Twists of Fate - Chapter 7 (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 on a case with Mick, and Josh is clueless.

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link from chapter 6: viewtopic.php?f=75&t=545&p=2712#p2712
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Beth had been so busy I hadn’t seen her for days. I longed to speak to her, to have someone to share my recent triumph with, but of course I couldn’t. If we could actually convince Leni Hayes to testify, we would need to keep her a secret, and to keep her safe. Telling a reporter about her, even when I was absolutely sure that Beth would keep her mouth shut, was just not prudent.

But being near Beth, listening to her talking about her work, about dinner or what to do next weekend, usually calmed me and gave me the strength to get through the day. I felt comfortable when she was around. I felt needed and wanted, and I missed her. So when she didn’t come home on Tuesday night I bought some of her favorite take-out and drove to Buzzwire.

She was alone in the newsroom, her computer screen the only light source. From what I could tell she was looking at pictures from old horror novels, blood, fangs and vampires. I wondered briefly what she was researching – maybe another blood cult. She was so engrossed in them that she didn’t hear me approaching. When I laid my hand on her shoulder, she jumped. I sensed immediately that she was in no mood for silly pranks.

„Damn it, Josh, don’t sneak up on me like that.“ She reacted as if I had busted her with something illegal.

„I didn’t sneak really. Why are you so jumpy?“

She put her hand up. „I’m not jumpy.“

Curious and happy for a way to start a conversation I stooped down to take a closer look at the monitor. I asked what it was about.

„Oh, nothing. What time is it anyway?“ she changed the subject.

„It’s late.“ I presented the take-out, which she clearly appreciated, but it felt like she went a bit over the top to cover her relief that I dropped my question. As she opened the bag I sat down beside her and watched. Maybe she was embarrassed about the superficial thrill she was going for, treating a gruesome murder like another vampire story. Didn’t she cover enough of that kind of horror already?

When she turned she picked up on my apprehension. „Uh-oh, I know that look.“

I knew that if she could read me that easily, the truth was the only way to go. „It’s just that you have been so busy, we haven’t really talked about what’s going on lately.“

She was defensive, trying to sound neutral, but failing. „What IS going on?“ she asked.

She tensed, but I wasn’t as open and relaxed as I wanted to appear either. „Shooting a guy, your PI buddy, your new obsession.“ I nodded towards her desk.

„Look, I know the last couple of weeks have been crazy.“

I huffed and nodded. That was an understatement if I ever heard one.

She continued. „I’ve been juggling a lot with the new job, but it has nothing to do with you, with us. I promise.“

She took my hands and looked me in the eye. Seeing her face, her expression worried that I would make more of this than it was, her genuine concern, made me almost believe her. She wanted this to work, but she still wasn’t being straight with me.

„You have a lot to process, Beth, and I only want to help you. You can’t keep everything bottled up inside.“ I shuffled in my seat, looking down at our joined hands. „I feel left out.“

She rolled her chair nearer and hugged me. „I’m sorry, Josh. I don’t mean it. It’s just difficult to decide what part of my story I can tell you, and what part I can’t yet. You’re an attorney, I’m a crime reporter. We don’t mix professionally. But we do mix very well in private.“ I could relate to that. There were lots of things I couldn’t tell her either.

I smiled. „So taking Mick into your research is just professional?“

„Just professional, Josh. He is a great help, he has contacts I don’t, and vice versa. But … I admit that I am curious about him. You saw how secretive he is about his private life. And I still didn’t get an answer about why LeeJay had such a crusade against him. But there’s nothing else. He’s just a friend.“

„Will you come home with me tonight?“

She looked at her watch and opened her mouth in that cute surprised O that was typically Beth. „I didn’t realize it was that late. Almost no tonight left for us.“

„I’ll make it worth your while.“

She grinned. „Race you there, okay?“ She kissed me briefly, closed her computer, grabbed her purse and her take-out and ran out. I was still reeling from how quickly she was able to change gears, when she gave me that come-hither look. I hurried to follow her.

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The next night she told me she had to go on the hunt with Mick again to find out more about the homicide. They had a possible clue, but she couldn’t tell me what it was. I was a bit disappointed that she had another night with Mick and without me. Her schedule was so nocturnal lately, while I had to work from nine to five mostly. It clashed with my need for us to be together.

