Charlie's POV

I took a gulp of lukewarm coffee as I unlocked the door at the station. It had been nice to take a few days off, but it was time to get back to the grindstone. I flipped on the lights in the reception area and headed into my office, groaning when I saw the stack of papers waiting for me there. What was it with Mark and paperwork?

I chugged the last bit of coffee, tossing the cup into the trash, and sat down, flipping through the mess of accident reports, traffic violations, emergency calls and neighborhood complaints that Mark had left for me to sign. I chuckled when I saw two reports from Animal Control- it looked like the Crowleys' dog was at it again.

After I had autographed everything, I picked up the phone to make my weekly check with the hospital. I knew there was probably a way to do this on the computer, but it was sort of a tradition now. Every Monday morning, I called over to the Emergency Room and got the unofficial lowdown on any interesting cases that had come up there over the weekend. They would have contacted us if there were any real problems, but I liked to keep tabs on who had come in for stitches after a drunken brawl, which women tended to come in with bruises every other week, that sort of thing. Completely illegal, and completely necessary.

I stopped dialing and laid the phone back down. This past week had been a nightmare. Well, just last Tuesday and Wednesday morning, really. I had been so sure that Bella was getting beat up by her boyfriend, and I had taken things a bit too far, it turned out. I chuckled as I looked at the empty chair in front of my desk. It had been gratifying to see Edward squirm as he sat there! I guess it hadn't been really fair of me to push the polygraph test on him. Still, it was too bad we had gotten interrupted. I wondered how Esme was doing after her car accident. I had heard the gossip when I checked in with Mark on Thursday – how the mighty Cullens had actually brought one of their cars to Matt's Garage. I hoped she was all right. Maybe I should have let Bella call her last week. Oh, well. She was going over there tonight, anyway. No doubt she'd be a fixture at their house for the rest of the summer.

Billy's words came back to me. How well did I really know the Cullens? What about all those brothers, and how supervised were Bella and Edward when she was there? Did Carlisle and Esme have any kind of control over their kids?

I shook my head as I picked the phone up again.

"Emergency, clerical."

"Heyyyy Brian."

"Well, look who decided to show up for work!"

"Yeah, yeah. Anything interesting this weekend?"

Brian heaved a sigh, and I heard him flipping through his folders. I had seen his desk once, and it made me feel like a neat freak. "Nah, nothing to write home about. A couple of fender benders, dog bite… oh! We got a panic attack. Woman saw a bear as she was driving by La Push on Saturday night."

"A bear near the rez? That's different."

"I know. Well, that's all I've got. You catch the game Saturday night?"

"Ohhhh yeah. The Mariners got down to business."

"Yeah. 'Course I lost twenty bucks. Well, talk to you later, Charlie."

"Hey, Brian…" I hesitated. I had that funny feeling again. The same feeling I had on Tuesday, like I should go home and check on Bella… "Were you there when Esme Cullen came in last Wednesday?"

"What? She came in to visit Carlisle?"

"No, she was in a car accident Wednesday morning."

"Oh yeah. No, she never came in- I remember when Carlisle got the call, though. He was a mess, ran right out and we didn't see him for a couple of hours."

"What'd he say about it?"

"He said it was fine, that he had checked her for signs of a concussion but that she wasn't hurt too bad. Why?"

"Nothing. Don't you think it's weird that she didn't come in to get checked out?"

He chuckled. "Well, when you're married to a doctor, I guess you don't need to come in."

"I know, but… well, Carlisle strikes me as the overly cautious type. Have you seen how pale his kids are? He must buy sunblock by the gallon."

"You wanna talk to him? His shift is just about to end."

"No… no, that's alright. Catch you later."

I hung up the phone, letting my hand stay on it, fingers tapping. The feeling in my gut was still there, and on a whim, I picked it back up, dialing the number to Matt's Garage.

"Matt's Garage, you crash 'em we fix 'em! How can I help you?"

"Hey Matt, It's Chief Swan. You've been working on Esme Cullen's car?"

He whistled. "You mean the hunk of beautiful Mercedes? They just picked it up on Saturday."

I rolled my eyes. Of course it would be a Mercedes. "That's the one. What kind of damage was there?"

"The lady said she bumped a tree in their yard, while she was looking for something in her purse."

"And did the damage match the story?"

"Yeah, I guess so…"

"What?"

"Well, the story just struck me as a little off. For one thing, Mrs. Cullen doesn't strike me as the type who would accidentally drive into a tree. Another thing, I got a look at the engine, and let me tell you… Dr. Cullen obviously knows his way around in there. You wouldn't believe how beefed up it was. It was sweet. And not just that- every inch of that car was perfect. I don't think I found a speck of dirt in the whole works. It was so perfect it was creepy."

Just like the Cullens. "What's so weird about that?"

"Well, why didn't he just bang it out himself, if he's that good?"

"Maybe he's busy."

"Yeah, right. With three boys to help him? They've lived here for a while now, Chief. I know for a fact they're done all their own maintenance, and you know how many vehicles they got. By now those boys must know enough to open their own garage, and they're not even in school right now. Why would they suddenly need me? Not that I mind. Money's no object to them. Although getting a look under that hood was payment enough." He whistled again.

"Thanks, Matt. That's all for now."

"See ya, Chief."

