Alyster Dark's Lost Corner
~ A Lost Boys Fan Site ~
One Last Chance
Warnings:
Rated T - contains blood play, character's death and violence.
~ * ~
Chapter 2
4:00 A.M. – the next night…
The phone rang, breaking the silence of the cold night. Beth woke up and clumsily picked it up.
“Yes” she said, half asleep.
“Beth, I know it is not the best moment to ask you a favour but I need you here,” the voice said. It was Beth’s boss.
Beth turned the light on and looked around, realizing that she had fallen asleep on Josh’s side of the bed. It was him who usually picked up the phone at night when he came to spend a night at her apartment. She sighed.
“What is it about?” Beth asked.
“This is a strange story but we’ll talk about it here. I’m really sorry to disturb you when you probably need to be alone but I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t really important.”
“That’s okay Maureen, it’s better to change my mind a little. Give me thirty minutes, okay?”
“Twenty.” Maureen answered.
Beth automatically shut the phone down and dropped it on the bed. Maureen’s voice was worried and Beth knew she wouldn’t have called in the middle of the night without a good reason. She pushed the covers away and went to the bathroom.
It took her no more than twenty minutes to reach her office. The streets were empty. She had a thought for Mick who could now enjoy a normal human night of rest. She also had a thought for that secret vampire community that mainly lived at night. What were they doing?
Maureen was waiting for her.
“You look worried, what’s so important?” Beth asked, dropping her bag on her worktable.
“Look at this!” Maureen gave her a letter.
Beth unfolded the white paper and started to read.
“I have exclusive information about secret file Josh Lindsey was working on. It is in relation with the jeweller’s death. I want to talk to Miss Beth TURNER, alone!6:00 AM - 125 Rodeo Drive – Today! Don’t waste your time sending someone else!” Beth looked at Maureen questioningly.
“Did you know Josh was working on a ‘secret´case?”
“No, I didn’t,” Beth answered.
Beth took a look at her watch. “Do you want me to go,” she asked.
Maureen walked closer to Beth and put a hand on her shoulder.
“I would understand if you wouldn’t want to do it. This may be dangerous. Maybe it’s better to call the police.” Maureen said. She perfectly knew that Beth wasn’t a coward, she knew Beth would want to go there just because Josh’s name was mentioned. And that was why she wanted to let Beth know about it. It was good for Buzzwire. If things went correctly, she and Buzzwire would use that “exclusivity” to get promoted at the top of the charts. And if it was a fake, she wouldn’t have missed that opportunity, at least.
“You can ask your friend, the private investigator, to go with you. It would be safer,” Maureen advised.
“No, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Beth responded.
“Why?”
“Well, Josh…” She paused. “Josh just died. I don’t think it ‘s good to see me hanging out with another man. Things are a bit complicated at the moment.” Beth grinned, remembering Helen’s reaction this afternoon. It was better to avoid Mick’s contact for a while.
“Beth, this is only professional!”
“Who did you send to the crime scene?” Beth asked to deviate the conversation.
“Ned!”
“Ned,” Beth repeated with a disgusted grin.
“I know he’s not the best reporter but I had no one else here to do the job,” Maureen explained.
“That’s okay,” Beth said, raising a hand. “I would like to see the video he made.”
“Sure.”
Beth followed Maureen in the other room. Maureen put the record into the player and Beth started to analyze the background. Behind Ned, who was commenting the scene, she could see the jeweler on the floor, his throat ripped off. Beth looked more attentively as the camera passed over the crowd. She recognized Mick.
“The jewelry has been robbed. The shop owner must have tried to stop the thief. Poor guy, he was at the wrong place at the wrong moment.” Maureen commented.
“No, there’s something else,” Beth said.
“I don’t know but…” she paused. “Look at that guy, his face is familiar but I can’t remember his name.” She pointed a man in the crowd.
“Yes, me too,” confirmed Maureen. “And isn’t that your friend Mick?”
“Yes, it is. I wonder why he was there…” Beth concentrated on the images and noticed that Mick was watching that mysterious and familiar guy.
“He knows something,” She finally commented.
“Who?”
“Mick! I’m going to call him.”
Beth went back to the worktable and grabbed her cell phone out of her bag. She composed Mick’s phone number and waited anxiously for him to pick up the call.
“Hello, here’s Mick St-John, I can’t talk to you…”
“Damn it, he must be sleeping,” she sighed with disappointment.
“Leave him a message,” suggested Maureen.
“Later, maybe. Let’s have another look at this video. We will have to work on it before I go to the rendezvous. ”
Maureen discretely glanced at Beth and smiled. She was happy Beth decided to cover that “case”.