Well it isn't as cold as it was on last update, but the weather is still not as nice as I would like, but I do live in Iowa. Hope you all are warm, and safe where ever you 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.


ETCHED SWAN CHAPTER 16

Edward is still on the phone with Diego, and I motion to him that I am going to go out of the room for a minute. Grabbing my cellphone I leave the room. I pull up Billy Black and hit send.

"Hello," he answers on the second ring.

"Hey, Billy, it's Bella, what can you tell me about what is going down in Chicago right now?"

"I was going to call you when it was daylight. The FBI has raided everyone involved, or associated with the ongoing case. They have recovered a bunch of information, and we have proof of who killed your father. Luca Diavol was the one who killed Charlie. We have all of the key players in custody, but one. The person who is not in custody at this time, is thought to be dead."

"I'm glad that you have the person who killed our dad, and Emmett will be relieved to hear that too. But, what do you mean the one person you don't have in custody is believed to be dead?" I ask.

"There have been four separate explosions, and all of the buildings are a total loss. The tattoo shop and apartment above it. The building where we learned the women were being kept is also a total loss. They are using dental records to identify anyone found, and we believe that Katherine Denali was in the building with the women. Irina and Luca's home, and Stefan Diavol's compound were also leveled."

"So no conclusive fact yet to Kate Denali being dead though, right?" I ask.

"No, there is not a certainty to it, until dental records prove it. However, we do know that less than two minutes before the explosions systematically went off, Kate's phone was active inside the building and she was on it."

"Well that is something, I guess. What is going to happen to Diego and his parent's, they are innocent bystanders in all of this? And who set the bombs, do we know?"

"My understanding is that Diego was released already, and we already know that his parent's have no play in this. The Vasilii's are only being questioned on all information they have on the children which they had in their custody. As for the bombs, all I can tell you is that it is believed to be a failsafe situation, as in bombs set to go off when activated."

"What do you mean a failsafe?"

"With the Diavol's house, and compound, the building that housed the women, and the shop all blowing up at virtually the same time, the FBI believes that the places were rigged to explode to destroy any evidence."

"All four places exploded at the same time?"

"Yes, as if they were on the same trigger," Billy states.

"Does that mean that the evidence is gone?" I ask.

"No, thankfully most of the evidence was already in custody. There were videos and recordings. They have people in custody who are willing to talk. Not to mention they were able to infiltrate enough to get some live feed recordings into places and listening devices planted. A listening device, and GPS is how they are sure Katherine Denali was in the building when it exploded."

"Okay, Billy let me know if there is anything else we need to know. Also can you tell me if Diego has been fully cleared by the FBI?"

"Diego and his parents are fully cleared, there is no worry there. The Vasilii's will be able to return to their home whenever they are finished giving all information on the children."

"Okay, thanks, Billy, goodnight."

"Night, Bells," he replies before disconnecting the call.

I make my way back into the bedroom, and sit back down beside Edward who is still talking to Diego.

When there is a break in the conversation, I speak up. "Diego, I know it will be a few days before you will be able to leave Chicago with all that is going on, but would you please consider coming here to stay for a while?"

"You wouldn't mind if I invaded for a while?"

"Not at all. You could use the basement apartment, and have your own space," I say.

"Isn't that where you stay at, Edward?"

"No, I stay in the main part of the house with Bella now," Edward responds, grabbing my hand and holding it to his heart.

It is close to four before we end our call. Edward pulls me into his arms, and we lie on the bed holding each other. I tell Edward of my conversation with Billy, and we discuss the invitation for Diego to come here. After a while I feel Edward relax more, and know he has fallen asleep. I look at the clock again, and see it is now five-thirty. I pick up my cell and send a text to Rose, and Alice.

Hey, we will not be in the shop until closer to ten. Shit hit the fan in Chicago. Rose have Emmett call Billy. Alice, if you can cancel our appointments for the day and reschedule for next week, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

I cuddle closer to Edward and close my eyes.

I wake and look at the clock to see it is now after eight. I yawn and stretch, before nudging Edward.

"I'm awake, Love," he says in his gravelly morning voice.

