AN: not my best work perhaps, but I did get it done pretty quickly this time… I'll be off on vacation to Croatia next week and a half.

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Chapter 50 - New name, old regrets

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Edward sat in the darkness of his bedroom contemplating the turn of events the day had brought.

The evening was still young and the rest of the adult members of his family were no doubt downstairs lounging in the living room, watching evening sitcoms or something, but not Edward… He couldn't stand having other people around at the moment.

What kind of man raises his voice and picks fights with woman just out of hospital? What Bella needed was rest and relaxation, someone to pamper and spoil her, not someone that yelled and raged at her.

Regret ate at him like acid. He loved her, and she loved him in return. Why did he have to let his ego and irritability get in the way? Why the hell did he have to be so short-tempered all the time? Impulse control had never been his strong suit.

Of course, being the stubborn, headstrong woman she was, Bella had stood her ground against him, even delivered a few punches of her own. She was having none of his attitude that's for sure. He expected nothing less, though, honestly, from her.

Somewhere in the midst of all his fuming, and ranting, and raving, they had actually managed to iron out a few issues, only to have a few new ones come up that need to be tackled. This was typical for them. Never getting to the bottom of things, because there was no bottom.

If he had any decency in him at all, he would set his own feelings aside and take responsibility for his childish behavior. If he couldn't even talk to her in a civil manner, he had no business talking to her at all.

He knew the blame was entirely his own, he had opened his mouth and said things he should not have, but this woman had a way of infuriating more than anyone else could. She never let up, never shied away poking around in open wounds. She'd effectively manoeuvred him into talking about things he had absolutely no intention of saying a damn word about… ever.

She brought out an anger in him that, although never violent, went far past anything rational. She knew him so well, knew how to push himto his limits, but more than anyone else, she knew how to distract him and disarm the explosive bouts of temper that sometimes went off, often with little or no warning. This time she had done it without even raising her voice.

Those baby kicks had been suspiciously well timed. He hadn't felt a thing, but just the idea of the baby moving around in there had mellowed his ass out and stopped him from spewing more bullshit out his mouth. Just like she had known it would.

Sure, there were times when he felt manipulated, but it wasn't like he was some innocent lamb or some fuckery like that. He knew he brought it on himself with hismoody behaviour and stupid self-destructive bullshit.

That was just it though; she shouldn't have to worry about his mood all the time, and how he was going to treat her from one day to the next. Not when her health depended onhow well she could keep herbody and mind calm and at ease.

Edward was right in the middle of beating himself up over his lack of self control again, when a knock interrupted his pity party.

He cursed under his breath as he went to get the door, hoping the persistent knocking wouldn't disturb Anthony's slumber.

"Yes?" he asked, cracking it open just wide enough to see Alice standing in the hallway, smiling brightly at him. Of course they would send Alice to check on him. There was no escaping Alice, when she had her mind set on something.

"I know you're moping, but can I come in for two seconds?"

He stared at her for a moment before nodding, "Tony is sleeping, so you better be quiet," he told her as he held the door open.

"Is that him snoring?" she asked, peering around him.

"No, that's the chainsaw I left running."

She ignored his irritated reply. "He definitely gets that from you."

"What? The snoring?"

"No, the mouth-drooling-bed-head-messiness, " she teased, getting back at him.

"Har, har," he snorted, crossing his arms across his chest, "You almost got me to crack a smile."

"Almost…Should I take that as a challenge?"

He shook his head, heaving a sigh. "Did you come here for a reason, Al? I've got moping to get back to."

"You can do that later. Right now you're wanted in dad's office."

"What? Dad isn't even home, he's working tonight."

"Sure, but Bella is having a three-way-phone-conversation with dad and special agent Clearwater in dad's office. They want you to join in," she explained. Then, with a slight giggle, she added, "Boy, that came out sounding dirty, but it's really not, though. Emmett is up there too."

"In dad's office? What's this about? And why are you all letting her run up and down those stairs, when she should be off her feet resting?!"

"Relax, Em carried her. I've already told you all I know. I tried to find out more, trust me, but she wasn't having it. She said she'd get in trouble, if she didn't speak to you about it first."

"Alice, you're a terrible liar."

"Alright, I know one more thing. I overheard Bella talk about a birth certificate."

"Anthony's birth certificate?

"Could be… I only caught the end of what I assume was a phone conversation. She told someone that she was going to need a copy of that certificate. That's all I heard."

