Chapter V

Don Bennidetto shivered as he hung up the phone. It was time to report to his boss, and he didn't mind admitting (but only to himself) that he was terrified. He didn't really know what it was about the guy that was so upsetting; he had never witnessed Frankie Reichs directly threaten anyone, never saw him personally kill anyone. Yet, Reichs was one of the scariest guys he had ever met. He was cold, had absolutely no compassion of any kind, and was totally focused on his goals. Maybe it was that time Bennidetto saw Frankie take a bullet. He claimed he was wearing a bulletproof vest, but, even if that were the case (and it wasn't) he still should have showed more effect than he did. What kind of man could take a bullet to his chest and not show any ill effects? And what was even scarier, Frankie Reichs didn't even turn a hair, he just whipped out his hand and grabbed the pistol, quicker than the eye could see. Then he ordered his bodyguard, Jeffrey the Rock, to take the gunman out and waste him, slowly.

Now Jeffrey the Rock, there was another piece of work. He was called the Rock because he was dumb as a box of rocks, as well as being able to take a punch about as well as a rock, but he was absolutely loyal to Reichs. Jeffrey should have been even scarier than Frankie Reichs, because it was Jeffrey that carried out Reichs's order, no matter how awful. If Frankie Reichs wanted someone to die for two days, Jeffrey did it, with no emotion at all as far as Bennidetto could tell. And it wasn't that Bennidetto had a weak stomach, after all, his own father had introduced him to Technique in Torture 101 while he was still a teenager. Bennidetto didn't enjoy torturing people though; to him it was just a tool to be used when required. But Frankie actually liked it, he didn't participate, he merely watched and directed what was to be done next, and it sure looked like he got off on it. Bennidetto had witnessed a couple of those sessions, it was almost the only time in his life that he had felt compassion for a mook, not much, but some.

When Jeffrey the Rock got arrested Bennidetto actually breathed a sigh of relief, although not out loud. The trouble is, Frankie Reichs somehow found a replacement for Jeffrey, and this new guy was, if anything, worse. He was just a kid, like eighteen or nineteen. He was actually a good-looking kid, the kind that drove young girls to thoughts of lust. But the problem was, this Kid wasn't just a cold killer, he actually loved murder, anyone, men, women, children, animals, it just didn't matter to him. Thankfully, he wasn't a big fan of torture; it was the death part that he liked.

So Bennidetto wasn't thrilled to be called to the boss's office. Sitting in front of those people who caused even lifelong Made Men to be nervous wasn't on his top ten list of favorite activities. Killing Buffy Summers, that was on his list, these days Buffy occupied the top three positions on his list.

Reichs's lawyer showed him to the office upstairs. Frankie said, "Sit down Bennidetto, sit," and pointed to one of the red leather chairs in front of the desk.

He continued, "Now, what's this I hear about our little protection racket getting shut down, I thought you had that under control? And what happened to your car, again?"

"Yes, well," said Bennidetto, "the racket was working fine for a few weeks, until we got to an odd store called The Magic Box', they not only refused to pay, they got our soldiers arrested. Then, when they got out of jail, and went back to remonstrate with the owners of the store, they managed to get blown up themselves, instead of destroying the shop. Now I'm getting personal threats from one of the owner's, a certain Buffy Summers, if you can believe that." Bennidetto attempted a hearty chuckle, to show how unworried he was.

Hearing the name Buffy Summers' caused Reichs to twitch violently. He looked up, very surprised, and said, under his breath, "The Slayer!"

"Excuse me sir?" said Bennidetto.

"What? Oh, nothing. I don't think it would be a good idea for you to go after her. I'll take of her, don't worry. There was nothing you could do once you came up against her. You can leave now."

As Bennidetto walked down the sidewalk to his car, he was one very confused Mafiosi. He had never seen that kind of reaction before from any of his bosses, especially that one. He was going to have to think about this, he saw a glimmer of an idea that might just end up with a dead boss, and others calling him Don' Bennidetto, and even better, a dead Buffy.

-- --

Buffy and the scoobies were in the midst of another research party. Willow was busy downloading files from the police and District Attorney's office, while Dawn was busy formatting and printing the reports and everyone was reading. The mass of material was growing insanely, the sheer quantity of paperwork that could be generated by government functionaries was just mind-boggling.

Xander was the one who discovered something interesting, "Hey guys? Look at this. Guess what law firm is representing the murderer that Buffy caught?"

Buffy turned and looked at Xander, "Oh, you have got to be kidding, it isn't Wolfram and Hart again, is it?"

"Got it in one Buff, but I just gotta be the one to say it, what the freakin' hell?"

Willow chimed in, "That makes the kind of sense that doesn't. What could a serial killer like that have to do to get that kind of representation?"

"Well," said Buffy, "actually, W&H does like to represent murderers, but only if they are well paid and usually only if they are part of some demonic activity, but not usually this far out of LA. Um, what's his name again Xander?"

"Um," he flipped frantically through the pages, "here it is, Jeff Rock, AKA Jeffrey the Rock."

"Yeah," said Buffy, "he was as big and dumb as a box of rocks all right, but he hit the ground like rock, too. It must be his vampire partner that brought in W&H, couldn't be any other reason that I can see. So, we need to redouble our efforts to identity the vamp."

-- --

The next afternoon when Dawn was leaving school with her friend Janice when she spotted a car with that Bennidetto character in the back. She apologized to Janice and said she had an errand to run for her sister and needed to go right now! Janice looked askance but said, "Well, you don't want to disappoint your sis now, would you?" And she flounced off in huff.

