s02e05: What Goes Around

Author: Photosue

Mick stepped out of his car, closing the door and reaching for his large maroon golf bag. He turned sharply as a cart came flying around the corner, Ted behind the wheel and James holding on tight. The small tires screeched to a halt at Mick's feet.

"Hey man, glad you could finally make it." Ted said waving at Mick, James nodded his agreement.

"Where’s Josef?"

"He’s waiting at the first tee."

Mick secured his bag on the back of the cart, and took a seat, holding on tight to the railing. The course was pitch black, at Josef’s request, he said it gave a different edge to the game. They rode up and over the perfectly manicured landscape until they reached the first tee. Six giggling freshies stood around Josef, eyes wide and fumbling in the darkness. Josef was moving around between them enjoying his advantage over them. Pinching, whispering, nipping, moving the girls together to watch them fumble their way around. Games, Josef declared, were always more interesting in the dark.
"Mick!" Josef grabbed a very familiar freshie and walked towards him.

"Freshie Golf?" Mick raised his eyebrow in agitation.

"Well, since you’re here, you might as well play." Josef kissed Simone on the cheek. Mick sighed, tonight eternity would seem like a very long time.

"Hi Mick," she peered into the darkness trying to focus on his face, but ended up facing Ted.

"Hello again." Mick smiled at her, then turned to glare at Josef.

"Relax, it's not like I brought you any freshies," Josef eyed a tall blond bending down, and in a low tone added, "C'mon be a sport," Josef clapped Mick on his shoulder. Mick rolled his eyes and shouldered his bag.

The night carried on with Cuban Cigars burning and MacAllen Scotch flowing. Josef was surprisingly well behaved, given that Simone was there. She couldn’t see, but she could hear, and that kept most of Josef’s attention on her. It also gave Mick someone intelligent to talk to.

Ted was thoroughly enjoying himself, more than once he had grabbed one of the girls and proceeded to play rock the cart with her. James played Freshie golf with a little more finesse, at least he pulled them out of sight, when he wanted more than blood. It wasn't like he hadn't seen it all before. In fact that was the problem, he had seen this all too many times before. It made it a very long game, if you could even still call it a game. Mick was the only one keeping score, and Josef was still beating him. Simone walked over to Mick, using one of Josef’s putter as a walking cane.

"Hey, Mick?" She said, stepping a little too close to him. He could smell the actions and boundaries of her relationship with Josef.

"Hi," he responded, causing her to startle at their closeness, and quickly move back a step.

"I was just wondering, where Beth is?"

"Well, Josef had me under the impression that tonight, we would be playing a gentlemen’s game."

"No gentlemen has even played this game, I can assure you!" Josef barked back, then began feeding again.

"I was talking about the Golf." Mick replied.

"So was I." Josef answered.

Simone was giggling at their exchange. Mick guided Simone back to Josef, "he’s going to need that club soon," Simone nodded in his approximate direction.

The game was quickly loosing it’s players, and Mick was surprised that they had actually made it to the 9th hole before half the team had started playing "Hunt the Freshie" and "Seek n' Sex" around the course. As much as the women giggled and squealed there was always an element of real fear and the requirement that they trust Josef to control his friends. This set Mick on edge until he finally packed up his bag and drove back to his car. At least he got a little practice.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

It was a quiet neighborhood, full grown trees and cared for lawns. The kind of place you would want to buy a home and start a family, except for all the crime scene tap and police cars. Beth pulled her car across the street and walked up to one of the officers fending off the press and nosey neighbors. She flashed her badge and he lifted the tape. The Coroners were wheeling the body out the front door when Carl walked up to her.

So working alone again, where’s your friend?" Carl asked.

"Who, Mick?" she asked, on guard.

"Yeah, Mick, seems like you two have been joined at the hip lately." Beth thought, God, Carl is in a mood.

"He’s busy." She tersely replied.

"Yeah, right. When he's not all over our crime scenes the master P.I. must be in high demand for finding cheating spouses, and false insurance claims." He replied, "I thought I warned you about that guy, I hear he is still around. Ever think that you're dating a guy who's an expert on infidelity."

