Knox was beginning to grow desperate. He couldn't hide the sarcophagus that contained the remains of his god any longer, especially with Eve working to upgrade the lab. Which meant he'd had to smuggle it out of the lab and hide it. But what was making him most desperate was that he was running out of time. He had a very narrow time frame in which to find a host for his god to be reborn in and that time was rapidly running out. A couple of weeks, at most and the sarcophagus would return to the Deeper Well, like a rubber band stretched out, it would snap back and return and the opportunity to bring back the god-king's reign over the Earth would be lost, possibly forever. He couldn't allow that, he'd been a devoted worshiper since he was eleven, bringing the god-king back was his Destiny, he was very sure of that. He just had to find someone worthy and he would. Some one beautiful, with the grace to bear the power and personality of a god. It was really too bad Fred had left, she was perfect.
"I think I've found her." Lorne told Wesley a few hours later. "Don't bother to ask, it's a six degrees of separation kind of thing, I know a guy who knows a guy who knows her agent's secretary kind of thing and he was able to get an address and she is in New York. At least the Cordelia Chase-Harris that is the actress on that soap does, whether she's actually the Cordelia we knew or just someone with an incredible resemblance and the same dream, that I can't say. I also found out, she's had that role on the soap opera for a year."
"Since her comatose body supposedly disappeared from Wolfram and Hart and Eve told us she was dead. They promised us they'd try to heal the damage to her, they may well have succeeded, but at what cost to Cordelia?"
"I can't take any time off and I have to work the next several days in a row." Lorne informed Wesley. "But you could go check out the address, see if it's her, if she's okay."
"I'll fly there, it's faster, even if it costs me a fortune. For all we know, Wolfram and Hart could be keeping her prisoner or trying to co-opt her visions or the powers she got after the Powers made her part demon when she was in that first coma. I'll go now, my car's parked outside. I'll call you as soon as I know anything."
"I'll be waiting. Wes, if she's in trouble, don't hesitate. We can't leave her in those people's hands. We should never have gone to Wolfram and Hart in the first place!"
"Looking back, I don't even remember agreeing to sign on with them." Wesley confessed. "Actually, what I remember, is Angel saying he accepted for all of us and us not objecting and that's just not like any of us."
"No, it's not." Lorne agreed, taking a long swallow of his Sea Breeze. "That place still haunts me, Wes. Our Cordy-kins would never have wanted us there, especially not because of her. Wolfram and Hart offered us that place to thank us for stopping Jasmine's bid to enslave the world and we accepted it to try to help Cordelia. It was just wrong all around."
Wesley squeezed Lorne's shoulder sympathetically and without another word headed out to catch a plane to New York, to track down Cordelia Chase-Harris. He was right about the price, it was expensive, even for coach on a red eye, because it was last minute, but at least he was able to get a flight. He left his car in long term parking and settled into the uncomfortable seat for the five hour fight. 'Ironic,' he thought. 'it took six hours to drive to Las Vegas, which is much closer to Los Angeles than Las Vegas is to New York. But hopefully I'll soon have answers.' Just what those answers would be though, he had no idea. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep. Once the plane landed he debated just how to find Cordelia, he could rent a car, far less expensive and follow a map or he could hire a taxi. In the end, he decided on a taxi and gave the driver the address. He was putting a serious dent in his bank account.
"That's a neighborhood on the other side of the city, man." The driver told him. "Sunday traffic is light, but it's still going to take awhile. Buckle up, we got some crazy drivers in this town."
Wesley followed his advice and sat back, returning to his thoughts and what he would find when he was finally face to face with Cordelia Chase-Harris. And then they were in the neighborhood and Wesley looked around astonished. Cordelia lived here?! The neighborhood was an old one, although the buildings appeared to be in good repair. Colorful murals covered the sides of buildings and a huge community garden took up half a block. An eclectic mix of people filled a park a block from the address Cordelia supposedly lived in. This was not at all where he'd expect to find the Cordelia he'd known.
He paid the driver and climbed out of the cab and stared at the building the driver had dropped him in front of. If Lorne was right, Cordelia lived in an apartment in this building. Time to get those answers.