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

[NocturneInCMoll]

Summary: Sequel to I Know What You Are, Mick. Carl and Josh investigate Mick St. John after his showdown with Lee Jay Spalding.

Author's note: Okay, I'm going to break one of my personal rules (don't start posting a story until you're nearly done), because I'm stuck. I need motivation and inspiration. Fingers crossed that your lovely comments will help feed my muse. No promises...but I'll do my best. This story takes a very different turn from its predecessor. The prologue consists of extended versions of Carl and Josh's lone scenes in I Know What You Are, Mick. I have Chapter 1 written, and a bunch of other scenes and later chapters, but need to connect them and figure out where I want the story to go. Any suggestions are welcome!

Beta: Much thanks and appreciation goes to Barb, a.k.a. Bank1115.

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?—Prologue

Lieutenant Carl Davis hovered near the ambulance, waiting for the paramedics to give him the okay to interview Julia Stevens. Finally the EMT stepped back and motioned for him to move in. He stepped forward.

“Miss Stevens, I’m Lieutenant Davis. Can you tell me what happened to you here tonight?”

Julia nodded, her eyes filling with tears.

“I picked Lee Jay up from the hospital. We’d finally gotten away from the reporters, and just wanted to go home. But Lee Jay said he had to make a stop first. He directed me here. He had me come inside with him,” her voice broke, “and then he changed. He hit me, shoved me face first down on a couch, and yanked my arms behind my back. Two other men were there, and they helped him tie me up. I asked him why he was doing this. He said I was bait,” she spat, “bait. He was going to lure Mick St. John here, and then kill him.”

“He say why?”

Julia shook her head. “No, he wasn’t very clear on that. I gather it had something to do with Mick’s father, I guess—you know, the one that helped put him away.”

“Right.”

“He made me call Beth,” Julia continued. “Then he ripped the phone away from me and demanded she put him on. He made all kinds of accusations and demands.”

“Like what?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t really remember. Something about ‘I know who you are’ and ‘If you don’t turn yourself in, Julia ends up like”—she started sobbing—“like Ilene. I can’t believe I was so stupid! I really believed he was innocent!” She covered her face.

“Okay. It’s okay. You’re okay now,” Carl said in a soothing tone.

Julia sniffled and nodded. “Then we waited. Waited for Mick to come. I was so afraid Lee Jay was going to kill me before he did. But he didn’t. And then Mick came…” she trailed off.

Carl nodded. “Go on,” he prodded gently.

“Mick…Mick saved me,” Julia hiccuped. “He jumped down from the rafters”—Carl raised an eyebrow at this—“and grabbed the first guy. Twisted his neck. Then he grabbed the second guy and threw him right across the room. He ripped off my restraints and told me to run. So I did. That’s when Lee Jay came in with a shot gun.” She gulped tearfully. “He shot Mick and he fell to the ground. I was afraid, so I ran away. Beth was outside the building, waiting in a car. I told her Mick had been shot. Sh-she told me to call the police and ran into the building. Is Mick—is Mick okay?”

“He’s fine.” Carl replied tersely. So fine, he’s not even here. “Thank you, Miss Stevens. When the paramedics have cleared you, I’ll have someone take you home. Okay?”

Julia nodded, wiping her tear-streaked face with one hand.

“Okay,” Carl patted her on the arm as he looked around for his next witness. His gaze zeroed in on Beth Turner, standing awkwardly beside a classic Mercedes Benz. This should be interesting…

“Beth!” He called. Her head snapped up. Carl tilted his head to the right and walked several feet in that direction, indicating he wanted to speak to her privately over there. She walked over to meet him.

“Carl.”

“Beth, you wanna tell me what happened here tonight?”

She took a deep breath and nodded.

“Good,” Carl began. “I have Miss Stevens’s version of the events up until she exited the warehouse and you entered. I need to know what happened next inside that warehouse, Beth.”

Beth nodded again.

“Okay,” Carl continued, “So Julia said Lee Jay shot Mick and he fell to the ground. Then she ran out of the building and into you. You told her to call us, and ran in to assist Mick. Is this correct so far?” He poised his pen over his notebook, ready to take notes.