"And you didn't ask her about it?"

"I tried, but that's when she told me she wanted to speak with you first. You need to hurry your ass up and go to her, so that we can find out more. The suspense is killing me!" She all but shoved him out the door. "This is big, I can feel it."

"Al, wait!" he protested, turning to look at her. "You say that a lot, you know, that you feel and see things, and we usually….well…"

"Make fun of me mercilessly for hours on?"

"When you get things wrong, yes, but a lot of times you're spot on… Listen, there is one thing that's been bugging me. That thing you wrote, in that text message?"

"What thing are you talking about? I write a lot of things in a lot of messages?"

"When you texted Bella about my nightmare. You wrote some gibberish about an ancient, Latin horse. Did you have like a vision about it or something?"

"Oh, that… I should totally play the psychic card on this one, but no, it wasn't a vision. Not this time. It actually came straight from the horses mouth," she explained, pointing at him. "It came from something you told me months ago."

"Me?"

"Yes, you! It was back in June, I think, when we were both home with that cold, remember? It was the middle of a the afternoon and we we're watching a movie and you jolted awake from a nap and started talking nonsense about being trapped in a car by a running horse. At the time I think I thought it was the cough syrup making you loopy, but now I'm thinking it must have been one of your nightmares, right?"

"Eh, what exactly did I say?" Edward asked, feeling the hair at the back of his neck stand on end.

"I asked if you meant a race horse and you answered, 'no, it's old, it's Latin'."

"And you never thought to bring it up again when I was more lucid?"

"No, I had all but forgotten about it until yesterday when you talked about being trapped or feeling trapped in that car."

He considered this for a moment then he asked, "Did Bella explain about the license plate?"

"Kebi, the mythical steel horse? Yes, funny how things fall into place sometimes!?"

"Freaky is more like it. Am I sleeping? Is this all part of some long ass nightmare that's been building up for years?"

"Need me to pinch you?"

"Ouch!" Edward yelped. "What did you do that for?" he grumbled, but she had already walked past him and was halfway down the hallway.

"Come on, get moving! Time's wastin."

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.…..

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"… and that's pretty much it, "Bella concluded from her seat in Dr. Cullen's posh office chair. Her feet were elevated and she was in a reclining position with her laptop popped up on the crammed desk beside her.

"Now you know the basics. You're all here because more brains equal more ideas and because I don't feel like repeating everything numerous times, hence the conference call set up."

"So basically you are saying that you are only using me for my brain?" Emmett exclaimed, his expression serious for all of two seconds before he let out a loud ringing laugh.

"What brain?" Edward muttered under his breath. Emmett heard him and grabbed the nearest book from the shelf behind him, lobbing it at his brother.

"Hey, hey, knock it out you two! If you're going to fight do it outside, but not here," Bella warned. "Clearwater, you still with us or did you fall asleep?"

"No, I'm still here. I don't have all night, though."

"Dr. C?" she asked, "You still there?"

"Yes, go on," Carlisle's voice filled the room, sounding flat and tinny as everyone did on speaker-phone. "I'm all ears."

Bella, Edward and Emmett were all seated in Dr. Cullen's home office, while Dr. Cullen was stuck with paperwork in his office at the hospital. Seth's precise location was a little unclear. It sounded like he was inside a mall or something, but he claimed he was driving.

"Seth, why don't you tell us what you've found out today," Bella suggested, giving Emmett a stern look, when she saw him open his mouth to interrupt. He pouted, but sat back down in his chair.

"Right, so I swung by the last known address I had managed to dig up, but unfortunately someone else is living there now. Ms. Nahuel moved out two maybe, three years ago."

"Any new address?"

"No, but I've asked around a bit at the apartment complex and around campus. Someone directed me to a coffee shop right beside the university library, and the UW teaching hospital."

"'Jackie's', you mean?" Carlisle interrupted. "I suppose the name could have changed since the last time I was there, but I think I know what place you're talking about."

"Yes, Jackie's. A car that fits the description has been seen parked in the library staff parking lot, next to Yalanta's Shoe Repair, a few days a week over a rather long period of time, years even."

"Meaning the car owner probably works close by. Either at the coffee shop or the library," Bella concluded.

"Or the shoe place," Edward suggested, pushing Bella back in the chair again. She hadn't even realized she had moved. This bed rest business was hard work!

