Author' note: Hello! Thanks for all the reviews! S/O to Sheri who got this back to me in a timely manner. You rock!

If you're reading Before I Die, there will be an update this weekend!

ENJOY!

Chapter 4

The Mysterious Mr. Cullen

BELLA POV

Bella closed the driver's door of her unmarked black federal issued Tahoe. Jacob had climbed into the passenger seat. She hadn't said anything to him yet, but he could tell something was off by how stand-offish she was being. She really didn't want to get into it with him at all. She hadn't slept well for the fourth night in a row and it was becoming very frustrating.

"What's wrong?" Jacob sighed.

She tried not to smirk. She knew that he knew when she was upset.

"Your father called me last night." Bella caught Jacob's shoulders slump in the corner of her eye before she turned her eyes back to the road.

"He's just worried about you," Jacob said quietly

"Don't you mean we?"

Jacob sighed. "Yes, we."

"Then just say it. Don't get your father involved and then ask him to call me." Bella fumed. She hated being fussed over or cared for. It just wasn't in her blood.

"Bells, I didn't ask him to call. He called me after the press conference when I was on my way home. He had already blown my phone up with missed calls and texts," Jacob sighed. "I knew what he wanted as soon as I called him back."

Bella nodded. She knew Billy too well.

"He's just worried about you. You are like a daughter to him. I told him you could handle yourself but Bells, I'm also worried." Bella sighed and huffed.

"No, no. Before you get your panties in a wad, I know what you're capable of, don't get me wrong. It's just the killer's preference of victim. That is what has me on edge," Jacob finished. "Add the fact, we still don't know how the blood is getting drained from the body. Hell, even the best medical examiner can't find out how makes this all the more disturbing."

Bella agreed with Jacob, she really did. She couldn't just sit there and lie to herself and say she wasn't just a little worried about having the same features as the victims. However, she was trained for situations like this. She then stopped thinking and just remembered what Jacob said.

"The best, huh?" Bella smirked. She wasn't dumb. She knew Jacob and Angela were together. Angela was just better at keeping it a secret than Jacob was.

Jacob smirked right back at Bella and gave her a knowing look. "Yeah." Jacob then looked carefree and Bella felt just a little bit envious. She was happy for Jacob, she wasn't going to lie. It was just that everyone she knew had someone. Even her best friend Alice who was traveling back and forth between Chicago and here had found someone recently.

They had finally pulled up to Cullen Inc. It was a massive building with a parking deck. Bella hoped she wouldn't be here long. She hoped to get some answers so she parked in front of the main door. Mr Cullen was a person of interest. She didn't have a warrant, but she hoped Mr. Cullen would cooperate. She wasn't here to search, just to ask questions about Bree.

She and Jacob went to the information desk. With one look at them, the skinny blonde refused to tell them where they could find Mr. Cullen. The bimbo at the desk wasn't too bright as there was a directory posted on the wall, and Mr. Cullen's office was on the top floor. Bella and Jacob made their way to the elevator and pressed the button for the fifteenth floor.

When the doors opened, they were in a very expensive office. There were red walls, and black leather couches. There was an expensive looking sleek black desk in the middle of the room with two doors behind it. There was a blonde sitting at this desk too.

Bella and Jacob approached the woman where the name plate read Rosalie Hale. Rosalie quickly looked up at them. Bella noticed her odd violet eyes as they were an unusual color to have.

"May I help you?" she asked, showing complete disinterest with them.

"Yes, I'm looking for Mr. Cullen." Bella pulled her badge out. "Special Agent Isabella Swan" She then turned to look at Jacob. "Special Agent Jacob Black."

The blonde put her hands together. "I'm sorry Agents but Mr. Cullen is very busy today. He recently got back to town."

Bella didn't like this woman's snarky tone but it didn't matter. "I can get a warrant, ." She really didn't have enough information to get one to start with but she was hoping that the blonde woman didn't know that.

The woman sneered at her, but then picked up the phone. Bella heard a man's voice on the other end. "Mr. Cullen, you have two agents here to see you." She then looked at Bella's eyes and for some reason they glowed but then they looked at her in pity. "Yes, I told them you were busy but they need to see you." The male's voice on the other end began to shout and Bella had enough of this. She made her way to the doors behind Ms. Hale's desk. She knew this was his office because she could hear the shouting coming from behind it.

"Ms. Swan, you can't go in there!" Ms. Hale followed her but Bella was almost at the doors. It was odd that Ms. Hale had caught up with her and Jacob was still behind. Hmm, very strange.

Bella opened the doors to an angry green eyed man behind an even bigger desk.

"I'm sorry Mr. Cullen, she was resilient." Bella looked shocked at Ms. Hale's lie. Bella didn't have time for them to finish their game of telephone. When the man behind the desk turned his gaze to her it softened. Bella was unsure why his eyes looked murderous when she came in here.

