Twists of Fate - Chapter 3 (PG-13)

[francis]

Betaed by redwinter101
Disclaimer: I don't own Josh, or Beth, or Mick, or anything in this fic, but I like to play with them, so bear with me.

Beth is having nightmares, the Spaulding case is on and Josh feels left out.
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link from chapter 2: viewtopic.php?f=75&t=540
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Over the next couple of nights Beth’s nightmares returned. She stayed at her apartment and Josh was there every night to hold her as she slept. It wasn’t an unusual situation by any stretch, but Josh felt that she was more seriously affected than at any time during the year she had spent with him. It made him want to take care of her, to keep her safe, but all he could do was hold her, hoping that would help.

One early morning she called out for Mick just before she woke up. Already roused by her struggling, Josh carefully reached out for her to make sure she didn’t hit herself. „You had a bad dream.“

„I’ll say.“ Disoriented, she snuggled into Josh, relieved that he was there.

„You were muttering something.“

„What did I say?“ Her voice was strained.

Josh pressed his lips together. „Mick.“

She looked at him apologetically, „Sorry. He was in my dream.“

He assured her that he wasn’t angry. It was almost comical, her having a nightmare and crying out for another man. „You almost died last week. He saved you. I understand.“

Josh hesitated to voice his concerns, but it was getting worse. she was hardly getting any sleep lately, so he tried. „Maybe you should talk to someone about it?“

She evaded. „I think I should go to work.“ Getting up, she gave him a quick kiss and headed for the bathroom.

Josh knew that she tried to ignore her childhood trauma, or at least to deal with it alone. He had the suspicion that maybe she thought it made her less lovable to him, like damaged goods. There must have been a cause why she never talked with him about it. She kept him out of this part of her life, and it bothered him that she didn’t trust him with it.

He strained to recall exactly what she had told him about her nightmares. A scary, dark-haired woman had taken her to a house and locked her up in the basement. The room was a nursery out of every little girl’s dream, with a dollhouse and a rocking horse, frills and rose patterns, but she was terrified of the woman and cried herself to sleep every night. Some days later the woman took her to a rundown cabin. There was no power; the room was lit by oil lamps. They settled in and waited for a long time; then a man came in and talked to the woman. They had a violent fight that made Beth crawl into a corner and close her eyes. The man managed to incapacitate the woman, set the house on fire and took Beth back to her mother.

Now she was reliving that trauma in her dreams, but this time Mick St. John was the man who rescued her. Of course, with the kidnapping last week it was only natural that she would cast Mick as the guardian angel that she had forgotten. Still, it bugged Josh. A lot.

Just as the interrupted nights were taking their toll on her, they were also taking their toll on him, and he needed for some undisturbed rest the night before an important hearing. She agreed. He called her the next morning before going to work and she assured him she was fine. Still, he could hear the exhaustion in her voice.
He asked her again to visit a doctor, but she refused for the umpteenth time. She assured him that she was working on a fluffy human interest story, an author who had written a book about a paroled convict.

But things were never normal in her world. She called Josh late after the book launch to tell him Mick St. John had attacked the man who was paroled, and that she was trying to work out what business they had with each other. Spaulding had been in jail for twenty-five years, so Mick would have been a baby when Spaulding was convicted.

She sounded excited, but exasperated. „His late father had worked as a P.I. too and was involved in the case, but why should Mick be so obsessed with this?“

Josh couldn’t help with that. „I don’t want to make assumptions, Beth. I know nothing about the case. If you like, I can look into it.“

„Thank you, honey. I think I just needed a sounding board. Whatever you find would be really helpful.“

While she had been totally enamored with Mick’s personality at first, Josh wasn’t totally convinced that the guy was harmless, and he was glad that Beth was also concerned about the inconsistencies. St. John seemed to have a violent streak, beating up the student instead of just arresting him, and now attacking Spaulding because of some business his father had 25 years ago. Josh needed to know more.

His search of all the databases was fruitless. Mick St. John was registered, social security number, P.I. credentials, driving license, but nothing beyond that. His office was located at the top floor of a high rise on Pershing Square, private elevator, very expensive neighborhood. The building belonged to some hedge fund trader. Josh had no idea if St. John lived there or had an apartment somewhere else. How could he afford the rent for such an office?

Next he searched older case files that went back to the nineties, and saw Mick’s name occasionally scattered across the reports, giving a statement or having arrested someone the police were searching for. It didn’t happen often, maybe every other year or so, but there he was. Josh wondered why there wasn’t more. Lt. Davis had talked about an impressive track record.