"C'mon, Carl, why should I listen to your advice."


"Yeah, well, I just had my annual review and a comment was made about the number of times you and St. John appeared in my reports. If you like your job, you should distance yourself. Do the job on your own."

She ignored his bitter comment, pulling out her note pad and walked away. Carl wanted to push buttons, and she wasn’t going to give him any satisfaction. "So are you gonna give me the grand tour, or should I call Ben to explain my authorized appearance in your report?" she crossed her arms, "We're on the same side."

"Right this way… Miss Turner." He motioned her towards the door. Beth pulled some booties over her shoes and put on a pair gloves. Carl escorted her through the front door stopping just inside.

"Victim was found laying here," he motioned towards a large brown spot on the carpet just inside the door, "gardener found her and then called it in."

Beth looked around the house, everything seemed to be intact. Shelves of figurines, small tea sets, and doilies adorned every square inch of usable space. Lacy pillows were neatly aligned along the couch and matching chairs.

"No sign of a struggle." She commented. Carl nodded.

"Yeah, wait till you see the bedroom." He walked her through to the back of the house.

The crime scene investigators were working the room. The mattress of the bed was leaned up against the wall, ripped open. Stuffing and bits of fabric littered the floor, blankets from the bed piled in the corner.

"Wow." Was all she could say.

"Yeah, the killer seems to of had an agenda."

"Did she keep her money in the mattress?"

"Good guess, it’s not uncommon for children of the depression to do that and CSI found a money wrap on the floor. They bagged it for prints." Carl motioned her back down the hall.

"We think the victims name was Vida Ingles, according to neighbors she lived alone, no known relatives, age around mid eighties. I need you to help the officers interview the neighbors."

They walked out of the house, Beth pulled off her gloves and booties sticking them in an evidence bag.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

Beth walks down the familiar corridors of the LA County morgue, Oscar close behind, texting on his Blackberry. She smiles at Guillermo as she walks into the exam room. He gives her a friendly smile and walks her over to the body of Vida Ingles.

"Hey, where’s Mick? I thought you two were joined at the hips?" his waggles his eyebrows at her.

"He was doing some male bonding with Josef last night on the golf course." She chuckled. "He’s sleeping in."

"Ah, oh, ok." Guillermo nods and sighs as he pulls the report. "She was stabbed up close and personal, looks like a steak knife," he chuckles at the pun.

"Is this a… vampire crime?" she whispers the last part, Oscar briefly looks up from his phone.

"No way, besides, you know I’d drag Mick’s frozen ass down here if it was." He points back at the body, "she died of blunt force trauma, even before she bled out. The rest is in the report. Shame, really."

"Wow, I didn’t know you had such a soft spot for little old ladies?"

"No, I just don’t like wasting food." He gives her a fanged smile and she giggles.

Oscar shifts to stand alert just before Terrance walks into the room,

"Hey, Beth. Didn’t think you’d be among the living today."

"Why would you say that?" She cocks her head to one side.

Guillermo is shaking his head trying to shut Terrance up, but he’s not getting the hint.

"You and Mick, golfing with Josef last night, heard it was really wild! James had this chick, oh, man, Par Four! Do you guys even play golf?" Terrance was laughing and his face fell slowly as he looked at a very curious Beth and a stunned Guillermo.

"Um, what’s up?" He asks in a shallow voice.

Beth crosses her arms, "Wild huh?"

"Uh, you are his freshie, right?" Beth shakes her head. Terrance swallows hard, "I’m gonna… go do something." he vamps speeds out of the room.

Beth turns on Guillermo, "Did you know?"

"Beth…"

"Just give me the damn report." She snatches it out of his hands and leaves the room. Oscar walks silently behind her.

Beth stops before she gets to her car, turning on Oscar, "Did you know?"

Oscar folds his arms and takes a defensive stance.

