AN: Hello my lovelies and fellow fic readers. I have another chapter for you to read and hopefully enjoy.

Someone (ssssa) pointed out a small glitch in the storyline. In an early chapter I mentioned that Bella was sent away over the summer to stay with Renee. In the last chapter though there was no mention of that.

The answer is simple. Bella did go to see her mother, but she wasn't away from Forks for the entire summer because then she wouldn't have had time to date Jake ;)

I have had to tweak my original idea for this fic a bit to make it work. I rewrote the last chapter several times before posting it. In the version I ended up sticking with (but obviously didn't explain very well, sorry) Charlie caught Bella and Edward in the act, had a little bit of a mental breakdown where he put his daughter in 'house arrest' and kept her home from school for the remaining 1-3 weeks of the semester. During this time E does try to call and stop by the house, but Chief Swan makes sure to keep the two teenagers separated.

Jake picks up and drops off the schoolwork/assignments that is left to complete. He is the only one of Bella's friends still allowed inside the house… It's through him Bella finds out about Edward going to the senior prom with Vera.

Once summer break starts Bella is sent off to visit Renee. She was suppose to go there anyway, but instead of two weeks she is there for the double amount of time. When Bella gets back to Forks Edward is nowhere to be found. She also comes back to a house with no electricity… Jake sweaps in to save the day... and there you have it...

Which brings me to another question I've recieved (from HeathersTwilight)… Did bella merry Jake for real or as a favor/repayment of a debt? They got married years later, so it was the real deal. Bella loved him, but was never in love with him. Her heart wasn't in it, but she thought could make it work anyway.

Now on to the story...

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Chapter 19 - #119 – In the wake of a breakthrough

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#119

No relationship is too sacred

and no creature is too innocent to be spared.

All beauty must die,

all bloody and wild.

Note #119 was scribbled on the first page of the notebook in witch Edward kept his unfinished compositions. The notebook was found tucked underneath the sleeping form of baby Elliott. Thankfully both the child and the notebook was unscathed, save for a few pages of sheet music that had been torn out. The missing pages were later found half burned in a garbage bin.

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Junior field agent Seth Clearwater was sitting alone in an unmarked car parked in a dark corner of an otherwise deserted street. Bella knocked on the window and watched him turn around in the driver's seat with a startledlook on his face.

"Stakeout takeout," she greeted him in a low voice as she slid into the car. "Don't look so surprised I told you I'd bring you food, didn't I?"

"It's two o'clock in the morning. I didn't think you were serious," Seth said and swooped the paper bag out of her arms. "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse and chase the rider."

"Sorry, you'll have to settle for a big fat trusty burger."

"You're my favorite person right now. Great initiative Swan! "

"You're welcome. I needed a break from the madhouse for a while…Besides I'm curious to see what my Italian neighbor has been up to," Bella explained, while grabbing Seth's camera out of the bag situated on top of the handbrake.

"He's is in the bar, forth window to the right…" Seth pointed with a fry dangling between his fingers like a deep-fried cigarette."Hey, wait if you're here then who's back at the house supervising Cullen and his slumber party?"

"Jenks has added two more agents into the rotation, so they should be fine without me for an hour or two."

"Alright, but if you came her for entertainment I'll have to disappoint you."

"Still nothing suspect from our suspect, huh?," Bella commented with a frown. "Alec really is a dead ringer for his uncle Aro, though, isn't he. All the Volturis share the same bone and facial characteristics."

"Yet you still claim the Cullen's are genuinely unaware of his true identity? I find that hard to believe. Don't they run security checks on their tenants before they let them move in?"

"They know him as Sandro Scocco, a 19 year-old Brooklyn-native college student. There is no way Carlisle would let any members of the Volturis anywhere near his family, there is too much bad blood there."

"Right, some malpractice coverup twenty something years ago... I've read about that in the file."

"In that case you're probably aware that it was quite the scandal back in the day."

"Yes, but do we really think the Cullen stalker is somehow connected with the Volturi's?"

"The chief seems to think so. It's certainly a possibility that we need to look into, but personally I think this whole stalker approach is a bit too juvenile for someone like Aro Volturi."

"I agree. I've been watching this kid for five days now. He's clean, or as clean as someone supplying half the neighborhood with dope can be."

"His drug dealing side-business might actually be his best alibi. He doesn't have time to stalk anyone. His sister on the other hand… I know she has not been seen anywhere near the building and the Cullens, but Jane Volturi or Janet Scocco, as she calls herself these days, is a perfect fit as far as the profile is concerned."

