So, here we are. No copyright infringement is intended, and Twilight doesn't belong to me.
Thanks to LaPumuckl for her help talking out the story and catching issues. Thank you to the wonderful and talented Dowlingnana for again wielding her red pen, to shape me into a better writer.
Any and all mistakes are mine, I still dabble. Thanks for the story love, see you at bottom.
Chapter 13
Friday seems to be a bit of a drag, but Diego is missed. It was fun having him and his sometimes crass but hilarious sense of humor around. The day is almost at its end, and I am tired and ready to go home.
"Don't go anywhere, we need to talk," Rose says and touches my arm.
"What's up?" I ask, seeing she has something serious on her mind.
"All of us need to have a serious discussion, so stick around. Edward's cleaning his room, and Alice and Jasper will be right back. They went to grab Chinese for supper. Emmett should be done by the time they get back."
As Rose says the last part, Emmett walks his client to the door.
"Give me ten to clean my room, and I will be right out," he says.
"Why do I feel like I am the only one who has no clue what we are going to be discussing?" I ask Rose.
"You're not the only one, Emmett just knows we need to talk, same as Jasper and Edward," Rose says cryptically.
"Well, that makes me feel SO much better," I snark. "You and Alice know, but the rest of us are in the dark," I say as Alice walks back into the room.
"Alice only knows that we need to have a discussion as well."
We sit in the front room of the shop, and about five minutes later everyone else joins us.
"Okay, Rose, we are all here, what is this about?" I ask, feeling slightly irritated that I've been kept in the dark about something.
"So, Billy Black contacted me last night and asked me not to say anything, and that he would be here tonight. I was a bit surprised since we usually see him about every other month, but this sounded more like a formal visit, not a friendly visit. He did allude to the fact that they have a lead on the person who killed Charlie," Rose said. "He is planning to be here within the next fifteen minutes."
"What? Billy Black, as in my dad's best friend, and the man who took over as Chief after our dad was killed?" I ask, before looking at Emmett who looks pale.
I move and squeeze myself between Edward and Emmett who are sitting on the love seat. I wrap my arms around Emmett, and I can feel Edward rubbing my back.
"I don't know anything other than I was asked to not make a production of this and to tell you only right before he was to arrive. I only told Alice that we had to have a serious meeting today, and not to say anything until the end of the day. I had to tell her so that she would make sure no clients would be here, and so that no one took off to Five Points like normal on Friday nights. As you can see the curtains are closed and the signs are turned off," Rose says.
A knock on the door makes me jump.
"I'll get it," Alice says, as I bury my face in Emmett's neck.
I hear Billy talking to Alice as she lets him in, and I glance up to see that there are two other men with him and I feel Emmett tense up more than he was before.
I take a deep breath and look up at Emmett.
"You good, baby brother?"
He shrugs but doesn't take his eyes off the guys who came in.
"Yeah, me too," I tell him, squeezing him one more time before composing myself to sit between Edward and Emmett. Edward takes my hand, and I squeeze his.
Billy and the two other guys sit across from us. Alice is in Jasper's lap and Rose has settled beside Emmett's legs on the floor.
"We just found out you were coming here, so to say we're a little shocked is obvious, so tell us what is going on," I say, directing my words to Billy.
"Bella, Emmett, I asked Rose not to say anything when I called her so that we could talk in person. These are Detectives, Paul Roberts, and Eric Hawkins, they are both from the Federal Bureau of Investigations."
"Wait, you're with the FBI? What does that have to do with our dad's death?" Emmett asks, directing his question to the agent Billy called Eric.
"It would be easier if I could start at the top, and fill you in," Eric states.
Emmett nods, and it is clear that somehow they know each other, and then it clicks. They do know each other, hell I met Eric before.
"I started working undercover in connection with the Forks police department, and posing as a high school senior the same year Emmett was a senior," Eric states, though I can tell Emmett knows this much already.
