CHAPTER ONE

The birds chattered, the insects busied themselves and the camera clicked away on this mild Wednesday in February. Detective Kate Lockley looked down at the crime scene, trying to make sense of the chain of events. She surveyed the area from her vantage point. Law enforcement officers of various departments were already busy down the bottom of a short sharp incline from the road. The surrounding area of the crime scene was dotted with shrubs and trees making it a good place to hide the evidence of a crime. Two uniforms were talking to her partner, Detective Robbie Gregan who had exited the car before her. Closing the door of her car, she walked down to join them.

"What's the story?" she asked the uniformed officers first on the scene. They were a few feet away from the main activity.

"Young couple, maybe 20 or so, killed in their car. The male had his neck slashed, the female?she's unidentifiable from her face. She died from a series of stab wounds to the chest. They were placed down in the scrub, posed in an embrace."

"Who called it in?" Kate asked looking around.

"A passing motorist who saw the blood in the abandoned car." The officer indicated the old white sedan back up at the road. Several people were already gathered around inspecting it.

Kate nodded and went to view the bodies, almost lovingly laid out in the scrub, while Gregan headed towards the sedan. The male victim had his eyes closed and lay on his back with a neutral expression on his face. The woman however?Kate steeled herself for a closer look. The only thing the killer left unmarred were her eyes, which were hauntingly open and seemingly looking at her male companion. Both were clothed in casual wear, still fully dressed. The male wore an expensive brand of watch and the woman, a gold necklace. Robbery as a motive didn't seem likely, Kate mused silently. She squatted down checking for any clues, examining the bodies and the immediate area. Not seeing anything that caught her eyes she stood up straight. Moving out the way, she let the crime scene investigators get on with their job. From a short distance away she ran her eyes over the scene, trying to work out what bothered her about the pose. She shook her head and moved onto the car.

For the next half hour, she made notes, spoke to the coroner and tried to put together a picture of the crime. Hazarding a guess, she thought the killer would have to be strong to drag the couple down the incline, especially the tall, stocky male victim. There were drag marks from the car and footprints left behind. The scrub hid the bodies from the moderately busy road, but judging by the way the car was left abandoned, the killer wanted them to be found quickly. Though close to the road, shrubbery blocked the view down below, including the bodies and couldn't be seen by passing motorists. The crime scene yielded many clues and she was confident they had more than enough to go on to start the investigation.

It was only when she'd finished documenting the scene, she realised a man hiding in the nearby scrub was taking photographs with a high powered lens. The main pack of media were impatiently waiting for a statement, but at least they were behaving. This man was potentially contaminating the crime scene. Marching over to him, he hurriedly collected his equipment and struggled to his car. Kate chased after him, managing to grab hold of his car door.

"Let go," he insisted starting his engine.

"You fucking piece of scum," she hissed, aware of the cameras not too far away. She let go as he started to drive away. "Fucking media."

Shaken, she turned her attention back to the crime scene. The bodies were being stretchered away to the morgue. She retraced the path from the car to the scrub one last time in hope of finding one last piece of evidence before the setting sun stole away the daylight.

"Lockley," an officer called out. She hurried over to find the uniform holding up an evidence bag. It contained a torn piece of flannelette shirt with a horse motif. Kate nodded, satisfied with the find and headed back to her partner.

"Kate," Gregan acknowledged as she joined his side. "Got a theory?"

"Not really," Kate said looking at her partner. "From the way the bodies were laid out, and that torn piece of cloth, serial killer has popped into my mind. But who knows? Could be someone close to them making it look like a serial killing." Looking at him in the dim light she asked, "What about you?"

"Guy that found them was helpful. He travels this route at least twice a day. Car wasn't here last night, but it was this morning. When he passed it again early this afternoon, that's when he got suspicious. Still haven't identified the woman, but could have a possibility--" he looked down at his notes "--Estelle White. There's a credit card receipt belonging to her in the car. We'll have to contact her parents tomorrow."

"Yeah," Kate sighed, not looking forward to that part of her job. "And the male victim? Eric Snow?"

"Yes, Eric Snow. 21 years old, computing student at UCLA. Clean record. Uniforms have already informed his parents of his death." Gregan gave her a concerned look. "You look exhausted. Want me to talk to the media?"

Kate shook her head. "Thanks, but I've got it."

"Okay," he smiled. "But let's at least get home at a decent hour."

Kate looked pointedly at him for a moment, before nodding. "This won't take long, then we'll get going."

She strode over to the horde of cameras and microphones, composing herself and speaking succinctly to them. She described the crime, leaving out many of the details and refused to answer more than a couple of general questions. The tired detective walked back to the car, her head throbbing from a lack of food and trying to wrap her head around the crime. Taking one last look at the crime scene, which was now eerily quiet, she started the engine.

