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.

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.

CHAPTER 27: IT'S COMING TOGETHER, SLOWLY

Charlie felt like banging his head against the wall for not having realized the connections before now. It would have saved Bella the pain she had endured and would have plugged the leak a hell of a lot sooner. He thought to himself, 'I'm getting too damn old to continue in this business. I couldn't even realize the dangers before they happened. Not like I used to do.' Now, with having made the connection, he needed to get it taken care of before anyone else was hurt or killed, but, the question was how. How could that be done without giving away his hand beforehand? That was going to require more thought.

It was in the next moment that Charlie realized why the information had been limited to the amount of what was known about what was going on with the witnesses and his girls. What in the hell could have caused his long time friend on the police force to go over to cooperating with the Volturi crime family? And, it only stood to reason that his son, who worked in the U. S. Attorney General's office, was the one relaying information to his father and then it was being passed on to the Volturi. But, Charlie had to find out how close the young man was to the assigned U. S. AG that was handling the case.

That would explain why any sort of real concentrated effort hadn't been made toward Edward Cullen, Jasper Whitlock or Emmett McCarty; and, why it wasn't known about how much the three witnesses did or didn't know. And, since it didn't pay to draw undue attention to themselves without knowing all of the facts, or, the full extent of what they might need to expect. That is why the Volturi's were being cautious in their actions, or, their approach concerning the three men for the time being. It also explained the reason for the attempted snatch and grab for one of the guys, but, they ended up with Bella, a known girlfriend, and they worked her over to see what information they might be able to get from her.

Not paying attention to the time passing, Charlie continued to absentmindedly munch on his pizza, which had gone cold some time ago, from time to time as he had been buried deep in thought. He felt that he had managed to work out all of the important factors, but, that answers were still needed for the lesser details.

Charlie knew that a certain detective would be after answers concerning the happening back where Bella had been found, but, there was no time for any of that to be dealt with at the moment. The detective and Charlie would get together in a near future and hash everything out. But, Charlie had one more thing that he needed to do before returning to be with Bella.

He needed to get the information to find out who had killed Butch and why. Once he had that information he could turn that over to the proper authorities with the full knowledge that his girls were on an even playing field once more. And, that Butch's killer had been dealt with; he owed his old friend that much after what he did to help find Bella.

Charlie was aroused from his musing by the sudden, jarring ringing of his phone. He reached out to answer, but, caution along with instinct, halted his automatic answering before checking caller ID. His quick glance to see who was calling stopped Charlie from answering altogether; it was the very person that he had just realized was one of two involved in the leaking of information.

Chances were that the caller, since Charlie hadn't called anyone lately, was trying to find out where Charlie was, especially, after what had happened to Butch. The signal on Charlie's phone, once he answered, could be used to pinpoint his exact location and that was something that Charlie didn't want to happen.

This call made Charlie glad that he didn't have the GPS active. That he was glad to have been using a burner phone that was easily tossed and never missed since it wasn't that expensive. So, before any other calls could ring through, Charlie turned the phone off and walked into the bathroom, placed the phone in the sink after plugging it and turned on the water. Once the sink was filled and the phone drowned, he reached into his pocket to pull out a second burner phone and sent a text to Sam alerting the U. S. Marshall to the change of phone numbers. Also, saying that some problems had arisen and that Charlie would be calling in a while.

Next, Charlie knew it was time to change his location, his instincts were once again screaming at him about approaching danger. So, Charlie gathered whatever little bit that he needed to take with him, he walked out the door, left the sleazy hotel and went looking for another hole in the wall that he could use as a base of operation.

XXXXXX

After everyone had entered the waiting room that Det. Norris had indicated, the detective immediately began to tell Edward about Bella's rescue and what had been found at the location where she had been held. "So, as you see, Mr. Cullen, there are still a lot of unanswered questions that I'm hoping Ms. Swan can provide the answers, or, at least, some of them." Det. Norris concluded.

Everyone had sat in stunned silence while the police detective had been talking. Their minds were too shocked to be able to formulate any questions. It was amazing that Bella had only been injured as she had instead of further harm had been done to her. They were only beginning to realize how lucky she had been, if you could truly call what she had endured luck.

"But, Det. Norris, didn't you have a chance to talk with Ms. Swan at the scene before she had been transported here to the hospital?" Sam questioned. He was a bit puzzled as to why Bella would need to be questioned again, or, why it was felt that she would be able to supply any more answers than what she already had.

"I briefly spoke with Ms. Swan before my captain called ordering me to have her transported to the hospital immediately and to question her further later. The whole time that I was talking with her, the short period that I had, I got the feeling that she knew more than what she was revealing to me."

"I see. Unfortunately, from what the doctor said, it's going to be awhile before you'll have a chance to do any sort of questioning. But, what I don't understand is why you would think that Ms. Swan can give you any more answers than what she might possibly already has. What is it you think she might know, but, hasn't told you as yet?"

