Chapter 23
Although Spike understood the reasoning behind his Captain’s refusal, it was still frustrating. Roberts said he needed more to go on in order to get a search warrant. There wasn’t anything to indicate that Peterson had murdered Faith, much less hidden her body at his parent’s vacation home. Besides it had already been searched after his arrest.
He took a deep breath as he tried to figure out how he was going to break it to the celebratory crowd in his living room. They were all in such high spirits and his news was only going to bring them down. He ran his hands over his face as he tried to force himself to move.
“He wouldn’t get it for us, would he?” Buffy asked, leaning on the doorframe. She looked down at the floor before looking back up at him. “It’s over isn’t it? Tomorrow is the last day.”
“No, Buffy,” Spike said, stepping over to her. He cupped her face. “It’s not over. We’ll work on it during my off hours if necessary. The others will help, too.”
“But you don’t want me here any longer,” Buffy said bluntly.
Apparently he hadn’t been hiding his emotions as well as he thought he was. He should have known better than to try. Buffy was a very intuitive girl who was able to read him easily. How could he tell her that he didn’t want her to stay? Not because he didn’t want her but because he felt it was the best thing for her. And there was the fact that her love for him scared him to death. He was certain it wouldn’t stand the test of time after she began to build a life of her own. She was young and vibrant and he was an older man that had been broken by life and by his profession. He also felt that he would only remind her of the childhood nightmare every time she looked at him.
“Buffy.”
“Shh,” Buffy whispered, laying her fingers on his lips. “I love you. One of these days you’ll accept it.”
“Determined little thing, aren’t you?”
“Made it this far, haven’t I?”
Spike couldn’t argue with her on that point. So, he ignored it.
“Let’s go tell the others,” Spike said, taking her hand to pull her toward the living room. He stepped toward the kitchen where everyone seemed to be gathered. “Hey, everybody,” pausing until they were all looking at him. “I hate to tell you this, but Roberts won’t go to a judge without more evidence. It’s not that he doesn’t think we may be right. We just don’t have enough proof for a judge.”
“I was afraid of that,” Kate said, sighing.
“What kind of information do we need?” Xander asked. “We just can’t give up now.”
“Maybe we need to look at it a different way,” Angel said, standing and shoving his hands in his front pockets. “Let’s answer the question of why the house? What would make him leave her there instead of a million other places that he could?”
“It would be something about the house,” Kate said, “Like it was his favorite place or his hated place.”
The reaction was a lot better than Spike thought it would be. It amused him to watch these people brainstorming together. Maybe they should open a detective agency together. This group was like a dog with a bone, bound and determined not to let go until they had sucked out the marrow filled with the secrets they were hunting for. Someone suggested looking up any public records on the house and Willow hurried to the computer to begin a search.
Buffy leaned against him and he slipped his arm around her to draw her closer. Every moment with her was something he wanted to cherish. It was one of the reasons that he kept delaying the talk. Once he told her, their relationship could turn ugly and he wanted as many happy times as he could get.
“Here,” Cordelia said, handing Spike a bowl filled with ice cream. “You may as well have some too, while we’re figuring this out.”
He took the sweet confection and sat on a barstool with Buffy beside him. She refused however, when he tried to give her a bite. Instead she only gave him a look that almost broke his heart. Would he have the guts to send her away when it was time? He just didn’t know at this point.
“Uh, guys,” Willow said, turning to look at everyone. “I think I may have found something.”
“What?” Kate asked, hurrying over to look at the computer screen over the redhead’s shoulder.
“Well, at the time that Faith disappeared his parents had applied for a permit to put in a new dock,” Willow explained. “And it also has a description of the house. It’s yellow.”
It was all they would need and after requesting Willow print the records out, Spike hurried back to the phone. This time Roberts agreed to go to a judge first thing in the morning to try and get the search warrant.