"Or Yalanta's Shoe Repair, " she relented, squeezing Edwards arm. "You'll check it out, right Seth?"

"I already have. I've spoken to a Mrs. Jackie O'Neal, who is the owner of the coffee shop. Charming old lady. She is pushing 80 and has been basically completely deaf for fifteen years, but she won't wear her hearing aid because she doesn't care what anyone has to say."

"I remember her," Carlisle mused. "The service was a bit lacking, but her lemon cream pie and blackberry pie we so good I'm drooling just thinking about them."

"Drooling over an older woman, eh dad?" Emmett quipped, before letting loose a 'mwah-ha-ha'.

Carlisle made a sound that sounded like coughing, or maybe choking.

"No worries, doc. I can report that the old dragon is still quite the catch if you're into if you're into blue hair and wrinkles," Seth laughed, before steering the conversation back on course. "Listen to this. Mrs. O'Neal has indeed employed a Maria Nahuel to wait tables for her. Ms. Nahuel started working there four years ago and she used to work evenings and weekends to support her college education. She's has since then completed her degree in human resources management and is currently holding a part time administrative position at some law firm. Mrs. O'Neal was not sure where exactly, so I'm going to have to do some more asking around."

"Did you find out anything about Anthony?" Edward inquired, tapping a pen against the table in a most annoying way.

"Nope, which is odd. I couldn't come right out and ask about it, but there was no mention of a child. Also, there has been no absence long enough to hide a pregnancy."

"Right, but are you're sure the old dragon's vision is any better than her hearing?!" Emmett pointed out. "Besides, if she's pushing 80, she's probably a bit on the senile side."

"That's not the impression I got."

Seth sounded a bit annoyed at having his judgement questioned, so Bella hurried to ask another question.

"When was the last time she heard from her? Was it recently?"

"Yes, fairly recently. With new position only being a part time gig, she has been picking up occasional shifts at the coffee shop at the end of each month to make enough money to pay her bills. She worked both Halloween and Thanksgiving, but has not been around since then."

"Thanksgiving? That's around the same time I was contacted by social services," Edward commented. "You think she has gone into hiding? Skipped town?"

"Do we have a way to contact her?" Bella was at the edge of the seat again. "A new address? A phone number… something.. anything?"

"No, I asked too many questions, I reckon, for all of a sudden Mrs. O'Neal got suspicious and I couldn't get any more out of her. I did manage to get a word with one of the other employees though on my way out. Apparently Ms. Nahuel is moving out of town. She has been talking about it for quite some time, but has only recently decided to actually do it."

"She is leaving? Or has she already left?"

"The guy I spoke with told me that she is expected to come in one more time to pick up her Christmas bonus and return her keys."

"Good, then she's probably still around. Did he have any idea when this wold be?"

"Before the end of December, so anytime the next four or five days. Riley, that's the colleague's name, said he thought she'd be by either tomorrow, or towards the end of the week, Thursday or possibly Friday. "

"This means we need to keep an eye on the coffee shop."

"There is only one of me, Swan. Not that I'm complaining, I signed up for this, knowing full well what I was getting myself into, but I can only stretch myself so thin, before I break."

"I know, and someone needs to take a closer look at the caterer and the nightclub. We need to work on this from several angles, which is why I've gathered some volunteers." The last part was said with a little nod in Emmett's direction, "What do you say, Em? You wanna sample those pies your father was raving about?"

"It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it," he replied with a huge grin on his face. "You want me and Ed here to stake out that café?"

"No, Edward is going with Clearwater to Volterra, the nightclub. I was thinking you and Jasper would make excellent team."

"Cool, he can be my Robin and I'll be your Batman. Together we will clean up this city."

Edward made some sort of disbelieving grunt, "Are you ever serious?!"

"You wound me," Emmett replied, bringing up a hand to his chest. Then in a more serious tone he added, "Of course I am. I wasn't cracking jokes when I pulled your sorry ass out from under that collapsed roof the other day, now was I?"

"Where is Jasper anyway?" Carlisle interrupted.

"He… well I'm not sure whre he is at the moment. Alice said he went for a drive. I'll have to fill him in later," Bella answered. "Speaking of filling in… Seth will find out at what the coffee shop opens and make some short of schedule for you guys. You'll probably need to get an early start tomorrow."

"Ai, ai, captain," Emmett saluted, while Edward made another annoyed grunt and slapped his brother in the back of his head. "I mean, yes, special agent Swan, I will go to my room and await further instructions," Emmett amended, but not without adding another little salute at the end just to spite his brother.

