Thanks for your support; I'm glad you like the story. Here's a little more with Mick and Beth.

Chapter 14

The only noise in the room was the muted hum of the freezer when Beth came awake suddenly, as usual. She ran her eyes over the profile of her unconscious mate and smiled to herself as she watched him. Mick's hair and eyelashes were covered in frost, showing her what he might have looked like if he ever aged. She tightened her arm around him imperceptibly and was glad they wouldn't lose each other to human old age and death.

Of course Beth knew that even vampires could die, but she was determined to do what was needed to keep them together for the 'forever' she wanted with the vampire she loved.

She felt Mick start as he awoke. He turned his head, his arms pulling her further onto him. "Morning, sweetheart." His lips brushed her forehead.

"Hmmmm." she responded, kissing his neck.

"What a nice way to wake up, even if you're using me as a pillow."

She giggled, looking at him mischievously, "That's what men are good for—car maintenance and pillows."

He snorted, popping the freezer lid, jumping out. He lifted her, enjoying holding her close to him. Since they had worked out the problem with Natalya, they seemed to be even closer in their connection and he was going to enjoy every moment. He was also happy they had shared their secrets about Dean Foster and Tejada. There was nothing between them now but their own happiness. "Care to join me in the shower?" He winked at her.

Beth sighed, putting her arms around Mick's neck drawing her fingers through his luscious hair, brushing away the last traces of frost. She kissed him saying, "Tempting as that sounds, if we get started in the shower I'll be late for my meeting with Guillermo.

"Why does he get to spend more time with you than I do?" He questioned with a mock pout.

Beth ran her hands down Mick's arms then around his waist, pulling him closer to her. Her fangs descended and she scraped his chest lightly. "It's quality, not quantity that matters Mr. St. John." Mick returned her gesture by kissing her gently before reluctantly freeing her. "All right beautiful, you shower first, I'm going to eat."

Beth turned away with a sultry glance at Mick, and then laughed as he flashed fang at her. In the shower she remembered how his hands had felt on her last night and it wasn't the cold water making her shiver. Stop thinking that or you won't leave the loft tonight. She focused on her upcoming meeting with Guillermo. They had decided to go ahead and find another location for the blood donation center since the original building had been mostly destroyed and would take too long to rebuild. Guillermo found another site, also close to the campus and it was for sale. Josef's company quickly purchased it and they were working on the remodel. Beth rinsed her hair and stepped out of the shower to find a glass of blood ready for her. Mick had showered in the downstairs bathroom and was pulling on a Henley as Beth came out of the master bath with her glass. "Nice." She said eyeing him appreciatively. Mick gave her that small smile she loved, and then turned serious. "Josef called a few minutes ago." Mick filled her in on what happened with Josef's old partner and that his office had been abandoned. "We don't have any leads, but we can keep looking."

Beth dressed, combing out her long hair, letting it dry in loose curls. "I wish you guys would find this Raffray. We're starting construction on the new store as well as the second one and I want them to be safe."

"I know." Mick said as they walked downstairs. "I want him out of the way, too." He put his arm around her. "Since you're working with the stores, I don't want anything else happening to you."

Beth put her glass down on the kitchen counter. "I'll be fine, Mick. You know we have security guys at the site all the time while we're building and also when it opens. Believe me; I have no desire to be toast."

She felt his reluctance when he turned again to her. "Um, Josef also told me that Emmaline Martin came out and she's having Natalya stay staked for the next for two weeks."

Beth grimaced for a moment. "Then what?" She knew he still felt guilty, but she had to find out the details.

"Then Josef is getting her out of town but I don't know what will happen after that."

"Good." Beth sniffed. "All I know is that if she comes anywhere near you again I'm going to put my sword training to good use."

"I don't want anything more to do with her. She reminds me too much of Coraline."

"Another reason to keep the sword handy." Beth said determinedly.

Mick hugged her to him. "Good thing you're here to protect me from unwanted women."

"You better believe it."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Damn, man!" The vampire looked down at the torn body with a little awe. "Why'd ya hafta rip his throat out?"

The other vampire indicated his bloody shirt. "Shit, he knifed me! What was I supposed to do?" He rubbed his stomach and the quickly healing wound. "He ruined the shirt, dude."

The two vampires had been recruited by the Cleaners to watch Wilson, the serial killer. After Mick planted a camera in Wilson's hotel room, the vampires only had to watch at night when Wilson was out on the streets. The Cleaners recruited extra help to watch Wilson and had drafted the paparazzi vampire 'lost boys' that took out Dean Foster. Unfortunately, the thought of going undercover and doing surveillance went to their heads. They knew that Wilson preyed on teenagers, so they set themselves up as bait. They allowed Wilson to lure them to an abandoned building with the promise of drugs. They hadn't thought what to do with Wilson once they got him there and then Wilson had surprised the blond vamp by attacking him, thinking him an easy target. The blond responded with fangs and the killer became the victim and was now a problem for the two.

The young black vampire sighed and said, "The Cleaner is gonna be really pissed."

The blond vampire's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, I know. Guess I'd better call her." He looked at his partner. "You got a cigar?"

Bella picked her way though the trash in the building to view the body and glare at the two lost boys. "What the hell did you think you were doing?" She snarled at them. They shifted under her scrutiny.

"We were doing some spying, trying to get him to …"

Bella interrupted. "What? You guys thought you were James Bond or something? And put out that cigar, it's revolting."

The blond looked cowed and snuffed the stogie, but his partner said with spirit, "Hey, he tried to kill us. We were just defending ourselves."