“Yes,” Beth replied. “Julia must have thought Lee Jay had shot Mick because the gun went off and he fell to the ground. But the first round must have malfunctioned or something. Mick was on the ground because he dove for cover. I came in when he got up. Lee Jay was temporarily distracted by me, and Mick managed to get behind him before he noticed. Lee Jay tried to shoot him again, but he missed. He didn’t have any more rounds, and he and Mick fought. It was self-defense. I saw it all.”

Carl stopped writing. “And where is Mick now? He knows better than to leave a scene.” He tapped his notebook impatiently.

“I made him go home. He wanted to stay, but I could tell he really wasn’t up for giving a statement tonight. He was exhausted. He finally agreed and said to tell you he’d come by the station tomorrow.”

Carl frowned. “Fine, but he’d better show up, because if he doesn’t…”

“He will.” Beth turned. “He saved Julia’s life, you know. And a dangerous killer is off the streets.”

“Hmm.” Carl grunted as Beth walked away. He’d already been inside the warehouse once and seen the three bodies strewn about—one man took down three guys? Just who was the dangerous killer supposed to be?

Then there was Julia’s fantastical statement, versus Beth’s more sedate one. He shook his head. Something wasn’t right here…

Carl grabbed the arm of a passing officer. “I want forensics all over this place—like, yesterday,” he ordered.

The officer nodded. “I’ll call it in, Lieutenant.”

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

Josh had returned from his public affairs errand within an hour and a half of his leaving Beth and Mick at her apartment. His friend hadn’t taken much convincing after hearing Beth’s answering machine recording of Mick’s conversation with Lee Jay.

Beth wasn’t home—she’d obviously gone with Mick. Josh wished he could blame Mick for allowing Beth to accompany him on a quest to rescue a woman from a dangerous killer bent on revenge. But, if he were honest with himself…he knew her; he knew how stubborn she could be, especially when friends were involved.

Nothing to do but wait for her to arrive home.

He turned the TV on low in the background and sat on the couch with some case notes. More than an hour later, he realized he was still on the second page and gave up trying to concentrate. He turned the TV off and went into the kitchen; he’d be likely to hear about anything that happened before it showed up on the news anyway.

Dishes—something mindless to occupy the time. He filled the dishpan and plunged his hands into the soapy water, letting it warm them for a moment. Then he reached for one glass, then another.

The tray was nearly full when Lee Jay’s voice suddenly interrupted his wandering thoughts. “I know what you are, Mick.”

Josh’s hands stilled in the water. When Lee Jay said that, Mick had stiffened and turned to them, looking almost panicked, as if he were afraid Lee Jay would spill his secret right then and there. So what did Lee Jay mean? What is Mick? Dirty PI? Degenerate gambler? Drug smuggler? Transvestite?

Just then Josh heard the key in the lock and dropped the plate he was holding back into the water. He quickly dried his hands on the towel as the door slowly opened.

“Beth!”

“Hi, Josh.” She stood in the entranceway.

“Thank God you’re all right, I was worried sick!” He rushed over to her.

Beth smiled weakly. “Sorry…”

Josh pulled her into a long embrace, then pulled back to stroke her cheek. “Beth…what happened tonight? Is everyone okay? Julia?”

“Julia’s fine—well, she’s okay. She’ll be fine. Mick saved her.”

“—and Mick?”

“He’s all right, now that this is over…”

“Lee Jay’s back in custody?”

“No. He’s dead,” Beth said flatly.

Josh’s eyebrows shot up.

Beth sighed and elaborated. “He shot at Mick; it was self-defence.”

“Did you witness it?” He ran his fingers down to her chin.

Beth nodded, slowly, turning her face away.

“My poor Beth.”

He pulled her back into his embrace.

“So where have you been for all this time?”

Beth said nothing; just stared at a spot off on the wall.

“Beth?” Josh’s voice broke through her daze.

Beth shook her head loosely. “Yeah, sorry. I’m just really tired. It’s been a long night. What were you asking?”

“Where have you been? I got home hours ago.” His eyes searched hers.