Everywhere he turned, there were more questions. How young was St. John when he started out? Or were some of those cases, or all, related to his father?

Josh used his lunch break to drive to the library and search the obituaries.
There he found that Mick St. John died in a car accident in 1991, but other than that there was nothing. There was no reference to a wife or children either. Josh was intrigued and alarmed. Had the Mick St. John of today assumed the identity of a dead man? Was he someone else entirely?

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That evening, Josh went to Beth’s apartment. They had dinner and watched a movie, just like every Thursday. They didn’t talk about St. John, except that she told him she met a blind ex-cop who had worked on the Spaulding case and insisted that senior was alive and that junior didn’t exist. Josh filed that information, but wasn’t in the mood to discuss it further. He tentatively kissed her, eager for some closeness, trying to get Mick out of his mind – and hers. She gave in to him and as always, he tried to be gentle and attentive, but tonight she was almost unresponsive to him. He wanted to blame her fatigue, but he wasn’t entirely convinced.

Early the next morning the news came out that LeeJay had been shot at Mick’s loft, where he had apparently gone to make peace. Mick St. John was on the run. It seemed his violent streak had once more got the better of him. Beth hurried to get to work, as this news would clearly need to be explored for her story.

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It was late by the time Josh arrived at Beth’s apartment. She was on a conference call with her editor. Mo told her that LeeJay would be released from the hospital tonight, and that she was to go there. Beth was excited about this chance; she was really committed to this story. Josh was happy for her, she deserved this success, her hard work was finally starting to pay off. He welcomed anything that took her mind off the nightmares. What worried him was that St. John was involved in this story, too.

Josh took the wine out of the fridge as he wanted to start dinner preparations. Because he loved to cook and Beth hated it, it was usually he who worked the stove, and she who bought the groceries. Josh’s repertoire wasn’t extensive, but they liked the same dishes, like Italian and Chinese, chicken, steak and salad on hot summer nights. Josh suspected that Beth lived on cold take-out when he wasn’t around.

Beth was deep in thought,. „Do you think he really tried to kill Lee-Jay?“

Josh turned around. „Well, you don’t?“ he asked incredulously.

She shook her head. „No, not really.“

„You’re kidding, right?“ Josh took the corkscrew out of the drawer. No answer. He pivoted to look at her. She shook her head again.

He outlined the facts to her again. „He attacks the guy in a public place. The guy ends up shot in his appartment and then he flees. Is there some part in that that is not completely incriminating?“

She pursed her lips. „You don’t know him.“

He huffed. „You really don’t either.“

She looked down, wringing her hands. He looked at her silently, he couldn’t believe Beth was still defending him.

„I think there’s something going on that Mick’s not telling me.“

Well, that one was obvious, wasn’t it? He wanted to make her understand just how dangerous he thought Mick was. „You know,“ he stated. „since you met that guy, screwed up is starting to seem normal.“

The doorbell interrupted.

A tall man stepped into the frame. „Hey.“ he said, strained.

Josh couldn’t believe it. „You’re Mick St. John.“

Mick didn’t answer. He didn’t even acknowledge Josh at all. „Is Beth here?“ he asked softly.

Josh wondered what this fugitive wanted from her. He told him no, but Beth had already heard him. Damn, this was no good, Josh thought.

„They are looking for you.“ she told Mick without a comment on what Josh had tried to do. This was her I-want-answers-now voice. She always managed to ask questions by stating facts. Josh moved away. He would learn more by just listening in.

„I didn’t shoot Lee-Jay.“ St. John said, still in the doorframe.

„Then why did you run? Why didn’t you stay there and tell the police what happened?“ Good question. Her tone was angry. What was she angry about? This wasn’t personal, was it? Or was she angry that he destroyed the knight-in-shining-armor-image she had of him?

Josh turned to see how St. John would answer that one, and to watch his face for a lie. Mick hesitated, briefly looked away from her, fixed his gaze on her face again, took a couple of steps in. Beth turned to look at Josh, at a loss what to do. Mick took another step and stared at Josh. He exhaled, pressed his lips together, looking neither one in the eyes. „I guess I panicked.“

This was getting ridiculous, and dangerous. Josh had the suspicion that Mick lied and he intervened, knowing that Beth wouldn’t care about the danger. He needed to make her understand what was at stake here. „Look, he can’t be here. You know I’m an attorney. In the D.A.s office. I am harboring a fugitive here.“ Josh was agitated. He didn’t want this man within Beth’s personal space, within their personal space. Whatever had happened, this St. John was no innocent, and he wasn’t telling the truth.

