WRONG DECISIONS

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.

Now, some innocent people, a woman, and her children, were about to become pawns in his brothers' game for more power. How it would end is a foregone conclusion because his brothers would pay a pretty hefty price when they got caught again. And Marcus was sure that they would be caught.

CHAPTER 7: SEEKING INFORMATION

After getting all of the school shopping finished for the twins, Bella and Irina took time to discuss their differences of opinion once more. Each woman was wanting to have their side of the issue understood but didn't want to continue with any hard feelings that would result in loss of a long-standing friendship.

That loss would also have made it impossible for Irina to continue working for Bella because the tension between the two women would have been unbearable for either of them. Then that tension would have carried over to the children.

Annabella and Anthony would have noticed the tension as well between their mother and their Auntie Irina. That had to be avoided at all costs. Neither woman was willing to have any of their differences to be passed on to the twins.

Bella had taken the time to explain what she was planning regarding the twin's education and after giving it some thought Irina was ready to agree with the proposal. She agreed that as they got older then a private school would be more beneficial for them. But the early years were a time for them to begin to learn while still being children and to explore the joys of interacting with others of their age.

So, with that disagreement settled, the two women came together once again in getting the twins ready for their first day of Pre-k.

XXXXXX

"Carlisle, are you sure all of this is necessary? You just told me that your son refuted any possibility that the children could be his."

"It isn't just the children that I want to know about; it's my ex-daughter-in-law. My family regards her still as being a member of this family even after all of this time. For the last few years, she has been more out of sight than in view and we have had very little idea of where she was or what she was doing in her private life. That is the information I'm wanting to know the most.

"If by chance, she has had some children then I want to know who the father is." Carlisle explains.

"Carlisle, let me ask you a question; are you trying to prove that the children are Edward's, or are you wanting to know if she has become associated with someone else and had children?"

"To be perfectly honest about the whole situation, I want to know everything that Isabella Swan Cullen has been doing from the day she left Chicago. I want to know where she's been, with whom and what she has been doing. Leave nothing out of the report." And with that said the call was terminated without another word.

Ever since that conversation took place, Carlisle has questioned himself as to whether he was doing the right thing or not. It bothered him to a certain extent to be going behind Edward's back since his son has repeatedly said he wanted Bella to be left alone.

Carlisle knew that Edward, with the agreement of the entire family, has been busy the last several years, slowly moving most of the family businesses into a more legal avenue. By doing that he was going to give Bella proof that she had no worries about the police showing up at the door to arrest any of them or that their children would have to join a criminal organization.

It was understood that some parts of the family business would still be illegal, but it would all be covered by the legal side of things. Bella would have no connection to the illegal side of things nor would Edward.

Although it had been a few days since making that phone call, Carlisle had received no report about Bella and what was happening in her world. He knew that it would take some time, but surely not this long.

He couldn't figure out why the holdup. He made the decision to give it another day or two and then he would place another call demanding answers.

XXXXXX

Each man noticed the other trying to keep tabs on Isabella Swan Cullen and it demanded answers as to why and who wanted what information. The question was how to go about getting those answers.

Paul wasn't familiar with the other man so he had no idea who might be wanting to get any information on the Cullen bitch and her brats. At no time did it ever enter his thoughts that it might be the Cullen family since they hadn't had any communication with her for the last few years.

The same thoughts were going through Raymond's head as he observed Paul watching the lady in question. He knew who Paul was and who he worked for, the pesky family of Volturi wannabe's, but that didn't explain why Paul was interested in Mrs. Cullen.

After Bella had returned home for the day from her shopping trip, Raymond slowly made his way over to Paul and was able to take the man by surprise. He pulled him back behind an empty house that was across the street from where Bella lived. It was there that answers were sought and received.

Paul tried to fight and to get the upper hand over Raymond but had no success. "Look, man, just stop fighting me; all I want is some answers and I'll let you go."

That got Paul's attention and he did stop fighting and the two men had their discussion. The information Paul was able to gain was of some value and he knew it as soon as he heard the Cullen name.

Raymond and Paul exchanged the information without hesitation each believing that they would be able to prevent the other from reporting the conversation back to their boss. However, Raymond had underestimated the slyness of Paul, not to mention how underhanded Paul was. As Raymond felt that he had lulled Paul into a state of trust so he could make his move, Paul reacted quicker. He pulled a knife and drove it through Raymond's heart killing the man instantly.

Paul made a quick phone call to get help to remove the body without the Cullen bitch being aware of anything unusual taking place so close to her home.

