Also note, this is a semi-summery of the events that have happened. You should remember that Josef and Beth are married, but not in love. Mick and Beth are dating/sleeping together, Adriana and Josef are involved and the Agency is the company that supplies freshies to Adriana's club. Other characters that make an appearance are, Josef's lead freshie, Rose, Beth cameraman, Steve, and Josef's wedding ring (which is in the box next to his bed.)
Okay, I think that's all… Enjoy!!
The Beginning of the End
Adriana and Mick continued to stare at the TV. Why is she here? Why did Josef let her come? Mick was furious. He turned towards the back door and stormed out, intent on finding Josef and reading him the riot act.
Adriana followed, locking the back door after her. Mick still held the unconscious girl in his arms, so he didn't use his vampire speed to get to Josef—he didn't want to harm the freshie in his rage. Adriana paused a moment to make sure the back rooms were empty and that all the freshies had gotten out.
As they exited the building, Mick set the freshie in Josef's car and took off in search of Beth. Adriana was left standing behind the building with the unconscious girl and a group of freshies.
"We called a limo service," one of the girls told her.
"We're going to go back to Josef's," another freshie added.
"Good," Adriana replied. "Wait there, don't leave." Adriana looked around at the crowd. "Do any of you know this girl?" Adriana motioned to the unconscious freshie.
"No," said a few of the girls.
"She came with the others," said the brunette Adriana had talked to earlier.
"Others? What others?" Adriana asked.
"The other freshies," the brunette clarified. "She and some others came shortly after you left. The coordinator said it was because there were not enough of us to keep up with demand. The guards took them with them when they left."
"Were any of them unconscious?" Adriana asked.
"Most were," the brunette answered. "They were all new. I think they let their clients go too far."
"Thanks," Adriana said. "Go get some rest, you guys deserve it. Call if you need anything." A couple of limousines approached and the girls started to get in. "Wait, I never got your name," Adriana asked the brunette she had been talking to.
"Rose, ma'am," the woman responded.
"Call me Adriana." Adriana offered her hand to Rose. "Thanks again for all your help."
"No problem, Adriana." Rose shook her hand.
"I have one more favor to ask of you. Could you take this girl with you?" Adriana motioned to the unconscious freshie.
"Of course." Rose organized a few girls to help move the freshie into the limo. "Until we meet again." Rose waved and disappeared into the limo.
Adriana waved goodbye as the limos pulled out of the parking lot. One hurdle down, Adriana thought. Who knows how many to go? She walked off in search of Mick and Beth to tell them what she had found out.
Mick found Beth easily. He could feel her. Her blood was flowing through his veins. She couldn't hide from him.
As he approached her, he paused. How did she cover my bite marks on her neck? She looks more flush then when I left. Did she have a transfusion? How? Who? Then realization dawned on Mick. "Josef," he growled.
"Did someone say my name?" Josef strolled up behind Mick.
Mick turned to face Josef. "Josef," he growled again. He was going to wipe that smirk off Josef's face. "What were you thinking?"
"What was I thinking when?" Josef feigned innocence.
Mick lost it and slammed Josef against the van next to them. "You know what I'm talking about," Mick said in a deep voice, his eyes pale blue from rage.
Josef was shocked by Mick's temper. He's my friend… Josef finally realized how much Mick cared for Beth and how far he was willing to go to protect her. "Mick," Josef's tone was calm, with a hint of pleading, "You know how she is. Once she gets an idea in her head, she goes for it."
Mick loosened his grasp on Josef, who righted himself and straitened his suit. "You could have stopped her," Mick said, just above a whisper.
"No, buddy boy, I couldn't. I couldn't stop you just now. I am afraid in my current condition, I am weak." Josef looked to Beth who was still giving a live report and then back to Mick. "I knew I couldn't stop her so I cleaned her up, gave her a blood transfusion and accompanied her here. I've been keeping my eye on her," Josef reassured him.
Mick took a deep breath to calm down. His eyes went back to their normal blue-gray. "She is hard headed," he admitted.
"You can say that again," Josef chuckled.
Mick felt more at ease and joked, "Well, it's a good thing I didn't marry her then."
