Petty Cash - PG

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JosefsRose
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Petty Cash - PG

Post by JosefsRose »

This was written for the smallfandoms fest06 on LJ

Any mistakes are my own, everything else belongs to others.


<b>Title:</b> Petty Cash
<b>Author:</b> jkrose
<b>Fandom:</b> moonlight
<b>Pairing/Characters:</b> Josef & Beth
<b>Rating/Category:</b> PG
<b>Prompt:</b> Money Issues
<b>Spoilers:</b> (if applicable) none
<b>Summary:</b> Josef has some money problems, and Beth has gets the story.
<b>Notes/Warnings:</b> (if applicable) none

Petty Cash

I couldn’t help it, I was pacing about my office like a caged beast. I held the phone in my hand fighting the urge to crush it. I continued to stalk my space, my secretary had the sense to refuse all visitors. My phone buzzed again. “Tell me now.” I listened as the nervous voice on the other end gave me information I didn’t want to here. “Well someone better get this sorted, this is not a position I wish to remain in.” Again I listened, “No. You get it fixed, or….” There was a sputtering at the other end. “no my friend I will make you a promise. You find you did this, or it will be your head.” With that I ended the call. This time I threw the phone, down on to my desk. I ground out my frustration, heading to my wet bar to pour a large measure of scotch. I looked at the bottle, and a sudden sense I should savour it, hit me. My musings were disturbed by a familiar, but almost unwelcome scent. With a wry grin I listened to the chatter the other side of the door.

“I’m sorry Miss Turner, but I have clear instructions. No visitors.”

“But he has never stopped me seeing him.” Beth argued.

“Mr Kostan’s orders were implicit. I’m sorry, but I can not let you in. I will let him know you were here, and if you wish to leave a message I’ll pass it on.” My secretary was earning her money, not many people would stand up to Beth. I could hear Beth huff, her scent changing as she became frustrated.

“Ok, just ask him to call me. It’s not that important I guess.” I could here her huff and turn on her heels. Her scent and footsteps fading down the hall. I smiled at the thought of her, Mick’s heart was in her hands, and hers in his. I decided at that point I needed a break, I opened the doors and called to her.

“Buzzwire,” I strode to her side, “It’s always a pleasure to see you.” She gave me a suspicious look, but smiled. We turned and headed back into my office. My secretary dropped her head, as we walked past. I closed the doors and offered her a seat. “So to what do I owe the honour of your presence?” I sat perched on the edge of my desk. My head was tilted slightly to one side as I looked at her.

She shifted slightly, and I noted her unease. “I was hoping you may be able to help me with something.” she paused and looked down at her hands. I watched as she composed herself, when she looked up her blue eyes all but flashed. “I’m working on a story. Some multi million dollar companies have been…” she was thinking how to phrase her words. “hit by “financial problems.” ” She made speech marks with her fingers to emphasise the point. “I was wondering if you could shed any light on it. If you had heard anything?” She took another breath, to slow her heart rate down.

I pushed off the desk, and over to the bar. “Well, I’m flattered you came to me.” I kept my back to her trying to compose what I should say to her. “Would you care for a drink?” I offered, listening as she twisted in the chair to face me. I turned my head to face her.

“Yes, that would be good.” I could hear her heart trip hammering, her breathing slightly ragged. I wondered what it was that made her so nervous. I poured her a glass of wine and carried it back to her.

“So, tell me more about this story your working on.” I handed her the glass and retook my position leaning on the desk. “If you tell me what you know, I might be able to shed some light on to it.” She took a large mouthful of her drink and looked at me, then nodded.

“Sure, you know more about business than anyone I could call upon. From what I have learnt several big business have been hit by monetary problems. Assets frozen, and deals collapsing. I was hoping you might give me a scoop on what is going on. No-one is talking directly, but I have a source,” She looked me in the eye at that point and grinned. “not you Josef. At another of the companies that had been affected. They said that it was as if they were specifically targeted. It started with a stock crash, all shares crashed, then assets became frozen, and money seemed to disappear.” I tried to hide the shock, and after 400 yrs I’ve got pretty good at it, but obviously not enough. “You know something don’t you Josef?” Her whole body resonated with her interest. She was literally buzzing. I huffed.

“Ok, I know something, but and let me reiterate this, you can’t publish it.” I could tell she was going to argue, but she backed off. “You help me and I’ll help you. You can have the scoop on the perpetrator of this, but you keep all mention of me out of it. I have a reputation to uphold.” It was clear she like the idea. “Let me call in some help.” I picked up my phone and dialled Ryder’s number. All I got was a message saying he was unavailable. “Damn.”

“I might know someone Josef. Let me try.” Beth pulled her phone from her bag, and called her friend. “Hey Sam, I was wondering if you might be able to help me.” She started to smile. “Yeah, this is for a story I’m working on. I’m sure I can make it worth your while. I need you to search for a link in some info I have.” Beth held her hand over the mouth piece of the phone. “Sam wants to know where to meet me?” It was clear to me that I was about to get further involved.

