A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews you've posted. You all rock! This chapter advances the plot in what I hope is an interesting way. Also, it's a mild break from Lily, who I know is very annoying (purposefully so, lol). I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 11
MICK
I couldn't find anything interesting in Roy Sommers's file. He wasn't in debt, no unusual expenditures or deposits. He was very well off, being a partner in his accounting firm. One thing that stirred my memory was the name of the firm—Hewitt and Sommers. I did a search of the name and found out that one of their clients was Kostan Industries. I was fairly sure that was a coincidence; such a messy shooting was not Josef's style, and he certainly would have had the Cleaners over immediately had he been responsible. Besides, I'd smelled no evidence of a vamp presence at the scene. At any rate, it wouldn't hurt to see if Josef knew anything about it. The man was like the Reuters of vampire information.
I shut down my laptop with a frustrated sigh. I wondered if Beth was faring any better investigating his mistress, Louisa Wicker's husband. Part of me hoped not, because I hated the idea of losing to Beth. Not so much because I had reservations about working with her full-time (though that was certainly part of it), but also because she and Josef were similar in their reactions to winning one over on me; neither of them ever let me hear the end of it.
I reached up and ran a hand through my still-long hair. So far, I'd dodged that bullet—Josef had been so preoccupied with Lily that he hadn't collected on his own bet. As for Beth…her win would be a more permanent change. Working with her today had been great—incredibly hot, actually. I was afraid that the novelty would wear off very soon, however. Besides, she really needed to clue in Talbot on what was going on with her before something inadvertently slipped out when she didn't have control over it. And I'd be lying to myself if I didn't admit that it still hurt she'd kept our engagement a secret.
A thought from nowhere suddenly occurred to me, and I restarted my computer, deciding to do a search on Olivia Sommers's financial statement. I instantly hit a roadblock, so I picked up the phone to call Logan.
"Hey, Mick," he said brightly, and I heard him turning down the sound on whatever video game he was playing. "What's up, man? Don't tell me you and Beth have adopted a kid too?"
Logan's lack of tact never ceased to amaze me. "No, Logan, thanks for asking though. How about you and Stacy?" I threw back at him, grinning evilly to myself when he hemmed and hawed uncomfortably. Logan was even less father material than Josef. I let him off the hook after a couple gratifyingly amusing minutes. "Anyway, the reason I'm calling- I need you to run the financials for a Mrs. Olivia Sommers. Can you do that for me?"
"Don't tell me, run the tab?"
"I'm good for it," I said in annoyance.
"Yeah, sure, Mick. I hate to start sending out invoices, but…"
"Fine, fine. How much do I owe you?"
He acted like he was looking it up on his computer, but I knew damn well he knew to the penny how much he was due, the old miser. I wish I'd actually been keeping track, because I had no idea how many little favors I called into him a month. He could very well be cheating me, except he knew if I caught him, I'd kick his ass but good.
"Counting today…twenty-five-hundred. Maybe I should start charging late fees." The man seriously must have a death wish.
"Actually," I countered dangerously, "I'm thinking I deserve a return-customer discount. Don't try to shake me down, Logan. There are plenty of other computer geniuses in this city."
He backtracked immediately. "Hey, no offense. Just lookin' out for business, you understand?"
"You'll get paid, Logan, just do that research on Olivia Sommers. And I need it yesterday, understand?"
"Sure thing, Mick. I'll call you back."
The line went dead. I was annoyed another few seconds, then I chuckled heartily. I realized the cause of Logan's sudden backbone. Funny how getting laid on a regular basis can boost a man's confidence. Speaking of which…
I speed-dialed Beth.
"Hey, there handsome," came her warm, sexy voice. "How's the research going?"
I grinned. "Making progress," I lied. "You?"
"Oh, just had a visit with the widower. His aura tells me he didn't do it, Mick; he's legitimately sad his wife is dead. I guess we're back at square one."
"Hmmm…I'm looking into another angle here. How sure are you about Olivia's innocence?"
"You doubting my skills, Mick?" Her warm voice turned suddenly icy. I could imagine those blue eyes of hers flashing, then narrowing angrily. The thought made me smile.
"Don't get all huffy, now. I know your analysis is excellent. Just re-affirming."
"Uh-huh. Good, because you know how pissed off I'd be if I thought you were doubting me…"
"Yeah, I know. Believe me, I wouldn't want to go home to a pissed-off Beth," I replied, tongue in cheek.
"And now you're mocking me. Listen, buster, there are ways I can make you pay for your insolence."
I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Wait a second—let me undo my jeans before you tell me."
