TNMC Chapter 37

OK before we get into this chapter I need to address a point you all jumped on. Bella knew they were real AGENTS, she had a feeling everything wasn't completely normal but Quil had checked their credentials over the phone with Paul and their badges were legit. Sorry if I didn't make that clear enough.

I know Ms Meyer Owns all things twilight.

BPOV

It was becoming increasingly obvious that whoever these guys were, they weren't ordinary FBI agents. I knew how the basic procedures worked and I definitely wasn't in a run of the mill precinct. Chances were this wasn't even the FBI maybe the CIA or even Secret Service, Edward had joked about having the President's personal cell phone number. I wondered for a second or two if I was even going to get out of here alive, before pushing the fear deep down before it overwhelmed me. Unconsciously I had straightened my back, not wanting to show them any fear. I was sure they were something governmental; this had to do with Edward. Whatever they were they were legit. The kit, what they seemed able to do, even the mannerisms smacked of then being anything but regular guys. My gut was telling me I was going to be okay, I just had to hang in and see what this was all about.

The three guys that brought me in were quiet but pleasant. They made sure I was comfortable in the interview room; they even offered me a cup of coffee. A quick glance around and I was confident I knew what was coming. I had seen enough bad cop movies and listened to my dad's stories. I knew the huge mirror was two way and that it was highly likely that someone was watching on the other side. As I sat reflecting on what they could possibly want with me I couldn't help but think about Charlie, my dad. He would be devastated if someone contacted him and told him I'd been arrested. In our weekly chats I hadn't mentioned Jarvis and the trouble he was giving us. He was having a hard enough time coming to terms with the fact that his daughter was 'shacking up' with the local mobster. I just couldn't bring myself to tell him, he'd have been on the first plane here to sort Jarvis out and I knew that wasn't a good thing. If Edward and all his resources couldn't find Jarvis then Charlie didn't stand a chance. He thought the local teenagers racing up and down the roads and then having a noisy party was a crime spree.

I sat still and quiet sipping my coffee. I knew I hadn't done anything wrong and had a pretty good idea this was going to be about Edward. I'd been seen out and about enough with him for the authorities to be aware of me. All I could think was that they were going to try and question me about his business. Edward was right, while we weren't married they could subpoena me to give evidence. I genuinely knew nothing about his activities and whilst I had my suspicions I wasn't stupid enough to voice them. All I had to do was keep calm and answer everything honestly. It suddenly occurred to me that I had the right to an attorney. I dug in my purse and pulled out my phone. I went to call Edward but thought better of it, the last thing he needed was to get all wound up. As I flicked through my contacts I nearly called my Dad but decided against it, he was so far away. I settled on calling Alice, she could tell Jasper were I was and he would surely be able to represent me. Decision made I pushed the green button on my phone to connect. It rang a few times before the answer phone kicked in. Before I could say anything the door opened. I had a thought, if I left the phone in my lap hopefully Alice would hear what was happening when she listened to the voice mail. A voice asked me to hand over my phone. As my heart sank, hopes dashed, I looked up to protest. The words caught in my mouth, standing before me in a suit and tie with an identification badge around his neck was Mr Jarvis, flanked by two other men.

"You? What the fuck are you doing here?" I couldn't believe it, after everything that had happened he was a cop.

"Miss Swan," he said smoothly, "let me introduce myself. My name is Special Agent Aro Voltori, I'm sorry for the way in which we have had to meet previously but we had to make sure you were the person we needed to help us." He sat down across from me, placing my phone face down at his side. I had no idea if he had actually turned if off or if the message for Alice was still recording.

"What can I possibly do to help you?" I steeled myself for the questions about Edward to begin.

"Before we start," he began, composing his face into something that I think he meant to look sympathetic, "I have some upsetting news I need to inform you about. Information has been received from our contacts regarding your father." I stared at him, keeping my expression deliberately blank. "Police Chief Charles Swan," he elaborated. My stomach clenched as if it had been punched. "We are trying to get hold of him to put him protective custody. We have it on good authority that a hit has been put out on him." Jarvis carried on as though he was talking about the weather. "Now we know he has gone fishing today and we hoped you could tell us where he usually goes. We need to get to him before Masen's men do." He threw the name in casually. Masen, Masen? I wracked my brain. I couldn't recall anybody in Forks with that name.

