The Evil That Men Do
Author: MeB (aka XanWill4Ever-Michael B)
Email: lenoxfiles@hotmail.com
Spoiler: Majority takes place in the summer after the First Season. There are scenes that takes place some time after Lovers Walk from Season 3. There may be some slight AU, but not much.
Summary: Willow loses her memory and finds help from a private investigator in Boston.
Disclaimer: The characters from Spenser For Hire belong to Robert Parker. All characters from Buffy tVS belong to Joss.
Rating - R - SL/V/AC xwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxw
3
BOSTON
"This man be dead."
Hawk just had a way with words. I had to admire him for that. Anybody else would have added a bit more detail to it, but not Hawk. He calls it like he sees it. This didn't mean, however, that I couldn't bait him just a little.
"Now how do you know that?" I asked for the benefit of the police who were examining the scene.
Hawk had that knowing look. "I know the man is dead 'cause he ain't got no head." He looked down at the bloody headless corpse lying in the alley. "Ain't got no head...must surely be dead."
He did have a point there.
Now there's something one should know about Boston's finest. They didn't mind having me around on a crime scene, especially if I was asked to make a special appearance. I'm asked to make these appearances because I'm special, but also because I'm a detective and might be able to smell something they don't. Over the years, the Boston police have come to tolerate my presence. Sure, they tolerate me like a bad toothache that won't go away, but I eventually win them over with my charming personality.
I've helped them out a time or two and I have to give them credit, too. Especially Quirk and Belsen.
But no matter how much the police learned to appreciate me and to respect me, it was different with Hawk. Maybe it was because he was big, black, and bad, or maybe he needed to take a lesson from Charm School 101, but the bottom line was that they resented his presence. Period. The only reason that he was there with me at the crime scene was because Belsen wanted him to be there.
Belsen had his cigar clamped between his teethe as he gave Hawk one of his "you gotta be shittin' me" looks. "Jesus, Hawk. Thanks for that little juicy tidbit of deductive reasoning. I guess we would have discovered sooner or later that this stiff didn't have no friggin' head, but you're obviously way quicker than us blue coats!"
"'Way quicker'," I repeated to Hawk. Then, I said to Belsen, "Frank, you don't have a blue coat."
Hawk continued to inspect the scene with his eyes. "I ain't got no blue coat neither."
"You wouldn't look good in a blue coat, Hawk," I told him. "Blue doesn't match the color of your eyes."
Hawk grunted. "Good thing I don't have a blue coat then."
I had looked this scene over a dozen times since I've been here and I ran it through in my mind as I sorted out various clues and puzzle pieces that would eventually lead us to solving this case. There was something I had noticed, and I was more than reasonably certain that Hawk had caught it as well. I knew that Belsen and his blue coats had not noticed it yet for if they had, they would have been squawking about it by now.
"So, Frank, who found the headless stiff?" I asked.
Belsen pointed at the apartment building on the left of the alley. "Neighbors complained about some kind of ruckus out here. A squad car with a couple of boys came out to investigate and that's when they found the stiff."
I nodded solemnly. "The stiff...with no head."
Hawk made a sound in his throat. It was more like a short growl, and he often did this when he was thinking. He gave Belsen one of his many famous looks. "How does a man with no head 'ruckus'?"
I had to jump in on this one. "What is a 'ruckus', Frank? Have you ever seen one?"
I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Belsen was losing his patience with me.
"Spenser," he began with his finger pointing at me, "you're killin' me!"
I shrugged. "Don't lose your head over it, Frank." I couldn't help it. I grinned at him.
"You really are a piece of work, you know that?"
I opened my mouth to respond.
Belsen raised a hand. "Don't answer that!" He turned to look at me. Then he took his cigar out of his mouth and wiped at his face with his other hand.
That made me a little concerned. I knew Frank Belsen a lot better than he thought I did. I knew his mannerisms, and I also knew that he was a damn good cop. He was thinking about the dead guy with no head and he seemed to be working something out in his mind. I got the impression that he knew something and he wanted to let us know what it was.