Bella pretended not to see their antics, addressing their father instead, "Carlisle, I was hoping you could use your connections over at UV Medicine and see what you can find out, now that we actually have a name to work with."

"Of course, I'll do that. I think there is a few people over at Swedish I can talk to as well, if that helps?"

"That would be great. You've been awfully quiet. Is there anything you'd like to add?"

"No, I'm sorry I haven't contributed more," Carlisle replied sheepishly. "I've been listening, it's just that I've simultaneously been running some searches in our medical records database…. My fingers were itching, I couldn't help myself. Nahuel isn't a particularly common name. Don't worry though, I haven't missed anything. While I may not have perfected the art of multitasking just yet, I'm a really good listener."

"Oh yeah, and he is modest too," Emmett snorted.

"So, did you find anything."

"No, but I only have access to the local files at the moment, and as far as I know there are no known connections to Forks, right?"

"Right. Well, I too have been running some searches. I had this feeling I had seen the name somewhere in my previous research. Turns out there is a birth certificate for a Jamison Anthony Eduarte Nahuel. Mother's name is Marie, Giovanna Nahuel. Father's name unknown, Bithdate 17th of February 2008 at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle."

"Wow, Jamison Anthony Eduarte Nahuel, that's quite the mouthful. I think we'll stick with Tony," Emmett was the first one to comment. "Is this Maria chick Latin, or what?"

"Italian, I think," Seth replied. "At least on her paternal grandfather's side And I quite like the name. A quirky or foreign sounding name usually makes my job so much easier."

Carlisle was asking something seemingly random about confirming identities with dental records, but Bella let Seth handle it while she chose to focus her attention on Edward, who had yet to respond to the news. "You okay over there?" she asked, nudging him with a foot. "You wanna hear the rest? Or should I save it for later?"

"There is more?"

"Yes, there is more. I don't know what all of this means yet, but I really am trying here to keep you posted and up-to-date on all the details. Now that we have an actual name there is a wealth of information just waiting to be discovered. "

"Fine, just get over with it. "

"A Jamison Nahuel visited the Harvey Health Center on the 14th of may last year. Mother's name is Laurie Nahuel, no adress, no SIS number. And then, only ten days later there is another mention of a Jamison, Jamison Grey, Mothers name Stella Grey, no SIS, number, no address."

"Grey?" Edward frowned and she could practically see the wheels turning in his head. It was Emmett though, who was the first, to put two and two together. "Hey, wasn't stalker Angela's real name Larissa Grey."

"Yes," Bella confirmed.

"I knew it," Carlisle was mumbling on his end of the phone line ."Do you have the DNA result back yet."

"No, not yet, but it's looking more and more likely that Angela was somehow involved in all this."

"I'd put a rush on that if I was you, Swan? You realize you'll have to take this to the boss now, don't you?!"

"I will have to have a word with Jenks, yes, because obviously I'm not going to make it in to work on Monday as previously planned. As for the rest… I will not say or do anything that could bring on big changes until I've had a chance to talk this through with Edward."

She sought out Edward's eyes needing him to see the sincerity in her words. Needing him to see that she was really trying to do this communication thing better. She flashed him a hesitant smile, but he stubbornly avoided her gaze.

Seth wasn't impressed either. "What's there to talk about?" he asked, only it wasn't a question, it was a statement. "If there is a connection, if there is DNA tying this child to Grey, it would also mean there is a connection between the child and the James T Wilson case."

"Angela's brother? The creepy photographer? The one that's wanted for murder," Emmett asked.

"And assault, and battery and firearms violations…" Bella supplied, but almost wished she hadn't when she heard Edward exhale harshly beside her.

"He's the one that… those pictures… he abused his profession...he…" It was painful hearing him struggle to complete the sentence.

"He has a previous conviction for sexual harassment," Bella offered in a cautious tone. "Unfortunately, though, he went into hiding before the sentence was imposed."

"I stand by what I said," Seth's voice boomed over the phone. "This guy is a low life piece of shit, what's there to discuss?"

"Well, I'm glad we agree here, for once," with that Edward rose from his chair. "Wait for the DNA result, or don't wait… Do whatever you see fitting. I'm done talking about this."

He left the room without another word. The door banging shut like a coffin lid behind him.

They ended the call pretty quickly after that.