As always, your reviews are much appreciated!!!!

Note: My take on Josef's name… Josef was born Josef Konstantin. He uses aliases (like Charles Fitzgerald and Josef Konstan). So, the vampire community knows him by his true name, Josef Konstantin, and the human/legal world (like his and Beth's marriage certificate) know him as Josef Konstan (at present).

Enjoy!!!!

Infiltration

"So, that was awkward, huh?" Steve asked Beth as they drove away from the scene.

"What?" Beth had been staring out the window, trying to come up with a convincing cover story for the Agency.

"Meeting Mick with the new husband? If you hadn't noticed, he has been following you around for the last several months." Steve looked at her punitively, but Beth seemed uninterested in the conversation. "I see. You don't want to talk about this." Steve looked back to the road and became silent.

Beth felt guilty. "No, Steve. It's just… complicated. Could we talk about this later?"

"Fine with me. So where are we going and why?" Steve asked.

"It's a lead. I am going undercover, to see if I can find out who's behind the attack."

"So, you need a wire," Steve said.

"No," Beth said quickly. The last thing she needed was for Steve to hear an inside scoop on the freshie agency. Steve quirked his eyebrow at her quick response. She explained, "I don't want to risk wearing a wire and getting caught like I did with Professor Ellis."

"Got it," Steve said. "So what does this place have to do with the hotel and the club?"

"I'm not sure. That's what I am going to find out." Beth went back to looking out the window.

"Who was the woman with Mick, if you don't mind my asking?"

"That was Adriana. She is the owner of the club and a good friend of Josef's," Beth responded.

"The owner? Beth, why didn't we interview her? Mo would have loved that."

"She was a little shaken up by the evening. Mick thinks that elevator was an attempt on her life."

"And we didn't interview her? Why?" Steve was surprised at Beth's disregard for a great story.

"Because we don't have the whole story." Beth tried to explain, "After I do some more digging we can interview her with all the details, okay?"

"Yeah, okay…still…" Steve was just as eager as Beth for a good story. It was why she loved working with him so much, but right now it was annoying. She was treading a fine line between exposing the vampire underworld and saving her new friend's life, while possible risking her own.

"So, in regards to the office party." Steve's voice startled Beth out of her contemplation.

"Yes…?" Beth said, tentatively.

"What should I tell Mo? Are we holding the party until this is done? Is there even going to be a party? You seemed pretty distant with Josef this evening," Steve asked.

"Tell Mo to hold the party, for a few days at least. Tell her to go through with the vacation leave, but I am not sure when I will get to the bottom of this," Beth replied.

"And Josef?" Steve asked again.

"It's complicated… but no, I will not say anything further." Beth stared forward, determined not to talk about Josef.

The rest of the drive was silent and when Steve pulled up to the apartment building on San Pedro, Beth jumped out of the car, ready to rush off, but Steve stopped her.

"Wait. Beth I need something to tell Mo. Please. Don't you have anything?" Steve pleaded.

Beth rummaged through her purse and handed Steve the statement Adriana had given her the evening before. "Tell her to broadcast this. It is a statement from Adriana about the club. It should be enough to placate her, for now." With that, Beth crossed the street and entered the Agency's headquarters.

"Do you think she can do it?" Adriana asked Mick after the van had pulled out of sight

"I hope so," Mick muttered. "She's the only chance we have now." He looked to Josef who had finished talking to Rose. He looked very upset. "Josef? What's wrong?"

Josef turned away from them. He tried to calm himself, but all he wanted to do was rip somebody apart. His last reminder of what was good about being human was gone…gone. Stolen by some thugs who were after the only other thing that meant anything to him now.

"Josef?" Adriana asked. She looked into his eyes and saw the pain, anger and frustration. She slid her arms around him, offering comfort. Josef melted into her embrace and heaved a few silent sobs before straightening himself and taking a deep breath.

"If my place has been ransacked, so has yours," Josef said to Mick, who was a little shocked from the tender scene between Josef and Adriana.

"You think so? What about Beth's?" As he asked Mick realized that that could prove disaster. If they identified Beth from the tapes in the club… then she is walking into the lion's den as we speak.

Josef saw the look in Mick's face and realized what he was thinking. "We have to stop her." Josef said, pulling out his phone. He dialed her number, but got no answer, "Shit." He tried again. Still no luck. "Shit, shit, shit."

