A/N : Thanks to Xtremely-Canadian, Aimee, sheilamarie, Mistik07, Demonica Mills, Julia, for the latest reviews. If you're reading and not reveiwing could I ask that you just take a couple of seconds to say that you're reading and if you like the fic or not. I've said it before but this story is so different to most others I've written, your support is kind of key since I often have little confidnece in myself where this fic is concerned. Anyway, thanx again to those that have been reveiwing cos you guys rock entirely. Here's the new chapter...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 18
Two days after her talk with Spike about the mysterious woman who lived across from him and Dru last year, Buffy Summers stood outside a huge building with a sign that said Wolfram & Hart, Attorneys at Law.
She knew of their reputation. They'd been decidedly dodgy lawyers for decades, but they had fingers in more pies than just those related to law. Of course it was near impossible for her as a cop to bring any kind of justice upon the employees of a supposedly evil law firm, their job was to get others out of trouble, they had no problem hiding their own double-deals and the like.
Buffy shook her head as she pressed the button at the front door and waited for someone to answer. She wasn't here as judge and jury for the company, she was only here to see one woman who masqueraded as Miss Illyria Martinez.
"Wolfram and Hart, please state your name and business" a voice said through the speaker.
"Detective Elizabeth Summers, LAPD" she said crisply, "I'm here to see Winifred Burkle"
There was a moments silence before the buzzer sounded and the door unlocked, allowing Buffy to go inside. A woman at the front desk told her to take a seat whilst she called down to the lab. The blonde waited, fingers drumming impatiently on the arm rest of her chair.
It had taken a while to figure out why Miss Martinez was so elusive - she didn't actually exist. She was simply a pseudonym of one Winifred Burkle, head of the Science Department at Wolfram & Hart's LA branch. What Buffy wanted to know was why this woman needed an apartment in a fake name, and more importantly if she'd see anything on the night Drusilla Walker died.
"Hi" said a voice and Buffy looked up to see a slim, willowy looking woman with a large white coat and glasses slipping down her nose, "I'm Fred, Winifred Burkle" she corrected herself, "You wanted to see me, Detective Summers?"
Buffy nodded as she got to her feet.
"Is there somewhere private we can talk?" she asked and the other woman led her to an empty office where they both sat down in silence.
"I have a few questions for you, Miss Burkle" Buffy told her immediately they were sat down, "Or should I call you Miss Martinez?" she added with a look, a little surprised by how pale Fred became.
"I don't...you can't..." she stumbled on what she meant to say as all the blood drained from her face and she felt sick in her stomach, "I never meant to break any laws, I never meant to break anything, I swear.."
"Miss Burkle" Buffy interrupted, "I'm not here to arrest you" she smiled slightly, proving her lack of malice, "I just need to ask you about the apartment you rented during this time period" she said, pulling a piece of paper from her bag and handing it to the other woman who stared at it blindly.
"Miss Burkle?" Buffy prompted some kind of reaction, "How often did you use the apartment. A source tells me he live nearby but barely saw you"
"We...I didn't use it much" she said, stumbling on her words again, "I stored things in it"
Buffy frowned as the piece of paper was shoved back into her hands by Fred. The way she couldn't meet her eyes when she spoke, how her fingers never stopped fidgeting in her lap, made Buffy wonder...
"Storage?" she echoed, "Storage of what?" she pressed, "Furniture? Books?...Secrets?" she asked with a look. Fred stared at her for a second before glancing away.
"I don't know what you mean" she said, and Buffy was almost certain it was a lie. She just wasn't sure why yet.
"I think you do" she said as she put the papers back in her bag, "Let's look at this objectively, Miss Burkle. A young woman in LA rents an apartment for a few months, in which time the neighbour across the hall never even sees her. A couple of weeks after a possible murder has been committed, the rental on the apartment is cancelled. Wouldn't you say that looked a little suspicious?"
Fred's eyes were wide as dinner-plates as she looked up at Buffy in apparent shock.
"Murder?" she repeated in a whisper, as if she were a little kid saying a curse word she didn't want her mother to hear, "No, I didn't even know...Someone died?" she asked, looking too genuinely shocked for her to be faking.