Hawk was watching Belsen carefully. Not much ever slipped past Hawk.
"What is it, Frank?" I asked.
Belsen looked at me. He glanced at the blue coats around us and then he motioned for us to join him away from the others. Hawk and I met him near the wall and we were careful where we stepped.
Belsen wasn't.
He wiped at a rain drop that fell onto his face and I didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't really rain. The rain had stopped falling hours ago. It was early evening. I motioned for Belsen to step back.
Without thinking about it, he did. "Listen," he said to us, glancing back at the blue coats, "we found this girl, Spense...earlier this mornin' in a crack house in between the Combat Zone and the Wharf."
I shrugged. "It's a hard fact of life, Frank. There are a lot of girls in crack houses these days. Especially near the Combat Zone."
"Well...this girl is different," he explained insistently. "Some friggin' dope head accidentally set fire inside the house. Someone called the fire department, and by the time they arrived, the place was ablaze!"
"He said 'ablaze'," Hawk drawled.
Belsen glanced at him. "Anyways...this girl was found in the basement of that damned house, Spense. She was doped up and tied to a friggin' cot. Are you gettin' the picture here? That's how the firemen found her. Quirk got this call and he and I went there moments after they put her into the ambulance."
I knew where this was going. Hawk and I had dealt with this kind of thing before.
"Damn," I said softly.
"Then you're thinking--" Belsen began.
I cut him off. "Another damn white slavery ring."
Hawk looked as expressionless as ever, except I noticed the set in his jaw and the dangerous look in his eyes. "Same old story for white slavers," he growled. "Bring the girl to the crack house by the Wharf, then take her away by boat. Bastards try to do it every time."
Belsen looked at me. "Look, Spense. My gut tells me that this stiff in the alley had something to do with it."
I looked at him. "A hunch?"
He nodded.
I though about it. "You mean...that he had something to do with the girl or the fire?"
"Maybe both. What if the bastard was supposed to be watchin' the girl? If that was the case, then he let her get away. Now...there's a headless man lying in the alley and he stinks like hell."
"And you really think there's a connection?"
Hawk nodded grimly. "I do."
Belsen and I looked at him.
"You say that with such certainty," I observed.
Hawk grunted as he gave me a nod. "I do."
"And how did you come to this simple deduction, Watson?"
"'Cause I know the headless stiff. I've seen his face and his beady little eyes before. They used to call him Snake Eyes when he was alive. Now they'll call him the dead guy who ain't got no head."
Belsen blinked at him as if he hadn't heard Hawk correctly. "Hawk...how the friggin' hell can you stand there and say you've seen this stiff's face...when we haven't even seen his fuckin' head?!"
"It's Snake Eyes," Hawk said with finality. "He used to hang out in the Combat Zone along the Wharf. I'm certain they killed him 'cause he got sloppy with the girl."
"But how do you know it's him?!" Belsen demanded.
"I told you...I've seen his face."
"What the hell are you, nuts?!" Belsen waved his arms dramatically. He was getting really worked up about the whole thing. "THERE'S NO FUCKIN' HEAD!!!" He pointed at Hawk. "You can't ID a stiff without no head."
Hawk pointed up.
Belsen looked at him and he let out a sigh. I could tell he didn't want to do this, but he did. He looked up to where Hawk was pointing. On the fire escape above us, a metal bar from the railing was broken and it was hanging out above the alley. It was positioned just perfectly so that a street light was shining upon it. A head was stuck to that bar with its face facing toward the light.
"That's Snake Eyes' head," Hawk told him.
"Jesus Christ," Belsen whispered hoarsely. "Well...how the hell did it get up there?"
"Why don't you climb up there and ask him?"
Belsen looked at Hawk.
Hawk flashed him a smile. It wasn't a real smile, just a flashy smile. Hawk was not big on smiling.
"Frank," I said, drawing the conversation back to the girl, "where is she now?"
He turned to look at me. "She's at the Children's Center in Boston Memorial."
"How old is she?"
"Fifteen...maybe sixteen. She's just a kid, Spense." He paused. "Quirk wants to see you there."
