Disclaimer: I do not own Moonlight. But I do get a great deal of pleasure playing with the characters.

Thank you so much for reading my story. I always look forward to your comments.

Chapter 25

Both women looked up, startled as Calvin Simmons loomed in the doorway. Completely gone was the veneer of Laslo's pleasant assistant, replaced by a cold, angry vampire. His gaze swept over Beth and then stopped to focus on Darla. She cringed back, pressing against her makeup table.

"I thought that I smelled you the other night after I finished snacking on Tammi," he taunted icily. "You should have kept your mouth shut Darla, everything would have been fine." He advanced on them as both women got to their feet but there was no possible chance to escape past him.

"Why did you kill Tammi?" Beth asked in an effort to keep him talking. She knew Mick was coming; she just needed to buy time.

"Stay out of vampire business Ms Turner," Simmons snarled as he turned his attention back to her.

"This isn't just vampire business any longer Simmons. Not after you chose to dump the girl's body in a very public place," Beth retorted. "The police are involved now."

A brief flash of confusion crossed Calvin's face before anger once again took over.

"I never put her body where the humans could have found her," he argued. "I left Tammi's body in Laslo's office on this lot. I wanted him to know she was dead and I have no idea who may have moved her body." He paused, cocking his head to one side to listen. Then he glared at Beth. "I had no intention of revealing our secret."

"But why did you kill her? Was she feeding you?" Beth continued, noticing his reaction and hoping it was Mick he heard.

"That little bitch expected me to hook her up with an agent and find her a bigger studio. She threatened to tell Laslo that I forced her to feed me if I didn't help her," Calvin growled in disgust.

Darla looked at Beth with wide, frightened eyes; this was her worst nightmare coming true. Beth tried to send her an encouraging smile but it was strained. "Hurry Mick" kept repeating in her head as she looked back at the angry vampire before her.

Calvin's focus was again on Darla, he was enjoying the power that her fear was giving him.

"Did you think you could expose me by calling this human?" he taunted. "You wasted time little one, you really should have gone to Laslo." He paused, a cruel smile on his face. "Oh that's right, he had no time for you girls after his precious Tammi went missing, did he?"

A small whimper escaped Darla as she tried to make herself smaller under the pressure of Simmons' icy glare. Beth bravely stepped between the frightened girl and the vampire.

"Get out Calvin, go before someone comes. If you run now you may escape the community's punishment," she stated more firmly than she felt.

"Well aren't you the bold one?" Calvin sneered. "Being a vampire's play toy has made you think you can speak for the community has it? Do you anticipate St. John turning you?" he enquired coldly.

"Our plans are none of your business," Beth spat out. "I am not Mick's play toy, I happen to work for the DA's office and I'm one of the few humans who can actually help protect your secret. Take my advice, get out of town."

With a low growl, Calvin grabbed Beth before she could react, pulling her against him. He glared down into her wide eyes.

"You….do….not….give me orders," he rumbled. Bringing a switch blade out of his jacket pocket he twisted Beth around in his grasp as the blade snapped open. He held the blade against her throat. "Darla my dear, please lead the way out and don't do anything stupid," he instructed his voice becoming silky smooth. "Behave yourself Ms Turner and you will be fine. If you are hoping St. John will come to your rescue then remember that I can cut your throat much faster than he can move to disarm me. Now we follow Darla out. Move girl," he ordered the frightened freshie.

Carefully Darla skirted the two and proceeded into the hallway that led to the soundstage. Beth kept herself ready to react to whatever would happen next.

Once they had left the hallway and entered the open area of the large room, they approached the motel set. Calvin halted and ordered Darla to stop just a few feet from the structure. He had scented the others and once they came to a halt, Mick and Laslo emerged from the shadows on either side of the trio.

"Let her go Simmons," Mick demanded angrily. "You hurt Beth and I swear you will not leave her with your head," he promised, his fists clenched at his sides.

"Brave talk St. John. Let me leave here and I will have no need to harm her," Calvin told him. "Back off."

"Calvin what do you think you are doing?" Laslo spoke up in concern. "Did you really kill Tammi? Why?"

"You are such a fool Laslo. That lying tramp used anyone she thought could advance her career. She didn't care about you; she knew I had contacts at different studios and that I know some agents. She wanted me to help her move on immediately….not wait for you to finish the film. And you never suspected her disloyalty, did you?" Simmons gloated. "She threatened all of us Laslo!"

Mick glanced around looking for some way to distract Simmons and free Beth safely when he saw movement off to the left of Masterson. There was a shadowy shape and the glint of light off a camera lens. Quickly looking back at Calvin and Beth, he noticed that the vampire had resumed his human face and had not noticed the hidden cameraman. The switchblade remained dangerously close to Beth's throat.