"Of course you did! You all fucking knew!" She slams the car door and jams the key in the ignition.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

Mick stepped out of his freezer, scratching frost off of his face and out of his hair. He grabbed his robe and headed downstairs, tying the strings on his pants. He had slept much longer then he intended, grabbed his phone on the way to his kitchen. Beth had called, and left a message. "Hey, I’m working late at the office, I’ll talk to you tomorrow." It was quick and cold. He played it again. [em]Working late? Since when did that make a difference?[/em] He ran upstairs to dress, and then go see Beth.

Files and notes were spread all over the large conference table. Photos in one pile and the various notes from officers in another. Ben walked in carrying take out bags from a Chinese restaurant, placing them on the table. He looked at Beth, she was absently picking at her fingernail, holding a statement but not reading it.

"Hey, are you OK? You seem a little distracted?" Ben asked, handing Beth her styrofoam box dinner.

"Yeah, I’m fine. Just focused on the case," She lied. Images of Mick and orgy golf had been clouding her thoughts since the morgue. She didn't want to think that anything had happened, she trusted him, but then again, she was just too angry to talk to him about it without overreacting.

"Sure... Well, did you get any leads so far?" he opened his own dinner and dug in, taking a huge bite of noodles. Beth watched him, transfixed.

[em]When had it become strange to see another person eating?[/em] She wondered.

Ben stopped chewing. "Do I have something on my face?" he asked.

"What? …Oh, no, sorry, just used to eating alone." She smiled and began eating, flipping through reports.

"Mick doesn’t eat with you?"

She swallowed. Hot needles prickled their way down her spine. [em]God! Why did I say that?[/em] Her mind filled with a dozen stupid answers and none of them sounded even remotely plausible. "Of course he does," she said casually "We eat together... when we have time," she bit her lip, "Here’s something," changing the subject, she pulled the page up, "Carla Johnson, neighbor three doors down, says that Vida tried to poison Tim Carson’s dog, Tim lives behind Vida."

"Yeah, well, Tim is currently out of town on business." He rolled his eyes. "Another neighbor ratted him out already. But a Cyndi Lewis says that Vida was having sex with the UPS driver, the mailman, and her gardener. There’s a few jealous lovers." He took a bite of his spicy orange chicken, and let out a moan, "Damn that’s good! How’s the kung pow?"

"Mmmm, it never disappoints." Continuing to make satisfied eating noises, she stops to say. "Yea, well, the same Cyndi Lewis says that Vida would walk around on her roof at night in the nude." They both let out a laugh.

Mick could hear Beth and Talbot laughing as soon as the elevator doors opened. [em]Certainly didn’t match the abrupt tone of her voicemail[/em]. The lobby doors were open, and he could see the lone office light on, and it’s occupants. Oscar hovering nearby in the darkness. Beth was eating and flipping through papers. [em]Talbot sitting there, watching her, fondling her with his eyes[/em]. Mick walked closer, then stopped just before the doorway, still in the darkness.

"Here, try the chicken. You'll love it." Ben spears a piece with his fork and holds it up to her. She hesitates, then grabs the fork, pulling the piece off with her own fork, then handing the utensil back to him. She almost thought for a moment that Ben had intended to feed her. It was odd, but she smiled and tried to stay polite. She was just beginning to wonder if staying late was such a good idea when she noticed that Mick was standing in the doorway. Arms crossed, brow furrowed and staring straight at Talbot. Ben was still looking at Beth when his eyes also moved to the doorway.

"Mick?" Beth breathed. Her heart skipped and she wondered if he noticed. She stood up to hide her sudden, unfounded embarrassment.

His look softened and he walked over to her, placing his hand possessively on her back. "I got your message and thought I’d come down to see if you needed any help." He leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek. [em]Did she pull away?[/em]

Trying to remain professional, Beth grabbed Mick’s wandering hand, and took a step back. "yeah, well, I think we have things under control here… just paperwork." She gives him a half hearted smile.

Talbot leans back in his chair, and folds his arms. "You know, Mick, she’s perfectly capable of doing her job." he smiles sarcastically. Mick lets out a deep breath slowly, and thinks about throwing Talbot into the next zip code.

