YOU'RE WHAT!

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.

"I did also mention about the small incident that occurred when we first arrived, and Charlie said he would take carry of that, so we'd have no problems dealing with any decisions that might be needed to be made where Bella was concerned."

"Thanks, Sam. That's appreciated."

CHAPTER 26: GETTING CLOSER TO THE END

It seemed that Charlie did follow through with making it possible for Edward to be able to stand as his proxy in regard to Bella's health decisions; the decisions that might need to be made until he was able to get to the hospital. Both, Edward and Sam, were made aware of this fact because the nurse they had first talked with had come over to tell them this information.

And, it was after another hour had passed before a doctor came out to look around and calling for the Swan family. Edward and Sam rose and walked over to the doctor who introduced himself as Dr. Williams. Then Dr. Williams continued to explain what was happening with Bella. "She had been badly beaten across her back. And, in some areas, the skin had broken loose and began to bleed.

"Also, she had some severe injuries from the beating which wrapped around from the back to run across her breast and abdomen." He paused to give the two men time to absorb the information he had just delivered to them before continuing.

It was during this pause that Sam asked Dr. Williams if he knew what had been used to beat Ms. Swan. And, Dr. Williams answered in the affirmative by telling them, "Yes, she told us what had been used; it was a leather belt."

"She told you?!" Edward commented in a manner that was both a question and an exclamation.

"Yes, Mr. Cullen, she was conscious when she was brought into the emergency room, although, very uncomfortable due to her injuries. We've had to sedate her, so we can give her a chance to begin to heal without having to deal with the pain of whatever position she might be laying." Dr. Williams explained.

"Okay, so, any idea when we might be able to see her and talk with her?" Sam asked.

"At this point, I can't honestly answer that question. There is no one position that she can, at the moment, lay in that isn't uncomfortable for her. Side, front, or, back are all covered with her injuries. That was the reason we sedated her for the present time. And, I do plan to keep her that way for now."

"That I can understand, but, when can we see her? I also want her in a private room." Edward asked the doctor and then gave his decision about where Bella would be kept.

"Mr. Cullen, plans had already been made to put Ms. Swan in a private room due to the police guard that has been assigned to keep her safe. And, it's my understanding that a Det. Norris is wanting to question Ms. Swan further once he can safely do so."

"A Det. Norris? Is he the one handling my fiancé's kidnapping?" Edward questioned as he looked over at Sam to see what his reaction was going to be. However, before anything else could be said, four new individuals arrived in the waiting room, looked around and spied Edward with Sam and a man in a white coat. As Edward and Sam were detected the new arrivals moved in that direction; they were anxious to find out about their friend and associate.

Both Edward and Sam noticed the two couples approaching them at the same time and before any further questions could be asked. But, once the four people joined the group, Edward introduced them to Bella's doctor and quickly filled them in on what was known at that moment.

"So, you're going to keep her sedated for now, but, my question is 'for how long?" Alice asked. She wanted more details than just the bare essentials. No one had any way, at the moment, of knowing if Bella was safe, or, if others were going to be coming to silence her more permanently. All of that needed to be taken into consideration.

Before Alice could get completely wound up, Sam interrupted her by saying, "My dear, as you've been told, the police have a guard planted outside of Bella's room and one will continue to stay there until this investigation is completed by this Det. Norris." And, considering the tone of voice that Sam was using when he said that indicated to Alice that he was suggesting she maintained the front of friend only.

XXXXXX

Charlie was a few minutes late arriving at the appointed place where Butch had wanted them to meet again. He wandered around in the alleyway trying to keep his impatience under control since it seemed that Butch was also late. However, as time stretched out to thirty minutes, even an hour and still no sign of Butch, Charlie was beginning to get worried about his friend.

As he decided not to wait any longer, he heard a car roaring down the street and then it came to a screeching halt with the squealing of tires as the brakes were applied that also delivered a smell of burnt rubber as a body was tossed out of the back door into the alley. Then without any hesitation it took off like a bat out of hell down the road as Charlie ran to the body.

Rolling the body over Charlie's worse fears were realized: Butch was dead. He had been tortured. Burns were covering every exposed part of his body, face included.

Pulling out his cell phone, Charlie made a call; a call to the same person as he had spoken with earlier in the day to get help for Bella. He reported all that had taken place and that Butch was dead. The voice on the other end simply said that a team would be sent and asked if Charlie was going to be available for a statement. The answer to that question was never forthcoming. The call was ended, and Charlie looked left, then to the right, and seeing no one around, he walked away from the scene.

Charlie had a lot of thinking that he needed to do. He needed to have the time to begin to put some things together. He felt that the answers to many of his questions were already known, but, he just hadn't had the time to fully consider everything: all of the things that were important and to discard the ones there weren't. What happened to Bella was part of the job and she knew the risks involved in the job she had chosen, no matter how hard it had been for Charlie to accept, he was reasonable about it; after all she was an adult. But, when she was taken he knew that he was the only one that had a chance of getting her out alive, but, he was no saint when it came to his girls.

However, he refused to break from his principles; he wouldn't break the law, and he wouldn't accept excuses for those that did. Charlie didn't seek revenge when someone hurt his girls, but, he wouldn't back down from what had to be done if he was faced with a mortal threat. He would act first and then deal with the aftermath later.

