Twists of Fate - Chapter 2 (PG-13)

[francis]

Betaed by redwinter101
Disclaimer: I don't own Josh, or Beth, or Mick, or anything in this fic, but I like to play with them, so bear with me.

How Josh reacted to Beth being kidnapped by the college TA.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
link from chapter 1: viewtopic.php?f=75&t=539&p=2704#p2704
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Terrified, he ran to her apartment as soon as she called. She had been almost incoherent, her words slurred, as if she was drunk or feverish. He didn’t even know exactly what had happened, just that she had been attacked and that Mick - whoever that was - had taken her home and that she was fine. He’d believe that when he saw it.

Unsure of what he’d find, he hesitated in front of her door. He didn’t want to scare her, so he decided to knock instead of using his key, but when there was no answer he let himself in and switched the light on. Her purse, jacket and shoes were lying in a heap next to the couch. There was a little light coming from the bedroom, and he could hear the shower running. Constantly listening for her he busied himself with making tea, and when he heard her step out of the bathroom he immediately called out, „It’s me, Beth.“

She stepped out of the bedroom in a fluffy robe, hair in a towel, looking small and distressed. It broke his heart to see her like this. She always was so confident, cocky even, stubborn and a little pushy when she wanted something. Her public persona was so different from what he saw now. She looked down at her bare toes as if to ask for forgiveness. He took her in his arms, wanting to protect her from whatever had happened. She mumbled something into his chest that he didn’t understand.

„What was that?“

„I’ll put some clothes on.“ She sounded tired.

„Do you want some tea first?“

„Yeah.“

She sat down on the couch; he brought her a cup of tea and settled down beside her. „You wanna talk?“

She shook her head with a frustrated groan. „I’m not sure where to begin.“

He pulled her towards his shoulder and waited.

Tentatively, she began. She told him about her investigation the day after her first broadcast, when she saw that mysterious stranger again at the dead girl’s digs, and found out that he was a P.I. named Mick St. John. How she met him again the next day at the funeral, and how he always seemed to be one step ahead of her. She told him about her plan to get to the professor by pretending to be a new student, and that he had invited her for a study group that evening.

Josh took a deep breath. „That was really dangerous, Beth.“

„Yeah, I know. And I’m still not sure what exactly happened or why, but Professor Ellis tried to seduce me. He touched me and found that I was wired.”

Josh tensed.

Beth paused and took another sip of tea. „He got angry, I panicked and fled. His assistant was standing outside, so I asked him for a phone. But he injected me with something and I lost consciousness. I woke up in his car, all groggy and not really able to move. He was driving fast and talking all the time, about sacrifice and vampires and tantra, all that mystical mumbo jumbo. He was threatening me with a knife.”

He closed his eyes in fear at the thought what could have happened.

Beth continued unflinching. „I think he wanted to kill me, like Kelly and Chloe. But then the car suddenly sverved and ran into a streetlamp. I don’t remember much after that until I woke up in Mick’s apartment.“

„Mick kidnapped you?“

„No, he rescued me. The guy tried to stab him, too. I guess Mick succeeded in stopping the car, though I have no idea how, and pulled me out after the accident.“

„Didn’t he get you to a doctor? Did he at least call the police?“ Josh fumed.

„I’m fine, Josh. It was just a drug I had to sleep off. And Mick called the police. In fact they gave him hell for taking me away, but he wanted me to wake up somewhere safe.“

„You’re defending him for that?“

„He saved my life, Josh. And he brought me home. He’s a good guy. What do you expect me to do? File a complaint?“ She looked up at him, astonished at his reaction.

Josh tried to calm down. „Okay. Okay, Beth, I’m sorry. It’s just – I can’t stand to think about what might have happened. You could be dead, or you could have been seriously hurt.“

„I know, and I’m sorry that I put myself in that situation. I should have been more careful. It’s just – it was like suddenly I knew what to do to get this sleazy professor for good, to find out what he was up to. I wasn’t sure he was the killer, but I really wanted to find out why he was meeting these students in a basement at night. I never even thought about what would happen to me if he found me out.“

Josh took her hands in his. „It’s like you forget to eat when you are lost in your research. Please promise you’ll take more care of yourself.“

She smiled sheepishly. Suddenly her eyes were drooping. Josh pulled her up and led her to the bedroom. „Get some sleep, Beth. There’s nothing else to do for now. I have to get back to the office. Call me if you need anything, okay?“

She nodded, let herself be tucked in, and immediately fell asleep again.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Josh left her and headed for the police station. When he arrived, he pulled rank and asked which officer was dealing with the case. Lieutenant Davis came out to meet him.

