I do not own the Twilight story or any of its characters or settings.

I just like messing with Stephenie Meyer's characters in my own plots!

A Short List

"Emmett, are you sure you and Rosalie are up to doing this?" Esme asked her niece's husband. "She just lost a baby less than 48 hours ago. Then, she had to have another surgery to stop the bleeding last night. I worry about the stress on her body as well as her mind."

Emmett stopped on his way out of Alice's hospital room. "Aunt Esme, you know as well as I do that not being in here with her family will do more harm than good. She will just sit in her room worrying herself to exhaustion alone. Moving her up here will keep her from jumping out of her bed and pacing. I hope."

"I hope so too, Emmett. I am afraid that Rosalie might have too much Cullen blood in her from my sister though." Carlisle said slamming his hands on the arms of his wheelchair placed low near his useless thighs. "I know if I could I would be pacing."

Emmett nodded his head in agreement and left with a nervous chuckle.

A few moments later, Rosalie was wheeled in sitting uncomfortably in a wheelchair with her husband by her side. Her long, wavy blonde hair was still up in the limp, messy bun that a nurse put it in before the 1 am second emergency surgery. Her normally glowing pale cream skin had turned ashen and pasty over the past couple of nights from the trauma and loss of blood. Emmett and a nurse moved her from the wheelchair to the hospital bed beside Alice's bed.

Once the extended family had experienced a short time to grieve over Rosalie and Emmett's loss, Jasper walked cautiously into the room. He was closely followed by Sheriff Billy Black and Deputy Jacob Black.

"Rosalie, I am sorry for your pain." He said before nodding to Emmett, who seemed to barely be holding on by a thin thread. "I hate to do this now, but the faster it is done the faster we can keep your family safe."

"Jasper, Jacob, and I have been discussing Alice's attack, the fire in the woods, and the car accident for the past several hours." Sherriff Billy Black started explaining. "Rosalie, you told Jasper and Emmett your view of what happened. Do you have anything else to add?"

She shook her head no as she pulled her husband into her bed beside her. He pulled her close and kissed her forehead.

"Carlisle, did you see anyone, with the exception of Edward Masen, near you when you got hurt during that fire?" The deputy asked bluntly.

"You can't be accusing Edward, can you?" Carlisle questioned loudly. He began rolling his wheelchair toward the young man. "He is the one that saved me. He pulled me out of the fire."

The hot-tempered deputy shot back. "We have to look at everyone. The only people that completely cleared of all of this are in this room and your friends next door. This is your family's lives we are talking about, Carlisle."

"That is enough, Jacob." His father said firmly in his calm voice. "The truth is Edward is very low on the list. He is the last name on the list to be exact. He is only on the list because of his proximity to Carlisle in the fire."

A short silence filled the hospital room, Rosalie broke the silence. "Who else is on the top of your list? Who else do you think is doing this to our family?"

Sherriff Black nodded to Rosalie, acknowledging her questions while not answering them. "Alice, you were attacked in Seattle."

"That is right, but the Seattle Police caught that guy. I didn't even know that just happened to have the same last name as me, Lyle Cullen. He became obsessed with me after accidently getting some of my mail. I have never even seen what he looked like before or during the attack. Then, I didn't see him when I gave my testimony on Skype while I was still in the hospital. Why?"

"Do you know that Lyle Cullen has been out of his psychiatric facility for five months?" Deputy Black asked knowing the negative answer the family would give.

Emmett piped up. "What the hell? Why weren't we informed? Rosalie was injured in that attack as well."

"I don't know why you weren't informed. I just found out myself when I called to confirm his placement. Jasper had the idea to check on him." The sheriff explained. "The doctors there believe that with mandatory, weekly, state paid for, counseling sessions Lyle can be a responsible citizen. Unfortunately, he only showed up for three sessions before disappearing."

"So, not only was he released, but he is now on the run?" Carlisle shouted in pure frustration. "I can't believe you people!"

Esme spoke from her position on Alice's bed. "Does anybody have a clue as to where this Lyle is at?"

Sherriff Black replied warily, "He has family in Florida and Arizona. Charlie Swan up in Forks is checking with the authorities in those areas. We are not holding out much hope of him being with family though."

Jasper snapped him gaze away from Alice's. "Why don't you think he is with family? You told me that looking in those places is a good lead."

The older man sighed. "His family never came to any of his court days or the trial. They never visited him. By all accounts, they haven't spoken in years."

Deputy Black jumped in to add. "Plus, he is a slippery character. He evaded arrest for almost a week after his attack on Alice."

"There is something you are not telling us." Alice said so quietly that she was barely heard by her mother in bed with her.

"What did you say, Alice?" Jasper asked crossing to her bed and squatting down next to it.

Alice huffed and spoke louder, "He is keeping something from us. There is something important that he knows, but isn't saying."

The entire room turned to look at the Sherriff, including his son. "How did you know?"

"The Seattle police tried to keep things from me when I was attacked. I have learned the face most police officers make when they are trying to give you the run around."

"You are right, Alice, maybe you should have been a detective."

"Stop stalling, Black." Jasper said as he absent-mindedly placed his hand over Alice's hand that was resting on the bed next to her thigh.

"Lyle has changed his appearance. His long black hair has been stripped of its color and cut off." Everyone's questioning face prompted the Sherriff to explain further. "When the probation officer went looking for him, they found some of his hair in the apartment's bathroom sink. They, also, found a contact lens container with brown color contacts in it."

Just then, a knocked came from the hospital room door before a male nurse with bleach, blonde short hair poked his head in. "I need to check Miss Cullen's dressings soon. Would now be a good time?"

Alice's hand flipped over and gripped Jasper's tightly. After glancing at her, Jasper said, "Give us a minute or two. Someone will come down and let a nurse know when Miss Cullen is available."

Once the nurse left, the deputy spoke. "We know this will be difficult, but we need you to help us. Please don't go anywhere alone. Also, if you think of anyone else that needs to be checked out, do not hesitate to call us."

"We should be getting back to the station." The Sherriff added before following his son out of the room. "Get some rest. I will be back with an update tomorrow morning."

Rosalie spoke into the silence that followed the police departure. "Did it sound like the list consists of anyone besides Lyle Cullen and Edward Masen to anyone else?'

Author's Note~

This story has a couple of more twists in it. Hold on because all will be explained in the end.

Sorry, it has been a while in between chapters lately. I got side-tracked with another plot that would not get out of my head.

Like it, love it, hate it , Review please!

KaliCali77