"When?"
"As soon as you can get your ass over there."
"Well...then me and my ass are on our way." I looked at Hawk. "You coming?"
Hawk shook his head. "Nah. I'll catch up to you later on. I'm gonna do some digging of my own. See if I can find out who separated Snake Eyes' head from his shoulders."
"Then what?" I asked.
"Then I'll thank them for saving me the trouble." He flashed that smile again.
I looked at Belsen. "Frank...don't you think that Hawk has a perfect set of teeth?"
Belsen shook his head at me and rolled his eyes.
I left them then just as Belsen began to expound to Hawk about Law and Order. I could only hope that Hawk would behave himself enough not to get arrested. ____________________________________________________
SUNNYDALE
"You're still here?"
Xander looked up from the bench and he was surprised to find Counselor Sheldon Sunter standing there with a stern expression.
Xander cleared his throat. "I'm just waiting for my ride," he lied. He had been hoping that Angel would arrive to save the day, but he realized that it just wasn't going to happen. Angel didn't know where the computer camp was. And even if he did, it would take him at least an hour or two to arrive.
Sunter regarded Xander. And then he smiled. "No, you're not. You've been sitting out here for hours." He paused. "You intend to sneak back into the campgrounds when the sun sets, don't you?"
Xander chuckled nervously. "Who? Me? Nah. Really...why would I go snooping around where I'm not wanted?"
"Because you're looking for Willow Rosenberg."
There was something in the man's tone that greatly disturbed Xander. He looked at the Counselor and frowned. "You had made it clear to me that Willow isn't here."
"But you don't believe that, do you?" Sunter smirked at him. "You think I'm lying to you."
Xander rubbed his forehead as he felt his anger and fear for Willow's safety resurface. "Are you telling me now that Willow is here?" He glared at Sunter. "What reason would you have to lie about this?"
Sunter shrugged his shoulders casually. "I've got my reasons." He had a cocky smile on his face.
Xander hated that smile. He slowly rose from the bench and he stood in front of Sunter, glaring at him. He wanted to wipe that smile right off his face. "Is Willow here or not?"
"Do you want to see her?"
Xander swallowed his anger. "Yes, you son-of-a-bitch. I want to see Willow." He took a deep breath. "What did you do to her?"
Sunter paused as he regarded Xander. "I'll show you." He turned and he began to walk away.
Xander had no choice.
He followed Sunter.
Sunter led him through the campsite and he eventually led him to the beach area. They walked up toward a boat house with a small dock. Xander frowned as he wondered why Sunter would keep Willow in a boat house. Was this Kali in there as well? He wanted to believe that Willow was in there because he didn't want to believe that something worst could have happened to her.
Xander remembered going to a movie with Willow, and the movie was called The Vanishing. It starred Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, and Sandra Bullock. Keifer Sutherland played the part of a desperate boyfriend who was in search of his girlfriend-Sandra Bullock-after she disappeared at a gas station. Jeff Bridges played the part of the man who kidnapped her. Sutherland's character spent years searching for her and it nearly ruined his life because he just didn't know what had happened to her. It was the unknown that had been the worst pain.
After the movie, Xander and Willow had talked about it for hours. But they had never thought that one of them would vanish like that. They hadn't believed in vampires back then either, and yet now they did.
There were vampires.
There was a Slayer.
And Willow was missing.
Xander followed Sunter into the boat house. There was a lot of boating equipment about and a speed boat was on a raised hitching trailer.
There was no sign of Willow anywhere.
Xander glared at Sunter. "Where's Willow?"
Sunter pointed.
At first, Xander didn't know what the man was pointing at. He walked around the speed boat and there on the floor, pushed back against the wall was a chest. It was large enough to hold a body.
It was large enough to hold...
Xander swallowed a lump in his throat.
He walked over to the chest and he slowly opened it. He stared inside...and he frowned.
The chest was empty.
