Small Fortune

[Ella713]

Josef tries his hand at operating a floating casino and Mick and Carl find out there's a murderer loose
on board.


Moonlight Fan Fiction
By Ella713
Rated PG


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.

Josef ran his hand alongside the massive boat. His first intention was simply buying something for him and Isabelle to take holidays on, but now he saw the money making potential in his purchase.
A way to make all of his money back and then some. He walked around the inside to make sure all the designs and specifications were going along as planned. This was going to be epic!
And that's exactly what he told Mick.

"Josef...man, are you sure about this"? Mick asked shaking his head slowly.
"Of course I'm sure. That why I purchased the damn thing" Josef said smugly. "People love boats, people love drinking and people love gambling. It's what makes the world go round"
"I thought love made the world go round?" Mick said
"Apples and oranges Mick. Apples and oranges" Josef said with a smile.

Isabelle loved the idea and saw its financial merits, but on the whole gambling brought a lot of attention. One should always be careful.

[Ella713]

The night finally arrived for the opening. Invitations were sent out and all of Hollywood wanted to attend.
"I feel like I'm in a James Bond movie" Beth giggled to Mick looking at the men in their dapper tuxedos and the women in their floor length gowns. Mick smiled down at her. She really did look beautiful tonight, but he had to stay alert. There was something about this night that made him uneasy.
He spied Isabelle slowly taking everyone and everything in. Mick sighed. At least the fact that Isabelle was on board gave him some relief.

Robert Addington made his way onboard to much fanfare. The software mogul never lost an opportunity to ham things up with the paparazzi. He was the kind of man that everyone loved and hated at the same time. He waved and smiled at the cameras.
"Mr. Addington!" a reporter called out "What do you think of Josef Kostan's latest business venture?"
"I think it will be wonderful. When I bought my first yacht...of course it was much bigger than this, but I had a similar plan in mind myself" He said with a toothy grin.
And that was why everyone hated Robert Addington.

Josef and Isabelle walked out arm in arm to wave one last time at he press and then "Kostan Shores" took off on it's maiden voyage.

[Ella713]

Carl held his wife's hand tightly seeing more than one man take in her beautiful features. Angela laughed and patted Carl's back.
"You have absolutely nothing to worry about" She said softly. Carl stood up straighter.
"I know" he said kissing her hand,

Brian didn't like the atmosphere. Nothing upset him more than people being irresponsible with their money. Having grown up with no money to speak of, seeing folks with no regard for it made him
very angry.
"Bri, calm down" Gabriel said coming up behind him. "I can practically see smoke coming out of your ears" he joked.
"This is definitely not my thing." He said with contempt.
"I know, but this is Uncle Josef's event. Try to look a little excited" Gabriel said with a smile.
Brian took a deep breath.

Viktor stood on the balcony of the beautiful boat. He could get used to this life he thought to himself.
But he had a job to do. The rented tux was a little snug but he thought he pulled off well. He sat his champagne down and reached in his jacket pocket and felt the gun.

[Ella713]

The boat was in full swing. The environment was exactly the way Josef orchestrated it.
The music was loud and the conversation and laughter could be heard throughout the large ship.

That was the reason why no one heard the shot that killed Robert Addington.

Carl and Angela were taking a stroll on the upper decks looking at the Los Angeles coastline, when they heard a loud crash.
"Stay here baby" Carl said, taking out his gun and immediately running to investigate. There he saw
Robert Addington. Carl quickly called for Angela.
"Baby, I need you to quietly go to the main floor and find Mick. Hurry!" He said. Angela walked quickly away and found Mick talking to Josef.
"Mick" she whispered. "Carl needs to see you right away. Something bad has happened"
"Where is he?" Mick asked suddenly.
"On the 3rd floor, the terrace side"
Mick excused himself and ran to the upper level. There he found Carl taking notes over a very dead
billionaire.
"What happened?" Mick asked in surprise.
"I can't tell you, but he's been dead for maybe 10 minutes tops"
Mick closed his eyes thinking of the best way to handle the situation. If word got out that there was a murderer about, this would kill Josef's business venture before it even got off the ground.
"We're going to have to figure out a way to seal off this area off" Carl said.
"I'll take care of that. Carl I need you to go downstairs tell Isabelle what happened and send her up. Let's try to keep Josef out of this." Mick said.

Isabelle slowly approached the terrace looking at the surrounding area.
"I will secure this area Mick" Isabelle finally said. Mick didn't have to use his mind abilities to know that she too was worried about Josef' "He need not know. Mick you must find out who did this. We shall be arriving at the pier in 3 hours." Isabelle said.
Mick nodded his head. "I'll take care of it" he said before taking off to investigate.

