard him call for me and heard the concern in his voice, but I didn't look up from the photograph as I replied, "I'm okay."

My fingers traced over the smiling faces of my parents and the grinning one of my brother. It was taken the day I'd been born. I recognized our house in the background. My bundled up little form was resting comfortably in Mom's arms. Dad had one arm wrapped around us, and the other around Emmett, who stood in front of him. Em wasn't looking at the camera, though. His eyes were fixed on me with a happy grin on his face and his hand had reached out to stroke my cheek.

Taken off guard at the sudden emotions welling up inside me, I choked back a sob at the various memories of Mom and Dad showing us this picture and telling us all about the day of my birth. I hugged the photo album to my chest, and even flipped through a few more pages, but then placed it aside. It was better to finish looking through the last file before coming back to it.

Pulling out the last folder, I realized that it had the same blue covering as all our other photo albums. I grimaced, feeling a bit of despair and defeat crawl over my spine as I realized that the one source of information we were counting on might have failed us.

"There's nothing here," Emmett groaned, raking a hand over his head in defeat. I looked up to find Edward stacking the papers and putting them back in the box. "What's up on your end?"

I held up the blue folder. "This is the last of it."

Emmett frowned in recognition. "Isn't that one of our photo albums?"

"Yeah," I sighed, holding up the previous one, too. "I guess I'll go and help Rose and Ali. Maybe we'll have better luck in Mom's things."

Emmett and Edward looked at me sadly. I breathed out a gush of air, trying to control my irritation, but it was ineffective. My frustration boiled over, and I slammed the two albums onto the table.

A single leaflet of paper fell out of the second one, and I watched as it slowly made its way onto the floor. I sighed and shook my head, chiding myself for letting my emotions get the best of me so early in our journey.

This was just the beginning. We had a long way to go, which couldn't happen if I allowed myself to get discouraged at every step.

I hummed, as though acknowledging my own inner ramblings, and bent down to pick up the photograph from the floor. Taking a seat on the chair, I turned it around, fully expecting one of my embarrassing childhood memories to greet my eyes.

I gasped.

My eyes widened as I took in the photograph I was holding. The image before me blurred slightly, and only then did I realize that my hand was shaking. My chest felt as though a thousand cords had made their way there and had tightened painfully in response to the vision before me.

Vaguely, I heard someone call out my name, but I couldn't recognize the voice. Some part of my brain registered it as being a familiar one, but it sounded as though it came from the end of a deep tunnel. I was at the bottom of said tunnel, and fell deeper and deeper with each gasping breath that rocked my chest.

I squeezed my eyes shut, working hard to stop the onslaught of ghastly memories, and gathered enough sense to hand the photo over to whoever was standing to my right.

It was only when I heard his horrified gasp that I realized it was Emmett.

Swallowing hard to choke down the lump in my throat, I turned my head to look at him. His face was ashen as he looked at the image I'd handed him.

Several policemen and firemen.

Yellow tapes.

A burning car.

An injured little girl being pulled out from underneath tons of crushed metal.

A shattered glass window.

A woman with her unseeing eyes open, but holding no signs of life, her white blouse matted with large splats of her own blood, and her hand extended toward the back seat.

It was the crime scene of our mother's murder.

A/N: Alright! I think Volturi's is the last back story we have for now. Next chapter, we scrutinize the hell out of that file! What do you think is in there? What about the witness theory…? What could Renee have seen and where?

I'll see you somewhere around January 14th, dear readers! I think I should have 5000 words lined up for you next time.

In the meantime, Payton79 has started posting the expanded version of her entry from Meet the Mate contest, titled 'Tie the Knot.' It bagged the most number of alerts in the contest, so it's bound to be a great one. Go, check it out ;)

TEASER- Since we might just make it to 500 reviews after this chapter, how about a little celebratory snippet of the next one in the review replies? If you're interested, let me know!

Thanks for sticking with me. I truly appreciate it.