Y'all knew Beth would get in the middle of trouble, right? Here she is again….
Chapter 12
Beth bounced down the stairs of the loft, pulling on an oversized tee shirt, heading for the hidden refrigerator. She fed quickly, her mind on what she'd found out the night before at the club. Her intuition was on high as she thumbed through Mick's phone for the pictures of the vamps she flirted with last night. They didn't say anything suspicious but Beth just knew something wasn't right. She booted up her computer and downloaded the pictures. Maybe Rider or Logan could hack into the police database … no the vamps were foreign; it would have to be Interpol or FBI…
Her thoughts were interrupted by Mick, who came into the office, his pajama bottoms riding low on his hips. If she had breath, it would have caught at how enticing he looked half-naked and mussed from the freezer. It was a good thing she was a vampire she thought smugly, or she wouldn't have survived his onslaught the previous night. He was determined to twist her into pretzels to prove he was the only vampire she needed. She constantly assured him he was, but on occasion she enjoyed a jealous sire.
"Morning, handsome." Beth said, eyeing him appreciatively.
He gave her a slow smile, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe. His suppressed his thoughts about the night before or he would grab her and carry her back upstairs. Now he tried to look stern as he held out his hand to her. "Forget something?"
She looked into Mick's palm and saw her engagement ring. She quickly took it and put it back on her finger. "Guess I forgot it last night. Someone distracted me."
He came closer and ran his hands up her bare arms. "You were pretty distracting yourself, gorgeous."
She insinuated her hip between his thighs. Mick groaned, "If you keep this up we won't leave the apartment tonight."
"Sounds nice." she murmured into his chest. Then she remembered the pictures and all the computer work she had to do and reluctantly pulled away from him. "You're right. Why don't you go feed and we can figure out what we can do to ID these vamps."
Mick smirked and turned to the kitchen knowing Beth was still watching him. It's a good thing I'm already dead or that woman would kill me. He downed a glass and heard his phone ring in the office and headed back, but Beth answered it before he could reach it.
"Hi, Josef." Beth glanced at Mick and saw he knew it was his friend on the line.
"Hey, Blondie. I'm on the plane on my way back." Josef sounded tired. She handed the phone to Mick.
"Is everything okay?" He asked. "How did it go with Whitley?"
"Fine." Josef responded shortly. "What's the news there?"
"We haven't talked with anyone at the house, but we did check out the club last night—"
"Anything going on?" Josef asked. He knew Mick wouldn't mention a night on the town without a reason.
"I dunno. We saw some strange vamps and Beth talked to them. They seemed to be French, but that doesn't mean anything unless they're connected with the Duvalls."
"Hmm." Josef's voice came back. "We'll have to see what we find out from the two that Bella has. She's gotten some information from them, so I want to meet at 7 pm at the Cleaners. Can you be there?"
"Yeah, we'll see you there."
"Right. I'll see you in a few hours."
Mick put down the phone and looked worried. "I hope Bella got some info out of those vamps so we know what we're dealing with."
Beth nodded. "I'm going to get cleaned up and we can head over to the Cleaners. C'mon, handsome, help me pick out something to wear ….."
Mick grinned wolfishly. "Glad to help." He responded as he headed up the stairs after Beth.
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"Ben, be careful!" Megan cautioned. Ben Talbot smirked as he put down a heavy weight he'd been toying with. He and Megan were in the gym at Josef Kostan's house, which was normally used by the freshies. Vampires had no need to work out; they had natural strength and agility without trying. It had been five days since Ben's turning and he was adjusting well, but was starting to get cabin fever and wanted to leave the room they shared. Megan couldn't take him near humans yet, so they had to stay in the house well away from the freshie wing.
Ben sat on the lat machine, pulling down the bar as if it were nothing. "This is great!" He exclaimed. Ben had always been fit, but now he felt indestructible—healthy and strong. He still tired easily but Megan assured him this would pass as his body became acclimated to vampirism. This evening he was feeling better than he could remember and he hoped it would last. He was relieved he was able to take sick leave from work without any questions. It was one less thing to worry about while he was adjusting to being a vampire. His feelings for Megan had deepened more than he thought possible. His reverie was interrupted when Megan came over to him. "Don't break the machines, Ben. Josef won't be happy if the girls' equipment is out of order."
