A/N: Anything Twilight related belongs to SM. I had some great review comments from the last chapter - thanks all who posted a review, I really appreciate your comments and please know that I do read each review. I would post replies (and I do when I can) but life is busy and if comes down to a choice between replying and writing the next chapter, I choose to write the next update. Hope you guys are comfortable with that. Well, we are going to peel back some of the layers of Isabella's past... are you ready?

Chapter 9 - peeling the layers

Carlisle sat next his wife: "Thanks for coming Demetri, Edward has taken Isabella to Port Angeles for the afternoon and evening. Emmett is at Rosalie Hale's are joining them for dinner in PA, so we are free to talk. What have you found out?"

The Chief of Police was sitting in the Cullen's lounge room enjoying a cup of strong coffee. After he arrived he'd placed a file on the coffee table and Carlisle was itching to pick it up and read it.

"Ok, Carlisle. Well as I'd said to you on the phone, I've been doing some digging into our little mystery girl's background trying to find out where she's come from and how she came to be here.

"I started with the house she was staying in and the name she used for her father, Charles Swan."

Esme leaned closer to Carlisle: "Oh and Demetri, Isabella has also mentioned some new people to us, a Nanna Swan and a woman named Renee. She said this Renee was her mother but she said, and I quote, 'I wasn't allowed to call her that'."

Demetri took another sip of the delicious coffee and briefly wondered how Esme always made it so good: "Well, here's what I have found out so far."

"First of all, the house Isabella was 'squatting' in, actually belongs to her," he said triumphantly before leaning back and watching as Carlisle and Esme sat back in their chairs, clearly shocked by this news.

Demetri was actually quite pleased with himself. He was getting a kick out of putting his underused investigative skills to use for once, since Forks was hardly a crime hotspot. He had partial responsibility of Port Angeles with the Chief there but most of his time was in the sleepy town of Forks where highway accidents and logging incidents were the main source of his activity other than drunk and disorderlies and speeding teenagers. Looking into Isabella's past gave him a real challenge and he was enjoying every minute of it.

"The house is Isabella's? How do you know that?" Esme asked, fascinated and rather excited to hear that Isabella would have such a valuable asset, which would offer her some security in her life.

"It was in the name of Siobhan Swan." He picked up the folder and opened it to check the first name on the Deed, to be sure he had the name correct.

"We ran a background check on this Siobhan Swan and found that she was deceased. She had been living in New York at the time of her death. Her listed next of kin was Isabella Swan.

"The house had been leased until the time of her death to the logging company and apparently all her legal records were being stored at our Bank here in Forks.

"With a warrant from Judge Meadows I went to the Bank to confirm the account actually did exist and found that Siobhan also had a security box with the Bank. With another warrant from the Judge I was able to view contents of the security box.

Esme could hardly control herself she was so intrigued to find out what was in the security box, and became a little annoyed as she had to wait for Demetri to drink some more of his coffee.

Finally he continued: "I opened the box with the bank manager and one of my officers present as is procedure. Inside the box we found some rather fancy jewellery, some personal letters addressed to Isabella, the Deed for the house here in Forks and another property in New York, some other papers, and Siobhan's Will.

"I ready over the Will but before it's official it will have to be read formally by Judge Meadows and she'll have to authorise an Executor. Given you are fostering her and she knows you so well, she may ask one of you to do that."

Carlisle nodded, knowing that this wouldn't be a problem.

"Anyway," Demetri said after another sip of coffee. "The Will states that Siobhan's estate in its entirety goes to her granddaughter Isabella Marie Swan and that she can have control of the assets when she turns 18. As far as I could tell the assets included the house here in Forks, an apartment in New York and all its contents, the jewellery that was in the box, and a bank account with sizeable balance of almost $850,000."

Esme let out a chuckle and clapped her hands. She was so happy for Isabella, knowing that her future was now secure and that she could realise her dream of medical school without relying on a scholarship or being beholden to anyone.

