Even though Buffy had been hoping that they'd get some answers there, she wasn't really surprised when they found the small house empty; it wasn't just Riley who was gone though, but the few things he had taken with him as well, the house looking again as if no one had been living in it for years, the only sign that someone had been staying there for a while being the empty pizza carton in the trash and the used dishes in the sink.
"Didn't even have time to clean up", Pat commented as she peered in said sink, "soldier boy left in a hurry."
"He must have known we'd come here", Buffy sighed, clearly dismayed by her ex-boyfriend's hurried exit, "and that we'd ask him some rather unpleasant questions…"
"This is getting fishier and fishier", Xander stated while Anya and Willow started wandering through the living room, looking at the empty shelves and opening equally empty drawers; after a moment, Buffy began moving as well, making her way into the bedroom, suddenly eager to find at least something which might help them to figure out what was going on.
Quickly, she started searching through the drawers and cupboards, without any success though; even though Riley obviously had left in a hurry, he had managed to pack up everything he had brought along, not even living a single sock or something similar behind. Sighing to herself, the Slayer gave up her search after a few unsuccessful minutes; just when she turned to leave and rejoin her friends though, something white close to the narrow bed caught her attention, and she stopped dead in her tracks, her brow furrowing again before she moved over and bent down, identifying the object which had caught her eye as a piece of paper.
Curiously, she picked it up, giving it a closer look; a second later, her eyes went wide, and she hurried back to join her friends, making her way straight to Giles, the urgency in her voice when she addressed him making everyone else stop what they were doing and look at her. "Giles, the notebook Riley gave you… Do you have it with you?"
"Yes", the Watcher gave back, not asking any questions, but simply reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulling the notebook out; he handed it to Buffy, the blonde opening it on a random page and holding the piece of paper up right next to it, letting her breath out audibly moments later.
"I knew it", she then muttered, prompting everyone else to move up to her; curiously, Willow spied over her shoulder, a gasp escaping her when she saw at once what Buffy had discovered.
"Where did you find this?" she then demanded to know, gesturing at the piece of paper; quickly, Buffy told her, then handed both the notebook and the paper to Giles before she turned to look at her friends, her voice serious when she spoke on. "The handwriting's the same. So, either one of Riley's research pals was here and left that paper in the bedroom, or Riley wrote the stuff in the notebook himself."
"The second option is more likely", Giles stated the obvious, looking at the notebook and the piece of paper the Slayer had found; it didn't say anything interesting, but there was enough handwriting on it to allow a proper comparison and to show him that Buffy was right.
"So he made that whole thing up?" Pat wanted to know, frowning. "Why would he do that?"
"I'd love to ask him that", Buffy muttered while her Watcher tucked the notebook and the piece of paper into his pocket again, "but, well, he's gone."
"Maybe we should ask his bosses", Anya suggested, "they should know where he is, right? He has to report to them?"
"He has to", Buffy agreed, "but it's not like we can just call them, you know? They're not in the phone book or anything, so…"
"Oh!" Willow suddenly perked up, making all eyes move from Buffy to her, "we can't just call his bosses, but I have the number of his wife! She gave it to me before they left when they were here the last time! Maybe she'll know something."
With those words, she already dug out her cell phone and quickly went through the included phonebook, until she had found the number of Riley's wife; giving the others a thumbs up, she pushed the button which started the call, then held the phone to her ear, repeating her victorious gesture from before when the beeping signalled that the line was free. After the third beep, a click came through the line, then the voice of Riley's wife came up, sounding as chipper and cheerful as she had when they had met her for the first time. "Yes, Sam here, hello?"
"Hi, this is Willow", the redhead introduced herself, for a moment wondering if the other woman would still remember her, that question being answered immediately since Sam greeted her rather enthusiastically and happily. "Oh, Willow, hey! It's been ages since I've heard of you, how are you?"
"Fine", the witch gave back, then momentarily fell silent as she searched for the right words – before she decided to be blunt, giving her best to still sound friendly though. "Um, you don't happen to know where Riley is, right?" she asked, frowning when in reply, the sharp intake of breath could be heard through the line; when Sam replied after another moment, her voice sounded strained, as if she was holding herself back from shouting – or maybe crying, or both.
"No, I don't", she let the redhead know, "we're not… we had a divorce last year."
"Oh", Willow gave back, a bit taken aback, wondering why the soldier hadn't mentioned this. "So you're no longer in contact?" she went on after a moment, her words making Buffy raise an eyebrow, "did you get moved to a different squad, or however you call your little troops there?"
"No", Sam replied after being quiet just long enough to let Willow notice, "he got moved. Well, in fact, he got kicked out. He hasn't been with the military for the last eight months."
