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Author's Chapter Notes:
I wish to thank everyone who has taken the time to read and the extra energy to review.......it helps the fingers feel appreciatied.......
Joyce sat staring blankly into space trying to think of why this was happening to them. Why had God forsaken them like this? Was he doing this to punish her for failing to be there for Dawn or Buffy when they needed their mother the most? The suspense was playing havoc with her nerves, and it was making her think about these things over and over again.

"When will we know anything?" Joyce asked the officers, trying to appease her need to know what was being done to save Buffy.

"They will call us with any updates." Lilah assured the worried mother, wishing she did have more information to make everything okay for them.

"This will take some time I'm sure. But, at least we know who we're looking for." Lindsey explained.

"Then tell me who did this?" Hank demanded.

"We, ourselves, don't know for sure." Lilah told him, "I think it's for the best, Mr. Summers. We really don't need to be looking for you at the same time. It would really cut into the man power we need to search for your daughter." The female officer warned him, sensing the man was one that would feel the need for revenge.

Lindsey could feel the violent anger radiating off this man. He was sure if they were to tell him who had his daughter, the man would be unstoppable. The one thing Officer MacDonald knew without a doubt was the fact he would kill anyone that harmed one of his children. He prayed someone would be as insightful and do everything in their power to protect him from destroying himself that way.

"Mr. Summers, I think the best thing you can do right now is trust we will do our very best to bring her home to you." Lindsey said, hoping he'd reach the rational man inside.

"I lost one daughter to this madman, and you couldn't find him. Now you're asking me to trust you to save my other daughter. That's a lot to ask." Hank ranted, feeling a need to take some of his anger out on someone.

"Hank, please calm down." Joyce begged.

"Calm down, I'm supposed to calm down." He replied, as he glared at his wife.

"It won't do Buffy any good if you get yourself so worked up that she thinks you're still angry with her." Joyce tried to explain. "We need to concentrate on how we are going to convince our daughter we still love her."

Hank gazed at his wife suddenly with tears in his eyes. "Joyce, tell me we're going to get a chance to ask for her forgiveness."

"I pray we will, Hank, more for her sake than ours."

The officers stood back as Buffy's parents hugged each other. One wondered if God would be so unmerciful and take away another daughter from these people. The other wondered if the fractured family would be like humpty dumpty, and never be put back together again.

*******

Dru unknowingly sat in the same place as Buffy had on the night their parents had comforted Dru over Dawn's death. She was starting to feel like her world was about to change…yet again.

She could still remember the day her mother died from the wounds she'd inflicted upon herself. Abigail Swanson had been mentally disabled since right after her daughter's twelfth birthday. It had taken six attempts in two years before she was successful in taking her own life.

It was on the day of her mother's funeral she found out who her father was. The woman couldn't have told her while she was alive. Instead, it was left to her uncaring grandmother, as the old witch handed a airplane ticket to America to Dru with a look of relief on her face. It would seem her mother had dallied, to hear her grandmother tell it, with an American Naval Officer during his time there. He left before her mother found out she was expecting, and she was too proud to let the man responsible know she was pregnant.

When Hank and Joyce had picked her up at the airport all anxious and afraid, it had made her angry. Then came the testing to make sure she was in fact his daughter. The fact Hank had two younger daughters he doted on, put up an instant barrier between her and her siblings. She'd always felt like it was a competition between them for their father's attention and the two brats had years ahead of her that she would never be able to catch up.

Dru knew that a battle of the ‘she said this and she did that' was inevitable if Buffy came home capable of coherent speech. She also knew that the time had come where her father would have to choose. Either he'd believe her, his true firstborn, or the one that stole her father's love from her.

*******

Spike stepped to the side and quietly listened as the important people talked about how they were going to handle this. Police and city officials had gathered a block away from Snyder's house to make plans. Even Sunnydale's mayor was present, all dressed neatly in his three piece suit.

"I'm just saying, we don't know for sure he has her at all, let alone in his home." Lt. Holtz offered.

"I agree. How sure are you that Meers told you the truth? He could've killed her himself and put her in the garbage bin behind that damn club." Mayor Wilkins replied, finding it hard to believe the High School principal and his golfing buddy could be capable of something like this.

"It would be hard for Warren to shoot himself at such an angle." Gunn explained. "But you are right that we do need to make sure Snyder does have Buffy."

"How do we do it, without making him suspicious or upset and possibly killing her and himself in the process?" Holtz asked.

"It wouldn't be unusual for me to call him and ask if he'd help in searching for one of his students." Wilkins offered. "Then maybe while he's away you can look for her inside his house."

"I think that might work, as long as he goes along with it and leaves." Gunn agreed, realizing they'd need a back up if he refused to leave his house.

Spike stepped up and offered, "You could say she's disappeared, leaving her things behind. There was another man harassing her at the club tonight. You could tell him you suspect this man of making her leave against her will, and you are trying to find him."

"Do you know who this other man is?" Holtz asked.

"No, but Faith would." Spike replied, "I have Angel's cell phone number, we could call."