"You sound so sexy when you wake up. Do you feel like you got any sleep?" I ask knowing I got some sleep but still feel drained.

"Yeah, I feel okay. I just have no words, you know?"

"Yeah this all seems a bit surreal," I say.

Getting up, I grab my cell and look at the screen. I open the first text.

I gotcha, no worries. Consider your calendars cleared for the rest of the week. A~

I open the second text.

OMFG! Emmett just got off the phone with Billy. Emmett asked Alice to clear his calendar too. I'm not going into the office today. Call us when you guys are awake.

"Rose and Emmett want us to call them when we are up. Are you ready for them to come over?" I ask Edward, as I pull on a pair of yoga pants.

"That's fine, I am just going to clean my leg again and reapply the ointment. I think I am going to wear shorts to make sure it gets enough air to heal up fast."

"Okay, I'm going to go start something for breakfast, and call Alice."

"I'll be out shortly to help you," Edward says.

I call Rose as I make my way to the kitchen.

"Hello," Rose says.

"Hey, Rose, you guys wanna come over and have breakfast with us?" I ask.

"Yeah, that was the plan, we were just waiting for you to call. Alice and I have been cooking, we will just bring food over. If you want to set the table, and get drinks sorted that would be great."

"Okay, give me like ten minutes and we will be all set," I say before ending the call.

I grab plates, and start setting the table.

Edward walks in and sees all the places set and raises his brow.

"Looks like we are having company," I say, grabbing the silverware.

"If your brother and Alice are coming over, we do not have enough time to throw together enough food for breakfast. Wait, I don't think we have enough food, we were going grocery shopping tomorrow," Edward laughs.

"Rose and Alice are bringing food, we are providing coffee, milk, and orange juice," I smile.

Rose, Emmett, Alice and Jasper arrive about ten minutes later and we sit down to breakfast and discuss things as we know it. About twenty minutes into breakfast, my cell rings.

"Hello."

"Hello, Bella, I wanted to call and see if Leah, Quil and I can come over tomorrow morning?" Billy asks.

"That should be fine, do you have any additional news?" I ask.

"We know that the forensics are working on identifying remains. Things are kind of a mess."

"Any other news?" I ask.

"Nothing concrete yet."

"Okay, well why don't you all plan to come over tomorrow for breakfast, we can have a normal meal and then talk. I honestly need a break from all of this for now," I say.

"Sounds good to me, love you all," Billy says before disconnecting the call.

"So that was Billy, he, Leah and Quil are coming over tomorrow for breakfast," I say.

"Oh, Jasper and I will cook," Alice says.

"Rose and I can make some bacon and some sausage gravy," Emmett says.

"Okay, we just ate, lets not get too excited yet," Edward says with a chuckle.

"Alice, Jasper, while you guys are here, we need to tell you what we have decided to do," I say and nod at Emmett.

"Yeah, man, we are going to have the nicest shop around, and not only that, it'll be the biggest," Emmett says.

"What do you mean?" Jasper asks.

"Yeah, I like the shop," Alice states.

"Well I am glad that is the case, since we are not moving," I say and Jasper and Alice both look like they don't understand.

"We are buying Jim and Marge's place, and tearing down the connecting wall to join the places. We are going to set up the piercing side over there, and have it be the main entrance," Emmett says excitedly.

"Okay, slow your roll, and start over," Jasper states.

We sit for over an hour talking about the idea of increasing the size of the shop, keeping the tattoo portion of the shop separate from the piercing side. We also discuss the apartments and what to do with them. When we are done discussing it, Alice and Jasper are both excited at the prospect of the addition and ideas we discussed. We all agree that it would be best to get someone in to help with the designing layout of the new portion of what will be our building, to best suit our needs and wants.

After everyone leaves, Edward calls Diego and sets it up for Diego to fly here next week. Edward then calls his parents to inform them of the situation that is going on. After talking to both of us, they ask if we mind if they come to see us. We tell them of Diego's intent to come to Seattle next week as well. They tell us they intend to bring Eleazar and Carmen with them as well if they want to come.

The rest of the day is spent just quietly relaxing around the house. We go to bed early, since neither of us got decent sleep the night before.