„You’re Miss Turner’s partner, aren’t you? And this isn’t your case, am I right?“

„Yeah. But I want to know exactly what happened. Beth couldn’t tell me much.“

„I understand. We are still putting the pieces together. Have a seat.“

Carl folded his hands and started. „This student, Daniel, seems to be the killer, and he is seriously disturbed. Doesn’t talk, doesn’t give us anything, but from the evidence we have he killed the girls after the professor dumped them. All we know for now is that he is obsessed with Christian Ellis and his teachings. It’s almost like a cult. Ellis of course rejects any responsibility for what happened.

„As for Beth, Daniel drugged her, dragged her into his car and drove away. We don’t know where he was going or what he intended to do with her. Here’s where it gets weird. The student told us he had an accident and was beaten up by Mick St. John. The evidence suggests that the car swerved into a streetlamp, but there was no other car involved, no other obvious cause of the crash. The driver’s side window was shattered from the outside, as was the front window. Daniel was unconscious, lying on the hood, and Beth was gone.“

„How did you get there?“

„St. John called 911 when he was already a good distance away, telling us that Daniel threatened Beth with a knife, that the boy had an accident and that he took Beth home. We didn’t know at that point that she had been drugged, or I’d have insisted on taking her to a doctor.. St. John came in about an hour ago to give a statement. He told us that he was watching Chandler Hall to keep Beth safe, and told us why Beth was there in the first place, but he was evasive as to how he managed to follow Daniel’s car and what happened exactly.“

„So he knew about her plan but didn’t prevent her from going there?“

„You know Beth, I know Beth, and now St. John knows her too. Have you ever tried to stop Beth from doing something she set her mind on?“

Josh smiled. Yeah, he had a point.

„What do you think about St. John? Have you met him before?“

„He was involved in some missing persons cases and a couple of frauds in the last couple of years. His track record is impressive. But I never met him personally until today.“

„Will you keep me in the loop on this one? I know I have no authority with this, but I really need to know anything that might concern Beth.“

„Of course, Mr. Lindsey. I understand completely, and I can trust you that this stays between you and me.“

„Call me Josh. I heard from Beth that you know each other.“

„We went to college together, but I changed from journalism to the police academy in my second trimester. She stayed the course. When she got that job, she started to use me as her source, and she can be rather persuasive. But, she has other sources whose information she shares with me, and that suits me just fine. By the way, we’ll need Beth’s statement, too.“

„She is sleeping in, she was exhausted.“

„I’ll call her around noon, okay?“

Josh looked at his watch. „I need to get to work. Thanks, Carl.“

Back in his car Josh thought about what happened. He hadn’t been there when Beth was in danger, but someone else was. He was thankful she was safe, but an odd jealousy gnawed at him. Someone else had been her knight in shining armor tonight. If Beth kept up this kind of dangerous lifestyle, as he was sure she would, he feared she’d need a guardian angel all right. But would it be him that she came to for help, for comfort? He would have to keep an eye on this Mick St. John.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
link to chapter 3: viewtopic.php?f=75&t=541&p=2707#p2707

[Raven]

Wow, francis, Josh is a perfect vessel with which to voice all the unanswered questions that left us hanging in the early episodes. He is the common sense police who will keep us grounded as the phenomema called Mick captivates Beth (and us) with his superhero mystique.
One thing is clear, Josh is much more dynamic at his job. I think that's probably what is most attractive about him to Beth. And he is handsome...in a toothy sort of way.

[bank1115]

Love the rep Beth already has with both Carl and Josh. Little does Josh know but Beth already has the best guardian angel a girl can have. Love it that you are filling in the blanks. Great update, kays

[francis]

Thank you, Raven and bank1115.
Raven, your avatar is exactly right for reading this story. Mick was standing in that corner as if Josh and Beth had backed him up. But I guess it was only that he couldn't stand the morning sun in his state of tiredness. He was just going to his freezer when she called.

[jen]

Nicely done!

And I really think Josh is one of the good guys. He is an 'arrow shirt commercial' guy as opposed to the slightly scruffy, totally charming Mick. I like that Carl had checked on Mick before Josh asked. He was doing his job. Leave no stone unturned, and all that.

Thank you!

[jen]

Hi, Francis. Here for a reread.

Fabulou behind the scenes insight. Once again, entirely logical that it would unfold this way.

I love the little detail that the police were aware of Mick, and that he had an 'impressive track record'. From the little glimses we got of his activities, and his tendancies to be the protector of the helpless, it stands to reason that he would have a good rep with them. In Fated to Pretend, when he met Ben Talbot, Ben said that he had heard about Mick, and Mick asked, 'God things?' and Ben replied, not really, but that was never really explained and seemed contrary to what we knew about Mick. This feels far more likely.

Lovely! Thank you!