Welcome to a new story, and thank you for continuing to follow my Moonlight universe. This takes place about three months after our vampires return from France. Josef is still watching what's going on in Europe and there's a new District Attorney in Los Angeles who might be too curious about the odd and unusual. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only say this once—I own nothing by my imagination and love of Moonlight.

Chapter 1

It was overcast in Los Angeles, with rain threatening. Annie was driving the Cleaner's van to a location where someone had called in an emergency. She turned off on the 101 freeway as the drops began to fall, knowing the rain would snarl traffic to a crawl and it was better to take surface streets. They finally pulled into a long drive in one of the northern suburbs. It was a mid-century ranch on a large property. Annie was glad to see the house was hidden from the road by mature landscaping. It wouldn't do to have any nosey neighbors looking in. She motioned for the two other Cleaners to head around back. They were all armed, not knowing what to expect. The call came from a hysterical female saying she needed help with her vampire.

Annie knocked on the door, which was answered by a blonde human, looking visibly upset. The woman started a moment to see the Cleaner in black leather, but stood back for Annie to enter.

"I'm so glad you're here," the woman said.

Annie holstered her handgun and asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm Marie, but you must come and help Max." She turned and led Annie into another room where a man lay back on a leather sofa, his eyes closed. Annie called for the other two Cleaners, Rita and Kate and they came quickly.

"What do we have?" Rita asked.

"I don't know," Annie said, grimly. The Cleaners looked at the vampire and realized his scent was diminishing. There was no need to touch him, they could tell he'd met the true death. As they observed him, they saw he was tanned and healthy-looking.

"Is he….." Marie whispered.

Annie turned to the human. "Yes, he's dead."

Marie broke down in tears, and collapsed onto a nearby chair. Annie was sympathetic, but she needed answers.

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask you some questions. Why don't we go outside?" Annie gently led the crying woman toward the doors to the back of the house.

Rita retrieved a body bag and the two Cleaners quickly removed the unfortunate vampire to their van.

The rain had stopped and Annie guided Marie to a chair under the pergola. She asked, "Who is Max?"

Marie gulped and said, "Max Fletcher. He's owns property around LA and has investments. I'm—was Max's exclusive, you know?" Annie nodded, knowing that often wealthier vampires would keep a human as a private donor.

"I don't know what to do," Marie continued, her tears starting again. "Now that he's gone I don't want to stay here, maybe I'll call some friends or go to a hotel."

Annie needed to ask more questions, but could see Marie was in no state to talk. This was a suspicious death, and she was the prime witness. Annie didn't want the human taking off until they'd found out what happened.

"Marie, I understand that you don't want to be here, but we'll need to ask you more questions later. You're the only one who can help. Why don't I find you a safe place to stay? There will be other ladies there and plenty of room. Will you do that?"

Marie sniffled a moment and nodded her head. "I'll be glad to do anything for Max."

"Why don't you pack a bag and I'll make the arrangements."

Marie left the room and Annie quickly called Hale at Josef Kostan's house. She explained the situation, and Hale said he would send a limo to pick up the grieving freshie.

"I believe Mr. Josef did business with Mr. Fletcher. Is there any sign of foul play?" Hale asked.

"Not that we can see, but I'm going to take the body to a freezer at our headquarters and call Guillermo. He worked at the morgue and maybe he can figure it out. I'll call Mick St. John, too."

"Good. We'll keep Miss Marie here until you figure out what's going on. I don't like vampires dying with no reason."

"That's for sure," Annie growled. "I'll be in touch."

Rita and Kate came back into the room. "Did you get him loaded up?" Annie asked.

"Yeah," Rita said. "I've never seen anything like it. No marks, just gone."

"He looked almost human. Did you see his skin? It's so dark he must be getting that spray-on stuff the humans use to get a tan," Kate commented.

"I think it's worse than that," Annie mumbled under her breath.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

The masculine room was a counterpoint to the four women who sat around a poker table. Beth St. John dealt the cards to her friends, Simone, Megan and Sofia. They had taken over one of the rooms upstairs at the Blue Moon Club for a regular poker game. Every third Thursday, Beth, Megan, Simone and Sofia would get together for a girls night out. Sometimes if they weren't working, Annie and Bella joined them. They didn't always play poker, sometimes they shopped or went to a club to dance. Their husbands or significant others were happy to have their ladies go out to have fun—at least that's what they said. Simone told Josef if he was spending time with his men friends for billiards or poker, the ladies could too. Having over 400 years of experience, he quickly acquiesced to his wife and privately urged his friends to agree with their ladies.