Beth took a deep breath and stepped out of his arms. “Mick had tagged Julia’s car with a GPS device. I went along with him as navigator. We found Julia’s car at a warehouse. I stayed in the car while Mick went inside,” Beth sunk onto the couch.

“A few minutes later, Julia ran out of the warehouse. She said Lee Jay had shot Mick. I told her to call the police, and I went inside to help Mick.”

“Are you crazy?!”

Beth frowned. “I thought my friend was hurt. He saved my life once, I thought I’d attempt to return the favour.”

Josh still looked at her incredulously.

“I had a gun!” Beth shot back. “Mick gave me one before he went inside.”

Josh sat down beside her and took her hand. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I was just so worried—Lee Jay turned out to have a habit of murdering women, and the thought of you rushing in there alone—”

“It’s okay, Josh. I understand.”

They stared at each other until each of their mouths turned up slightly at the corners.

“Anyway, so go on,” Josh prompted her.

“So I rushed into the building”—she paused for a moment—“and, uh…I saw Mick getting up off the ground. He was okay. Turned out Lee Jay’s round malfunctioned or something. When I ran in, I startled him, and distracted him long enough for Mick to jump him. Lee Jay tried to shoot Mick again and missed. That’s when Mick got him.”

“He shot him?”

“No, I had his gun. He snapped Lee Jay’s neck.”

Josh was puzzled. “Mick went in there unarmed, knowing there was a guy in there wanting to kill him?”

“Yeah, I-I guess he didn’t want to leave me unprotected.”

“Huh.” Josh fell silent.

“So anyway,” Beth began again, “I made Mick go home—he was exhausted—and I waited for the police to give my statement. Then I took Mick’s car home and talked to him for a while about…what happened tonight. He just dropped me off.”

Josh said nothing.

“Look, Josh, can we just go to bed, please? It’s been a really rough night.”

“Yeah, sure. You go ahead. I’ll be right in.”

Beth smiled at him and squeezed his hand for a moment before dropping it and moving down the hall.

“What did Lee Jay know about you, Mick St. John?” Josh murmured.


To be continued...

[lila]

Dun dun dun duuuuun!

Great story! I absolutely love this fic and it's prequel. Very, very interesting! If you ever need anyone to bounce ideas with, I'm here .

[NocturneInCMoll]

Thanks so much, Lila! I'll keep that in mind.

[wpgrace]

Oh poor poor Josh... this HAD to plague him... from the moment Mick walked in that door, he had to know this was not gonna be a good addition to his own life...

And several hours later, his internal warnings must now REALLY be blaring...

Such a good guy, and suddenly so out of his league....

[NocturneInCMoll]

Thanks, WP (didn't you also comment on the other site? not that I'm complaining! )

Josh AND Carl are going to find themselves a little out of their leagues...though at this point I've only decided the fate of one of them...

[mitzie]

Very intriguing! Josh and Carl have no clue as to what they're up against here. Loved it!! *scream* *scream*

Off to read chapter 1...

mitzie

[NocturneInCMoll]

How right you are, Mitzie! :shock:

[coco]

Excellent
Questions are bound to be asked about the turn of events but I think Josh and Carl are somewhat out of their league when it comes to Mick

[redwinter101]

I love this, NiCM.

Love Carl. Love Josh's POV. Love the inconsistencies finally being addressed.

"Transvestite?" *snort*

Red

[NocturneInCMoll]

Thanks, Coco and Red

Yes, transvestite--bitter Josh was having a little fun thinking up possible things Mick could be...

Ch. 2 is with my superbeta...

[francis]

Well, the stories don't add up. For one, Lee Jay was shot, no broken neck. For second, Mick's blood is all over the place. For third, how did he get home without his car? Now Carl and Josh are on the case. I'm really looking forward to what they find and how they deal with it.

[NocturneInCMoll]

Well, remember that this is an alternate universe, Frances. In the story before this, I Know What You Are, Mick, Josef killed Lee Jay, not Beth--that's why the broken neck. But it's definitely a problem that Mick's blood is all over the place and that he didn't use his car to get home.

Thanks for reading!