"I believe she saw or knows who left a bunch of dead bodies lying around inside the building where she had been held and beaten."

"If she knew the answer to that question don't you think she would have told you at the time?"

"Not if, for some reason, she's protecting someone. And, if that is the case, I want to know who and why."

The entire conversation had taken place between Sam and Det. Norris; no one else present was able to think of anything else to contribute. That is none of the three witnesses. However, Alice and Rosalie followed the conversation very closely, but, remained silent due to the fact that the cover established to protect Edward, Jasper and Emmett had to be kept in place.

But, as the conversation between Sam and Det. Norris began to ebb, Edward offered his opinion, "Don't you think that Bella would have told you who had rescued her, if she knew? Your reasoning is out of line; it doesn't contain any acceptable reasoning. She would have no reason to withhold that information since the person would have been saving a life."

"Mr. Cullen, several lives were taken. It isn't my place to say the killings were justified or not; that decision belongs with a jury and a judge. It's my job to gather the facts and to arrest the person or persons responsible for breaking the law in committing these murders. At this point, that is what they are considered to be: murder. We don't have all of the necessary information as to who was doing the rescuing and who was involved in the kidnapping and beating of Ms. Swan.

"Truly, all we do know right now is that it's possible that the one doing the rescuing could have been amongst the ones killed. Without Ms. Swan's cooperation we have no way of knowing for sure who was doing what to whom."

"Believe me, if she knew anything that would be helpful to you she would have already told you. But, my next question is why are you posting a guard outside of her door? Do you believe that she's still in any sort of danger?"

"It's more of a precaution than for any other reason. We don't know who or why Ms. Swan was targeted. And, we definitely have no idea if she is still being targeted. That is another thing that Ms. Swan hasn't revealed; that is, if she knows the reason for her abduction. Mr. Cullen, can you think of any reason why Ms. Swan might have been taken, or, who might be responsible for rescuing her?"

Edward didn't answer for a few moments as he silently stole a quick glance at his companions, trying to gauge how he should answer the detective, or, if he should ignore what Det. Norris was trying to find out. With a slight shake of her head Alice indicated that all should stay quiet, so, Edward looked Det. Norris straight in the eye as he answered, "There's nothing I can tell you."

Edward delivered his answer honestly because he wasn't permitted to tell the police detective anything that was being kept quiet because of the leak in one of the departments that is connected to the ongoing investigation against the Volturi crime family. So, he worded the answer he gave to Det. Norris in a manner that was truthful. And, as Edward answered, everyone noticed that the detective watched Edward very closely; closely enough to catch a lie if there was one being told.

Sam was very much aware of the technic that Norris was using since he had used it many times himself during an interrogation. Det. Norris was trying to unnerve Edward by doing a stare down just to see what reaction Edward would have. He was trying to gauge the truth of Edward's statement by using this method, but, Edward didn't flinch and continued to hold Det. Norris's stare until the detective was the first to look away.

The whole thing was becoming uncomfortable after several minutes, so, Sam decided to intervene by drawing the police detective's attention to himself. "Det. Norris, if there isn't anything further that you need from any of us? We would like to check on Ms. Swan's condition and arrange to get the necessary things she might need during her stay here."

"No. No, nothing else, but, if any of you think of or remember anything, give me a call." He remarked as he was turning away to leave, but, paused then turned back to face everyone and added, "Or, if any of you decide you want to tell me what you aren't saying, call me." With that said, he did leave without a backward glance.

None of the group associated with Bella Swan said a word, but, they did look toward Edward with a questioning expressing to which he assumed they all wanted an update about Bella. So, Edward left to go to the nurse's station to see if they were permitted as yet to enter her room to sit with her.

XXXXXX

Charlie checked his room one last time to make sure that he wasn't leaving anything essential behind. The phone he had been using was of no use to him any longer, so, that was left. He would get another once he was away from his current location. And, sure enough, he had no sooner exited the sleazy hotel lobby when a group of men wearing suits pulled up to the curb and entered the building.

Staying in the shadows across the street, Charlie watched them enter and about fifteen minutes later they came back out with angry expressions on their faces. Whatever they were looking for was no longer there. But, as Charlie continued to watch one man that had evidently been left behind, came out of the hotel dragging the clerk that had been behind the desk, by the collar. He threw the guy up against the car and spoke to him in what seemed to be a threatening manner because the clerk appeared to be pretty shaken up.

Everyone left, the clerk reentered the hotel and Charlie slowly made his way down the street looking for another place to stay and a place to buy another phone.

AN: Charlie figured out who the mole was and how the leak was being accomplished. Now, all he has to do is tie up a few loose ends and turn all of his information over to Sam and the girls. Poor Det. Norris is being kept in the dark and he knows it, but, can't prove it. How helpful would he be if he did know? And, what is going to be Charlie's next move?

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