“Can you trust them to keep quiet?” She just nodded at me. “Then they can come here.” She gave me a small smile, and went back to her call.

“Sam yeah. Erm, can you meet me at Kostan Enterprises.” Even I heard the shocked gasp at the other end of the phone. “Say in an hour… That would be great, I’ll meet you in the lobby.” then she ended her call. She turned her gaze on me. “Spill Josef, details.” I shrugged and stood up, walking over to the picture window. Over the next thirty minutes I told her what had been happening. Confirming her facts of the other attacks. She was working something over in her head, I could almost see the cogs grinding in there.

“Now tell me, what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” I had moved back to sit on the couch opposite her. She was chewing her lip, and I watched her openly. I could see what Mick saw in her. She shone, with an intense light. I had noticed it the first time Mick had introduced us. Her eyes locked onto mine.

“Errr, well I was thinking this over, given all the information. I hope Sam can confirm it.” I was getting frustrated, she wasn’t being clear.

“Beth, what?” I ground out, the urge to shake her was great.

“I’m thinking these attacks are an inside job. Specific Targets. Young, successful businessmen. There has to be a common link, something that you all have. A person, a company. Something.” She was still thinking. “The others there not vampires are they?” I smiled at her, but shook my head. “Just a thought. Out of the box so to speak.” I had to admire her. Then she glanced at her watch. “I better go and meet Sam. Where do you want her?” That was the first time I registered the fact her colleague was female.

“Sam’s female? Sorry I figured.” Beth was laughing at me. At me.

“Sorry, you’re as old fashioned as Mick. I would have thought you would be more savvy than that.” She finally got herself under control, but she still hitched with the effort of not laughing. “So where do I take Sam?” she had stood and headed to the door.

“Bring her up here. Just wait in the lobby, I’ll set up an office for you.” I walked with her to the elevator. As the door closed I head down the hall to one of the spare offices I kept on this floor. With a quick call, I had extra computers set up and running. Not knowing what Beth’s friend would need. I heard the elevator return and Beth’s scent assailed my senses. I walked to the lobby, to greet her friend. This Sam was not what I expected. She was petite, dark haired which was pulled into a half pony tail. Even her features were small. She was dressed in a very unorthodox style, Baggy trousers, sat in her hips her top half clothed in a tight stripped jersey. She wore little make up, but what she did wear was dark. I put on a polite smile as Beth walked towards me.

“Mr Kostan, this is Sam.” Sam gave me the once over and shrugged. Then offered me her hand to shake. I took the gesture, and was surprised to find she had a firm hand shake. “So where are we going? The faster we get started, the sooner well get results. I hope.” I heard the doubt that edged her last words.

“This way. I have set you up in one of the offices on this floor. And please if you need anything, ask.” I led them both into the office and Sam paused at the door her brow raise in surprise. She stepped over to the computers, and ran her fingers over the equipment.

“Wow. This stuff is top of the range.” she sat in the chair and sat her own laptop up next to it. Powering it up, she then tapped away at the keys of both computers. “Right I’m logged into the system, What do you want me to do?” She gave both of us a questioning look.

Beth glanced at me, I nodded, giving her my ascent to give her the necessary information. “Sam, someone has hacked into Jo…” She stopped herself, then continued. “Mr Kostan’s accounts and I was kind of hoping you might be able to find out who’s doing it.” I have to say I admire Beth, she can be very direct when she wants to be.

“Sure.” One word and Sam’s fingers went to work. Beth and I stood silent watching her. “Guys, could you stop hovering. It’s going to take a little while. I’ll text Beth if or when I find something.” She never took her eyes off the twin screens in front of her. I noticed that Beth looked sheepish, embarrassed. The flush to her skin suited her. I moved round to take Beth’s elbow, leading her away.

“We’ll be in my office, just ask my secretary if you need anything. Coffee, snacks…” Then I closed the door, hearing her muffled reply of ‘yeah whatever’. I lead Beth back to my office and offered her a drink. She asked for a soda and we once more returned to the chairs. I sat opposite her, watching her sip her drink. We chatted about her work at Buzzwire, going over some of the stories she had covered. Including the ones she had doctored to hide the involvement of the vampire nation. I ordered her in some dinner, having some sent to Sam, who was worryingly silent.

Suddenly Beth jumped. “Sorry, I forgot my phone was on my pocket.” She glanced at the display. “Sam” she held up the phone, and smiled. I offered my hand to assist her from the chair. Her small hand was warm in mine, and I sighed. Shaking such thoughts from my head. She was Mick’s, and not one of my girls.

“Shall we?” and I gestured out the door, leading the way back to the office. When we arrived, Sam was sitting, watching a printer spew out sheet after sheet of paper. “So what did you find?” I eyed the growing pile of printed data.

