What Are You, Mick St. John? [ch. 20] PG13

[NocturneInCMoll]

Beta: Barb (Bank1115) is indispensable.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


What Are You, Mick St. John?—Chapter 20

The Cleaner stopped in her tracks. “You cannot be serious.”

Josh’s heart started beating faster. Is he serious?!

Kostan turned and grinned knowingly at him. “…Here. I mean, I don’t think we should kill him here,” he finished.

Josh’s heart plummeted down to his stomach.

Kostan grinned at him innocently, then turned to the Cleaner, who was still shaking her head. “This warehouse is a little too closely connected to the investigation Carl and Mr. Lindsey were perpetrating…I think we should distance this…unfortunate business…from it as much as possible. Mr. Lindsey is right about one thing—people will notice his demise. And if it takes place in a location such as this…”

“Fine, fine—” the Cleaner waved him off. “We’ll take him somewhere else and make it good.”

Kostan turned to grin at Josh. “And, as a lovely parting gift slash consolation prize—see? vampires aren’t all bad—we’ll take out your biggest nemesis for free. So your death can ‘mean something.’” He wiggled his fingers in air quotes for emphasis. “Come on…you’re a prosecutor in the fatally flawed human justice system—there must be someone you’ve been dying—pardon the pun—to get.”

Josh narrowed his eyes. If I’m going to die anyway… “Chemma Tejada,” he growled and looked away.

Kostan nodded curtly in acknowledgement. “He’ll be dead by morning. In fact, I think we’ll frame him for your murder, and kill two birds with one stone,” he clapped his hands together. “It’s poetic—I love it.”

The Cleaner smiled slightly. “I’ll get the prisoner ready for transport.” She pulled a silk scarf out of her pocket and sashayed over to Josh. “Any last words, human?” She fluttered her eyelashes as she pulled the scarf taut between her hands.

Josh just sneered at her and pursed his lips.

“Now, now, no spitting,” she scolded as she yanked the scarf between his lips and tied it tightly behind his head.

“Mmmphffff…”

“Oh, I’m sorry, what was that?” The Cleaner cocked her head. “Even with my superior hearing, I couldn’t quite catch that…”

Josh glared at her.

She smiled cattily then said harshly, “Don’t even think about trying to move—I only need one excuse to tear your throat out.” She walked over to one of the tables and searched through the objects Lee Jay had left behind until she found some rope. She returned with a couple of lengths and bound Josh’s hands and feet.

“Mugghhh,” Josh groaned as she yanked the knots tight.

“Oh, did the ropes burn you a little? So sorry, darling.” She moved to give him a slow kiss on the cheek, followed by a rough lick. Josh shuddered in disgust. She grinned wickedly, then looked over to Kostan, who was scowling in the direction of the door.

“Wait a minute—” he turned to the Cleaner, “I didn’t see the van. Where did you park?”

The Cleaner straightened up. “I’m off-duty; the others have the van. I drove my own car—parked over on the south side of the building.”

Kostan’s mouth dropped open. “That freaky little thing was yours? Since when do you drive a Smart Car? How the hell are we supposed to fit a body—dead or alive—into that?!”

“Oh, and I bet you were Mr. Practicality when selecting a vehicle to drive here,” the Cleaner glared at him. “I’m sure you chose something very clean and aerodynamic. And by ‘clean’ and ‘aerodynamic,’ I mean ‘expensive’ and ‘a very eye-catching bright red’…”

Kostan bristled. “The Ferrari, at least, has a trunk. And it’s not bright red, it’s…” he paused for emphasis, “…vermillion.”

The Cleaner rolled her eyes. “Ugh.”

“Relax. We’ll shove him in the trunk of the Ferrari and have your dashing young Lieutenant follow behind in case I get pulled over for driving while looking devastatingly good.”

The Cleaner stared at him a moment before setting her jaw in resignation. “Fine. Whatever. Now, where are we going?”

“Let me make a call.” Kostan whipped his cell phone out of his pocket. “Yeah—Ryder. I need a location on one Chemma Tejada. Send me a text message when you have it.” He snapped his phone shut. “He secure?” he asked the Cleaner. She nodded.

“Let’s go, then. I’ll back the Ferrari up to the door for you.” Kostan was gone so fast Josh barely saw him move.

