A/N: I'm so thankful for all the reviews! I'm relatively new to writing, and it's so gratifying and helpful when people respond like you all have. As a little thank you, you guys get to vote which POV the next chapter will be in; see the note at the end of this one.

BPOV

"Okay, I'm really confused," I admitted as he began pulling me toward the house. "What's so bad about Alice's cell phone ringing?"

"Not her phone," he answered miserably. "The Phone."

"Okay…?"

He sighed, placing his hand on my lower back to hurry me along. "Jasper is in charge of the risk management for our family. He has something of a background in military strategy, but he's an expert hacker, and he's also our contact to certain… useful people. But his crowning achievement is the Phone. All of us, especially Carlisle, need to have viable records in order to participate in human life – references from former employers, school transcripts, things like that. Are you following me so far?"

I nodded, my head swimming.

"In this modern era, it's no longer enough to have falsified histories on paper. The advent of the internet has made things a lot more complicated. Also, security is higher now, and people call references more than they used to. So, Jasper created the Phone- it's a central hub for dozens of false phone numbers that we give with our background. Each number has the correct area code for the location it represents, but all the numbers connect back to the Phone. When it rings, the screen tells us not only who's calling, but also which number they're calling, and what organization they think they're contacting. You'll see what I mean."

We were upstairs by now, and he pulled me into Alice and Jasper's room. Everyone was crowded around Jasper's closet, and it looked like he had just finished throwing all of his clothes, shoes and other junk onto their bed. He was kneeling inside the closet, working at superspeed to remove some bolts in the wall. I didn't see why; the wallboard seemed solid. But when he had finished, he reached up and a wooden panel appeared in his hands, revealing a secret compartment in the back of the closet. He reached in and wheeled out a little cart, on which was one of those fancy phones that you see in the school office – only this one appeared to be digital, and had a huge touch screen on top of it. The phone itself was plugged into a laptop which rested just underneath it.

"I don't get it," I whispered to Edward. "Isn't the point of having a phone to be accessible?"

"It needs to be well hidden," he explained. "Also, it hasn't rung since we first moved here. Once the school and the hospital had made the calls they felt were necessary, we put it away… leaving it on, of course. It's always set to forward to Jasper's cell, in case Alice wasn't able to warn us ahead of time."

"Of course," I repeated stupidly.

Rosalie whipped her head around to face us, her eyes dark and fierce. "Quiet! It's bad enough she knows about it. The stupid thing wouldn't even be ringing if it weren't for her!"

"What did I do now?" I moaned.

"Quiet!" Rosalie hissed again, and the Phone rang.

Jasper turned around. "Rosalie, it's one of yours."

She let out a long-suffering sigh and stomped over to get the phone, taking a brief second to read the screen first. I peeked at the caller ID, and my stomach did a full back flip; it was Charlie's number at the police station.

Rosalie shot me one last glare and picked up the phone. "Bright Future Adoption Agency, may I help you?"

I stared at her, unable to believe what I was hearing. Rosalie's voice, and even her face, had totally transformed. She sounded sweet, maternal even, and her voice itself had dropped half an octave.

"Yes, I'm looking for a Sharon Wells?" I jumped as Charlie's voice came out on speakerphone.

"This is she."

"Hello Sharon, this is Charles Swan, Chief of Police in Forks, Washington. I'm doing a background check on one of our local teens, and I understand his parents, Carlisle and Esme Cullen, adopted him through your agency back in 1995… his birth name was Edward Masen."

"Oh!" Rosalie cried in a syrupy voice. "Of course I remember Eddie Masen. I was his case manager for the two years that he was in foster care. He was one of the few children we worked with who wasn't constantly in trouble."

"I'm not surprised," Charlie muttered.

"Oh, I hope he's not in any trouble now! The family we found for him was so sweet- it was one of those placements where you just know you've found the right home."

"No, he's not in trouble- not yet anyway." I could tell Charlie was talking through his teeth. "I wonder if you could tell me just a bit about his history- you know, personality issues, drugs, stuff like that."

I could hear a growl rumbling quietly in Edward's chest. I laid my hand on his and squeezed it.

Rosalie laughed – not anywhere near the angelic sound I'd heard a few times, but a throaty, earthy chuckle. "Drugs? Well, Eddie was seven years old at the time."

"No, I mean was he a crack baby, or was he ever in traumatic foster care situations, stuff like that."