Beth squeezes his hand, pulling him out of the office, glaring at Ben as she passes him.

She turns to him when they are far down the hall, "Why are you here?" dropping his hand.

He reaches out to touch her arm, "you sounded upset in your message."

"I told you I’d talk to you tomorrow."

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright." He reaches out to caress her shoulder.

"Look, I have a lot of work to do," she stands unresponsive in front of him.

"Really?" He cocks his head, and pulls his touch away.

"…and I have to get up early tomorrow," she continued.

He puts his hands on his hips. "What the hell is going on?"

She crosses her arms and adjusts her stance, "Just be honest with me, what [em]exactly[/em] does golfing with Josef really entail?"

His expression dropped from concern to dread. She noticed the change, a secret revealed, and he looked shocked that she knew. Before he could answer her, Beth put her hand up shaking her head, "I have to get back to work."

She turned and started to walk away, "Beth... wait... Call me." he pleaded.

She nods turning the corner to the office. Mick runs his hand through his hair, [em]Fuck![/em]

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

Mick sat at his desk, drumming his fingers, and trying to think of any one that might have talked to Beth and given her the wrong idea. He picked up his phone and called Josef. After several rings, he finally answered.

"What?"

"Did you talk to Beth?"

"Why would I want to talk to Beth?" Josef was annoyed.

"Did you?"

"No, why?"

"She heard about last night from someone and now she’s got the wrong idea…"

Josef burst into laughter on the other end of the line. "No, man, she didn’t hear it from me," he laughed.

"Give me Simone’s number." Mick demanded.

"She didn’t talk to Beth either," suddenly humorless

"Give me her number."

"Look, I’m sorry you’re in the doghouse, so I’ll call her and make sure she didn’t say anything to Beth."

"Your still with her, aren’t you?"

"Damn you’re a good P.I.!"

"Ok, yeah, whatever. Call me later." Mick hangs up.

Josef rolls over and puts his phone back on the night stand. Simone comes walking back into the room, bowl of ice cream in her hands.

"What are you going to talk to me about?"

"Mick’s in trouble with Beth again."

"Hmm, that seems to happen a lot to him, and he’s such a gentlemen?"

"Yeah, well he could save himself a lot of trouble if he just sat her down and explained a few things about vamps."

"I don’t think he could have explained last night very easily to her." He nuzzled into her neck and the sex play began all over again.

Mick scrolled through his phone and dialed Oscar’s number. On the second ring he answered.

"My shift is over." He declared

"Who did she talk to today?"

"Don’t get me involved with your little affairs. Sort out your own mess." And he hung up.[em] Fuck![/em]

Mick wanted to throw the phone across the room, but instead he was back to drumming his fingers. [em]11:42pm, she’s not going to call[/em]. He held his phone, silently willing it to ring.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

The next morning, Talbot knocked on Mick’s office door. Nothing. He knocked again, and this time Mick answered. He stood there, arm on his door, regarding the early morning visitor.

"Hey." He said looking around the hall.

"Hey, Mick, I uh… Can we talk for a minute?"

Mick pulled his door open, allowing Talbot to enter his loft.

"Sorry for the early visit, but I was in the neighborhood…"

[em]Beth’s boss, be nice,[/em] he reminded himself.

"Not a problem, can I get you something?"

"Yeah, coffee, please, if you still have some… late night." Talbot looks around the open loft.

Mick gives him a sidelong glance, "Sure." He grabs the French press. "So… big case?" Mick asks.

"Beth didn’t tell you about it?" Talbot pretends to look surprised.

"No," Mick replies, slamming the press down to brew the coffee. "Not yet."

"Surprising," Talbot responds.

Mick hands him a cup of black coffee.

"Cream?" Talbot asks before taking a sip.

"Sorry, I’m out."

"Not a problem." He takes a sip, gives a smile "That’s good."

"So, are you going to tell me why your here? It can’t be for the coffee." Mick turns around to place the press in the sink. Talbot delicately tips his cup, letting the dark brew dribble down the front of his tie.

