A Sticky End

A Sticky End

Josef Kostan slammed down the only working landline phone in his demolished office, the wooden workbench supporting it rattled under the force applied.

He was furious.

He had just received a most unexpected and unwelcome call from Buzz Wire boss, Maureen Williams. The woman had been quite pushy and arrogant to begin with as she confronted him about some story she'd uncovered concerning a bogus charity front he had been involved with. However, her accusatory tone soon softened after he protested ignorance of any involvement.

His surprise and anger had convinced her that he knew nothing about the fraud. He had admitted that he was on the board of several charities but left all the paperwork etc. to his public relations man, Anthony Sheridan. He assured her that he would get to the bottom of the scam at once.

Accepting his response for the moment, she agreed to postpone going public until had a chance to carry out his own investigation. She arranged to contact him in twenty-four hours.

He pulled out his mobile phone from the inside pocket of his very respectable dark blue Italian suit. He scrolled through a list of private numbers then hit the one he was looking for. A few seconds later, he was talking to Rider England in Brazil. The elder vampire arranged with the computer tech to check out the charity and dig up what ever he could on Sheridan.

Less than thirty minutes later, he had all the proof he needed. Rider had confirmed everything Williams had said and more importantly, he had established a definite link between the phoney charity and Josef's P.R man.

Josef Kostan did not appreciate being made a fool of…especially by a human. Sheridan had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar but more annoyingly had brought the attention of the press to Josef's door once again. It was bad enough dealing with all the unwanted publicity caused by the explosion, if this story got out, the vultures would be circling again and his privacy would be under threat.

Josef Kostan valued his privacy…Sheridan would be made to pay.

A few more discreet calls to various contacts and the businessman had the location of his soon-to-be ex-P.R man. Apparently, the guy liked to visit some restaurant called Pentimento on Wilshire Boulevard every Thursday night. A creature of habit…it was going to be so easy.

Josef made his way down to the underground car park and eased himself gracefully into his red Ferrari. The car came to a screeching halt in front of the exit barrier. Upon recognising the car, the night watchman jumped to attention and lifted the barrier.

"Thanks Tom, have a goodnight," Josef saluted the ex-cop.

"Goodnight to you too Mr. Kostan, safe home," Tom respectfully replied.

The middle-aged man thought it strange to see the young executive heading home so early in the night, no one burned the mid-night oil like Mr. Kostan but he kept his musings to himself. The kid was entitled to have an early night every once in a while.

Josef made his way to Hancock Park and soon found the restaurant he was looking for. He parked on the opposite side of the road a considerable distance away, far away from the exposing street lights. His acute vampire vision allowed him to easily identify various patrons entering and exiting the building even in the broken light provided by the street lamps. He would be able to spot Sheridan in an instant and due to Pentimento's strict no-smoking policy, he knew the man would eventually leave to have his nicotine fix.

The guy was probably one of the very few chain smokers left in health-conscious L.A. He was of medium build, reasonably tall, in his mid-thirties, still single, fancied himself as a bit of a player...a ladies man. He dressed well, wore expensive jewellery and drove a fast car...like so many other successful men in the town.

The vampire waited impatiently for his victim to appear, with each passing minute his anger grew, bubbling within like the molten tar a short distance away, his white-knuckled grip on the leather clad steering wheel attested to his irritableness.

But the waiting soon paid off the main door to the restaurant swung open and the P.R man appeared alone. Almost instantly he reached inside his coat and pulled out a silver Zippo lighter and pack of cigarettes.

Josef smiled, he was reminded of the old days when prisoners were allowed a final drag of a cigarette before facing the firing squad. It wouldn't be lead terminating Sheridan's existence tonight but the end result would be just the same.

Kostan left his car and walked towards the man, silently stalking him as a cat would its prey. Anthony was moving away from his favorite haunt, pacing up and down the empty side walk, a trail of smoke billowing behind him. He turned around and found himself face to face with his employer, surprise clearly evident on his tanned face.

"Mr. Kostan...what are you doing here?" he asked, confusion coloring his voice.

Josef smiled but it was an empty gesture and he eyes remained glacial.

"I've been thinking quite recently about doing some staff restructuring Anthony," Josef purred cryptically.

"S...staff restructuring?" Sheridan replied backing away slightly from the menacing look.

The man now reeked of fear, it rolled off him in waves and it had an instantaneous affect on the vampire. His eyes clouded over now deathly pale, followed by a sharp, shocked intake of breath from Sheridan.

He tried to move away but Josef reached out and held him in an iron grip, his fingers biting into the flesh of the man's upper arms. Sheridan winced in pain

'What the hell was going on?' he wondered frantically.

"Mr. K...Kostan?" was all he could say, as if that one short question could sum up all his confusion and fear.

"You've disappointed me Tony," Josef calmly explained as he dragged the man across the street and towards his parked car.

"I...I don't understand," Sheridan exclaimed trying to drag his feet in protest and wondering how in the hell Kostan was practically lifting him over the road.

"Oh I think you do, I found out about your little charity scam Tony...you've being stealing, you've made me look bad...you brought the press to my door!" he practically growled.

Josef could have sworn that he almost heard the man's heart stop for an instant, the beat wildly once more.

Shaking his head in denial, Sheridan pleaded his innocence.

"I...I swear...I know nothing...I didn't do anything...God what are you going to do?" he begged as he was slammed against the side of the Ferrari.

"God has nothing to do with what I have planned for you," the vampire spat back.

He was now fully vamped out, he canines lengthened and his face took on an eerie mix of pale luminescent skin and darkened shadows.

Sheridan tried to scream but found a cold hand firmly clamped across his dry lips, instantly stifling any sound.

He looked around making sure they were both alone then leaned in slowly, relishing in the man's terror, inhaling the crazy mixture of fear, stale cigarette smoke and cheap perfume.

Growling loudly he bit deeply into the man's exposed neck, puncturing the flesh. The body convulsed underneath him from the pain of the initial attack. Josef showed no mercy, the feeding was brutal and Sheridan continued to struggle until he became too weak from blood loss.

The vampire drank deeply, eagerly swallowing the fresh warm blood tainted lightly by alcohol...the man tasted like he was well over the limit.

Within minutes the body grew slack Josef wrenched his fangs from the rapidly cooling flesh and released his grip. The corpse slid to the ground. He wiped his mouth roughly with the back of his hand and looked dispassionately at the dead human. He opened his car door, reached down and easily threw the body inside. Silently, he entered the car and drove away.

His destination was near by the La Brea Tar Pits were a perfect site for dumping bodies and it wouldn't be the first time he had availed of the concealing black tar. The place was deserted, he removed the man's wallet and phone and heaved the dead weight out of his car and over to the pits.

With one mighty throw he flung his dead P.R man into his final resting place and watched as the body gradually sank into the murky depths.

A crime had been committed against him...punishment had be dolled out.

Balance had been restored to his world.

ooOoo

Author's note: Well there you have it folks, my second foray into the world of 'Moonlight'...I hope you enjoy it and many thanks again to those of you who reviewed 'Why You', you've made this such a happy & enjoyable experience. Thanks! Looking forward to what you think about this little one-shot!

Disclaimer: Don't own 'Moonlight' or the characters...sobs uncontrollably.