“Okay, well it seems that your perpetrator knew what they were doing. They covered their tracks well, just not good enough. I back tracked the hacking software they used, and found that it linked to your own accounts.” Beth turned to look at me. The suspicion on her face was clearly evident. “Not that you would have ever found it.” she continued. There was a siphon straight out of the dummy account. I followed that. It lead me to an off shore account in the Cayman Islands. When I checked into this account I found several others all receiving funds in the same way. I have frozen the accounts, changed all the pass words and the encryption data.” Beth stared at he friend.

“Wow, that was quick Sam. I’m not going to ask how you did it, because that will be over my head. So did you trace who did it?” Her interest was peaked once more, the light of the hunt clear in her blue eyes. She looked at me and I made my stance well known to her.

“Remember, I am not to be mentioned in any story you get from this. That was our deal.” I am sure she saw my eyes flash, as her eyes grew wider and she nodded. “Good. So what, or who inconvenienced me, and some of my fellow businessmen?” I turned my attention back to Sam. She was eyeing Beth and myself suspiciously.

“There is a link between all those affected. You all used the same company for your accounting software. You all recently upgrade, or changed to them.” I have to say she was right. I had recently changed my software, on the insistence of Ryder. I in turn had also recommended it to several associates. If he was involved in this, I would have his head. “It all comes back to a guy called Jonas Burgess.” She look to see if I knew the name. I thought for a moment.

“Burgess, Burgess. No not a name I recall.” I looked to Beth and she was making notes. “Any other info.” I kept my attention on the pixie like girl in front of me.

“I did a search on him, and found he is a bit of a software genius. He creates unique programs for people. But he ran into some problems. Personal and financial. So he created the software you have, only it worked better than he expected.” She looked at Beth, then to me. “All the info is over there on the printer, and I’ve made a copy to dick for you. I’ve also redirected the funds back to their proper accounts.”

“Thank you Sam. What do I owe you for all of this?” Beth asked her. She was heading into her purse.

“Oh, I hadn’t thought about it.” At that point fate stepped in. Her computer screen went blue, green and finally black as it died. “Damn it. “ she hit various keys trying to get some life into it.

“How about I get you a new laptop.” Sam spun to look at me. “After all, you have just saved me from a very embarrassing situation.” She was silent.

“Josef, you don’t have to do that. I’ll pay Sam for her work. It’s how we work.” She didn’t want to be in debt to me, that was clear.

“You can pay her Beth.” She looked relieved, “I’m offering to replace her computer, as a thank you. After all it’s just petty cash to me.”
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francis
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Re: Petty Cash - PG

Post by francis »

Oh, me likey. Love that you let Sam have another job with Beth. I liked her in SB. And Josef is very much in envy about Beth. Difficult situation, that. Would you perhaps write more of this story? I really like the tension of Josef with Beth.
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JosefsRose
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Re: Petty Cash - PG

Post by JosefsRose »

francis wrote:Oh, me likey. Love that you let Sam have another job with Beth. I liked her in SB. And Josef is very much in envy about Beth. Difficult situation, that. Would you perhaps write more of this story? I really like the tension of Josef with Beth.
Thanks Francis. :hug:

Yes Josef is intrested in Beth, she intrigues him. I have a couple of other stories in the works, but there maybe a continuation of this. Not sure yet.

Jenny :rose:
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tucutecats
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Re: Petty Cash - PG

Post by tucutecats »

loved your story ,anything Joseph.looking forward to a follow up
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Marigold
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Re: Petty Cash - PG

Post by Marigold »

I enjoyed reading this. :hearts: It was nice to see Sam make an appearance (and save the day!). :yahoo:

Josef sure seems fascinated by Beth... :winky:

Thank you, JosefsRose! :flowers:
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jen
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Re: Petty Cash - PG

Post by jen »

This is fabulous.

Josef has a problem and Beth and Sam solve it. I think that's perfect. We have all been obsessing on the superior abilities of the vampires with their speed, strength, healing abilities and heightened senses but the Mortal Coil team saved the day today.

Sam may have a new career at Kostan Industries percolating in the back of Josef's brain right about now.

Ryder and Logan will either adore her or hate her for her tech saavy. Hard to say.

Love to see more of this!

Thank you!

Jenna

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allegrita
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Re: Petty Cash - PG

Post by allegrita »

I'm so glad this popped up to Active Topics! I like Sam very much; it's nice to see her come in and save the day. Girl power! :teeth: I wonder how much trouble Ryder will be in for recommending that Burgess guy's software... :chin:
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JosefsRose
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Re: Petty Cash - PG

Post by JosefsRose »

Thank you ladies for your wonderful comments. Sam was a charater that I think we may have seen more of in a second season :hankie:

It has been a while since my muse came out to play, maybe one day it will return.
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Re: Petty Cash - PG

Post by Lucy »

I have hit the jackpot of undiscovered treasure today/ Always glad when Beth becomes valuable to Josef..... And it's good to see Sam!
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