*******************************************

The Slayer sang along at the top of her voice to the CD in her car, the euphoria still thumping through her body from a successful night of hunting. Earlier in the evening she had spent time at the Anderson's watching Hayley sleep and playing computer games with Josh. The two-month-old baby fascinated her in a way she never thought possible. Watching her grow and discover new things brought a new perspective of life to Faith, as well as a new respect for motherhood.

Greeting a drowsy Alexia at the front door, she laughed as the Golden Retriever sniffed at her jacket, checking for stakes.

"I don't think so, scamp," Faith chuckled giving the dog a vigorous pat. She looked up hoping to spot her lover on the couch. No such luck. "Kate?" Finding the blonde in the bedroom, she rushed over to greet her. "What's wrong?" she asked when her lover gave a less than enthusiastic kiss.

"Nothing." Kate shook her head, turning away. She stretched her legs out on the bed.

Faith looked down at the handwritten notes Kate was holding. "New case? Old case?"

"New case that will probably hit the newspapers tomorrow with unauthorised details," Kate spat out, though not directing it at her lover. "We released a short statement, but that didn't stop them. There's always someone who doesn't play by the rules."

"Didn't give anyone cause to sue you did you?" Faith asked with a small smile.

"No," Kate gave a shake of the head, "but I didn't get a chance to ruin the roll of film."

The Slayer studied her lover for a moment before sitting down. "I'm wicked hungry, you want anything?" The detective shook her head. "Be back in a few."

Returning a short time later with a plate stacked with sandwiches, Faith watched Kate jotting down something. So intent on her work, she jumped when her lover sat down next to her.

"You do realise you're not on duty?" the Slayer asked lightly. Kate glanced up and grunted in the affirmative. Putting her plate down, Faith placed a hand on her lover's jean-clad thigh. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Kate shook her head and tapped her pen against her pad.

"Look, I know you can't talk about the case," Faith said seriously, "but at least tell me what's got you so wound up."

The blue eyes reluctantly dragged themselves away from the paper and captured her lover's. "It's a murder case?and?the crime scene--" Kate shook her head, the image of the female victim all too fresh.

"But you're gonna get the killer, Kate, I know you will," Faith said reassuringly, though unsure what to say. "Concentrate on solving the murder."

Kate nodded, but her eyes dropped back to the pages. "It shouldn't affect me, but for some reason I can't get it out of my mind."

"Why shouldn't it get to you?" Faith wrapped one hand around Kate's shoulders and used the other to start eating. "If I come across someone who's been killed by a demon, man, I can't help but feel something. Hate, anger, disgust, sadness?"

"But I don't see it like that anymore, I detached myself a long time ago. But today?I don't know why but this has got inside my head."

"Do you have some good leads?" Faith asked purposely nudging Kate's head onto her shoulder. She felt the blonde release a heavy breath and saw the blue eyes disappear for a few moments.

"Maybe, there's certainly some good physical evidence to go on."

"Well," Faith said before bestowing a kiss on her lover's sweet smelling hair. "It sounds like you need a good night's sleep. So how about you call it a night?"

Kate didn't answer, instead soaking up her lover's presence while Faith finished her meal.

"Did you go to Marcus's tonight?" she asked wearily, grateful she didn't have to face these difficult cases alone anymore. Memories of coming home to an empty apartment with only the company of a glass of liquor filtered through her tired mind. Thankful those nights were in the past, she snuggled closer to her lover.

"Yep," Faith smiled fondly. "Can't get enough of watching Hayley. Barbara's doing well too. She's looking tired, but every time she looks at Hayley you can tell she knows it's all worth it." Faith sighed as, once again, a thought of her own mother made a brief appearance in her mind. She'd been having those fleeting thoughts for the last couple of months, but didn't let them interfere in the joy of seeing Hayley being surrounded by her loving family. "We're invited to dinner Friday."

"I take it you accepted."

"Can't say no to Barbara," Faith chuckled.

Kate let the Slayer shift her and watched as she flitted around the apartment getting ready for bed. She let herself be tenderly undressed and tucked in. Slowly she felt Faith's strong arms come around her and the luscious body spooning hers. She turned her head for a series of long loving kisses, before settling down in the safe and warm cocoon. Faith whispered a goodnight and waited until she heard Kate's breathing change before she let herself succumb to her own slumber.