I get up early, like normal and let Edward sleep while I sit out on the balcony with my sketch pad. Eventually I hear Edward get up, and I go back inside. "Good morning," Edward says, wrapping an arm around my waist while he balances on a crutch.

"Good morning," I say, raising up on my tiptoes to kiss him.

"Everyone should be here in about half an hour, so I'm going to grab a quick shower. My leg looked great last night, so I may be able to use the prosthetic."

"Just in case, you should leave it off, its not like we have to go anywhere, and in a couple days I will need you to be on both feet to help get stuff ready for the invasion of the parental figures and Diego."

"I can always put them up in a hotel," Edward says, sounding a bit worried.

"No, there is plenty of room around here, and I love having company."

We both get ready for the day, and by the time we are down in the kitchen, we barely have time to set the table before the first knock sounds.

Rose, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper all come in together each carrying different things. Emmett and Jasper both have electric roasters.

"Why do we need two roasters?" I ask.

"Don't worry, Bella, they are not full. Each roaster has two pans in them and each pan has a different item. Look, I got Jasper's grandma's recipe for her breakfast casserole, and made it," Alice says, setting down the large casserole dish.

"Here are the biscuits," Rose says, setting down a platter.

I nod, as I pour the first pot of coffee into a carafe, there is a knock on the door.

Emmett opens the door and Billy steps in.

"Thanks, Billy," Emmett says before hugging Billy.

I get tears in my eyes, as I start the second pot of coffee. I haven't really let it set in yet, but now that I think about it, I can feel the relief of knowing my father's killer has been caught.

I go and hug Billy next, and he pats my back as Emmett wraps his arms around both of us. We stand there for several minutes just quietly hugging. When we break apart, I see Billy too has tears. I grab the paper towel roll, and tear off some for each of us.

Rose comes into the kitchen, and walks straight to Billy and hugs him tightly. "Thank you," I hear her whisper.

"Okay, enough of the heavy, I need some coffee," Rose says and walks back to the dining room with the carafe of coffee.

I laugh and see the second pot of coffee is almost done. There is another knock, and Emmett lets Quil and Leah in. Leah has a huge basket of pastries and I laugh, because I know we will need all this food. I swear between Quil, Emmett, and Alice the rest of us might get a little.

We all sit around the dining table, and enjoy breakfast, keeping the conversation light.

When we are all done eating, and the mess is cleaned up, we move to the living room.

Rose, Emmett, Alice and Jasper are on the sofa. Quil and Leah are sitting on the ottoman, Billy is in the chair, and Edward and I are on the loveseat.

"Okay, Billy, can we just go through the whole situation from the beginning?" Emmett asks.

"Yeah," Billy says. "So yesterday at around five o'clock in the afternoon, the FBI did a raid, hitting the Tattoo shop, Luca and Irina Diavol's home, the Diavol compound and the Vasilii's home first in order to secure the most evidence. Knowing they would need all hands on deck, they waited to invade the building where the women were held. They took all of the Diavol's in custody, along with the Vasilii's, and Tanya Denali. There were several other key players taken into custody. Katherine Denali was not taken into custody, because before she could be the building where the women who were used in the trafficking exploded and she was killed. At the same time the Diavol compound, Luca and Irina Diavol's home, and the tattoo shop all exploded. All of the evidence had already been collected from each of those places, except for the building. The building possibly held more information and evidence, but the FBI has more than enough to end the syndicate the Diavol's ran and imprison all the key players for life."

"How can you be certain that Kate died in the explosion?" Edward asks.

"Kate was inside the building, on her phone. GPS tracking on her phone, and wire tap on her cell corroborate our intel. Dental records were used to further prove that her remains were in fact pulled from the building. I literally got that information right before I arrived here today."

"So she is gone?" Edward asks, and I squeeze his hand in support.

"Yes, she is gone," Billy says.

"You said that those places all exploded, how did it happen that way?"

"They explosions happened approximately three hours after the take down and raids at the places took place. We now believe that there was a clean up crew set into play by the take down of the initial raid. We know at this time that at least six agents lost their lives in the explosions. There was a team ready to infiltrate the building where Katherine Denali was found, but it blew before they could enter. There were two agents at each of the other main three places to guard and watch over the scenes in case other information was needed."