Now Beth looked at her hand and threw in a few chips to start off. They played for chips, but not money. The losers bought the drinks for the evening.

"Fifty to you, Simone," Beth said with a raised eyebrow.

"Hmmph," her friend snorted and threw some chips on the table. "I'll call."

Sofia smiled and folded as did Megan. Beth put down her cards. "Full house, jacks high."

Breaking a large grin, Simone countered, "Full house, kings high."

"Damn," Beth growled as Simone raked in the chips. The door to the room opened and a handsome young man came in, carrying a tray. He was wearing a shirt opened down his chest and they could hear his heartbeat. "I'm Jack and I thought you lovely ladies would like some refreshment."

The tray contained a bucket of ice and champagne as well as a container of blood, and Jack rolled up his sleeves, offering his wrists to the group. Simone reached out with a smile and drew the human to her. Her eyes turned and fangs came out as she bit gently into his arm. Jack couldn't hold back a moan as Simone's sensual bite overwhelmed him. Megan and Beth looked on in amusement, but Sophia, being younger had a harder time controlling her urges. When she smelled the blood, her eyes crystalled and she put her hand up to cover her fangs.

Simone saw Sofia's discomfort and after about ten seconds stopped drinking and closed the wounds with her tongue. Jack also noticed and went around the table, offering his other wrist.

"No, that's all right," Sofia said, somewhat embarrassed. Ewan had taught her to feed fresh, but she felt uncomfortable in front of others.

"Go ahead, hun," Simone encouraged her. "You need the practice, and we won't let you hurt him."

The handsome waiter smiled encouragingly. "It's fine, I've had young vampires bite me before."

Sofia nodded, taking his arm softly and sniffed, licking along the vein until she found the right place. Her vampire came out, and she bit down, the blood welling up into her mouth. The warm blood almost overwhelmed her, but Megan said in the vampire undertone, "Listen to his heartbeat—don't lose yourself."

Sofia heard Megan and pulled away from Jack's wrist, closing the wounds. She checked his heartbeat and was glad to hear it steady. She looked up at him, smiling her thanks.

Jack smiled back, saying, "You're a natural. Let me know when you're back at the club, I'll be glad to see you again."

Simone chuckled. "Put that on our bill, Jack. These ladies will be paying."

The other three groaned as the young man left. By common accord, they took a break from the cards and helped themselves to champagne.

"You did great, Sofia," Beth commented. "Do you drink fresh much at home?"

"No, but it's not because we don't want to, it's just not very convenient with our work and schedules."

"I know what you mean," Beth nodded. "I don't need a parade of freshies running in and out of the loft. Josef does have some donors at the office, but I'm usually too busy to take advantage."

"How's work been, Beth? Simone asked. "Josef said you've been taking care with a couple of the charity programs he's hosting."

Beth took a sip of champagne. "Yes, they're both coming together. I think Josef will only have to spend about fifteen minutes at each of them. I know how he hates the spotlight."

"That's for sure," Simone laughed. "You're doing a great job keeping the press informed so he doesn't have to see them."

"So you're not working with Mick?" Sofia asked.

"No, not so much. Most of his cases lately have been unfaithful husbands or corporate theft."

"But what about—" Simone started.

"What?" Beth asked.

"Well, there was a rogue vamp that the sire abandoned up in Northridge. Didn't Mick handle that? I know the Cleaners called Josef."

Beth shook her head, frowning. "I don't think they called Mick on that one. At least he didn't mention it to me."

The conversation wandered as Beth thought about Mick. After they returned from France, he seemed was reticent to discuss what he was doing. He only told her he didn't have anything more than divorce cases. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't been with Mick on a case or stake out since before they went to Europe. Her eyes narrowed and she determined she would talk to Mick as soon as she could.

Beth was brought out of her reverie when Megan asked Simone, "What have you heard from France?"

"The British council is still there. They're trying to get some of the older French vamps involved. Gaston Duvall is still working with them."

"Huh," Beth snorted, "he's lucky they took him on."