"Oh, silly me! Well, for starters, Eddie was born into a happy family – no issues that that we ever discovered. His parents were killed in a car crash when he was in Kindergarten. There were no living relatives that we could get a hold of. And his foster care went quite smoothly- I would say the only trauma that we could see was that of losing his parents. He was old enough to understand, and like many children in Eddie's situation, he suddenly became very shy and sensitive. I remember he used to have this purple dinosaur doll..."

Emmett was cracking up now- silently, of course – and Carlisle was shaking his head sternly at Rosalie. "Well, anyway," she continued, "It was certainly an emotional shock to him. But I would say he handled it as well as could be expected. He was still able to form a few friendships, and he didn't have any kind of temper or behavioral issues. If anything, he was too quiet, and that's why we did a bit of counseling. He didn't need much, though."

"Any history of abuse?"

"No. He was only with two foster families, and they both had excellent track records. So, how is Eddie doing? I bet he's a handsome young man by now."

"Oh, I don't really know him. I'm just doing the check as a favor for the local YMCA. They're hiring him as a camp counselor and some of our local kids have special needs, so we try to be very careful with the staff that deal with them."

I raised my eyebrows. Apparently the Cullens weren't the only ones who could lie their way through a cover story.

"Of course. Well, I can't say I've kept up with Eddie or the family that took him, but based on his early development, I can give a glowing recommendation. We strongly believe that most of a child's personality is formed at a very young age."

"Okay, I'll pass that along. Thanks, Sharon."

"Bye-bye."

Rosalie gently hung up the phone. "Well done, sweetie," Esme said. "You haven't had to do that one in a while."

"Very decent of you, Rosalie," Edward said, and she nodded delicately. I felt like applauding and crying all at once – her performance was so convincing, I had actually gotten tears in my eyes.

But before any of us could relax, the Phone rang again.

"It's for the hospital in Fairbanks," Alice said, her eyes staring not at the screen, but off into space.

"Jasper will handle this one," Edward whispered to me.

Jasper waited for two rings and then picked it up, beckoning for Carlisle to come stand next to him.

"Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, Human Resources Department," he said calmly. "Scott Fallston speaking." His voice had changed, just like Rosalie's had- the slight southern drawl was gone, to be replaced by a Native American accent – it reminded me of how some of the older men in La Push spoke. In fact, Jasper sounded old – his voice was scratchy and tired-sounding.

"Mr. Fallston, this is Charles Swan, Chief of Police in Forks, Washington. I'm performing a background check for a doctor who'll be starting at our local hospital soon, and he listed your hospital as a previous employer."

Liar, liar, Emmett mouthed at me, and Rosalie smacked him silently. I wanted to smack him, too. How could he possibly think this was funny?

"I'll be happy to help," said Jasper, sounding bored. "Name?"

"Carlisle Cullen."

"One moment, please."

Jasper picked up a binder that was laying next to the laptop, and rattled the pages for a few moments – enough for me to see that they were all blank, and I started to feel dizzy. Not only had I just found out that one of my best friends was turning into a werewolf- now I find out that Jasper had been hiding top-secret devices in his closet, complete with a blank notebook of paper for the sole purpose of rattling it, to give the impression that he was looking through files in an office two thousand miles away.

"Maybe you should sit down," suggested Edward, and I sank down on the bed, gripping the edge to hold myself upright.

"Yeah, I remember Dr. Cullen," Jasper continued into the phone, and Carlisle began whispering in Jasper's ear: feeding him his lines, presumably. "One of the brightest young doctors we've ever had up here. Spent most of his time in Emergency, I think –ah, here we go. Carlisle Cullen, MD, born November 8, 1972. Employed October 1998 to April 2003. Duties in Emergency Department, ICU and Thoracic Surgery. Wife, Esme Cullen. Three children, all middle school age..."

"Three?" I whispered to Edward.

He leaned in to whisper back. "Rosalie and Jasper are foster kids this time around, remember? It usually helps with the cover story being accepted if we don't all hit the scene at once. Anyway, it wouldn't have made sense for Carlisle and Esme to have brought foster children from out of state."

I nodded, my head swimming again. Jasper was still rattling off "facts" about Carlisle, loudly turning the pages of the binder as he spoke.

"...Negative drug test, no disciplinary notes in the file. Anything special you're looking for?"

