Close. Once again Kate was close to catching Angel in kidnapping but fell short. This was happening more often than she was willing to stand. Failure didn't really suit her. Leaving the Hyperion Hotel empty handed she could sense that the SWAT guys were far from trusting her call that afternoon. She was having trouble caring about that too.
The letter had come just a few hours before Angel struck against DeEtta Kramer- scratch that, Darla she supposed. It wasn't difficult to decipher who gave her the note. Her memory was long enough to recall the first time the man gave her notes on Angel. If she recalled correctly as well, which she knew she did, the man was also responsible for the only other time she managed to get Angel in cuffs.
She hated to admit it, especially since his allegiance was with Wolfram and Hart- the law firm of every evil scumbag she's arrested only to have get off on a technacality in court, but Lindsay McDonald seemed to have a very fine grasp on exactly what she wanted. Had she been a less serious person she might have appreciated the more naughty part of that thought but instead put herself firmly into business mode.
Kate Lockley didn't even bother checking back in at the precinct. In the back of her head she knew this probably wouldn't bode well for her. She was already on pretty thin ice with her superiors but she had a much bigger mission than they could everr understand. They weren't prepared to deal with the real world, the dark side of everything like she was. There was only one way to really get down to things and finally nab Angel, getting the first of many demons and the like that needed fixing.
Instead of checking back in and filing another unnessacery report as to why the SWAT operation was unsuccessful she went in the opposite direction, heading instead to the offices where she knew she would find him. It took mere moments travelling at times with reckless abandon to the Wolfram and Hart building. Straight to Lindsay McDonald's office.
The trip up the elevator was a brief one, but one that seemed to clear her clouded thoughts for a slight moment. The law firm whose elevator she was currently inhabiting was hardly a force of good, yet they still seemed to have a problem with Angel and his team. Was it because he was truly doing good and a cost of theirs or were they as concerned as she was about the mere existence of vamipires, good or evil? Did she even consider Angel good? She had seen him save lives, destroy vampires. She had also seen him over the body of her father...
Back on track the elavator doors opened and she stepped quickly out, briefly she exchanged a glance with another blonde as she entered after her. The face was painstakingly familar. She turned back to find the grinning features of Darla give her a menacing wave of her hand as the doors of the elavator shut. Kate froze in her tracks, staring at the now closed doors for a moment longer.
"Ms. Lockhart." His voice drawled in a slight accent from the south, breaking her from her disbelief. He gestured towards his office, skipping the formal handshake she had rejected earlier on with their first meeting.
She had no doubt in her mind that if this obviously corrupt firm was involved somehow with the seedier side of her city, but was she really naive enough to think that they weren't supporting these devious inhabitants. She stayed her ground, trying to decide if she should leave, rejecting the powerful resources they clearly had or stay, get what she wants, but at a clearly steep cost.
One the one hand Angel had to be stopped and they were the ones who could do it. On the other, they weren't much better than he was. She would eventually have to get rid of them as well. She looked to the still closed elavator doors and thought of the vampire who had decieved her most recently, the scared woman who was looking to her to get rid of her stalker, Angel. She then looked into Lindsay's eyes and thought of the first vampire to ever deceive her, the one who had cost her her father and seemed destined to destroy her career as well.
One way or the other she had a choice to make. Allegiance to either wasn't going to be easy, but one thing was for sure, one of these two were a lesser evil that would take care of the other. She finally took a step. She watched as a simultaneously attractive yet evil smile crossed the young attorney's features. Not returning the grin she walked passed by him and took a seat in his office. He closed the door behind Kate and moved to his desk.
Decision time.