Just then the weights on the lat machine clanked down hard. Ben looked a little shamefaced. "Okay. I guess you're right." He glanced through the window into the darkness outside. "I'd really like to stretch my legs. How about a walk?"
Megan was a little hesitant, but didn't want to be an overprotective sire. After all, the humans were sequestered and there were vampire guards on the grounds. She smiled and took his hand. "Sure, why not?"
They made their way through the kitchen when they saw Ewan coming down the hall. Both Megan and Ben felt the concern coming off him. "Ewan, what's wrong?" Megan asked.
"I had a call from Josef. He's just landed and wants us to meet at the Cleaners. They've been able to get information from the vamps that attacked you." Ewan looked at Ben. "Are you up for this?"
"Of course."
Megan asked, "When do we leave?"
"In about half an hour." Ewan responded.
"Good, that will give us time to change. I'll let Simone know we're leaving."
"Josef already talked to her. She's still at the office and he'd rather she stayed there—it's safer."
Ben and Megan quickly changed their workout clothes and were ready when James brought the SUV around. He drove quickly to the Cleaners headquarters. Ben was still taking in the sounds and smells of his enhanced senses. His emotions were settling down and he was starting to feel more in control. He was interested to see more of the mysterious Cleaners.
The four vampires were buzzed in the secure door and followed a vampire to a large meeting room. Megan held Ben's hand ready to help if he became overwhelmed. Bella was already in the room, along with Mick and Beth. When Beth saw Ben, she got up from her computer and gave him a hug. "How are you?" She smiled encouragingly.
"I'm better, I think. It's a lot to take in."
"Well, you can call me anytime if you want to talk. I imagine I'm the youngest here besides you. It gets easier, especially with a good sire." Beth glanced at Megan and gave her a wink.
Bella made a little noise and came over to Ben. She was never one for social niceties, but she could take a moment since they were still waiting for Josef. She put her hand out. "Welcome to the community, Ben."
Ben shook her hand, looking at the imposing woman clad in black leather. "Uh, thank you."
Her duty done, she went back over to her place at the conference table as Josef walked in. He looked tired and rumpled, which was unusual for the impeccable vamp. He took in the room and nodded hello to everyone. They sat down, with James taking a position behind his boss.
Bella started, "We were able to get information from the two vampires." She glanced at Josef. "I had to give them immunity and promised safe passage out of the region in exchange for their cooperation." The other vamps in the room reacted with anger and Josef started to speak as Bella put up her hand for silence. "They were prepared to die before they would talk. It was the only way we could get them to cooperate. I presumed it would be better to have the information rather than torture them and get nothing. However," she looked at Josef again, "if they ever come back to the southwest, all bets are off." Josef growled but let Bella continued.
"I found out they were hired in Paris by a Count Valbonne, a vampire. They said this count was hiring quite a few mercs to come to America for an extended time. I had my IT guy find a picture in one of the French newspapers." She handed out the photo to the group.
Mick frowned. To him, France meant the Duvalls. Were they mixed up in this? Beth studied the photograph but had never seen the vamp before.
Megan looked at Ben. "Is that—?"
Ben leaned closer and a growl escaped, surprising him. "Yes."
"This is the man who came to take Lola away the night she attacked us at Ben's office." Megan announced.
"That's Lola's sire?" Mick asked.
Josef confirmed the answer, his eyes narrowed. "It's Khan, and he is Lola's sire. He's Jochi Khan, son of Genghis and a very dangerous vampire. He has childer all over the world in high places in politics or business. He's mostly stayed in Europe or Asia." Josef looked grave. "It looks like he's expanding to America."
"Do you think that Lola's attempt on us was part of this?" Megan asked.
Josef shook his head. "I don't know but if he has mercs here, he has something planned."
"What else did these vamps say?" Mick asked.
Bella shrugged. "They were provided with money, papers and a place to live. They had a number to call the count, but it's untraceable. They said they were in small groups of two or three and had no contact with the other vamps. Each group was given a list of names and locations to kill the prominent vampires in LA."
Beth frowned. The three vampires she met last night seemed to be from France by their accents and they said they lived in a house. She tried to track the phone number they had given her but it was also an untraceable disposable phone. She had downloaded their pictures from Mick's cellphone and now pulled them up. She told the group, "We went to Blue Moon last night and I talked with three vamps that seemed to be from France. They said they lived in a house and were here on business. Mick got their pictures and I got a phone number."