[Ella713]

Carl looked around room. He knew he saw Addington with a woman when he came in. He slowly walked up to Josef.
"Hey Josef man, is that Addington guy married? I thought I saw him with a woman when he came in" Carl said trying to sound casually.
"Ah, that would be Avery" Josef said pointing to a woman who looked to Carl to be the last woman on earth married to a guy like Addington. She stood around 5'5" inches tall, and had a body either from God himself or science. It was pure perfection. Carl summed her up in all of 2 minutes. Younger woman not to bright, attaches herself to the next IT geek of the moment.
He walked over to her and touched her shoulder.
"Excuse me, are you Avery Addington?" He asked
"Yes. That would be me. Can I help you?" she asked in clear voice.
"Is there someplace we can speak privately?"
"I don't know why since I've never met you before" she said looking at Carl with curiosity.
"My name is Lt. Carl Davis and I'm a detective for the LAPD and we have a situation that needs your immediate attention" He said carefully.
She started to come back with witty remark but stopped herself.
"Something happened to Robert" She said quietly. Carl nodded his head and led her to view the body.

[Ella713]

Carl took Avery up to the 3rd level. She looked at her husband's body for a long time, then she turned to Carl.
"Do you know anything?" She asked coolly.
"We know he was shot three times with a small caliber weapon. The more important question is what can you tell me about your husband?"
"My husband was a genius. But like most people with high intelligence, he was arrogant and rude.
He didn't have many friends and quite a lot of people hated him for his success. Myself included" She said finally. Carl really looked at the women.
"What did he do to you?" Carl asked, knowing he was regret knowing the answer.
"The Pegasus program, was my idea. He stole it from me"
"Wait, are you telling me that the software he made all of his money on was your idea?"
" We were in the same class in college. Everyone was really trying to come up with the next big thing in computer software. I created Pegasus. Robert found out about it and said we should make it a joint effort. I did all the work and then he took off with the results and passed them off as his own. Lucky for me, I don't trust anyone, I videotaped our entire work sessions. When I told Robert I had him, he made me an offer. Marry him and keep quiet about the theft. After a few years I would divorce him and take my cut in the divorce settlement. I agreed."
"And now that he's dead, you get everything?" Carl said.
"Yes.....I suppose that would be true" She said with a huge grin.

[Ella713]

Mick started making his own inquiries. Little by little he was getting the idea that Addington was a first class jerk! Most people said they tolerated him, but very few people said they actually liked the man. So that would narrow it down to about 2,000 suspects. Mick was just about to go back up and look at the actual crime scene when he heard a man talking.
"Yeah, its done......of course he's dead......I have to wait till the ship docks, but it shouldn't be much longer" Mick heard him say. He looked around trying see around the sea of people. He spotted him by the back stairs. A chubby man in an ill fitting tuxedo. Mick walked over to him just as he was hanging up his cell phone.
"Hey, how's going? You get lucky yet?" Mick said casually. The man shrugged his shoulders.
"Nah, I think Kostan's got the ship rigged" he chuckled.
"So, you don't like the guy?"
"Don't really know him personally" The man said getting a little nervous.
"You see, I think you do know Kostan. I mean you shoot a man in cold blood on his ship! You gotta have some kind of beef with him". Mick said. The man looked up at Mick and started to reach in his jacket pocket. Mick quickly grabbed the man's hand and place it in vice like grip.
"See, now I'm thinking you don't much like me either" Mick said. "Come on, let's go take a walk" Mick continued as he led the man away.
Carl was just making his way downstairs when he ran into Mick.

[Ella713]

"Who's this guy?" Carl asked looking at Mick.
"I think this is the guy" Mick replied.
"Why did you shoot Addington?" Carl asked. The man stayed silent.
"He's got a piece on him" Mick stated. Carl felt inside the man's jacket, pulled out the gun and placed it up to his nose.
"And recently fired. Why don't you just give me your side of it. Maybe you had a legit reason to waste the guy, maybe he did something to you. I hear Addington was real jerk." Carl said trying to get the man to confess, but the man stood mute.
"Okay, have it your way" Carl said and took out the cuffs. "How much time we have till we dock?" Carl said over his shoulder.
"A little over half an hour"
"You might want to let Josef in on what's going on and tell him I'll keep this quiet" Carl said taking the man away.
Mick watched Carl take the man away and thought to himself, that was way too easy.

The ship docked and Josef came up to him.
"I can't believe someone iced Addington! I wonder who he pissed off?" Josef joked
"Whoever it was it was someone smart enough to set up a pansy. I don't think the guy in custody did it" Mick said shaking his head.
"Addington pissed off a lot of people Mick, everyone has their breaking point." He said walking away.

Isabelle walked up quietly behind Mick.
"What do you think Isabelle?" Mick asked her. She lightly touched his shoulder.
"I feel that sometimes it is best to let things go when you can do no more." She said.


Beth came home after work and sat down next to Mick.
"Have you spoken with Josef?" She asked
"Not for a couple of weeks. He and Isabelle had some conference in Boston to attend. Why?" He asked suddenly curious.
Beth pulled out the day's finance section.
"Josef just purchased ADL Software..as in Pegasus! Mick this huge!" Beth said excitedly.

Mick let that information sink in and it became clear. Addington had indeed pissed off everyone. Josef Kostan included. And Josef's breaking point came with consequences.



The End