Part Six

Part Six

Buffy stood nervously at the door of the house, trying not to look awed by the luxury displayed there. Then she thought about the character she was here to portray, and allowed the awed expression after all, even cranking it up a notch. A woman, attractive, but obviously fighting encroaching middle age with everything money could buy, answered the door.

"Hi!" Buffy said brightly and a bit breathlessly, "Is Mr. Martins – uh, Kyle, here?" *Think 'dumb blonde,' Buffy reminded herself.*

"Uh, no, Ms. - ?" the woman responded.

"You must be his assistant," the Slayer pressed on, trying to say it the way Harmony would. "Mr. Mar, I mean, Kyle, told me he was a biggie in the industry, so of course he'd have an assistant, " she continued, more or less to herself. "Is he here? I'm really looking forward to this. I'm a little nervous," she whispered conspiratorially to the older woman, "but Kyle says I'm a natural." She flashed another totally vapid smile.

"A natural *what*? I'm his *wife*, and he doesn't have any assistant. And what industry?" Right now, Mrs. Martinson appeared only annoyed at the girl in her foyer. Buffy planned to change that.

"Why, a natural *actress*, of course. He told me to meet him here today, at," she looked at her watch, "ten. And he was going to take some pictures, have me read. Maybe teach me some things." Buffy wasn't sure how, but she managed to say that last phrase both innocently and suggestively at the same time. Now, the older woman's anger looked like it was directed at the intended target.

"That sonofa – he promised after last time, he wouldn't mess around anymore. And jail bait, even! See if I get Daddy to help him out if he gets caught *this* time."

Buffy tried not to grin as she pulled a small piece of paper out of her pocket. "Ooops. Is today the 15th?" She looked innocently at the fuming woman. "I may have been supposed to be here tomorrow." Willow had managed to track down a standing appointment that Sheila Martinson had the following day, so it would appear her husband had intended to do the dirty with Buffy while he knew she was away from home. The straw was obviously the one that broke the camel's back.

"Leave!" the older woman yelled, enraged, "And don't come back – tomorrow, EVER!" She slammed the door behind the Slayer.

Buffy felt a need for a shower, almost. The sad thing was, there were girls like that on every corner, she was sure. But her spirits lifted again – Kyle Martinson would have one less ally in his fight, now.

~**~

Giles cracked his back. Due to a lack of funds, they had spent the night in the cars, the girls in the rental and he and Marco in the Citroën. The former cop had known of a quiet but safe place they could park, and the two men had taken turns keeping watch, just in case. Now, while Buffy was off cracking one of Martinson's pillars of support, he, Willow and Suarez were trying to recruit one of their own.

"Yes, ma'am," the librarian addressed the desk officer, "it's true we don't have an appointment with Detective Collier, but we think we have some information he might find interesting, having to do with a case." As the only visible adult, Giles had been selected to speak for the trio, although Marco planned to take over once inside. The defensive and protective sergeant finally picked up the phone.

Mike Collier sighed loudly when he saw the teenagers and the man in tweed. "Information he might find interesting," was what Sergeant Stevens had said they'd promised. Probably another bogus UFO sighting, or something equally inane. Still, his job was as a public servant, and they were public. Time for servitude. "How can I help you?"

"Actually, we believe we can help *you*," the older man said in a clipped and precise British accent. "We think we may have some useful information about the death of Marco Suarez, five years ago."

The Suarez case had never set right with Collier, but IAD had shut it down without listening to his misgivings. He knew that without anything solid to the contrary, they had to leave it the way it appeared – that Suarez was killed while attempting to play both sides of an undercover deal. But the fact that Kyle Martinson was his partner and had managed to walk away free of blame was enough to rouse Collier's suspicions, even if nothing else had done so. Martinson was slime, pure and simple – and Suarez wasn't. Two and two was coming out five in that case, but he couldn't find the place where the numbers had been changed, and he'd been all but told to erase the equation. "Come into my office," the detective invited the group. "You have my attention."

