Sorry for the delay in posting, and thanks again to all those who continue to read. Now that Beth and Simone are safe, Josef wants to find the bad guys.

Chapter 16

Beth woke with the usual immediacy she had come to know as a vampire. Sniffing, she could tell three things; one, that Mick was next to her, two, she seemed to be attached to something, and finally, they definitely weren't in their freezer at the loft.

She frowned, trying to remember how she got there and it took a moment for the cloudiness to evaporate. In a flash she recalled everything and gave a soft cry.

Mick was instantly awake, lifting himself up. "Beth? Are you all right?

Turning in his arms, Beth smiled at her husband. "Mick," she said in a sleep-roughened voice. "What's going on?" She recognized the IV lines. "Why am I hooked up to this stuff?"

Without replying, he slid back the top of the freezer and jumped out gracefully. He took her arm and carefully removed the needle. Her wound healed up immediately and Mick kissed the spot. Going to the small refrigerator he got out a package of blood and poured it into a glass.

"Here, drink this."

Sitting up, Beth quickly consumed the contents. As she started to feel better, she noted the room around her and said, "I guess we're at Josef's place?"

Mick nodded. "How are you feeling? Any weakness?"

She shook her head no, but then felt dizzy. "I think maybe a little."

He came over and kissed her gently. "You need more freezer time, sweetheart."

"But Mick! Is Simone all right? How did you find me? What happened?"

He smiled down at his wife, relieved. Still the same Beth, with a million questions. "What matters now is you and Simone are safe. Get some rest and we'll figure everything out later tonight."

Beth tamped down her questions and realized she was feeling a bit weak and wanted to sleep again. She put her hand over Micks and asked, "You'll be here?"

"Of course. I'm going downstairs for a little while, but I'll be here when you wake up."

"All right," she nodded, sleep overtaking her once again. Lying down in the freezer, she felt safe and allowed herself to fall into oblivion.

Mick lowered the lid of the freezer and stood staring at Beth for a few moments after she drifted off into vampire sleep. He was so glad they had found her. If Josef hadn't chipped Simone, he would still be looking for her without any clue to her whereabouts. The thought filled him with rage. He needed to get out of the room before he woke her with his emotions.

Mick went into the adjoining bedroom and found some fresh clothes laid out for them. With a wry smile he wondered how Hale always knew what was needed. Dressing quickly, he went downstairs. It was late afternoon and the house was quiet.

Mick went into the lounge and found Guillermo finishing up with one of Josef's freshies, sending her off with a friendly pat on the behind. He turned to Mick, "Hey, how's Beth?"

"Better. She was awake and was able to drink. She said she was a little tired so I'm letting her sleep a bit longer."

"Great," Guillermo replied with a grin. "I told you she'd be fine once you got some blood in her."

Going to the bar to get some for himself, Mick asked, "Has Josef been down yet?"

"I don't think so." Guillermo checked his watch. "I want to get over to the store. Terrance has been handling things for both places and I took off in kind of a hurry the other day."

"Yeah, thanks for that, G. I couldn't have found her without you."

Guillermo could feel Mick's mood and knowing his friend would not want to get mushy, changed the subject. "You may want to talk Beth into getting a 4-wheel drive. It comes in handy for a long stake-out, or if you need to go off road."

"I'll try. We sure can't use that little tin can of hers." Beth had replaced her Prius with a newer model after it was destroyed when the original donor store was blown up.

"Tell Josef to give me a call if he needs me." Guillermo gave Mick a look. "When you find the bastards that did this, I'd be happy to help."

With a deadly smile, Mick nodded. "Thanks, amigo."

After his friend left he went to stare out the window over the hills above Los Angeles. He thought about all he and Beth had gone through—their tentative romance, her unexpected turning and subsequent marriage, he felt at peace and able to accept himself as a vampire. He was going to keep Beth safe and if that meant taking out some vampires, then so be it.

The sun was setting and Mick's musings were interrupted by Hale. He had scented the unobtrusive butler when he came into the room. "Mr. Mick, I just received a text from Mr. Josef and he would like to meet you and Mrs. St. John here in the lounge in an hour, if that is convenient."

Hiding a smile, Mick responded, "That will be fine. We'll be down then."

Hale departed and Mick headed upstairs at vampire speed. It was only 7 pm, but knowing his wife, he was sure she would want to clean up before going downstairs. He cracked the freezer lid and Beth woke immediately. With eyes wide, Beth asked, "Is there anything wrong?

Her hair and skin were covered with misty frost and she never looked more beautiful to him. "Not at all, sweetheart. You need to get up if you're feeling better. Josef wants to see us in about an hour."

