Chapter 25
“Is she asleep?” Buffy asked
“Yes…I’ll carry her upstairs – it was better for her to stay here where she’s in familiar surroundings” William said, carrying Hailey to her own bedroom.
You do that and I’ll order the take-out, and then open the wine” Buffy said going into Anya’s kitchen.
“So what’s going to happen tomorrow?” Buffy asked
“Well, I can get into the vault, and that chap from the Mercury Gallery will put my stuff into storage for me”
“Have you phoned that woman from Art World and told them you can’t make the judging panel now?”
“Our trip to Milan – never mind, I’ll take you there another time and you can have my undivided attention.” William said.
“And have you told the insurance company that there’s been an arrest for the burning down of the gallery?”
“Hmm, I phoned them, they said to contact them again after the trial, they will make a decision. (Ding Dong) - I’ll get it, it’ll be the food”
William went to the door and paid for the take-away, while Buffy fetched the plates and wine.
ooOOoo
Cordelia tossed and turned. She couldn’t sleep – could she actually do what she’d got planned? Ripping him off monetary wise was nothing, she’d been gradually siphoning off hundreds of thousands from his accounts every year – well, why not? He left her to do everything, he’d made it easy for her! He say something like, “Tell those builders at the Malibu Beach house that I’ve changed my mind, I don’t want Corinthian pillars around the pool now, I want it open plan with an awning cover at one end, like this” And he’d give her a magazine. She would tell him the builders are fed up of him chopping and changing his mind, and had walked off the job and needed paying off. Angel would shrug and she would transfer $100,000 to her account, and just tell the builder’s of the changes wanted – they couldn’t care, as far as they were concerned, it was a paying never-ending job! She’d say to them, ‘sell the pillars if you can, and divide the money between you, just don’t tell him – oh and your now known as AAA Builders, can’t pay you out on the old name as you’ve walked off the job, can I’ she was happy, the builders were happy and Angel was getting what he wanted so………but to end his life? Could she actually stick the needle in and do it?
She got up at first light and went into the office. She unlocked the draw to take out the letter she’d written, but it had gone.
Frowning she looked in her purse, and then thought she might have put it in the drawer of Angel’s nightstand along with the ‘loaded’ hypodermic, although she didn’t remember doing it…she went over to Angel’s room and listened for a few seconds before opening the door quietly and going in. She could see a huge lump in the bed and she quietly padded to the nightstand. She just reached out to open it when a hand shot out from underneath the bedclothes and caught her firmly by the wrist making her jump
“So…” Angel said sitting up, still holding her wrist, he pushed her hard backwards and she stumbled, just catching hold of the chair before she fell.
She was going to swing the chair at him when she saw the small calibre pistol in his hand, pointing right at her. Her first thoughts were – where the fuck did he get THAT from, and is it for real?
“Sit down Cordelia” he threw back the bedclothes, he was dressed
“Angel, I –“
“Sit down, and don’t say a word” She sat and swallowed, she was shaking like a leaf, her eyes not moving from the pistol.
“So…this is my suicide note is it…not bad, not bad” he pulled the letter she’d written from under his pillow and switched on the lamp, and read out loud from the letter:
‘To whom it concerns – I’ve confessed to the burning down of Giles’ fine Art gallery, and also to the attempted murder of his assistant. I can’t comprehend the enormity of what I’ve done – (he looked up at her and said,) don’t you think that sounds a bit – well, I dunno… a bit too fancy for me – a little too high brow perhaps? – Comprehend the enormity…see now I would have put something like ‘I don’t know how much serious trouble I’m in’ – but there you go. Right, now – where was I ….oh yeah, comprehend the enormity of what I’ve done, and I can’t live with it any longer. Please tell my friends I’m sorry and I’m sorry for what I did, Angel Stebson. Altogether now, aww, ain’t that a shame!”
“Angel, I wasn’t going to-” Cordelia started and sat up straighter in the chair
“I don’t remember telling you you could speak” he clicked off the safety catch on the pistol and jabbed it towards her
She flinched, grimaced and half turned on the chair, bringing her one leg up to shield her body and her arm to cover her cowering head
“Please Angel!” She was petrified
“Please Angel what?”
“L-Let me explain! – Please!”
She heard the safety catch click on and Angel said, okay then, let’s hear it”
She was trying to think fast, slowly she uncovered her head and let her leg slip down until she was sitting relatively normal again, she asked shakily,
“Please put the gun down!”
“Just say what you’ve got to say…” Angel waved the gun at her
“I was thinking all night – you confessing and without a lawyer present, it’s going to be virtually impossible for you to get off on a technicality…I was thinking this originally – I was going to get a hobo from town here…in my – your car, the Cirrus I mean…and then I was going to dress him in your clothes……shoot him up with that stuff in the hypodermic there, and then set fire to the car. I was going to make sure that he was really doused in gasoline first, so he couldn’t be identified…and...and then get Rack to take you somewhere in his Lear, anywhere you could just disappear”
“Go on”
“Well, that’s it!”
“What would I live on?”
“Your off-shore account money!” 5 million – she was waving goodbye to five fucking million…but if she kept her life…
“And you’ve closed both accounts and don’t tell me, the money’s in your account now!” Angel said scowling
“Well of course – how would you access an account in your name? It’s just in my account until you set up your new identity” Angel frowned – had he read it wrong – was that what she’d planned for real? – Course it wasn’t – coz Rack hadn’t said a word to him about it…
“I don’t believe you!”