"Damn," he says "Murphy’s Law, always happens before work. Can I use your restroom?" Talbot’s heart rate suddenly spikes.

"Sure, up the stairs and to the right. Door’s open." Mick gives him a suspicious look.

Ben sets his cup down and heads up the stairs. He closes the door behind him and looks around. Mick’s bathroom was as big as his office. He walked over to the sink, pulling off his tie and splashed some water on it. He pulled on the mirror above the sink, swinging it forward. Toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, other than being almost empty, there was nothing extraordinary. He opened some drawers, same thing, normal stuff, soap, comb, nail clippers. Ben wasn’t sure what he was looking for, maybe he just wanted to see that Mick was a normal guy.

He opened up the cabinet, towels and sunscreen. Lots of sunscreen, about 12 bottles, all SPF 80. Skin problems? Ben stared at the bottles, all various brands. He opened the mirror again, then the drawers. Something was wrong. Something was missing. He began to do a mental check list of his own bathroom, when it hit him. Medicine. No bottles of Tylenol, Tums, old prescriptions, nothing. The guy didn’t even have band aids. Nobody is that healthy. He dried his tie, loosely putting it back on and headed back downstairs. Mick was nowhere to be seen. Ben walked back to the kitchen, grabbing his coffee and taking another sip. Still no Mick. He walked over to the refrigerator and peeked through the glass door. Apples, soda, and some kind of take out food container. He opened the nearest cupboard and began to peek inside…

"Need something?" Mick asked from behind him.

Talbot’s heart rate shoots through the roof. Mick smiles.

"Hey, there you are." Talbot tried to calm himself. He took a few slow steps away from Mick.

"Look, I know you’re Beth’s boyfriend and you're good at your job. The Department doesn’t mind P.I.’s helping with cold cases, but when it comes to an ongoing investigation, we just can’t risk it. I appreciate your help in the past, and if we need you, we’ll call you. You’re top of the list, promise." He took one last sip of his coffee, "And about last night," Mick stiffened at the memory, "don’t ever bring your relationship issues into my office again. I’ll see myself out."

Talbot turned and walked out of the loft. Mick stood rooted to the spot. His chest was constricting, painful spasm with every breath, Did Beth tell him? Mick growled at the thought of Talbot giving solace to Beth, last night, …in his office, …alone. [em]Fucking Oscar, why was he being so tight lipped[/em]? He tried her cell phone, straight to voicemail, [em]Damn it! [/em]

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

"Thank you Miss Goldstein, for meeting with me." Beth smiled at the elderly woman who sat at her desk.

"Not a problem, deary, I couldn’t believe it when I heard the news last night. Cyndi came over to my house and told me all about it. Was she found in the nude? Anyway, I thought the least I could do is come down here and talk to y’all… what a way to end a vacation." Miss Goldstein rambled on. Beth sipped her coffee and took notes.

"Well, Actually we wanted to know if Mrs. Ingles had any strange visitors, problems, anyone that might want to cause her some harm?" She inquired.

"Well, she wasn’t exactly the socialite of the neighborhood, but I can’t see why anyone would want to kill her."

"You said ‘Mrs.’, was she married?"

"Oh, darling, that was years ago, she was a late bride, and an only child too, I believe, but she married Bruce, and he had plenty of family to fill her heart."

"Married? We didn’t hear about that from any of the other neighbors."

"Well, like I said, she wasn’t exactly the social butterfly of the block. But she and I did become friends. I’ll miss her, but that’s what happens when you get as old as me I guess, everyone you love goes away."

The comment struck a chord with Beth, she gazed at the old woman’s tired eyes, her age close to that of Mick’s. Even immortality didn’t protect you from loss and Beth wondered what the difference would be; living forever, or living to old age, you still lost in the end.

"Is there any family from her late husband’s side that you know? Someone we could contact?"

"Well, after Bruce died, they stopped coming around," she looked down for a moment and fiddled with her purse, "but there was Gregg."

"Who is Gregg?"