~~~~~~~
Since the Peterson’s vacation house was outside of the Los Angeles County district, Roberts had to go to a state judge to obtain the warrant. It took a lot of finagling to pull it off, but by early afternoon it was granted. Of course, they would have to work in conjunction with the local law enforcement of Taylor, California. Spike just hoped they would be cooperative with the search.
Kate was driving with Spike in the front seat with her. In the back of the car was Buffy and Cordelia. They had to receive special permission for Buffy to accompany them. Captain Roberts had agreed on the fact that something about the house might jar something in her mind. The three women had been chattering all the way up about everything but what they were hoping to accomplish.
Cordelia and Kate both wanted to take Buffy shopping for new clothes, and they were talking about what would look good on her. Buffy was only half into this particular discussion. She was still wearing jeans and t-shirts with her army jacket over them. The image of Buffy in a cute skirt and blouse kept running through his mind. Spike loved her no matter what she wore, but he couldn’t help the fantasy of her in more feminine clothes. Of course this led him to fantasizing about taking them off to reveal lacy panties and bras.
He glanced over his shoulder to find her already staring at him. She gave him that little smile she wore when she was satisfied. It gave him chills where he didn’t have any business having chills at the moment. He turned to stare straight ahead and tried to think of anything but Buffy.
“Here we are,” Kate announced as she pulled into the parking lot of the small police department. “Let’s keep our fingers crossed that they aren’t going to consider us interfering city slickers.”
But of course they did. They were directed to a Sergeant Nicholson who glanced over the warrant with contempt. It seemed he was a good buddy with Lance Peterson’s father.
“Don’t you think these poor people have been through enough?” Nicholson asked. “What in the world do you hope to find that wasn’t found before?”
“A body,” Kate baldly stated. “They weren’t looking for evidence of a second girl or a murder so something may have been overlooked.”
“And you really think that the Peterson’s have been spending months up there at a time and never realized that there was a body on their property.”
“Not if it was buried,” Spike said, stepping forward. “Like maybe where the new dock was put in.”
Nicholson shook his head, never taking his eyes off Buffy as if she was the cause of the problems instead of a victim. Cordelia stood beside her in a protective stance, but Buffy didn’t seem to be too upset. People had doubted her for years so this was nothing new for her to deal with. She was just biding her time for the truth to come out.
“Well, seeing as you’ve got a warrant,” Nicholson said, standing up from behind his desk and grabbing his hat. “I don’t have much of a choice but to accompany you up there. We’ll take along a couple of my deputies to help with the search.”
“Thank you,” Kate said, politely.
The stance of her body told Spike that she was spitting mad at the condescending manner they were being treated in. He wasn’t too happy with it either. They were all supposed to be on the same side, but Nicholson didn’t see it that way. But then again the vacation homes had to bring in quite a bit of revenue for the small town. If the Petersons were there a lot then he could see why Nicholson wouldn’t want to alienate them. It could mean a loss of money for the community.
Two deputies were summoned and rode along in the car with Nicholson while Spike and the others followed behind them. The gated community of Juniper Estates was about a mile outside of Taylor. It was nestled beside a mountain with the houses spread out around the lake the community was named after. They were waved through the gate after Nicholson spoke with the guard.
The houses were spread apart as Joyce had said. The streets wound around them shaded by sprawling pine trees. It was a beautiful location that seemed too peaceful to hold anything as ugly as a murder victim. Spike knew that looks could deceive especially when the beauty could hold secrets behind every turn.
They turned onto a small street that wound around the lake. Here the houses were even more impressive with their towering angles and balconies that seemed to reach out over the vibrant blue of the lake. It was a place that could only be owned by an elite few of society. Someplace that Faith could probably never have reached if she had lived. Peterson’s words of her now being in a large house echoed In Spike’s mind. This scenario fit his statement perfectly and he wondered if promises of a life like this was what had lured the girl to her death.
The car ahead of them slowed then pulled into the driveway of a two-story home. They followed it around to the back of the house where three decks at different levels overlooked the water. The back yard dotted with trees sloped down to where the dock and small boathouse were. It was a spectacular house that promised a gentile hideaway for people tired of the social scene.