As I hung up, I heard the front door open, and the familiar chatter between Mark and Doris wafted in through the doorway.

"Morning, Charlie! Back from the dead, eh?"

"Hey, Mark. Can you come in here for a minute?"

He sauntered in and slumped in the chair in front of me. "Hey, boss. What's up?"

"What do you think of the Cullens?"

He shrugged. "Nobody knows much about them. You probably know more than anyone, what with your daughter and all."

I shifted in my seat uncomfortably. If I knew more than anybody, and I knew next to nothing…

Mark was grinning. "Heard about your little fun with the Cullen kid last week. Did you ever get the polygraph on him?"

I narrowed my eyes. "How did you know about that?"

He waved his hand in the air dismissively. "Small town, small office. Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to report you. You've served this town for a long time, Charlie. If you want to do a little work under the radar to check out your daughter's boyfriend, nobody's going to say anything. I'll help, if you want. That restraining order was the most fun I've had all year."

"Why?"

"Well, for starters, I finally got to see the Cullen house… mansion is more like it. And the yard was spotless… everything was so perfect, it was creepy."

I frowned. There was that phrase again.

"Except for the broken down door, of course. Anyway, those kids are so perfect it was fun to see a little action over at their place."

"Broken door?"

"Yeah, the front door was smashed in – the frame was ripped right out of the wall. Looked like a wrecking ball hit it. I thought for sure they'd want to report the robbery, but Dr. Cullen didn't seem to want to make a fuss over it. They're so rich, I guess it's no big deal."

"Huh."

"So, can I help?"

"Help with what?"

He grinned. "Investigating the kid."

I felt my face growing red. "I'm not investigating anyone. I just got a little carried away the other day, is all. Anyway, I'm getting the restraining order lifted this morning."

Mark pulled himself to his feet. "Suit yourself. If it was my daughter, I don't know if I'd be so forgiving. Are you sure the kid's not hurting her?"

"Yeah."

"All right." He turned to go, but turned around. "Because I could do a little digging if you want…"

I looked up at him. "What kind of digging?"

He held up his hands innocently. "I don't mean get the FBI involved. Just school records, traffic violations, that sort of thing. You don't have to call out the big guns to get dirt on someone. Come on, Charlie, I'm bored."

"Well… if you think it wouldn't raise any eyebrows…"

He just smiled and headed out the door, shutting it behind him.

I put it out of my mind and called the county judge's office to lift the restraining order. No use dwelling on it. Mark wouldn't find anything, I was sure. Edward's record was probably just like everything else Cullen – so perfect it's creepy.

.

.

.

I was finishing up a late lunch – Bella had packed me some leftover stroganoff- when Mark came back in. He tossed a heavy folder on my desk, where it landed with a thud.

"What's this?"

"Have a look."

I flipped through the stack of papers inside- there were school transcripts, immunization records, property tax payments, change of address forms, professional references, and files from at least three different adoption agencies.

"Geez, Mark, I didn't think you meant the whole family!" I kept flipping through the folder. Esme's Alaska driver's license… A letter from Jasper's sixth grade science teacher praising his science fair project…

"Don't you ever watch Criminal Minds?"

"You really are bored, aren't you?"

He headed out the door. "If you had gotten them to lower the speed limit last year like I asked, I wouldn't be so bored. You're welcome," he called out over his shoulder.

Well, now I just felt embarrassed. I shut the folder and shoved it into my lowest desk drawer. I hadn't planned on stalking anyone. I would just have to take pride in the fact that I had ruined Edward's perfect record.

.

.

.

I was closing up shop around four, when I realized I hadn't told Bella yet that the restraining order was officially lifted. I called home, getting suspicious by the fourth ring- but then she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Bells."

"Hi, Dad! How's work today? Did Mark leave you a pile of paperwork to sign?"

I chuckled into the phone. It felt so good to have someone at home who cared about me, so different. Good different. "Yeah, I'm probably gonna stay late tonight and catch up, since you won't be around. You heading over there soon?"

"Edward's picking me up in a few minutes. I mean, Jasper's bringing Edward, since Edward's grounded from driving. Um, that's okay, right?"

"Yeah, I actually called to tell you it was official. Just remember what I said about your other friends." Why couldn't she date a normal guy, one who didn't want to be around his girlfriend 24/7?

"Cool. Thanks, Dad. I'll see you tonight."

"Okay, love you."

"You too."

As I hung up, I had that funny feeling again- maybe the stroganoff wasn't agreeing with me. I popped a couple of antacids and wondered why I had told Bella I was going to work late- I hadn't planned on it until the words had come out of my mouth. Mark and Doris would be heading home in an hour… it would be nice to catch up on some paperwork once I had some quiet. Maybe I could swing by the diner and bring something back here. My desk was where I liked to think. I wasn't the kind of man to stay awake thinking at night- this was it. And with nobody here… I pulled open the lower drawer and peeked at the folder Mark had compiled. Maybe later I could make a couple of calls, just to settle the feeling in my stomach. Well, maybe not. A man couldn't think on an empty stomach, anyway. I pushed away from my desk and headed out to the diner to get some carry-out.

A/N: I have a question for the next chapter. Did we ever find out what the cover story was about Edward's adoption? Mainly age and reason his parents had died. And how about for any of the others? (Also is there a certain forum on FF to ask these kind of canon-y questions?)