Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the first chapter, and to the Guests, thank you too! You are all awesome and I'm so glad you continue to enjoy Moonlight. Sorry for the delay in posting, I've been having some unwelcome health issues. Now we get to meet the new DA for Los Angeles.

Chapter 2

Robert Hemmings leaned back in his chair, looking around his office. As the new DA for Los Angeles County, he had a huge responsibility. He had two Assistant DA's as well as investigators, attorneys and paralegals that reported to him. Rob was a go-getter who had worked his way up from a prosecuting attorney in a small town. Starting in the military, he gained a law degree after his discharge and went to work as a trial attorney in Atlanta. He struggled into the government legal system and after a stint in Chicago, was offered the DA position in Los Angeles. It was a big step up, but he was confident he could handle it. It had been two weeks since he'd taken over the office and after meetings with his new staff; he felt he knew his people and their capabilities.

A tall, muscular blond, he let his hair grow a little longer than when he was in the Air Force. He knew his size was imposing and used it in his trial work. He had no children and was divorced from his wife, who lived on the East Coast. Rob was totally involved in his job and in his spare time he worked on old police cases.

Getting another cup of coffee, Rob looked at the files on his desk. He'd asked for the Los Angeles cold case and unsolved files for the last two years. There were quite a few, and he'd gone through them over the weekend and put them in order of importance. He set aside files on gang activity, reasoning the gangs would still be around later, although he did have an interesting report on the gang leader Tejada, who seemed to have disappeared over two years ago.

Rob opened the file on an unsolved case that had been a disaster for the department. He read the documents again, and was intrigued with the incident. The perp had gotten away, and nothing was ever found. The detectives had worked on it for a while but new cases took precedence and the case was abandoned. As he read the file again, he could see some lines of inquiry that could be worthwhile. This was what he loved, finding a mystery and following the clues.

He would need to make notes on how to proceed with the case. Rob put the file into his briefcase to take home. Emma Monahan, I'm going to find you, he thought.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth had been busy at Kostan Industries preparing for several events, but it didn't mean she didn't notice that her husband had been skulking around the loft. Ever since they returned from France, Mick wouldn't talk about their trip or his current cases. She felt guilt coming from him and seemed to be brooding again. He'd been hitting the freezer early and was asleep by the time she was ready to retire.

She'd cleared her desk and came home early. It was time for a little chat with her handsome vampire. Beth entered the loft quietly, and heard Mick in his office. He was ruffling through some papers on his desk and she came into the room so quickly he didn't have time to react and leave.

"Uh, hi sweetheart, you're home early."

Beth didn't answer, but closed the door to the outside hall and locked it. Mick looked at her with a little frown. "What's going on?"

She shrugged off her jacket, dropping it to the floor. Her tight tank top revealed her breasts beneath the thin material. Even though she was annoyed, she couldn't forget this gorgeous man was hers.

Mick's eyes glazed over as Beth came to sit on his lap. He loved when she got aggressive and he moved a bit in his chair, trying to relieve the pressure he felt in his jeans. She kissed his ear, moving down his neck. Her fangs came out and she scraped under his collar as he growled, pulling her tight to him. He was just about ready to throw her over his shoulder and head for the bedroom when Beth sat up and said, "Okay, St. John, what the hell is going on?"

Mick's brain was still set on lust and he shook his head trying to clear it. "What?"

Beth frowned at him. "You've been telling me you have no interesting cases, but I found out there was a rogue vamp up north you didn't handle. What's up with that?"

Mick was still trying to focus and said, "Uh, I don't remember."

"Bullshit!" Beth exclaimed. "The Cleaners called you and you said you were too busy. You never mentioned it to me. What don't you want me to know, Mick? Is it that Cleaner, Claudia? I know she's been after you."

Mick was shocked by her comment and said, "That's not true, I haven't been near Claudia."

She knew that Mick had no designs on the red-headed Cleaner, but she hoped this would shake him up so he would tell her what was really bothering him.

Mick couldn't stand it, and swooped Beth into his arms. He spoke into her ear. "I'm not interested in anyone else, sweetheart, you know that."

"Then what's the matter?"

He sighed and knew he couldn't hide anything from Beth—he never could. Letting her go, he walked away, scrubbing his hand over his face.

"I don't want to put you in danger anymore," he said, his voice rough. "It seems when we get involved with something you get hurt."