Bella snorted. "If you idiots hadn't gotten him into this position, he wouldn't have tried it and you wouldn't have had to take him out." She shook her head. "All right, leave—I'll handle this." The two vamps took off with relief, vowing to stick to photography; it was a lot less hazardous.

After making some calls, Bella settled down to wait. Before she could have her team start any cleaning, she needed direction.

Ben Talbot was spending a quiet evening with Megan when he got the call from the Cleaner. Alarmed, Megan insisted on going with him. He was instructed where to park and not to call attention to himself as he found the right building. He was glad Megan was there with her enhanced night vision as there were no street lights in the area. Megan was able to scent Bella and they found her in the trash-filled room.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Megan asked

The Cleaner used a small light to show the dead killer. "It's Wilson."

Ben grimaced. It wasn't a pretty sight and he was glad he had a strong stomach. "What happened to him?"

"The two dim-wits who were supposed to watch him decided to play detective and when Wilson stabbed one of them they killed him."

Ben rubbed his hand over his face. "Are they all right?"

"Yes," Bella said disgustedly. "I sent them away. I need to know what to do with the body. We can make it disappear if that's what you want."

Megan felt Ben's worry and confusion. "I'm sorry, Ben. We didn't mean for this to happen, we just wanted to help."

"I know." he looked at Bella. "We can't have him just vanish. The families of his victims need closure. Can you cover it up so his death can be made public? I don't know if you can do it, it's pretty tough to hide anything from forensics these days."

Bella thought a moment. "It looks like nothing touched the bone, so a fire should answer our needs." She nodded crisply at Ben and Megan. "All right, I'll take it from here. You should be gone before my guys show up." She turned away, already talking on her phone.

Megan put her hand on Ben's sleeve. "Come on, let's go." They made their way out of the darkened building into the alley with a little more light.

Ben was silent, and Megan was a little anxious at his current mood. Ben thought he should be angry, but found he was glad. He knew Wilson was guilty but was unable to make the charges stick. Now Wilson was dead and would never hurt another child. It felt good to know there was one more dirtbag off the street. His feeling surprised him; he should have been outraged at the vigilante justice. He'd always gone by the book and followed the law but many criminals escaped justice. Instead, he was relieved that Wilson was no longer a threat. I wish all the guilty scum could meet the same fate. It could be so easy with the vampires willing to help. Wait. Did he just think that? He stopped, appalled at himself, the self he'd just seen. Did he really want that?

He drove in grim silence, Megan also quiet knowing he needed to think. She felt the emotions rolling off him and wasn't sure how to comfort him. Ben finally dragged himself from his inner thoughts and said, "Can I drop you off? I really need to get a few things done."

"Yes, of course." Megan said carefully. She looked at him, seeing his face fixed in a tense expression. "Will you let me know if there's anything else I can do?"

He nodded and when they reached Megan's condo, he turned to her. "Megan, I think we need a break—I need a break." The words just tumbled out and he tried to look at her but couldn't meet her eyes. "There's a lot going on right now and I need to sort things out. I'm sorry." Ben felt like a coward doing this to Megan, but he was on overload and had to be on his own to process all that had happened to him in the last few months.

It took all of Megan's centuries of experience to maintain a stoic face. "I understand." She said tonelessly. The pain she felt was as bad as when her sire died but she wouldn't let it show. "Take care of yourself, Ben." Then she quickly got out of the car before he could respond and made her way to her condo. She sat in the dark and willed herself to be calm to lock away the anguish that almost overwhelmed her.

Megan was brought out of her daze when she scented Bella outside her door. The Cleaner knocked and Megan wearily answered.

Bella looked at Megan sharply, feeling the devastation emanating from the older vampire. Bella was a Cleaner, but a woman first. Something was very bad. "Megan, what's the matter?"

Megan stepped aside as Bella entered, trying to regain some sense of normalcy and she knew the other woman could feel her emotions. "It's Ben. He doesn't want to see me anymore." Megan bit her bottom lip. "I think everything he's discovered about vampires has freaked him out."

Bella frowned. "Do you think he's a danger to us?"

Megan looked at the Cleaner with alarm. She knew what that meant. "I don't think he'd tell. It would affect too many people he cares about …..like Sofia and Beth."

And you. Bella thought. She nodded, sitting down. Megan sat across from her, trying to regain her composure.

"I just came by to tell Ben that we've set up a scene and tomorrow night there will be a fire in an abandoned house. Wilson will be found and they'll figure he was either doing a drug deal or squatting in the house. My people are thorough, there shouldn't be any questions."

Megan smiled weakly. "Thanks, Bella. Would you call Ben and let him know? I don't think he wants to hear from me."

"I'll call him." Bella looked at Megan sympathetically. It made her glad that she had had a steady partner for almost a century. Kate kept her grounded when her job as the head cleaner was stressful. If it weren't for Kate she doubted she could even do the job. Bella's life outside work was mundane; she dabbled in painting and spent time watching humans at their worst on trash TV.

Now, she got up to leave. She realized too much sympathy would cause Megan to break down, something neither of them wanted. Saying a quick goodbye, Bella got in her SUV and picked up her small laptop to find a telephone number. She dialed hoping there would be an answer.

"Hello?"

"Ewan, this is Bella. I was just over at Megan's and she's pretty upset. I thought you'd want to know. She could use some company." Bella hung up, knowing Ewan would take care of his sister.

Bella sighed as she drove toward home. She could feel the dawn coming and all she wanted now was to sit down with a glass of blood and watch Maury.

TBC

I promise we'll be getting to the bad guy soon, but Ben had some issues. Thanks for reading and reviewing, you guys rock!