Chapter 36

Four a.m. and the blood Josef had poured for Mick tasted weird and he made a comment about not recognizing it for orange juice. Seemed there was some residual elements of humanity still in there. He turned on the tv and there he watched fascinated as he saw the spitting image of himself when he was little!

The child had been kidnapped, with the father holding up the picture, pleading for return or information, was ... could it be ... his son and grandson? Josef saw Beth in the background and figured Mick was obsessing about her again but this time, he couldn't have been more wrong.

Mick went to his private investigation search site and quickly pulled up Robert Fordham's birth certificate. Yes, it was possible. The old shame and guilt washed over him as he flashbacked to making love to Lila. Beautiful Lila, whom he did his best to console when they all thought Frank was dead in Italy after the last days of the war.

Compelled, he headed to his old boyhood neighborhood, confident he would not be recognized. In his mind's eye, he saw himself, young and brash, watching her kiss Frank goodbye, even then yearning for that kiss to be his. "Take good care of him, Mick, you know he trips on his shoelaces." Yeah, right, I sure tried. But that explosion changed everything.

And now he was here, wanting to help find little Jacob, who had been taken from his home by a serial killer. The parent's interview revealed the child had been overly imaginative, and nervous about hearing sounds. He checked out a lead but it didn't pan out and since they wouldn't let him come back to the crime scene until after the LAPD's pathetic lab investigation was finished, he headed home.

Beth arrived, asking in her usual brisk manner, why he hadn't told her he knew the family? She had seen that old Army picture taken in September of 1943. So he had to tell her the whole sordid story. But Beth, tears in her eyes, had a different take on it: yes, it was love. They both thought Frank was dead. Had that been the case, he would have gladly married Lila and claimed the child. And been in his doddering late 80's now... he forced himself to focus; and they headed back to the house.

Jacob had been taken through an opening in the ceiling; one of the workers on a renovation project last year had carefully planned this. And together, they pegged how he had entered. Of course, all the homes, including his own, had had coal shoots, the killer had known that. Now it was a matter of finding who had access.

So was he Robert's father? Beth didn't want to let it go and Mick figured, why not try DNA testing? He snagged a hair off Robert's shirt and would look for the ancient footlocker tucked into one of the many secure hiding spaces built into the penthouse. Maybe there was some whiskers left on a rusted razor blade.

Mick was just pulling out his medal of valor when Josef showed so once again he had to confess. But Josef surprised him. Who knew the vampire had a soft spot for kids? And that crack about them rewriting the laws of vampire procreation! He'd never thought of that: would he lose her if they couldn't have children?

But Beth wanted his baby! An image of her, pregnant, left Mick floored, after fearing the worst. Teasingly she had even named the first born, "Elliott". And the crack about not being good together in bed. Not a chance in hell, he thought cockily. He saw her face redden but then she was out the door, back to business. Or maybe not quite, as she threw him a come hither look he couldn't mistake while saying goodbye in her throaty voice.

The kidnapper, Ken Vertileno, had been watching them, even threatening Mick with Beth's harm but she was safe now and they knew where he lived and was probably keeping Jacob. Worried that the child would be moved, and they would lose the trail, Mick's whole vampire being came alive and he wouldn't wait. He found Vertileno but couldn't stop him before he killed himself. "Jacob, come on, buddy, you've got to help me find you."

A small sound -- was that a breath he heard behind the wall? Yes, the mortar was still wet. Never had he been so glad to have super powers -- Jacob was in there, barely alive, and Mick ripped at the bricks. Like the former medic he was, he started CPR, telling the child, "Breathe!" And Jacob took a breath. Whether this child was his grandson or not, a life had been saved.

There was a glad homecoming celebration going on inside the Fordham house. He and Beth had been invited to come over, but he was feeling ambivalent now that the danger was over. After this, how would he be able to keep silent about their relationship? Beth had the BioNalysis DNA report. He tore it open and saw the negative results. No, he would never be a father but the guilt and shame over the affair had finally lifted. Ray had done it!

And Beth, knowing all this, put her small hand on his arm, bringing him back to her. "There are other kinds of family." And he realized she was his.