“Look – I haven’t had time to do much – since NY you’ve been either been on a separate plane home, at the station house or with some fucking two-bit hooker around your neck – I didn’t know you were going to confess – I thought you’d try and blame that assistant or say it was somebody put up by Prince Arreeza - I couldn’t talk to you last night or Rack, neither of you were in any fit state! Or you’d have blabbed it out and one of those hookers would have let their mouth run away with them – or even another member of the band” Angel frowned – what she said was true, it sounded like a good plan too………………… had he got it wrong?
Cordelia relaxed a little, she needed to give an Oscar winning performance now if she was to be believed…
“Please Angel, I couldn’t kill you…(let the tears fall) why do you think I’ve stayed all these years – after….after Faith? I could have killed you last night you were hopelessly drunk I could have stuck a needle in you and you’d have never been any the wiser – and you tell me you love me – how could I do that after you say that to me – the words I’ve been longing..(sniff) I couldn’t kill you Angel, I just couldn’t” she reasoned.
The real reason was, she didn’t know how long it would take to empty and close the off-shore accounts, also Angel wasn’t in any fit state to ‘commit suicide’ – last night, and definitely in no fit state to write a suicide note, that’s why she was going to leave it till now, the morning…
“Oh fuck Cordy I’m sorry, I’m sorry love – I got you wrong!” he immediately dropped the gun on the bed and went to her.
She relaxed – they had plenty of time now.
“I’ve got to get you to the station house by 10” Cordelia said, delicately wiping her eyes on the back of her hand so as not to smudge her mascara.
“I’ll drive you there and back to the bail hostel, and then we can come back, get some cleaners in to clear up and – (DING DONG) who can that be at this hour?”
“Is there much mess then?” Angel asked as Cordelia went downstairs to answer the front door
“Go see for yourself!” as all she said. She came back five minutes later
“I’ve had to promise Mr Synder that we’d get his lawn repaired – the bikers churned it up last night”
“Bikers, what bikers?” Angel asked
“Some friends of Rack’s, turned up about 2am…you were well gone, passed out on the sofa, I had a game and a half getting you to bed”
Angel grinned at her saying that and said
“Surely not! – Come on then, I suppose we’d better get-“
“Angel…not out the front…there are loads of paparazzi out the front”
“What? Oh SHIT!”
ooOOoo
“Have I got to go to school?” Hailey asked disappointedly
“Fraid so honey, but listen, tonight you’ll stay with Dawny again, and on Saturday I’ll come over and take you both out - we’ll do something nice okay?” Buffy said
“Will you be there uncle William?”
“Only for a little while, I’ve got some people to see about lots of boring business stuff. You don’t mind being with Buffy do you?”
“On no, course not it’ll be fun” Hailey said grinning
“Here you go hon, one peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich, a box of raisins, a banana and a carton of apple juice – to go!” Hailey took her lunch box and put it in her school bag.
“Right love, got everything you need, books and stuff, homework” William asked picking up his car keys
“Yes”
“Right, okay then, lets go” The three of them left the Harris’ house and William dropped Hailey off at school, and then he and Buffy carried on to the hospital. When they got there they were greeted with the good news that Xander was no longer in intensive care and had a room of his own on the ground floor.
He looked better, he only had the one drip in him now, gone were the breathing apparatus and the heart monitor machine, but he now had a plaster bandage around his head with a complicated looking set up of thin metal rods making a frame around his head. This was to stop movement.
Anya look tired but she smiled when they walked in.
“Xander said that I’m no longer to sleep here at night, I’m to go home. Did Hailey go to school okay?”
“Yes – I said I’d take her and Dawny out on Saturday, that’s if you don’t mind?” Buffy said
“Mind? - I’d be very grateful actually; I can catch up with the washing and shopping – are you sure you don’t mind Will?”
“I’ll only be with them for half an hour or so, I’ve got to oversee my stuff going to the Mercury Gallery, it’ll be Buffy having them”
ooOOoo
Cordelia drove to the bail hostel and Angel went and signed in. She sat thinking while he was in there. Where the hell had he got that gun from? – She’d never felt so scared in all her born days as when he had that gun trained on her this morning. She’d amazed herself how quickly she’d come up with a plausible plot…she could hardly have said, ‘yes angel, that’s right, I’ve emptied all your accounts and now I’m going to bump you off making it look like suicide’. Grinning like a Cheshire Cat, Angel came out of the bail hostel waggling his left leg and he opened the car door
“Guess what, instead of hanging around here all day, I can come home coz I agreed to this!” He pulled up the leg of his jogger bottom pants and revealed a tag.
“It’s one of those electronic tag thingies”
“So I gathered”
“Come on then kid – lets go home” he jumped in the car with a grin. Cordelia was irritated beyond measure, she drove for a hundred yards or so, pulled in, turned off the engine.
“Why have we stopped – I’ve only got twenty minutes to get home or all sorts of alarms will go off and I’ll get arrested and I’ll forgo my bail!”
Cordelia gripped the steering wheel till her knuckles went white
“Where do you get off pulling a gun on me – huh - how dare you frighten me like that!” She put her hand to her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut, she didn’t want to cry in front of him, but it was delayed shock.
“Aww, hey I’m sorry!”
“Don’t touch me!”
Angel jumped back in his seat like a scalded cat from going to give her a hug.
“After all I’ve done for you…” She started the car and revved the engine and tore off like a bat out of hell.
Angel thought it best to say nothing more.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Many thanks to Vette Hayden for the beautiful banner she made me for this story, and thanks to Andy who installed it, with the help of Callmekitten, coz I’m hopeless with computers!!
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