He began to turn his head. "You ba--"
Sunter hit him with a rowing oar and knocked him out cold.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
TO BE CONTINUED--
Author: MeB (aka XanWill4Ever-Michael B)
Email: lenoxfiles@hotmail.com
Spoiler: Majority takes place in the summer after the First Season. There are scenes that takes place some time after Lovers Walk from Season 3. There may be some slight AU, but not much.
Summary: Willow loses her memory and finds help from a private investigator in Boston.
Disclaimer: The characters from Spenser For Hire belong to Robert Parker. All characters from Buffy tVS belong to Joss.
Rating - R - SL/V/AC xwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxw
3
BOSTON
"This man be dead."
Hawk just had a way with words. I had to admire him for that. Anybody else would have added a bit more detail to it, but not Hawk. He calls it like he sees it. This didn't mean, however, that I couldn't bait him just a little.
"Now how do you know that?" I asked for the benefit of the police who were examining the scene.
Hawk had that knowing look. "I know the man is dead 'cause he ain't got no head." He looked down at the bloody headless corpse lying in the alley. "Ain't got no head...must surely be dead."
He did have a point there.
Now there's something one should know about Boston's finest. They didn't mind having me around on a crime scene, especially if I was asked to make a special appearance. I'm asked to make these appearances because I'm special, but also because I'm a detective and might be able to smell something they don't. Over the years, the Boston police have come to tolerate my presence. Sure, they tolerate me like a bad toothache that won't go away, but I eventually win them over with my charming personality.
I've helped them out a time or two and I have to give them credit, too. Especially Quirk and Belsen.
But no matter how much the police learned to appreciate me and to respect me, it was different with Hawk. Maybe it was because he was big, black, and bad, or maybe he needed to take a lesson from Charm School 101, but the bottom line was that they resented his presence. Period. The only reason that he was there with me at the crime scene was because Belsen wanted him to be there.
Belsen had his cigar clamped between his teethe as he gave Hawk one of his "you gotta be shittin' me" looks. "Jesus, Hawk. Thanks for that little juicy tidbit of deductive reasoning. I guess we would have discovered sooner or later that this stiff didn't have no friggin' head, but you're obviously way quicker than us blue coats!"
"'Way quicker'," I repeated to Hawk. Then, I said to Belsen, "Frank, you don't have a blue coat."
Hawk continued to inspect the scene with his eyes. "I ain't got no blue coat neither."
"You wouldn't look good in a blue coat, Hawk," I told him. "Blue doesn't match the color of your eyes."
Hawk grunted. "Good thing I don't have a blue coat then."
I had looked this scene over a dozen times since I've been here and I ran it through in my mind as I sorted out various clues and puzzle pieces that would eventually lead us to solving this case. There was something I had noticed, and I was more than reasonably certain that Hawk had caught it as well. I knew that Belsen and his blue coats had not noticed it yet for if they had, they would have been squawking about it by now.
"So, Frank, who found the headless stiff?" I asked.
Belsen pointed at the apartment building on the left of the alley. "Neighbors complained about some kind of ruckus out here. A squad car with a couple of boys came out to investigate and that's when they found the stiff."
I nodded solemnly. "The stiff...with no head."
Hawk made a sound in his throat. It was more like a short growl, and he often did this when he was thinking. He gave Belsen one of his many famous looks. "How does a man with no head 'ruckus'?"
I had to jump in on this one. "What is a 'ruckus', Frank? Have you ever seen one?"
I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Belsen was losing his patience with me.
"Spenser," he began with his finger pointing at me, "you're killin' me!"
I shrugged. "Don't lose your head over it, Frank." I couldn't help it. I grinned at him.
"You really are a piece of work, you know that?"
I opened my mouth to respond.
Belsen raised a hand. "Don't answer that!" He turned to look at me. Then he took his cigar out of his mouth and wiped at his face with his other hand.
That made me a little concerned. I knew Frank Belsen a lot better than he thought I did. I knew his mannerisms, and I also knew that he was a damn good cop. He was thinking about the dead guy with no head and he seemed to be working something out in his mind. I got the impression that he knew something and he wanted to let us know what it was.
