Chapter Fifteen

One and the Same

Beth did a mental count and pulled down five wine glasses from her kitchen cabinet. She closed the door and turned to place one in front of Simone, Harper, Hayley, and herself standing at her kitchen counter, leaving one unattended. Harper had an opened bottle of Merlot in hand and poured a small amount in each glass.

The four women wordlessly picked up a glass and took a sip. Beth started to say something but noted the mixture of worry, confusion, and anxiety on each of the women's faces. She offered a smile as she reached for the lone glass still on the counter and walked outside to her balcony.

Sarah sat alone in the rocking chair with a small blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She had her arms crossed as she sadly looked up at the star-filled sky, oblivious to Beth's approach.

Beth thought about walking back inside, but decided the woman needed someone to talk to. "I thought you might need a little pick-me-up," she said, offering the wine glass.

Sarah turned her head and smiled as she accepted the wine. "Thank you, Beth. I appreciate it. And also the invite to your house. I certainly didn't feel like being by myself tonight."

She looked down at her glass for a few seconds without drinking from it as she asked, "Why are you being so nice to me? Why is everyone being nice to me? Malcolm Rehnquist was almost released, and it would have been my fault."

Beth shrugged. "Sarah, even if you hadn't said anything, Madame Wen was leaning towards cutting him loose. Mick said so himself. But Alexandra Sanders obviously had other plans."

She leaned against the balcony ledge, staring out at the night for a minute. Finally, she asked, "Have you even stayed a night at the vineyard since you bought the place?"

"Not one." Sarah drained her glass in one sip. "I was kind of kidnapped the night I closed on it. Since then, I've split time between Simone's place and the hotel."

"Do you want another glass of wine? Or something else?" Beth indicated her empty glass.

"I could certainly use a nice, dry glass of - oh!" Sarah stopped talking as a small glass of an amber brown liquid appeared directly in front of her face.

"I thought you could probably use something stronger," said Simone, shaking the tumbler.

Beth gave her a puzzled look. "Is that whiskey? I thought I was out. Where did that come from?"

Hayley Simms stepped out on the balcony, followed by Harper. Each woman carried a similar glass with the same colored beverage. "I carry a bottle … for emergencies," said Hayley, hoisting the evidence. "Finish up, Turner."

Beth downed her wine and held out her empty glass as Hayley poured some whiskey. "So, I was talking with the ladies inside about this crazy night. Crazy night, huh? Heh heh."

Simone snorted. "Yeah, thanks to your boss. Who keeps military-grade incendiary grenades just lying around?"

Beth and Hayley answered simultaneously, "Alexandra Sanders." They looked at each other and chuckled softly. Even Sarah briefly smiled.

Hayley took a sip from her glass and pointed to Simone and Harper, but looker at Beth. "So we were talking inside and wanted to ask you a question since you seem to be the resident expert on vampires."

"I only suggested it because it's your place," added Simone.

Harper frowned as she peered at the contents in her glass. "I've been around them for three years. Does that count?"

Simone and Hayley looked at each other and shrugged. Beth sighed. "Technically, we all know about the same amount of stuff. Even Sarah."

Hayley glanced down at the woman who continued to sit in her chair in silence. "Okay. Well, what do you think is going to happen to my boss? She did just kill a vampire."

"I honestly don't know." Beth set her glass aside on the ledge. "That's why Mick stayed with her to make sure she was okay. I can say that I never heard of vampires metting out justice against a single human for a crime committed. It's always been … to protect themselves."

"Like with the Monaghans," said Simone. "All is takes is one to destroy in a second what it took a very long time to build here. That's why vampires like Mick and Josef Kostan are so protective."

"I remember hearing about that dustup with Emma Monaghan." Harper held her empty glass out for Hayley to refill. "Magnus came across the reports online. I think his exact words were, 'Damn L.A. vamps torched another one.'"

All heads turned as they heard a door open inside the apartment. "Excuse me," said Beth, stepping between Hayley and Harper to head off of the balcony.

Mick stood in the living room with his left hand wrapped around his chest. Beth started to speak but noticed he was alone. Her heart immediately began to drop. "Wait. What … happened to -"

The footsteps drawing closer to her apartment entrance cut her off, and Alexandra Sanders appeared seconds later. She stopped at the doorway and gave Beth a huge smile.

