Disclaimer: I do not own Moonlight. I wish I did, I would have taken better care of it.

Thank you so much for the lovely reviews. I really does mean a lot to me to know what you think.

Chapter 21

Christa looked at Mick in apprehension and her eyes were wide.

"I don't know what I can tell you Mr. St. John. I did see Tammi on Saturday after she met with Laslo. She was spitting mad at him and accused me of stealing her spotlight. I tried telling her that Laslo would never do that to her and I'm sure there would be more changes coming. Laslo had said that he was reworking the script and both Darla and Melinda said this has happened on other films. They've been with the company longer than us," Christa said quickly. "Tammi didn't care, she said she would get even and stormed out of the house. That was the last I saw her, honest. She was always behaving dramatically and I figured she'd be back later."

Mick didn't need his ability to hear her heartbeat to know she was telling the truth. This girl hadn't been aware of what had happened to Tammi after she left on Saturday although he did get the impression that she wasn't sorry that the girl was no longer around.

"You and Tammi weren't friends," Mick stated.

"Not really. She didn't like me from the moment I arrived. She was a good actress though. Mr. St. John….I did not want her dead," the girl said in anguish.

"Someone did Christa and I think it was someone that she knew. Did you see her have a fight with anyone besides Laslo? Was there anyone that she was afraid of?" Mick asked. Christa shook her head and looked frightened.

"Do you think it is someone here?" A chill ran through her as she realized she might actually know the killer.

"I am going to question others here on the set, I will find who killed her," Mick assured her.

Christa nodded and tried to relax. She had trusted Laslo the minute she had met him and felt safe with him but he hadn't been able to protect Tammi. But she also felt that this PI would be able to find who had done this. She might be rather naïve but somehow she couldn't help thinking that Tammi had done a lot to put herself in danger by leaving the set.

"You should call your brother and reassure him that you are all right. He is staying at this hotel and his cell phone number hasn't changed since you last talked to him," Mick broke into her thoughts. He handed her a slip of paper. "If you would like to see Chuck and Masterson gives you any trouble about it, just call me. My number is there and I will make sure you see your brother," he added.

"Thank you but I'm sure that Laslo won't object," the girl said with confidence.

Mick nodded as he got to his feet. Who was he to shatter this girl's dreams? He had found her, it was clear that she was here by her own choice and she knew her brother was looking for her. He intended to make sure Masterson let her call Chuck but beyond that his job was finished. The matter of finding Tammi Montgomery's killer was not. He needed to talk to the other vampires on the set.

Next door in the other dressing room, Beth had questions of her own for the other two actresses. Unlike Christa, these two were less starry eyed and far more worldly. So far neither girl had admitted to seeing Tammi on the day she disappeared.

"Didn't any of you miss her on Sunday? You had filming on Monday morning and you all live together. Didn't Mr. Masterson know she was gone on Sunday?" Beth asked in surprise.

"Laslo always gives us Sunday off," the raven haired Darla responded.

"Darla, Tammi and I all have permission to leave the lot on weekends if we want. Chrissy is too new and Laslo prefers that she stay here right now," Melinda added. "When Chrissy told me about how angry Tammi was, I figured she just went away to blow off steam. We expected her back by Monday morning."

"Yea, she took her acting so seriously. I figured she would show up and beg Laslo's forgiveness," Darla spoke up.

Beth listened, noting how neither girl seemed very broken up by Tammi's death. With her reporter's instinct on full alert she felt that these two girls did not like their cast mate and might know more than they were telling.

"No one felt that Mr. Masterson should have been informed when she didn't return on Sunday night?" she asked.

"We aren't Tammi's keepers. She is the one who left," Melinda shrugged.

"Are you glad she is gone?" Beth asked bluntly.

"Of course not," Melinda flared angrily.

"Ms Turner, as you must be aware, not all of us freshies are best friends. Tammi thought she was better than us. And as you must agree it is not always easy to share our vampires," Darla said hotly. "I am sure you feel that way too."

Beth's eyes widened in shock and she felt her jaw drop open.

"Just what do you mean by that?" she demanded.

"Oh don't play coy Ms Turner," Darla sneered, pointing to Beth's arm where her sleeve had pushed up, revealing Mick's bite marks. "You're one of us. Are you exclusive to that gorgeous PI you came with?"

Beth felt her cheeks flush and she tugged at her sleeve to cover the marks.

"I am not a freshie. Mick and I are dating," she said, cringing at how defensive she sounded. "I don't feed him. And I certainly would not be so….casual about someone's death. There is a killer out there."

"Do you think we might be in danger?" Melinda gasped. "I thought this was just about Tammi."