"What do you mean a hit? Who the hell would wish harm on my Dad? The worst thing he ever does is issue tickets to the kids' drag racing on the back roads." I was starting to panic, this had thrown me. I was so sure this would be about Edward but it was Charlie that was in trouble.

"Miss Swan," a note of impatience entered his carefully controlled voice. "We will answer all your questions after you have helped us. Now please, who will Chief Swan be with?"

"He will be with Harry Clearwater, they have several different spots they go to. It would be easier if you got me a map of the area I could point them out easier than describe how to get to them".

Jarvis or Volturi, whatever his name was, nodded at one of the other guys and he got up and left the room.

"Who is this Masen and what do they have to do with my Dad? Is it someone my Dad has arrested before?" He was a small town cop, I was genuinely mystified. I worried that he might get caught in the crossfire of a domestic incident, being the target of a professional hit had never been something that I worried about.

"Edward Masen," Jarvis granted me a full name. My mind went into overdrive, trying to think if I had ever come across that name previously. He looked at his nails, feigning boredom. "You live with him don't you?" The smirk on his face told me he thought he was being a real smart ass.

"No I don't know anyone called Edward Masen," my mind was reeling but I tried to stick with the facts. "I live with a man called Edward Cullen." I lowered my voice. "Mainly because we were so concerned about some shit of a physco called Jarvis who was stalking me."

"Well I'm sorry to break this to you Miss Swan," his tone indicated that he really wasn't sorry, "If you really don't know then your boyfriend has been lying to you. He goes by the name of Masen in certain circles, his shall we say, less than legal business opportunities are carried out in that name." Jarvis/ Volturi was now leaning back in his chair with a self satisfied grin on his face. I had a overwhelming urge to kick the chair leg from under him so he fell backwards.

"I'm sorry I can't help you sir," I managed an apologetic smile. "I have absolutely no knowledge of this Edward Masen or anyone who has any illegal businesses. The Edward I know runs a few clubs around the city, so you seem to have gotten me mixed up with someone else. I'd like to leave now please." I stood to walk to the door and my stomach unclenched a little as Jarvis let me go. As I grabbed the handle I realised the door was locked. There was a small electronic panel on the side of the door and my guess was the identification around Jarvis's neck needed swiping along it to unlock it.

"Please sit down Miss Swan. "He started tapping on the laptop in front of him, he looked up at me then started tapping again.

"I have some bad news for you I'm afraid Miss Swan, we weren't able to get to your father in time." A cold fear unfurled in my stomach. I tried to stay calm, he was just trying to scare me. He turned round the laptop to face me. I was in no way ready for the sight that met me. There in glorious colour was a crime scene photo like everything you have seen on every cop show on television. Yellow and black tape sectioned off an area near a river bank. I could make out Charlie's old and battered tackle box and Sue's cool box, probably still filled with the she lunch she usually packed for them. She always packed too much. Tears misted my eyes. I was focusing on the lunch box, but I could still see the rest of the picture in my peripheral vision. There were two bodies slumped on the grass, one in a red checked flannel shirt and a body warmer over the top, the other in a beige coat with a battered baseball cap still on his head. I couldn't see either face but there was blood everywhere on the grass and bank around them. I knew that bodywarmer, Charlie had owned it for years.

"We were probably about an hour too late getting to them," said Jarvis, without a hint of apology. "We managed to track your father's phone signal, he'd apparently tried to call you but you hadn't answered." He turned the laptop away from me so I could no longer see the photo.

"So Miss Swan are you ready to talk to us now? Masen or Cullen, whatever you want to call him, has as good as pulled the trigger himself, orders like this only come from the top".