Josef laughed, but only slightly. Mick could see a little worry in his eyes. I'm going to have fun with him, Mick thought. I think he deserves to worry as much as I have… "I guess when she divorces you and takes half your estate, I can finally give up the PI business," Mick stated nonchalantly.
"What?!" Josef panicked. "No, we agreed to have it annulled. No messy divorce settlement, no record. I mean, we haven't even consummated the marriage, so they have to annul it, right?" Mick smiled in spite of himself. It was very rare that he got to see Josef squirm like this.
Josef saw Mick's smile and realized Mick was playing with him. So, he added, "Well, if it comes down to a divorce I will have my attorney add a clause that forbids her from marrying you." Mick glared at Josef. Josef smiled and quipped, "If you want to play tough, I can play tough." The friends laughed.
"You're right Josef," Mick said. "Beth can be very stubborn."
"Yeah, though she is not as bad as her boss. That woman is determined. Do you know she has a tracer on Beth? She also knows about our marriage certificate, apparently she has some connections downtown."
Mick turned to look at Josef. "She knows?"
"Yeah, and now we have to make some appearance. If word gets out that I got married… well, lets just say, shit will hit the fan."
"Why?" Mick asked.
"Because I have 400 years worth of history following me around, hidden behind a thin curtain of believability. If Beth's boss gets in the digging mood, she could find out a lot more about me then anyone should know."
Mick could see the worry in his friend's face. "Well, we can only deal with one incident at a time. Let's get Beth and Adriana out of here," Mick suggested.
"Adriana. Where's Adriana?" Josef looked around, finally noticing that she wasn't with Mick.
"I'm right here," Adriana said as she came around the van. "Hey, sweetie." Adriana approached Josef, as if to kiss him, but he backed away and looked punitively at Steve, who was watching them.
"Oh," Adriana breathed, getting Josef's message. She continued forward and hugged Mick, laying a chaste kiss on his lips. "I missed you," she said loud enough for Steve and Beth to hear.
Josef was furious. Mick could see the thinly veiled jealousy in his friend's eyes, but he missed Beth's. She had stopped mid-sentence in her report to stare at Mick and Adriana. Steve called her back to reality and she finished. As soon as Steve said 'Cut,' she rushed over to where Adriana was standing with her arm around Mick.
Josef caught her before she had the chance to tear them apart. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and whispered in her ear, "Don't make a scene." Then he announced loudly, "That was great sweetheart." He kissed the side of her head.
Beth was still furious, but she relaxed in Josef's arms. She glared at Adriana, who removed her arm from Mick's waist. Hesitantly, Josef let Beth go. She remand standing where she was, a good arm's distance from Mick.
Mick spoke first, "Why did you come here, Beth?"
"Mo needed me to do the story," Beth stated flatly.
"You should have stayed in bed," Mick said, getting more irritated by her dismissive tone.
"It's my life and I will do what I see fit," Beth said, annoyed by Mick's tone. She knew what was best for her.
"You're putting yourself in danger, Beth." Mick's tone changed to pleading.
"I have been doing this for a while. I will keep doing it. And if you try and stop me…" Beth trailed off. She wasn't sure what she'd do. She hated people telling her what to do, but she knew she couldn't leave Mick. She loved Mick.
Mick's chest fell. His heart felt like it was sinking into his stomach. What have I done? he wondered. Have I ruined what we had? How can I be so stupid…? "I'm sorry," Mick muttered, his head hanging in defeat. He meant it with all his heart. He would do anything to keep her safe, but he couldn't live without her, not now…
Beth gawked. Did he just say he's sorry? Why would he say he's sorry? I'm the one who was wrong. He was only trying to protect me. "No, Mick. I'm sorry."
Mick looked up into her eyes. His eyes were swimming with tears. Beth continued, "You were only trying to protect me and I didn't listen. I'm sorry. I should have-"
Mick cut her off. "No, Beth. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed that you would change who you are for me. I know how you are. I fell in-"
"Ahem," Josef cleared his throat loudly. Mick and Beth stopped talking and looked at him. "I hate to break up this touching moment, but there are prying eyes and ears around." Josef nodded towards Steve, who was hanging around. "And we need to figure out what's happening in The Clubhouse."