*******************************************

The grey walls suited the sombre occasion, Kate idly mused while waiting for Gregan to join her with Mr and Mrs White. The morgue was silent, save for a flickering light over her head. The middle-aged couple tentatively came down the hall, fearful expressions on both their faces. Kate imagined somewhere inside they had a faint hope it was not their daughter lying still in the next room.

While Gregan gave them instructions, she studied the couple's movements. From experience, she might be able to rule them out from their reaction to this scene. All they'd found out about Estelle White that morning pointed to a well-adjusted young woman. She was an arts student at the same college as the male victim, also without a record. The White's were the owner's of a respected restaurant and on the outside, at least, seemed a loving family.

As the body was revealed, the couple drew together, visibly shaken by the unnatural death. Thankfully, they were spared the sight of her face, as identification came from a burn scar on the victim's left thigh. A strangled cry came from the woman, who immediately turned to her husband. He fared no better, tears escaping his eyes. Gregan motioned to the morgue worker who quickly covered the body up.

"Who could do this?" Mr White asked after regaining his composure.

"That's what we are going to find out," Kate answered stepping in. "When you are ready, we need to ask you some questions. We'll drop by your house later today?"

He nodded, then gathered his stricken wife and guided her out of the morgue. Kate looked over to Gregan and they shared a compassionate look before walking down the hall.

Hours later she and Gregan were sharing a very late lunch at their desks. They were using that morning's newspaper, which had the headline 'Couple Murdered, Dumped By Road,' as a tablemat. Kate looked down to her notes trying to answer the question her partner had just posed about a motive.

"They were a happy couple, good students, a world of possibilities for the future," she mused aloud. "What are we missing?"

"Jealous ex?" Gregan theorised.

"But friends said they have been together since high school. Why wait until now? This looks more and more like--"

"An opportunity killing, maybe even a serial killer starting out. There's nothing in the system that fits the MO," Gregan finished reaching for his half-cold cup of coffee. "At the very least a random killing."

"But that piece of horse cloth, I don't think it was ripped accidently. The position was too precise. What about the placing of the bodies, and her face?" Kate asked, posing the question to them both.

"Forensics should be able to tell us more," Gregan said, frustrated they had to wait a while longer for the report back on the evidence.

Kate placed the crime scene photos in a row and studied them, a small frown working its way onto her face. "I can't help but think there's something here I'm not seeing."

Gregan leaned over for a closer examination and after a minute, shook his head. "Can't say there's something else there."

"They're carefully positioned, embraced in death as they were in life." Kate jabbed at the photo in frustration. "Why?"

"Maybe the killer idolises love."

"Or hates it," Kate whispered. "His eyes are closed, hers are open. She's been disfigured. Has she supposed to have wronged him?"

"They had just moved in together," Gregan shrugged his shoulders.

"I mean the killer," Kate said, "not that I'm saying it's a man."

"Okay," Gregan said looking closely at the photos. "He looks like he's asleep, as much as a murder victim can. His arms are embracing her, but not protecting."

"Why do you say that?"

"He failed."

"If you think that it is a man's job to protect, then yes," Kate said, her gaze fixed on the woman's open eyes. "If he's resting, then she isn't. But what does that mean for the killer?"

"He hates women?"

Kate shook her head, "I don't know why, but something's telling me the crime is about the two of them, together."

"Not one person we interviewed pointed to anyone who had a hatred towards them. Eric Snow's parents have lived an average life, in an average neighbourhood with no trouble at all. They have no debt, no issues with anyone. The only remarkable thing about them is that Mrs Snow won a car on a game show three years ago. It's not even the same car Eric Snow owned."

"In any case, if the killer was known to them they would have had to follow them yesterday. It wasn't a route they normally took to any place they frequented."

"Where were they going again?" Gregan asked searching through the papers on the desk.

"To a showing of a film in a small theatre. Something only Eric's best friend knew about a couple of hours before they left, according to him. He says he didn't know the place."

"Do you believe him?" Gregan asked already knowing the answer. Eric's best friend Mitch seemed to idolise him. They grew up together and had been best friends for over 10 years. Eric's sister had told the detectives that once Estelle came along there had been no jealousy at all.

"At this stage, yes," Kate replied lifting her eyes to Gregan. "I can't believe no one saw this happen. Someone had to have seen something."

"We haven't had any witnesses come forward and there's been extensive coverage."

"Early evening, roads should have been busy. How did the killer murder them and then move the bodies without anyone seeing?" Kate shook her head and changed the subject. "Out of everyone we've interviewed there is no clear suspect, and no motive."

"Always come back to the stranger theory. No one can seem to think of any reason or a person that would have it in for the couple. No reports of stalking, no sexual harassment, and neither of them had any radical political opinions."

