Sorry for the delay in posting, my new job is taking a toll on my writing time (darn!). Now, some happenings with Simone and Ben.
Chapter 7
The open house cocktail party was in full swing when Sonora and Gerald entered. Since Sonora was working for Josef at the moment, they had been invited to the opening of the new Talbot & Walker law firm.
The offices weren't overly large, but comfortable to house the two attorneys and their staff, with room to expand later. Sofia was there with her mother Maureen, who had been accepting compliments on the décor.
Since both humans and vampires were attending, a room down the hall was set up for those who needed blood, before they returned to the festivities. Ben felt he had to invite some of his former colleagues from the city. They came, curious about Ben's reasons for resigning from the ADA's office.
"Nice place, Ben," one of the politicos said, smiling insincerely. "Sorry to hear you were ill. You look great now."
Ben, with his new vampire senses, could tell the man was angling for information, said, "Yes, I had chronic fatigue syndrome, but I'm better. I didn't know how long I'd be out and I didn't think it was fair to the DA to hold the job for me."
"So why not come back?" The paunchy man asked.
Ben smiled slightly. "While I was sick, I decided I needed a life." Or death, he thought, looking at Megan. "This opportunity came along and I thought I'd take it. But don't count me out of politics."
"Good for you," the man responded, his snooping satisfied and he moved away.
Megan felt Ben's annoyance, and came over to him. "Problem?" She asked in the vampire undertone.
"No," he replied, "He was wondering why I gave up my job. I gave him the story about my illness and told him I'm still interested in politics."
"Good," Megan said her normal voice.
Ben gave her a quick kiss. "Yeah, he's one of the biggest blowhards in the city and he'll pass that around."
Maureen came up to them. "I hope you like the final design, Ben."
He looked around and the tastefully designed office and commented, "It's great. I like the paintings you chose."
"I'm glad," she said. "I know Sofia is excited to start working for you."
"She'll be a real asset," Ben said, graciously.
Maureen smiled as others came up to speak to Ben.
Beth had been busy making sure the caterers were taking care of the crowd, and was finally able to look around for Mick. She saw her husband talking to Josef and frowned slightly. She hoped it wasn't about Coraline. She knew Mick was dealing with his ex, but she didn't like it.
She glanced around the room, satisfied that everyone had food and drink, and were mingling. She noted business cards being passed around, and smiled in approval. She had only been on the fringes of Simone and Ben's new endeavor, but was glad they might be getting new clients.
She sensed Mick coming up behind her, and he snaked his arm around her waist and kissed her neck. "Doin' all right, sweetheart?"
She turned in his arms, smiling up at him. "Yes, everything's running smoothly."
He put his mouth near her ear, "I wouldn't expect anything else from such a talented woman."
Beth felt a frisson of desire, as she always did when Mick was near.
He took in her emerald green dress that accented her blond hair. She wore it curling around her face, as Mick preferred it. Her sapphire eyes drew him like a magnet and for a moment, there was no one in the room but them. The spell was broken when Simone came up to them, her excitement evident.
"Beth, you did a wonderful job!" she said.
"I'm glad it's going well. I see some of the people who used to be around the ADA's office."
Simone nodded. "Ben wanted to invite some of them so he could let them know he's still around."
"Good," Mick commented. "I'm sure you guys will have a lot of work after this."
"I hope so," Simone said, looking around. "Oh, there's Mr. Wilkinson. He had me do some things when I was in Josef's office. I need to make sure he's on board."
Mick and Beth smiled as they watched Simone go into action on the older vampire client.
"When can we leave?" Mick whispered to Beth, his intent obvious.
She couldn't help grinning. She knew Mick was not really comfortable at parties, but he wanted to support Simone and Ben. "As soon as it starts to thin out a little, we can go. I promised Simone I'd make sure about the food and drink so she could circulate for business."
Mick nodded and sighed. He'd talked to Josef earlier and found out that Rider had finally gotten the blueprints for the Duvall's castle in France. That meant he'd have to go see Coraline soon. He wasn't looking forward to it, as he knew it upset Beth even though she didn't say anything.
"Let's go down the hall and get some blood," he said in her ear. "I don't want you to get overtaxed."
She nodded, and they made their way to the door. "We can probably leave in about a half an hour, okay?"
"Very okay," Mick responded, with a lopsided grin.
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The night after the open house, Josef was informed by his assistant that James and Annie wanted to see him. They entered and sat down in front of his desk. He was silent, waiting for Annie to speak.
"I'll do it, Josef," she said.
Josef raised an eyebrow at James.