Beth's eyes widened. "Mick, really? After all this time? I'm a vampire now, I can heal easily. Why would you be afraid for me?"

He started pacing. "Yeah, I know. But I brought you into this existence and I'm your sire. It's my responsibility to keep you safe."

She smiled at his foolishness. "Of course I'm safe. I've been safe since I was four years old and you saved me from Coraline."

He heard the sincerity in her voice. "Oh Beth, I never want you to be hurt."

She put her arms around his waist and looked up at him. "Everyone is at risk, Mick. We may not be easy to kill, but can die, too. Vampires have more chances than humans. We just have to be careful."

"I hate having you in danger because of what I do."

"When I worked for Buzzwire, how many times did you protect me?"

"Don't remind me," Mick said ruefully.

Beth put on a determined face. "Then I suggest that we both look out for each other, and you don't worry so much about me. After all, you've trained me and I'll get more experience as I get older."

Mick drew her up into a passionate kiss. Beth molded herself against him, slipping her hands under his Henley shirt. Mick responded, but then pulled away. "We need to go," he said with a small smile.

"Huh?" Beth said, totally immersed in her husband's kisses.

"Josef wants me to check out a vampire who died under mysterious circumstances. I figured you would want to come along."

It was Beth's turn to grimace at Mick. "You have lousy timing."

"I just want to keep you in the loop," he said, with a wicked grin. "We can pick this up later."

Beth rolled her eyes. "Okay, let's get going."

Mick slung on his jacket, and moved with her to the doorway. He felt her love and contentment, deciding as long as she was happy, he'd deal with it

They arrived at the Cleaner's headquarters, and entered the building. Beth had texted Guillermo and he was going to meet them there. After passing the entrance, a subordinate showed them through a maze of hallways and into a cold room. There were boxes lining the walls, and several metal tables, the one in the middle had a covered body.

Guillermo joined them, and went to stand with Mick next to the table. He nodded toward the body. "Wanna take a look?" Guillermo said to Mick.

"Yeah," Mick responded. Guillermo pulled back the cloth covering the former Max Fletcher.

"He doesn't look dead," Beth commented.

Mick frowned. He could smell physical decomposition, not the vampire decay he was used to. Yet, the body didn't look like a truly dead vampire. "No, he doesn't."

"Do we know when he died?" Beth asked.

"Uh, night before last," Guillermo replied. "Apparently, he died sitting in his house. His freshie found him."

"Have you examined the body?" Mick asked.

"Yeah, when they brought him in last night. No marks or anything," Guillermo said, as he covered the unfortunate vampire.

"I think we need to get blood samples. I'll call my friend Allison Linn, and see if she can look at them," Beth said, briskly.

Mick nodded. He remembered the doctor who had analyzed Coraline's blood when she'd been human after taking the so-called cure. "It's the only thing we have to go on at this point," Mick sighed.

"All right, bro," Guillermo said, looking around the room. They have the equipment here, so I'll meet you in the parking lot with the samples.

Beth smiled, "Thanks, G. We'll be out there."

They left the cold room and headed for the parking lot and stood by the Benz. Beth looked up at Mick, who hadn't said anything on their way out. "So, what do you think?"

Mick shook his head. "I've never seen anything like this—or heard of it. I hope your friend can tell us something."

"Could he have gotten some bad blood?" Beth asked.

"Possibly. Though if blood is tainted, we can usually taste it—unless it's poisoned." They looked at each other, remembering the contaminated blood both she and Josef had ingested in Geneva, but that had been tasteless. Perhaps the same thing happened here. Beth had only been a vampire a short time and wasn't aware of everything about their kind, but if Mick didn't know, it had to be something serious.

Feeling Beth's concern, Mick smiled. "Don't worry sweetheart, we'll find out what's going on. Why don't you call Dr. Linn and see if we can drop off the samples."

She nodded, and pulled out her phone. Luckily, her friend was at the lab and agreed to see the couple. After getting the blood samples from Guillermo, they headed over to Bioanalysis to see Dr. Allison Linn.

She met them at the door, "Hi Beth, it's been a while, you look great!" She smiled at Mick. "Good to see you again."

Beth felt a little guilty that she hadn't been in contact with Allison for a while. "Actually, Mick and I got married—"

"That's wonderful!" Allison interjected.