Kate tapped her pen on the desk. "The Whites also seem like hard working middle class Americans. Their restaurant is making a healthy profit, from what Mr White told us. It was awarded last year as one of the best rated for health inspections in an industry magazine. Do you think we need to interview the staff?"

"Wait until we have something more to go on," Gregan said. He lifted his mug, draining the rest of the contents. "Both families had nothing but praise for the other. The kids were of the same middle class background, not divided by race or religion. If there was a family dispute, it seems a bizarre way to deal with it."

"I don't think this has anything to do with the families either."

Kate nodded and looked at her watch. She had a meeting scheduled about another case, so she reluctantly packed up the file and turned her attention to the older case. But while she refreshed her memory about the facts, her thoughts drifted back to the young couple.

*******************************************

In the early hours of Friday morning, Faith awoke from a light sleep. As she turned her head towards the sound that woke her, she heard it again. Taking one of Kate's cold hands, she caressed it gently, listening for a change in the cop's whimpers. The hand gripped hers tightly, nails digging into her skin. Faith leaned in, whispering words of love into her partner's ear, desperately hoping it would help. It was a rare event for Kate to vocalise her nightmares, even rarer that Faith woke up during them.

"Kate, baby," Faith said nudging her, unable to bear hearing any more whimpers. "Wake up for me."

Kate opened her eyes after more prodding, disoriented until Faith pulled her into her arms.

The blonde asked with sleep still thick in her voice, "What?"

"Do you remember what you were dreaming about?" Faith whispered, relieved Kate had settled into her arms.

"Yeah," Kate answered with a shaky voice. "Those eyes were staring back at me."

With concern, Faith asked, "What eyes?"

"The case I'm on," Kate replied vaguely. "Those eyes?haunting?."

"Haunting, you mean like a ghost?"

Kate shook her head. "Nothing supernatural. The killer is human, or as human as someone can be to do this crime."

"This case is really getting to you," Faith said closing her eyes, hurting at the thought of the pain Kate must have been going through. "Please, tell me what's going on?"

Kate sighed. "Faith?you know I don't want to be discussing my cases with you."

"But, I can't stand to see you do this to yourself. You always tell me how I need to unload my feelings, but you never do it. You don't have to give me crime scene details, just tell me how you're feeling," Faith pleaded. "I can be trusted, you know."

"Oh god, Faith." Kate squeezed the hand that was still holding hers. "It's not about trust. I don't know how?."

When no more words came, Faith prompted, "How?"

Kate hesitated, thankful they were in the dark. "How to talk to you about what I'm feeling."

Touched at the admission, Faith's fingers captured trembling lips causing them to still. She caressed them for a few moments before withdrawing them. Softly she asked, "Did you make any progress today?"

"Some."

"Tell me about the nightmare?please."

Hesitating again, Kate finally whispered, "I can't."

"Try, for me," the Slayer begged, her concern growing by the moment.

"I was at the crime scene, watching the female victim watching something else, the killer maybe. Then the dream switched to another case. One of the first murder cases I worked on, it's still unsolved." Kate paused, dredging up the memory. "Two women were found in a motel room, brutally beaten to an extent I've never come across again. But as I entered the room, the first thing I was drawn to were their eyes. Staring out, like they were looking right at me. It rattled me then, still rattles me when I think about it. The killer purposely set it up like that."

"And this case, the same thing?" Faith asked trying to keep her voice calm, but hearing her lover talk like that scared her.

"Leaving the eyes open, yes," Kate rasped. "Different reason."

"You're scared another killer is going to get away?" Faith asked holding Kate's body tighter.

"I don't think about things like that," Kate denied, but there was doubt in her voice.

"This other case, how much did you have to go on?"

Kate hummed for a moment, her mind working to recall the details. "Fingerprints that led us to an apartment, but it had been abandoned and yielded no other leads. We thought the uncle of one of the women might have done it, but fingerprints didn't match. I reinterviewed the witnesses a couple of times, but nothing new ever emerged. Every lead dried up."

"And this case, got some wicked good leads?"

"Maybe, still waiting for autopsy and lab reports."

"If it's possible to find him, you will Kate." Faith relaxed her body, readying herself to go back to sleep.

The cop chuckled wearily, "I'm glad you have so much confidence in my abilities, because I'm not the world's greatest cop. I've made mistakes, had criminals get acquittals because we didn't have all the evidence and there are several cases of mine that will remain unsolved."

"Baby, you're the only kind of cop I like. Hard-working, free of corruption and determined to stay that way," Faith said with absolute conviction.

"You forgot to mention cynical, emotionally damaged and tainted by what I've seen."

