Copycat (PG-13) chapter 8

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francis
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Copycat (PG-13) chapter 8

Post by francis »

A Jen/francis collaboration. Disclaimers still apply.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick’s voice faltered. Josef picked up the narration for him. “It was the night you were ’assaulted’ by one of your high school friends. Mick decided to finally leave you alone but it took some time for him to say his goodbye.”

Mick scowled. “You’re telling it as if I’m an idiot.”

“You are an idiot. Just let me finish. When Mick came back to his loft, sore and desolate, there was a dead Candace on his floor, throat slashed.”

Beth was shocked. “What did you do?”

Mick answered. “I called the Cleaner, then Josef. When Norman came back hours later I threw him out, telling him I could no longer live with someone who had no control and no regard for human life.”

“That was harsh,” Beth remarked.

“It was. In a way, it was my own guilt speaking. I was the one responsible. I shouldn’t have tried to rehabilitate him in the first place. Do we even know how many people are dead because I couldn’t accept the rule that rogues are a lost cause?”

“You should have ended it back then permanently,” Josef admonished. “Look at the mess we’re in now. I believe you that it’s Norm, posing as you who is this ’vigilante slasher’. From his perspective it must seem appropriate that humans be responsible for your destruction, as you are so dedicated to…“ he glanced at Beth and cleared his throat. “Never mind. As I once told you long ago, ’prison is not the vampire’s friend.’ However, the police are not all we have to worry about. When the Cleaners get wind of this, and they will, I will need proof to appease them before they issue a death warrant against you. I don’t control them, you know. We also need proof to get the attention of the police off you. Actually, I think the police will be the easy part.”

Beth perked up. “Mick, does Norman know about the air freshener?”

Mick stared at her. “How do you know about it?”

She smiled. “Guillermo. He knows about it and said that you were the one that told him. You were trying to keep common knowledge about its effectiveness out of the general vampire population as long as possible. If you were guilty, why would you use it? It implicates you too directly, as you are one of the few vampires who know about it.”

“Yes. Yes, he knows. I told him about it when I helped him with a corpse that the Cleaners where just processing when the police interrupted them. It had no scent, and he was puzzled.”

Beth released a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding and ran into Mick’s arms. “That’s all the proof I need.” She kissed him and gave him back his necklace. “You are going to need a new chain for that.”

Josef frowned. “It’s not enough for the Tribe. Mick, I’m going to ask you to stay here under surveillance until we’re able to clear your name. Will you agree to that?”

Mick understood, but was a bit irritated that Josef didn’t take his word. As a friend, he believed him, but as a vampire leader, he couldn’t afford that luxury. Under the circumstances, Mick thought, he would have done the same.

He nodded. “I’ll stay here. I promise.”

Josef called a Cleaner team, explained the issue and asking them to keep an eye on Mick. Not entirely trusting of the stern women clad in black leather, Beth was worried about his safety, but Josef assured her he would not be harmed unless irrefutable evidence convicting him was found and Josef did not believe that evidence was forthcoming. He didn’t tell her, but if such evidence were found, he had enough power to get his friend relocated to safety rather than ‘ashed.’ There was more than one way to protect the security of the Community.

Josef asked Beth to return to work and try to obtain more evidence on the case -- talk to other investigators, comb through the reports of the medical examiners in order to help either clear Mick or divert suspicion away from him. In the meantime, he would get Ryder to work searching for an alibi for Mick that would give Mick an alibi at least in some of the murder cases -- phone records, traffic cams, whatever worked.

They would get Mick out of this mess. One way or the other.

xxxxxxxxxxx

About two hours after Beth left, Mick got a call on his cell. The Cleaner glanced at him as he stood there, phone to his ear and he paled. Grabbing his jacket, he headed for the door.

Moving more quickly than any human would be able to, the Cleaner was standing in his path when he got there. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To my loft. He has my Beth! I need to…”

“Not without me, you don’t!” she said flatly.

“He already called the police to meet me there. You can’t show up with me.”

“So it’s a trap.” her eyes narrowed.

“Yeah, but I don’t have a choice. He has Beth.” Mick ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his neck. “If I need to let them arrest me to get her free, I’ll do it. You can always help me escape later, like we did with Emma.”

She scowled. “We’ll go with you and stay out of sight, but you are not leaving here unsupervised and your being arrested by the police is not an option. Do you understand?”

He sighed. “Alright. But under no circumstances will you endanger Beth’s life.”

The Cleaner gave him a stern look, then nodded. “Let’s go.”

xxxxxxxxxxx

When Mick entered the penthouse floor of his building, the door to his apartment was wide open and a uniformed officer was standing guard. Mick walked up to him. “I’m Mick St. John. What’s happening here?”

The man stepped aside and let Mick in. Carl Davis and Ben Talbot were standing in his living room with two other policemen after searching the downstairs for evidence. Mick was glad he had locked his secret fridge, his open fridge was stocked with food for Beth, and he arrived before they found his freezer upstairs. They had been watching something on the floor but now turned towards him.

“Mr. St. John,” Talbot greeted him. “I hope you can explain the presence of a dead body in your living room.”

Mick stepped around the sofa. A blond woman was lying next to his coffee table, her blood oozing into the carpet. She wore a short clinging dress and high heels. Her face was hidden behind a swirl of blonde hair. Her throat and hands were slashed.

Mick gasped. He knelt down and stroked the hair out of her face. “Don’t touch anything!” Carl shouted. Mick already knew that he didn’t know the victim.

At that moment, Beth rushed through the open door from the hallway. “Mick! I tried to call but couldn’t reach you!”

He straightened and hugged her close. “I thought he had you! Are you okay?” he released her and look anxiously into her eyes.

