I never DREAMED where this one would take me.
Usual disclaimers apply
FINDING LOLA
The bartender took a swipe at the bar with a rag and barely glanced at the pocket watch in Josef Konstantin’s outstretched hand.
“Naw man…I ain’t seen her in here.”
Lightning fast, Josef snaked out his other hand and gripped the bartender’s throat, cutting off his air, and brought the stopwatch close to his face.
“Take another look…a good long look. I’ll ask you again-have you seen her in here in the last few days?” Josef’s voice was its usual silky smooth, but his eyes had started to turn. Julian Daniels, Josef’s financial advisor, sniffed the air discreetly and grimaced. The bartender was a vamp, but either he was new in town and hadn’t heard of Josef, or he was monumentally stupid. Josef was the oldest vampire in Los Angeles and wielded great wealth and power with single-minded ruthlessness and cold-blooded control. Humans knew enough to respect his business acumen; vampires knew more and feared him unconditionally. Julian had learned both respect and fear 25 years ago, when Josef had offered him immortality.
He laid a light hand on Josef’s arm; the bartender was starting to turn blue.
“Sir-if you don’t let go of him, he can’t answer you.”
Josef spared Julian a glance and relaxed his grip a fraction. The bartender stammered “I ain’t seen her in here. I swear to God, man, I ain’t never seen her!” in a strangled voice. Josef released him abruptly and the bartender fell back, grabbing at his throat and gulping in air. Turning, he headed for the door, Julian close on his heels.
An exotic brunette brushed by Josef and offered up her wrist. Vamp bar freshies, Julian thought in disgust. They’d give it up to anyone with fangs. Josef gripped the girl’s wrist lightly and drew in her scent, then smiled wickedly.
“A hint for you next time, lover…don’t wear perfume. It ruins the taste.” Josef squeezed the girl’s wrist hard enough to make her gasp, then released her. She would have bruises tomorrow, but he imagined she didn’t care. If she didn’t enjoy pain, then she wouldn’t be here offering her body and blood to strange vampires. Frankly, he couldn’t fathom why any human woman would frequent a vamp bar-not every vampire was as scrupulous as he when it came to the exquisite balance of pain and pleasure during a feeding.
Josef slid into the back of a long black limousine and reached for a crystal decanter half full of 25 year old single malt with a healthy dosing of fresh blood. Pouring two fingers into a glass, he offered it to Julian as he settled himself across from Josef. Josef saluted him with the glass when Julian shook his head, then downed it in one swallow.
“Sir, that’s the seventh vamp bar we’ve been to this week-Lola hasn’t been seen in any of them. How long are you going to look for her?”
“Until I find her.” Josef sat back against the soft leather and mentally ran through the list of Lola’s Los Angeles haunts. She was beautiful, wild, unpredictable and, as he had discovered, totally unscrupulous. She was the oldest vampire Josef had ever known, outside of his sire, and he was powerless against her luminous beauty and feminine wiles sharpened by centuries of being vampire. Ever since Julian had come to him five days ago with news of a million dollars missing from one of his off-shore accounts, Josef had known instantly that Lola had helped herself. He had to find her; he absolutely couldn’t allow any hint of weakness about him to leak into the vampire community. His pride and reputation were on the line. He heard Julian speaking and roused himself.
“Sir, unless you have any other ideas, I’m not sure where else to look. You’ve had people at every place you haven’t checked personally and there’s no sign of her.”
Josef cursed under his breath and looked out the tinted window. Even through the nearly-black glass, he could tell night was fading and the sun would be coming up soon. As the sleek black car pulled through the gates of his estate, he came back to the thought that had been circling his mind. As loathe as he was to admit defeat, he knew it had to be done.
Josef turned to Julian as they stood on the curved drive and watched the limo pull away.
“As much as I hate to do so, we’re going to need outside help.”
Julian’s features hardened as he knew immediately what Josef meant.
“St. John,” he hissed.
“Careful, my friend,” Josef warned. “As much as it pains me to admit to needing Mick’s help, he’s a friend. I trust him. You never have, and I’ve never understood why, nor cared to understand why. If it begins to interfere with your obligation to me, I’ll have to care and that I won’t tolerate.” Josef’s eyes glittered in the pre-dawn gray. “Am I understood?”
“Perfectly, sir.” Julian waited until Josef had walked up the stairs to the massive double doors of the house, then spat as if Mick’s name left a bad taste in his mouth. Memories of a night 25 years ago-a night marred by betrayal and marked forever by a choice-haunted him. Mick would answer for what he’d done all those years ago-Julian had decided that in the instant he had accepted Josef’s offer. But…Julian knew he had all the time in the world to make Mick realize his mistake-and someday, realize it he would.
Hours later, Josef continued his inner struggle with his pride and the need to find out what Lola had done with his money. He stubbornly refused to acknowledge that his hurt feelings at Lola leaving him without a word far outweighed the fact that she’d stolen from him. Well, not really stolen, he thought wryly. It was hard to steal when one was given the password to an account during a moment of passion. Mick would have a field day with that little tidbit of information, Josef mused. He warred with himself as the limo took him across town to Mick’s building. In no time, he had let himself into Mick’s flat and had made his way up to where Mick lay sleeping.
Josef grinned down at Mick’s prone figure, then pounded a fist on the freezer lid.
“Get up!”
when the old stuff comes back to the surface. 
This is a wonderful one-shot, giving us a glimpse of an almost desperate Josef. Almost. Desperation would take him eventually to Mick's doorstep, when his own resources fail him. In this story, you introduce us to Julian, a man who had good reason to hate Mick and would later act on that hatred in 'Losing Beth'. (Still love 
the Koslov women, though.)
Anna, Natalia and Anastasia have special places in my heart!