Hawk was watching Belsen carefully. Not much ever slipped past Hawk.
"What is it, Frank?" I asked.
Belsen looked at me. He glanced at the blue coats around us and then he motioned for us to join him away from the others. Hawk and I met him near the wall and we were careful where we stepped.
Belsen wasn't.
He wiped at a rain drop that fell onto his face and I didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't really rain. The rain had stopped falling hours ago. It was early evening. I motioned for Belsen to step back.
Without thinking about it, he did. "Listen," he said to us, glancing back at the blue coats, "we found this girl, Spense...earlier this mornin' in a crack house in between the Combat Zone and the Wharf."
I shrugged. "It's a hard fact of life, Frank. There are a lot of girls in crack houses these days. Especially near the Combat Zone."
"Well...this girl is different," he explained insistently. "Some friggin' dope head accidentally set fire inside the house. Someone called the fire department, and by the time they arrived, the place was ablaze!"
"He said 'ablaze'," Hawk drawled.
Belsen glanced at him. "Anyways...this girl was found in the basement of that damned house, Spense. She was doped up and tied to a friggin' cot. Are you gettin' the picture here? That's how the firemen found her. Quirk got this call and he and I went there moments after they put her into the ambulance."
I knew where this was going. Hawk and I had dealt with this kind of thing before.
"Damn," I said softly.
"Then you're thinking--" Belsen began.
I cut him off. "Another damn white slavery ring."
Hawk looked as expressionless as ever, except I noticed the set in his jaw and the dangerous look in his eyes. "Same old story for white slavers," he growled. "Bring the girl to the crack house by the Wharf, then take her away by boat. Bastards try to do it every time."
Belsen looked at me. "Look, Spense. My gut tells me that this stiff in the alley had something to do with it."
I looked at him. "A hunch?"
He nodded.
I though about it. "You mean...that he had something to do with the girl or the fire?"
"Maybe both. What if the bastard was supposed to be watchin' the girl? If that was the case, then he let her get away. Now...there's a headless man lying in the alley and he stinks like hell."
"And you really think there's a connection?"
Hawk nodded grimly. "I do."
Belsen and I looked at him.
"You say that with such certainty," I observed.
Hawk grunted as he gave me a nod. "I do."
"And how did you come to this simple deduction, Watson?"
"'Cause I know the headless stiff. I've seen his face and his beady little eyes before. They used to call him Snake Eyes when he was alive. Now they'll call him the dead guy who ain't got no head."
Belsen blinked at him as if he hadn't heard Hawk correctly. "Hawk...how the friggin' hell can you stand there and say you've seen this stiff's face...when we haven't even seen his fuckin' head?!"
"It's Snake Eyes," Hawk said with finality. "He used to hang out in the Combat Zone along the Wharf. I'm certain they killed him 'cause he got sloppy with the girl."
"But how do you know it's him?!" Belsen demanded.
"I told you...I've seen his face."
"What the hell are you, nuts?!" Belsen waved his arms dramatically. He was getting really worked up about the whole thing. "THERE'S NO FUCKIN' HEAD!!!" He pointed at Hawk. "You can't ID a stiff without no head."
Hawk pointed up.
Belsen looked at him and he let out a sigh. I could tell he didn't want to do this, but he did. He looked up to where Hawk was pointing. On the fire escape above us, a metal bar from the railing was broken and it was hanging out above the alley. It was positioned just perfectly so that a street light was shining upon it. A head was stuck to that bar with its face facing toward the light.
"That's Snake Eyes' head," Hawk told him.
"Jesus Christ," Belsen whispered hoarsely. "Well...how the hell did it get up there?"
"Why don't you climb up there and ask him?"
Belsen looked at Hawk.
Hawk flashed him a smile. It wasn't a real smile, just a flashy smile. Hawk was not big on smiling.
"Frank," I said, drawing the conversation back to the girl, "where is she now?"
He turned to look at me. "She's at the Children's Center in Boston Memorial."
"How old is she?"
"Fifteen...maybe sixteen. She's just a kid, Spense." He paused. "Quirk wants to see you there."
