Chelsea maintained her position for as long as possible – maybe another two minutes – and then sat up.
"God damn it! Get the fuck down!" Faith insisted. She turned in the seat and glared at Chelsea. "I thought we talked about this. You got guys tailin' you, and we're tryin' to keep them from knowing you gave 'em the slip."
Calmly meeting Faith's glare, Chelsea straightened her coat. "You might want to watch the road. An accident won't help get me to safety faster."
She swore she heard Faith's teeth grinding as the younger woman spun and faced the windshield again.
Checking over her shoulder, Chelsea scanned the cars behind them. No Taurus. It looked like Faith's maneuver had worked. "Nicole, did you get a look at the second man? The one who got out of the car?" In full Cop Mode, Chelsea automatically reached for the notebook and pen she kept in her jacket pocket. As she waited for Nicole to answer, she quickly jotted down the information Faith had already relayed to her own contact.
"Yeah." Head tilted to one side, Nicole scowled. "I didn't get a really good look, though. I didn't want him to know I spotted him." The pause was long enough for Chelsea to wonder if Nicole was going to provide the requested description. "Tall. Maybe six-two. And heavy."
Sensing Nicole's memory needed help, Chelsea prodded for more. "Fat or just bulky?"
"Bulky. You know…" Nicole met Chelsea's eyes. "Like a boxer who let himself go after his last match. I wouldn't have wanted to take him on even with the whole Slayer package."
That wasn't good. Faith and Nicole had both seemed very sure of their fighting abilities. If Nicole thought the guy looked that strong… "Anything else? You said white." Feeling more than a little uncomfortable at interrogating Nicole, Chelsea still asked, "Could you tell if the guy was from another country?" Like Italy. The Mob angle might not make sense, but Chelsea wanted to be thorough. She needed to know if she had to worry about the Masuccis, in addition to vampires, demons, and… Slayers.
The inner pep talk didn't keep her face from warming when Nicole shot her a confused look. "You mean was he from France or something?"
Chelsea nodded and wished she'd left that particular topic alone. "Yeah."
"Sorry. He looked normal. American." Nicole closed her eyes. "A normal guy in a leather jacket and jeans."
"Don't worry about it," Chelsea soothed. Then she fell back on the only excuse she could think of. "I'm a cop. We have this thing for details…" Before Faith or Nicole could comment on that, she rushed on. "Can I borrow your phone, Faith?"
"Your battery die or somethin'?" Faith turned her head to peer into the back seat. "Or did you forget to pack it?"
In answer, Chelsea dug her own phone out of her pocket. "There are too many things we don't know right now. Why those guys are following me. Who they are. Who they work for. If they've got a way to trace or listen to my calls." The hurried explanation had been instinctual. However, as she talked, Chelsea realized her points had merit. In fact, they should have come to her sooner. They would have…if Chelsea had actually believed Anshu's warnings.
He had been right. And Chelsea finally examined the limited information she had with the eyes of an experience investigator. "I'm going to call the plate number into the station. Munch is helping me out with…" It was still hard to say the words. Rotating her shoulders lightly, Chelsea forced herself to go on. "…with Anshu and whatever's happening with my family." Despite her best intentions, Chelsea's voice wavered on the final word.
Faith didn't turn around again, but Chelsea caught her stare in the rearview mirror. "Don't need to call in the old guy, Lake. We got something better."
If she hadn't been so tired and so strung out from the events of the past few days, Chelsea would have tried to respond politely. Unfortunately, real life had created a situation even her police training couldn't handle with ease. "What? Another handful of kids with super powers? Can one of them see the future? Maybe read minds?"
There was a stilted silence from the front seat.
Closing her eyes, Chelsea rubbed a hand over her face. "Give me the phone, Faith," she nearly begged. Munch, Liv… The members of her new squad were at least more familiar than Nicole and Faith. She trusted them. Cops took care of their own, and not even the promise of protection from a horde of Slayers sounded better than letting her brothers in blue do what they did best.
"Red's the best there is with the computer, Chief. She's got the information and a way to hack into the same info Munch has." Faith reached back and offered her phone. "But if ya' gotta make the call, do it. I ain't gonna fight you about it." Her eyes locked onto Chelsea's as she said intently, "Keep me and the kid out of it, though. Nothin' about vamps or demons. No prophecy. No Slayers. We got enough trouble without your cop buddies tryin' to find you and toss you in the nuthouse."
Chelsea didn't respond to the warning. She took the phone and flipped it open, punching in Munch's direct line from memory. As the first ring sounded in her ear, Chelsea stared out of the windshield and marshaled her thoughts. She needed a plan or Munch was going to…
Her search for a strategy came to an abrupt halt when Chelsea heard the dull click that heralded she'd been transferred to Munch's voicemail.
"Problems, Chief?" Faith must have noticed Chelsea's surprise over Munch's absence.
"No." Chelsea disconnected the call and then slowly began to dial a new number. "It looks like the long hours caught up with the Sarge. He's probably catching up on his beauty sleep," she murmured as the phone began to ring again.
This time, the answer was swift. "Benson," Olivia barked into Chelsea's ear.
"It's Lake." Still without a concrete plan for divulging her news, Chelsea kept her comments to the point. "I'm on the move. There was another tail outside my apartment this morning. I need you to run the plates and a couple of descriptions."