"Thought I was a goner?"

#

Hayley nearly choked on her whiskey. Harper reached over to pat gently on her back until she was finally able to regain control of her facilities. "Let me get this straight. They wanted to kill you?"

Alexandra Sanders nodded as she relaxed on the couch with an untouched glass of whiskey sitting in front of her on the coffee table. "These women they called "cleaners" grabbed me and threw me in that van, and they took me to what I guess was a private airport. When they took the bag off of my head, I was surrounded by Wen, Daggett, and Magnus McClane."

The door opened and Beth entered the apartment. "Mick is taking Sarah and Simone back to the hotel," she said as she hung her jacket up. "What did I miss?"

"Alex is telling us about her near execution," said Harper. "Was a sword involved?"

Sanders shook her head. "That … one with the long hair? McClane? Do you know he carries around a bunch of swords hanging in a closet on his plane?"

"I know he carries a sword around," said Beth, who stopped behind Harper and Hayley's seats. "He's a full-blooded five hundred-year-old Irishman. Totally expected."

Sanders rubbed her knees with her hands. "Well, they had me all hemmed up on the plane growling and I thought they were going to drop me over the Pacific, or the Grand Canyon. Marcus Daggett was indifferent about the whole situation and was trying to calm Wen and McClane down, but it was two against one. I was basically dead."

Hayley leaned forward, clearly intrigued. "So, what happened? How did you get out of it?"

"Mick." Sanders finally reached for her drink, but did not raise it to take a sip. "Beth, you should have seen him. He got on the plane and in their faces, giving them this speech about how just because Malcolm Rehnquist's hands were nearly clean for a lot of the stuff that happened, it shouldn't have excused him for the terrible things that he was still responsible for."

"Really? Did it work?"

"Uh, no. They stood and listen to him rant for ten minutes, and then that Madame Wen chick threw him off the plane. I mean literally."

Beth nodded. "So that's why he was holding his chest. He didn't want to tell me what happened."

Sanders tipped her glass at Beth in acknowledgement. "But Mick made her think back to when I was ranting and raving before I pulled the pin on that grenade. So she and I got to talking, and then McClane joined in. Finally we all came to a consensus."

Beth moved over to sit beside her on the couch. "Consensus?"

Sanders sighed. "McClane has a team that goes around and … handles things when it comes to misbehaving vampires. They were the ones who went banzai on my video cameras at Sanders Securities several nights ago. Anyway, McClane wants to go after Lance and put a grenade in his jacket. He wants me to join his team."

"Wait a minute." Hayley raised a hand to cut her off. "You are the founder and president of one of the most prestigious, advanced corporate, cyber, and private security firms in the country. You're expanding into Japan next summer. How can you run the company and play vampire hunter at the same time?"

Sanders finally raised her glass and took a long sip. "I don't know," she said. "I may have to put everything on hold until we find the bastard. We're not a privately owned company, but I'm basically it unless I appoint an interim president."

At that, she eyed Hayley for a long moment until Hayley finally caught on and slowly shook her head. "Oh no. I am not bigwig corporate material, Alex! You know that!"

"Well, what do you expect me to do? If I left it to Niles, he might try to pull some sort of Brexit crap with the company, but I trust only two people with my life work, and you're the second one."

Hayley looked down at his hands for several seconds before slamming one on the coffee table. "I'll do it."

Beth and Harper looked at both women in puzzlement. "Uh, you're taking the presidency?" asked Harper.

Hayley snorted with laughter. "Please. I'd much rather be tossed out of that plane over the Pacific. Or the Grand Canyon. Whichever is more painful."

She looked over at Sanders. "I'll bite the bullet. Let them know you'll donate computer resources, hardware, software, weapons, whatever they need to really get their team going, and I'll take your place to make up for losing you."

Sanders stared hard at her friend until she abruptly turned to the side. Beth thought she saw her eyes just briefly welled up with tears, but remained silent until Sanders regained her composure.

"Hayley, I can't ask you to do that."

Hayley smiled. "You didn't. I volunteered." The smile transformed into a frown as she muttered, "And they say never volunteer in the military. I'll never learn."

It was Harper's turn to shake her head. "The Archivist is very particular about who he allows to join this group," she said. "It took him a while before he finally decided to let me back in as the team's researcher."