Beth and Mick nodded at Josef. They exchanged another apologetic look, smiling. "I think we just made it through our first fight," Mick said.
"Yeah," Beth laughed. The two brightened up and huddled together with Josef and Adriana to compare notes.
Adriana led the discussion. "The freshie who passed out in the club was one of the Agency's girls. Josef's girls told me the Agency brought them in to handle the extra demand."
"A freshie passed out?" Beth asked.
"Yes," Mick answered. "Even though her heart was beating incredibly fast. Where is she?" he asked Adriana.
"I asked Rose to take her back to Josef's with them. The left a little bit ago in a couple of limos," Adriana answered.
"Are my girls okay?" Josef asked.
"Yes. They are fine, but they said that the other girls the Agency brought were not much better than the one they took with them. Your girls also said the Agency girls were all new."
"Well, the club shouldn't have needed extra girls. Unless you were packed, my girls should have been able to handle the entire crowd," Josef said.
"I know it's odd. Also, I was told your guards were stationed at the back, but when Mick and I went up, they were nowhere to be seen," Adriana said.
"Really? They wouldn't leave their post, so I suspect some foul play is afoot," Josef surmised.
Mick interjected, "When I went to the Agency last night, they seemed anxious for me to leave. They didn't want me poking around."
"Yeah, and the girls I interviewed implied that some strange things were happening," Beth added.
"The coordinator and the guards were acting funny too. But they slipped out before I could interrogate them," Adriana said.
"So, we all agree that the Agency is behind all this?" Josef asked. They all nodded in agreement. "Okay. So now… What are they doing?"
They all looked around hoping someone would come up with an answer. Josef continued, "We can't accuse them until we know what they're doing." Again there was silence.
Suddenly Josef's phone rang. The group jumped, scared by the noise. "It's Rose," Josef said, looking at the caller ID.
"I told her to call if there were any problems," Adriana said.
"Hello." Josef answered the phone.
"Josef, someone broke into your house."
"What?!"
"The gates were open and the security system was off. No one is here, but it looks like they trashed the place."
Josef's eyes lit up with anger. Beth noticed they seemed to lighten from their normal brown hue for a second. "Is everyone okay?" Josef asked, fuming.
"Yes, we're fine. We started cleaning up and we've locked everything down. The security system's back on."
Josef sighed with relief. "Is anything missing?" he asked.
"We're not sure yet. The painting in the hallway is ruined. They tore it to shreds. There is blood on the sheets in one of our rooms, everything is a mess here," Rose said.
Josef paced in anger. That painting had taken him years to track down. "Don't worry about the blood. That was there before I left. Mick had a little accident." Mick glared at Josef, but kept his mouth shut. "Just a second, Rose." Josef held the phone to his chest, and repeated what Rose had just told him.
"The Agency is behind this, and I am going to find out why," Beth said. She motioned to Steve and started to climb in the van.
"What are you doing?" Mick asked, following her.
"Going where none of you can… into the freshie agency. I am going to apply as a freshie and find out what is going on behind the scenes." She closed the door and instructed Steve to take her to the agency's headquarters, 3rd and San Pedro. She rolled down the window and stuck her head out.
"No, Beth, you can't. It's too dangerous," Mick protested, in a frantic half-whisper.
"I thought we just went through this? I am going. If I can figure out what is going on, we can stop this. Together?" She stuck her hand out the window of the van to grab his.
Mick sighed, grabbed her hand and said, "Together." He smiled reassuringly and added, "Please be careful."
Beth smiled. "I always am." The van pulled out and Mick watched it until it disappeared around the corner.
"Josef?" Rose's voice came from the other end of the phone. Josef and Adriana had been watching the scene between Mick and Beth, forgetting that Rose was still on the line.
Josef raised the phone back up to his ear. "Sorry. What is it?"
"The box by your bed, was there something in it?" Rose asked.
Josef's heart stopped. "Yes."
"Well, it's not there now."
Reviews are most appriciated!!! You guys have really helped, my confidence and I hope to keep supplying you with good writing!!!