Warren was walking back to the club after making a sale to one of his regular customers when he noticed the high school principal carrying Buffy Summers in his arms. The warning bell screamed in his head that something wasn't right about this as he followed them to make sure everything was okay.
He quickly started to run when he noticed the man hit the automatic button opening the trunk of his car. Thinking he was going to take Snyder by surprise he didn't yell for help as he approached them. The deadly mistake brought him face to face with the older man who was now holding a gun pointed directly at his chest. Buffy was unconscious, lying in the trunk of the man's car with no sign of any trauma that he could see.
"Hey… Shit!" Warren said, as he felt a pain in his chest, and found it suddenly hard to breathe.
Looking down he saw his blood spreading through the front of his shirt. He swore he didn't hear a shot, and then noticed the gun had a silencer on it. Warren realized one heard the shot meaning no one would come to his or Buffy's aide. He tried to yell, but found it hard to take a deep breath, as he fell to the ground.
"Tsk, tsk, will the young ever learn?" Snyder sighed as he closed the trunk and pressed the button that unlocked the driver's door. "You had such a promising future in pharmaceuticals, Mr. Meers, that is until you tried to be a Good Samaritan. Should've kept to yourself, you'd still be alive now." He said as he got in his car and drove way without making sure his only witness was dead.
*******
Spike grew anxious as he returned to the club. The bartender said Buffy's duffle bag was still behind the bar where she always left it until she was ready to leave. He walked quickly over toward the man he'd heard someone call Angel and the pretty little brunette who'd been dancing with Buffy.
"She's not out back." Spike told them.
"And you are?" Faith asked.
"He's Dru's puppy." Angel answered.
"Oh, so you're the new toy." Faith snorted.
"This isn't about Dru." Spike tried to get them back on track with finding Buffy.
"Let me give you a word of advice. Buffy's big sis has fangs and she'll suck you dry and not in a good way." Angel decided to warn him.
"I'm worried about Buffy right now. She's not out back and her duffle bag, according to Lorne, is still behind the bar."
"Fuck, that's not good." Faith said, as she to began to worry. "She never would leave it here, no matter how trashed she got."
"Okay, Faith you take Blondie here and search going south. Darla and I will go north." Angel started to bark out instructions. "I'll call Anya and let her know what's going on."
"Do you want me to call her parents?" Spike asked.
"Lot of good calling them would do." Faith replied, "Most everyone avoids her thinking she's the reason her sister was killed."
"She was fifteen. How could they hold her responsible for leaving her sister alone?"
"She didn't leave her alone." Faith growled. "That's the problem, they all assume she was the one that left Dawn home alone. It was your darling Dru that left her. But nobody bothered to ask Buffy. They all just assumed it was Buffy. I was the only one that asked her, did you know that?"
"No. It would seem she has a very good friend in you then." Spike replied, having it all make sense now.
"I see you're not getting all defensive and protective of Dru." Darla grilled him, surprised herself with Faith's declaration.
"I'm not going to. She's not talked much about it, other than to say what everyone else had been told. But, it does make sense of some things I've noticed since coming here." Spike shared. "I just want to make sure that Buffy is okay."
"You really care about her, don't you?" Angel asked, noticing how interested the man was in his sister's friend.
"She has a way about her that makes me want to protect her." That was all he was willing to share right now.
"Okay, let's go. She couldn't have gone far." Angel said as they started toward the front door.
"Hold on, I'm going with you." Lorne called out as he yelled at the other bartender that he was leaving to help find Buffy.
*******
Warren found it hard to breathe from the pain as he waited until the car drove off before trying to move. The last thing he needed was to have the mad man come and run him over. He needed to stay alive and get help. Someone had to save the girl, no one deserved to be taken against their will.
Biting his lip he forced himself to roll on to his side so he could get to his feet. Time he knew was of the essence, before the old pervert hurt her. Pain, unlike anything he'd ever felt, gripped his chest as he forced himself to stand up. A wave of dizziness came over him once he managed to get to his feet. He fought it like hell until it eased up enough for him to focus on his surroundings.