"You," Faith said with a jab to Kate's arm, "are not emotionally damaged. Cynical, yes, but your emotions are wicked fine. You're not one of those cops that goes down to the bar every night to forget what they've seen during the day."

"Without you, I could be," Kate whispered. "But you stop the hurt. Make me look forward to life, even with the knowledge of the darkness and evil that goes on out there."

"Funny, that's what you do for me," Faith said in a calming voice. "Seeing you as an alcoholic would kill me."

"I know," Kate said, not needing to mention the person they were both thinking of. "While I'm with you, I won't be."

"You don't know that for sure," Faith said.

"No, I don't," the cop conceded, "but when I'm with you I want to feel life, not run from it. Knowing you are out there battling real demons helps me deal with things. I used to think demons were things we conjured up, then when I learnt they were real and they thought they had a right to kill innocents, I wanted to declare war on them. Now I have you to do that for me and I can concentrate on catching humans. Not only do you fight real demons, but you've conquered your personal demons in a way that inspires me to do the same."

"You mean that?"

"Of course I do. Besides, knowing you would go through hell if I started drinking is enough to stop me from thinking about it."

Faith nodded, deciding not express her views on addiction. She knew that once someone had an addiction, the mind could convince them of anything including ignoring any condemnation of their behaviour. Instead she asked softly, "Your father, did he drink heavily?"

"He drank, but he didn't come home drunk. After all he had a daughter to take care of," Kate said sarcastically. "He wasn't an alcoholic, if that's what you're asking."

"Good, because it can be genetic, you know."

"I don't think you're in any danger, I can't think of a time where I've seen you drunk. I know you have drunk too much at times, but not recently," Kate intervened, hoping to stop Faith's mind taking the path it surely was. "You would be addicted to sex before alcohol."

"Hmm, addicted to sex," Faith chuckled. "Thing is, you're wicked right."

"Let's not think about it," Kate dismissed and yawned.

"Right. Sex addiction is just as destructive as any other addiction," Faith said, thinking back on what her psychologist told her in jail.

 They twisted into a more comfortable position and settled back down to sleep again. Faith breathed in her lover's scent and silently hoped the next day rendered some results on the murder. She couldn't bear to think of what would happen if the cop failed to track down the killer.

*******************************************

The room was quiet as the detectives went about their business. Phones occasionally rang, and paper shuffled, but there were no criminals in sight. The seat Faith sat on had seen better days. She had come in about ten minutes earlier to find Kate absent. So, she sat down hoping her lover would come back for lunch.

"Hey, aren't you Lockley's girlfriend?" Turlock asked coming to a stop at her chair with a file in his hand.

Faith looked the detective up and down before replying, "Yeah, what about it?"

"She's on her way back. Just thought you would like to know," Turlock said then stood awkwardly waiting to see what the young woman would do.

"Thanks," she said with a nod, still wary of the staring detective. "Something wrong?"

Turlock smiled nervously, "No, no."

The Slayer smirked back, "Ask away."

"What?"

"You want to ask something, just get it over with, dude."

"Okay," Turlock said fiddling with the file in his hand. "You don't look gay."

Faith laughed, "You don't look straight, doesn't mean to say you aren't."

The detective opened his mouth to protest, before seeing the smirk on her face and allowing himself to go along with the joke. "I guess you're right. It's just that it's a waste."

"I'm not wasting anything." Faith gave him a knowing smile. "Can guarantee Kate doesn't think so either."

"'Suppose not," the cop said as he raked his eyes over her cleavage. "Still?"

"Still, I wouldn't play with you even if I were single," Faith shot back. "Not my type, I like 'em butch. Gotta be up for the rough stuff."

Turlock's eyes opened wide at the statement. Faith's playful smirk stayed plastered to her face for a few moments more as the man thought about his next move. His curiosity got the better of him. "You and Kate ever?"

"Ever what?" Faith leaned over a little, his gaze following her every move. "We do more than your male fantasies can ever imagine. And what's more our fantasies never include the male of the species."

"Oh," Turlock swallowed hard.

"Besides it's more than sex. Kate's got a lot more going for her than just a bed warmer. She's a great cop and I respect that."

Turlock nodded, "Have to agree with you on that."

"Really, I thought she had a bit of a bad rep," Faith shrugged. "Heard she was called 'Scully'."

"Used to," Turlock said as if he was confiding in her, "but she's made up for it this last year." He paused for a moment, a small smile appearing on his lips. "How long have you two been together?"

"Just over a year," Faith replied with a smile of her own.

"Huh, well what about that?" Turlock shook his head. "Maybe you two do have something good together."

Faith raised her eyebrows, licked her lips and nodded. "We do."