"Hayley is a catch," said Sanders. "She's Naval intelligence, weapons trained, all that. She's almost like a clone of me."

"Wait a minute." Beth pointed at Harper. "You're going back to work for McClane? What about BuzzWire?"

"Oh. Yeah." Harper smiled sweetly. "Can you pay me for the full two weeks?"

#

Adrian walked into Josef's dressing room and was pleasantly surprised to find his employer standing in front of a mirror dressing himself. "Good morning, sir! I wasn't expecting you to be up and about on your own this morning."

"Well, Guillermo had me on a double drip all day yesterday. Except for my eye, I'm almost back to my usual jovial self."

Josef turned away from the mirror as he buttoned up the burgundy silk shirt he had shrugged on. Indeed, the only blemish to his handsome visage was his damaged right eye, which was now covered with a patch looped around his head.

Adrian went to a closet and pulled out a jacket for Josef. "In that case, sir, you have a visitor. Miss Sarah Whitley. If you are able, should I have her wait by the pool with some breakfast?"

Josef walked over to a vanity drawer and pulled it open. An assortment of cufflinks, rings, watches, and sunglasses laid spread out over a velvet mat. He browsed over the display until finally selecting a set of shades and slid them onto his face.

"Most certainly."

#

Sarah was eating a strawberry at the table underneath the veranda as Josef walked outside. She smiled when she saw him and reached for a napkin to dab at the corners of her mouth. "It's wonderful to see you up and about. When Simone and Mick told me what had happened, I feared the worst."

Josef bent down to offer her a kiss on her cheek. "I admit, it was traumatic for me as well," he said as he took a seat beside her. Adrian, who had followed Josef outside with a carafe and glass balanced on a tray, set both items in front of his employer before sharing a look with the guest.

"Will you be needing anything else, Miss Whitley?"

Sarah gave him an semi-serious look. "Only to stop calling me Miss Whitley, Adrian. I'm eighty-two, but does it look like I belong in a nursing home?"

Adrian's visage remained neutral, but Josef thought he saw a corner of his mouth twitch so slightly. "Of course not, my dear."

Josef reached for the carafe and glass and poured some chilled plasma. "That's all for now, Adrian. Just make sure the car's ready in … twenty minutes, okay?"

Adrian nodded and stepped back inside as Josef took a sip from his glass. "Mick told me what happened to you as well. Your kidnapping and … your testimony to the Big Three, as I like to call them."

Sarah gave a soft nod. "I'm surprised Mick and Beth didn't persecute me for what I did. And after seeing what Alexandra Sanders did, I do not want to be left in the same room with her."

"Yeah, she definitely got the nation on high alert, from what I heard." Josef took another sip from his glass and turned to her. "But that's neither here nor there. What matters is that you're okay."

Sarah slowly slid her plate away from her and returned his look in silence. Finally, she said, "I'm leaving, Josef."

The smile faded from his face. "Leaving? Why?"

She leaned forward and grasped his hand. "Believe me when I say this has nothing to do with you. I truly mean that."

Josef tensed inside, sensing the proverbial "but."

"When I first met you, it was just … you. Sure, I found out you were a vampire, but you were still you. Your world in 1955 was not that much different from mine."

She sighed and released his hand. "Then I fall into that coma and awake to find you again sixty years later, and now it's not only you but a whole slew of vampires. And it seems like a lot of them are bent on harming or destroying each other."

Sarah rose from the table and paced by the outdoor bar. "Look at what happened to us. Prime example. You nearly died by the hands of a vampire. A vampire kidnapped me and Beth. Malcolm Rehnquist held Mick St. John captive for weeks, and assaulted Alexandra Sanders."

Josef shrugged. "For some of us, that's a Thursday."

Sarah gave him a stern look and started to admonish him, but he held up a hand to stop her as he stood. "Sarah, everything that happened was the result of two misguided vampires, one of which is dead. The other, according to Magnus McClane, will be hunted down to the ends of the earth. He will never lay a finger on you or anyone here ever again. You have my word."

He walked over to where she stood. Grasping her hands, he held them together on his chest as he stared into her eyes. "I'll never let anyone hurt you."

Sarah gave him a sad smile. "Josef, I appreciate your protectiveness, but you can't watch out for me forever."

