Chapter 12 We'll wait

Back at Angel Investigations, the two men had spent the early part of the afternoon searching for a strategy to find Katie.

"Did she leave anything here that could give us a clue?" Wesley asked from behind his computer screen.

"Something like this perhaps?" Angel walked in the room holding up a dirty, beat-up knapsack. "Katie brought this with her when she first came."

"Exactly!" Wesley smiled. "Now open up and let the clue hunting begin." Angel handed him the bag, but then hesitated and took it back again.

"I don't know, Wes. I feel a little weird going through her only real possession."

"But Angel…" Wesley had to admit that he was feeling a pull at his conscience. "I know what you mean." he finally relented.

"Like, a woman's bag is very private and personal," Angel mumbled.

"Let's wait until Cordelia gets here. She'll do it," Wesley offered. Angel just grinned and nodded in agreement. If anyone got enjoyment from snooping, it was Cordy.

"What about me?" Cordelia asked as she sauntered in through the office door. "What have you boys been up too…?" She paused as she surveyed the destruction that had not been tended to yet. "A second though, I really don't want to know, unless…" She blanched. "…are you still Angel or are you evil now? Because if you're Angelus, I think I'll take my leave now."

"That all depends," Angel replied with his evil grin. "Would Angelus leave you alive long enough to go snooping through this?" He held up the bag. Cordelia let out the breath she was holding and took the bag.

"Don't you ever do that again," she muttered as she shot a glare in Angel's direction and then examined the cloth in her hands. "Isn't this Katie's?"

"Yes, you are correct," Wesley confirmed. "We'll fill you in on the day's events, but you might want to sit down first.

"…are you sure we're talking about the same Katie?" Cordelia asked in disbelief as Wesley told the tale. "The Katie I know would never have done anything like that."

"That's what I thought too, as she was pinning Wes up against the wall," Angel offered. "And now we have to find her before she can do any more damage. We found her bag, but Wes and I feel a little weird…care to do the honors?"

Cordelia started to shuffle through the bag, but something on the floor by Angel's feet caught her eye instead. She knelt down and picked up a white business card.

"Wolfram & Hart, sound familiar?"

Angel and Wesley looked at each other and then back to Cordelia. "Got a business suit guys?" Angel asked. They were going to have to go straight to the belly of the beast. Wesley and Cordelia rushed back to their apartments as Angel retreated to his apartment.

An hour later, Wesley parked Angel's Plymouth in the underground parking garage of the what Cordelia referred to as 'Hell Incorporated' and the three professionally dressed employees of Angel Investigations entered the building.

"Hi, my name is Cordelia Chase. These are my associates, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce," Cordelia beamed at the receptionist with perfected ease. This was the same speech she gave to clients. "and…uh… Roger Berklestien." She stammered, just realizing that using Angel's real name would certainly alert someone to their presence.

"We're to see Marcus," Wesley picked up where Cordelia had left off. He showed the receptionist the business card.

"I see," the receptionist muttered as she typed into a computer. "Do you have an appointment with Mr. Cole?"

Marcus Cole, that's an interesting name, Cordelia thought. "No, he just told us to stop by anytime." She flashed another one of her pearly smiles.

"I'm afraid Mr. Cole is in a meeting right now. If you would like to make an appointment…"

"We'll wait," Angel said, breaking his silence.

"It's an urgent matter," Wesley explained at the receptionist's startled expression. "A very important client and a very short timeframe, you know…" He paused after feeling Cordelia's heel slam down on top of his foot. "…right, we'll just wait here."

They made their way over to the law firm's waiting area and sank into the comfortable chairs.

"We need to get ourselves some of these," Cordelia commented.

"We should, but with what money? This is an international conglomerate," Wesley replied.

"Roger Berklestien?" Angel muttered at his alias.

"I'm sorry, it was a spur of the moment thing," Cordelia defended. "Roger."

"Yes, Berklestien Investigations does have a nice ring to it," Wesley added with a smirk. Angel just rolled his eyes. He started people-watching and froze when he saw a familiar face staring back at him. Angel wasn't the only one who was people-watching. He saw Angel and Angel saw him.

"Guys, time to go," Angel said standing up.

"But…" Wesley said in confusion. He and Cordelia stood to follow Angel.

"SECURITY!" yelled a familiar voice. Wesley and Cordelia looked to its source and saw none other than Lindsey McDonnell.

"Yup, time to go," Cordelia said as the three rushed out of the building.