Copycat (PG-13) chapter 2

[francis]

Disclaimer still applies.

This is a collaboration of Jenna and francis.

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Helene Arnaugh was a means to an end. She had been trafficking children for decades, and had ruined a lot of lives but that had come to a grizzly end last night.

It wasn’t his sire who taught him how to choose a victim. His sire didn’t give a damn who the next meal was. But someone he had once called a friend had shown him a way: when the bloodlust and rage made it impossible to stay on bagged blood, or when the need was so raw even the most compliant freshie would be endangered, at least don’t kill indiscriminately. There were rules: never in public, no children, no innocents.

Helene was no innocent, but that wasn’t the only reason. Her death would be public and her notoriety feed the publicity around it. The crime would be attributed to the vigilante slasher again – how he loved the nickname they gave him –, it totally fed into his plans.

The man he once called friend and who betrayed him – the one who claimed to want to help him, to be like a brother, like a surrogate sire to him (even though he didn’t like to be called that) started to obsess with a young woman and left him to fight for himself.

On this kill, he unleashed all his rage and pain on Helen Arnaugh and he felt cleansed when he left her corpse on the street. The feeling wouldn’t last. He knew that from experience but for a while, it was enough. The adrenaline in her blood gave him an instant high from her fear and panic and you couldn‘t get that from the morgue.

After partially draining her, he quickly slashed her neck and her heart’s last few beats pumped the rest of her blood out onto her clothes and the pavement around her. The slashing of her hands wasn’t necessary, but it had become his trademark. It had been an accident with the first victim, but he decided to encorporate it in each subsequent one.

For a moment he contemplated leaving the bitemarks visible, so his so-called friend would get into trouble even sooner. But then he decided to wait until he was sure the trail of evidence had been carefully laid. Patience was another thing his former friend had taught him the value of. He didn’t want his friend escaping because he got sloppy and rushed things.

For the next victim he had already planned something extra. His step-sire had been wrong about a lot of things. He liked killing. He was more like his natural sire in that regard.

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Beth met Carl and obtained more details of the serial killer case. There had been six victims they knew of so far. Generally, serial killers were identified much earlier, but this one targeted individuals that many people would not miss – predators, killers, destroyers of lives. Beth spent the day catching up on the files. She carefully examined the pictures of each victim. The ME’s report on one indicated a possible neck wound that may have been separate from the slashing but could not be sure. No other reports mentioned it. That was good.

All of the killings took place at night. Two of them had possible eyewitnesses. One eyewitness, a drug addict who admitted to being high at the time, said he thought he saw a man dressed in black bending over the body but then moving away so fast that it could not have been real. Nothing could move that fast. The statement of the second eyewitness, a young woman who gave a statement but refused to sign it and never returned was inadmissible but remained in the file: “He had dark hair, his face was pale, but his eyes… his eyes were lit from within. I know how crazy this sounds. I’m not a fool, but he looked up as though alarmed long before the police car turned down the street and he disappeared so quickly I wondered for a moment if the entire thing was my imagination. One more thing – he wore a long black coat.”

Beth closed the file, shivering. The air conditioning was suddenly much too cold.

After a walk to get her nerves under control, Beth returned to her office. Inside her, one voice screamed that she could not seriously think her Mick would do something like this, but the evidence was nearly irrefutable. She told herself that she had to prove him innocent before Carl read those files and made the connection. She had to be able to defend him. There was absolutely no way the man she loved was guilty of these heinous crimes. After two hours, she was beginning to contemplate the unthinkable. The next step would be to review the dates of the murders with her personal calendar. Hopefully, an alibi would be found.

September 20, 2010. Amos Chan’s murder. Monday night. Mick was on a stakeout all night. He came home tired and cranky just before she headed off to work. Complained he had a run in with a former colleague who resented his activities in L.A. Another vampire private eye. Easy enough to check GPS on the Mercedes, but he could have parked and left the car.

July 11, 2010. Naomi Carter’s murder. Mick was out of town in Fresno surveying the security system at a new plant for Kostan Industries. He had said that he would call her when he was driving in but lost his cell phone and didn’t call her until he arrived at the loft the next morning. Once again, she could verify the car’s location.

May 29, 2010. Leonard Davros’ murder. Mick was house sitting Josef’s freshies while Josef was in Europe at some Council meeting. Beth stayed there for dinner, then went home to her apartment once she saw how bored Mick was with the situation. A call to Josef’s butler revealed that Mick was at the residence for most of the night, but had left by himself for several hours and never said where he went.

March 4, 2010. Leslie Pharr’s murder. She and Mick had reservations at a nice restaurant where he watched her eat. Alibi!!

December 11, 2009. Ricardo Cortez murder. Another stakeout.