He grinned back. "You forgot what I am?"

She chuckled as she reached up to caress his face. He leaned into her touch, savoring the smoothness of her hands, but he detected the sadness behind the gesture. He reached up and gently pulled her hand down. "You're serious."

A tear trailed down from her left eye. She wiped it away. "I was actually thinking about it for a while, with sixty years of the world to catch up on and all. Everything that happened pretty much made my mind up."

"What about your company? The winery? You're just getting your feet wet here. You can't leave."

Sarah shook her head. "Simone has proven to be a wonderful asset during my acclimation as head of my father's company and acquisition of the winery. We did beat you, in fact."

Josef frowned. "Low blow."

"Well, after I moved her onto the winery grounds, I made Simone a very lucrative offer to come over as my chief operating officer and head of the west coast offices, while I take care of a few things in New York before I begin my journey." said Sarah. She stepped away from Josef and back to the table where she picked up her purse from beside her small breakfast plate.

She turned back to face Josef with a forced smile. "After a week or two home, I'm going to take a cruise across the ocean. I want to view the sea like those who sailed across on the Titanic did."

Josef held up a finger. "Uh, that turned out to be a bad trip for them." His tone grew serious as he added, "Is Paris on your list of places to go?"

Sarah nodded. "Of course."

"Hold off for a while going there. At least until you hear from me. Paris has the highest vampire contingent in the world. Malcolm lived there for centuries, since before the Reign of Terror. Lance is more than likely holed up somewhere there if he went back."

Sarah nodded. She smiled briefly at Josef before moving to the door. He watched as her hand hovered over the door handle before she turned around. "Josef -"

The next thing she knew, she was in his arms, his lips pressed to hers for a long minute before pulling away but stood locked in an embrace, sorrowfully looking into each other's face.

#

Mick walked into his apartment with a small bag over his shoulder and two grocery bags in hand. He headed over to the kitchen, placing the groceries on the counter and slid several glasses out of the way on the shelf to access his secret cooler compartment. Unzipping the cloth bag, he pulled out three trays of vials containing blood and stacked them neatly next to several IV bags, pulling one out before resealing the compartment.

As he placed the glasses back in their original positions, he detected a familiar scent of decay lingering in the area he was standing. Glancing back towards the door, he noticed the passageway leading to his office was open. Shaking his head, he pulled two small tumblers from the shelf and placed on the counter. Seconds later, with both glasses filled with blood in hand, he walked into his office and up the stairs to the balcony.

Josef was leaning against the parapet, looking out at the setting sun. His sunglasses were on the ledge beside him as well as an empty glass. Mick moved beside him and held a glass out to him.

"Can't say I don't ever think about you."

Josef looked over at his friend and accepted the glass. "You like?" He indicated the costume patch covering his right eye.

Mick examined the covering. "So Blackbeard of you. Did you drive over here? Please say no."

Josef chuckled as he sipped from his glass, but did not answer. Mick leaned against the ledge and looked over the cityscape.

"I'm sorry about Sarah."

Even with the patch, Josef pulled off a close imitation of looking out the side of his eye at his friend. "She told you."

"She told Beth when she stopped by BuzzWire this morning to say goodbye." Mick turned to face his friend. "I'm shocked that you didn't offer to go with her."

"What makes you think I didn't?" Josef straightened as he made an awful face before setting his glass aside. "She was almost to her car before I suggested it."

"And?"

"She politely declined."

Mick nodded silently as he finished his glass. The men continue to look out over Los Angeles in silence for another minute before Josef asked, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"You and Beth. Do you think that it will work with you two? I mean, honestly work?"

Mick carefully considered the question and his answer. Finally, he shrugged. "I don't know, Josef. I honestly don't know. But you know one thing that I always have?"

Josef gave Mick an expectant look.

"Faith. I have faith that humans see us in a light different from the typical movie cliché. I have faith that Beth sees me as the man she fell in love with, and not as a monster."

He clapped a hand on Josef's shoulder. "Sarah told Beth the reason why she's leaving, and the vampire part notwithstanding, I agree with her on the fact that everything for her has changed since 1955. Her family is gone, most of her friends are dead by now. She comes back to find every aspect of her world changed."

