Sorry I've been off the site for a while. Thanks again for staying with the story ~~~~~~

Chapter 7

Two shadows moved across a rooftop in a run-down area of East Hollywood. It was Mick's turn to watch the serial killer that had been turned loose. He had Beth with him to show her the finer points of surveillance. The previous night had been busy with trying to locate all the blood suppliers in the greater LA area, and when they had a chance to see Josef, they'd go over their findings with him. Beth was glad of a night out with Mick, even if it wasn't a romantic interlude. Excepting the party, she hadn't seen him much in the last weeks. When she started working for Josef she hit the ground running and was catching up on projects he had lined up. Working for Josef was demanding and many of Mick's cases had taken him out of town lately. She looked over at him, her enhanced vision letting her see him clearly in the gloom.

Mick felt her eyes on him, and tilted his head questioning. Beth responded with a twinkle. "I was just thinking that I'm glad I don't have to wait in the car anymore."

"You never waited in the car." He said with mock severity.

"I know." They gazed at each other with no need for words, a moment in time just to themselves. Mick put his arm around Beth, kissing the top of her head, moving to the edge of the roof. They peered down on a man lounging against the wall of a cheap hotel. He looked avidly at the passersby and occasionally spoke to someone who asked for a handout.

"What's he doing?" Beth asked.

Mick frowned. "Looks like he's trolling for kids again. Talbot was right; he's not going to stop."

Now, they watched Wilson push himself away from the wall and enter a small bar next to the hotel Mick said softly to Beth. "Okay, you keep a lookout for him and text me if he leaves the bar. I'm going to plant the bugs in his room." He suggested the listening device and camera to the Cleaners, and they agreed it would be easier to keep track of Wilson, especially in the daytime. Fortunately, vampires didn't have to worry about legalities or court orders.

Mick disappeared over the side of the roof, and melted into the darkness. Even her vision couldn't see him enter the other building. After a while the street below cleared out and she expected him to be back shortly. Suddenly, she scented another vampire, one she didn't know. She slid into a defensive position as Mick taught her and moved behind a chimney, pulling her SIG 9mm with silver rounds. She felt a slight movement, then she was slammed to the rooftop and the gun dislodged from her hand. Her attacker didn't budge, and she heard a woman's voice ask, "Are you all right?"

The pressure on her neck was released and Beth was up, ready to attack, her eyes crystal and fangs extended. She saw another vampire, dressed in black, with short dark hair. "Who are you?" Beth hissed. The other woman put up her hands in surrender.

"Sorry, I thought Mick would be here. I can scent him."

At the mention of Mick's name, Beth felt a bit easier, but still wanted to know who assaulted her. "Who are you?" She repeated.

"I'm Annie, one of the Cleaners. They told me Mick would be around watching Wilson tonight. Sorry if I scared you. I didn't want you shooting me, so I had to drop you quickly."

By this time, Beth was feeling relieved and foolish. She grimaced at herself, her face returning to human. Why did she think she could beat an older vampire, and a Cleaner to boot? Mick was right, she needed more practice. Annie picked up the weapon, handing it back to Beth. "That's a nice piece—loaded with silver, right?"

"Yes," Beth said, holstering the gun. "I can shoot pretty well."

"That's what I was afraid of." Annie replied with a slight grin. By common consent, they made their way back to the edge of the roof and Beth scanned the street. "Where's Mick?" Annie asked.

"He's over planting a bug and a lipstick camera in Wilson's room."

Annie nodded. "I heard that at our office." Then she asked, "So how are you doing? I was one of the ones to pick you guys up after that scum kidnapped you. You probably don't remember, you were pretty out of it."

"No, I don't recall a lot right after Mick turned me." She said apologetically. "But thanks for your help. I'm doing much better now."

"Sure." Annie said with a sidelong glance. This Beth Turner was an unknown quantity. After the ordeal of her turning, Annie figured Beth was a survivor, and she seemed to have gotten Mick out of his doldrums. Annie smiled to herself. Mick and Annie were just friends, but there was more than one Cleaner disappointed that Mick was off the market.

Mick exited Wilson's hotel and made his way stealthily across the street to get back to Beth on the roof. He felt her spike of panic and fear, and he didn't bother to climb the fire escape, but jumped on it from one floor to another until he landed on the roof with a growl. He smelled another vamp, and it took him a moment to realize it was Annie. He came over, checking Beth and asking softly, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, but I almost shot Annie."

"I had to disarm her, I was afraid she'd blow my head off." Annie responded.

Mick grinned. Then Beth said, "Guess I need more hand-to-hand practice. Annie took me down fast."

