Josh Lindsey, B.C. [ch. 1] PG13

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NocturneInCMoll
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Josh Lindsey, B.C. [ch. 1] PG13

Post by NocturneInCMoll »

Author’s note: This is a story I started back in fall 2008, and has not been beta’d, so it’s a little rough--constructive criticism is welcome. Er, title suggestions are also welcome. I only have 2.5 chapters written so far, and I’m only posting the first now to contribute to Francis’s "1000 Stories by December 24" Christmas Challenge.

Summary: An alternate ending to episode 6, “B.C.” Josh overhears an incriminating telephone conversation between Beth and Mick.



Josh Lindsey, B.C.—Chapter 1

Beth shut Josh’s office door behind her and immediately pulled out her phone.

“Mick, it’s Beth. Listen, the police are about to raid Lola’s warehouse at Fifth and Alameda. If there’s anything there you don’t want them to find you should get there first.” She listened for a moment, then ended the call. “Okay.”

Suddenly the door opened behind her and she jumped. She whirled around to see Josh’s tall frame filling the doorway, coat in hand.

“Beth.”

Her heart started beating wildly. “Josh! Um…”

“Can you come back in here for a minute?”

“Sure…” She stepped slowly over the threshold and he closed the door behind her. She shifted nervously as he just stood there, looking at her, for a minute. Finally, he spoke.

“Can I see your phone?”

“Uh…why?” Beth tried to keep her voice steady.

“Just let me.”

She silently handed over her phone. Josh touched the screen and scrolled around. He sighed. “I hoped I was hearing things.”

Her heart sunk. “What do you mean?”

Josh shook his head and crossed his arms against his chest, leaning against the wall. “It’s funny, not long ago you accused me of having a leak on my team.” Beth could see the hurt in his eyes as he continued. “—Now you’re the leak.”

She swallowed hard.

“You just called Mick St. John, told him about our raid—basically told him to destroy evidence!” Josh cried, starting to pace the room.

“Josh, it’s not like that—”

He halted abruptly with a harsh laugh. “Oh, really? What’s it like, then?”

“I need you to trust me…You just have to trust me…” Beth pleaded, grabbing his arm.

“Trust you?” he spat, ripping her hand from his arm. The look in his eyes stopped her cold. “I used to think I could.”

Her heart leapt into her throat. “Josh…”

“How could you, Beth?” His dark eyes were full of sadness. “Kiss me and wish me good luck, then call him and tell him to go destroy everything I’ve worked so hard to find? Why? Why would you sabotage my investigation?”

“I wasn’t—I didn’t—”

“Just stop!” Josh yelled. “What has St. John gotten you involved in? Is he a part of this drug operation?” He didn’t seem to hear Beth’s vehement denial. “I should have known, when I found you with him at the club…”

“No! I told you, that was just work! I was looking at the drug angle for a story; Mick was looking for Lola.” Beth took a deep breath and continued. “We had run into each other at the morgue earlier that night. When I told him about Club Valis, he thought it might be connected to the case he was working on. He met me there.”

“Why was Mick looking for Lola?”

“I don’t know, exactly, for a friend of his, I think. But trust me, he’s not on her side.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t believe you. If he never told you why he was looking for her and he’s not affiliated with her, then why did you warn him about the raid and tell him to get there first if there was anything he didn’t want us to find?”

Beth hesitated. “I’m sorry, Josh. I can’t talk about this with you.”

“You have to, Beth,” Josh said firmly. He covered her hand with his. “Beth, you broke the law.”

She turned from him, tears filling her eyes. “Josh, don’t make me do this. Lives are at stake.”

“Which is why we were trying to stop Lola, before you and Mick tried to cut us out of the equation!” He exhaled in frustration.

Beth turned back to him. “More lives were at stake if we didn’t,” she said in quiet seriousness.

He looked at her in disbelief.

“Josh, you don’t understand; there’s no way you could understand.” She begged him with her eyes to let it go, but she knew he wouldn’t—especially not since Mick was involved.

“Beth…you circumvented a police investigation and are involved in the potential destruction of evidence. As much as I hate to say it, I’ll probably have to arrest you. Both of you. Having him behind bars won’t cause me much grief. But you…”

His expression pained her. She shook her head. “Josh, you have to trust me. I did this to protect—”

“Protect who? …Mick? …Me?” He raised his brow skeptically.

“Yes, Mick. And others. And you, in a way,” she added. “But I can’t say any more!” she cried and wrenched away from him.

“Well, you’re going to have to, Beth. I can’t let this go. You’ve betrayed me—betrayed the justice system.”

Beth felt her heart plummet into her stomach. “I’ll go to jail if I have to, call it protecting a source or something, but please—leave Mick out of this.”

Josh stared at her. “You can’t be serious. You’d go to jail for him?”

“It’s not all about him, Josh.”

He shook his head. “Let’s go.”

“What, where? Where are we going?”

“We’re going to go wait for St. John at his apartment. If he cares at all about you, he won’t stay silent and let you go to jail.”