"Oh Car, isn't this wonderful. Isabella can afford to go to medical school and keep her independence."

Carlisle patted her hands which were wrapped around his arm and gave her a warm smile; he was relieved with this news but still confused. He turned back to his good friend: "But Demetri, why was she on her own and living in poverty? If she had this money and the house, she could've been living comfortably instead of near freezing with no food to eat."

Demetri thought for a moment: "My theory is that Isabella does not know anything about any of it, Carlisle. Apparently this Siobhan hasn't lived in these parts for years, if at all. She bought the house back in 1975, but I can't find any record of her living there. Apparently it was rented out to the logging company for loggers and their families over the years; all the transactions and property management were handled through the bank and a Port Angeles real estate agency. The rent money was deposited in the same bank account in Siobhan's name at the Forks Bank which accumulated interest. There was an initial deposit of $250,000 in 1975, as well as some other deposits here and there over the years, wired to the Bank from New York."

Esme threw her hands up in the air: "Oh this is too much. It's like a mystery novel. Why did this woman buy a house in Forks that she never lived in?"

Carlisle stood and started pacing: "Do you know more Demetri? Or is that everything so far?"

"Well, the Forks house has been empty since Siobhan's death. With no provision in the Will for the continuation of the leasing arrangement with the logging company, the real estate firm closed the house up and it has remained closed ever since. Until Isabella arrived and started squatting there, that is.

Carlisle interrupted: "Well it is hardly squatting since it's her house, but I how she came to be there if she didn't know it was hers?"

Demetri seemed to get lost in his thoughts, considering if there was a legal position on someone squatting in a house that was legally theirs but they didn't know it.

Esme sighed lightly: "Please Demetri, can we focus on the other details of her life, do you know any more?"

"Oh, yes. I do know a little bit about Charles Swan, Isabella's father."

Carlisle stopped his pacing and took his seat again next to his wife, she was his calm in any storm and this mystery was making him anxious. Taking Esme's hand in his he raised it to his lips and placed a soft kiss there.

Demetri watched the moment between the two, marvelling not for the first time, at the deep affection between this couple. He'd known them for years and they were still just as sickeningly in love as they were when he first met them. He chuckled to himself knowing while he admired the closeness of their relationship, he was also a little jealous.

He cleared his throat before beginning again, breaking the couple from their little bubble. He reached down for the file to read the next piece of information: "Charles was born in New York in 1976 to Siobhan Swan, a single mother - there was no father listed on the birth certificate. I don't have much on Charles until Harvard. Apparently he attended on a full scholarship, studied law and became a prosecuting attorney in Boston.

"He married a Renee Higginbotham in 2006, she was 18 and he was 30. Apparently he met her when he assisted her to take out a protection order from her ex-boyfriend. Isabella Marie Swan was born eight months after Renee and Charles' wedding.

"Sadly Charles died two years later of cancer. He left his fairly substantial wealth to Renee who was just 21 at the time of his death."

"How sad," Esme said in a low voice. "Isabella was only two and her mother was so young, left alone with a small child. How on earth did Renee manage?"

Demetri snorted: "Renee, well … I have plenty of information on her." His voice was full of scorn. "Most of this file is about Renee."

Carlisle held his hand up to stop Demetri: "As much as I desperately want to solve this puzzle, I think I need a break. Demetri, will you stay and eat with us? We can talk more over dinner."

Demetri nodded, closed the folder and placed it back on the coffee table: "You'll never hear me knock back a meal prepared by Esme Cullen, but seriously I need a break too. I'll give you guys a little privacy, I know we've covered a lot of ground already but I'm afraid the remaining content of that folder is a little disturbing. So I'll just step outside to call in to the station - I'm not on duty today but I like to check up on the young ones, keep them on their toes." He chuckled as he headed out to the back patio to make his call.