Even though, he was a distance away from where Butch's body had been tossed, he could hear the sirens approaching. The one thing he didn't do, was question himself about the action he had taken by removing himself from the scene.

At this point, his gut feeling told him that he needed to be away from there before anyone arrived. He had learnt a long time ago that he never would go wrong by listening to his innervoice; he taught that to his girls as well. That innervoice will always keep you alive, but, ignore it and you could damn well be sure enough that you would end up on the wrong side of a situation or dead.

The biggest decision that Charlie needed to make, at the present time, was where he should go to have some privacy; privacy so he could consider everything that needed to be brought into focus. Bella was taken care of for the moment. Sam was with his other two girls and they were safe, but, doing their jobs.

The main questions that kept creeping into his thoughts was who in the hell was the mole in all of this mess? Next question was in what department did the mole work to be able to leak the information that he did? Then the last question was why hadn't a more concentrated effort to get to Edward, Emmett and Jasper been made? It was very unusual for this much time to pass and nothing more concrete hadn't been done to remove the witnesses.

Of course, he knew that his girls were the best in their area and they had managed time after time to get their charges to court safely. From all that Charlie had been told, cause he did keep up with his girls without them knowing how closely, they were hailed as being the elite team in the witness protection program. All other agents wanted to achieve the excellence that his girls had done. They were held in the highest regard by all of their associates. Charlie was bursting with pride each time he heard or thought about all they had accomplished.

As Charlie had reached this point in his thoughts, he realized that he had zoned out for a bit as he was walking down the street away from Butch's body. Looking around to get his bearing, he saw a lit hotel sign blinking, but, half of the letters were broken. It was the sort of place he needed to be able to have privacy; no one would know 'who or where' he was, and he could take the time to do the thinking that he needed to do.

Charlie knew, somehow, that the answers to his questions were within reach. All that was needed was for someone from outside of the situation to look at the big picture. So, with the feeling that he was in the right place, he walked into the slum based establishment and registered to get a room. Then once he was settled, one phone call was made to check up on Bella before taking the time to consider all that he needed to do.

Sam updated Charlie to all that was known about Bella and her condition and reassured him that everyone was taking care of her. Once that call ended Charlie settled down to begin thinking about all of the facts that were known about the situation surrounding Edward, Emmett and Jasper.

XXXXXX

Just as Sam had gotten off the phone talking with Charlie, he was about to tell everyone in the group what was happening when he looked up and saw a guy talking with the guard that had been stationed outside of Bella's room. He glanced over at Edward just a moment before Edward began walking toward the police guard and the other guy.

Sam quickly reached out to try to stop him, but, Edward managed to dodge the hand reaching for him and continued on towards the two men. As he neared their location he asked, "Who are you and why are you interrupting this officer from doing his duty?"

"I'm Det. Norris and I'm in charge of the case concerning Ms. Swan and her abduction. The officer, here, was just bringing me up to date as to the situation concerning Ms. Swan. He was suggesting that I speak with the doctor about when Ms. Swan might be available for further questioning.

"But, in the meantime, young man, I want to know who you are and how you're associated with Ms. Swan." Det. Norris spoke to Edward in a rather demanding tone.

"I'm Edward Cullen, Ms. Swan's fiancé." And, as Edward introduced himself, the rest of his group joined him facing Det. Norris. It was at that point that Edward introduced everyone else and their association to Bella.

After all of the introductions were made, Det. Norris motioned for the guard to resume his position outside of the door and then motioned for everyone else to head for the waiting room that was on that floor. Det. Norris recognized Edward's name from what the police guard had told him about the situation. Because of that he knew that Edward would be able to fill him in the same as the doctor would be able to do.

XXXXXX

It was the grumbling of his stomach that brought Charlie's attention out of his thoughtful wandering and reminded the man that food was a necessity. So, with a small chuckle Charlie reached for his phone and called down to the desk and asked if there was a local pizza place that delivered.

He didn't really want to leave his room as he still had some thinking to do and a few more things to work through. The answer to his request was a yes, so, Charlie called to have a pizza delivered to his room. While waiting he did go to the bathroom and took care of the business that was making demands now that his mind was back in the land of the presence. As he was finishing up and walking out of the bathroom, a knock sounded at the door along with the announcement of his pizza being delivered.

Charlie opened the door, paid the young delivery guy after taking charge of his pizza and closed the door. As he got settled back on his bed, he was removing his drink, that he had ordered with his pizza, from the paper bag as a thought sudden struck him. It was like lightening striking which brought Charlie to a complete halt. He was frozen in place as the realization of who the mole was.

He should have realized it before, but, the man's cover had been excellent. He was the only one it could be because he had been kept updated about everything concerning all that had been happening. Charlie could kick himself for endangering everyone the way he had.

AN: Bella is being kept sedated to allow her body to heal since she can't be made comfortable in any position at the moment. Edward and everyone else finally meet Det. Norris. Charlie finally realizes who he believes who is the mole.

Hope you will enjoy this story and will let me know your thoughts, ideas and comments as we move forwards