Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter, glad you liked it. I know I enjoyed finally bringing Lance to justice. Now, the aftermath~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 15

Ewan and Sofia were at Megan's condo, waiting to hear about the mission. Ben and Megan had been filled in on the situation. Ben's sense of justice had been tested, but as a vampire, he knew that they had to take their own measures. He wished he could be the prosecutor at Lance's trial, but sighed. That was not the way things worked now. Megan knew what he was feeling and squeezed his hand.

"I hope they're all right," Sofia said. "Lance deserved to be punished for what he tried to do to Josef and Beth."

Ben gave a slight smirk. His assistant had a good take on vampire life, even though she was still human. He saw Ewan's fond look at Sofia, and was glad that Megan's brother had found the right woman for him. Ben was happy with Megan, but he still hated injustice whether it was human or vampire. In this case, he understood that Josef Kostan had carried out his own punishment. He just wished there could have been some kind of trial. Hmmmm. Maybe the vampire community needed a more formal kind of justice, his thoughts spiraled out, considering the possibilities.

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The ride back to Josef's house was mostly silent. Simone was in and out of consciousness and Josef could tell she was in pain. Her arm was too badly broken to heal properly; it needed to be set before they could give her any blood.

Guillermo had been shot, and they had to get the silver out of him. He drank a large quantity of blood, but the poison was making him weak.

They finally made it to the house, and Josef carried Simone to their room where the doctor was waiting. He scowled at Josef, "Stand back so I can look at her."

"It's her arm."

"I understand, but I have to look at it." He took bandage scissors and cut the sleeve of Simone's shirt. The blood and bone didn't faze him, and he looked up sharply at Josef.

"You didn't give her any blood?" he asked.

"No," Josef said, steeling himself to look at his wife's wound.

"Good." The doctor returned his attention to Simone. "I'm going to have to reset the bone, then she needs an IV drip of blood and at least 12 hours in the freezer. It's a bad break."

Josef kept his voice steady. "We have fresh blood ready."

The doctor bent over Simone, manipulating her arm with his hands. He was one of the few human doctors that knew about vampires, and he made a private study of their physiology. Josef knew this, and was generous with funding his research.

Josef moved around the bed to see the doctor pulling on Simone's arm to put the bones back in place. The open wound was still evident, and even though Dr. Roberts knew there would be no infection, swabbed the injury with antiseptic. He wrapped Simone's arm in gauze and inserted an IV. He turned to look at Josef.

"It should be all right." He saw there was an IV stand nearby, with packets of blood. He attached the tubing and soon Simone was receiving the nourishment she needed to heal.

Josef let his tension release a bit. "How long will it be before she heals?"

Dr. Roberts peeled off his gloves and disposed of them in the trash. He nodded, "I'm not sure, but it won't be long. Get her into the freezer, and replace the blood drip for the next 12 hours. I'll come by tomorrow."

"Thank you, doctor," Josef said, with a bit of emotion.

Dr. Roberts smiled. "It was a good thing you didn't give her any blood before. It would have made things worse for her arm."

"That's what I thought."

The doctor looked at Simone, who seemed to be resting easier. "I'm glad she was unconscious, it would have been pretty painful for her."

Josef picked up Simone and one of his men wheeled the IV stand behind him. "I'll just get Simone settled."

Roberts looked at Josef again. "Do you have any other people with injuries?"

"One of my men took a few bullets. I'd like you to take a look."

The doctor nodded and watched Josef carry Simone through a door that he presumed was their freezer room. He was always interested in vampire culture, as well as their abilities. Since he'd learned about them, he had been researching if vampire blood could be used to heal human diseases. Josef had been helpful, and allowed him access to take occasional blood samples from Josef's employees for his research.

Down in the kitchen, Mick was working on Guillermo to get the silver out of his three wounds.

"Hey man," Guillermo snorted. "Take it easy."

Mick was working with long-nosed pliers to find the slugs that were poisoning his friend.

"Okay, that's two." Mick said as he dropped one of the bullets on the counter. Being in the kitchen, several of Josef's freshies were there, willingly giving Guillermo nibbles from their wrists. Between Mick digging out the bullets, he'd had several nice bites of delightful fresh blood. The ladies were all anxious to help, knowing that Guillermo had saved Josef from an evil vampire. He didn't know how they knew, but figured the freshie grapevine was alive and well.