After Raymond's body had been removed, Paul reported back to Caius with the pictures that he had taken already. He knew the boss would report back to his brother, Aro, with all of the information and they would decide what steps needed to be taken next.

XXXXXX

As soon as Aro heard about the incident that had taken place between Paul and Raymond, he demanded a report from Paul personally. As it would take some time before Paul could come to him personally, Aro took the time to review the photos that Caius had brought to him while at the same time wondering why the Cullen's were suddenly so interested in the bitch after all of this time.

He had to agree that from what he could see of the children that they did appear to be the offspring of Edward Cullen, but still not having a frontal view of the brats it was still up in the air as if they were truly Cullen children. He was waiting for Caius to get the report back to him about where the kids had been born and who was listed as the parents.

The Cullen's should never have returned Jason's body and expect to walk away without any sort of response to their actions. Jason had been one of the few that Aro felt he could trust totally. So, retribution was called for and going after the brats, if everything proved out as expected, would be the perfect way of getting the upper hand permanently.

That arrangement would give the Volturi family a way of making the Cullen's a part of the Volturi crew and weaken the Cullen's in a very effective way. Oh, the delightful thoughts of having all of the Cullen's answerable to the Volturi's clearly brightened Aro's day.

XXXXXX

Caius was getting extremely frustrated with the lack of information that he had been able to find in regards to Isabella Swan Cullen. He had been able to find out everything about the woman up to and including her divorce from Edward Cullen, but after that everything started to disappear.

There was no record of where she lived until moving to Seattle a year ago. No record of anything pertaining to her life except for her personal appearances on her book tours during the four years before she moved to Seattle.

'There has to be a reason why that woman disappeared off the face of the earth for a four-year period.' Caius thought to himself. The problem was how to find out the reason and how she was able to accomplish such a feat.

Aro wasn't going to be happy with the information that he had or rather, hadn't been able to discover as yet. A woman that had nothing to do with the Cullen inside family business had been able to hide out of sight except on the occasions that she chose to surface and then she just disappeared once more.

A discovery had been made of children staying at the woman's home, but at the same time they would stay at that Irina woman's home. So, he was still trying to determine which woman was the mother of Edward Cullen's children. There was no doubt in his mind that the children had been fathered by Cullen. They had his features and his unique hair coloring.

XXXXXX

"Charlie?"

"Who's calling?" Charlie Swan asked as he had answered the phone.

"Is this Chief Charlie Swan?"

"Yes, and who are you?" Charlie demanded to know once again. The voice did sound familiar, but he couldn't quite place who the caller happened to be.

"This is Esme Cullen, and I was hoping that you might be able to tell me how I can get in touch with Bella."

"Mrs. Cullen, there's no need to ask me that sort of question because I believe you know what I'm about to tell you. If Bella wants to get in touch with any of you she will do so as she chooses to do so. You don't need to ask me for information that I refuse to give to you.

"I'm not trying to be rude, but my daughter called quits with your family a few years ago and evidently she wants to keep it that way. So, have a good day." And, with that being said Charlie hung up the phone and then dialed Bella's number.

"Hello?" Irina answered the phone without looking at the caller ID.

"Irina, where's Bella? Is she available?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, Chief, she's in the kitchen with the twins at the moment. Do you need to talk with her right now, or can she give you a call back in a while?"

"Well, it isn't urgent, but I do need to talk with her when she does have a minute." He replied with some hesitation sounding in his voice.

"Okay. I'll have her give you a call back within the next ten to fifteen minutes. Will that work?"

"That's fine. Thanks, Irina." And with that said both hung up. Charlie to await the return call from Bella and Irina heading into the kitchen to let Bella know that Charlie had called sounding a bit weird and wanted her to give him a call back shortly.

XXXXXX

"Alice, can't you tell me why you talked me into trying to get Bella's number?"

"Esme, I simply have a feeling that I need to talk with her. Something isn't right and I think we need to be ready to help her. It isn't something that I can explain other than to say that from time to time I have feelings about certain things. You know this, Esme."

"Yes, I do, and the boys keep saying never bet against Alice. So, what you are trying to say right now is that trouble is heading in Bella's direction."

"Yes. Bad trouble, but I don't know what. However, I can say that it is going to be really bad. I mean really bad.

AN: Alice is trying to get in touch with Bella, but Charlie is refusing to give out any information where Bella is concerned. Caius is having a hard time finding any information about the children and where Bella had been for four years. The guy that Carlisle had asked to get some information concerning Bella is dead. We're getting closer to the action of chapter one.

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