Buffy felt a little bad for being so short with her, she seemed like a nice enough person but appearances could be deceiving. Angel was living proof of that it seemed. Still, despite the fact it seemed abundantly clear Fred knew nothing of Drusilla's death, something seemed odd about a woman going to all the trouble of renting an apartment in a fake name and never going there.
"Who is Illyria Martinez, Miss Burkle?" Buffy asked her, off her worried look she added, "It's very important that you tell me the truth now"
The young woman twisted her hands in her lap, looking everywhere but at the police officer at her side. She was silent so long that Buffy almost repeated the question but suddenly Fred spoke softly.
"Do you have a man in your life, Miss Summers?" she asked, making Buffy frown. She had thought she was the one asking the questions, but if this was going to get to some sort of point that'd help with the case, she'd go along with it for now.
"Yes" she replied warily, "Why do you ask?"
"Being in love" Fred smiled painfully, "finding that one person who makes you feel...things you could never imagine until you actually experience them, that's something so rare and special" she paused for a brief moment before continuing, "But when I found that, the right man that made me feel all those things, I was too late. He'd already found the woman for him"
"I'm sorry" Buffy said sympathetically, "but unless this has anything to do with what I asked you I don't think..."
"Oh, but it does" Fred interrupted, "See, he realised that the woman he'd found maybe wasn't what he wanted after all, and that maybe I was. He couldn't leave her, it would have caused so many problems for everybody..." her voice trailed away and as she looked over at Buffy, something clicked in the blonde's mind and she realised what was going on.
The apartment Miss Burkle rented under the false name was where she conducted her affair with another man, that was why she'd lied. No doubt if this guys wife found out he'd dump the poor girl and it seems she couldn't live with that.
"Miss Burkle, were you at the rented apartment on the night of the murder?" she checked, "It's important that you tell me"
"I..." Fred hesitated before answering, "I was" she admitted, "We were"
"And did you see anybody go in or out of the apartment across the hall?" came the next question. Buffy was practically holding her breath waiting for the answer.
"Yes" she said almost in a whisper.
"Could you give me a description?" the blonde asked next and Fred looked away, "Please, Miss Burkle, this is so important" she pressed.
"He was kinda tall, with dark hair and dark clothes...Kinda handsome too really" she admitted. Buffy felt equal parts relieved and sick at a description that could easily fit the image of Angel.
"Miss Burkle, I need you to come with me to the police station" she said, unable to hold back a slight smile, "I need you to make a statement saying exactly what you saw and..."
"No, no, I can't" the other woman exclaimed, looking petrified as she jumped from her seat, "You don't understand what could happen...if she found out..."
Buffy rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"You're worrying about nothing" she pointed out, quite angrily, "If your secret affair gets found out, okay, a couple of people might get a little hurt emotionally. If you don't do what I'm asking now an innocent man could be convicted of murder" she explained, tears forming in her eyes as she thought of Spike, how much he had already suffered, and what more may come if she couldn't prove his innocence.
"Fred?" Buffy heard a male voice behind them and turned to see a man coming into the room, looking worried, "I heard yelling from the corridor, is everything quite alright?" he checked.
"I'm fine, Wesley, honestly" Fred smiled shakily and Buffy watched a look pass between them.
"Perhaps I should leave you two alone then" Wesley suggested but Buffy stopped him.
"No, stay" she said, "This involves you too" she said, glancing at Fred, "doesn't it?" she checked. The other woman look away, confirming Buffy's suspicions.
"I don't think we've been introduced" the man narrowed his eyes at her as he approached, "I am Wesley Wyndham-Pryce"
"Elizabeth Summers" Buffy shook his hand, "LAPD" she added, showing her badge.
As the three sat down together, the blonde realised what the big problem was. Wolfram and Hart was known for it's dodgy deals but moreover for it's ability to make problems disappear. If those problems were people they'd disappear too and half the unsolved murder cases in LA were thought to be somehow mysteriously connected to that firm. The latest CEO of this town's branch was the most ruthless and scheming so far, and here sat Buffy opposite the boss' husband. Lilah Morgan, who still went by her maiden name, was not a woman to be trifled with. If she found out her precious Wesley was sleeping with the hired help, Buffy had no doubt at all that Fred would be the next employee to mysteriously vanish.