The Cleaner gripped Josh’s collar and yanked him to his feet, then threw him face-first over her shoulder. “Now, Mr. Lindsey—don’t try anything funny.” She walked slowly to the entrance of the warehouse, taking extra special care to jostle him and bump into things. Josh groaned as his leg smacked into a metal cabinet.

Finally he felt a breeze and they were outside. Kostan had already backed the Ferrari up to the door and was waiting patiently by the rear of the vehicle. He spread his arms wide over the opened trunk with a flourish as if he were Vanna White displaying a prize.

Ass. Josh glared up at him. Kostan returned his glare with a knowing smirk and Josh looked away. Upside-down, it took him a moment to make out Carl and St. John standing over by Carl’s Toyota, watching the scene. Evidently Kostan had already filled them in. His eyes narrowed. Carl—traitor. And St. John must be loving this—getting his rival taken out without having to lift a finger. Suddenly he was heaved up and thrown down into a hot trunk—hard. He bit his tongue despite the gag and grimaced in pain. The Cleaner roughly bent his limbs to make him fit inside the small trunk.

Kostan and the Cleaner stood over the trunk, gazing smugly down at him. “Ever rode in a Ferrari, Mr. Lindsey?—well, here’s your chance,” Kostan said brightly. Then he closed the trunk with a firm hand. Josh heard muffled voices, then felt the left side door open and slam shut, followed the by the right. The car rumbled to life and the engine revved a few times before gliding smoothly into motion.

Josh wriggled around a little, trying to get comfortable in the cramped space. Now what? If I don’t get out of here, I’m going to die. He shuddered despite the heat.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Carl was still reeling from Josef’s rapid-fire delivery of the new plan: “Hey, Mick, Carl. Haven’t killed the lawyer yet. Decided we’re gonna let Tejada do it. Carl—you follow the Ferrari. Mick—you stay here and play guard dog till the on-duty Cleaning crew gets here to sanitize the place from top to bottom, then you can go check on Blondie like I know you want to. Got it? Good. Let’s roll.” Mick had stood, solid, nodding, while Carl had stood on rubbery legs, blinking. Tejada?

A couple minutes later, Carl found himself in his car, following several car lengths behind Josef and the Cleaner in the Ferrari. Before they pulled out of the alley, Josef had called him and told him what route they would be taking and to hang back a bit so they wouldn’t be associated. But he wanted Carl to be nearby in case he needed him to ‘protect and serve.’

“Damn,” Carl smacked the steering wheel when he saw the flashing lights up ahead. “Double damn,” he said as he pulled up behind the cruiser and saw Officers MacCallum and Johnson had already forced Josef and the Cleaner out of the car and were preparing to pat them down.

“Hey!” Carl half-jogged up to the Ferrari. “Just what do you think you’re doing?” He glared especially at Johnson, who was paying a lot more attention to the Cleaner despite the fact that it was Josef he was patting down.

“Lieutenant,” MacCallum stepped forward eagerly. “We caught Mr. Kostan here doing 40 in a 35 zone.”

Carl’s tone was sharp. “This man is a material witness in an ongoing investigation, and you’re harassing him?”

“Witness? But I—I thought…you…” MacCallum faltered.

“You thought what, MacCallum?”

MacCallum tilted her head for Carl to follow her a little ways away. “This was the suspicious Ferrari,” she whispered, “from the warehouse district. That you were asking us about…your lead…?”

“Yeah. That doesn’t mean you pull it over on something trivial.”

“I thought we might get lucky, sir...besides the obvious soliciting charge,” MacCallum glanced over at the woman in black leather, who glared back as though she’d heard her remark. MacCallum looked away quickly.

“And what? Find a body in the trunk?” Carl snorted. “Tell you what: I’ll check the trunk later just to humour you. But for right now, you need to get out of here and stop calling attention to this car before you jeopardize this entire investigation—if you haven’t already.”

“Sorry, Lieutenant—we didn’t know,” MacCallum replied, chastened.

Carl softened a little. “I know—it’s okay. I do appreciate your vigilance—next time, maybe just call me about it first.” He smiled slightly at her. “Okay?”

“Yes, sir,” she nodded and straightened her shoulders. Carl patted her arm and led her back over to the others.