"You need backup?" There was a rustling sound through the phone's speakers before Olivia continued. "I can get some unis there and meet you at one of the safe houses across town."
Just like that, some of Chelsea's tension eased. Olivia had her back – with no questions asked. "Not yet. I gave the guys the slip and I've got…" What should she call Nicole and Faith? "Some friends have lined up a place for me to stay for a while. Can you check the plates, though? And see if Munch has anything else on Anshu or the Mohawk angle?"
"Give me what you have, rookie," Olivia ordered.
It was a relief to let her partner take charge for a moment. Chelsea relayed the information on the car and the two men. "Liv…" There was so much she wanted to say. So much that Olivia needed to know. Chelsea saw Faith stiffen in the front seat and sensed another warning on the way. "I've got a funny feeling that all of this is connected," she said softly. "Anshu, my family, McLaren. But I can't explain it. Not yet, Liv." Probably not ever.
"Chelsea?" Olivia's concern was evident in her use of Chelsea's first name.
"I'm sorry. I don't have anything more." Nothing that Olivia would believe, anyway. "Call me back at this number when you have something." Chelsea gripped the phone tighter and ended the conversation before Olivia could press for more. "Thanks, Liv."
The phone closed with a soft click, and Chelsea dropped it onto the front seat.
***
Faith watched Chelsea in the rearview mirror. She recognized the older woman's expression. She'd worn it herself at one time. Shame, confusion, and a gut level need for…something solid and safe to hold onto. Faith responded to that without thinking. "This Liv. She more than just your partner?" Smirking slightly, she turned her head enough to look at Chelsea directly and pushed. "'Cause it sounded like she wanted to come give you a hug." The smirk grew. "Or kick your ass for not lettin' her take care of you."
A tide of red rushed up Chelsea's face and she stiffened. "I guess you and all the little girls in your group don't understand the way it works, Faith. Liv's got my back. That's what partners do."
"Ah, don't be like that." Mission accomplished, Faith resumed scanning the road ahead. "The Juniors got a system, right, Nic? They look out for each other. One big, happy family." Just like the Scoobies used to be, only a hell of a lot larger.
"We'd take care of you, too, Faith, if you weren't such a pain in the ass," Nicole added. Faith saw her lips turn up in a grin. "But we get tired of the posing. 'I'm Dark Faith. I eat little Slayers like you for breakfast. Grr…'"
That did it. The mood in the car shattered as Chelsea snickered. Seconds later, Nicole's giggles joined in.
Faith scowled. Damn it. She so had to work on her reputation. It was in tatters. All the time she'd spent picking up the slack from Buffy had ruined everything. No one respected – or feared - her anymore. "Wanna spend some time sparring, kid? I can show you all my mad skills."
"Nope," Nicole disagreed immediately. "Sorry, Faith. We're in the middle of another apocalypse or… whatever. My boss would kill me if I got hurt playing around in the gym before the big battle. She's a real hardass. How about a rain check?"
Ignoring Nicole's wide grin and faux innocent expression was hard. Faith pressed her lips together tightly and locked her jaw. She wasn't going to laugh. She wasn't. "I ain't waiting too long, Junior." Faith's voice shook only slightly as she issued her warning.
"You're right at the top of the priority list," Nicole assured her. "The only thing I have to do first is let Juanita take me on a driving tour of the city. As soon as I get that out of the way, I'm all yours, Boss."
Faith lost her battle and chuckled. "Crash ain't ever livin' the car thing down. She and B'll be driving legends together." The lighter atmosphere lasted another few minutes, and then the hotel loomed ahead. "Take a good look around, Nic. Anything on the radar?" Faith asked the question as she reached out with her own senses.
"Nothing." Nicole's assessment backed up the lack of vampire and demon activity Faith had noted. "Shouldn't there be something out there, though? This vote that Detective Lake has to cast... It's soon. Like in a couple of days soon. Where are the vamps?"
It was a very good question. "Ain't got a clue, kid. Maybe Red and the research crew have something." Faith pulled up to the uniformed valet and unbuckled her seatbelt. "For now, keep your eyes open." She looked at Chelsea as the man opened her door. "And your head down," she stressed.
No one spoke as they climbed out of the car. What else was there to say? Faith's muscles burned from strain as she swept the area with her eyes. Her close examination revealed that Nicole and Chelsea were doing the same.
"Come on, Detective." Nicole broke the tense silence. "Time to meet the rest of the gang and maybe answer some of your questions." She stepped in front of Chelsea, and Faith saw the gleam of a knife hilt in her palm. The rest of the blade was barely visible under the sleeve of her jacket.
Taking up the rearguard position without argument, Faith reached into her own coat and gripped the stake nestled in the pocket.
The trip through the hotel lobby seemed to take forever. Faith had traversed the carpeted area dozens of times. This time, though, she was on duty. Conscious of every person, every possible threat. It was a relief to follow Chelsea into the conference room and hear the door close behind them.
"Faith!" Willow rushed across the room toward them.
They must have found something. Faith said, "Chief, this is Willow. She's kinda the…" Her introduction was cut short when Willow launched herself the last few steps – right into Faith's arms.