Beth knew circumstantial evidence when she saw it -- the lack of a solid alibi on most of the cases proved nothing. No. There wasn’t much she was sure of in this life, but she was certain about Mick. It didn’t matter what evidence she found. Mick would never do something like that, then she remembered Mick‘s own words.

“I did some horrible things after I was first turned, things you can’t even imagine. Things that I carry a lot of guilt over. I want to make up for them.”

Mick had always been insistent about the fact that he was a monster. What if there was a grain of truth in his words? He had been wonderful to her, but that didn’t mean that he was always wonderful…

She silenced the little voice in her brain and went to see Guillermo.

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Beth walked into the morgue and pulled her sweater around herself more closely, knowing that the chill in the air was not responsible for the chill in her heart.

“In here, Beth” , Guillermo’s voice came out of an inner autopsy bay.

“Is that Helen Arnaugh?“ she asked, gesturing toward the sheet covered body on the table.

“Yes, and as I already told Mick, we can’t get a read on whether a vampire or a human was responsible.”

“Why not? Can’t you just sniff?”

Guillermo grinned. Humans. “Normally, yes, but in this case, the body was sprayed with an industrial deodorizer aerosol that hides scent signatures from us. Vamps can’t read through it. Not many people know about it but I found out about it two years ago from a local who wanted to keep the knowledge out of the mainstream.”

“I’d be interested in knowing who told you about it. A list of people who know about it might be helpful.”

“Mick told me about it. As far as I know, the only people who knew about this were him and me, and the Cleaners, of course. They use it themselves if they can’t get the blood out of a crime scene.”

Beth thanked Guillermo and was on her way.

[MickLifeCrisis]

I could really give my post all in smilies.

You've got me worried now, that there is some kind of split personality of Mick's that is committing these murders and somehow "our" Mick doesn't realize it.

But I'd rather go with refusing to believe this is OUR Mick, and instead someone who is trying to frame Mick. Hmm, but that would mean Mick is the step-sire who abandoned the killer for a young woman, meaning Beth? Ack!

Or maybe the killer has no connection to Mick at all and you are just toying with us.

The instances of the other murders...those are all referring to other fics, right? Nice touch!

You ladies have me hooked!

[maggatha3]

Oh, Beth, how can she even be thinking like that about Mick...she owes him a great apology for even thinking like that!

The strange vamp never said Mick's name , but it points towards him the whole way describing his stepsire's character. And he seems to be copying his looks ( if that could ever be possible). Ahuh....that is what the title is about....Mick's copycat? Those two are a magnet for trouble.

Thanks for the update girls ..when is the next one?

[librarian_7]

Interesting, interesting update. This plot could have been a season two episode, girls. Good work!

Lucky

[loveyoumick]

Very intriguing ! I can't believe Beth has doubts about Mick ! Something tells me she'll regret it. I hope she doesn't make a mess...poor Mick.
I can't wait for more !

[redwinter101]

And so the tension builds. Shame on Beth for thinking this could be Mick - because Mick will sense her suspicions, sure as eggs are eggs, and then we'll have whole other heap of angsty trouble.

Very intriguing and utterly readable.

Red

[allegrita]

Wow...this is creepy. Beth's wise to do this groundwork, because others will make the connection (well, minus the vamp stuff) as well. But she needs to trust Mick with this... surely he can't have been responsible for those killings!

Ohhhh, I'm gettin' askeered...

[Kara]

The impostor is good. Really good. Wonder what it was that Mick supposed to have done to this guy to make him kill and make it look like it's Mick? The boys should tell Beth about the guy copying everything about Mick before she hears the freshies gossip about Mick being back on tap. I'd hate for Beth to suspect him.

Great update Jen/Francis. Thank you.

[cassysj]

The plot thickens. Shame on Beth although I understand it. At least he has an alibi for the March 4th.

I can't wait to read more.

[darkstarrising]

Whoever this vamp is, he has an axe to grind, one with Mick's name on it.....

Even Beth's beginning to wonder....that' eyewitness's account is pretty convincing, but it's the little voice in the back of her head about all of Mick's past sins that really has her worried.....

I'm really enjoying the way this is unfolding, francis and jenna It's very suspenseful, a little tease here and there that things aren't looking so good for Mick. Off to the next chapter!!!

[nutmegger911]

Nice job, ladies.

Beth's internal conversations really made me think. How much faith does she have in Mick? At least she is absolutely sure about his alibi for one evening.

[jen]

Poor Beth! She is following a carefully placed trail of evidence in a direction is definitely does not want to go! Can you imagine what she is feeling right now?

She is starting to doubt the one person she trusts and loves most in this world,

Not a good place to be!

[jen]

How can Beth suspect Mick?????

The evidence is very circumstantial, but still...

Thank you!!!!

Jenna

[allegrita]

Oh, man... someone's got a major grudge against Mick! Beth, you need to figure this out fast!