Though she took the time to explain the situation to Wesley, and practically begged him and Fred to come forward and say what they'd seen, she knew they would say no. She couldn't force them to be witnesses. If she got them as far as the station they could just deny seeing anything, and she'd end up looking a fool.
"I know you're both scared of what could happen" she sympathised as they showed her the door, her one last ditch attempt to get their help, "but we could protect you, I promise we would"
"I'm sorry, Miss Summers" Wesley shook his head, "I know you're only doing your job but...we didn't see anything" he lied on purpose, pressing the point that if she ever asked them in front of others they would deny all.
Buffy fought tears and had to take a deep breath before she could speak. Another lead had become a dead end and she was running out of time to prove Spike's innocence and Angel's guilt.
"Here" she said, pulling something from her pocket and pressing it into Fred's hand, "If you change your mind" was all she said as explanation before she left.
Fred turned the card over in her hand and showed it to Wesley. It had Buffy's name and private number printed on the front and her cellphone number hand-written on the back. Despite feeling terribly guilty, both of them knew they'd never call her.
-
Buffy felt awful as she made her way home. She wracked her brains for another idea, at least then she could cushion the blow when she was forced to tell Spike this lead had turned into a dead end. He was innocent she knew it, and she only wished that was enough, but they needed real evidence if they were going to bring Angel down and prove that Spike was not a killer, just a man that loved a woman and got caught up in someone else's tragedy.
"Oh, hi" Buffy was surprised to find the very man she'd been thinking of sitting on her doorstep.
"Hello, pet" he half smiled as he got to his feet and stepped towards her. He hesitated a moment before putting his lips to hers and kissing her softly, "Couldn't stand it at home" he admitted, still standing close to her, "Too bloody quiet, too much time to think about things"
She nodded that she understood, feeling even worse now than she had before.
"How did it go?" he asked, trying not to sound too hopeful just in case, "Did you find this Illyria person?"
"I..." Buffy began before changing her mind, "No, I didn't find Illyria" she said semi-truthfully. She couldn't tell him she'd found the girl who went by that name, and her boyfriend too, and that both had seen what seemed to be Angel leaving the apartment on the night of Dru's murder. How could she build up his hopes so high only to dash them when she ended the narrative with the fact of their insistence on not coming forward in the case.
She watched his face cloud with disappointment before he forced a smile.
"Doesn't matter" he lied, trying to be braver than he felt and she knew it, "I have faith in you, Buffy" he told her, holding her in his arms, "No-one ever believed in me like you do, 'cept maybe..." his voice disappeared at the mere thought of his dark princess and Buffy felt awful for him.
Whilst most women might be offended at being compared to their man's former love, Buffy felt honoured to know he loved her as much as he had Drusilla. That was a level of affection she could only wonder at, though she was certain she loved Spike more than she ever knew it was possible to love anyone.
"I love you" she said suddenly and so sincerely. He looked a little surprised as they stood their outside her front door in each others arms.
"I love you too, you know I do" he assured her, wondering what the sudden declaration was for, fearing the worst, that she might be about to say she couldn't be with him for some reason. She looked too serious for a moment before she led him into her apartment and they both sat down in the couch.
"I had another idea" she told him, holding onto his hand, "There's someone else we can talk to, maybe get more evidence from" she explained, "Do you trust me?" she checked, almost certain he did but needing the assurance right now, just as she'd needed the conformation of his love a moment ago.
"With my life" he answered solemnly, eyes never leaving hers.
"That's a good thing" she nodded once, "because you're not going to like what I'm about to say" she warned him, "I think we need to go back, trace your steps almost...Spike, I need you to take me to see your old friends, your bosses Willow and Tara" she told him, "From there we might be able to track down the girl from that night" she paused before saying what she knew she must "Spike, if we're going to bring down Angel, I think we need to find Amy"
To Be Continued...
A/N2 : You know what to do. More of this coming soon.