She burst out laughing, as I'd intended. "You are really bad, Mick St. John. I'll see you at your place later, where we can properly finish this conversation." Her tone went low and put into my head lots of sensual images I would definitely be exploring later.
"See ya later, sweetheart," I said, unashamed at how utterly smitten I must have sounded.
"Yes, you will," she promised, and damned if her voice didn't sound suspiciously like mine.
JOSEF
Between finding a replacement for my last secretary and conducting business, I had to find time to hire a nanny. I figured it would be similar to hiring a secretary, so I just called the temp agency that I knew handled vampire applicants, and asked for suggestions. Two hours later, there were ten women waiting outside my office for an interview. They didn't know exactly what they were interviewing for, but I imagine just knowing they'd be personally employed by me had them curious enough to find out. Also, jobs were pretty scarce in this economy.
After two hours, I sent them all packing. I felt like I'd been conducting a jury selection, and I wished heartily that Simone had been here to help, she being familiar with those types of things. In the end, I excused them all without expressed cause; Simone would have said I'd posed way too many peremptory challenges. But what can I tell you—nanny selection was very subjective.
"Anymore out there, Chandra," I asked my new secretary via the intercom.
"No, sir, Mr. Kostan. May I assist you in any other way?"
"Yeah," I said. "Get in here. I'm hungry."
A pint later, and I was physically fuller but emotionally drained. I dabbed at my lips as Chandra left, a tissue pressed to her wrist, just as Mick wandered in, sensing in an instant that I'd just finished dining.
"Sorry, man," I said, "Chandra's all tapped out. May I offer you refreshment of the bagged variety?" As if he would ever utilize one of my freshies. It was still always fun to tweak his nose a little about it.
"No, thanks. Just here to see how things are going. Last time I was here, you seemed a little…frazzled."
"Frazzled? Josef Kostan does not get frazzled."
"Stressed? Hassled? Tense?"
"A little tense, maybe," I said, choosing the least emasculating of the adjectives, although considering how crazy I'd been with Lily in the office, all of them certainly applied.
"Simone told Beth that Lily was with the Morgan's for a few days."
"Yeah," I said, the subject still a little touchy. "I've been interviewing nanny candidates today. I feel a little like Goldilocks. One was too hot, one was too cold, too hard, too soft-none of them just right, however. I'm about to chuck it all and be a stay-at-home-uncle."
Mick rolled my eyes. "I'd give that a week," he said unhelpfully.
I changed the subject; it would be nice to focus on someone else's problems for a while, and Mick usually was chock full of those. "So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about yesterday, while I was otherwise…engaged?"
He told me about the case he and Beth were working, and, more interesting, about their little bet.
"So, Turner-St. John Investigations…has a nice ring to it." He gave me a dirty look, and I laughed.
"Not funny," he said in annoyance. "Don't you have any faith in my fifty years of PI experience?"
I grinned. "Sure I do, Mick. But Beth is an out-of-the-box thinker, like me. Also, don't you think it's her call whether to share stuff with Dudley Do-right of the DA's office?"
He seemed uncomfortable with this assertion, and I knew it had to be about jealousy of Talbot.
"Yeah, well…I think I want a woman who would be proud to wear my ring anywhere."
Bingo.
"Mick, my friend, when are you ever going to learn that women are truly the biggest mysteries of the universe? They're like the black holes of logic. Everything logical and understandable gets sucked into their uncharted depths, never to be seen or heard from again, and we poor men hang onto logic for dear life, lest we lose it and get pulled in after."
"That's a very dramatic metaphor," Mick said in amusement. "Dramatic- Freudian even, but somehow, scarily true."
I nodded solemnly.
"Anyway," Mick said, returning to the subject of his murder investigation. "The name of the husband's firm should sound familiar to you—Hewitt-Sommers."
Awww. I thought the description Mick had given of the crime scene sounded familiar. I now knew exactly what he was talking about. I hadn't heard Mick was involved.
"Yeah, I know them. So, was it Sommers that got whacked?"
"Yeah. How did you know?"
I shrugged noncommittally.
"Too bad. He was a good accountant. A little uptight, as accountants tend to be. I'm surprised he had the balls to cheat on his wife—I've met Olivia before; she's a real pistol."
"An appropriate comparison. She's hiding out at her sister's, and though she denies she shot her husband and his mistress, she refuses to come in. Believe me, despite Beth's positive read on her, I have my suspicions."
I nodded, trying to decide how much to tell him about what I knew of the murder. It was pretty fun to watch him put his detective hat on, and the bet with Beth was too delicious to stop now.
"How much would it strain our friendship if I said I was pulling for Beth?" I asked curiously.