Mick brought his arms up in a distraught gesture. „Listen, I understand this looks bad.“

Josh interrupted him again. „I’ll get disbarred and jailed.“ Beth looked apprehensive.

Mick defended himself. „I didn’t do anything. Okay? This guy comes to my place…“

„And what, shot himself?“ Josh yelled.

Without raising his voice, Mick answered: „Yes.“

The silence stretched. Both men watched Beth. She stared at Mick. Would she believe Josh, or him?

„That’s what LeeJay does.“ She turned to Josh. „He’s staged murders before, it’s all in the police file. See for yourself, Josh.“ Her boyfriend was dumbfounded that she believed Mick, that she actually believed him, based on a twenty-five year old file that St. John had given her. He could have faked everything inside. Josh hadn’t found that file when searching for the father’s cases, so it must have been stolen for some time now.

Taking two angry steps towards the counter Josh opened the file and thumbed through. The evidence was rather convincing, but why hadn’t this been used in court?

Beth talked to Mick, as if Josh wasn’t there any more. She stepped up to Mick, and he was staring into her face, trying to convince her by will alone that he was telling the truth. She told him she needed to know, because if he wasn’t… She didn’t need to spell it out. He would ruin her career and Josh’s, and their life. He had to know that.

Which made Josh wonder why he had come here at all. Beth must have thought the same, because she suddenly asked Mick, so gently that Josh almost didn’t pick it up, what he needed from her.

He told her he needed to let the police know that he was innocent, but without being arrested. Josh still didn’t understand why Mick appeared so panicked at the thought of going to the police, giving a statement there, if he was as innocent as he pretended to be. It wasn’t as if they couldn’t prove within a day or two if he had fired the gun or not. Maybe he really shot LeeJay. Or maybe he had a fake identity after all.

So, while Josh stayed in the kitchen and prepared dinner, trying to get over the mess of emotions that churned inside - rage, tension, curiosity, fear for Beth - she filmed his statement. His speech was a pathetic attempt to make Spaulding into the villain. Listening in, Josh got the impression that Mick was nervous at the first try, but he had to admit that Mick’s statement was concise, to the point, earnest and logical..

What if Beth had a point? Mick’s actions made no sense if he was guilty. They made no sense either if he was completely innocent. So he had to have some other agenda. He needed the police out of his hair, and he was pressed for time, so he was using Beth and her contacts to buy time.

When dinner was ready Josh invited Mick to sit down and eat with them. Mick told them he was too nervous to eat, but sipped a glass of wine while he paced like a caged tiger.

They ate in silence, each lost in thought. Afterwards they cleaned up and then watched the broadcast of Mick’s interview on Beth’s laptop. Beth was beaming with pride that her little stunt was copied by every big news network out there. It was the big breakthrough, a human interest story become attempted murder turned vindication of the accused party. The public loved it..Mick on the other hand – despite being the one who wanted this - seemed very nervous about his exposure.

„So, what next?“ Josh asked.

Mick stopped pacing, a frustrated look on his face. Beth watched him closely. He resumed going back and forth in small circles. In a few hours he would have worn a hole in the floor. „I think it’s his move next.“

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link to chapter 4: viewtopic.php?f=75&t=542

[Raven]

I must commend you francis. I haven't watched any episodes since last June and reading this makes me yearn to watch again! Right now, this scene, to be exact. Really well done. And you've captured Mick beautifully. Josh's visual of Mick's mannerisms as he's silently saying, "because I'm a vampire...I'm a vampire" was spot on.
I'm looking forward to more, francis. I'm firm about not watching the show (Mick get too much in my head) and you have me wanting to. That's really something.

[bank1115]

Francis honest to God this is better than watching the show! kays

[francis]

Raven and bank, you make me blush. Thank you so much. You make me want to write.
I'm just trying to keep those characters alive, and your comments show me that it's worth the time.

[jen]

Great stuff here.

It makes perfect sense, and I think Joseh would check out this guy his girlfriend was developing a fascination of. I think his instincts told him that Mick was a rival long before we saw any evidence of it.

I would love to head right back over there and read the next chapter, but I have no sense around Moonlight fanfic. I will pick this up tomorrow.

Thanks!

[jen]

Rereading this and it is absolutely true that this enhances my appreciation of the canon episodes. This fits in seemlessly, and fills in missing details beautifully.

Wonderful, Francis!