"No, that's good, thanks."

"Any documents you'd like us to fax to you?"

"Nah. Thanks for your help- have a good day."

Jasper hung up, and everyone looked at Alice expectantly.

"He's calling the Fairbanks DMV now," she said. "He's verifying Esme's old driver's license number."

"Who's going to this one?" I asked.

Jasper smiled. "That one's real. We only provide false numbers when absolutely necessary. It's a piece of cake to add a file on the DMV's central server, or to add and delete names off a school alumni register. The hard part is the personal references, like the two we just handled."

"So you just made up the adoption agency, and the hospital?"

"No, that would be unwise," Carlisle said. "We used to do that more often, but it's too risky now. It would be much too easy for someone like Charlie to search online for an adoption agency, if he wanted any details, and he would discover that it didn't exist. No, whenever possible we use real organizations. Only the contact information is false. Nobody is going to go online to look up a phone number when it's given to them already."

Jasper nodded. "Also, most of the numbers we give have a three-digit extension for the person to dial in order to reach the right office. Seeing the extension makes even a curious person unwilling to call a more generic number, when they think they might end up having to navigate a series of menus."

"But there are real records to be found, as well," Carlisle added. "This is one way that the internet makes our deception easier. If someone were to call the real number for Bright Future Adoption Agency, for example, they would find a complete file on Edward's adoption back in 1994. Since most organizations store their records electronically these days, all Jasper has to do is hack into their databases and change the dates each time we move."

"Wow," I breathed, staring at Jasper with new respect. "How did you come up with all of this?"

"Well, I do have some unique insights into human nature." He winked. "And I've studied anthropology, computer science, and sociology at various schools we've been to. Also, I am associated with some people who do these kinds of things for a living. You pick up the tricks of the trade after a few decades."

"Jasper and Rosalie handle most of the calls," Emmett put in. "It's one of the reasons they like to pose as the quiet Hale twins- so that their voices are the least recognizable." It seemed odd for Emmett to join such a serious conversation- he usually had some sort of wisecrack coming or going. I wondered how many college degrees he had.

"All right, it looks like Charlie's done," Alice announced, and everyone echoed her sigh of relief.

Edward put his arm around my shoulders and gently drew me closer. "That must have been overwhelming for you," he sighed.

Rosalie rolled her eyes, and opened her mouth to speak.

"You can keep that to yourself," Edward snapped, and she pursed her lips delicately.

"Oh, come on!" Alice growled suddenly, stamping her foot.

"Now what?" Carlisle asked, frowning.

"Charlie is driving me crazy! I've never seen anyone so unsure of their own mind," she complained. "He's reading through a folder full of our records. I keep seeing him calling different numbers, then he decides not to. It's very annoying."

"What kind of records, other than the three we know about?" asked Jasper.

"Immunization records, school transcripts, tax documents… nothing we can't handle. Oh, Jazz, there's your science fair letter!"

"Alice, I don't mean to criticize," said Esme gently, "But how could Charlie have gotten all this together without you seeing it? I know you've been working hard to watch him all week."

"Well, not hard enough, apparently," Alice growled, shutting her eyes again. "I've been checking in an average of twice an hour. He made a couple of calls this morning, but they weren't a big deal. There's no way he could have done all this in the past week with me seeing… wait, on the Forks High transcripts there's a print date. It was printed today."

"Well, someone else must have been making decisions. Do you think a werewolf might be involved?" asked Edward.

"No, I would have seen that. Or rather, not seen it, if you know what I mean."

Carlisle frowned, sharing a glance with Edward. "Regardless of who is helping Charlie, Billy Black is partly to blame for Charlie's interest. But that's not going to be a problem anymore. We had a little talk this morning, and he agreed not to say anything else to Charlie."

"How did you ask him about it, without revealing Edward's talent?" I asked.

"I told him that you had told us about his comments when you visited his house Saturday night. I told him that it had upset you. I hope you don't mind my presumption, Bella. It seemed to be our only option."

"No, it's okay. I'm glad to… help, I guess."

We all fell silent for a few minutes, while Alice read along with Charlie. It was like being alone in a room full of statues- I could hear my breathing echo like I was in a museum.

"Jasper," suggested Carlisle after a while, "Maybe you should head down to the Police Station and-"

"No, it's going to be alright. He's closing the folder now," Alice interrupted. "He's putting it in a drawer in his desk… I don't see anything untoward happening tonight, or tomorrow morning."