He grinned. "Go ahead, Josef. She needs all the help she can get. What about your black hole metaphor though? If that's true about women and logic, shouldn't you be rooting for our team?"
"Just because they seem illogical to us, Mick, doesn't mean we should discount women's intuition." I shook my head at his befuddled expression. "Yeah, I know. There's the rub."
Mick sighed and rose from the leather chair. "Well, I'd better get back on this. Don't want Beth to think she's a step ahead of me."
"Nope, wouldn't want that."
My friend headed for the door. "Hey, Mick. Don't think you're getting away with it."
"What?" he asked, honestly confused.
"The hair. You still owe me a haircut."
He laughed. "Just name the time and place, Josef. I haven't forgotten."
I nodded. "I'll check my calendar. See ya round, buddy. And good luck on that other bet. It will be sad to see you hairless and henpecked."
"Go to hell, Josef," he said cheerfully.
"I'm married, Mick. Already there."
After he'd gone, and I was sure he was well out of vampire earshot, I picked up the phone.
"Well, hi, Josef," answered Beth. "If you're calling about babysitting—"
"No, not at all. Carrie's helping me this week. No, nothing to do with that actually. Mick just left here."
"Oh, really? I'm guessing he filled you in on our little wager."
"Yes, and I have to tell ya, I'm on your side, Blondie."
"You don't say." I chuckled at her skeptical tone. Didn't anyone believe me when I was being nice?
"Seriously, Beth, I am. I think if you don't want Talbot to know you're a vampire, you shouldn't be guilted into telling him. And also, I like the idea of your working together with Mick. You keep him on his toes."
"Well, in that case, thank you, Josef; I appreciate your support, even if it does get Mick mad at you."
I smiled. "The reason I called wasn't just to give you moral support. How about some inside information regarding your case?"
I could almost see her gaze sharpening and her ears pricking up. "You know something about the Sommers murder?"
"Yep. Ray Sommers's business partner, David Hewitt, put out a hit on him. I don't know why, exactly, but when a vamp calls for a human hit, the Council kind of wants to hear about it first, otherwise, it's a big no-no."
"You sure about this, Josef?"
"Sure as shootin'—if you'll pardon the pun."
"So David Hewitt is a vampire, eh? And he didn't tell the Council why he wanted Sommers dead?"
"Nope. He didn't have to. We assumed he had a good reason. The Council just needs a little heads-up when it comes to vamp on human crime. Technically, it was human on human, since the hitman wasn't a vamp. We try to stay out of everyone else's business, but if somehow a human killing gets linked to the vampire community, we need to be able to get on top of it quickly, and not be taken by surprise."
"How very…preemptive of you." I could tell Beth still didn't approve of vampire justice, even though it was just a little hypocritical of her now.
"Why was the woman killed too? Collateral damage?" There was that disapproving tone again.
"Like I said, Beth, I've no idea. I'll leave that to you and your top-notch detective skills. And by the way, you can't tell the police."
"Well then why the hell did you tell me, Josef? I work with the DA's office, remember?"
"Like I said, I want you to win the bet. Mick doesn't always know what's best for him; I'm just trying to look out for his interests. And try to remember you're a vampire now, Beth. We protect our own because that protects the community as a whole. That's one of the reasons you're working with Talbot, right?"
There was silence on the line a moment as she tried to absorb this information I dropped on her. Then:
"Mick is going to be so pissed off at us, Josef."
"Why? Are you going to tell him I told you? That would sort of nullify your win, wouldn't it?"
She sighed. "Well, at least we can solve this case. But Mick's client, Olivia Sommers is still on the hook for it. The only way to clear her name is to expose the real killer. And since you took that option out of my hands…"
"You let me take care of that aspect of things, Beth. I'll make a few calls and stop them sniffing around Olivia."
"You can do that?"
"Remember who you're talking to, Beth."
She laughed softly. "How could I possibly forget? Well, thanks, Josef. Now all I need to do is get some evidence to convince Mick. Even though it's solved, this case just got even more complicated. Top that off with keeping secrets from Mick, and I'm really between a rock and a hard place here. You remember the last time we kept a secret from Mick? I wonder if I should really be thanking you or yelling at you."
"Oh, you'll thank me when there's a shiny new plaque on Mick's office door with your name on it. And by the way, be careful when you're investigating Hewitt. He's a mean son-of-a-bitch."
"I will. Now, let's hope Mick doesn't get to the truth before I do."
"He won't. Now, go get 'em tiger."
We hung up and I grinned to myself. It was fun to stir up the pot, plus I realized I hadn't thought of my own problems for at least thirty minutes.
A/N: I know—won't they ever learn? LOL. Hope you like this little twist. Please let me know what you think!