She looked puzzled by his concern and whispered, “I’m fine. Who had me? Norman?”

He nodded.

“No, I‘ve been at work. He must have told you that to lure you here. The police got an anonymous call when I was with Carl and Ben going over the evidence again and I insisted they let me come along. They think you are responsible for killing that woman.”

“Where have you been this morning?” Talbot asked.

“I’ve been at a friend’s house. He and the whole staff can testify that I didn’t leave from last night around 10 p.m. until 20 minutes ago, when I got a call that Beth was in danger. I am obviously being set up as the serial killer. You see that, don’t you?”

Carl sighed, nodded. “Frankly, I don’t see you doing something like this. I know you, man, and it’s clearly not your style. Besides, who would murder someone in their own home and leave the evidence to be found like this. It’s too convenient. That anonymous call just…doesn't feel right. If your alibi checks out and after the CSI team goes through the evidence, I think you’ll be off the hook.”

Mick nodded. “Thanks for trusting me this far. Did you see that the lock on my door has been broken? Or was that you?”

“We didn’t break it, it was already broken,” Talbot said. “If you didn’t break it yourself laying a false trail, this must have been the real killer’s doing.”

Carl asked: “Do you have any idea who could have done this, and who the girl is?”

Mick shook his head. “I have lots of enemies in my line of work and I’ve never seen that girl before. Looks a little like Beth. Someone wanted to scare me, and Beth. It worked.”

Talbot made his way to the door. “I think for now you’re off the hook. Just don’t leave L.A. until we check it out.”

Beth breathed a sigh of relief. Mick remained silent, watching as they picked up the dead woman and put her in a body bag. Another innocent killed by Norman just to get revenge on Mick. Mick suddenly realized that she didn‘t just resemble Beth.

She also looked a lot like Candace, the freshie he had hired to give Norman a lesson in feeding fresh. Come to think of it, when he found her body, Candace had been laying in the same spot.
Last edited by francis on Mon May 16, 2011 8:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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MickLifeCrisis
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 8

Post by MickLifeCrisis »

Ooo...that last sentence gave me chills. :gasp:

Norman doesn't seem to be all that bright. His earlier murders seemed to implicate Mick more than this set-up in Mick's loft. Carl and Ben are right...who breaks down their own door, murders someone in their own home, leaves the body there, and then calls the police to come find it? :slaphead:

What a relief that Beth can believe in her Mick again. :hearts:

Waiting for more!
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 8

Post by maggatha3 »

Mick should have a chat with his Beth, asking her why she has so little faith in him...but being Mick , he probably won't...I wonder if Beth is going to start such a conversation herself as she should...

Norm....tsk, tsk, tsk, not normal at all... he is beyond limits...but now, Mick has an alibi, doesn't he? And Beth had already found one secretly in his agenda for one of the previous murders, hadn't she?
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 8

Post by Kara »

So glad Beth knows about everything now. And now, it's also clear to everyone that someone is setting Mick up. Mick better now let Beth out of his sight. I think Norman is slowly working his way to Beth. :eek2:

Great chapter. Thanks. :hearts:
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 8

Post by allegrita »

Eeeeeeek! But at least the secrecy has stopped. Mick has Josef, the Cleaners, Beth, Guillermo, and the cops on his side. They just need to keep Beth safe while they go after Norman. And speaking of the cops... the vamps had better find Norman first! :gasp:
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 8

Post by jen »

:clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :hyper2:

Francis

You are doing such a fabulous job here!

Thank you so much for bringing order to chaos and crafting such a fabulous story out of the idea!!!

You are amazing!!!

Thank you!!

Jenna

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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 8

Post by francis »

*loves Jen*
:hug:

*loves all the other readers too*
:teeth: :blushing: :heart:
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 8

Post by darkstarrising »

Yikes! That realization that the victim looked like the first human Norm killed is a bit scary. Norm is sounding more and more like he's gone off the deep end and he's trying to push Mick over the edge or into the cops' arms. I'm worried that Norm has gotten inside Mick's head and cause Mick to do something stupid.

You two have created a really chilling villain in Norm - depraved, but smart enough to stay a few steps ahead of everyone else, and one with a grudge. :twothumbs:
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 8

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maggatha3 wrote:Mick should have a chat with his Beth, asking her why she has so little faith in him...but being Mick , he probably won't...I wonder if Beth is going to start such a conversation herself as she should...

Norm....tsk, tsk, tsk, not normal at all... he is beyond limits...but now, Mick has an alibi, doesn't he? And Beth had already found one secretly in his agenda for one of the previous murders, hadn't she?
I completely agree. :thumbs: :hearts:

At least Mick doesn't have to deal with the suspicions of his friends and loved ones any more - or the police - all he has to worry about now is Norm... :gasp:

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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 8

Post by cassysj »

Norman is totally off the deep end. Thank heavens Mick doesn't have to worry about Beth and his friends being suspicious.
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 8

Post by nutmegger911 »

Wow! Good thing Josef had the forethought to have the cleaners "vampsit" Mick. How sad about the young woman.
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 8

Post by jen »

Norman is all kinds of messed up. He blames everyone else for his own issues, sets out to destroy people who can't fix his problems and the body count is rising.

:scary:
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 8

Post by jen »

What Norman didn't count on is that Mick had people that believed in him enough to give that planted evidence a second look.

Now, what will happen???

Thank you!

Jenna

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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 8

Post by allegrita »

Norman reeeeally needs a visit from the Cleaners. With flamethrowers in hand. :devil: Josef was right--Mick should have ended it long ago, when Norm killed poor Candace. But at least Mick has the vamps and the cops on his side. :phew: Now all we need is to catch Norman before murders anybody else! :hankie:
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