Turlock hovered for a few moments more, nodded awkwardly when he realised he'd run out of conversation and he limped back to his desk where he opened the file. Faith watched him for another minute, the smile still on her face. When Kate and Gregan swooped into the room talking loudly, the Slayer's smile changed into a loving welcome.

"Faith," Kate stopped in her tracks, surprised to see her lover there. "Not that it isn't nice to see you, but what are you doing here in the middle of the day?"

"Taking you out to lunch," the Slayer said standing to move closer. "I'm buying."

"I've got--"

"To eat," Faith finished aware they had attracted some attention. "Come on. Promise I won't keep you long, just enough to make sure you're getting your daily dietary requirements."

Kate studied her lover's slightly pleading expression and gave in. To Gregan she said, "Be back in awhile." Gregan waved her away with a smile.

Faith led the blonde out of the building and into the coolish winter day. They arrived at a small diner minutes later and had their orders not long after that.

"So, how's the case going?" Faith settled for directness rather than subtlety.

Kate sighed and concentrated on devouring her oversized roll. "Autopsies are in and we've got some things to follow up with the interviews. Apart from that there's still something that's bothering me."

"The eyes?"

"No," Kate shook her head. "Something else."

"It will come to you," Faith stated with confidence.

"What about your day so far?"

Faith shook her head and swallowed her food. "Not so fast, Detective. We were talking about you."

"And we've finished," Kate said with a quick glare.

"Don't think so, you changed the subject way too soon." Faith looked intensely at her lover. "You have to let me help you, Kate. Even in some small way. But you need to tell me what you need from me."

Kate gave her a small smile. "Score one for perceptiveness."

"Only giving back what you've taught me. There's no way you would let this slide if you were in my shoes." Faith polished off her lunch and wiped her hands. "So?"

"So." Kate paused and took a breath. "You have to give me some space. Let me do my job without interfering."

"I'm interfering?" Faith asked defensively.

"You can't expect me to talk to you about this."

"I don't want you to talk to me about the case," Faith said almost condescendingly. "You know damn well I'm worried about you bottling up your feelings."

"What did I do last night? I wasn't bottling then," Kate returned indignantly. "You asked what I need and I've told you."

"Kate," the brunette pleaded. "I don't want you getting fucked up over this shit."

"Eloquently put," Kate snorted. "I know what I'm doing, I've been doing this a long time."

Faith scrunched up her napkin and threw it on the table in disgust. "Yeah and I've been slaying a long time too, doesn't mean I can go through life without dealing with some of the shit I've seen and done. If you don't want to talk to me, at least talk to the other detectives. You seem to like Broomfield enough."

"Look at you, Miss Let's-Get-Out-Our-Feelings."

"Hey, I'm trying wicked hard," Faith hissed. "Least you can do is try as well."

Kate wiped her mouth and finished her drink. "I'm happy with the way I do things. If I need to talk, I'll talk."

Faith shook her head, and looked out the window. When she turned back, Kate was pulling her jacket on. "You can't expect me not to be worried about you."

"But I do expect you to respect my wishes. This is the way I am Faith and just because I have you in my life, doesn't mean I will change the way I cope with my job. If I need you, I will lean on you."

Seeing this as a token peace offering, Faith reluctantly nodded and they headed back to their respective jobs after a peck on the lips. Driving back to work, Faith couldn't help but feel disappointed.

*******************************************

Watching Kate from across the table, Faith noticed the strain on her face. Marcus Anderson held her attention as he told her a tale about an unusual encounter one of his security staff experienced. The Slayer had already heard it earlier in the week and it had lost its shock value. Instead, her mind drifted to their disagreement at lunch. She wasn't sure how to handle the situation. It had taken all her powers of persuasion to get Kate to keep their dinner date with the Anderson's. Even now, she knew Kate's mind wasn't on this evening, rather on a pair of murdered young lovers. At various times during dinner, she'd noticed Kate staring at nothing in particular, unaware of the conversation flowing around her.

"Faith," Josh said tugging at her sleeve.

"Yep?" she replied grinning at her young friend, concern about the cop taking a back seat for the moment.

"Do you wish you had a brother or sister?" he asked, his face impatiently waiting for his hero to answer.

Glancing at a resting Hayley, Faith smiled, "Sometimes. Then I would have someone to play with, to talk to?to love."

"But she doesn't do anything, except sleep," Josh said perturbed. "Mommy and Daddy are always with her."

Faith put a calming hand on the boy's shoulder, humbled the boy turned to her for advice. "That doesn't mean they don't love you anymore, JD."

"But Daddy doesn't play with me as much, and you are always with her," he said with a pout.