Dawn looked around frantically to find a way to follow that limo. She spotted a truck headed in the right direction and ran out behind it and jumped onto the rear end. Luckily for her, traffic was fairly slow. She held on for dear life and carefully glanced around the side so she could see her quarry. Just a few blocks later the limo turned left and the truck went straight. It was another half a block before traffic slowed the truck enough for Dawn to jump off, other drivers looked at her like she was a crazy person, but she didn't care. She ran down an alley, back in the direction of the limo and she came out just in time to see it turn into one of the tonier streets in Sunnydale. Dawn didn't have to run now, she just sauntered casually up the street.

It was only a few blocks before she spotted her quarry, Bennidetto was walking around the car towards the house. It was a very large red brick McMansion, with perfectly manicured landscaping and an eight-foot wrought iron fence. Dawn called home on her cell phone, but no one was there, so she left a message for Buffy. Then she carefully studied the perimeter of the grounds, and finally noticed a large oak tree that had a large branch that had grown over the fence.

-- --

"Let go of me you big goof! I'll scream!" Dawn shrieked to the large and rather hairy guard who was dragging her down the hall. He had tried holding her mouth shut but she bit him.

Dawn stomped her heel down on her captor's foot. He yelled at her and tossed her through a door into Bennidetto's office. "Look what I found boss, she was climbing down the oak tree at the side. What should I do with her?" he said while shaking the blood off his hand.

"Hmmm," said Bennidetto, "doesn't look like much, does she?"

"Hey, let me go! If my sister finds me here you're dead meat!" shouted an angry and scared Dawn.

"Your sister? Is that supposed to be a threat or something?" He turned to the guard and asked, "Did you find any identification on her?"

"Not yet boss, she's a vicious little cat, all claws and teeth and earsplittingly loud, too. But here's her backpack." And he dumped her pack out on the table by the tall windows overlooking the backyard. He poked through various books and found a wallet. "Ah, here's a library card. Her name is Dawn Summers."

Now it was Bennidetto's turn to get a little twitchy. He said, "Summers? Is your sister named, um, Buffy?"

"Yes. And she's so gonna whip your ass!"

"Hmmm," replied Bennidetto, "she could be a problem. Tony, go prepare the downstairs conversation room for our guest."

"But boss, what do I do with the current occupant?"

"Move him next door."

"To the cell?"

"Yes, and get some clean plastic sheets in there," grimaced Bennidetto with a sour look, "now get going!"

Dawn didn't have any trouble figuring out what was being planned for her if she let them drag her to the basement. She had already taken stock of the room and its accouterments. It was a fairly large room, probably intended to be a den by the house's designer but now equipped as an office. There was a large desk near the back wall, facing the door. Behind the desk a worktable stood against the wall. Above the table, there were several swords and antique rifles hung in an aesthetically pleasing pattern. In front of the desk were two red leather chairs. By the wall to the right of the hall door was a leather couch, a coffee table, and two more leather chairs. Finally, the contents of her pack were spread over another worktable that was surrounded with wooden chairs to the left of the door.

When Bennidetto turned from her for a moment to look at her stuff on the table, Dawn jumped up on his desk, scattering papers, pens, the telephone and anything else to the floor, casually stomping on any objects that were in her way. As Bennidetto turned with outrage, Dawn jumped to the rear worktable and carelessly kicked aside more papers and books and grabbed a large broadsword off the wall. She noticed that the blade wasn't particularly sharp, but it didn't matter, it was heavy enough.

Don Bennidetto was infuriated. He took two steps towards Dawn and pulled a gun out of his shoulder holster. Dawn jumped to desk and swung her sword straight down to his gun, but since she was not a bloodthirsty girl, she turned the sword sideways and whacked Bennidetto's wrist with the flat of the blade. The heavy sword had so much momentum that it broke several of the smaller bones in his hand, forcing him to drop the gun.

Bennidetto yelled obscenities at Dawn, who coolly stared him down, standing atop the desk, relaxed but ready, with her sword tip hovering over her right shoulder, just as Buffy had taught her. He roared and charged, head down, determined to smash her like a bug.

Dawn watched impassively for a moment, and when the timing was right, swept her sword around in an arc, smashing the side of Bennidetto's head with the flat of the blade. Dawn still didn't want to kill anyone, although she was starting to wonder if that was a smart attitude. Bennidetto crashed to the floor, unconscious. Dawn heard running footsteps from down the hall and jumped to the floor and positioned herself where she would be behind the door when it opened.

The door opened slowly and The Kid walked in, a .50 caliber Desert Eagle in his right hand, and a long sharp SOG knife in his left. He looked down at Don Bennidetto and slowly looked around. Dawn sucked in her breath when she looked at him. She would have been totally smitten, if it weren't for the weaponry and his hunter's stare. Dawn had had enough, she brought the sword down on the Kid's arm with all her strength. She had intended to twist the blade and use the flat again, but the message just didn't get to her hands in time. She nearly cut off the Kid's right hand between elbow and wrist – his bone stopped the dull blade from cutting through. But the shock loosened his grip on the gun, which hit the floor with a loud wham, but not before he got a shot off. Dawn ducked wildly as the bullet ricocheted and grazed her ear. The Kid turned towards Dawn, he was shocked, blood pouring out of his deeply cut arm, but he wasn't out of the fight yet. Dawn backed up but the Kid struck with snake-strike speed with the knife in his left hand. Dawn just barely had time to slap the knife aside with her blade. She struck back as fast as she could, but the Kid was faster still; he started to bring his hand back to throw the blade when Dawn feinted to his midsection with the sword tip. His reaction gave her enough time to slash at his other arm. By now, the loss of blood was beginning to weaken his tremendous constitution, Dawn could see that he was slowing dramatically. She whipped the blade around and whacked him upside the head – he dropped to floor right next to Bennidetto.

Dawn could hear a huge commotion coming from the hall. She stepped back behind the door and awaited the arrival of her next tormentor.

-- --

To be continued.