Chapter 2
Buffy was
his responsibility.
It would
never matter who else was in their lives, or how much time had passed, or
whether he gave in to the tumultuous emotions she brought to his heart, if she
needed him then he would be there. No
questions asked.
And it
was that fact along with a good healthy dose of guilt that sent Spike rushing to
the rescue once again. His stomach had
done its usual churning as soon as he heard Buffy’s frightened voice. It was enough to make him leave his home, with
its comfortable recliner and Moses, his grey cat, who’d been perched on his
lap, and lastly the company of his beautiful fiancée. All to go play knight in shining armor to a
girl who’d left him behind a long time ago.
Even Fred
had said he should go, and it made him love her a little more. He smiled because it didn’t take much for
that to happen. She was sweet, smarter
than he’d ever be, and those long limbs wrapped around him every night was
enough to keep him towing the line. At
least Fred knew what she wanted, and that was him.
Unlike Buffy.
Who, at the moment, he was trying to catch up to in the quickest
amount of time. Spike cursed under his
breath as he took another corner and barked directions to Buffy on the two-way
radio. Despite Buffy’s explanations, he
still wasn’t sure this pursuer wasn’t all part of her imagination. Through the grapevine of mutual friends and
family, he knew she still suffered occasionally from panic attacks brought on
by a general fear of life. So, this could very well be a wild goose chase. But just because it
was Buffy, he would be there.
It was a
fate sealed a long time ago when she was still a child.
The store
parking lot where he told Buffy to meet him was coming up on his right. Spike yanked the wheel, making his tires
squeal as he pulled into the entrance. He
pulled off to the side and left the engine idling while he waited. She wasn’t far behind him. A few seconds later, he watched as Buffy’s
truck pulled in, and right on her tail was a black
Infiniti QX.
It was a
very real threat after all, making his guilt even heavier. As instructed Buffy was heading toward the
side of the lot where there weren’t many cars. He hit the gas pedal, squealing tires so that
he could try to wedge between the two vehicles.
There was a grinding of brakes as the Infiniti tried to avoid hitting
him. He did, by about two inches. The guy took one
look at Spike, and started to reverse.
Spike chronicled
every detail he could of the vehicle as the SUV backed out into the road. There was more screeching and swerving of
cars as the perp didn’t bother to check for anyone in
his way. It was those few seconds that
gave Spike the chance to get his license tag number before the driver hauled
ass down the street.
He breathed
a sigh of relief as he pulled his car into a parking spot, noting that Buffy
was doing the same. Climbing out of his classic
Alfa Romeo Duetto, he stood with arms crossed as Buffy
and another girl got out of Buffy’s monster truck. He wished he was wearing sunglasses so he
could hide behind them as he gave the girl he once loved a frank perusal.
Buffy’s
blonde hair still hung to the middle of her back but now it swung freely over
her shoulders in wavy golden strands. His
mouth watered as he noticed how the pink wrap around shirt she wore emphasized
both her breasts and waistline. Dropping his gaze to
hips curvier than he remembered that were snugly encased
in black jeans. He followed the flow of
her legs down to her feet. He had to
smile. She still wore those work boots
meant to cause damage. Overall, she was
still stunningly beautiful and the ache in his groin reminded him of what he’d
lost.
“If you’re done staring.” Buffy stopped a few
feet from him, with her feet apart, and arms crossed. She was mimicking his stance, all the way to
the arched eyebrow. “Maybe we can do
something about the guy who was chasing us.”
Spike
leaned back against his car, letting his eyes wander back up her body to meet
her eyes. He wasn’t going to let this
slip of a woman intimidate him with her sarcasm. “Maybe if you weren’t dressed to attract
attention, then you wouldn’t have been chased.”
Buffy’s
hands moved to her hips, and her chin jutted out as she took another step
toward him. “Talk about attracting attention.” She waved a hand in the direction of his
sports car. “Having a midlife crisis a
bit early?”
“Grown up
any?” They were practically nose to
nose, both of them stirred by the unspoken resentment and hurt that had built
over the last year. In the beginning,
neither of them was willing to talk through it.
He couldn’t express his hurt, she wouldn’t explain her sudden need to
date half of
“Uh,
people,” Buffy’s companion stepped forward.
She gave a wave of her hand. “Just a reminder that the guy who just drove away is a murderer.”
“Huh?” Spike snapped out his squabble with Buffy so
he could focus on the blonde woman. “Murderer? Who did he
murder?”
“Maybe if
you hadn’t been so intent on insulting me, we might have been able to tell
you.” Buffy inserted with a flash of her
eyes. “Maybe we don’t need your help
after all.”
“Okay,
okay, I was wrong.” Spike threw his
hands up in resignation. “Want to tell
me what’s going on? And who you
are?”
“Spike,
this is Cassie. She’s a student at
UCLA.” Buffy stepped closer to the other
girl. “She came to me for help this
afternoon, and her boyfriend started to hassle us. When we drove off he followed us.”
“You said
he was a murderer?” Spike nodded at
Buffy, but his attention was on Cassie.
She was a little shorter than Buffy, with blonde hair and big eyes that
showed every emotion she was feeling. And right now, they were radiating fear in large doses. He dropped his voice so it was a little more
soothing. “Want to tell me what
happened?”
“I’ve been
living with Luke for about six months.”
Cassie wrung her hands together.
“He always seemed a bit dangerous, but he was fun to be around and
pretty good to me so I ignored all the signs.