“I can’t even imagine living in a place like this,” Cordelia said, echoing Spike’s thoughts. “Guess I’m too much of a city girl.”
“It’s beautiful,” Buffy said, sounding a little awestruck as she climbed from the car. She hurried around to join Spike, slipping her hand in his. “I just don’t understand how he could have all this but yet turn so ugly.”
“We probably never will,” Spike responded. “Some people just can’t be fixed no matter what they have or don’t have.”
As a cop he knew that first hand. The evil in people was never limited by their status in life, their income or even how they were raised. It just seemed that some people were corrupt no matter how much anyone tried to reach them. He shook his head at the complexities of human beings.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Nicholson said, walking over to the group. “I called their cleaning woman to unlock the door. No, reason to be knocking their door down over this.”
“That’s fine,” Kate said. “Is it going to be long?”
“Nope, she should be here any moment,” Nicholson said. “Lives in town, said it wouldn’t be a problem to come right out.”
“Thank you,” Spike said, nodding his head at the fellow officer.
“I understand you’re not here in an official capacity,” Nicholson questioned.
“No, sir.”
“Well, then I guess you and the ladies will be waiting out here while we do this,” Nicholson said, with a grin on his face. “Except, of course, for Officer Lockley, that is.”
“That’s fine,” Spike answered, straightening a little more. It was apparent that Sergeant Nicholson only wanted to do a perfunctory search of the house and he wanted to make sure that Nicholson was kept on his toes. “As long as the job is done thoroughly than I have no argument with it.” Spike returned Nicholson’s smile with as much friendliness that had been afforded him.
Thankfully, another car pulled in behind the other two. It was a small blue Honda Civic from which an older woman emerged. She bustled over to the group with her hands waving.
“I’m sorry it took so long,” the woman offered. “I had to wait for the school bus to drop off my grand-kids. It was a good thing that my husband was there to watch them. I’m Linda by the way.” She put her hand out in a general direction of the group.
“Hi, I’m Buffy,” putting her hand out to shake Linda’s before gesturing to her friends. “This is Kate, Cordelia and Spike. We appreciate you coming out to do this and I hope it wasn’t too inconvenient for you to come out.”
“Nah, not too much,” Linda said, as she started walking toward the house. “So, what did Lance do now? That kid was always trouble. Never did trust him very much. Never let him be behind me. Coldest eyes, I’ve ever seen.”
“Now, now, Linda,” Nicholson said, with a laugh. “It’s not nice to gossip about someone you haven’t seen in years.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Linda said, turning to Buffy and rolling her eyes. “Didn’t mean to be sticking my nose in where it doesn’t belong.”
“So, was Lance Peterson out here a lot?” Kate asked, positioning herself next to the housekeeper as they climbed the steps to the back door.
Linda glanced at Nicholson for a moment. “Well, it is the family’s house. They were always coming out here for weekends and holidays.”
“Linda,” Kate said, laying a hand on the woman’s arm. “If you know anything about Lance being out here about the time the new dock was put in, then it would be helpful to us to know about it.”
“Lord, that was a long time ago,” Linda said unlocking the door and pushing it open. “Let me think about it and I’ll let you know.” She handed the key to Nicholson. “Here you go. I called Mrs. Peterson and she said it would be fine for you to lock up. I’ll pick the key up tomorrow morning if that’s all right.”
“No, that’s fine, Linda,” Nicholson replied. “You better be getting back to your grandchildren.”
“And if you remember anything that might be helpful,” Kate said, handing her one of her cards. “Please call me.”
“Of course ma’am,” Linda said, before scurrying back toward her car.
Spike was beginning to wonder how much influence the Peterson’s had in this small community. They definitely had Sergeant Nicholson on their side, who apparently wasn’t above intimidating others to have them see things in the best interest of the Petersons. He wasn’t feeling any real vibes to a conspiracy to protect the family, but just a friendship that might be a bit too blind. Deciding to just play it out, Spike stepped back to wait with Buffy and Cordelia while the others searched for evidence.