Suddenly, she felt Jacob, and then looked back at the man whose green eyes were now glaring at her partner. He seemed mad again all of a sudden?

Bella spent a lot of time doing behavior classes in preparation to becoming an FBI agent. It seemed Edward may have mood issues. He seemed threatened by Jacob.

"It's fine, Ms. Hale, inform Miss. Monroe about our company," he said and Ms. Hale nodded and left the office.

"Mr. Cullen, I'm Special Agent Isabella Swan and this is my partner Special Agent Black. We're here to ask you questions about Bree Tanner."

Edward motioned for the two of them to sit down in the chairs in front of his desk. He sat down in his huge leather chair, and placed his hands together. "So, what can I help you with?"

Jacob and Bella sat down and Bella pulled out her notepad while she repeated herself. "Bree Tanner was an employee here?"

"I'm not familiar with that name, Miss. Swan. I would need to contact HR and see," he shrugged non-committedly..

Bella wasn't fazed by the way he called her "Miss". It seemed Mr. Cullen had an ego and she wouldn't take his comments nicely.

"It's Agent Swan, Mr. Cullen. She was an employee of yours, until recently." Bella continued, watching Mr. Cullen sit there stoically. His face didn't give anything away but he picked up the phone on his desk.

"Victoria, I need the employee file on Bree Tanner. No, now!" He slammed the phone down. He then turned his attention back to her. She couldn't help but look at him. He was very attractive. His green eyes were quite beautiful as they looked like shiny emeralds. Bella wouldn't lie that he was "sex on wheels" with his bronze hair styled to perfection. It made her girly bits tingle. It had been too long since she had been with a man.

He then smirked at her like he was aware of her dilemma. That couldn't be right but then he looked at her calmly. It was like his facial expressions could change at the drop of a hat. How odd. She must be seeing things.

"Wait, Agent Swan, you said was?" Edward looked concerned at that point.

"Yes, ''was", Mr. Cullen, she was murdered two days ago." Edward looked surprised and taken aback but then regained his composure.

"I didn't know there was another body," he said stoically, his eyes never wavering, his face never changing.

It also caught Bella off guard, "So you're aware of the murders here in the city."

He smirked at her. "Agent, I believe everyone here in New York is aware of the murders. I just recently got back into town last night. I wasn't aware of another one though," he said and again his face never showed any emotion. Bella felt like he was telling the truth but wasn't sure.

"How long have you been out of town?" Bella questioned, hoping to find something that would give her information on Bree.

"Five days." He then looked at her and smirked just a bit. "Agent, are you saying that I have something to do with this?" He looked shocked by the idea but his face went back to its stoic expression.

Bella didn't have time to answer because then a young thick blonde came into the room. She was wearing a suit that hugged her in all the right places. She was carrying a briefcase, and she then took a seat near the couch by Edward. It bothered Bella that she was so close to him then she wondered why she cared. She looked at Edward, who was staring at her and not the woman that had just come in the room. He seemed to stare at her a lot, but why?

"Hello, I'm Heidi Monroe, I'm Mr. Cullen's lawyer," the blonde said completely unfazed with the tension in the room or the fact that Bella and Mr. Cullen seemed to be having a staring match.

Jacob spoke up. He finally noticed what was happening with his partner and Mr. Cullen. "Yes, I'm Agent Black and this is Agent Swan." Bella blinked and then turned towards the woman who came in the room.

"I'm unsure of why Mr. Cullen needed a lawyer. We were just asking him questions about an employee."

The blonde crossed her legs and looked at Bella with an evil smile. "I'm sure you can see Ms. Swan, Mr. Cullen is a very influential man and I was notified to come here. I'm also unsure as to why you're talking to him without his lawyer present. Did you not read him his rights?"

"There was no need since he's not under arrest. It's also Agent Swan. I'm just asking him questions regarding an employee of his." Damn this woman for coming in!

"Ah, I see. Well I'll be in the room while you ask any further questions," she said with her wicked smile. Bella didn't like her at all.

"And to answer your question, Mr. Cullen, no I don't think you had anything to do with it but I think you know who did." Bella couldn't believe that came out of her mouth! What the fuck? It was just an assumption, something she felt. She didn't even have proof of it.

"Don't answer that, Edward," the blonde sneered. "Agent Swan, that sounds an awful lot like an accusation." Bella needed to calm down, even Jacob was looking at her weird. She knew why she didn't act like this. She was calm, level-headed and here she was blowing this up.

"I apologize," Bella said. She hated saying it, but she needed to get any information she could while she was here.

Just then a woman with fiery engine hair came in holding a folder. She sat it down on Mr. Cullen's desk and left the room. Mr. Cullen opened it and when he was finished reading it's contents he handed it to her. Bella could tell his lawyer wasn't too happy about that. It didn't take him long to read either, she noticed.

Bella looked over the file and her shoulders dropped, she then handed it to Jacob.