Jasper disconnected the laptop from the phone and zipped over to the bed. He sat on it cross-legged and began typing, his fingers a blur over the keyboard. "It's a good sign that he only called a few of the numbers," he said as he worked. "It means he's really not that suspicious. I'll go back with Bella and Edward tonight, just to get a feel for where his emotions are."

"We'll call you with anything we learn later," Edward said to Carlisle.

"Well, we better get going then," I said. "The Mariners are playing again tonight, and neither of you are going to get much once the game starts."

Edward suddenly tensed beside me. "Let's go downstairs, Bella," he said quickly, pulling me to my feet. "I'm sure you don't want to watch Alice reorganize Jasper's closet."

"I'll be ready in three minutes," Jasper murmured from the bed.

As we left the room, I looked back to say goodbye to everyone. My eyes were drawn to Esme's face- she was staring at me with a strange expression, but it disappeared as soon as we made eye contact. "Goodnight, Bella. I know it ended on a stressful note, but I hope you enjoyed yourself."

I went back in to give her a hug. "I always do, Esme. You all made this night so special- especially you, Emmett," I grinned over to the vampire who treated me like a little sister. "I'd like to try volleyball again next time."

Emmett was unusually solemn as he nodded back to me.

"Bella," Edward called from the hallway. "Let's go." He sounded anxious, so I hurried out to meet him.

"What?" I whispered, but he just took my hand and pulled me toward the stairs.

.

.

.

I turned to Edward as soon as he got in the car. "What was the matter back there?" I demanded. "You practically pushed me out the door."

"I'm sorry," he said absently, staring ahead at nothing. "It's just that I thought Charlie was done being suspicious."

I watched his face as we sat in silence. When he winced suddenly for no reason, I knew he was listening to his family's thoughts.

"You know what they say about eavesdropping," I said lightly, trying to snap him out of it.

His eyes drifted back to mine, and they looked pained. "Ah, Bella…" he sighed as he looked down, reaching for my hand.

"This is going to keep happening, you know," I muttered under my breath.

"What?"

"Stuff like this. People being suspicious, evil tracker vampires, freak accidents, elaborate cover stories… it's not meant to be this way."

"I know it's not," he said darkly.

I turned further in my seat to face him. "That's not what I meant! What I meant is that we can't go like this forever. I'm not meant to be human, Edward."

He turned his head and looked casually out his window, but his grip tightened on the steering wheel, and I thought I heard a crunching sound.

"Look," I said stubbornly, "I know you don't like talking about this, but it's not going to just go away. All your normal arguments aside, can't you at least admit that it would be easier?"

He sighed, still looking away. "Let's not talk about this right now, all right? It's been a long day."

"Vampires don't get tired."

"You can keep your opinions to yourself," he snapped suddenly, and I flinched. Had I pushed him too far?

"Well, I'm sorry," came a voice from the backseat, and I spun around to find my face inches from Jasper's. He was glaring at the back of Edward's head. "But if you weren't such a pig-headed masochist, I wouldn't need to keep repeating myself," he growled.

I squirmed in my seat. I could feel the waves of tension rising exponentially inside the car, and I felt like I was suffocating.

"Oh- I'm sorry, Bella," Jasper said, in a gentler voice. Instantly, I felt warm and I could see Edward's shoulders relaxing along with my own, and I finally let out the breath I had apparently been holding.

Edward finally let go of the steering wheel, and I could see the gouges his fingers had just made. He finally started the car and then turned on the CD player, and I smiled when Clair de Lune began playing. The engine purred along with the music, and if it wasn't for the fact that we were soon flying down the road at a hundred miles an hour, I might have been able to relax.

Edward picked up my hand again, and began rubbing circles with his thumb, in time with the music. He was obviously intending to distract me, but it wasn't happening. Something was bothering him- something other than the phone calls, and I wasn't going to let it go.

A/N: Kudos to Leila, who guessed that Charlie was the one calling! But my favorite guess was from NattyNel80: the Volturi hotline LOL!

So the next chapter Bella and Edward will be having a little *relationship status* talk, and I hadn't yet decided which point of view to use. There's pros and cons to each, and you know miscommunication will abound. So, whose eyes would you like to see that through, Bella or Edward? Majority wins!