When he left the room, Carlisle and Esme walked into the kitchen. They went into automatic with Esme pulling together ingredients for a salad while Carlisle took out some meat for the grill. Esme peeled potatoes for a potato salad and defrosted some garlic bread she had stored in the freezer.

Her mind was full of all the information she'd heard and she honestly was having trouble taking it all in.

She looked at Carlisle who was marinating the meat in some red wine, balsamic vinegar and sugar: "Car, that was quite a lot of information."

"Hmm," was all he managed. He was feeling quite overwhelmed: "Maybe we can digest it better if we put it all in an upside downside list?"

Esme smiled at her handsome husband, always so calm, always wanting to reason things through:"Okay, let's do that."

Carlisle began: "So on the upside, we now know who Isabella's parents were and who her grandmother was - well at least we know their names and a little about them."

Esme nodded: "Yes that is definitely on the upside. I must admit I am fascinated by Siobhan and would love to know more about her."

Satisfied that the meat was well covered in marinade, Carlisle covered the bowl and then leaned his back against the kitchen counter and watched his beautiful wife smoothly move around their kitchen preparing salads and cleaning as she went.

"Another upside," he said. "We know that she will very soon have access to property and even cash, so her future is secure. That is a huge tick on the upside list."

Esme chuckled: "Not that we would've ever let her want for anything again but she is so independent. At least now she will know she has the wherewithal to have her dream of studying medicine, and not be burdened with student loans or limited to where she goes to study based on scholarship offers. She has a real chance for good start in her adult life."

Carlisle kissed her nose: "Now for the downside. We still don't know who her grandfather is, nor do we know what happened to her mother, although I think we may be about to hear that. Also we don't know how she came to be here, and on her own. I mean if she didn't know the house was hers, how did she come to be living in it?"

"Definite downside," Esme agreed.

"Well, let's get Demetri back in here, we'll hear the rest, then have dinner. After that we can work out what the hell we're going to tell Isabella."

Esme made some more coffee and the three of them took a seat in the breakfast nook so that Esme could still jump up and look after things in the kitchen when she needed to.

As she sat down with them she made it clear it was time to get back to business: "Okay Demetri, thanks for letting us get our heads straight for a few minutes. We're ready now, please go on and tell us what you've learned about Isabella's mother."

Demetri nodded, opened the file and turned some pages until he arrived at the page he was looking for: "Well, what I've pieced together is from arrest reports and social services reports. It is all confidential, however with Judge Meadow's permission and as Isabella's guardians I am going to share this information with you. I cannot leave the information with you but I can share it with you. You understand?"

They both nodded and he knew it was time to reveal some of the uglier side to Isabella's story: "As I said before, when Charles died he left everything to his wife Renee. He was a successful lawyer and was fairly well off, so it should all have been roses for Renee and Isabella. But..."

"But?" Esme encouraged him to continue.

"But, Renee decided to sell everything in Boston and move to Phoenix. She told a social services staff member in one of her later assessment interviews, that she wanted to live somewhere warm and Arizona sounded nice; so she sold their house and possessions in Boston, packed up little Isabella and headed to a new life in Phoenix."

"Well that's understandable, isn't it?" Esme reasoned. "I mean she did just lose her husband and she was so young, why would she want to live in Boston when she could afford to go somewhere new to start over." She said this almost like a question, hoping that Demetri would agree with her.

He gave her a small sad smile and looked back to the file: "The first arrest for driving while under the influence of alcohol, with Isabella in the car with her, was a year later. This was followed by several more arrests for drunk and disorderly behaviour, and drug-related charges. She was let off each time with a fine or community service because of Isabella. She promised to go to AA and also attend some parenting classes. She didn't and unfortunately the arrests continued.

"They then moved to Texas, then California, and finally ended up back in Boston. In each city Renee had arrests or callouts from social services. Renee and Isabella had multiple hospital records of 'falls' and 'accidents'," he said using air quotes.

