Chapter 25

Esme laid on her stomach on the center of the bed flipping through one of the books that they had created for her school teaching. There was a stack on the floor next to where she laid, and Carlisle sat with one on his lap, marking off particular pages.

Edward caught wind of what they were doing and entered through the open door.

Carlisle glanced up and closed the book, reaching for a pen and paper on the night stand. He added a name to the list of people he knew that could possibly be the 'Janice' they were looking for.

"You're thinking up everyone that you may have met?" Edward asked him.

He sighed and reopened the book. "I'm trying not leave anyone off the list, no matter how much of a stretch it might be."

"Is Rosalie on there?" he asked with a smirk and quiet laugh.

Esme smiled to herself without looking up, but shook her head.

Carlisle managed a fleeting grin. "No." His eyes lifted to meet Bella's for a moment as she walked in to join them.

Edward squatted down and picked up a pair of books, handing one over to her.

Esme smiled at the two of them and sat upright, allowing both of them the room to sit down on the edge of the bed.

"Do you happen to know anyone named Janice?" Edward asked Carlisle, "Anyone that you've ever met?"

He shook his head almost immediately. "No. I have been writing down the names of lots of people I've met, even briefly. Jane is at the top of my list, but I also have my doubts."

"She could have easily lied about her name," Bella said, flipping through one of the books.

Emmett popped his head in, "Hey... Edward, we still hunting?"

He looked up at his brother, "Oh, yeah..."

"Because we're, uh, not allowed to go on our own," he continued with a smile, looking at Esme, then whispered, "Mom won't let us."

Esme chuckled, welcoming Emmett's humor on the situation. "That's right. You can tease me all you want, as long as you listen."

Edward looked at Bella, who nodded, "Go."

"We'll be back soon." He tossed the book onto the center of the bed just behind where he sat.

She nodded and accepted a quick kiss, then watched him walk out of the room to go out with Emmett.

Emmett waved to everyone, then gave Caleb a shoulder bump as he and Delilah trailed into the room.

Bella scooted back to make herself more comfortable, and both she and Esme laid back on their stomachs as they flipped through the books.

Carlisle looked at his son for a moment, then folded another page in the book that sparked his interested.

"What are you guys doing?" Caleb asked.

"Looking for possibilities as to who Janice might be," Esme told him.

Bella picked up the book Edward had barely started to skim through, and Caleb took it. He sat on the ground, leaning his back against the wall and looked at Delilah.

"You don't think Janice is her real name?" Delilah asked.

Bella lifted her eyes to meet hers, "Edward and I lied about our names," she said with a shrug, "I don't think it's a stretch to think this girl did too."

"Are you going to back?" Caleb asked her, "I know Edward and Rosalie were talking about it. I didn't know if they were serious."

Carlisle and Esme both looked to Bella for a moment, each seeming to have at least a mild interested in what she was feeling on the subject.

"I don't know," she said, "I'll have to talk with Edward to see what he thinks."

"Mike Newton did seem awfully suspicious of us up on the road that night," Delilah informed them, "He seemed a little..."

"Jerky," Caleb finished, "With regards to the way he said 'the Cullens'."

Bella acknowledged his jealousy from their days at Forks High School, "He was kind of like that in high school; a little jealous," she explained, "But I don't think he's involved with any of this. He's harmless."

"Has Edward been able to locate him?" Carlisle asked, "I know he went and spoke to a roommate or something, but did he ever actually see him?"

Bella thought for a moment and shook her head, "No. He didn't."

"Maybe Newton put on a blond wig and went down to the Mancini's house," Caleb joked, making Bella smile at the passing image of Mike Newton in drag.

Esme shook her head again and thumbed quickly through a few pages that were filled only with text and no images.

Carlisle still looked thoughtful, but didn't speak then continued what he was doing. "Maybe we can copy some of these drawings and photos from the books," he said, sounding more as if he was thinking aloud then actually making a statement.

"What do you mean?" Esme asked him.

He looked up at her, "If we made copies of just the photos of people who fit Janice's description and had Randy Mancini look at them..."

"He could point her out," Esme said, finishing his thought.

Carlisle nodded to her, "Worse case scenario, none of these are her and we aren't any worse of than we started."

"We should go Delilah," Caleb said, "That way he won't be suspicious of Bella and Edward if they went back."

She looked nervous as he spoke the words, "I don't know, Caleb. Us? The two of us go to his house?"

"Why not?" he asked.

Delilah didn't know how to answer. She felt suddenly tense, and looked thankful the second Carlisle spoke up.

"No Caleb," he said, "We already decided it wouldn't be a good idea for you to show your face there."

"But-"

"My dad," Bella said, cutting him off, "My dad and Masen can pretend they're missing persons from the area. They could go over and show their pictures to Randy."

Carlisle immediately nodded slowly, but enthusiastically, "That could be a great idea."

Esme smiled, "Good thinking Bella."

"Yeah," Delilah quickly agreed with a nod, "Wow. That's perfect."

Caleb looked to her for a moment, then to his father, "That works."

"Son," Carlisle said, "I know you want to contribute with everything that's going on. Know that you are, and that you've given us all the information we need to try figuring things out."

He nodded back. "I like Bella's idea."

Carlisle looked to both Esme and Bella, "So do I."

Bella smiled, feeling almost shy that they thought so highly of her idea, but also felt accomplished. She hoped her father and Masen could pull it off and at least come to the conclusion that one of the vampires they knew was involved with the mysterious happenings involving their family.