Mick pulled out his phone and dialed. "Hi, this is Mick St. John, Beth Turner's boyfriend. I was hoping if you could tell me if she had been there today…Yes I'll hold." Josef and Adriana looked at Mick questionably. He mouthed, 'Her apartment complex.' "She hasn't? Has anyone else been there? Was there a disturbance of any kind?" Mick asked the manager. "No ma'am. She was supposed to meet me for dinner after she talked with her parents today. See, they're not very keen on us dating, I was just wondering if they might be fighting… Yes ma'am, you have a good evening too." Mick hung up.

"Well, no one has been there. The manager lives on the same floor as her and door has been open all day. I think Beth is safe, for now at least." Mick told Adriana and Josef.

"Do you want to head over to your place and see the damage?" Josef asked.

"Nothing much I can do about it," Mick said. "Why don't we head back to your place and see what else we can find out from that freshie and your girls."

The three headed toward the cars behind the building. Mick called his apartment complex. He was told that his place had been broken into and ransacked. He told the guards to lock down his floor and he would be in later to assess the damages and fill out the paperwork.

As they approached the cars, Adriana asked, "Didn't you say you thought they might have tampered with my car?"

"Yeah, but the Ferrari should be fine. I drove it here. We can take it," Mick said.

"The Ferrari only has two seats," Josef said.

"And the Agency could have tampered with it as they left the building," Adriana suggested.

Josef's eyes widened, even the thought of someone tampering with his baby, was enough to piss him off.

"What do we do now?" Josef asked.

"Just check under the cars to see if they tampered with it. Then we can be on our way," Adriana suggested.

"Sure," Josef said. Then he turned to Mick, "After you." He motioned to the car with his hand.

"What? I don't know what to look for? I don't even know what the underside of a car is suppose to look like," Mick said, backing away from the cars.

"You never learned how to fix car?" Adriana asked.

"I was a musician. Musician's don't tinker around with cars, we might hurt our hands." Mick defended himself, "How about you Josef? You must have learned a thing or two in 400 years?"

Adriana eyes widened. So he is old. Not quite as old as dad, but close. She kept her smile to herself.

"Yeah right," Josef answered Mick. "I have been chauffeured around since the horse and buggy days. The fact that I learned to drive is pretty amazing. I wouldn't know a spark plug from a radiator," Josef said. "You're the PI. Don't you have some do-it-yourself car guide?"

"No. The only thing that being a PI has taught me about the underside of a car is where to hide a GPS device," Mick retorted.

Adriana looked between the two men bickering like children. She shoved her purse into Josef's chest and removed her coat and threw it at Mick. "Will you two cut it out?" She walked over to the Ferrari and popped the hood. She bent over the engine and started inspecting the wiring.

Mick and Josef stared at her in disbelief. "What are you doing?" Josef finally asked.

"Looking to see if anyone has tampered with the fuel lines," Adriana answered simply. Once she was sure the engine looked fine she shut the hood. She took and a deep breath and sighed, "You own me a new dress," she said to Josef. Then she lay down and shimmied under the car.

Mick and Josef continued to stare at her ,dumbfounded. Once she was done checking the Ferrari, Adriana moved to the Mustang. "They cut the brake line," Adriana said, while still under the car. "Looks like that might have tampered with the axle, too." Adriana shimmied out from under the car, her evening dress riding up her thigh, showing off her shapely legs.

Mick turned away politely, but Josef just continued to stare. Adriana stood up, straightened her dress, and walked over to Mick. She grabbed her coat and said, "We'll have to take the Ferrari. I can sit on Josef's lap. Have a tow company come pick up the Mustang tomorrow," Adriana suggested.

"You can't sit on my lap," Josef protested. "The seat belts are only meant to hold one. It's unsafe…"

"Fine. You can drive and Adriana can sit on my lap," Mick suggested.

"No," Josef replied, jealousy rising inside him. "You can drive. Just go slow."

Mick smiled, his friend really was paranoid. "Awe, but Josef, this girl was meant for speed," Mick said as he got in.

Beth entered the Agency. It looked like a normal apartment lobby. I hope this is the right place. Maybe they use the apartment building look as a cover? she mused.

She walked up to the desk. The woman behind the counter didn't even look up from her computer as she said, "Take a seat. I will be with you in a moment."

Beth sat on the bench. She looked around nervously. Then she pulled out the mirror Josef had given her earlier. I wonder? Beth raised the mirror and pretended to check her make-up. She looked at the woman behind the desk over her shoulder. The woman wasn't there. So, she is a vampire, Beth thought.

"What can I do for you?" the woman asked. Beth tucked the mirror away and approached the desk.

"I was hoping to apply," Beth said.

"Apply for what?" the woman asked.

"For the Agency. I need a job since my keeper decided not to keep me," Beth said. In the last 48 hours she had gotten pretty good at vampire lingo.