"Each time a man named James paid the medical bills and left with them, usually without clearance from the doctor. At least twice Isabella was in hospital for several days with her injuries. It is an ugly list I'm afraid: broken rib, broken wrist, cracked skull, broken arm... it goes on." He turned the page toward Carlisle, who was thinking this just confirmed what he had already suspected - Isabella had been physically abused.

"Oh god," Esme sobbed. "Was it Renee? Or was it this James person?"

"Well, that's where this gets very ugly Esme, you need to brace yourself. Renee was found dead in her home in Boston. She had old bruising on her from a beating but that wasn't what killed her, she was found at the bottom of some stairs and the report suggests her other injuries were from weeks before. It looks like she was drunk and fell down the stairs and broke her neck.

"There was no sign of Isabella at the scene. This was about one month before she started school here in Forks. I suspect she spent that time travelling here."

"Oh my," Esme sobbed once and then went into the kitchen to work on the food. Carlisle watched her for a moment but thought it best to leave her to calm herself for awhile.

"Do you know any more about this James person?" Carlisle asked quietly, not really wanting for Esme to hear him.

"He was arrested in Boston a week before Renee's death for an attempted burglary at a liquor store, which is how they know he hadn't murdered her since he was in custody with no bail. He was convicted and got two years but was eligible for parole for good behaviour after only three months since it was a first conviction, believe it or not."

"You don't know where he is then?"

Demetri shook his head: "I can't find him in the system at all, which is kind of odd since he should have a parole officer."

"Okay, Carlisle," Esme interrupted, in a calm voice while placing plates in Demetri's hands. "You go and get the grill started and Demetri you can help me set the outdoor table.

All three headed out to the patio and after the table was set, Esme fetched some white wine for herself and a couple of light beers for Carlisle and Demetri. At first, she sat at the table listening to the men chat amiably while standing at the grill. Carlisle explained the work they'd done on the garden and his plans for new extensions. Eventually, she joined in the idle chatter talking about her new book and her upcoming meeting in New York with her publisher. She mused on the idea of taking Isabella, Edward and Emmett with her since Carlisle was working all that weekend.

The three adults talked, ate their dinner and laughed, enjoying small talk and the welcome relief from the shocking revelations about Isabella's life, which they now knew had been a hard road.

After dinner was finished and the table cleared, Esme served some slices of cherry pie she'd bought that day from her favourite bakery and she'd been warming in the oven since since before they sat down to dinner.

Over dessert, the conversation made its way back to the way forward with Isabella. They all discussed how best to talk to Isabella but Esme and Carlisle already knew that the best way was to simply share the truth with her and then talk with Judge Meadows about Siobhan's Will. Esme shared with Demetri that she'd arranged an appointment with a counsellor for Isabella and her first appointment was on the next Tuesday afternoon after school.

Demetri offered to help clean up after his second serve of cherry pie but Esme laughed, refusing his offer and explaining that she and Carlisle would do it as they talked through the information he'd shared with them. They had to wait up for the kids to get home anyway so this would give them something to do while they waited.

Demetri collected his things and left with a promise to talk more once they had an appointment with Judge Meadows organised.

Carlisle thanked Demetri for his fantastic work in finding out so much information about Isabella's past, especially given so little to work with. Demetri laughed and shared again that it was a pleasure to work on something so important, challenging and for such a good outcome.

After Demetri left, Carlisle and Esme silently set to work cleaning the kitchen, lost in their own thoughts. With the kitchen cleaned they headed off to their shared office, sitting down at their respective desks, and set themselves to busy work as they waited for the kids to return home.

The 'kids', meanwhile, were still in Port Angeles laughing hysterically as Emmett told Jasper his version of 'Frozen', as Rose and Bee corrected him at every turn.

"Emmett, were we even watching the same movie?" Rose smacked his arm.

Bee leaned across in front of Emmett to Jasper: "And the music was so wonderful, I just loved it. It was wonderful, wasn't it Edward? You liked it, right?"