Kate gave them a wink before following the others into the house. Nicholson started giving orders to his men as soon as they entered. Spike was confident that Kate would ensure that a through search was done, even if she had to do it herself. She had always done exemplary work in her investigations with very few complaints. It was one of the reasons Roberts was letting her run with this one. Spike was there to help supervise the younger cop if she got in too deep.
It seemed to take forever for them to finish. Cordelia curled up in one of the Adirondack chairs, seemingly lost in the view. Spike smoked one cigarette after another, carefully grinding them out on his shoe and making a pile to take with him. He kept his eye on Buffy who paced the length of the lower deck over and over again. She was carefully putting one foot in front of the other, keeping her arms wrapped around herself, and seemingly talking to herself. He had a feeling that she was trying to keep herself from having a panic attack. Slow, repetitive movements in a meditative manner were often a way of slowing down the nervous system.
He could hear Nicholson gathering his men together. Nothing had been found from the gleeful tone of his voice. The back door opened just as Spike realized that Buffy wasn’t muttering to herself. She was singing. She moved to stand on the top step as the others returned to the deck. They stopped in amazement at the young woman staring out over the backyard with what seemed like a blank stare and singing loudly.
“It’s been three long years. Do ya still want me? If I don’t see a ribbon ‘round the old oak tree,” Buffy sang, starting across the back yard. “I’ll stay on the bus, forget about us. Put the blame on me. If I don’t see a yellow ribbon ‘round the old oak tree. Whoa, tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree.”
Spike quickly looked up to where Buffy was headed. On the path to the dock was an oak tree. He grinned as Buffy circled around it, dragging her hand along the roughened bark. She stopped and turned toward them, waiting for them to join her.
“The girl is crazy,” Nicholson said, as they made their way toward Buffy. “She spent years in a nut house. Now, she’s got us out here chasing her imagination.”
“I don’t think so,” Spike said, stopping in front of her. “What did you remember?”
“The day he came back,” Buffy said excitedly. “He was singing that song as he made his way across the cellar. I didn’t think it meant anything until I saw the tree then it clicked. Faith is buried under this tree somewhere.”
“I suppose you want us to dig up their entire backyard on your hunch,” Nicholson scoffed.
“Get the shovels,” Kate said. “Warrant says house and property. So, we’re digging.”
“I’d be glad to help,” Spike said. “But I’m here unofficially.”
Nicholson didn’t like that remark but he arranged for shovels to be brought out to them. He didn’t have a choice. He also didn’t have a choice but to do the dig with the utmost care possible. One thrust into the dirt could alter any evidence found. The sergeant conferred with Spike and Kate on which spot would have been the easiest for Peterson to do on his own. One of the deputies that had been brought remembered when the dock was being built. He pointed to a spot between the path and the tree where they had kept the building supplies. Ruling out that area and the yard between the house and the tree because Buffy said he’d give Faith a view, they began to dig on the lake side and the side toward the property line.
It took almost two hours of cautious digging before they found what they were looking for.
“I found something wrapped in garbage bags,” one of the deputies called out.
It was then that the crime lab people were called to complete the dig. Buffy refused to leave until they had finished. Hours they waited on the back steps for the team to arrive and to unearth the deputy’s find. She snuggled into Spike’s side with tears streaming down her face as they brought Faith out of the ground. There wouldn’t be an official pronouncement that it was Faith until the coroner had made positive ID. But Buffy knew. They all did.
“You did it, pet,” Spike told her as he hugged her close. “She’s been found.”
“I thought it would be a relief,” Buffy said, wiping at her tears. “You know a feeling of accomplishment and all I can feel is grief. She’s still so alone.”
“No, she’s not,” Cordelia said, sitting on the other side of Buffy. “She’s got all of us.”
It was true. Faith had become a part of them. Everyone from Cordelia to Willow had come to care about the missing girl in the last week just like they had with Buffy.
They were family now.
to be continued…
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