~**~

"And you came by these documents exactly *how*?" Mike Collier quizzed the teenagers. They had stumbled all over each other in the telling of the story, with the boy doing most of the talking.

"My cousin sent a lot of information to my mother just before he was killed, sir," Marco answered with a tight smile. "We followed up on some of it. Willow's very good with the Internet."

"Willow," the detective said pointedly, peering over the top of the papers he held, "Had better watch out that she doesn't get caught doing something illegal." He softened his warning with a wry smile, and the redhead sank into the chair and studied her knees, embarrassed. "I can verify all of this through more, um, 'acceptable' sources, though. And it's certainly – enlightening." Collier believed he was speaking with Marco Suarez's cousin, Alex, and a group of his friends from school. The British man was never completely explained, however. Perhaps none of them were of driving age yet. "I need you to stay out of it, though." The entire group glared at him. The phone on his desk, which Collier answered immediately, cut off any response. He thought for a few minutes after hanging up, then looked up. "There's some girl in the front, waiting for you guys. I promise to follow-up on all this," He waved the papers at them. "Now go home, and let me handle it." They stood, and shuffled out of the office.

They met Buffy in the lobby, but no one spoke until they were outside. "How'd it go?" Marco asked.

Buffy grinned. "She's pissed. Apparently, I'm not the first side order he's taken out." She smirked again. "He won't be getting any home-cookin' for a while, either, if I read her right."

Marco scowled. "I don't care about his sex life," he answered sharply, emphasizing the fact he was indeed not Xander. "I only care that she'll be out of the way when this all goes down."

"She's not interested in saving his butt anymore," Buffy confirmed. "How'd Collier react?"

"He seems to believe us," Giles answered thoughtfully, "but I'm sure he's a busy man. It could be weeks, even months before he has time to follow through."

"And what happens to Xander until then? Not that I don't like Marco, " Willow went on apologetically, "but he hasn't been my best friend since kindergarten, and Xander has. And as long as he's here, he's not. Xander, I mean. Xander's not – Marco is. Here. I mean…"

"Deep breath, Wills." Buffy put her hand on the redhead's shoulder.

"I believe we should go get something to eat, and discuss this all further," Giles offered.

~**~

"I completely trust Collier. Once I saw him brush off the source of those documents Willow provided, I knew he was hot on it." Marco was playing with his French fries while the girls ate ice cream and Giles sipped his coffee.

"You mean, he might have…" Willow was struck speechless at the thought of what the detective might have done to a computer hacker. "Oh, God. Hard time. Ten to twenty. My picture could have wound up in the Post Office. They could send me to the Big House!"

"I've been to Cordelia's, Will. It's not really that bad, if you ignore who lives there." Where was Xander when a well-placed joke was needed? Buffy looked over at the cop wearing their friend's body. In there, somewhere – and probably not back soon, either. She could empathize with Willow's distress, and she didn't even have a crush on the boy like the hacker did.

"I'm betting he got right on it," Suarez continued, impervious to the reactions he'd provoked. He looked at his watch. "With the kind of information we gave him, he could start the process almost right away. I'm assuming I can't leave until he at least gets permission to reopen the investigation." Suddenly, Xander's deep brown eyes went wide, and his head jerked up. Then he slumped bonelessly back in the chair.

"I assume the file is reopened," Giles said mildly, as Buffy and Willow rushed over to catch the boy before he fell. "I wonder if Xander will return now?"

Suddenly, Xander's body shuddered heavily, and he opened his eyes. Disoriented, the boy looked from Buffy on his right to Willow on his left. Both girls were kneeling beside him and trying to keep him upright in the chair.

*Whoa!*, thought Samuel "Sammy" Williamson. *These two are pretty hot!*

Out loud, in an accent that Willow later said reminded her of the Fresh Prince, Sammy announced, "I think I'm gonna like it here!"

~**~