Jealousy - A Kylie Jenkins Freshie Story (PG) Chapter 4

[MickLifeCrisis]

Disclaimer: I do not own Moonlight or any of its characters.
Rating: PG
Characters: Josef, Mick, Beth and my OCs Kylie Jenkins and Savannah.
A/N: This is a sequel to Fresh from the Farm and Follow That Freshie. I recommend reading at least "Fresh from the Farm" (a one-shot) before "Jealousy." It will make a lot more sense that way!

Thank you dear Lorig for the support and boost of confidence. And of course for being my idea bouncer.

Special thanks to darkstarrising for the plot bunny. In a comment to "Fresh from the Farm" she asked if the other girls were jealous. Hmm...



Jealousy


Chapter 4

Mick had just pulled into the parking lot at the homeless shelter when Josef called. “Did you find the car?” Mick asked.

“Yeah, it’s parked at the Greyhound station on East 7th St.”

“Okay, we’ll head over there as soon as we’ve talked to Father Ambrose.”

“We?”

“Yeah, Beth came along.”

“Good, that works. I’ll meet you at the bus station and bring extra keys so Beth can drive the car back.”

“That sounds good,” Mick said. He hesitated, but he had to ask. “Josef, do you think she just took off?”

“No, I don’t.” Josef was emphatic. “I want you to find her, Mick. My freshies are under my protection. Every vamp in LA knows that!”

“Hold on, what makes you think a vampire is involved?”

“Who else could it be? That girl doesn’t have an enemy in the world!”

Mick sighed. “I’ll see you at the station.” Mick hung up his phone as he and Beth got out of his car. The smell of blood immediately filled his nostrils. Looking around he found a dried pool of blood near some broken concrete. Kneeling down, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

“Can you see anything?” Beth asked quietly.

Two human females. One was Kylie. Can’t see the face of the other one. A struggle. Kylie hit her head on the ground. Mick opened his eyes, nodded and stood up. “It’s Kylie’s blood. She was struggling with another girl. But there’s no other vamp smell.” He turned towards the mission. “Let’s go talk to Father Ambrose.”

“Mick my boy, so good to see you!” The booming voice of Father Ambrose couldn’t be mistaken for anyone else. “And the lovely Beth! What brings you two down here today? This isn’t your usual time.”

“Hello, Father Ambrose,” Mick said, shaking the priest’s hand. “We’re just stopping by. I was just wondering if anything out of the ordinary happened Saturday night when Kylie Jenkins was here.”

“Last night?” Father Ambrose grew thoughtful. “No, not that I can think of. It was the usual crowd and Kylie was her usual cheery self. The regulars sure do look forward to seeing her! Why do you ask?”

“Oh, she just seems rather out of sorts today but insists nothing is wrong. We happened to be passing by so I just thought I’d check.” Mick hated lying to the priest, but he had to keep this under wraps until he knew more.

“I see. Well, sorry I can’t help you. She was just fine when she said goodbye after clean up.”

“Thanks anyway.”

“Goodbye Father. We’ll see you Saturday!” Beth hugged the priest. They waved goodbye and walked back to the car where Mick immediately called Josef.

“Josef, I’m heading to the bus station now. Father Ambrose said Kylie was fine the entire evening she worked here.” Mick took a breath. “But I did find a small pool of Kylie’s blood in the parking lot.”

“What!? What happened, were you able to get a vision?”

“Yes I was. I saw Kylie struggling with another girl – human. Then Kylie fell to the ground and hit her head.” There was a moment of silence. “There’s not enough blood here for her to have bled out, Josef. I’m pretty sure she’s still alive.”

Josef finally found his voice. “Doesn’t mean they didn’t finish the job someplace else.”


MLMLMLMLML


“Who could Kylie have been struggling with?” Beth asked as they drove to the bus station. “Everyone likes Kylie! Do you think it was another of Josef’s girls?”

Mick pursed his lips. “Not really. He would know if there was a serious problem among his freshies.”

“A purse grabber maybe? You know, just a common thief?” Beth thought some more. “But that doesn’t explain why they would kidnap her.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Mick agreed.