"So, is there any way that they will get away with this?" I ask.

"Well it is not likely, because when the Diavol's set into motion the explosions, they crossed one person within their own syndicate who is truly ruthless. Irina Diavol," Billy says.

"Irina is going to turn on her family, that doesn't seem right," Edward says.

"Irina is extremely loyal to her family, but in the clean-up efforts, set forth by Irina's husband and his family, they have murdered her baby sister. Irina has stated that if the FBI can show her proof that Kate was killed in the explosion, she will give us everything. She has agreed to tell the FBI everything she knows, including the identity of the person responsible for killing her parents, who were Federal Agents, and testify that her husband was the man who killed Charlie Swan."

"Does that mean that she will get a plea deal or some sort of agreement to get out of jail?" I ask.

"To my knowledge, she will never be free, because there are things the FBI has on her that will give her life in prison as well," Leah says.

"So what happens now?" I ask.

"Now it is over, we didn't think any of this would cause you issues, but it does seem that you are all going to have several visitors from Illinois soon. If my intel is correct, that is," Billy says.

"Yeah my parents are coming for sure, and Diego is coming to stay for a while since he lost everything he had between the explosion of the shop and his apartment above the shop. My parents are supposed to let me know today if Eleazar and Carmen are coming with them to get away," Edward says.

"Well then spoiler alert, they purchased tickets online last night," Leah says.

"How do you know that?" I ask.

"FBI has been monitoring all communications, web browsing, and visitors, due to the unsurety of the fact that Kate is dead or alive. Since we just learned before arriving here that she is in fact deceased, last night they were still being monitored," Leah answers.

"Well this is a lot, but I have to ask. What will happen to the children that the Vasilii family was caring for? I mean aren't their biological parents dead?" Alice asks with tears in her eyes.

"The state of Illinois has taken custody of the children and they are being kept in a foster home at this time, with both FBI agents that were undercover and working for the Vasilii's. As for what will become of them, they are using DNA to determine if there are any living relatives. It will be some time before we have all the answers. The state did agree to allow the Vasilii's to visit with the children, as the children are attached to them, and they are innocent of all wrongdoing. It will take some time to know though, what will happen," Leah answers.

"They are just innocent, and I don't want them to suffer," Alice says.

"They are being very well taken care of, I promise," Leah says.

We sit around and talk for a bit longer, and after a while everyone leaves.

"That was a lot," I say, sitting next to Edward.

"That was more than a lot. I just don't know what to think, you know?"

"Oh, I know. I honestly never thought the day would come where Emmett and I would have the ability to see the man who killed our father come to justice. I am so glad that we will get that day though."

"Yeah, and I am glad that you will have that peace of mind. Why was Alice so upset about the kids?" Edward asks.

"Well its not my story to tell, but I know telling it hurts Alice a lot. When Alice was like fourteen, she was in a horrible automobile accident. She had to have multiple surgeries. One of the things that was damaged in the accident was her pelvic area. She had several fractures, and shards of bone actually caused internal damage. In order to save her life they had to remove a large portion of internal stuff. Alice basically has no uterus, it is like having a hysterectomy at the age of fourteen. The doctors say it is one of the reasons she is so small, it is almost as if her body froze in time. Alice can never have children, and the one thing she wants more than anything else is to have a child. She does have one fallopian tube, so they have used a clinic to harvest some eggs, and plan to use a surrogate mother."

"No wonder she worries about children, because it seems like she has been through a lot, and to want children and not be able to have them is scary," Edward says.

"Yeah, I told Alice that one day I will find my other half, and after I have my own child, I would carry one for her and Jasper."

"You want children?" Edward asks.

"Yes, I would love to have kids someday."

"I want children too. I cannot think of anyone else I'd rather they have for a mother than you," Edward says, before kissing me soundly.


A/N: Well that was a lot, was it not? I had to end the heavy with some sweetness, hope you enjoyed that. You all and your story love make me happy. Thank you so very much for being such awesome people. I am working on 17 now, and hope to have it posted within the next two weeks. Much love, Kasi.