"Right, if you're interested in Jane, you sure you picked the right night to join me. The girl in question is in fact the one waiting the tables tonight ," Seth nodded his head in the direction of the bar across the street. "She's the blond, short one with the green shirt."

"Really? You mean she actually works here?," Bella questioned, raising the camera once more. "This is news to me."

"Yep, I was just as surprised as you are when I first recognized her. It appears to be a very sporadic arrangement, though. From what I've gathered, she only ever works here during baseball season."

"Oookay… and Edward only frequents this bar because this is where Emmett likes to watch the Mets' games. Coincidence much? I don't think so…"

Seth grinned at that. "It certainly sounds like Jane only works on nights she knows both the Cullen brothers are likely to make an appearance," he suggested with a quirk of his eyebrows. " On second thought, though, it could very well be the other way around. Think about it. Maybe Cullen is the one timing his appearances to coincide with the Mets games because he knows that's the only nights our sweet Jane here is likely to be tending the bar."

"Right, he seems to have a thing for blondes these days, so it wouldn't surprise me." It was meant as a quip, but Bella couldn't quite hide the bitterness in her voice.

Seth's grin only grew wider. "You still haven't gotten around to question Cullen about his black book of conquests, have you?"

"I've tried, but it's a sensitive subject. I've only gotten two names out of him so far; Kate Denali, a 25 year old, bottle blond marine biologist currently stationed in Alaska and … surprise, surprise… Tanya Denali, Kate's equally blond younger sister."

Seth let out a low whistle. "Tanya, the ditsy blond from second floor?"

"That would be the one. According to Alice there has also been a Chelsea, an Amber and a Charlotte passing through the door to his bedroom."

"… and probably a few others that his sister never had the pleasure of meeting."

"Yes, probably… . Alice says he was quite wild during his first two years in college, but that he calmed down considerable after his disastrous stint in the modeling business."

"I'm sure that put a damper on things. What about before he came to New York? Before college? I bet he was quite the Casanova in high school. The rich popular kid with the fancy house and the flashy car."

"He drove a Volvo. I wouldn't exactly call that flashy, but sure, him and Emmett had quite the reputation back in the days. His brother was the homecoming king, the jock, the larger-than-life athlete, so cool even the freaks liked him. Edward was more of a rebel and a badass, with more traffic violations than the rest of Forks high schoolers put together. The only thing he ever really cared about was his music and his stupid car."

"I keep forgetting you went to school with these kids," Seth groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Wait, you dated him, didn't you? You're one of Cullen's high school conquests. That's why the two of you dance around each other like two dogs in heat."

"We do no such thing!" Bella protested, rolling her eyes at him. "We dated for like half a second when I was seventeen, but that's ancient history."

"Aha, I knew it!," he laughed. "I bet he was your prom date. I bet the two of you did all sorts of kinky things in the backseat of that Volvo."

"I hate to disappoint you, but Jake was my prom date, you remember Jake right, my late husband. He drove a red Volkswagen Rabbit the size of a shoebox. I can assure you nothing much ever happened in that backseat of that car"

"That's just sad. Your high school experience is not complete unless you ge-…Ouch!."

"Watch your tongue!," Bella laughed giving him a not so gentle dig in the ribs.

Just then, her phone rang, and she answered it still laughing. The smile on her face faded almost immediately when she heard what the caller had to say.

"What? When was this?"

"… …. …"

"Are you sure, Yorkie? Did you actually see her prep it?"

"…."

"I'm not sure that will hold in court, but it's good enough for me."

"…. … "

"No, don't do anything. Get the cup and samples of beverage to the lab. I'll be there in ten minutes."

Seth had already turned the ignition and started the car before Bella had finished the call. He didn't need her to tell him what was going on. He knew the importance of the phone call. He knew which one of the tenants in the building Eric Yorkie had been assigned to shadow. He knew from agent Swan's body language alone that this was the breakthrough they had been waiting for.

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The days that followed were devoted to secret preparations for an arrest. Secret, because even tough they had enough evidence to move forward, they still held back in hope of catching the stalker red handed.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the McCarty/Cullen building remained tense. Edward barely spoke to Bella unless it was absolutely necessary. He made a point out of avoiding her, which was understandable given the circumstances. Understandable but quite annoying.