“Do you think vampires are involved in any way?”

Mick sighed. “I didn’t scent any other vampires at the mission parking lot, but it’s always possible. Kylie is a freshie so there’s always the chance of a vampire connection.”

“Maybe it was someone from her past.”

“Maybe.” Mick turned into the bus station parking lot. “Okay, here we are. There’s Josef over by the car.” Mick parked next to Josef’s Ferrari.

“You took long enough to get here,” he griped as Mick and Beth exited the Benz. Josef nodded at Kylie’s car. “There doesn’t seem to be any evidence of an accident.”

“That’s a good thing,” Mick said as he started to examine the car. He carefully opened the driver’s door, noticing a faint trace of blood on the upper edge. He leaned inside, closed his eyes and inhaled. Opening his eyes he stood up and opened the back door.

“What did you find?” Beth asked anxiously.

“I’m not getting any visions. Just two faint scents. Human. Kylie’s is strongest in the back seat.” Mick rubbed his hand along the back seat cushion and then smelled his fingers. “There was some blood back here.” He climbed out of the back seat and walked around, checking out the surrounding area while Josef leaned into the back. He closed his eyes a moment, then stood up next to the car.

“That’s definitely Kylie’s scent and blood in back. The other scent is vaguely familiar, but I don’t know from where. She’s not one of mine.” Josef watched Mick walk over to the dumpster at the edge of the parking lot. He opened the lid and peered inside, removed something and headed back to Josef and Beth.

“What’s that?” asked Beth.

“A sweater with a lot of dried blood on it.” He held it out to Josef. “Do you recognize it as Kylie’s?”

Josef shook his head. “I’ve never seen that sweater before, and the scent on it isn’t hers. The blood…” Josef grimaced. “The blood is hers.”

“It’s still not enough for her to have bled out, Josef.” Mick tried to sound reassuring. “What about the scent of the sweater itself?”

Josef shook his head. “It’s the same as the one in the car, only stronger. And like I said, it’s vaguely familiar, but that’s all.”

“If it’s familiar, it must be someone you’ve met before,” reasoned Beth. “Maybe it’s someone who knows you and they took Kylie to get to you.”

Josef didn’t want to admit it, but knew it was entirely possible. He sighed as he took the keys out of his pocket and handed them to Beth. “Let’s get it back to the garage.” Mick put the sweater in the trunk of Kylie’s car and the three of them headed for Josef’s mansion in separate cars.


To be continued

[librarian_7]

Those vamp senses are surely handy when it comes to investigation! And it's good to see that Josef is properly worried about his freshie.

Looking forward to more, MLC.

Lucky

[darkstarrising]

OK, so Josef recognizes the scent, but can't quite put it together yet.....

Heaven help Savannah when he does!!!

[MickLifeCrisis]

Thanks Lucky and dsr! With those vamp senses you'd think there would be more vampire PI's around!

Josef is definitely worried. We'll have to wait to see if he puts 2 and 2 together soon.

Thanks for commenting!

[allegrita]

Eek... with Josef and Mick both on the hunt, aided by Beth, it won't be long till they figure out who the culprit is. And Savannah is gonna be in trouble deep.

But speaking of trouble deep... poor Kylie has a concussion and is tied up! I hope they rescue her soon!

[francis]

I'm sure Savannah has no idea of the portable CSI lab in Mick's nose. If she had she would be very worried.

[Marigold]

I hope that Mick, Beth, and Josef are able to find Kylie soon! If they don't, things could end badly... for everyone involved.

I love the part where Beth questions Mick in the car. Well done!

Thank you, MLC!

[jen]

Ah, the unending usefulness of the mobile vampire lab...

I thought that the ticket would provide the needed clue to bring Kylie home, but I hope this doesn't go that far. Now, Mick has a picture of what has occurred. Josef knows, but he doesn't realize that he does. He'll put it together.

Thank you!

Jenna

[MickLifeCrisis]

Thank you Marigold and Jen! Yep, gotta love that vampire mobile lab!