"Oh," the woman replied. "Who was you prior keeper?"

Beth had worked it all out in the car, now she hoped she could pull it off convincingly. "Josef Konstantin." Beth noticed how the woman bristled at the name.

"Why did he dismiss you?"

"He caught me fooling around with his close friend Mick St. John." Beth said. Keep it simple, don't offer more information than is asked for.

"I see, no sharing among friends," the woman said.

"Yes, ma'am. Thought it was stupid, Mick wouldn't drink from a freshie if his life depended on it." So far, so good. No blatant lies, nothing that can't be disproved.

The woman sniffed Beth suspiciously. She closed her eyes and Beth assumed she seeing the past, like Mick had talked about the night before in the club.

"You're a reporter," the woman didn't ask, she said it like it was common knowledge.

"Yes, but it is unsteady work and doesn't make enough to cover the rent."

"Have you ever had prior feeding experience?" the woman asked.

"Twice," Beth said. No use lying, the woman could probably tell. She was a vampire after all.

"How did you come to hear of us?" the woman asked.

"The other girls. When Mr. Konstantin turned me out I kept in touch with a few of them. They called my tonight and said that he had sent them to a club to fill in for this Agency. They indicated that the Agency might be hiring, so I came down to apply," Beth said.

"Yes, that club is a disaster. We are going to cut it from our accounts. It has caused us nothing but trouble. And were not so fond of Mr. Konstantin either. He has no need for our services and then he brings his girls into our gig. How rude." The woman looked at Beth.

Beth swallowed her retort and said, "I hold a grudge against him as well. He turned me out, and didn't even give me my severance pay."

The woman smiled. "I think we might have a position for you here." She typed some information into her computer, then said, "Okay, go to room 114. You'll have a physical, then an interview, be sure to give them this envelope. After that, you will be given a room and some clothes to change into and you can wait in the lounge with some of the other girls, until there is a gig for you." The woman handed Beth a key and a sealed envelope.

Perfect. I can talk to the girls and hear what they have to say. Beth took the envelope and key, thanked the woman and took the stairs up to the first floor. It's going to be a long time before I even think about getting into an elevator again.

When Mick, Adriana and Josef arrived at the house, the freshies were still cleaning up. Josef went off with Rose to see the damages, leaving Mick and Adriana in the living room together.

There was an awkward silence between them. Finally, Adriana stood and asked Mick, "I am getting something to eat, you want anything?"

"I'm a vampire, remember? All I can eat is blood, but no thank you. I'm fine." Mick relaxed back into the couch.

"How do you know if you don't try?" Adriana asked. Mick glared at her. Adriana explained, "What I mean is, you drank my blood."

"And…?" Mick didn't get the connection.

"Well, look what happened to Josef. And other vamps over the years commented that after drinking my blood they could taste food again for a little while. So, why don't you try?" Adriana explained.

"Really?" Mick was intrigued. He stood up and followed Adriana into the kitchen.

"What would you like?" Adriana asked motioning to the entire kitchen.

Being ever the skeptic, Mick grabbed an apple off the counter and bit into it. "Oh my God," he muttered, then he took another bite, "Oh my God!" Mick devoured the apple, letting the sweet, slightly tart, juice roll over his tongue.

"I told you." Adriana smiled.

The possibilities started to grow in Mick's mind. He could taste food. We're going to Muso's, and I'm getting Prime Rib.

Beth walked into room 114. It looked like a doctor's examination room. She sat on the table and waited for someone. It didn't take long before a hassled looking woman burst into the room. She took one look at Beth and snorted. Beth couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard the woman mutter, "Another pretty ditz."

The woman proceeded to take Beth's temperature and blood pressure. Then she drew some blood. The woman went about her work, not talking to Beth. When the woman was finished, she left her notes and the vile of blood on the counter. She barked, "Wait here. Your interviewer will be in shortly."

Beth waited for a few minutes. Then a tall man with long blond hair entered the room. He's a vamp. Beth knew, just by the way he moved. The man asked to see the envelope, which she handed him.

He opened it and read the letter it contained. "So you worked for Mr. Konstantin. But you have little actual experience. Good. We like our girls to be un-tainted."

"I have fed twice before." Beth was a little defensive.

"Yes, but you have not been trained," the vamp said confidently. "We will train you how to respond to a vamp, how to handle yourself and how to get the most pleasure from your services. For both you and your drinker." The man glanced over the letter again, and then at the nurse's notes. "Everything seems to be in order."