EPOV

We were trying to find out what was happening and who had Bella. I had calmed down considerably but I could feel everything bubbling back up as progress faltered. Emmett, Jasper and my father were all on their phones as we pulled in every favour we could think of. My father called Senators, governors and Police Commissioners as we tried to get to the bottom of who used the nondescript warehouse. Emmett was talking to his contacts on the street as I called other family heads. No one had any idea who or what was going on and It soon became apparent that this was a relatively new task force that must have been put together fairly recently. No one seemed to know anything.

"Boss can I just say something?" asked Alex as we all crowded into the control centre at the club. I nodded for him to go ahead.

"This all makes sense now. If this is a new task force set up specially, it would explain why Jarvis has no substantial history and why we can't find him. He doesn't actually exist."

Alex was as ever bashing away on the keyboard and screens flickered with new information. "I can see now what we have been missing, whoever this is has created the persona of Jarvis knowing we would check him out. Every lead we follow is carefully crafted to send us in circles and frustrate us. He just has a limited credit history and a basic framework of information because he doesn't exist. That would also explain why we didn't get any hits in the facial recognition, they would have loaded the photo of the guy masquerading as Jarvis and just programmed the system to block any hits on it. They knew we would check and they were ready for us."

I rubbed my hands up and down my face, trying to rationalise everything I was hearing. "I understand what you are saying but why Isabella?"

"It's got to be to do with you Boss, "Seth answered. I had come to the same conclusion myself but hearing it out loud made me grit my teeth.

"Think about it, Jarvis turned up just after you met her. What if they have been waiting for a way to get to you? Bella has been stalked just enough to unsettle her but never actually harmed or even really approached. Everything has been done over the phone or from a distance. The break in at her apartment it was probably intended to push her closer to you and into your home. She has been living with you for a month or so now, they will be interested to know what she knows."

"As much as hate to admit it Edward that really does make sense," Emmett said as he put his phone down on the table. "What we need to look at now is how we get to her before they can start to question her."

"She knows nothing Emmett, nothing at all," I was sure of that.

"She's not stupid," Emmett pointed out. "I'm sure that she has her suspicions. She does know we met with James Hunter at the penthouse."

"She may do but she has no idea what happened to him afterwards or where we took him. All she could do is identify he was there that day, that's if she even remembers him." I had faith in Isabella, we would be fine. She certainly wasn't the type to shoot her mouth off.

I leaned back against the wall and tried to clear my mind so I could think rationally. We knew where she was, we knew she was being questioned by a murky but at least legitimate government agency. She was safe, they wouldn't harm her and I just needed to be ready for what if anything she told them.

"Edward, my boy," my dad bellowed, "I've just spoken to the Senator's PA. She was able to do some digging and she has confirmed that Bella is with a new FBI task force in the warehouse. Their objective is to bring down the organised crimes families." He snorted. "Given that we fund most of the senators in the surrounding states, I'm surprised no one had said anything sooner." Carlisle was a ruthless man and Edward was sure this meant trouble for several high profile individuals who had let him down.

I calmed down considerably, no matter what she was with the FBI and they wouldn't torture her or harm her in anyway. "Thanks Dad at least we know she is safe now." He could see the relief on my face and his smile and slight nod let me knew he understood how I was feeling.

"She may be fine," he said ominously, "but I have a feeling several senior officials in the surrounding areas might just be ready for a change of profession." He was already plotting. I could see the cogs whirring in his brain.

"We need to concentrate on Isabella at the moment, nothing happens until I have her home and in one piece." I made sure everyone in the room understood that she was to be our priority.

"Do we storm the building and get her out of there or do we wait for her to be released" Emmett asked as he started to look over the internal plans of the facility Alex had found somewhere on line and now had on display across the screens in front of us.

"We can't go in there without getting arrested," I crossed my arms across my chest. "We need to get someone into her; surely she should be able to have a lawyer with her." Carlisle was already calling his old friend Edward Snr.

"No Dad, not him," I snapped. "As much as you trust him he is still my ex father in law. Find Whitlock. Why the fuck isn't he already here?"