"As you can see, Agent Swan, Miss. Tanner was let go from her position a week ago, due to her violent behavior and threats to Mr. Whitlock."

Bella raised an eyebrow. Could this be true? Her parents assured their daughter was a nice person but did her parents really know her? Her mother did say her behavior had changed recently.

"Mr. Whitlock? " Bella knew who he was referring to but she wanted an opening to ask him a question.

"Yes, Jasper Whitlock, the head of Marketing and Research. He was Bree's boss."

"Is he here? I would like to ask him a few questions," Bella said.

Edward smiled. "No, he is still in Chicago. We had an emergency at our Chicago office, and flew out there about 5 days ago."

"But you came back last night?" Bella questioned.

"Yes, I can even get you a copy of my ticket from where I departed New York and when I left Chicago if you prefer," he said smugly. It would appear it wasn't him. For now anyways.

"That would rule you out," Bella said. She didn't care at this point.

"Are you implying my client had something to do with this lady's murder?" Heidi inquired but she was the picture of calm. Mr. Cullen on the other hand held his hand up to silence her. Heidi gulped and Bella caught that. Was Heidi afraid of him?

"I don't mind giving Agent Swan the flight tickets. Anything to prove it wasn't me." He dug in his desk when she heard Jacob clear his throat.

"Mr. Cullen, I have to ask, but don't you own your own plane? Why wouldn't you use it to fly?" Bella was thankful for that question. She had honestly forgotten some of her research last night, she knew Edward Cullen owned his own plane.

"Yes, Agent Black, I do. However, I had to fly commercial because my partner, Mr. McCarthy had to use it to fly to Italy for some business over there." Edward then turned but Bella could see his hand shaking. She then turned to Heidi who seemed to be nervous. What could be going on in Italy? McCarthy was another guy named by the Tanner's as well. Could it be him?

"How long has Mr. McCarthy been gone?" Bella asked while seeing Edward turn toward her with a folder in his hands.

He slammed the folder on his desk and pointed to it while he walked to a bar in the nearby corner.

"Over a week," he said from the corner while he sipped a glass of brown liquid. "You can look at that file; it's a list of all commercial and personal flights in the past year. It should clear me." Bella nodded and stood up to pick it up. She noticed Edward staring at her again, and for some reason it made her nipples pucker. What the hell? She then noticed his gaze get heated and she again wondered if he knew what was going on with her down below.

She nodded at him, and opened the folder, it would seem she had some information to sort through. "Thank you for this. I would ask you to stay in the city for a little while and when Mr. Whitlock and Mr. McCarthy are back I would like to speak to them."

"Agent Swan, my client is a very busy man and may need to go back to Chicago for business," his lawyer had started to say but Bella interrupted her.

"I'm aware of that, Ms. Monroe, but this is an investigation and I don't think your client did it but I'm trying to clear him." Jacob looked at her in shock and she knew why,

"It's fine Agent Swan, I can stay in town until needed." He replied coolly while he sipped his drink and had his other hand in his pocket. He was a very attractive man, and she could tell built as well. His suit hugged him in all the right places and again made her lady bits tingle. What was going on with her? She had seen plenty of attractive men that she wondered how they would be in bed. But, here right now she wanted to get this man in bed. She definitely needed to get some action. It had been a long time.

Bella pulled out a card and sat it on the desk. "If you remember anything about Bree, please contact me. Thank you for your cooperation." She then turned to walk out of his office and hit the crystal vase that was on his desk. She knew she couldn't catch it but she went for it anyway. She saw Mr. Cullen race over a little too fast. She might have noticed if it hadn't been for the vase crashing to the floor into a bunch of pieces and her hand being sliced at the same time.

"Shit!" Bella quickly grabbed her hand to see the wound. It was bleeding pretty bad. Damn it! She knew she was going to have to have stitches!

"Bells, you okay?" Jacob leaned down to help her up. The blood now gushing out of her hand and landing on the floor. "Shit, Bells, let's go."

She turned to look at Mr. Cullen, who was frozen and Heidi looking at him in concern. "I'm sorry," Bella said but then she really looked at him. No longer were his eyes green but a black color and the vein in his forehead was throbbing. If Bella didn't know any better she could have sworn he wasn't breathing.

At that moment she forgot about her hand, and focused on him. He then looked at her and it was like he stared at her the same way she was earlier. The way his eyes looked? Bella, in all of her time as an agent, wasn't as scared as she was at this moment.

Edward then shook his head and then looked at her with a hateful gaze. "GET OUT!" he screamed.

Jacob and Bella quickly left his office, folder in hand while Ms. Hale met them at the doors. She seemed concerned and then she saw the scene in front of her. The blood on the floor, the broken glass, her boss, well Bella didn't know how to describe him in that moment, but Ms. Hale seemed terrified.

They headed to the elevator. Bella looked at her hand and sighed. She hated hospitals.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Remember this story will have slower updates since I intend to finish BID first.