"How did you manage that, Blondie?" Josef asked, amused.
Mick made a face, but Beth said airily, "By great detective abilities."
Mick harrumphed and Beth added, "A low-cut dress and acting blonde didn't hurt."
The group snickered and eased the tension a bit. Beth continued, "I checked the number but it's not traceable."
"Damn." Josef swore. "I suppose we don't know if the vamps Beth saw are in league with this Valbonne."
"There's only one way to find out." Beth said determinedly.
Mick frowned again, knowing what she was going to suggest. "No, Beth."
She ignored him and said. "These guys said they have a house and invited me over. They think my sire is too wrapped up in business and doesn't care what I do." She glanced at Mick's mutinous expression. "I'll get in there and plant a bug or maybe even a small camera. We can find out if they're dangerous."
Bella tapped a crimson fingernail against her equally red lips. "It could work."
"Absolutely not!" Mick burst out. "It's too dangerous."
Josef leaned forward. "Wait, Mick. If Beth can plant a bug in their house, we can hear what's going on with her. Once she plants it, you can call her and she can make an excuse to get out of there. We can be close by, as long as we stay far enough away from the house so they can't detect us."
"See?" Beth said, smiling widely. "I can do this and be safe."
"I don't like it." Mick continued stubbornly.
"C'mon, Mick. We'll be right there in case Beth needs back up." Josef soothed.
Beth's brows drew together and she crossed her arms. "Really. You act like I've never gone undercover before."
Finally, Mick held up hands in surrender. "All right."
"I also want to have a bug and camera planted in the house where our two vamps were staying. Someone will eventually come looking for them and I want to know who." Josef declared.
Bella nodded. "I'll have one of my guys in and out quickly so his scent won't last long."
They continued to talk about Beth's foray into the vamp house, planning code words she should use and what contingencies they would have in place for her safety. Mick wasn't happy, but he could see it was the only way. He hoped they were wrong and the vamps Beth met at the club were innocent, but his gut told him otherwise.
Ben listened with interest, wishing he could take an active role. His energy was starting to flag and he admitted to himself he wasn't up to anything strenuous yet. Megan noticed his fatigue and said, "I think we'll get back. We're both pretty tired."
Josef nodded. "I'll be picking Simone up then we'll be home. Do you think it's time to have Ben be around humans?"
Ben looked surprised, but hoped Megan would agree. He really wanted to get back to a regular routine, although he didn't want to hurt anyone by pushing too soon.
"Possibly." Megan said. "We could try tomorrow night, if you feel up to it." She looked at Ben, who nodded.
"I won't know until I try."
"You'll be fine, Ben." Beth said encouragingly.
"All right, we'll wrap this up. Mick, Beth and Josef be here tomorrow at 9 pm and we'll see if Beth can get set up to see these guys." Bella directed.
Beth's eyes were shining. It was her first undercover since Buzzwire and she was looking forward to it. She glanced at Mick and saw he was still grumpy. Oh, well. She knew how to put him in a better mood. She took his arm. "Let's get home, sweetie."
Mick continued to look sulky. Then he thought about it—it would be good to have an attentive Beth for the rest of the night. He smiled at her and they headed for the car.
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It was the new moon and darkness prevailed in the night sky. The Comte de Valbonne watched the stars from the terrace of his rented home in the upscale neighborhood in Los Angeles. The house was large and had once belonged to a member of a boy-band who had gone bankrupt. The Comte had arrived the night before and slept off the jet-lag in his freezer. He contemplated his next move with the human hunters he'd brought out from New York.
He was going to have the humans patrol the streets and take note of where there were concentrations of vampires. They could take pictures, but no direct attacks. The fiasco in New York convinced Valbonne the human hunters were too sloppy to make clean kills of vampires. Still, they had their uses, and then Valbonne would get rid of them before he made his final attack on Kostan.
Valbonne returned to the lounge, seating himself before the fire with a cigar and brandy. He was looking forward to Los Angeles becoming his.
TBC
The bad guy is in LA, and Beth is on the hunt. Will she be successful? Thanks again for reading!
