Chapter eight Wrongful hunting

Two days later at the Hyperion, the search for "Mr. Not-Aftershave" was apparently going quite well. Angel had managed to get the licence-number of the car he'd driven off in, but while that lead had quickly proven to be almost useless, seeing as how the car had been reported stolen, they had realised quite a few things from the fact that the car had been stolen right in front of Angel and the gang.

"So, he walked around the corner, and before you got there, he'd unlocked and gotten into the car. Which means the unlocking couldn't have taken more than four seconds at most. Then, while you're looking around for him, he starts it and drives off. All of it takes less than fifteen seconds. Man, I don't think there is a single crew out there who wouldn't love to have him helping out." Gunn's tone was definitely admiring.

"That may be, but it tells us something else as well." Angel rose from his chair and walked around the desk as he talked, while he carefully tore the drawing he'd been working on off the sketchpad.

"He knew we, or at least I, would follow him. The chances of him just happening to steal the car just after passing us is not what I would call good."

Gunn nodded. "Oh, I see. You're saying he recognized us, or you?"

"Yes. And I think I heard his heart jump when he passed us. Only it went back to normal speed so fast, and the smell was rather distracting, it kind of slipped my mind."

"Ok, so we have a human who likes to bathe in blood, is en expert carjacker and recognizes Angel on sight. And who knows Angel will smell the blood on him, so he steals a car and runs off. Now what gang of bloodsucking, unscrupulous, demon-dealing lawyers do you think he might work for?"

Angel grinned at Gunn and showed him the drawing of Michael. "My thoughts exactly. I think our next step in locating him would be a little chat with our dear old friend Lilah. What do you think, maybe she'll recognize him?"

Meanwhile, the search for Angelus had not yet started. Michael was still marshalling his resources. Having learned of the vampire's continued existence, he'd spent the next 24 hours debating the pros and cons of hunting the creature. With the resources currently available, there were virtually no possibility of capture, which would mean attack and as slow a death as could be arranged, and for a vampire that would be fast. Despite their varied immunities, the methods of destroying them were very effective, and far faster than Angelus deserved.

However, the treatment that creature deserved required resources. Resources that 'Michael Sedgewick' did not have. And while he would have no problem getting those resources, doing that risked a lot. One problem, albeit a minor one, would be the IRS. They would just love to ask him some questions about the origins of the money. That he could handle, mostly by keeping the money in funds and obligations, and also by scattering it among his temporary id's. The big problem was the Watchers. Transfers of large amounts of 'old' money, inheritances and activations of trust funds were among their most efficient ways of discovering old immortals.

Even with his contacts and experience, he doubted that he could manage to conceal the tracks from the Watchers for more than three months, four at the most. Acquiring the means to make this a proper hunt would then make it necessary to abandon 'Michael Sedgewick' 4 years before his earliest planned date of escape. And with the loss of two long-term identities in the past 8 years, that meant no other long-term id's ready for use.

So the question was, was Angelus worth 4 years of living on borrowed time? Trying to make do on his short-term identities while his next solid life matured? Recalling the atrocities he'd uncovered during the first hunt, the answer was obvious.

He spent the next day funnelling money to newly opened bank-accounts, improving the security on the mansion (with special attention to the possibility of night-dwelling visitors) and strengthening the background on several choice id's.

And then he tried to recall just where he'd placed the files he'd gathered back when he'd been hunting Angelus. They had not been thrown away, he was sure of that. He never threw away anything that might one day be of use, and that was becoming something of a problem. Some of the vaults were getting rather stuffed. In a few decades, he might have to spend some time sorting through them and getting rid of some of the junk.

But right now, where had he put the files? His house in Chicago contained current, open cases only. The vault in Switzerland, valuables and closed cases, and he hadn't closed that case. He might have suspected, even believed Angelus to be dead, true, but it had not been proven, so he'd kept the case open. Australia was artefacts and things he had no clue about what was (some magic, others he suspected was of extraterrestrial origin). London? Mainly unclosed cases and some minor valuables. Nothing truly important there any more. Not after WW2. He still shuddered at the memory. Some of those bombs had been far too close to his house for comfort, and had packed enough power to erase what back then had been his most important vault. On the bright side, he'd enjoyed the fifties and sixties. He'd been rather impressed with the endurance of some of those German higher-ups. Long, interesting hunts, and happy weeks after the catch.

London it was, then. Deciding to let 'Michael Sedgewick' stay in L.A., he picked out one of his newly improved id's and ordered a return trip to London for 'Michael Madsen'. He'd rather enjoyed the actors portrayal of 'Mr. Chapel', and besides, he'd always preferred to keep the first names of short-term id's the same as his current long term, seeing as last names were rarely used in conversation, thereby reducing the probability of a chance encounter raising suspicions at inopportune moments.

Authors note: And in conclusion, let me once again implore you to leave a review after reading the story, even if it is just to tell me what is wrong with it. And if you like it, that is an even better reason to leave a review. I need them due to a lack of belief in my own skills as a writer.