She glanced at her boss, noting she should have a word with him later. "I'm sorry, I didn't know I was leaving you out. I promise I'll play with you more. You just have to remember that Hayley needs to know she's loved too."

"She doesn't know anything. She can't even talk."

Faith looked to Barbara, floundering for the right words. "But she will. And you know you can get her to smile at you, that's something wicked cool. You just have to wait a while longer, then you can play with her. You can even teach her how to do things. I bet she will let you protect her like all good brothers do. If you treat her real good, you'll be like a hero to her."

"Yeah?" Josh said, imagining being the leader and getting to boss her around.

"Of course. I wish I had had a big brother like you."

Josh gave her a brief hug, "Thanks Faith."

"No problem. Just so you know, I'll always love you, JD," Faith said, unexpectedly tearing up at the admission. Shaking her head, she looked down to the boy and pleaded softly, "Don't forget that."

"Okay," he replied, happily turning his attention back to the others.

Faith grinned, pleased with her efforts. Maybe she had a tiny maternal bone in her body after all. She glanced up to find Kate looking at her, an unreadable expression on her face. She smiled back hoping for some sign that her lover was at least somewhat relaxed. The blue eyes left hers quickly, never acknowledging her.

"How's the correspondence with your family going?" Barbara asked, gaining Faith's attention.

The Slayer smiled warmly. "Five by five. We've swapped a few letters and the more I learn about them, the more I'm liking the idea of having a family. Still haven't found a way to tell them about my jail time, but slowly working up to it."

"What about Kate?" Marcus asked.

"Not yet," Faith said, a small embarrassed smile gracing her lips. She looked to Kate, but again received no acknowledgment. "I'm thinking I'll wait 'til they meet her, then there's no way they can not like her. I've mentioned her briefly, just left out that wicked important detail."

Barbara chuckled, "You will have nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, hope so," Faith nodded. "Don't wanna think what would happen if they were fundamentalists. But my grandmother mentioned that many of the relatives in Sri Lanka were Buddhists, so hopefully the fam in Boston haven't been converted to the Catholic way of thinking. Or any other gay-hating religious bullshit. Just another reason I'm glad I left Boston."

"Have you made plans to see them?"

Faith drew in a breath and shook her head. "Definitely want to see them sometime this year, maybe closer to summer. I've gotten used to these Californian winters."

"When the time comes, take as long as you want," Marcus offered. "I'll miss you, but I'll survive."

Faith grinned, "Thanks boss."

"Will you be going too?" Barbara directed towards a silent Kate.

"Wouldn't miss it," Kate answered, not mustering up much enthusiasm.

Faith gave her a weak kick to the shins, to which Kate moved her legs out the way. They locked eyes, neither willing to back down. Finally, Marcus cleared his throat. They set their gazes on him.

Embarrassed by their behaviour Kate spoke up. "It's time to get going. I've had a tiring day."

"Of course," Barbara said graciously as they all stood from the table. "Thank you for coming."

"Wicked good food as always," Faith grinned before reclaiming her jacket from the living room couch and following the others to the door. Kate had already farewelled their friends and unlocked the car. "Sorry about the company though."

Marcus looked from his employee to the cop climbing into the car. "Is she okay?"

"Tough case," Faith said. "I've never seen her like this."

"Is it that young couple who were murdered a couple of days ago?" Barbara asked.

"Think so, she hasn't actually said for sure, but yeah. News hounds have been all over it," Faith said sharing her lover's disgust at the public's unhealthy interest in the case.

"Kate's a good cop, she'll handle it her own way," Marcus said with a pat on the shoulder.

A little annoyed by her boss's dismissal of her concerns, she smiled awkwardly. Bending down to Josh, she gave him a lengthy hug, soaking up the boy's innocence. She promised to be around the following week armed with a surprise for him. After a hurried goodbye to his parents, she hopped into the passenger seat and waved as they drove away.

"Wanna head down to the pool hall?" Faith suggested glancing across at the tense woman.

"I just want to go home to bed," Kate replied not taking her eyes off the road.

"To sleep or to do something a little more exciting?" A lazy grin appeared on the Slayer, then quickly went again as she received an icy glare. "To sleep then. Mind if I go out for a little Friday night slaying?"

Kate shrugged. "Whatever."

"You know, you didn't have to be rude to them all night."

"You're the one that wanted to drag me along tonight," Kate growled. "I told you I didn't feel like going."

"I didn't drag you along, we could have postponed." Faith rubbed her forehead and shook her head. "You could have said no."

"You didn't hear a thing I said at lunch, did you?" Kate beeped the slow moving car in front of them as they took off from a set of traffic lights.