"Release Beth," Mick pleaded in a calmer tone. "There is no reason to hurt anyone, we can be reasonable."

As Calvin centered his attention back on Mick, he adjusted his grip on Beth, drawing her tighter against him. He no longer kept an eye on Darla who carefully was inching away from the pair, moving close to the walls of the fake motel set.

"I will not pay for killing that piece of trash," Calvin declared.

"Tammi would never have exp…"

"That isn't important Masterson," Mick sharply cut off the filmmaker before he said anything about their secret that would end up on video. If this was being recorded they did not need the word "vampire" on the record. "It doesn't matter why Calvin did it; right now we need to diffuse this situation so Beth doesn't get hurt."

Laslo gave Mick a strange look but nodded silently. He would let the PI handle this since it was his woman held hostage. Mick moved closer to Simmons but halted as the blade touched Beth's skin.

"Relax Calvin," Mick urged, holding up both hands. He dropped his voice to vampire levels. "We can work this out but if you hurt her I will stake you and take your head," he promised his lips barely moving.

His mind rapidly selected and discarded possible actions to take in an effort to free Beth. Any move that revealed his vampire abilities would be captured on video. There was no way that he could turn Calvin over to the human police, which would bring about the exposure of their secret for sure. A taped confession of Simmons admitting he killed the girl should satisfy the police as long as there was no hint that the video had been edited. But at this moment Mick was willing to take the heat of letting a killer go than have any harm come to Beth. Her life was more important to him than bringing Simmons to either human or vampire justice.

"Don't threaten me St. John. I hold all the cards here. I make the rules," Calvin ordered.

"So you do," Mick agreed. He gave Beth what he hoped was an encouraging smile. "You don't need to hurt her to get what you want."

"I don't want to hurt your little freshie," Calvin replied, causing Mick to wince at his choice of words. "I'll let her go once I'm out of here."

"No," Mick protested quickly. "She does not leave with you." He didn't trust Simmons not to hurt her if he took Beth out of the studio. Too many things could go wrong if he took her with him.

"You have no choice," Calvin laughed. "My rules….remember?"

As both Mick and Laslo concentrated on Calvin, Darla had managed to reach the safety of the set. Her first impulse was to crawl under one of the beds and stay there until the danger was past but she couldn't forget how Beth had come to her defense in the dressing room. And Darla had not missed the betrayed pain on Laslo's face. He had been forced to face the fact that not only had Tammi gone behind his back but that his trusted assistant was her killer. The feelings that Darla felt for Laslo pushed her to find a way to help…she needed to show him that she cared, that she could help.

Glancing around, she spotted a pair of fire axes leaning against the set wall. She knew one was a prop to be used in an upcoming scene but the other was the real thing. Reaching out for it, she hefted the real axe in both hands and moved around the back side of the set until she was behind Calvin. She kept equipment and unused set pieces between her and the vampire until she was only a few feet behind Simmons and his hostage.

With sweaty palms she clutched the axe handle tightly, raising it higher to be ready to strike as she inched forward. The weight of the axe made her arms shake, along with the fearful knowledge that she would have only one swing to hit her mark. Her stomach rolled sickly as she knew that if she missed then Beth would certainly die and she was unlikely to be able to escape Calvin's retaliation in time. Biting her lower lip, Darla shoved the negative thoughts away and continued to move closer, her eyes locked on the back of Calvin's neck.

Mick noticed her just as she cleared the last pile of stacked chairs and he tensed, ready to move at the right moment.

"You will not get away with this," Mick warned, wanting to keep Calvin focused on him. Laslo also saw Darla and stepped closer as Mick moved nearer to Simmons. "Don't make matters worse."

Mick lunged forward, pulling Calvin's knife hand down just as Darla crossed the final feed and swung the axe down toward Simmons' neck. With his other hand, Mick grabbed Beth's arm, yanking her away from the vampire. Twisting around so his body shielded Beth's, Mick felt the weight of Simmons fall against him as the axe buried itself in the killer's shoulder, knocking he and Beth to the floor. Darla's aim had fallen short and Calvin roared in pain as he landed on top of Mick who braced himself over Beth's prone figure. Laslo stepped in to move Darla aside and he grabbed the handle of the axe, freeing it from Calvin's body and then raised it to chop down on the man's neck just before Simmons could drive his knife into Mick's back. Laslo pulled the axe head back before it could continue down into Mick. The head fell away as the bulk of Simmons' body landed heavily on Mick and Beth, splattering them with blood.

End chapter.

Well there you have it my readers…..we have dealt with the killer. I do hope that you didn't mind my blood lust, sometimes I tend to get messy. Reviews are always welcome. Thank you for reading.