It had been a tough few days. Bella sighed and stared into her empty glass, wondering if she could call Seth and talk him into covering for her so she could take the rest of the night off. She was tired and her head was pounding worse than the music from the nearby dance floor. Leaving early, though, meant she might miss out on the action in the event this was the night the stalker made her next move.

It was Thursday and the boys had just finished yet another performance at the club. These days they rarely ever stayed longer than half an hour or so afterwards before leaving the bar and returning to the safety of their home base. This Thursday was different though, different because Edward appeared to be mad determined to get himself shit-faced drunk.

Bella wasn't too sure about the details, but apparently one of his compositions had been picked up to be used during the opening credits of some highly popular TV-show and now he was celebrating by slugging down Rum and RC Cola cocktails like there was no tomorrow. The combination of alcohol and post gig adrenaline was making him hyper in a bouncingly talkative sort of way.

At the moment he was off somewhere chatting up a storm with anyone who would listen. If Bella strained her neck she could see a mop of bronze colored hair in the middle of a cluster of people. Jasper was there too, trying to keep his friend out of trouble.

No wait a minute, Jasper was over by the bar, getting another drink for himself - no, getting Edward another drink. Damn.

"Didn't we say we were gonna cut him off after the last one?"

Alice leaned forward across the table, looking where Bella was pointing. "Yeah, but I think we forgot to tell Jasper."

"I think our problem just got worse. Look, he's heading for the dance floor again…"

Alice nudged Bella's shoulder. "I think this is your cue."

"My what? "

"Your cue to step in. Come on, go dance with the boy before he makes a fool of himself and starts dancing on the tables."

"I never dance sober," Bella whined. "He's your brother, you go. He'll respond better to you anyway."

"That's not what I think. I think he'd much rather dance with you." Alice said leaning in closer. "I can tell the two of you still have this,'thing', this…. well, you know what I mean… It's apparent whenever you're in the same room."

Bella blinked slowly. "What thing?"

Alice smiled. "…a spark"

"Alice," Bella shook her head. "No."

"Yes," Alice said stubbornly. "Listen, you can't tell me that you don't think about him that way anymore. I'm not buying that."

"Um," Bella said, trying to find the right words. "I… That's between him and m-…"

"I knew it!" Alice cut her off. "Come on, one dance wont kill anybody."

Bella sighed and leaned back in her seat for a moment. "Okay fine, but you owe me," she said.

Alice just laughed. "Oh, lord, here comes the Robot dance. Get out there. Grab him before someone else does."

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Outwardly, she was picture of perfect calm detachment as she wove her way through the bodies crowding the dance floor, but on the inside her nerves were racing. Dancing was just something she had never been any good at. Too many people in one spot, too many limbs to keep track of all at once.

Edward jumped and spun around as Bella tried to slid in unnoticed behind him. She got the satisfaction of seeing him twitch with surprise as he recognized her, but he recovered quickly.

"B, you're not dancing," he half-mouthed, half-screamed and did something with his arms over his head that made Bella think of a bizarre backwards version of the 90's Macarena. She couldn't help but laugh at his drunken antics. She copied the move, and then they were dancing. Moving to the music, they goofed around like a couple of carefree teenagers.

The next few songs passed in a blur until the music slowed down, and the floor got so crowded they were pushed even closer together. Bella hung her arms, loosely, around his neck and swayed from side-to-side with her hips. Edward's hands were roaming her back, as he swayed along to the music with her.

Suddenly Bella realized that her pounding headache had been replaced by a much more pleasant kind of ache.

Alice had called it 'a spark' and Edward had referred to it as attraction, but Bella had no illusions, she knew what it was, it was raw and pure NEED and it stemmed from years and years of repressed desires and sexual frustration.

Thank God that the end was near, thank God that they were (hopefully) mere days away from an arrest because Bella was smart enough to realize that she was not strong enough to resist much longer.

When had she turned from a rational intelligent thinking person into this bundle of primal urges and fierce wants?

She needed to keep it together. She had a job to do, and she would see it through till the end. She couldn't afford to slip up, not now, not with him. Something like that would be a sure recipe for disaster. Bella knew all this, yet when Edward fired off one of his most charming smiles, leaned into her and whispered 'Let's get out of here' all she could do was nod and hold on tightly as he took her hand and started searing them away from the crowded dance floor.

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AN2: So how was that for a cliff hanger? This chapter was sort of "two for the price of one" - the stalker finally slip up and so does Special agent Swan.