Soulless: Chapter 3
by orchid17
Reid stayed in his car. Gunn sat beside him. Both men stared out the windshield at the convertible in front of them. No one was moving, but they were talking and pointing up at the warehouse.

“This kind of thing happen a lot?” Colin asked. Gunn looked at him and his face broke into a slight grin.

“Yea,” he replied, “Pretty much. You get used to it though.”

“Used to running out in the middle of the night to chase some girl’s hunch about a murderer?” Gunn’s face grew very serious. His eyes bore into Reid. He didn’t say anything else after that, just waited for Wesley to motion they were going inside.

Reid climbed out of the car, following Gunn. When he reached the others, Angel put his hand out and shook his head.

“You stay here,” he said in a low voice.

“No freaking way,” Colin replied. His voice was equally low. Angel intimidated a lot of people in his office, but Reid refused to be one of them. Before Angel could preach about it being too dangerous or whatever, Reid pushed past him. “Coming?” he asked. He kept his back turned to Angel as the group walked toward the warehouse, but he could feel the heat of his anger.

When they all reach the building, Wesley stopped them. “We should split up,” he suggested, “Make sure he doesn’t get away.”

“How bloody Scooby Doo,” Spike muttered under his breath. Everyone ignored him.

“Angel, Gunn and Fred can go around the other side and see if there’s another way in. Spike and I will go in this way. April, you and the lawyer stay here and guard this entrance. I don’t want him getting out. Do you understand?”

April seemed disappointed, but she nodded. Colin was unsure of the arrangements. They didn’t seem even and he felt he was getting shafted. Not wanting to incur any Wolfram and Hart wrath he wisely kept his mouth shut. Guard duty with a little girl wasn’t as bad as being fired for blowing the case.

After she was left alone with Reid, April began to regret being forced to remain outside. She was anxious to get in on the action and she couldn’t do it outside and certainly not with Dudley Doright with her. Leaning against the side of the building she tried to examine the young man without being too obvious.

He was almost a head taller than she was and well built. He’d discarded his suit jacket and tie. The sleeves on his crisp white shirt were rolled up to the elbows. His eyes were alert, looking out for any possible sign of danger. April continued to stare at his discreetly, until he caught her eye.

Raising an eyebrow, he donned a little smirk. April flushed with embarrassment. Before she had a chance to say anything, the door crashed open and someone came running out. The someone was Spike and he was panting heavily. Bending over, he tried to catch his breath.

“What’s going on?” demanded Reid. He reached behind his back and produced a small revolver. April shirked at the sight of the gun. Spike ignored him and instead turned to April.

“There isn’t anyone there,” he said between gasps of air. It occurred to April some time afterward that it was peculiar that he was out of breath, since he was quite dead and had no real use for air anyways. “There’s a dead kid, but no sign of any bad guys.”

Reid swore under his breath as he stormed into the warehouse. April and Spike followed closely. In the middle of a very large, very open room stood everyone. They were huddled around something lying on the floor.

As April approached she nearly gagged. Besides her great-aunt Tessa, April had never seen a dead body before. Tessa had been in a coffin, with her eyes closed and her hands folded neatly on her stomach. The little girl on the floor of the warehouse was wide eyed with fear and her limps were all twisted around her, as if she’d been dropped from a great distance.

Reid kneeled beside the girl and checked her pulse, even though she was clearly dead. He remained kneeling beside the body his face tight with rage. He wanted someone to blame and right now that someone was Wolfram and Hart. He didn’t say anything. Reid was suffocating, he had to go home.

“It’ll be dawn soon,” whispered Spike. “We best be getting’ back.”

“What’s going to happen to her?” asked April.

“I’ll call the police,” answered Reid. “You all can go, I’ll take care of it from here.” No on protested. It was cramped in the convertible on the way back to the office, but no one complained. April felt sick and had to have Angel pull over so she could get out to puke. When she returned to the car, Fred put a comforting arm around her shoulder and no more was said on the subject.

“How’d you find her?” asked the uniformed officer. Reid was tempted to punch his fat ass, but he restrained himself. The LAPD was hopeless. A bunch of corpulent, lazy, hotshots who wanted all the answers right away. If they didn’t get what they wanted out of Reid they’d make up the rest. Why bother? So he kept his mouth shut.

“I have to get back to my office,” he muttered through gritted teeth. Without waiting for a response he went to his car and climbed in. No one stopped him as he drove away from the warehouse. He was thankful. All he wanted at this point was a long hot shower and a cold beer.

The question of which to have first occupied his mind for the entire drive back to the District Attorney’s office. It was early morning, ungodly early, no one was in. Reid gathered some paperwork and left, intent on making it home before anyone else in his building awoke.

When he arrived the shower and the beer weren’t nearly as important as his bed. Suddenly realizing how exhausted he was, Colin kicked off his shoes and flopped onto his bed. He was asleep even before his head hit the pillow.

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