"We were friends, hell you stayed at my house a couple nights every week, most of the school year," Emmett says.
"And I have talked to you on the telephone," I say.
"Yes, I intentionally befriended you, and hung with you a lot," Eric states. "For all accounts and purposes, I was your protection detail. It was easy, and Charlie hand-picked me to be your shadow. The people who were after Charlie were a part of a syndicate that had ties outside the area, but they were using Forks as a transfer station of sorts. Charlie intercepted one of their transfers, and after some runaround, he contacted the FBI, which brought us in. We already knew of the syndicate, but what Charlie found, brought the whole investigation together. Someone in the syndicate must have gotten word back to the bigger players, and there was a hit put out on Charlie Swan. The FBI tried to put Charlie into protective custody, but he refused. He only agreed to have undercover agents pose as a student, which was me, and a Forks Officer, which was Paul."
"So why are you telling us this now, and not when our father was killed?" I ask, sick of the story already.
"We needed to be sure that there was no one following you kids before we could bring any of this to light. We have kept tabs on you all for a while now and have vetted all people close to you to be sure that you are kept safe."
"Wait, are you saying that you have investigated all our friends, and have kept us under surveillance?"
"Yes. Essentially you have been living the life of someone who is in protective custody without knowing it."
"So you have run background checks on all of us?" Jasper asks.
"Yes, and we have kept ourselves hidden until now, we have no choice but to alert you all to our presence."
"Why now?" I ask.
"Well to be blunt, at first when Mr. Cullen here came into your life we were concerned, due to his own personal history. You see there is a tie between the people who killed Charlie and the family Mr. Cullen almost became a member of."
"What?" is said by several of us at the same time.
"The Denali family?" Edward asks.
"Yes, the parents were very integrated into the syndicate. Their deaths were not an accident. They were actually undercover agents, and somehow their covers were blown and they were eliminated. Their deaths are also unsolved cases. The information they provided over the years helped the case a lot, but there were still a few missing pieces. One of those pieces happens to be the information Charlie Swan came across."
"What exactly did he come across, and again why are you coming to tell us all of this now, years later?" I ask.
"Charlie found the hub of the transfer station for the human trafficking ring that the syndicate is involved in."
"In Forks?" I ask, unable to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.
"Yeah, well right outside the city limits. They were actually using a portion of Bogachiel State Park, which is why it took so long for Charlie to really figure out what was going on there. It may be considered Forks Washington, but with it being a state park, Charlie had no jurisdiction. The other factor was each time Charlie would bring it to the attention of the State Troopers, it dead-ended. Charlie did some investigating on his own and found out how the information always dead ended somewhere in the State Police. That is when he called in and involved the FBI."
"So what exactly does this all mean now, and what does Edward have to do with any of this?" I ask, squeezing his hand which is still holding mine."
"We've already determined that Edward has nothing to do with any of this, nor did he have any knowledge of any of this," Billy states.
"Do you think, I mean really he looks as if someone took away his birthday," Jasper snarks. "I mean pardon me, but don't you think that you could have left out all of the whole he was going to marry into the family, instead of leading with it?"
"Yeah, maybe, but the fact is we are concerned about the chatter we are getting. We know that Edward's parents were just here, and plan to come again in a week. We are also aware that Diego Vasilii was here for a week, and now there is talk that Eleazar and Carmen Vasilii, are thinking of visiting too. Now, there is no proof of any involvement of the Vasilii family, but the involvement of the Denali sisters is questionable. Irina has married one of the men who her parents believed was a big player in the human trafficking ring, but we've never been able to grasp any real evidence of that fact. Tanya Denali is also suspected of being one of the main accountants for the operation, working for Irina's husband. Kate Denali is suspected of being one of the potential handlers."
"What does any of that have to do with us?" I ask.
"We are concerned that if the Vasilii family becomes acquainted with you all, the Denali's will come to know that you are Charlie's children, and since there is still evidence against them that Charlie was responsible for, they could put a hit on you."