"I agree, but I still want to be in Paris, as we discussed. I'll cut my hair and dye it blond. No one should recognize me." He glanced at Annie. "She doesn't want me to shave my head."
Josef smirked. "That's all right; we'll get your ID pictures set up as soon as you're ready. I'm going to ask Ewan Conley to be there, too. He's a Council liaison, and would be expected to be in Paris for his work."
James frowned. "Has he done this kind of thing before?"
"No, but he has solid connections with the Paris vampires. You'll keep eyes on Annie, and he will run interference if there's a problem."
"When will we be ready?" Annie asked.
"Give me a few days. I have to set up the scenario for James to seem like he's been killed. I'll let you know. After that, James, you won't be able to go back to your place. I'll have temporary quarters set up until you leave for Paris."
Josef looked at both of them. "Thank you for doing this, I know it will be risky."
"I just want to be done with Duvall," James said, with a touch of a growl. "After Geneva, he deserves to die."
Josef stood, "All right, I'll get things rolling. The first thing will be your fake death, James. Be back here tomorrow for your new ID. Then we'll get started. Annie, you will be on a plane to Paris the day after."
The couple also stood, and nodded at Josef.
"Remember," Josef said, "no one must know. We have to play this like it's really happened."
Annie said, "We understand. But after we're done, you'll be able to put things straight?"
"Of course," he responded. "I think it would be better if we don't let the community think you've gone rogue. It will be less hassle later. Bella will tell everyone you've taken a sabbatical. Once Duvall is dead, we can reveal that it's all been a mistake. James didn't die he was just injured and he'll be fine. Annie, you'll have gone off to mourn James and when we find out he's not dead, you'll come back to your old place with the Cleaners. I'll make sure you both have a significant bonus from Kostan Industries."
They nodded in agreement. "That sounds like it will work." James said.
Josef was glad James was on board with the idea, and he turned to Annie. "Your part will be the hardest. You have to convince Lance that you want to kill me, and you have to be convincing in your grief for James."
Her face became stoic, and Annie envisaged James lying dead, covered in blood. Tears started from her eyes, and both the men felt her anguish. Suddenly, the intense emotion was gone, and Annie looked at Josef. "Will that do?"
"Yeah," Josef said, impressed. "If you can do that with Lance, you'll be able to satisfy him."
Annie was pleased. "I'm sure I can. I'm very good at visualization. I'll probably have to think of some ingenious ways to kill you, too, just so Lance will pick up my feelings. Hope you don't mind," she smirked.
Now Josef gave a genuine smile. "Not at all. As long as you can get him where we want him."
He watched the couple leave, grateful that they were willing to help. Then he picked up his phone and began to make calls to get the plan rolling.
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Several days later, Ewan knocked on Sofia's apartment door. He carried her favorite roses, and they were going to dinner to celebrate her new job with Simone and Ben.
He handed her the roses, and Sofia smiled radiantly. "They're lovely, thank you."
She put them into a vase and brought it back into the living room. Ewan sat next to her and felt Sofia's excitement.
"I'm so happy to be working for Ben and Simone," Sofia said. "I might actually to get to do some investigating instead of filing paperwork all day."
Ewan looked at her with a little alarm. "You're not planning on running around and getting into trouble like Beth? Mick told me she took years off his vampire life."
Sofia laughed, "No, but I can do research and maybe witness interviews, which is more than I'm doing now. Ben said they're starting out with a lot of contract work, but sooner or later, somebody's going to get in trouble and then it will get interesting."
Ewan put his arm around her, and wondered how he was going to tell her his news.
She snuggled into his embrace and said, "Now that my mom's here and I'm in a new job, everything is falling into place. I was thinking, um, maybe on my birthday, I could be turned?"
Ewan looked at her surprised, and felt a rush of happiness that the woman he loved wanted to share eternity with him. "Of course. That would be perfect." He kissed her, but knew he needed to tell her before they got carried away with passion. He pulled away a little, looking her in the eyes.
"Sofia, dearest, I need to tell you something."
She was a little miffed that he was interrupting a perfect moment, but asked, "What?"
"Josef asked me to go to Paris for a while."
"Why?"
"I can't say, it's some project he's working on." Ewan didn't want to lie to Sofia, but he didn't want her to worry.
"What kind of project?"
Ewan smiled and kissed her nose. "That's what I can't say."
Sofia thought a moment, then narrowed her eyes. "If it was for Josef, it's probably something illicit. It's not dangerous, is it?"
"No, I'm sure it's not. He just wants me to be there because I know the vampires in the area."
"How long will you be gone?"
"I don't know, but I'll try to get back as soon as I can."
"But you can call me, right?" she asked.
