A Twisted Tale Chapter 6: 106 Disturbing development, a twilight fanfic

AN: This is a dialog heavy chapter. Lots of plot and character details.

Updated 2010-05-25: Nothing major, just corrected a date that was wrong

Chapter 6 - #106 - Disturbing development

Note #106

"The pain of the mind is worse than the pain of the body"*

*Publilius Syrus

. o .O . o . o . O . o . o .O . o . o . O . o .

Time: 14:20

"Alright, Alright, I'm outside already!" Edward whined at his sister as she practically shoved him through the door. "Alice, you can be such a pain in the ass, sometimes..."

"I refuse to stand by and let you hide indoors when it's such a beautiful day outside. I know you are still shook up about what happened the other day, we all are, but Edward honey, we have done all we can to prevent it from happening again."

"So now I'm OVERREACTING, is THAT what you're saying?"

"No, but if I were to google "PARANOIA" I bet your picture would be the first one to show up," Alice chuckled and rolled her eyes. Then, with years of insight, she added, "I know those last photos must have brought back some not so pleasant memories... but I ain't never gonna let... what happened that other time...happen again."

Edward whipped around and gave Alice an unusually nasty look. "You all promised me you'd NEVER bring that up ever again. I don't want to talk about it. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Alright, my mistake, I'm sorry. Hey, how about we kidnap our nephew and take him out for a walk," she suggested, quickly changing the subject.

. o .O . o . o . O . o . o .O . o . o . O . o .

Office # 322 at the FBI New York headquarter

"I'm your new partner, baby. Didn't Jenks tell you?"

Junior agent Seth Clearwater entered the room and let his stack of papers and folders hit Bella's desk with a loud thud.

"Partner, really? Two field agents on a simple stalker case? That seems a little over the top," Bella commented, closing the lid of her laptop. "No bodily harm, no broken bones or maimed kittens. From what I've gathered this stalker appears to be relatively harmless."

"The Chief seems to be of a different opinion," Seth shrugged.

Bella narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "What exactly did he tell you?,"

"Nothing really. We got a delivery from the NYPD about two hours ago. You weren't here so the chief told me to take a look at it, that's all."

"Two hours ago? Why didn't you tell me sooner! " Bella huffed and glared with narrowed eyes at Seth. "It's not cool to withhold information like that."

"I'm telling you now aren't I," he replied innocently, pushing the papers across the table like a peace offering of sorts. "Quite interesting reading, actually. Did you know that this Cullen guy is one of 'THE CULLENS', as in the founders of Voltera Biotech Inc?"

"Co-founder and yes, I know who he is. I have met the Cullens. Dr. Carlisle Cullen and my father go way back."

"So, there is a personal connection," Seth asked with a frown.

Heaving a sigh, Bella crossed her arms and looked out the window. "Sort of... Don't worry, the chief knows and approves of it. I assume that's why this case landed on my desk in the first place."

"Look, I'm not trying to pull the rug from under you, or steal your thunder or anything like that, but you are going to need my help with this one."

"Is that so?"

"If you want to be thorough, yes, which I believe you do. There is a ton of material to work through and we haven't even received the complete police report yet. We're still waiting for the phone logs, the surveillance tapes… There are supposedly over 300 voicemails and I don't know how many photographs… "

"Alright, alright, I get it," Bella interrupted, holding up her hand, indicating for him to stop. "Scanning month's worth of surveillance tapes will no doubt be tedious. If you are volunteering your time, then I would be a fool to say no, wouldn't I? Besides I was already planning on asking you to look into these 'allegedly' untraceable text messages-…"

This time it was Seth's turn to interrupt. "First of all, there is no such thing as 'untraceable' text messages and secondly, I suggest you let someone from the Behavioral Analysis Unit take a look at this stuff as well. I wouldn't be surprised if there is more to this case than what you see on the surface."

"Eh, okay…" Bella's eyebrows furrowed. "Why do I get a feeling you know more about this then you're letting on?"

"All I'm saying is that you should keep an open mind. This guy is loaded, right?. His father's pharmaceutical business is both lucrative as well as high profiled. This could be an elaborate blackmailing scheme… or… I don't know, some sort of payback for a business transaction gone wrong, or something… Think about it. Money is a powerful lure."

"What is this, psych 101?"

"Something like that. Like I said, this stuff," he paused with a sweeping gesture at the documents piling up on Bella's desk. "…makes for interesting reading, I suggest you start with the photographs."

"The photographs? I've already seen copies of the most recent ones. Did I miss something?"

"That depends… Did you know Cullen did a few modeling jobs while in college?"

"I know Mrs. Cullen used to model to pay her way through college and I wouldn't be surprised if Rosalie did the same… but you're talking about Edward, aren't you?"

Seth answered by nodding his head in affirmation. "The one and only."

"Okay, well that's news to me. I know he was in a TV commercial for a local tire store as a kid but I fail to see what this has to do with anything,"

"Why don't you see for yourself," Seth suggested and slid a red envelope across the table.

Bella picked it up, pulled out its contents and looked down to find herself holding a contact sheet with 36 extraordinarily detailed black and white thumbnail prints of a semi naked male model that held a striking resemblance to a young Edward Cullen.'"

But it couldn't be — no, there was no way…

"Holy stalker Batman ... I mean… um... These are not real, are they?"

"I don't know, you tell me. They don't appear to have been tampered with and according to what the Cullens told the police they might very well be authentic. I believe those photos are the reason why they want to get the FBI involved."

A billion questions swam through Bella's head all at once, but before she could voice any of them the door flung open and a head appeared in the doorway.

"Swan, Clearwater, the Chief want us in his office, now," Newton, the administrative assistant, bellowed in a commanding, but squeaky voice. "Bring the Cullen file with you."

Seth groaned but got to his feet and quickly began gathering the papers they would need to debrief their boss.

Bella felt herself move in jerky movements, her mind still occupied with processing the information she had just been given. Photographs still in hand she turned to Seth and asked, "What do you mean they "MIGHT" be authentic? These are no amateur photos. I'd say they were done in a studio by a professional. Surely Edward must know when and where these were taken."

"He does..." Seth answered, snatching the photos out of her hand. "Kascade Studio, June 2003, but apparently Cullen never knowingly posed for any of them," he added, dragging her unceremoniously towards the door as he spoke. "That's the catch here... They claim he was drugged."

"Drugged?" Bella nearly stumbled as a tidal wave of conflicted emotions hit her. This was a twist she had not expected, although perhaps she should have. FBI Chief Inspector Jason Jenks rarely ever paid personal interest in something as trivial as simple stalker case.

AN: And this is where I leave you until I get some reviews. Let me know what ya think and I'll give you the backstory behind those nude photos.

Disclaimer

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

I do not in any way profit from this story and that all creative rights to the Twilight characters belong to their original creator, Stephenie Meyer.

The plot line though is my own brainchild, so please don't steal it. I worked hard to come up with it! (Really, I did.)