Beth sat up, almost hitting her head on the freezer top. He opened it for her and helped her out. "Are you all right?"

"Much better," she gave him a bright smile. "But after all that, I need a shower. Care to join me, handsome?"

She walked away toward the ensuite bathroom, and Mick's throat went dry. All the time she'd been gone all he wanted to do was pull her close and reinforce their bond. He knew she wasn't completely well, but found he was too weak to resist and quickly followed her into the bathroom.

At five minutes after seven, Mick and Beth entered the lounge. Josef and Simone where already there and the women cried out and hugged each other. After assurances they were recovered, they sat while Josef poured drinks. It was obvious from scenting the room that both couples had recently been intimate. Beth and Simone rolled their eyes at the smug looks on their husband's faces.

Josef turned serious. "I haven't asked what happened, and I don't think Mick has either." He saw his friend shake his head.

Simone started. "We were dropped off at the east entrance to the fashion show and met up with Celeste…"

"Oh no, I'd forgotten about her. Did you find her, Mick?" Beth gasped, looking at him, stricken.

"No, it was just you and Simone."

"Tell us what happened," Josef said to his wife. "Who is Celeste?"

"She's a vamp we met at the show the day before. She seemed nice and we had a good time. When we arrived at the door, she said she'd talked to a new designer and he would let us see his stuff before the show started."

"I wanted to find a designer or two for a charity fashion show," Beth explained. "We followed her downstairs to the storage area. We went into a loading dock place and saw covered racks of clothes. We barely got into the room when we were hit with the stakes—I guess they were arrows."

Simone grimaced. "Yeah, I've never been staked before and I don't want to be again."

"Did you see who did it?" Mick asked.

Both women shook their heads. "They were wearing black with their heads covered," Simone said.

"What happened to Celeste?"

"I saw her go down when we did." Beth said, then told how they were put into the wooden boxes, and moved into a truck.

"Beth, can you remember how many boxes there were in the room? Simone?" Mick queried.

The women closed their eyes, trying to visualize. "I think there were at least 4 or 5 large crates stacked up against a wall," Beth finally said.

Simone shook her head. "I was looking at the clothing racks and didn't notice. I could tell the attackers were vampires, but I don't know if they were men or women,"

"I do," Mick commented, grimly. "When we found you, I was able to scent the area and I got a good look at their faces. It was a man and woman."

"I wonder what happened to Celeste?" Simone mused.

Mick shook his head. "We didn't see any signs of anyone else. But the fact that there were more than two crates at the show makes me think the vamps might have been after her and you got in the way."

The group sat quiet for a moment, then Josef said, "I've sent for an artist so we can get portraits drawn. Then we can have Rider and Logan get onto computer facial recognition. You girls need to get work on a picture of this Celeste. I want to know much more about her."

Before he could continue, Simone broke in, "What I want to know is: how did you find us? No one saw us taken and you said we were in the middle of nowhere."

Beth and Simone looked at their husbands, and Mick put up his hands in surrender. Both women turned their focus to Josef.

The older vampire shifted uncomfortably, and his wife could tell he was avoiding answering.

With a glare, she said, "Okay Josef, what's going on?"

"Uh, what do you mean?"

With a huff, Simone said, "Don't give me that crap. You know something so tell me or there's a spare freezer in the basement."

Josef stood up and paced for a few moments. "We were able to track you."

Simone's mouth dropped open and she spluttered, "How?"

Deciding offence was the best defense, Josef said, "When you were abducted before you were turned, I decided it wouldn't happen again. So…when you were a fledgling I, um, implanted a tracker in your arm.

Simone looked at him in disbelief. "You did WHAT?" she snarled.

Mick was ready to pull Beth out of the room but Simone only stood with her fists on her hips and cried "Josef Kostan, you mean you put some kind of device in me without my knowledge?"

Looking uncomfortable, Josef pushed his hands in his pockets and nodded slightly.

If Mick hadn't been worried about finding the criminals, he would have enjoyed his friend's embarrassment. It took a lot to intimidate Josef, and Simone was one of the few who could do so.

Finally, Simone's face softened and she huffed, "All I can say is I'm glad one of us was thinking ahead."

Surprised, Josef could see his wife wasn't going to take his head off and relaxed into his usual smirk. "I knew you'd understand, doll."

She stalked up to him, poking a finger into his chest. "You get away with it this time, but I want you to have the same thing done." She turned her head to Beth. "It wouldn't be a bad idea for you, too."

