Angel blew on his freezing cold hands.
“I DID tell you to wear something warm!” Cordelia said
“I know…I forgot the time when I was in the studio” Angel lied
Taking pity on him, Cordelia unwrapped one of the scarves she’d got on
“Here…put this round your neck, and wrap your hands in the ends, you’ll soon warm up. Now I’m going to try and sleep if I can, make the journey go quicker”
Angel said ‘thanks’ and put the scarf on, wrapped it around his hands too. He then sat back and closed his eyes, but all he saw was himself hitting Xander with the fire-extinguisher and pulling him further into the gallery. He opened his eyes with a start and sat up quickly.
“Huh…what’s the matter?” Cordelia asked sleepily
“Oh, er…cramp – go back to sleep, it’ll pass” Angel said
Cordelia laid her head back on her arm. Angel was as jumpy as a kitten, missing his ‘Club Class’ seats and comforts she thought as she drifted off.
Angel wasn’t going to be allowed the luxury of sleep – who’d have thought it, he had a conscience………every time he closed his eyes, he saw the unconscious Xander lying on the floor in the rapidly filling with smoke gallery………had he killed him?
He felt sick. He wanted to get up and walk around but the flight was bumpy and he’s probably fall and hurt himself. He tried to think of what he would do with the insurance money when he got it, or the up-coming trial…anything to get his mind off whether he was now a killer or not…
ooOOoo
“I promise you Mrs Harris, if anything changes I’ll ring you immediately. Go home, have a shower and change of clothes, something to eat and come back this afternoon” The doctor said to Anya.
“But…I don’t like to leave him!”
“He’s going nowhere – look have you tried to contact the gallery owner yet?”
“Yes – I’ve left a dozen messages for him, he’s on holiday in England, his mobile is switched off”
“And there’s no other way of contacting him – via the hotel he’s staying at, perhaps?” the doc suggested. Anya went to shake her head and then said
“No, he’s rented as cottage – although I think we might have the number of the lady who rented it to him…will you promise to ring me if he comes round?” Anya looked down at her hubby, she was holding his hand. He had wires and tubes coming him out of him all over, machines making regular little beeps and flashes to let you know they were doing their job of monitoring his oxygen, painkillers, his heart rate, blood-pressure and breathing.
“Okay then, but I’m coming straight back after I’ve had a shower and changed” Anya relented
“Good girl, now go!” the doctor said and smiled at her.
ooOOoo
William yawned and scratched his head. He opened the fridge to get juice, bacon and eggs and stuff to take Buffy breakfast in bed. He noticed that there was only an inch of milk left in the bottle and went back into the bedroom to pull on his pants and a tee to nip over to Mrs Appleton’s for some supplies.
He sat carefully on the bed so as not to disturb Buffy, but she was awake anyway
“And where are you creeping off to?” Buffy asked as she watched him slip on his loafers
“We’ve run out of milk – you go back to sleep, I’ll be back in a jiffy, and then my little princess, I’m going to serve you breakfast in bed!”
Buffy sat up and kissed him
“I knew I loved you for a reason!”
“Love you too………hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm – hey don’t get me going!!” William stood with a grin and adjusted his pants.
“Won’t be long!”
He got as far as the front door. He came back into the bedroom looking ashen, holding a piece of paper
“Will…William – what is it love?” Buffy sat up looking concerned about the look on his face. William came over to his side of the bed and opened the draw, he took out his mobile and switched it on. He sank to the bed and said,
“Oh my god!” he could see he had 17 missed calls.
Buffy quickly scanned the note from Mrs Appleton, it read:
Dear Mr Giles, at 6.10am I had a frantic phone call from a woman called Anna I think she said her name was, she said you are to phone her immediately and then to phone the Sunnydale Fire Department’
With shaking hand, William phoned Anya’s home number, but getting no answer he phoned her mobile.
“Anya – it’s William, what’s happened, I just got a message from…yeah, WHAT……the gallery? – Go on, Xander’s what………Anya don’t cry pet, I can’t understand what you’re saying when you cry, now Xander’s what?…Xander’s in Intensive care? Oh my god – the gallery’s burned to the ground………………………” Buffy sat up round eyed and horrified.
ooOOoo
Assume the position back there, we’re coming into land” the pilot shouted through from the cockpit.
Angel nudged Cordelia and told her what the pilot said
“Thank god – I thought I was going to scream!” Angel said
“We’re not there yet, this is a stop-over to re-fuel, we’ve got…another two and half hours yet” Cordelia said looking at her watch.
“Oh, terrific!” Angel said sarcastically
“Ask him if you can sit in the cockpit, you never know” Cordelia suggested
“Will you be alright here then?”
“Yeah, I’m actually comfy” – she was too.
Refuelling took an hour and the pilot said that Angel could sit in the co-pilot’s seat as long as he didn’t touch anything.
ooOOoo
“Tea-time flight, from Birmingham – it goes straight to Sunnydale, now all we have to do is get to Birmingham before 4” William said
“I’ve got an idea, won’t be long” Buffy said
Ten minutes later Buffy came back
“Remember the hotel I stayed at – the Seaview, well Chris the landlady’s son is a taxi driver, he said he could take us to Birmingham, leave here at one o’ clock to allow for traffic, and it’ll cost us £100”
“You’re a star. Oh god I’m so sorry to ruin things!” William said throwing stuff into his case.