Beth sunk back against the door and watched in horror as Josh shrugged into his coat and pocketed his cell phone and hers—along with a gun.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************

Josh had just parked in front of Mick’s building when his cell phone rang. Beth leaned against her door, half trying to listen in, though part of her despaired that it wouldn’t matter anymore.

Josh hung up the phone and stared at the steering wheel. He answered her unspoken question. “That was Carl—seems they were about to go in when the warehouse just up and exploded.” His eyes narrowed. “I wonder how that happened.”

Beth said nothing. Josh sighed and got out of the car, walking around to open Beth’s door. He held out a hand to assist her, but she ignored it and stepped out of the vehicle on her own. She refused to meet his eyes. Josh placed his hand on her back and guided her through the door to Mick’s apartment building and into the elevator. He jabbed the button for the penthouse several times before the doors closed and the elevator ascended in awkward silence.

A couple minutes later the elevator dinged and they stepped out. But Beth stopped short. There was a man down the hall, leaning against Mick’s door. She’d only met him once, but he had made her a little uncomfortable; Mick hadn’t directly confirmed it, but she was pretty sure he was a vampire—meaning this was not the kind of situation in which she wanted to meet him again.

“Josef? What are you doing here?” She tried to keep her voice from trembling, but failed.

Josef had been lost in his thoughts and had barely registered their approach. But hearing her wild heartbeat and seeing her tear-streaked face, he snapped out of it.

“Buzzwire?” He pushed off the door and stood facing them, throwing a wary glance at Josh, who was eyeing him suspiciously. “I’m waiting for Mick to…get home. What are you doing here?”

“Um…I…”

“Beth, you’re shaking—what’s wrong?” Josh whispered. “Is this guy a part of this, too?”

Josef’s brows drew together swiftly. “Am I a part of what?”

“You heard that?!”

Josef ignored Josh. He stepped down the hall towards Beth, eyes narrowing on her.

“Am I a part of what, Beth?”

“I-I called Mick to warn him—about a warehouse the police were going to raid. And J-Josh heard me…”

A guttural growl came from Josef.

Josh pulled out his gun. “Hey! Stay back.”

Josef snorted. “You think that’s going to stop me?”

“YES. He does,” Beth said pointedly.

Josef stopped and relaxed—slightly. “So he doesn’t…”

Beth shook her head. “No.”

Josh was looking between the two of them in confusion. “What’s going on here?”

“You tell me.”

Josh shook his head. “No, I’ll ask the questions.”

Josef glared at him. “I didn’t ask you a question, I issued a command. I’ll speak slowly this time so you can understand. You. Tell. Me.”

Josh bristled. “I don’t answer to you. I’m here in an official capacity. And I can’t—and won’t—discuss an ongoing investigation.”

“Yet that’s exactly what you’re here to do,” Josef scoffed.

“With the people involved, yes.”

“I’m involved. —Start discussing. Now.”

Josh frowned at him.

“Really,” Josef stated. He sighed when Josh still looked at him skeptically. “Look, I assume the warehouse in question belongs to one Delores Maxford Whittaker, more colloquially known as ‘Lola’?”

Josh tilted his head in acknowledgement.

“Well, I’m not a huge fan of discussing my private business with strangers; it’s generally a need-to-know kind of thing—but I guess you trying to have my best friend arrested qualifies. I asked Mick to find Lola; she took a significant amount of money from me. And, as Mick and Beth discovered last night when they ran into her at Club Valis, she’s been using it to finance a drug operation—apparently, the same one you were investigating.”

Josh’s mouth dropped open. “Beth, you met this woman?!”

“I-I…” she stuttered.

“Yes, that’s what’s important. Not my stolen million bucks being used to make a deadly drug that’s killed several humans, etcetera, but the fact that your nosy little reporter girlfriend made eye contact with the manufacturer and didn’t inform you,” Josef broke in. Both Josh and Beth glared at him. He rolled his eyes. “Okay, why don’t we go inside Mick’s apartment where we can discuss this in a more…civilized…manner?”

Beth shot him a look of puzzlement. “If you can get inside Mick’s apartment, why were you waiting in the hall?”

Josef shrugged. He wasn’t exactly sure himself. Pulling a remote device from his pocket, he pressed a button and the door opened.

“If you’re thinking of trying anything funny, don’t,” Josh warned, gesturing with the gun he still held in his hand.

Josef glanced at the gun and smirked. “I’ll try to be appropriately terrified,” he said dryly as he turned and led the way into the penthouse.


To be continued…



Edited to fix a typo.
Last edited by NocturneInCMoll on Thu Dec 17, 2009 3:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Josh Lindsey, B.C. [Ch. 1] PG13

Post by VampFan5 »

Hey Julie,

I love your alternate universe approach to writing. You always take one point and run with it. It does seem strange that Beth made that phone call right outside Josh's office. I'm sure he was capable of hearing everything. So what will Josef do with Josh and Beth? He might see Beth as a loose end now that she accidentally let Josh know something was going on.