"Well, we don't know that, do we?" Beth said pointedly and saw both girls flinch. "We don't know why Tammi was killed. The killer could strike again and even if he doesn't, there is a risk that the police could learn that a vampire did the killing. You both know that their secret must be kept from the rest of the world."

"I don't know anything," the auburn haired Melinda said desperately. "I didn't see Tammi before she left. I thought maybe she was going to find an agent, Laslo was going to help her break into the mainstream."

"Yea, like that was going to happen," Darla scoffed. "Laslo wasn't going to let his gold mine go just yet." Anger sparked in her green eyes. "Don't be a child Mel. I did see Tammi before she left and she was angry enough to blow the roof off the whole operation." She looked at Beth. "I have no idea where Tammi was going or if she was meeting someone but she may have said the wrong thing to the wrong vamp. She was angry enough to make a mistake."

That statement made a lot of sense to Beth. Perhaps this wasn't motivated by a desire to ruin Laslo Masterson but more to keep the girl quiet. However that did not explain the public dumping of the body.

"Well she didn't get a chance to tell the secret but the DA's office is investigating, so Mick and I had better find the killer first. If the cops find him before we do we will have a difficult time explaining things," Beth said grimly.

"Are you really dating that PI vamp?" Melinda asked, her brown eyes glowing with envy.

"Yes I am," Beth confirmed. "If you two hear anything more or think of something you've forgotten, call me," Beth said writing her name and number on a paper and giving it to Melinda. "And if anyone gives you a reason to be afraid, call and I will make sure that Mick knows. He will deal with it. Try and stick together." Even Darla nodded at that advice.

Beth left the girls and went out to the sound stage looking for Mick. The large set was eerily quiet and empty and she wasn't sure if she should wait by the set or go looking for him.

"Mr. St. John went to talk to Neville," a voice from the shadows spoke, making Beth jump in surprise. She whirled around and saw Calvin Simmons coming towards her. "Sorry Ms Turner, I didn't mean to startle you. Why don't you have seat and wait here? Are you thirsty?" he asked, offering her an unopened bottle of water. "Neville isn't the most talkative guy so I imagine your friend won't be long."

"Thank you," Beth said accepting the water bottle and taking a seat in one of the director's chairs. "Where is everyone?"

"Laslo called for a break. He is letting the vamps know that Mr. St. John wants to talk to them. Everyone else has gone to other parts of the lot," Calvin replied. He sat in one of the other chairs and smiled at Beth. "They'll all be back in an hour; Laslo has a deadline so we'll have to continue shooting in spite of Tammi's death."

"Was Tammi expecting more than a film career from Mr. Masterson?" Beth asked.

"Do you mean to ask; was she in love with Laslo?" Calvin asked with a smirk. Beth nodded. "I don't think so. Tammi wanted a film career and Laslo was a means to an end. She and I talked, her dream was stardom. She was good; she could have been a star. I don't believe she had feelings for Laslo."

"Darla said she was angry enough to reveal the existence of vampires to everyone. Would she have gone public with the truth about the community?" Beth inquired as she leaned towards him.

"I don't think so," Calvin said considering her question. "Tammi didn't mind feeding vampires. While she didn't love Laslo, she liked him," he answered. "I don't believe she would betray us."

Thinking about what he said, Beth quietly sat back and reviewed what she had learned. She had not believed everything that Darla said but she felt Melinda had been honest. She wished she had Mick's ability to sense whether the dark haired girl was lying. Did someone kill Tammi because she had threatened to expose the vampires on the set? That still didn't explain that the body had been left where the humans could find it. A call to the Cleaners would have dealt with her death and protected the community. She remained calm while looking at the vampire sitting next to her and wondered about him. He looked harmless and seemed genuinely seemed upset that Tammi was dead.

She wondered about Laslo, did he decide that his star was going to betray him and dealt with her himself? But again, why the careless disposal of the body? He had been an actor and could pretend he cared about her but it was not likely that he could fool both Mick and Josef. Her first impression of Laslo had been favorable and she found it difficult to believe that he had killed the girl.

There was the possibility that Darla and maybe even Melinda had been involved in killing Tammi to protect their lifestyle. It was clear that the girls were not friends and they had a lot to lose if she spoke up. It did not seem like something they would do but Beth figured you couldn't rule it out. Jealousy was a surprisingly strong motivation in some crimes.

And of course there were other vampires on this set, or even other humans who might have had a reason to kill the girl. There were too many variables to be considered at this point to know which direction this investigation would take. She was anxious to compare notes with Mick and see what he had learned from Christa and the surly sound man. She worried that the longer it took to find those answers would only allow the cops to catch up with them and then it would be more difficult to keep this story quiet.

End chapter.

Thank you for reading. You have been such wonderful supporters of my writing.