"When?"
"As soon as you can get your ass over there."
"Well...then me and my ass are on our way." I looked at Hawk. "You coming?"
Hawk shook his head. "Nah. I'll catch up to you later on. I'm gonna do some digging of my own. See if I can find out who separated Snake Eyes' head from his shoulders."
"Then what?" I asked.
"Then I'll thank them for saving me the trouble." He flashed that smile again.
I looked at Belsen. "Frank...don't you think that Hawk has a perfect set of teeth?"
Belsen shook his head at me and rolled his eyes.
I left them then just as Belsen began to expound to Hawk about Law and Order. I could only hope that Hawk would behave himself enough not to get arrested. ____________________________________________________
SUNNYDALE
"You're still here?"
Xander looked up from the bench and he was surprised to find Counselor Sheldon Sunter standing there with a stern expression.
Xander cleared his throat. "I'm just waiting for my ride," he lied. He had been hoping that Angel would arrive to save the day, but he realized that it just wasn't going to happen. Angel didn't know where the computer camp was. And even if he did, it would take him at least an hour or two to arrive.
Sunter regarded Xander. And then he smiled. "No, you're not. You've been sitting out here for hours." He paused. "You intend to sneak back into the campgrounds when the sun sets, don't you?"
Xander chuckled nervously. "Who? Me? Nah. Really...why would I go snooping around where I'm not wanted?"
"Because you're looking for Willow Rosenberg."
There was something in the man's tone that greatly disturbed Xander. He looked at the Counselor and frowned. "You had made it clear to me that Willow isn't here."
"But you don't believe that, do you?" Sunter smirked at him. "You think I'm lying to you."
Xander rubbed his forehead as he felt his anger and fear for Willow's safety resurface. "Are you telling me now that Willow is here?" He glared at Sunter. "What reason would you have to lie about this?"
Sunter shrugged his shoulders casually. "I've got my reasons." He had a cocky smile on his face.
Xander hated that smile. He slowly rose from the bench and he stood in front of Sunter, glaring at him. He wanted to wipe that smile right off his face. "Is Willow here or not?"
"Do you want to see her?"
Xander swallowed his anger. "Yes, you son-of-a-bitch. I want to see Willow." He took a deep breath. "What did you do to her?"
Sunter paused as he regarded Xander. "I'll show you." He turned and he began to walk away.
Xander had no choice.
He followed Sunter.
Sunter led him through the campsite and he eventually led him to the beach area. They walked up toward a boat house with a small dock. Xander frowned as he wondered why Sunter would keep Willow in a boat house. Was this Kali in there as well? He wanted to believe that Willow was in there because he didn't want to believe that something worst could have happened to her.
Xander remembered going to a movie with Willow, and the movie was called The Vanishing. It starred Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, and Sandra Bullock. Keifer Sutherland played the part of a desperate boyfriend who was in search of his girlfriend-Sandra Bullock-after she disappeared at a gas station. Jeff Bridges played the part of the man who kidnapped her. Sutherland's character spent years searching for her and it nearly ruined his life because he just didn't know what had happened to her. It was the unknown that had been the worst pain.
After the movie, Xander and Willow had talked about it for hours. But they had never thought that one of them would vanish like that. They hadn't believed in vampires back then either, and yet now they did.
There were vampires.
There was a Slayer.
And Willow was missing.
Xander followed Sunter into the boat house. There was a lot of boating equipment about and a speed boat was on a raised hitching trailer.
There was no sign of Willow anywhere.
Xander glared at Sunter. "Where's Willow?"
Sunter pointed.
At first, Xander didn't know what the man was pointing at. He walked around the speed boat and there on the floor, pushed back against the wall was a chest. It was large enough to hold a body.
It was large enough to hold...
Xander swallowed a lump in his throat.
He walked over to the chest and he slowly opened it. He stared inside...and he frowned.
The chest was empty.
He began to turn his head. "You ba--"
Sunter hit him with a rowing oar and knocked him out cold.
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TO BE CONTINUED--