Death is inevitable. Every person on this planet must face off with their mortality. Unfortunately for some, death comes sooner than expected.
Lieutenant Elizabeth "Buffy" Summers had dealt with death for most of her life. As the youngest person ever to be promoted to lieutenant in the Homicide division of the Sunnydale Police Department she knew death inside and out. Standing at 5'3" she didn't seem like she could pack a punch or take down men twice her size, but many criminals knew better.
Her mentor and partner Rupert Giles once compared her to a solid steel pit bull. It would be an accurate description for any officer, criminal, or lawyer that had met Lieutenant Summers. But her heart showed through during times of death notification and she was truely sympathetic toward the family.
Summers was called to the scene of a homicide located at The Bronze, a nightclub owned in the heart of the city. She'd been there once about ten years ago and decided the scene just wasn't her cup of tea.
She walked in and surveyed the layout of the club. High ceilings, shiny floors with LED tiles, staircases leading up to the second and third floors. Overall pretty ritzy, but death was never picky about who it chose.
"Who do we have here officer?" Buffy asked a redhead officer examining the body.
"Sir, we have a white female, approximately 30 years of age, strangulation marks on upper neck, and cause of death possible blunt force trauma to the back of her head." The redhead officer adjusted her cap and stood back to let Buffy squat down near the body.
"So, uh" Buffy looked at the officer's lapel, "Rosenburg, is it?" The redhead nodded. "What stands out about this victim?" She asked as she put on gloves and began to look for other clues.
"The vicitm was barefoot when found and is dressed in clothing that would appear to be night clothing for bed, and yet she is lying in one of the ritzyest clubs in Sunnydale." Willow Rosenburg, sweating on the inside but trying to look confident, told the investigating officer.
"Right, now the question is how did she get from her warm bed to the second floor of this ritzy establishment?" Buffy stood up and turned back toward Officer Rosenburg.
“Who found the victim? Are they still on scene and has the owner of the club been notified?” Buffy barked out the questions rapidly.
“One of the closing managers and a cleaning crew member found her at approximately 6:00 a.m. this morning. Both the manager and the cleaning member are being interviewed in separate rooms right now by officers. The owner, a Mr. William Masters, was notified immediately after the body was found.” Willow wiped the sweat off her brow and noticed Buffy’s mouth smirk.
“Okay, Rosenberg show me where Mr. Masters is.” Willow pointed near the main bar.
Buffy followed Willow’s finger and saw a man with his back turned standing over by bar being interviewed by another officer. “Thanks Rosenberg, I appreciate the hard work and precise report of what we have so far.” Before Willow could answer she turned and walked toward the bar.
"So Mr. Masters, how long have you owned the club?" Buffy overheard the officer ask Masters.
"I acquired the club about five years or so ago." Masters answered and Buffy heard the light, easy sound of an English accent.
"Okay that seems to be all the questions I have so far, but I'm sure Lieutenant Summers will have some for you." The officer noticed Buffy over Masters shoulder.
"Right, I'll look forward to meeting him as soon as possible." Masters turned and almost collided with Buffy.
"Well, SHE is available to meet right now, Mr. Masters." Buffy quirked her eyebrow accusingly as she made eye contact with the bluest eyes she had ever seen.
“Pardon my assumption Lieutenant; I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised to make your acquaintance.” Masters drawled as he held out his hand.
“I wouldn’t be in such a pleasant mood if I had just been informed of a dead body on my premises. But, that’s just me.” Buffy never took his hand and addressed the officer. “Are you done here?” “Yes sir, I just finished interviewing Mr. Masters.”
“I see, send your report immediately to my palm so I don’t repeat any questions I have for Mr. Masters.” Buffy once again turned to Masters and motioned to the end of the bar away from the activity.
Buffy heard her palm pilot single the incoming report and took a minute to review the questions. “The officer didn’t ask just what time you were contacted and when you arrived here at The Bronze, Mr. Masters.”
“Well Lieutenant, I was contacted just after 6:00 a.m. and told my manager to contact the police immediately. I’ve been here since right after 6:10 a.m.” He eyed her curiously.
“Interesting, so your manager contacted you to explain he found a dead girl before he called 911? That seems strange, what could you possible do to investigate?” She gave him the same curious stare.
“I pay my employees very well Lieutenant, and they are loyal to a fault. They’ve been trained to call in any circumstance that they cannot handle. I find that it is helpful to be here when the Sunnydale Police Department is here, so the investigator, namely you, can question me about any thing they feel they need to know.” He narrowed his eyes showing no fear about being questioned by the Lieutenant.
“Okay, I’ll give you that. I see a Xander and Anya Harris, and Doyle O’Reilly were present and Doyle found the body?” Buffy broke eye contact as she read over the report
“That’s correct.” He answered trying to will her to look at him again so he could stare into her green doe eyes.
“Why were they here so early when they closed up at 2:45 a.m. I understand Anya had closed this morning?” She still stared at her palm.
“I’m hosting a private fundraiser tonight and my managers and head janitor were coming in to start the cleaning and decorating for the day.”
"Is this fundraiser something that has been advertised?" She thought out loud to herself more than to him.
"No it's something that is by invitation only, but it seems the gala will have to be post-poned." Masters looked down and Buffy expected to see impatience but saw only sadness.
Surprised she added, “Yes, this place is a crime scene and will have to be shut-down until we make any kind of progress in finding out who the victim is and why she was brought here.” She made sure she caught his eye as he looked up again with those azure blue eyes. She had to fight gazing down and taking the whole package in, but noticed the high cheekbones, platinum hair, full lips, and the interesting scar on his eyebrow. Internally she wished they could have met in different circumstances.
“You don’t think she was killed here do you?” He inquired slightly.
“No, Mr. Masters I don’t, but I want to know why on the morning of your huge gala she was left on your proverbial doorstep. I intend to find out who did this and why.” She said aggressively. The girl was hers now, she stood up for the dead and spoke for them when they could not.
“I intend to be cooperative with your department Lieutenant, and hope I will be involved in every way possible with your investigation.” He held out his hand again.
“I appreciate that, but I don’t know how involved you need to be at this point, but I’d like you to be available for any further questions I might have.” She also held out her hand and when she clasped his a jolt went through them both. She quickly took her hand and turned sharply to walk away.
She heard him say under his breath, “Oh I intend to stay available for you Lieutenant, just say when.”
Buffy, incapable of anyone getting under her skin, blushed as she walked away.
Please be kind… no flames….my first fic.
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!