Julia :yahoo:
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Re: Josh Lindsey, B.C. [Ch. 1] PG13

Post by allegrita »

Oh, man--I LOVE this. It's a really believable AU version of the story, and your characterizations and the dialog are fabulous. I can't wait to see where you go with it...
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Re: Josh Lindsey, B.C. [Ch. 1] PG13

Post by Luxe de Luxe »

wonderful stuff, NICMoll. This situation just has so many possibilities. I'll be waiting eagerly to see where you take it.
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Re: Josh Lindsey, B.C. [Ch. 1] PG13

Post by NocturneInCMoll »

Julia--Thanks so much! I guess I do tend to take one thing and run with it, don't I? I find it really fun. Anyway, glad you like it! As for Beth's phone call, I suppose she figured time was of the essence, but it still was a really stupid place to make it, especially if Josh had just decided to go join the cops, grabbed his coat and was standing right on the other side of the door... Josef may not be pleased with Beth's attempts to help the vampire cause, but we'll see what Mick has to say... :mdrama:

Alle--Thank you very much! Glad you're enjoying; it's believable so far, we'll see what happens...after all, Josef's involved. He may come up with an "interesting" idea. :whistle:

Luxe--Why, thank you! Glad you like. I only have 1.5 more chapters written, and not much time for writing at the moment (and a few other stories on the go), so I hope you're patient! :biggrin:
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Re: Josh Lindsey, B.C. [Ch. 1] PG13

Post by helloeeze »

I'm loving this. I'm curious to see if Josh will find out the truth or will they all wiggle their way out of it. Can't wait for Mick to make his appearance.
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Re: Josh Lindsey, B.C. [Ch. 1] PG13

Post by francis »

I love this universe, Nocturne. Not only because I always wondered how Beth got away with this call in a busy D.A. office, but also because I love it when Josh isn't pictured as dumb and clueless. Making him meet Josef is great!
“Yes, that’s what’s important. Not my stolen million bucks being used to make a deadly drug that’s killed several humans, etcetera, but the fact that your nosy little reporter girlfriend made eye contact with the manufacturer and didn’t inform you,”
He got right to the heart of matters, huh? And the last line was genius.
Can't wait to read more.
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Re: Josh Lindsey, B.C. [Ch. 1] PG13

Post by NocturneInCMoll »

Helloeeze--Thanks! :) I haven't decided yet what will happen--will Josh find out the truth, or will they wriggle their way out of it--who knows, perhaps both? ;) Mick will appear about halfway through the next chapter... I don't expect this to be an incredibly long story, maybe 5 chapters or so.

Francis--Thank you! I'm happy that you like it. I also wondered about how Beth got away with that phone call...this is my take on what might have happened if she didn't. But I think it will get a little more silly than the show would have... :biggrin: I hope Josh stays not dumb and clueless for you, but we'll see. (Blame anything on Josef).



Edited to fix typo
Last edited by NocturneInCMoll on Thu Dec 24, 2009 3:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Josh Lindsey, B.C. [Ch. 1] PG13

Post by redwinter101 »

Woot!!! SO happy to see this, Julie.

Josef will try to be appropriately terrified indeed. *snort*.

Divine. :clapping:

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Re: Josh Lindsey, B.C. [Ch. 1] PG13

Post by draco »

Very interesting start. Can't wait for Mick to find them in his apartment.
Nice subtle hint of Beth to let Josef know that she didn't betrayed his secret.
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Re: Josh Lindsey, B.C. [ch. 1] PG13

Post by wollstonecraft61 »

Josef glanced at the gun and smirked. “I’ll try to be appropriately terrified,” he said dryly as he turned and led the way into the penthouse.
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Re: Josh Lindsey, B.C. [ch. 1] PG13

Post by coco »

Fabulous, Nocturne. Just fabulous. :clapping:

The dialogue, the snark, the sense of humour and the AU is so perfect.

Can't wait to see more of Josef being appropriately terrified. :snicker:
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Re: Josh Lindsey, B.C. [ch. 1] PG13

Post by librarian_7 »

This is a great start. "appropriately terrified," indeed. Yup, that's our Josef for you.

I do look forward to the continuation of this, whenever.

Thanks!

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Re: Josh Lindsey, B.C. [ch. 1] PG13

Post by r1015bill »

I'm enjoying this alternate universe and am looking forward to the next chapters!
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Re: Josh Lindsey, B.C. [ch. 1] PG13

Post by mitzie »

You know I always wondered how Josh could have not heard her cellphone conversation with Mick!!! :shrug: I wonder which way this will go for him??!! Great story idea!! :bulb: Can't wait to see what happens in the penthouse!! :yes: I love this story and can't wait to find out more... :yahoo: :yahoo: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :gasp: :eek2: :whistle: :devil: :dizzy: :evillaugh: :yahoo: :yahoo: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :thud: :thud: :thud: :thud: :notworthy: :heart: :flowers:


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