One lovely brunette put her arm around Guillermo, and offered her wrist. "Here, you must be in pain," she said with concern. Guillermo thought it was worth getting shot to have all these beautiful women attend him.

Just then, Josef and Dr. Roberts entered the kitchen.

"Well, I see you have everything in hand," Josef smirked. Now that he knew Simone would be all right, he was ready to become his usual snarky self.

The last bullet wasn't embedded too deeply and he pulled it out without Guillermo giving more than a small grunt.

The doctor came over and inspected the rapidly healing wounds. "It looks like you'll be fine, young man."

Guillermo almost laughed, knowing he was hundreds of years older than the human, but said, "I think so, but I might need a little more blood."

Josef's freshies immediately crowded around him, offering their wrists. Josef was amused and commented, "Maybe I should get shot, and I'd get more attention."

One of the ladies frowned, "Josef, you know we just want to help."

He held up his hands in surrender. "I'm sure, but I think Guillermo needs some freezer time now." Josef looked at the doctor, who nodded.

The freshies left, and Guillermo pulled on his bloody shirt.

"Why don't you stay here tonight," Josef said to Guillermo. "You can clean up and I'll have Hale bring you some fresh clothes."

"Thanks, that would be great," Guillermo responded, realizing he was indeed tired from the silver and blood loss.

Dr. Roberts grabbed his medical bag. "I'll be back tomorrow night to check on Simone, but I'm sure I won't be needed."

"Thank you," Josef said with sincerity. The doctor left, and Josef held out his hand to Guillermo.

"Thanks for taking care of Simone. If you hadn't been there, I don't know what Lance would have done to her."

Guillermo took Josef's hand, shaking it firmly. "I'm glad it worked out, but I'm sorry Simone was hurt."

"You did your best, man," Mick commented.

"Yeah, that Lance was nuts. If I hadn't been surprised he never would have gotten my gun," Guillermo said, rather ruefully.

"He's dead now," Josef said in a hard voice. Just then, Hale appeared in the kitchen. Josef nodded at him. "Hale, take Mr. Gasol to one of the guest rooms and make him comfortable."

"Of course, sir." Hale let the way and Guillermo followed him out.

Mick was cleaning his hands, putting away the tools he used to remove the bullets. He turned to Josef. "So, what now?"

Josef glanced around the kitchen, "Where's Beth?"

"I'm sure she's calling Megan to tell her what happened."

"Oh, good," Josef smirked. "Then I don't have to tell Ewan. The female telegraph system will broadcast the news."

Mick smiled back, knowing his friend was right. "How are you going to handle Lance's death? We can't keep it a secret."

Josef headed for the special refrigerator that held the household blood. He poured them both a drink, and handed one to Mick.

"I'm going to call the Council and let them know that Lance made an aborted attempt to take over my region and I dealt with him."

"Just like that?" Mick queried.

"Yeah, I have Annie as a witness. I don't think there will be any trouble."

"What about the other brothers?"

Josef shrugged. "They'll stay in Europe if they know what's good for them."

Beth came into the kitchen. Mick looked at her and felt the instant connection they always had. She smiled at him, looking around. "Where's Guillermo?"

"He went upstairs to get some sleep." It was early evening, but all of them felt tired from the events of the day. "We should get back to the loft," Mick said.

Beth felt the same. All she wanted to do was put the day behind her and feel safe in Mick's arms. She asked Josef, "How is Simone?"

"She'll be healed by tomorrow. Her arm was pretty bad, but the doc fixed her and all she needs is some rest and blood."

Beth said, "I'm glad. I had no idea that Lance would take off and leave everyone at the house."

Josef scrubbed his hand over his face. "I should have thought of that and had some of the men outside."

Mick put his hand on Josef's shoulder. "You couldn't have known what Lance would do. We thought he'd be in his freezer like everyone else."

Josef accepted his friend's comment with a slight smile.

"So, what are we going to do with all those other guys?" Beth asked, referring to Lance's small army of vampires, who had been left staked at the house.

"Annie called Bella, and they'll be kept at the Cleaners, under guard until we decide."

Beth frowned, "You're not going to kill them all, are you?"