"Don't worry, it's my job. And you're not even a year old yet. Give it time." Annie said encouragingly.

Mick asked Annie, "What's going on?"

"Josef sent me over; he wants to see you and Beth right away. I'm here to finish your shift. He's at the office, get over there right away."

"Did he say why?"

Annie shrugged. "I'm not sure; there are a few others there."

"All right." Mick nodded toward the bar across the street. "The scumbag is in the bar, and the other guards said he usually drinks himself senseless and stumbles home when it closes. Maybe we won't have to guard him too closely now that we have the bug and camera in place."

"Hope so." Annie replied. "Get going, I'll be here until dawn. Oh, Beth, have this guy bring you down to the club some night, I want you to meet the gang."

Beth smiled. "I'd love to." Mick nodded goodbye and they quickly made their way to the Benz, parked on a side street. Beth pulled off her cap, shaking out her blond hair as Mick maneuvered through the night streets. She realized they were both dressed ninja-style, in black from head to toe. She glanced at Mick. "Do you think we should stop at the loft to change? I don't want to get arrested as a terrorist in this outfit."

"Nah, we're fine. If Josef said now, he means it. I hope whatever he wants us for, it's not Council business. I've had enough of them."

"Me, too." Beth agreed.

They passed the guards and parked in the secure area at Josef's building, riding up the back elevator. Entering into the outer area they saw Josef's assistant coming toward them.

"Hi, Deborah." Mick greeted the formidable guardian of Josef's office.

"Hello." she smiled at both of them. "Josef is in the small conference room. There are refreshments if you need some."

"Thanks." Mick responded and he and Beth entered the low-lit room. He noted that Bella was there along with Mac, another Cleaner as well as James, one of Josef's security team. He also observed the dark-haired, female vampire he remembered from Josef's party. She didn't look at him, but something about her made him uncomfortable.

Beth got them both drinks, O neg, not her favorite, but it was fresh and acceptable. She saw the dark-haired vampire wearing an elegant suit and heels, looking like she stepped out of a magazine. The vampire looked Beth up and down, smirking slightly at her obviously unfeminine attire. Beth narrowed her eyes, wondering who this woman was and why she was there.

The group gravitated to their seats sat down. The female vampire was across the table from Mick and he avoided her eyes, instead looking at Josef. At the head of the table Josef cleared his throat and gathered their attention. "First, let me present Natalya Ivanovich, a consultant provided by the Council." He went around the table to introduce the rest of the participants to Natalya. She avoided Mick's eyes, but fastened again on Beth, interested in St. John's fledgling. Natalya had by no means given up on acquiring Mick St. John; she just had to go about it in a more discrete way. Josef snapped her attention back to him.

"We all know why we're here. There seems to be a threat to our local community, and we need to find out who's behind it and stop them. Mick and Beth have compiled a list of most of the blood suppliers in the greater LA area. My staff will be contacted them by email or phone and ask them to let us know if anyone approaches them about buying their business. The ones we can't reach will be visited in person."

Bella commented, "That's going to leave us pretty short-handed. With our usual clean ups and surveillance on Talbot's criminal, we're stretched to the limit. We may have to bring in some outside vamps to help with the stake outs."

"Whatever it takes". Josef frowned. "We all need to be aware of anything that might jeopardize the community." He stood up and paced a moment before turning back to the group. "I've approved a new business venture, one that will directly impact this blood issue. Guillermo Gasol will be opening two new donation centers near college campuses. I told him to move on it as quickly as possible." He looked at Beth. "Beth, I'd like you to be the liaison with Kostan Industries to make sure he has everything he needs get this going. I don't want to use the regular acquisitions department for this one, since it's entirely vampire business."

Beth nodded, happy that Josef thought her qualified to take on the project. She turned to smile at Mick and he squeezed her hand. Natalya saw the byplay and was annoyed. One of her gifts was the ability to shield her emotions from other vampires. Now she put them in place so she would be a blank to the others in the room.

Natalya said, "I know you've heard about my abilities and some of you don't think I can be of much help. That is irrelevant to me at this point. My job is to find the criminal and stop him before more damage is done." She noted she had the group's attention. "I know this person is now near Los Angeles. I believe he is in a small town, north of the city, near a major highway. He is living and working out of an office building there."

Josef surreptitiously rolled his eyes. "That description could be a hundred towns."

Natalya swung to Josef and said sharply. "If you will allow me to finish, I think we can narrow down the area." She looked back at the group. "I will need someone who knows the region to drive me. I can get impressions as we go along and get closer to him. I'll know the town and the building when I see it."