“It’s not your fault, besides, I want to be with you” Buffy said softly, she felt so sorry for him – he’d lost his gallery and his best friend was in intensive care.
ooOOoo
Sunnydale fire Dept.
“This is Chief Fire Officer Andy Wells here, I need to speak to a Detective Jon Levinson – it’s about the Gallery that went up in smoke yesterday…yes I’ll hold”
“Detective Jon Levinson”
“Hello Jon, this is Chief Fire Officer Andy Wells, about that gallery that went up last night, our suspicions have been confirmed, our forensics team have found there were spots of some kind of accelerant on the wooden flooring and also we’ve found the casings of one or two lamps, they’re of the halogen type and shouldn’t be used to spotlight art exhibits – the insurers won’t pay out”
“Right, so you say it was arson then?”
“Almost certainly. Just check with the gallery owner what lamps he uses, I’ve known the guy for 6 years, done his fire certificates for him every year, I know he always used the low-energy bulbs – see if there’s a reason why or if he changed them. Have you spoken to him yet?”
“Not been able to, he’s on his way home on a flight from England, he’s been on holiday apparently”
“Poor guy, to come back to this – oh well, keep me posted as to what’s happening”
“Will do, and thanks, bye”
ooOOoo
14 hours later after what seemed like a night-mare journey home, William and Buffy pulled their luggage from the carousel in Sunnydale airport.
“Look, I’ll take a cab to my place and bring all the cases with me, you go to the hospital, then come to me – or phone or something, okay?” Buffy said
William nodded and then said
“Have you got enough dollars?”
“I’ll be fine, now go – go on!” She kissed him and William made for the taxi-rank and got a cab to Sunnydale General.
As he was making enquiries as to where to find his friend, Anya came through some double doors and began to drop coins into a drinks machine.
“ANYA!”
She turned from bending down retrieving her drink and said
“Oh William – you’re here at last!” he hugged her tight and she began to cry
William’s eyes watered too and he gently held her out at arms length
“I’m sorry…it’s been a nightmare trying to get here…How is he?”
Anya sniffed and said
“Still unconscious………William, I have to tell you this before they do…”
“Tell me what pet?” He held her hand and they walked back to the ICU
“The police are trying to say Xander might have started the fire deliberately”
“WHAT - I mean what – oh god no way!”
“I told them that, he was hit on the back of the head with a fire extinguisher”
“By whom?”
Anya stopped outside a set of doors, and just shrugged
William looked up. He could see through the glass Xander propped up in bed, his head swathed in bandages, oxygen mask on and tubes coming out of him everywhere…
He felt his eyes watering again and he said quietly
“Can I go to him?”
“Sure…come on” Anya led William into the Intensive Care Unit and let William got to the bedside
“You can hold his hand” Anya encouraged
Being careful of the Canula drip and feed in his arm, William shakily took Xander’s hand
“Hello my friend…I just………oh god…please be alright” tears fell down his face but he continued,
“I just wanted to say, no matter what the police say…I know it’s not your fault okay – I’d never blame you” Anya slipped her hand into William’s, rested her forehead against Williams arm and she too began to cry softly.
After sitting with Xander and Anya for half an hour, William said he’d phone Buffy and went outside to do it.
He’d just flipped his mobile shut after phoning Buffy and telling her everything he knew, when he saw the enquiries desk lady point to him with her pen and tell the detectives that he was William Giles. They all went and sat on the bench by the vending machines and asked William some questions
“………AND you can forget all this rubbish about it being Xander that set the gallery on fire- I trust that man with my life and he’d never do anything like that!”
“Well sir, have you any enemies?”
“Not that I can think of, why?”
“Because sir, it was Arson…do you know what this is, sir?”
One of the detectives showed William a plastic evidence bag. Inside was the metal base of a halogen light bulb, it was blackened and there was no glass, just the base and the wire filament inside.
William frowned and peered at it and said,
“Looks like some sort of exploded burnt out lamp, why?”
“Do you know what kind of lamp it is, sir?” the other detective asked
William looked again, and then he said,
“A halogen type I think, I don’t use them”
“So how come this was retrieved from the gallery floor?”
“I don’t know, I never use them, I only use the low energy bulbs, I have an account with Philipson’s who make them. I know not to use halogen lamps, they give off too much heat and when exhibits are shown, they more often than not use flammable materials such as oil based paints or varnishes – besides which, if I used those, the insurers wouldn’t pay out…” The last five words William said made him sit up – his gallery was up in smoke, and he might not get it’s value from the insurance company.
“Oh god…where’s that bloody Stebson, why haven’t you arrested him yet, huh? – You can bet your sweet life this is all down to him!” William stood getting angry
“Will you please remember where you are and keep your voice down!”
“Look, I’ve just about had enough of this, first you accuse my best friend, then me - when the real culprit is out there laughing at us – go and arrest Angel Stebson!”
“There is an arrest notice out for him sir, and his assistant Cordelia Chase, but they’re not at home and cannot be traced at the moment”
“That’s because he’s in bloody New York, don’t you cops know anything?!”
“New York, how do you know?”
“Because he’s being sued, he’s in court – it’s in all the bloody papers – god almighty don’t you even know that?”
Shame-faced one of the detectives stood and left to make a call………
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