Edward stopped laughing and gave her his best deer in the headlights shocked look which made all the others crack up laughing, watching Edward squirm.

Emmett turned to his brother. "Yeah, Edward," he said imitating Bee's tone, "you liked it right?"

Edward punched his brother's arm, and turned to Bee: "I really liked watching it with you love."

Bee kissed Edward's nose, Rose and Alice let out a loud and very fake 'Awwww', Jasper made a pretend puking gesture while Emmett gave his brother a fist punch: "You're learning my brother, you're learning."

The waitress came over again to give them another unnecessary top-up of their water glasses, all the while batting her eyelashes at Edward. When she got to Bee to fill her glass, Bee looked at her and gave the girl a big smile. She leaned over to the waitress and whispered: "He really is very attractive, isn't he? Sometimes I can't stop looking at him either. He dazzles me with that crooked smile of his and I am gone."

The girl laughed, blushed and almost spilled water on Edward but Bee reached out to pull the water jug away and giggled: "I see he's dazzled you too. Better not spill anything on him though, he gets sort of cranky about that."

The girl blushed and smiled at Bee before leaving the table.

Rose laughed her head off: "Bee you crack me up. Anyone other girl would've scratched her eyes out but not you. You are so sweet. That was awesome!"

Bee looked at her with a smug grin and Edward leaned over to kiss her cheek and then whispered in her ear: "Do I dazzle you love?" And then he distracted her completed when he nuzzled her neck. Bee gasped and bit her bottom lip gently to stop herself from moaning. She simply nodded once while looking in his beautiful green eyes. She loved his eyes.

He chuckled: "Well, you dazzle me too."

Alice chirped up: "So are we having dessert or are we heading off home?"

Bee groaned: "We had popcorn and ice cream at the movies and then that mushroom ravioli was to die for. I can't believe I am saying this but I couldn't eat another thing."

Just then Edward's, Emmett's, and even Bee's new phone, all buzzed with an incoming text. Emmett read it and held it up to the others: "Huh, the 'rents have called us home. Something must be up, they've never done that before and it's not even that late."

Edward showed Bee how to open the text, when she read the message she frowned: "Do you think something is wrong?"

Edward stood from the table: "I'll call them and meet you outside". He threw money into the middle of the table to cover his and Bee's share of the bill, and then stepped outside to call his parents.

He dialled his mother's phone as she was the one who'd sent the text: "Hey Mom, I just wanted to call to make sure everything is okay. We all got your text."

"Edward, is Isabella close by?" His mother asked.

He looked around to be sure: "No, she's using the bathroom with the other girls before we leave."

"Oh, good," Esme said. "Edward, Chief Demetri came by today and he has uncovered a good deal of information about Isabella's past. Your dad and I think we should talk with her about it sooner rather than later. We don't want to hide anything from her."

Edward turned to see the others leave the restaurant all laughing and Emmett had Bee over his shoulder as he was singing 'Let it go', loudly and badly. He turned away again and whispered into the phone: "The others are coming now and we'll head straight home. Is everything okay mom? Is Bee going to be okay?"

"I don't know Edward," she said honestly. "Just come home and we'll talk about it."

"Okay, see you soon, Mom."

He turned back to his brother and Emmett could see that whatever it was it was serious and they needed to get home.

"Edward, I believe this belongs to you," he placed Bee down on the ground, kissed the top of her head and gave a head nod to his brother to show he understood that it was time to go.

"I'll drop Rose home and join you at home," he fist bumped his brother and then took Rose by the hand and walked to his truck.

Jasper and Alice waved goodbye and headed to her bright yellow Porsche.

Edward gave Bee a small kiss on her incredibly soft lips.

"Is everything alright Edward?"

"To be honest love, I really don't know."

A/N: Well I some questions answered but some still a mystery. I have written the backstory to all these characters so i know why things are happening, I hope you'll stick with them to find out the answers as they unfold. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Have a Happy Easter for those that celebrate, for everyone else... chocolate!