"Why would they ever assume that we would know what Charlie was doing at his job?" Emmett asks.
"They likely wouldn't, but Charlie did shoot and kill one of the key players, who also happened to be a member of the Diavol syndicate. They are a Romanian form of the mob. Charlie shot Stefan Diavol, when he rescued a truckload of young females, a year before he was killed. Vladimir Diavol, Stefan's father is the person who put the hit out on Charlie. Stefan was Vladimir's oldest son and Vladimir is very much an eye for an eye kind of person. Irina is married to Vladimir's youngest son, Luca Diavol."
"So you're telling me that my new friends are in danger because of my past?" Edward asks.
"No, they have always been in a bit of danger, which is why we've always kept tabs on them, but the involvement of the Denali sisters and their involvement in the syndicate complicates things," Eric states.
"So what are you saying exactly?" I ask them.
"We just think it is time for you all to know the bigger picture," Billy says.
"Do you think?" I snark, beyond mad that it has literally been years since they have kept things from us.
"We needed to tell you because we intend to be more involved, so you would be seeing us," Eric says.
"Edward, is it possible for you to communicate to your parents that you prefer they not bring the Vasilii family with them to visit?" Billy asks.
"My father mentioned a while back that Diego wanted to come and visit, and see where I'm working, but he was already here, as you know. I was unaware that Carmen or Eleazar were thinking of coming. I know they are caring for Kate's children the last I knew. Wait, how can Kate be some kind of a handler if she is hooked on drugs?"
"Kate Denali is a lethal person and the children she has, are not actually her children, nor has she ever been hooked on drugs from what we can tell."
"If they aren't her kids, whose kids are they? And what about all the times Diego or my parents told me about Kate going to rehab?" Edward asks.
"We don't know for certain, but the four children the Vasiliis' are raising all have one thing in common, they all have mental or physical things wrong with them that would make it hard for them to be adopted. As for rehab, we assume it would be a cover used to explain why Kate was not around," Billy says.
"So you think the kids are children who were conceived to be adopted? Like a baby adoption service? And the children Kate claimed as her own weren't good enough?" I ask.
"We cannot say for certain, but it seems that Kate, who is known to be one of the handlers, cannot dispose of the unwanted children, so she takes them to Eleazar and Carmen," Billy says.
"I doubt that," Edward states in an angry tone.
"I agree with Edward, due to actions in her past, I find it hard to believe that she cares about any child, born or not," Rose all but growls.
"See, that is what we thought too, having known her history," Paul speaks up, looking at Edward. "I'm sorry, dude, for the hell she put you through. It seems though that something in Kate now, will not allow her to hurt another child."
"So what is going on with the kids, and how do you know for certain none of them are Kate's?" I ask.
"Eleazar and Carmen, have two full-time nannies, and two part-time nannies to help care for the children. Every once in a while, the Vasiliis' will go away for a weekend, leaving the children with the help. We assume that they would not even consider bringing the children with them. Also, to be perfectly clear, one of the things we are doing is matching DNA we obtained, to find out exactly who their parents may be. It is one hundred percent positive that Kate Denali is not the biological mother to any of the children," Billy says.
"How would you get DNA without alerting the Vasiliis' of what you're doing?" Edward asks.
"That is the easy part, both full-time live-in nannies are vetted FBI agents. There are also two nannies who do not live at the residence, and one agent is always on duty with the children. The children are kept safe, and from everything we have researched, and found over the years there is no involvement in the syndicate from Eleazar, Carmen, or Diego Vasilii. They are all just ignorantly bliss," Paul states.
"Why do they think Kate actually had children though? Edward said that Diego has told him the fathers are pieces of shit?" I ask because this whole story seems so unreal.