Josef started pacing. "I want to. Or maybe it's better if they go back to France and tell the rest of the Duvalls what happened here." He stopped and turned to Beth with a lifted eyebrow.

She knew that Josef was thinking she was allowing lingering human emotions to cloud her vampire judgment. She raised her chin and said, "If those men had anything to do with what happened to us in Geneva, I'd pull the trigger myself. But they're just hired hands he brought with him. Lance was the one we wanted and he's paid the price. If you kill them, maybe it would provoke the Duvalls into further revenge. Send them back with a warning."

Mick stood there, his arms crossed over his chest. Beth never ceased to amaze him with her ability to cut to the heart of a situation.

Josef looked at Mick. "You married a smart woman, Mick."

If Beth was still human, she would have blushed. "I'm sure Simone would agree with me."

"And you'd both be right," Josef said, finally. "I'll have them escorted to the airport and ask Bella to see they're on a plane to Paris."

"Good," Mick said, putting his arm around Beth. He could feel she was flagging, and they both needed some rest. "We'll be back tomorrow night to check on Simone."

"Thanks, guys," Josef said briefly. He was grateful to them, but it wasn't in his nature to give in to his feelings. He looked Mick in the eye and saw his friend nod in perfect understanding. They left, and Josef thought it was time for an adult beverage before he went up to check on Simone.

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Megan came out of the bedroom, closing her cell phone. When Beth called, she excused herself to take the call. If it was bad news, she didn't want to alarm anyone in the room.

Ewan looked at her, and she felt his apprehension. "What happened?"

She smiled, "Lance is dead." She saw everyone relax with relief. After relating them what Beth told her, Ben asked, "Is there anything we can do?"

"I think Josef has everything in hand, Megan smiled. "I'll talk to him when Simone has recovered, in case he needs some help with the Council. It seems there are some of Lance's enforcers who are still alive. Beth didn't know what would happen to them, and we need to talk to Josef. I know the French Council is difficult and the Duvalls might demand retribution. Lance came to this country in spite of the directive forbidding him, but since he's dead there might be problems."

"Do you think you can handle it?" Ben asked.

Megan nodded. "Annie is a credible witness, and she's a Cleaner. But I might have to go to New York or Paris about it."

Ben felt his sire's concern and said, "Then we'll go together. I've argued worse cases in court."

Megan gave him a loving smile.

"Do you think the French Council will be any trouble?" Ewan frowned.

"I hope not," Megan responded. "Josef has a good reputation with the American Council, and Lance violated their direct injunction by coming here without permission."

Sofia sat back with relief. She knew Ewan had been worried if anything happened to Josef, he would have to take over a territory threatened by the Duvalls.

Ben asked, "When do they think Simone will be well?"

"Probably by tomorrow, but she might need to take it easy for a few days," Megan answered.

Ben stood up, "Then I'll give Josef a call and have him tell Simone we'll take care of the office until she feels like coming back." He glanced at Sofia, who nodded emphatically.

"Yes, we can handle things. She should take care of herself," Sofia said.

Ewan said, "Now that we know it's over, I'll get Sofia home."

"I can deal with work until tomorrow afternoon," Sofia said to Ben. "We only have a couple of contracts to review whenever you come in."

"I'll be there by 2 pm, and if there's anything urgent, just call."

Sofia nodded. She enjoyed working for Simone and Ben, and they treated her like a partner, not a subordinate. They said their farewells, and Ewan guided Sofia to the waiting car.

Ewan loved to drive and had bought a new Porsche Cabriolet. Sofia liked the convertible, and they often took trips up the coast. As they pulled away into traffic, Sofia ran her fingertips down his cheek. "It's early, do you want to come over for a while?" she said in a suggestive tone.

Ewan's eye's flashed silver, and he had a difficult time keeping his attention on the road. It had been three days since they'd been intimate, and he was always careful of how often he bit her. "I could be persuaded," he said with desire.

"Good, because I think it's time to talk about my turning."

He took his eyes off the road, to see Sofia with a cat-like smile. He forced his concentration back to driving. He felt her small hand caressing him, and thought, Maybe it's time.

TBC

I think Sofia will be persuasive, don't you? Josef has everyone on his side with what happened to Lance, but how about Coraline? She won't be happy, especially that Beth isn't dead….