"Yeah, I think in hindsight Josef is sorry he didn't just kill him," Simone said.

"Well, at least I know Coraline won't be knocking on our door anytime soon. Her brother Henri's life is forfeit if she does," Beth said.

"And Josef will make sure of that," Simone responded with a wicked smile.

Megan picked up the cards. "Shall we have another few hands before it gets light?"

The ladies nodded, and the older vampire began to deal.

Across town at the Kostan Building, Mick St. John stopped by to see if his friend wanted to play some eight ball, since Beth was out with her friends and he was at a loose end.

Security knew to let Mick in without any hesitation, and he strolled into the office as Josef was finishing a call.

Mick felt Josef's disquiet. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. The Cleaners just called me and they found Max Fletcher dead at his house."

"I think I met him once at one of your parties," Mick responded. "What happened?"

"His freshie found him and called the Cleaners. When they got there the girl was too upset to tell them anything so they sent her over to my place until she calms down. The body's at the Cleaner's warehouse and Guillermo's going over. You need to check it out and find out why he died."

Mick reared back as Josef's demand caught him off guard. "Wait a minute, I don't have time to take this on right now."

"What do you mean? This could be a problem for the community," Josef frowned.

"I'm just busy right now," Mick said, trying to keep his tone from being defensive. "If there's anything going on, the Cleaners can handle it."

Josef leaned forward in his chair. He hadn't seen much of Mick since they came back from France, and he didn't like what he was feeling now. "What's going on, Mick?"

"Nothing, I have a lot of cases."

"Don't give me that shit," Josef growled. "You've always been ready to help the community." He reached out with his power. He didn't often let it loose, but he needed to know what was bothering Mick.

"This is about Beth, isn't it?" Josef exclaimed.

Mick didn't appreciate Josef being able to read him so well and stated, "It's none of your business."

"It's my business if it affects your ability to help the vamps and humans under my protection. What's changed?"

His friend went to the small bar in Josef's office and poured them both a single malt scotch. Mick sat down across from Josef and said, "What's changed is that I don't want to expose Beth to the risks of my work."

Josef choked a bit while taking a sip of the delicious liquid. "What? After all this time you think Blondie is going to shy away from something dangerous? You couldn't keep her from threats when she was human, and you won't now that she's a vamp."

Mick drained his glass, feeling the alcohol burn down this throat. He got up, looking a Josef in anger. "Every time we get involved with something, Beth gets hurt. I had to turn her when we were kidnapped. This last time in France, she was injured because I was involved with finding du Plessis."

"Have you talked to Beth about this?" Josef asked.

When Mick shook his head no, Josef said, "It's a good thing because I'm sure she'd stake your sorry ass and throw you off the Santa Monica pier."

Mick looked stubborn, and Josef continued. "When Beth finds out you've been keeping her out of the loop she won't be happy. Annie is one of her friends and she'll be telling the story of this vampire who died mysteriously."

Mick ran his hand over his face. He knew he should have talked to Beth when they got back to LA, but they both plunged into work and Mick started taking more routine jobs while Beth was involved with Kostan Industries. When she asked about his cases, he told her there was nothing of interest he was investigating.

Josef got up and refilled their glasses. "So you've been trying to protect Beth by not having her involved in anything that might be risky."

"Yeah, pretty much. I should have talked to her about it before now."

"Well it better be soon, because she's going to want to get in on this problem once she hears about it."

"I know. I guess I don't want her to keep seeing the darker side of our existence."

Josef shook his head in disbelief. "Man, you remember she was a reporter, right? She saw her boyfriend die, as well as other vampire murders. Hell, she even staked your ex, which made me think she'd be a great vamp. She knows the risks and you need to support her."

Mick straightened his shoulders and looked at his friend. "Yeah, I'd better talk to her about all this."

"Good, because I have to work with her and if she's mad at you, I'm gonna hear about it. She'll understand—just tell her the truth and she'll be fine," Josef smiled.

Relaxing a bit, Mick returned the smile. "I'll do that, but maybe I'll bring her some flowers, too. It couldn't hurt."

"Good thinking, buddy."

TBC

Thank you for reading; I hope it's a good start. Next chapter, Mick talks with Beth (finally), and we meet the new District Attorney for Los Angeles.