He could see The Bronze across the street and forced one foot to move in front of the other. Soon he found himself at the curb, ready to cross the street when he noticed a few familiar faces come rushing out of the club.
Taking as deep a breath as he could manage, he called out, "Help me!
Spike noticed the man that Buffy was talking to earlier, standing on the other side of the street. He could see the man wobbling back and forth like he was drunk, clutching his chest. Even with what little light that was shining down from the street light he could see what looked like blood spreading all over the man's white shirt.
"I think he's been shot." Spike muttered as he took off across the street yelling, "Some one call for an ambulance."
Lorne pulled out his cell phone and dialed as the others followed Spike. "Get someone here quick; someone has been shot right outside The Bronze." Hanging up quickly joined them in time to hear that someone had kidnapped Buffy. "Oh, Lord! not again."
"Who took her?" Spike asked as he tore open the shirt and noticed how bad the young man had been shot.
"Snyder, he has her…unconscious….trunk…car." Warren managed to get out as he found it harder to breath.
"Warren, are you sure?" Angel asked, "Are you sure it was Principal Snyder?"
The critically injured man nodded his head and wheezed the word, "Yes."
Lorne again pulled out his phone and dialed a number he prayed he never would have to, "Charles, listen…yeah its Buffy…Principal Snyder kidnapped her, now get here quick." He said before hanging up the phone so he could face Miss Summers' friends.
"Who did you just call?" Spike growled.
"Charles Gunn, he's a cop who I've been helping keep tabs on Buffy." Lorne explained. "He's been watching over her when he can. We both have since she has idiots as parents."
Faith started to cry and Angel pulled her toward him and said, "Don't worry, we'll find her."
"She told me that man made her skin crawl. He was always doggin' her about this and that." Faith continued to cry.
Spike wished the ambulance would arrive. He knew if they didn't soon this Warren was a dead man. The symptoms indicated that the bullet had collapsed one lung. He could tell the tension was getting worse by the deviation of the trachea.
"Why is his voice box off center and toward the right?" Darla asked, as she wiggled out of her undershirt from underneath her flannel shirt, so it could be used as a bandage.
"His lung has collapsed, and I really need that ambulance right now." Spike whispered, feeling a sense of relief when he heard the distant sound of sirens in the air. "Thank God."
Soon everything was happening, the paramedics arrived and proceeded to stabilize their patient the best they could. Decompressing the lung with a needle to the affected area of the chest, gave him a better chance of survival as they loaded him in the ambulance and headed to Sunnydale University Hospital.
*******
Mr. Snyder drove as he always did, slowly and safely. He was taking all precautions not to bring attention to himself, especially now. There was no way he would do anything to get pulled over with his prize located in the trunk of his car. Soon he'd have his girl home and get her ready to accept her new life with him.
His interest in Buffy had mostly to do with her resemblance to his late wife, Gladys. She died three years ago, leaving him alone and wishing she was still with him here on earth. The more he'd see Buffy at school the more he'd come to realize how much she looked like his late wife at that age. The more time he spent around her, the more he came to think of her as his second chance to have his Gladys back with him. He smiled when he recognized his home as he turned into the driveway.
*******
Detective Gunn arrived on the scene once he received the call about Buffy with a plan already in place. As soon as Angel had told him what Warren had said he was on his cell phone getting Principal Snyder's home address while he had another officer go over to the Summers' home to let them know what was happening. He knew now that his gut had been right that night when he felt whoever had abducted and killed the youngest daughter had also been after Buffy.
He made it a point to try and keep a close eye on her, and it broke his heart to see how her parents and the town were treating her. His wife, Fred, had even suggested getting family services involved and seeing if they could have Buffy stay with them. The parents behavior tried her usually soft spoken nature on a few occasions. Now he wished he'd listened to her.
"I want nothing about this on the scanner, not even the trip to the Summers' home. All communications will be done by phone. He could have a scanner and I don't want to alert him to what's going on. I already had the ambulance report over the radio that the victim was dead on arrival. They are keeping close contact with the hospital on the phone and Dr. Walsh is keeping everything quiet in the ED."
[Reviews - 521]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 3742 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks to everyone......you do make this worth it........