When she got home it was three in the morning, and she was exhausted. She told me they did find a woman dead in her house, and her husband had vanished. They had thought he might be a witness, as his car was found abandoned near the site of the two murders.

„He might be the murderer.“ I suggested.

„I’m not sure, but maybe he is. He could have murdered his wife and then skipped town. But there is no motive for the murder of the store clerk and the businessman downtown. And why didn’t he take his car?“

Beth paused, trying to gather her thoughts. It seemed that she hadn’t quite sorted through all the facts yet.

„We went to the hospital where he worked. It was our last resort, but oddly, his colleagues told us he was there. I wonder if he would really murder his wife and then go to work. Maybe he didn’t do it. Then again, when Mick found him and confronted him about the three homicides, he ran. Mick chased him through the hospital, but lost him at the emergency staircase.“

I could see dark rings under her eyes and red blotches on her neck, always a sign that she was overworked. „Will you be able to sleep after this?“ I asked her.

„I hope so.“ she said. „I’m beat.“

When we crawled into bed I spooned up behind her and tried to hold her safe and warm. I fell asleep immediately.

Next morning she didn’t look like she had slept at all. Seeing a dead woman in her own house must have shaken her up pretty badly. Or maybe there was more to that story.

I had to get to work. She told me she would go to the police to make a statement and then write up her story, and possibly take the remainder of the day off. I really hoped she would get some rest.

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I admit I was curious. Beth had been freaked out about the Spaulding case, and I got that; she had killed a man. Now she had seen three murder victims lying in their own blood with slashed necks, one of them in her own home, and she was pretty shaken, but not freaked out. Her report on what happened was concise and to the point, but for my taste there were more questions opened than answered. So I dared to take a look at the case file on the D.A.’s desk when he was at lunch.

Not much more than what she told me. There was Mick’s statement and Beth’s statement, the people in the hospital. One of the nurses said that there were other strange people walking around on internal ward that night, a mousy older man, a leather clad woman who had two dangerous looking men with her, but she didn’t see much of them because she was busy, and dismissed them as visitors. She admitted to the cop that it was unusual to have so much traffic past midnight.

A patient told the police that another doctor had visited her and was quite friendly, but then someone came in and they had a row. She couldn’t understand what they were saying, as she was pretty out of it after her surgery, but she thought they were growling at each other. She wasn’t really sure, but thought that this happened twice. The doctor ran out the second time it happened.

That matched with Mick’s statement that he confronted Dr. Pollock in a patient’s room, but it didn’t answer who was the person before that. And why did they growl at each other? Could the statement of a heavily-sedated patient after surgery be trusted? What was Dr. Pollock so angry about?

There was no way to make sense of it. Dr. Pollock was at large, no-one knew if he had killed his wife or not. His prints were all over his house, of course, so no clue from there. And there was no way to link him to the other two murders except that his car was abandoned in the vicinity.

During the following week I had lots of work with the trial against Fayed, but in the evening I would go to Beth or she would come over. We had a cozy time on the couch, went to the movies once and made love. Everything seemed to be fine. I managed to find Leni Hayes and to convince her to testify, and placed her in a safe house. Life was good for now.

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link to chapter 8: viewtopic.php?f=75&t=547&p=2714#p2714

[Raven]

Life was good for now.

Famous last words. I think this is probably the last time Josh will feel that way.
Great update francis. It's weird reading from Josh's perspective because I keep anticipating what's going to happen and when it doesn't I realize...oh yeah, Josh wasn't there. lol
Fever was my favorite epi, so I'm looking forward to the next installment. Especially the kitchen scene...

[jen]

Did I misread it or did I perceive a little crack in JoshBeth. Josh is very psychologically dependent on Beth. Yes, a romance contains a certain amount of that but while Beth enjoys the attention and affection, there are times when she needs to get away from it. Josh tolerates this, but not altogether comfortably.

Mick, on the other hand, also clearly needs space from time to time.

Interesting...

Off to read more!!

[jen]

Hi, Francis! Me again, rereading this wonderful series and having a wonderful time!

Perhaps this is when the first tiny fissure in JoshBeth became visible.

Not being able to be completely honest with Josh was, truthfully, the kiss of death for their relationship--to say nothing of the electricity between MickBeth and their shared history (the extent of which is still unknown to Beth at this point). A wall is slowly going to rise up between Josh and Beth, and all the good will in the universe will not dismantle it.

Amazing chapter!

Thanks!