"Sorry we didn't invite you to the wedding," Mick put in. "It was really small, out in Colorado."

The doctor waved that aside. "It's all right, I'm happy for you," she looked up at Mick. "What do you have for me?"

"Some blood samples. We wondered if you could find out if there's anything odd about them."

"It's always blood with you two," Allison said shrewdly. "Follow me."

They went up an elevator to the lab. The doctor explained she could help them right away since she had time while waiting on some tests from another project.

Mick and Beth watched as Allison prepared the samples and worked with her instruments. After a few minutes the computers beeped, indicating the programs were done.

Allison studied the data intently, then turned to Mick and Beth with a frown. "You know this blood is from a dead person, right?"

"Yes." Mick responded. He knew she would ask questions so had a cover story ready. "This is for a client, and we have a friend in the morgue that was able to get us the samples."

"Hmm," she said, her eyes back on the computer screens. "It looks like whoever this person was—"

"It was a man," Beth volunteered.

"Okay, whoever this man was, he was taking massive amounts of dietary supplements."

"What do you mean?" Mick asked, frowning.

"He was taking herbs, his blood is full of them."

"What kind?"

Allison shook her head. "I'll have to run more tests to isolate as many as I can. It won't be that comprehensive because the blood is degraded."

"Will you let us know what you find out?" Beth asked.

Allison nodded, "I'll call you when I have a report."

Mick said, "Thanks for checking this out for us. Be sure to send us a bill."

Beth nodded. "It's for a client, so don't worry about the cost."

"All right," Allison smiled. "But promise we'll go out for drinks sometime soon to catch up."

"Of course," Beth grinned back. "I'll bring the wedding pictures."

The two vampires left the building and Mick said, "I think we'd better see Josef. he's concerned about this one. I'll let him know we're coming."

Beth nodded and Mick texted Josef and headed the Benz into the hills to Josef's house.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef was pacing in his home office. After he'd heard about the death of Max Fletcher, he'd been worried. He didn't like mysteries, and Fletcher's death was unexplained. He'd heard from Mick, and was glad that his friend and Beth were on the job. He wouldn't be happy until he knew what was going on. Unexplained deaths in his region were unacceptable in his mind. Could it be an enemy of Fletcher's? Was it a threat to other vampires in the city? He needed to know.

The door to his office opened a crack, and Josef scented his wife. He turned to her as she came to him.

"Josef, you have to stop worrying. We'll find out what happened," Simone said, touching his cheek. "Mick and Beth are on it, and they'll figure it out. I'm sorry Max is dead, but it's not like the plague has descended."

He gave his wife a small smile. He knew she was trying to make him feel better, but he had a bad feeling. "I don't know, doll. I've never heard of a vampire dying like this."

Simone nodded. If Josef was uneasy, it affected her as well. She hoped Mick and Beth could ease Josef's mind.

"Have you heard from Mick?"

"He called a few minutes ago. He and Beth are coming up here. I hope he has some answers."

"He's good at what he does, and you know Beth is a bulldog, she never gives up."

Josef smiled at his wife's description of her friend. Beth had earned Josef's respect and admiration when they had been kidnapped in Geneva. If not for Beth's tenacity, Josef knew he would be truly dead.

"I'm glad she's on our side," Josef smirked.

Just then, Mick and Beth arrived, and greeted their friends.

"Have a drink," Simone said.

"I could use one," Beth responded as Simone poured her some freshly donated blood.

Reigning in his impatience, Josef got Mick a scotch, then asked, "What did you find?"

Mick told them about their visit to the Cleaners and then what Dr. Linn discovered.

Josef shook his head. "Herbal supplements? Why would a vampire take that stuff?"

"I have no idea, but we need to talk to his donor. Is she still here?"

"Yes, she's been shaken up, and I think she's probably asleep now," Simone said.

"That's all right, we'll come back tomorrow," Beth said. She looked at Mick. "We need to search Fletcher's house and find whatever he was taking."

Josef was relieved it was likely that no outside enemy killed Fletcher, but he still wanted to know why the vampire had died. "At least it seems that only Fletcher was targeted," Josef said.

"That's what we need to find out," Mick commented grimly.

TBC

Again, thanks for sticking with the story. I'm feeling better and plan to post more regularly now. Next, the new DA looks into an old case that puts the vampires at risk.