"Gregg is, well, I guess her step-nephew, he would come by every now and then. I didn’t like him much, but he would come over and spend time with her. She would dote over him. I found out she was giving him money, so I told her he was young enough to go out and get a job and to stop giving him money. She did and he stopped coming by."

"How long ago was this?" Beth put her pen down.

"About three months ago, I think."

"Do you know his last name?"

"It’s Bruce's brother’s son, so I assume the last name was Ingles, but nowadays you never can tell."

"Thank you, Miss Goldstein, here’s my card. Please give me call if there’s anything else you can think of."

Miss Goldstein gathered her purse, smiling at Beth and walked out of the office.

"Ben!" Beth rushed into his office,

"Get this, Vida had a nephew! I looked him up and I think the detectives should go and check him out."

"Ok, I put it on their docket" He threw the file down on his desk and turned back to his computer. Beth shifted her stance and crossed her arms.

"Um, are they going to get to it anytime soon?"

"They’re busy right now. In fact, all of our homicide detectives are being stretched thin, it seems there have been a rash of murders lately." He leaned back in his chair and gave her a challenging look.
"Well, then if you don’t mind, I’ll just look into it myself." She grabbed the file and headed out of his office. Ben jumped to his feet and caught her.

"Beth, wait! Don’t go by yourself," Beth looked down at his hand holding on to her forearm, he released her. "I mean, take one of the uniforms with you."

"I’ll see you later," and with that she walked out of the office.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

He had to get out of the loft, even if it was just for an hour. Walking down the familiar green corridors of the morgue was a small escape and seeing friends might do him some good. He pushed open the door to Guillermo’s exam room and greeted his friend. He could smell her in the room, amongst all the blood and chemical, Beth’s smell was still strong there.

"Was Beth here today?"

"Uh, …no, yesterday. She came in to see a body and get a report." Guillermo suddenly found himself extremely busy.

"Really?" Mick followed him to another table, "So, did you guys talk?"

"Talk? Of course we talked, we talked about the body, we talked took about the report. Did we talk? Really, Mick, you sound paranoid." Guillermo pulled out a bag of blood. "Want a drink? Blood Alcohol Content is 2.5"

"No, thank you." Guillermo didn’t like the tone of Mick’s voice or the way he was looking at him either.

Guillermo was just about to make a break for the door when Terrance walked in, whistling, the poor bastard. Terrance took one look at Mick, scented the anger in the air and started to run for it. Mick chased him down the halls and pinned him on a gurney.

"Why you running, Terrance?" He snarled.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

Beth rode in the cruiser with Officer Daniels, looking in the mirror she could see Oscar following behind. She felt silly asking an officer to take her to a suspect’s house knowing that Oscar could dismantle any person that posed a threat to her. Her second guardian. That’s when her phone rang, it was Mick again. Daniels looked over at her as she turned her phone off.

"Avoiding someone?"

"More like still cooling off." Beth took a deep sigh.

"Yeah," he chuckled, "My wife does the same thing to me when she’s mad. Hey, go easy on him, he probably doesn’t even know what he did."

Beth chuckled then rolled her eyes "[em]he knows alright[/em]!" she thought. But she wasn’t about to let Officer Dildo into her personal life.

They walked up the steps to the apartment, loud music playing inside and a sweet smell lingered. She looked back and saw Oscar leaned against her car across the street.

Officer Daniels knocked on the door, a shuffle of movement was heard. He knocked again with more force. A sleepy blonde answered the door, shielding her eyes from the sun. Beth wondered momentarily if she was vamp, then thought better of it when she saw the track lines on her arms.

"What the fuck do you want!" she barked.

"We’re with the District Attorney’s office, is Gregg Ingles here?" The Officer asked.

She slinked away from the door, "He’s on the couch," leaving the door open she walked down the hall and out of sight. Beth and the officer exchanged looks.

"You’re the civilian. Take a look."

Beth peeked inside the apartment. It was dark and smoky; trash littered the floor and every available surface. Dirty laundry was laying around, old dried food stuck to dishes piled in the sink and along the counter. But in the living room, the source of all the loud music, was a brand new stereo system. Squinting her eyes she could see iPods and a large pile of heroine sacks next to the largest bong she had ever seen. Cozy.