Beth crossed her arms, and gave Simone a grin. "I'll do it, but only if Mick does."

"Hey, how did I get dragged into this?" her husband objected.

"By being married to me. You get into just as much trouble as I do."

Mick made a face, and Josef cleared his throat. "We can argue about this later."

"When is the sketch artist going to get here?" Mick asked.

Checking his watch, "James picked him up an hour ago, so he should be here shortly."

Mick nodded and suggested that Beth and Simone have some blood. After they consumed their meal, they heard the arrival of the artist.

"He doesn't know about us," Josef warned. "I heard about him from some business contacts up north."

The door opened and a tall, blond human stepped through, carrying a large artist's portfolio. Clad in jeans and a casual shirt, he looked around the room. He noted the two women and two men, and thought they all had an interesting quality about them.

"Josef Kostan," he said holding out his hand to the man. "Thank you for coming so promptly."

"A.J. Stone," the artist said, shaking Josef's hand briefly and was surprised at how cold it was. He put it down to the air conditioning, as it was quite cool in the room.

Josef introduced everyone, and the vampires were glad to see the man was relaxed, but a bit curious.

"What can I do for you?" A.J. asked.

"I understand you do sketches for the police on occasion?" Josef asked.

"Yes."

"We need portraits made of three people, two women and a man. Can you do that?"

"Yes, I brought my supplies."

Josef smiled and went to the door. "Why don't you set up in my conference room. There's plenty of light and room to spread out."

"That should be fine," A.J. responded and followed Josef as the others trailed behind.

After getting out his materials, A.J. asked Josef, "Is this going to be a police matter? I can be available if they need me."

Josef had anticipated the question and replied, "No, this is a case of industrial espionage. I have business all over the world and trade secrets are valuable."

The artist nodded his head, satisfied and got down to work. He started with Mick, asking questions, drawing quickly and with confidence until Mick was satisfied it was the best likeness of the two vamps in the forest.

A.J. passed the completed portraits to Josef, and Beth and Simone took a look.

"I don't recognize them," Beth said.

"Don't worry, we'll find them," Josef commented, keeping the snarl from his voice.

Next, Beth and Simone gave a description of Celeste, and A.J. began sketching furiously. It went faster this time because he had input from both the women. It was after midnight when they were done, and A.J. felt like he had earned his large fee.

Josef didn't glance at the drawings, trusting they were as accurate as possible. He texted James to bring the limo around to the front door.

A.J. was packing up his supplies, and Josef said, "I'll have my car take you to your hotel. You're booked for the next two nights, then you have a first class ticket back to San Francisco. They'll be at the hotel front desk. Please charge anything you need to the room."

The young human smiled, "Thank you, I'm looking forward to it. I want to get some sketches of the hotel to take back with me."

Josef hid his amusement. Instead of the Beverly Wilshire, the young human wanted to stay at the more prosaic Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard. Josef had to admit the hotel had been kept up and was just as beautiful as it was in the 1930's. He'd had some wild times there with the Hollywood crowd before he went east after the war.

Hale came to the door to escort A.J. out, and Josef said, "It's still early, how about a drink?"

Beth looked at Mick. She was exhausted, not so much physically, but mentally. Going over their ordeal in her mind when talking to the artist left her feeling drained. "I think I'd rather go home."

He could tell she was on edge, and he admitted he wanted to be in their own place, just the two of them. He put his arm around his wife and told Josef, "I think we should go. You can let me know what you find on these people."

Before Josef could say anything, Simone intervened. "That's a good idea. Beth needs some time to recover and so do I."

Feeling the emotions coming from his friends, Josef agreed. "All right. I'm going to scan these pictures over to Logan and Rider and have them coordinate on the facial recognition databases. I'll give you a call tomorrow afternoon."

Mick nodded, and he put his arm around Beth and guided her out of the room after giving the other couple their goodnights.

Alone now, Simone sagged a bit and Josef held her. "I'm sorry if this was too much for you, babe."

She smiled wanly. "I think I'll get back to the freezer. A little more sleep would be good."

"Of course, doll. I'm going to take care of the pictures, then make a few calls. I'll join you later."

Simone went upstairs, and Josef gathered the papers and went to his office to scan the images to Rider and Logan. He told both techie vamps this project was high priority and would entail a huge bonus.

Once he was finished, he laid the portraits out on his desk and studied the faces. He growled under his breath and thought about what he would do when he found them. It wouldn't be pretty.

TBC

Well, Josef is on the hunt and he can be persistent. Next, Coraline finds things don't always go her way. Thank you for reading and reviewing!