"Well, Kate is gone for days, weeks, and months at a time. The Vasilii family doesn't see her much. Diego sees Kate more than the rest because she will pop in at the shop on occasion, usually to tattoo someone she brings in with her. Each time she does it is usually a man. Several different men have come in with her, and Diego has assumed that they are men she is dating," Paul says.
"Wait, you work at the shop, don't you?" Edward asks, directing his question to Paul.
"Yeah, I'm heading out tomorrow to return to Chicago. I am Diego's apprentice. It gave me a stable entry at the shop, and since I've been in there, we have uncovered more truths about the Denali girls' involvement in the syndicate."
"This is all so unreal," Emmett says, squeezing my hand as Edward squeezes my other.
"What's going to happen to those children when this all goes down," Alice asks quietly.
"At this point, we have only partially identified one of the children's mothers. It is hard to say, as I mentioned each of them has significant issues, either mental or physical," Billy states.
"How can you only partially identify?" Jasper asks.
"One of the children is known to be the biological child of a Jane Doe whose body was recovered from Lake Michigan."
"That poor baby," Alice sniffles and buries her face in Jasper's shoulder.
"I guess I am most confused about why you would openly give us so much information. Doesn't that go against all the protocols you guys have?" Edward asks.
"Yes, it is not a normal situation, and due to players who were undercover in Forks, and players who are undercover in Chicago, and now players who will be undercover here in Seattle, we have to make sure that we're all on the same page," Billy states.
"What undercover person will be here in Seattle?" I ask.
"Leah Clearwater is going to be joining you guys here in the shop, she will work beside Alice, but she will be here for your protection. This is not a joke, kids, this is serious and I promised Charlie that I would protect you with everything in me. Please don't fight me on this, because this is me keeping that promise to your father," Billy says.
"I feel like I have brought this hell on these guys, maybe I should just leave," Edward says.
"NO," is collectively said from around the room.
"Edward, you will not leave, it will kill all of us. Even if you never laid another line of ink, we need you. I can't live or work without you," I say with tears running down my cheeks.
Edward pulls me onto his lap and hugs me.
"I'm not going anywhere, I won't leave you," he whispers.
"So what makes you think this undercover agent, Leah Clearwater, will fit in here?" Rose asks.
"Trust that she will," Billy says, as he picks up his cell phone. After a few clicks, he puts the phone to his ear. "Come on in," he says.
A few minutes later there is a knock on the door. Alice gets up and walks to the door, with Eric following her. When they come back there is a new person with them, and just by looking at her, you would assume she at least spends a lot of time in tattoo shops.
"Leah Clearwater, meet Emmett and Bella Swan, Alice Brandon, Jasper Whitlock, and Edward Cullen," Billy says.
"Hey, guys," Leah says. "Hey, Rosie, how goes it?"
"Lee?" Rose says in return.
"Yeah, Billy said that I would know one of you pretty well, but that it wouldn't cause any issues. Us knowing each other actually helps with my cover story," Leah says.
"Okay, explain to get the rest of us up to speed," I say, still sitting on Edward's lap.
"My husband works for Rose at her shop. Quill is one of her mechanics," Leah says.
"Yeah, only I was introduced to her as Lee Artera," Rose says.
"Leah Clearwater is my maiden name, I use it a lot and normally I work mainly in the office. This will be my first undercover job, but trust I know exactly what I am doing, and what is at stake."
They explain that the plan is to infiltrate the Chicago scene using Paul, and the backup team there. They think this will only go on for a matter of a few more weeks before they are able to step in and make arrests. If it pans out, this will be nothing more than an overprotective precaution. They do recommend that Edward ask his parents to not invite the Vasiliis' to come out with them, at least until this whole situation is resolved.
By eight o'clock, I am dead tired, and beyond stressed out. We never eat the Chinese food Alice got for us, and I could not even care less.
Edward and I go home, knowing that there is at least one vehicle on our street that is watching over our homes, not that knowing that brings any sense of security.
A/N: So, that was a lot. What are your thoughts?