He turned Josef to look into his uninjure eye. "Even you. To her, you were Charles Fitzgerald, New York playboy. Now, you're Josef Kostan, Los Angeles … playboy, hedge fund trader, and a vampire with a propensity for the tar pits."

Josef smiled. "I need to show her that I'm still the same person from back then. That in spite of everything, Charles and Josef are still one and the same."

"Well, sort of the same. Josef needs to stay away from the tar pits, but there you go." Mick reached for the empty glasses. "I have groceries downstairs, and I'm expecting Beth over soon for dinner, so I have a lot of work to do."

"Oh, no. I understand." Josef slid his sunglasses on his face and followed Mick downstairs and back into the apartment. Mick placed the glasses in the sink and prepared to rinse them while Josef reached for his jacket lying on the couch.

Before he reached the door, he turned back to Mick with his good eye. "Mick?"

Mick looked up from his work. "Yeah?"

Josef smiled. "Thanks. You are indeed a good friend."

He opened the door and almost ran into Beth who was preparing to knock. He smiled at the woman. "Hi, Beth."

"Josef, hi!" The smile she wore faded to a look of sadness, and she reached for his arm. "I spoke with Sarah earlier today and she told me she was leaving. I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about me, sweetheart." He gave her hand a reassuring pat. "Mick gave me some helpful advice. I'll be fine."

She smiled up at him again before moving over to where Mick stood by the kitchen island. Josef began to close the door but stopped as he watched Mick pull her into an embrace. Embarrassment almost made him him quickly close the door, but he stood there for several seconds and watch them hold each other.

"I hope you two make it work, old friend," he said soft enough for just Mick's vampire hearing to register. "I'll go do the same."

Mick looked up at Josef and gave him a small nod, which Josef returned with a wink from his good eye before closing the door. His phone was in his hand and to his ear before he made it to the elevator.

"Adrian, make sure Ryder is with you when I return. We have a lot of work to do."

#

Hayley Simms stood silently as Magnus McClane slowly circled her. His right hand was clenched in his left as he paused and slowly turned his head to look down at the woman.

"When Madame Wen came up with this … absurd idea to spare Alexandra Sanders' life, it was done on the condition that she would dedicate herself to BloodMeld so that we can go find Lance for the crimes that he committed against the vampire nation here in Los Angeles."

He bent down until his nose was mere inches from Simms' face. "There was no agreement to bring in … the B team."

The brow on Simms' forehead wrinkled as she fought to control her emotions. Her eyes locked with McClane's as they stood staring at each other.

Behind him, Harper Ryan cleared her throat as she flipped pages in an opened manila folder. "Uh, sir? Hayley Simms is as real as they come. Her military career is impressive. Tops of her class at the Naval Academy. Numerous commendations and awards. Intelligence specialist. Weapons qualified. Speaks six different languages. She is one of only seven women in our entire military who has trained with the SEALs, Marine Force Recon, and Green Berets."

She stopped and slowly whistled at a notation she read in the folder. "And she once held the Naval Midshipmen record for the longest field goal in school history."

McClane's eyes wavered just slightly at the mention of Simms' football exploits, but enough for her to catch it. She gave him a sly smile.

"I heard you were a Lions fan. You know, I thought they would lose a step when Johnson retired, but Stafford keeps making miracles happen on the field with that offense and his arm. If they can find a decent running back, it will help spread the field for him. I would look at the draft. The backs that are out now, the only dependable ones are the ones who are over the age of thirty. Peterson, Gore, they're doing their thing. If they can get a back in the first round, and he gives them close to a thousand yards rushing, they may get an extra three, four wins."

Ryan whistled again. McClane took a step back and rubbed his chin, still looking at Simms, but with a measure of respect. "You know football, lass."

"When you're growing up with five brothers on a farm in North Carolina, a Barbie doll house was not in my future plans."

McClane nodded. "What's your team?"

"Redskins."

McClane snorted. "Redskins? Ha! Every year, they find a reason to screw up something. This mess with Cousins and the contract? Something tells me they're gonna be in the wind holding their wee bits when he leaves."

Hayley nodded, glancing surreptitiously at Harper who gave her a quick thumbs up sign. "You might be right."

McClane composed himself and regarded Simms once more, but with no hostility or anger directed towards her. Finally he smiled and held out his hand.

"Come with me, lassie. It's time you met the rest of BloodMeld."

#