He held her close. "Yes, I'll call you every day."
"Good," Sofia replied. "But when you get back, I want to know what's going on."
Ewan shook his head. He loved her, but she was so damned stubborn. "I hope I can tell you, dearest."
"Hmmm." Sofia mumbled, as she rested her head on Ewan's shoulder and made no further protest. After all, if Ewan was on an assignment for Josef, Sofia was now working for his wife. Sofia was confident she could get Simone tell her what was happening.
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Coraline paced in her hotel suite. She hadn't heard from Mick for two days. He was supposed to get back to her when he had the plans for their family residence outside Paris. Lance had been calling her, wanting to know what she had found out about Josef's plans. So far, she had no information to give him.
Just as she picked up her cell, it rang. She saw it was Mick. With a small smile, she said, "Hello?"
"Hi, Coraline, it's me."
"Yes, Mick," she purred.
"I have the plans we talked about. Are you busy right now?"
"No, I'm free for the evening."
"Good. Rider and I wanted to come by and show you what we have. Maybe you can explain the entrances for us."
She frowned. Having Rider with Mick was not what she wanted, but she couldn't afford to antagonize Mick at this point.
"Of course. Come over whenever you like. I have extra blood if you need refreshments."
"Fine, we'll be there within an hour."
Coraline freshened up, and awaited her visitors. There was a knock on the door, and she admitted Mick and the younger vampire, Rider. She'd only met him once, but she smiled a welcome to him. "Please come in."
Rider looked around at the luxurious suite. "Nice place," he commented. He was awed by the beauty of the dark-haired vampire.
"Would you like anything to drink?" She could tell Mick was in his investigator mode, and knew it wouldn't be easy to put him off his mission.
"No, thanks," Mick said, and Rider shook his head as well.
"We have the plans for the mansion," Mick gestured toward the papers Rider held.
"They're pre-war, so I don't know if there have been any changes," Rider added.
They spread the blueprints out on the dining table in the main part of the suite. The three looked over the drawings, and Coraline was surprised at their accuracy. She had always been interested in maps and floor plans, and these were fairly detailed.
Mick and Rider looked at her, waiting for a response. She knew she had to tell them something, even if she didn't want to reveal all the hidden exits to the Duvall estate. She pointed a finger.
"Here is another way into the lower levels. You have to go through a drainpipe until it comes to a door into the dungeons." This was true, but the tunnel had caved in twenty years ago. Their sire had never had it dug out.
"That's good. Where does the drain come out?" Mick asked as he studied the papers.
"It goes under the road and comes out in a park," she said. "There's also an entrance off the garden here. It's not used much, just by the humans in the kitchens." She showed them two more ways to get into the castle, but wasn't worried as she planned to tell Lance to increase the guards on those areas.
Rider made some notes on the papers and rolled them up.
"What is Josef going to do?" she asked, adding a little quaver to her voice.
"I don't know yet," Mick said, frowning. "I asked him the other day, and he said he's still trying to bankrupt Lance." Mick's features relaxed as he looked at Coraline. "I'm glad you have your own resources. Don't count on your family for support."
Coraline was thrilled at this little show of concern Mick had for her. She was positive when Beth was out of the picture, she could have Mick back. It might take a few years for him to get over the blond vampire, but Coraline had learned patience in her long life.
"Will you tell me when he's going to do something? I don't plan on leaving here, but you remember when Lance came and took me before."
Mick still felt a small guilt at the time Coraline had saved him when he had taken the cure and she went with her brother willingly, to save him.
"I'll make sure you're safe," Mick said.
"All right, you know I trust you," she said, her dark eyes shining at him.
Mick glanced at Rider, and said, "We've got to go, but maybe you should move to another vamp hotel, just to be sure. I can have your new ID sent over so you can register under another name."
"If you think that's wise," she said. "I'll call you and let you know where I am."
"Fine. Have you talked to Lance?"
Coraline dissembled. "Yes, he wants me to come home. He's very upset about finances, although he knows I don't have anything do to with the family money."
"Keep putting him off. Get to another hotel as soon as you get the ID's and let me know what Lance is planning."
"Of course," she said, hugging him. Mick didn't touch her as his ex-wife put her arms around him, under his jacket. She released him almost immediately, not wanting him to feel her innermost thoughts.
Mick and Rider left, and as they were walking down the hotel hallway, Rider commented, "Wow, Mick, you were married to her? She's….she's fascinating."
Mick grimaced, "Yeah, fascinating like a cobra—and just as deadly."
TBC
It looks like Josef's plan is going into action, but what will happen in France? I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can. In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying and will continue to read and review.