The Cleaner was leaning against the Ferrari, arms crossed across her chest and one ankle hooked over the other. She had one eyebrow cocked at a mesmerized Johnson. Josef was looking on, obviously highly amused. Carl had to clear his throat loudly to get the officer’s attention. If this guy doesn’t stop staring at…Ms…Cleaner—man, I really have to find out her name—I’m going to do everything in my power to get him assigned to desk duty for a year.

“Officer Johnson. Thank you for your assistance; I’ll take it from here.”

“Er, right—yes sir.” Johnson took several steps back as Carl moved over to Josef and the Cleaner.

“Are you all right?” Carl whispered to the Cleaner.

She smiled sweetly at him. “Of course I’m fine. He was just staring—I get that a lot. She—” the Cleaner peered around Carl to glare at MacCallum—“was the one thinking I was Josef’s hooker.”

“Score one for the clean and aerodynamic uniforms distracting the cops,” Josef smirked.

“Minus one for the Inconspicuous-Mobile getting us pulled over in the first place,” the Cleaner hissed back.

“Hey.” Carl stepped in between them, “not now.” He looked behind him to see the officers still standing there. “I believe I said I’ll take it from here, officers. —Thanks,” he added tersely.

MacCallum frowned slightly and looked at Johnson, who shrugged. “Yes sir,” she acknowledged and moved back toward her partner and their vehicle. Carl heard her mutter to her partner as they passed the rear end of the Ferrari, “Who wears a full black leather bodysuit in LA, anyway?”

A loud thump! stopped the officers in their tracks. MacCallum glanced sharply at the car. “What was that noise?”


To be continued…

[darkstarrising]

Josh is still defiant, even though the odds are against him. But is Carl really going to let Josef 'execute' his plan and Josh?

Thinking and saying that the Cleaner is a hooker? That might get the uniformed officer a one way trip to the tar pits.

The uniformed cops may put a stop to things anyway if they go looking in the trunk....Let's see Josef talk himself out of that!!

Great ending, Julie

[redwinter101]

Gah!! The body in the trunk. Nice try, Carl. Nice try.

Can't wait to see what's really going to happen when they catch up to Tejada...

Red

[NocturneInCMoll]

Thanks, Karen & Red!

Carl's still in on the plan. He was surprised to hear about Tejada, but he's not complaining.

The Cleaner may be annoyed about being called a hooker, but I think she'll let it go...this time... She doesn't want to attract more attention by busting a female cop's head.

As for the thump...

[mitzie]

Uh-oh!! Thump...dying to know what happens about that being heard!!!! I don't know about the Tejada plan, it sounds very risky to me!!!! I love this story and can't wait for more... for the evil cliffie, btw!!!!

mitzie

[RangerCM]

I KNEW that thump was coming! How are they going to get out of THIS one!?

[NocturneInCMoll]

Thanks so much, Mitz! Glad you're still enjoying this story. I can't believe I started posting it 4 months ago today! Anyway, of course the Tejada plot is risky, but so would killing him back at the warehouse have been. It will be a high-profile crime--killing an ADA--and they don't want it connected to the Lee Jay investigation. Guess we'll find out soon what happens!

...Now, did I get this straight?--you're thanking me for the evil cliffie?! Strange girl!


Ranger--you're too smart for this story. How will they get out of it, indeed? We'll find out eventually...thanks for reading!

[wpgrace]

Oh snap!

Could be trouble now...

[wollstonecraft61]

Will McCallum look in the trunk? Will Carl have an aneurysm? Will Josh make a break? Will Tejada get his due? Will I be able to wait patiently for the next chapter?

[NocturneInCMoll]

Tee hee, thanks for sticking it out, WP & Woll!

I promise the answers to your questions will come soon...

The next chapter is mostly written, I think--although it's already getting long, and I still have to write at least two more scenes, so I hope I don't have to split it into two. But anyway, doesn't matter...I'll try and do a little bit more before I go to bed tonight.

[wollstonecraft61]

'Course, we know that if the cops open the trunk, we will have one dead ADA and 2 dead cops! Josef would not let that slide.

[bluedahlia3]

Ever ride in a Ferrari? Thats a good one.

[NocturneInCMoll]

He couldn't let it slide, that's for sure, Woll--but it would sure make his day a lot worse. Can you imagine having to off an ADA and two beat cops in one day without making things look suspicious?

Haha, thanks, Bluedahlia! Glad you liked

[coco]

There's gonna be trouble now.

[NocturneInCMoll]

There might be, Coco! Thanks for reading!