Last week I got up in the middle of the night and heard him talking to
someone about taking out a dealer who double crossed them.”
“Any name
to go with this dealer…” Buffy screeched
Spike’s name cutting him off in mid-sentence.
Both girls’ eyes were wide in terror, while Buffy pointed behind
him. Spike turned to see a vintage white
“Roll under
the truck,” he yelled, as the first bullets whistled over his head. He was out in the open, and hopefully a
better target then either Buffy or Cassie.
He fired his gun in return, taking satisfaction as he shattered the rear
window of the car. A Caucasian male
leaned out, continuing to fire at them until they speeded up and disappeared
around the corner. Buffy! He didn’t even realize he’d screamed her name
until she responded.
“I’m
fine…we’re fine.” Buffy crawled around
the front of the car with Cassie right behind her, and he was flooded with
relief. He sat on the dirty pavement,
his legs sprawled open, and his shaking hands still holding his gun. He fought back the weakness of his tears, but
all he could feel was the uselessness of when the bullets were whizzing toward
them. One lucky shot and Buffy could’ve
been dead. “Spike, it’s over.” She covered his hands with her own, as she knelt in front
of him. “We’re all right.”
Spike
grabbed her shoulder so that he could reassure himself that she truly was
safe. Once it hit his conscious that she
was, the cop in him snapped into place.
“In the truck now,” he barked. “Buffy in the driver’s seat.” Jumping to his feet, he kept his weapon drawn
until the girls were safely in, then he climbed over Buffy to get to the
passenger seat. “Head
for the station.”
She didn’t
question him, just took off like a bat out of hell, while he kept watch. His gun was still in his hands when they
pulled into the police-parking garage, and he finally could relax a bit.
~~~~~~
Buffy
breathed a sigh of relief when Spike put his gun back in the holster. It meant they were safe for the moment. She wished she could snuggle into his arms,
let him hold her and tell her everything was going to be just fine. Except she didn’t have that
right anymore. Instead, she
turned to Cassie, putting an arm around her shoulder as Spike led them through
the building, and to the Detective Squad room.
Curious faces, many she knew, greeted them as they pushed through the
double doors.
Kate came
hurrying forward, and it was seeing her friend that allowed Buffy to let go of her
emotions. She was trembling all over
when Kate pulled her into strong arms that had often comforted her over the
years.
“It’s going
to be okay, baby,” Kate whispered, even though she had no clue what ‘it’ was
yet. As far as she was
concerned, there wasn’t anything they couldn’t accomplish by working together. Just like they had
before, and she considered Spike’s engagement a temporary bump in the road. According to her the relationship between
Spike and Fred hadn’t worked the first time so why would it the second. “Calm down.
You’re safe.”
It gave
Buffy the courage she needed, and she pulled away, wiping away her tears with
the back of her free hand. Cassie was
gripping the other one. She glanced
around for Spike, and found him in Captain Robert’s office. “Thanks, Kate. I’ve never been shot at before.” She pulled Cassie closer. “I bet you haven’t either.”
“First time
for everything,” Cassie quipped, with a watery smile.
“Shot
at? What the hell happened?” Kate’s eyes flew between them as her hands found purchase
on her hips.
“I’m sure
you’ll get the full story soon enough,” Buffy said, suddenly too tired to
explain yet again. “Uh-oh, I think we’re
being summoned.” Spike was looking back
at them, and gesturing for them to come closer.
Kate being the friend and natural detective that she was, went with
them. Neither Spike nor the Captain
objected to her being there as they took seats around the desk.
Roberts
pulled out a tape recorder, and set it on his desk. “I just want to make sure we get all the
details. If you confirm what Nagle has
already told me then we’re going to have to turn this over to Narcotics for
investigation.”
“Yes, sir,”
Cassie said. She reached over to take
Buffy’s hand again, before launching into her story yet again. This time Roberts and Spike asked for more
details, Luke’s full name, and the address where she’d been living with him,
any habits, name of friends, places that he frequented. Almost two hours went by before they were
satisfied with the information they’d been given.
“Now what?” Buffy asked when Roberts handed the tape over
to another detective for transcription.
“The three
of you will be put into a safe house.”
“Excuse
me,” Spike interrupted. “Why me?”
“Because
Detective Nagle, you are not an active officer on this case, and they already
have your information from your car you left in the parking lot.” Roberts stated. He turned to look at the girls. “And you two just walked right into the
middle of a dangerous situation.”
“I can’t
miss classes,” Buffy squeaked. “There’s
only two weeks left and I have exams.”
Everything
in her life was going according to the backup plan she’d created. She’d submitted an application to a women’s
crisis program in
“I
understand, Buffy.” Roberts leaned
forward, clasping his hands together on the desktop. “But isn’t your life more important?”
“I’m
sorry.” Cassie pulled away from Buffy,
and stared at an imaginary spot on the floor.
“I shouldn’t have involved you in my problems.”
Buffy was
torn. She wanted to help Cassie, but she
needed to graduate. Rubbing her forehead
with her fingers, she tried to decide what to do. Not that there was really
any choice. None of her plans
would work out if she were dead. Finally,
she nodded. She reached over to grab
Cassie’s hand again. “I’m sorry. Yes, you should have come to me.” Or at least
someone. “So, we’ll be roommates
until this gets sorted out.”
“Don’t
forget about me.” Spike was grinning,
and it only made her want to kick him.
to be continued…