"Oh", was all Willow could say after almost thirty seconds had ticked by in silence and Sam had asked her if she was still there, the other woman's voice snapping her out of her trance, "well… I see… Thank you, then…"
"Why do you ask?" Sam now wanted to know, sounding a bit more relaxed; quickly, the redhead told her that there was no special reason, then let her know that she had to go, but that she'd call again soon to keep in touch before she said goodbye and hung up, looking at her friends afterwards.
"So?" Buffy was the first one to speak up when the witch didn't immediately say anything, "what did she say?"
"Well, if she told the truth, then Riley lied to us", Willow finally regained her ability to speak, the way both Buffy and Pat raised an eyebrow in perfect unison making it clear to her that she hadn't really given them proper information; clearing her throat, she took in a deep breath, then went on, her voice trembling just the tiniest bit as she realized what this might mean. "She said that Riley and she got a divorce and that… he's out of the military. Since eight months."
"What?" Buffy nearly cried out, her eyes doubling in size, "but… how is this possible? He came with the helicopter and everything, and all the gear…!"
"Helicopters can be rented", Giles pointed out to her, rather glum, "and gear can be stolen. If his wife… or ex-wife… told us the truth…"
"I don't see why she should lie to me", Willow mumbled, looking down on the phone again as if it could give her some answers; sensing her dismay about the whole situation, Pat moved closer to her and put one arm around her, making her glance up at her again, a weak smile curling her lips before she snuggled up to the taller woman.
"Me neither", Buffy now agreed with her best friend, after briefly smiling at the cute sight of the couple, "plus, we already know he wrote that notebook himself, so he already lied about that…"
"So, what do you think", Xander piped up, gesturing at Giles since he was the one who had said notebook, "how much of the stuff in there is true?"
"I have no idea", the Watcher gave back, clearly feeling as the one who had been asked, even though Xander had been looking at Buffy, "but since 'our favourite demon', as you like to call her, is still here with us and doesn't show signs of wanting to get on a horse and end the world, I guess we can safely say that at least this part was made up."
"The only thing I'd end on horseback would be the image of elegance and grace I have", Pat smirked in reply, "I'm no good with horses. Never have been."
"Well, now we know that Riley is a filthy liar", Anya brought the talk away from Pat's possible elegance and grace and back to the topic at hand, "but we still don't know where he is. What do we do now?"
"Hate to admit it, but I have no idea", Buffy almost grumbled in response, "now, it won't even make sense anymore to try and contact the military guys about him, if he's not with them anymore…"
"Filthy liar", Anya repeated for emphasis, making the others nod; then, they just stood there in silence, looking at each other as they tried to figure out what to do now, all of them to their dismay having to admit though that once more, they were at a dead end.
"This still doesn't make any sense", Pat informed Willow an hour later, back at their apartment; in response, the redhead looked up questioningly, the expression prompting her girlfriend to go on – after she had lit up a cigarette and had made herself comfortable on the couch. "Why would he go through all that trouble? Write up a notebook with fake shit about elemental demonic horsemen, hire a chopper, a house, all that crap? Maybe even kill the molesting professor guy? It makes no sense. What's the results he wanted to achieve?"
"No idea", Willow gave back, her gaze focusing on her laptop again as she checked her email; her eyes lit up briefly when she saw that she had received an answer from the coven, only to dim again when she read it, a small sigh escaping her.
"They never heard of the elemental demon thing either", she then informed her girlfriend, shaking her head to herself, "not that I'm surprised. But, as you said, it doesn't make sense."
"Unless he knew", Pat gave back after a moment of thinking about this, taking another drag of her cigarette before she spoke on, the witch's eyes going wide at her lover's words. "About me, I mean. What if he only faked his outrage about that to fulfil the expectations you all surely had, and already knew? And just made up that crap about the elemental demons to keep us busy with that, while he does something else? Whatever that might be. He must have known that you'd be worried I'll be one of those made-up horsemen…"
"But how would he know?" Willow demanded to know, frowning as she thought of this – and of the unpleasant implications it had, remembering once more how quickly Riley had been convinced by her that Pat could be trusted and how fast he had been to accuse her for the murder of the professor.
"Well, he has been in Sunnydale for a while", the demon shrugged in reply, "maybe he's still got some contacts around here. Who knows, maybe he's been keeping tabs on you guys ever since he left."
"I don't like that thought", Willow muttered, "but you might be right… We should tell Buffy about this, and see what she thinks. I'll do that tomorrow at the campus…"
"Good idea", Pat agreed, "I'm curious what she'll say about my little theory. I know it sounds very conspiracy-theorist-like, but I have some kind of gut feeling that I'm not too far from the truth."
"We share that gut feeling then", Willow gave back, smiling a moment later, a twinkle in her eyes as she spoke on. "Or maybe, I'm just hungry. Let's go make some food?"
"Sounds like a plan to me", the demon smirked, finishing her cigarette and getting up from the couch; doing the same, Willow grasped her hand before they made their way into the kitchen together, quickly finding the ingredients for a proper meal there, successfully pushing aside their thoughts and worries about Riley and the lies he had told them.