"Good, you call him and find out who was bothering Buffy." Gunn instructed Spike, as he turned to toward Holtz and said, "Still, prepare your men in case we need to go in fast and furious. I will do everything in my power to get her out of this alive."

"Police Chief Travers is on the line and wants an update." One of officers handed Gunn the two way radio. "We patched him through."

Gunn took the radio and updated his boss on what the plans were so far. Travers was in Chicago for a law enforcement conference and would not be able to get back home in time to handle the situation.. Until he got back into town he'd put Gunn in charge of the operation on finding Miss Buffy Summers.

Both Spike and Gunn hung up at the same time with Gunn asking, "Did you get a name?"

"Parker is the guy." Spike answered.

"Good, now Mayor please go on back home and call Snyder from there. I'm sure he has caller ID and might get suspicious if it's not from your home number." Gunn told him as he turned to the others and gave them all instructions as well. He wanted to make sure they moved quickly as soon as the suspect exited the house. Travers had instructed him to take the man down as soon as he walked out of his house.

"Are we going to arrest him right there and then?" Wilkins' asked, feeling a bit uneasy with this plan. "What if he is innocent?"

"We will not take any chances on giving him a hostage." Gunn explained. "As far as the Chief is concerned, Snyder is a suspect and is to be treated as such."

"I guess I will go and make my phone call." The Mayor sighed, as he left to get in his car.

Gunn then turned to Spike and said, "Your uncle will be here any minute."

Spike nodded, feeling the need to see his uncle right now. He kept telling himself everything would be okay, while deep down he feared he'd never see Buffy alive again. The thought of losing his parents and his Aunt Julia's coma reminded him that bad things do happen, and not always for a reason. He sat back and waited for the one constant in his life to join him, feeling thankful the man was still in his life.

*******

Buffy felt like she was floating she was so lightheaded. To be honest, she wasn't even sure if she was awake or dreaming. She felt warm and comfortable, but for some reason it just didn't feel right. Opening her eyes she noticed she was in a strange room, softly lit with a small lamp on the bedside table.

Quietly she surveyed the room, not wanting to make any sound, still wondering if she was indeed not dreaming. Slowly she sat up and looked further around the room, wondering what could've happened to her. Then she remembered, walking out of the Bronze because Parker had pissed her off, only to have someone accost her in the alley.

"Not just anyone." She thought as she looked down and noticed she was wearing a sexy silk nightie.

Buffy felt the fear start to take over when she realized she was truly awake and this was really happening to her. Snyder, unless he had someone else do it, had undressed her and put this gown on her. He'd seen her naked, totally, and it was starting to freak her out.

"Did he touch places he shouldn't have?" She could help but worry and ask herself as she started to panic at the thought of him touching her like that.

Looking around trying to distract herself and remain calm, she noticed what looked to be a baby monitor on the dresser. Buffy bit her lip to keep from saying something that would alert him she was awake. She looked around for a weapon and at the same time for something like a robe of some kind. Leaning toward the bedside table she tried to lift the lamp, only to find it was nailed to the table.

"Damn." She said inside her head as she further looked around to see if there was anything else she could use to hit him with.

Carefully she pushed the covers away as she sat at the side of the bed. Feeling dizzy when she sat up she took a moment to compose herself. Thinking it wouldn't do her any good if she fainted on the floor, since she'd again be at his mercy while she was unconscious.

After a few seconds the dizziness passed and she slowly stood up. Looking down and seeing the gown made her very uncomfortable thinking how she came to be wearing it. Hoping to find something to wear over it she carefully started to walk toward what she thought to be a closet. She hoped there would be something more concealing she could wear located there.

Buffy tiptoed, trying not to make any noise that would attract his attention to the monitor. She knew he could walk in any time, but didn't want to be the reason he did. A voice inside her head kept telling her he was the one that hurt Dawn, but kept pushing it back. The last thing she wanted to face was that she was the reason her sister was dead. Her main goal right now was to get away.

Quietly she opened the closet door only to be disappointed it was empty. Not even her old dirty clothes were there. She turned and silently made her way over to the tall chest of drawers. Opening the drawers slowly and only enough to peak in, she noticed some were empty while the others only had more gowns as revealing as this one.

The last place for her to look was the dresser that had the monitor located on top of it. She was worried he'd hear her snooping around by going so close to the monitor. But, she needed to try. Buffy wanted her cell phone so bad, she almost cried. The first person she would call would be Spike. She knew, other than Angel and Lorne, he was the only other male she knew who'd be sure to come to her rescue. But it was Spike who she wanted to find her.

Just the thought of him made her smile, knowing he'd come for her in a heartbeat. Until now, she never realized how much she wanted to live. She just wanted, more like needed, to get out of this town and start over somewhere new. Somewhere people would accept her and not believe the lies.


Buffy returned to the bed, happy she hadn't been discovered awake, but disappointed she hadn't found what she was looking for. The drawers in the dresser were empty of anything to wear or use as a weapon. Lying down on the bed she pulled the blankets back over her, feeling some relief of being able to hide her scantly covered body for now. She dreaded facing him dressed like this because it made her feel vulnerable. But she needed to know why he was doing this to her.

*******





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