Bella shifted in her seat. "We could spare a van, but only for a few hours."

Josef shook his head decisively. "No, I don't want any more distractions for your crews, Bella." He turned to Mick. "Can you handle this?"

Mick looked at Natalya, who pointedly stared at her manicured fingernails. Mick couldn't read anything from the green-eyed vampire and didn't know why he felt uneasy. He nodded to Josef. "Yes, I can do it."

"Fine," Josef responded. "But take one of the Escalades; your Benz is too conspicuous."

Natalya was triumphant, thinking of having Mick all alone in a car for several hours when Josef said, "James, you go with them in case they need back up."

Beth spoke up. "I can go, Josef."

"No, you need to get started with Guillermo. I want these centers up and running yesterday. We need to make sure we have adequate blood supplies for our people."

The meeting broke up shortly after and Natalya came up to Mick, handing him a business card. "Here is my telephone number. Please call and let my people know when you would like to go." She still didn't look him in the eye,

"Um, yeah, I'll do that." He thought it would be a waste of time, but couldn't think of any way to get out of it.

"In the meantime, I will look at maps and see if I can pick up any vibrations." Natalya said in a business-like manner. She nodded shortly at him and moved away to say goodbye to Josef.

Beth witnessed the conversation and as they left the office, she felt Mick's uncertainty. "What's wrong, Mick?"

He guided her into the car and took his place behind the wheel before answering. "I don't know about that woman. I can't get a feeling from her, she's like a blank wall."

"I couldn't read her either. I thought it was just me."

Mick shook his head. "I think all this is a wild goose chase, but with Josef and the Council, I don't have much choice."

"Just make sure you load up with silver bullets—and a couple of stakes, too." Beth commented as she nestled up against him. "It looks like we have the rest of the night off. Any ideas how to spend some time, Mr. PI?"

He saw her wicked expression and drove a little faster through the LA streets.

xxxxxxxxx

Sofia stared at her cell phone like it would jump up and bite her. She knew she should call her mother and let her know about Ewan, but she didn't know how her mother would react when she found out her daughter was dating a vampire. Her mother, Maureen, had spent time around them as a donor, and had a friendly relationship with Josef. He saw that Maureen had enough money to go to nursing school, and after she married and had Sofia, that the child had a college fund.

She sighed. Ewan had wanted to meet her mother; he was so old-fashioned that way. He didn't want to pressure her, and she understood how he felt. He had told her of the woman he loved so many years ago that rejected him when she found out his true nature. He hid it, but she knew there were still some scars and insecurities from that relationship. Sofia smiled a little to think she could cause such an old vampire to be nervous.

With determination, she picked up the phone and punched in the number.

"Hello." Came her mother's voice.

"Hi, mom."

"Sofie, honey, I'm so glad you called!"

"Yeah, sorry it's been a while. Work, you know. How are you? How's the studio?" Maureen had given up her nursing career a few years ago, went back to school and had opened an interior design business near the California wine country.

"The studio is good, I'm keeping busy. The economy is stable here, even in bad times people drink wine." Maureen said, smiling into the phone. "What have you been doing, besides work—and don't say 'nothing' because I know that's not true."

Sofia rolled her eyes. "Well, I really have been working a lot, with a new job and all." She told her mother about the ADA's office and her job, mentioning Ben Talbot several times.

"So," Maureen said slyly. "who is this Ben? Is he single? He's your boss, right?"

"Mother. Ben is a nice guy and he is my boss so anything there is definitely out. Besides, he has a girlfriend." A vampire girlfriend.

"Oh." Her mother sounded disappointed. Sofia ramped up her courage. Her mother had never been overprotective, but Sofia was her only child and wanted the best for her.

"As a matter of fact, mom, I am seeing someone."

"Who?" came delighted reply.

"His name is Ewan and he's from Ireland. He's got several degrees and he's a historian and a writer." Sofia paused, hoping that would be enough.

"Where does he work?"

"Um, he's self-employed right now."

"Oh, he's a bum?"

"No." Sofia said exasperated. "As a matter of fact, he's wealthy enough to be independent and spend his time writing. But he has been a teacher as well as going to school."

"I see. So how old is he?"

Sofia gulped and took a deep breath. "Um, about 700."

There was a long silence on the line. "Are you saying he's a vampire?"

"Yes, mom, he is."

More dead silence. "Mom? Are you still there?"

Maureen answered slowly. "You're dating a vampire."

Sofia sighed. It was a good thing she had unlimited minutes on her cell phone. She had a feeling this call was going to take a long time.

TBC

Moms always worry, don't they? Next we see more of the bad guy and find out why he wants revenge.