"I think you might want to take a look at this." She called to the officer. He peeked in the door, and nodded to her.

Stepping back outside, he called into his radio for backup.

Beth waited outside the apartment until the backup units arrived. The occupants were all arrested on drug charges and Gregg was being taken in for questioning. As Beth started to make her way back to the office, Oscar sat next to her.

"You’ve been in a foul mood." She chided him. It was a game she began to play due to his lack of conversation. "I at least expect you to nod or smile or do something besides…nothing."

He turned his head and gave her a great big fake smile and held it until it began to make her uncomfortable.

"Ok, you can stop now! You’re much prettier when you do nothing."

Oscar smiled inwardly

"You don’t like humans do you?" she asked.

"Oh, I like humans."

The remainder of the ride back to the office was in silence.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

He kept glancing at the clock, then pacing, then angrily staring at his phone, only to return to the file sitting in front of him. Josh had been very close to the truth, he only needed a gentle nudge to find it and he probably would have. He had a statement from Leni, and made remarks about Beth’s arm. Notes about Lola’s factory, Black Crystal, and Beth's cell phone record. But it was the older records and files that Lindsay had pulled, cases Mick had worked on before Beth, even notes about his so called father Mick St. John Sr., that made him wonder how close Talbot is to the truth.

The visit this morning was unsettling on many levels. On one hand the guy seemed like he was vying for her, then on the other, he seemed out to discover his secret. Maybe both. Mick sat back in his chair, looked at the clock, then to his phone. He closed the file and began to pace his office. When his phone rang he nearly lunged for it. "Josef." He answered, his tone one of disappointment.

"Really! Don’t tell me you're still in the doghouse?"

"What’s up?" Mick asked exasperated.

"It can wait. This is far better. So how’d she find out anyway?" Josef could have been a school girl with the glee in his voice.

"Vamp at the morgue, Terrance."

"Want me to take care of him?" his tone almost hopeful.

"What?… No!" Mick slammed the file shut.

"Well I’ve had my fair share of trouble with the ladies, so I’ll give you a little piece of advice; just go to her, explain your lack of… actions, and she’ll forgive you for being so boring."

"Very funny." Mick scoffed, " But I'll give it a try."

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

Beth plopped down in her chair, and wiggled the mouse to wake up the computer. She had most of her report written and it would only take a hour to finish it off. Ben appeared at her desk, pulling a chair up beside her, effectively blocking her in the cubicle.

"Good job on the Ingles case." He said with praise.

"Thanks, I’m just finishing up the report." She replied tired.

"Glad to see you're in the swing of things."

"Thanks again." She gave him a doubtful look.

"Listen, a bunch of us are going down to the San Juan Club for drinks and I’d like for you to come, with me." He was playing with a paper clip on her desk.

Beth’s eyes widened.

"Oh, well, that’s a nice offer, but really I just want to go home." [i]To Mick[/i].

"Sure, I understand." Ben stood up and pushed the chair back. "So, who’s the guy?"

"Guy?"

"The guy that’s been following you around. Officer Daniels said he followed you two today."

[em]Shit.[/em]

"That’s Oscar."

"Oscar?"

"Yeah, I was going to tell you about him. He’s interested in being an investigator, I told him he could tag along, so long as he stayed out of my way, you don’t mind do you?"

"A groupie, eh?" he questioned.

"Yeah, well, he’s more of a glorified intern really." Beth voice raised, wondering if the vampire could hear her.

"Sure that’s fine, just keep him out of classified information."

"Will do, Boss."

Ben turned and walked back to his office, glancing back to ponder the mystery that seemed to surround Beth. He had seen Oscar before and the guy definitely did not look like the intern type. She didn’t seem to even acknowledge the guy when he was around so he couldn’t be a lover. No. One thing for sure, whoever he was Beth felt she needed to lie about him.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

Beth walked up the short flight to her floor, she rounded the corner and found Mick pacing in front of her door. He turned to her and dropped his worrying hands to his sides. She took a deep breath and continued down the hall. Walking up to her door, she didn’t say anything, just unlocked her door. Mick stood there watching her, giving her space. She opened the door, a few steps inside she turned to Mick still standing in the hallway. "You coming?"