He took the vile of Beth's blood from the counter and smelled it, much like one would a fine wine. "Hum… A-positive… about 26 years old… you've had a transfusion recently." The vamp looked to Beth. She stammered for an explanation, but he smelled the vile again. "Ah, I see…you let him feed off you and took a transfusion to cover the deed. Do you love him? This," he looked to the paper again, "This, Mick St. John."

"I thought I did," Beth said. She had been a little thrown off, but regained her composure and fell back into her story. "When Josef found out about Mick he dismissed me. I went to Mick looking for shelter, but he turned me away."

The man smiled. "Vamps can be fickle, especially when it comes to humans. He probably just saw you as an easy meal." It took all of Beth's willpower not to lash out and tell this vamp just what kind of man Mick was. The vamp obviously saw her emotion because he added, "Don't worry. You'll get over him. And now, I am sure you have learned your lesson. No falling for vampires."

Beth nodded. "Good." The man continued, "Well, then, there are only a few more things to go over. The first rule is, don't ask questions. You do what you're told. It says here that you are a reporter." Beth nodded again, "That's fine, but this isn't a story. Most vamps like their privacy. You got it?"

"Yes," Beth said.

"Good. Second, always follow your leader. You will be set up with a team. There will be an experienced freshie who is your leader. She will get instructions from the coordinator and she will pass them on to you. She is your boss, you do what she says, got it?"

"Yes." Beth answered, This sounds like the military, don't ask questions, follow the leader… what next? If you die for your country, you die with honor?

"Third, vampire secrecy is of utmost importance. Do not talk about your work; do not talk about your clients. We encourage you to spend your days here with the other girls, so that you won't let it accidentally slip. If you are asked, you are to deny, point blank. Don't give up any information, even under pain of death. You will take our secret to the grave. Got it?"

Never mind, I'll die for vampire secrecy, not my country. "Yes," Beth said.

"Okay. Those are the main rules, the rest you will learn as you go, and by watching the other girls. Now I have one last thing to talk to you about."

Beth looked at the vamp as he pulled something out of his pocket. "Do you know what this is?" he asked.

"It looks like a pregnancy patch," Beth said.

"Very good. It is, in a manner of speaking. It is a special patch designed for freshies, who service vamps. I am going to give this to you because you have a history of being with vamps. It is just a little extra protection, because we don't want any little accidents running around."

Beth looked at him, shocked. Josef said vamps couldn't have children and Adriana confirmed it. But this vamp is handing out pregnancy patches?

The vamp saw the confused look on Beth's face and took it for fright. "Don't worry, honey. I can tell. You are certainly not pregnant. Since you don't have any visible bit marks, meaning, you must have healed. This would allow enough time for the hormonal changes to have happened, if you were pregnant, I could have smelled it in your blood."

Beth nodded, still wondering about this new development. She took the patch from the vamp. He instructed her on how to apply it and then escorted her to a private room where he pointed out a dress she was to change into.

"When you're finished, go to the door at the end of the hall. You can hang there with the other girls on your team, until there is a call for you," The vamp left.

Beth pulled out her cell phone and called Mick. He picked up. "Mick, it's Beth. I'm in. I have a question for you. The vamp that interviewed me, gave me a pregnancy patch. I thought you said vamps can't impregnate humans?" Beth asked.

"They can't. Are you sure the man was a vamp?" Mick asked.

"Yes. If vamps can't impregnate humans, then why is the Agency handing out birth control?" Beth replied.

"They could be insuring that you don't get into trouble with any human boyfriends you might have on the side," Mick suggested.

"No, the vamp made it very clear that it was designed for freshies who service vamps. Wait… the girl last night… she had a pregnancy patch on. I didn't think anything of it till now," Beth said.

"Are you sure?" Mick asked.

"Yeah. It was next to her tattoo. Do you think she got it from them too? Maybe it has something to do with the dead vamp…?" Beth surmised.

"I'll look into it," Mick said.

"Thanks Mick. I love you."

"Love you too," Mick said and then they hung up.

Beth stashed the patch in her purse along with her phone. She quickly changed into the party dress the agency had provided and headed towards the room at the end of the hall.

There were about ten other girls in the room, dressed in similar dresses to Beth's. She approached one of the girls to interrogate her, but was cut off by a stern looking man.

"You need to come with me," the man said. He motioned towards the door.

"Okay…" Beth said. And she followed the man's lead. Once she was out of the room the man grabbed her and dragged her down the hallway.

"Thought we wouldn't run a background check, Mrs. Konstan?" Beth panicked and started to struggle against the man's grip. She tried to yell out, but the man covered her face with a cloth. It smelled funny. She felt lightheaded. The world went black.

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