He didn’t think twice, stepping in with one long stride and closing the door behind him. He stood in the foyer watching her place her purse on the counter, dock her phone and grab a bottle of wine. "Want some?" she offered.

[em]Ok. Maybe she’s not as pissed as I thought[/em].

Mick nods his head, walking into the living room and taking a seat on the couch. Beth walks in with two glasses and sits down on a chair across from him, setting his glass on the table. She leans back in the chair and folds her legs under her. Mick shifts in his seat, he had half expected her to share the couch with him, and now it felt huge and lonely. He grabbed the glass and took a nervous sip. Beth just stared at him.

"I didn’t see your car on the street." She spoke.

"Yeah," he studied the floor, "I didn’t want to scare you off."

He smiled, she didn’t.

"We have to be honest with each other, Mick." He felt like a little kid in trouble. "I find out about this at the morgue, Mick, the fucking vamps are gossiping about it," she motioned her hand through the air between them. "about you and me. What the hell happened that night?"

"Nothing happened…"

"[em]Something[/em] happened."

"Yeah, ok, something did happen," he stands up and hears a hitch in Beth’s heartbeat, "I stayed, despite my better judgment, played a lousy game of golf, and I fucked up with you. And that’s all that happened." Beth rises from her chair and walks over to stand next to him. Mick inspects his wine glass, then shoots back, "Now, what did you tell Talbot that made him so anxious to come over to my house at seven in the morning?"

"What? I didn’t tell him anything. He did that on his own." She sets her glass down. "Why would you think that I would talk to Talbot about us?"

"I just… well… he…"

"He gets under your skin."

"Yes." he sighed. [em]More than you can imagine[/em]. "Talbot's file on me is pretty thorough... it doesn't take much before I want to cause him bodily harm. My mind went crazy with the idea you were talking to him about us...

"About us... You didn’t fuck up. I was angry when I heard about the freshie golf; I just needed time to cool down…"

"I’m sorry. I should have just left. I did stake Terrance for being a gossipy bastard. He had to slurp down two pints of blood before the bruises went away. I hope it cut into his profit margin."

"That's supposed to make me feel better about the whole thing?

"No," [em]I'm fucking up again.[/em]

Beth steps forward and with a hand on Mick's chest pushes him back toward the couch. Forcing him to sit down or fall over the couch, Mick sits and Beth plops down on his lap. "You're cute when you’re busted, I over reacted, I should have trusted you..."

"Well me too..." Mick angles forward to kiss her, pausing a fraction of a moment to listen to the sound of Beth's pulse for signs of anger. Before he can move forward Beth closes the distance. Lips meet and loneliness retreats, for now. His mouth pulls at her lips, nibbling requesting entrance until it is granted...

"So..." he nibbled and kissed his way down her neck.

[em]"Mm-hmmm"[/em]

"...the next time you play golf with Josef"

"I’ll tell him where he can shove his clubs." He breathed against her skin.

"No, I want to be your caddy." She giggled.

MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML

Music: Stop and Stare

It was strange. Talbot sat back and studied his notes. He had made a new list and taken notes from memory, to replace the files that had gone missing. Mick’s file had somehow disappeared, and he only had one suspect. Beth. There were secrets there, and not the bedroom kind.

[em]Uninjured when hit by a car…
No medicine in house
Aversion to sunlight
Doesn’t eat
Seemingly psychic
On the list[/em]

His phone rang. Unknown caller. He looked at his watch, almost eleven, who would be calling now?

"Ben Talbot" he answered, rubbing his eyes.

"By now I’m sure you have some questions, [em]strange[/em] questions?" The raspy voice asked

"Yes." he answered. Ben knew this caller, remembered his voice.

"Good. We’ll be in touch." The line goes dead.


Author: Photosue