"Of course I did," Faith shot back. "I'm going to give you some space when we get home. We can even schedule how long you need me to be out slaying if you want," she added condescendingly.

"Don't talk to me like that."

"Fine. Just fucking forget it," Faith said, turning the radio on and increasing the volume several notches.

She jumped out of the car when they arrived home and gathered a couple of stakes. Hopping on her Suzuki Marauder, she peeled out onto the road, gunning the engine. When she returned three hours later, Kate was already in bed and asleep.

*******************************************

The winter sun shone in her eyes as her feet pounded on the sidewalk. She could hear four other feet in synchronisation with her. Sweat covered her skin and her lungs fought for oxygen as she turned the last corner. Alexia didn't seem to be labouring at all under the exercise. Coming to the front gate of the apartment block, Faith flopped down on the grass and commanded Alexia to do the same.

"That felt wicked good," she puffed to the dog, who had her tongue out. As her heart rate returned to normal, she smiled at Alexia. "Come on, I bet you're dying of thirst too."

They staggered inside the apartment, going straight to the kitchen where Faith filled Alexia's bowl and grabbed a glass of water for herself. After gulping down the refreshing liquid, she walked by Kate, who was reading on the couch. Earlier at breakfast neither had brought up the night before and Faith wasn't going to risk another fight about it. It was over as far as she was concerned.

"Want to join me in the shower?" she asked arching an eyebrow.

"No thanks."

Strutting over to her lover, she bent down and said in her most seductive voice, "You sure? You, me, nakedness and a whole lotta time on our hands."

Kate's eyes never left the page as she shook her head. Disappointed, but having learnt not to push, Faith headed towards the shower. Peeling off her sweaty clothes as she went, she glanced one last time at the blonde and disappeared into the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later she returned, dressed in a pair of torn jeans and a long-sleeved blue top. Kate hadn't moved. Suspicious, Faith squeezed in next to her and leaned over the papers Kate held.

"Faith," the cop warned.

"Is that work?" she asked leaning over more to confirm her hunch.

Kate whipped the pages up to her chest. "So what if it is?"

"So what?" Faith repeated derisively. "I can give you a few wicked good reasons. It's Saturday for one. You are off-duty."

"A cop is never off-duty," Kate said as if explaining it to a four-year-old.

"You?are?off?duty." Faith leaned in with each word. "Don't see anyone to arrest around here."

"That's because I don't know who did it yet," Kate growled. "This is how I'm spending my day, Faith, either accept it or go out."

"No."

Kate sighed and paused in thought. "Weren't you saying you wanted to spend more time with Josh."

"Why don't we go for a ride. Get your mind off this and start fresh Monday."

"The longer we wait, the more we lose. I have to do this before the Forensics come back next week." Kate started to collect the file. "I'll go down to the station if I have to."

"No, no," Faith said laying a hand on Kate's wrist. "I hate to see you stressed, baby. Can we at least get out tonight?"

"Maybe, but not too late," Kate answered giving in?for now at least. She could still change Faith's mind later. "There is pressure on us to solve this one fast, Faith. It's in the public eye and it has to look good."

"Fuck the public," Faith shrugged. "Like they know what it takes to solve a murder anyway."

"It is also a reflection on my career. After I transferred a lot of people lost faith in me. I've had to earn back the respect and it's been a hard slog. I feel those in the chain of command will look on this favourably. High profile murder case could be the key in helping me get my career completely back on track again."

Faith nodded. "Okay, but that doesn't mean you have to make yourself sick doing it. You haven't been sleeping. You hardly touched your food at Barbara's last night. Let me at least take care of you."

"I will," Kate answered with a sincere smile. She leaned in for a kiss before setting the papers down in her lap again.

Faith watched her for a few minutes, aching to take the file away. She settled for making Kate a cup of coffee. The blonde head lifted and for the first time in days, Faith felt helpful. Wanting to keep an eye on her lover, she set about checking her weapons and keeping up their maintenance.

*******************************************

Sunday morning meant sleeping in?normally. Faith lifted her head after her arm couldn't find her lover's warm body to snuggle into. Frustrated that her weekly ritual had been ripped away from her, she threw the covers off to find out why.

"There you are," she said with a warm smile.

Kate swallowed her mouthful of toast. "Hey."

"Bright and early this morning, I see. After last night I thought you might be worn out." She flashed her lover a seductive grin.

After much enticing, Faith managed to convince Kate to go slaying with her the night before. The cop even staked two vampires. Faith had orchestrated it that way, though Kate didn't know that. Coming home horny, they had made love.

Long after Kate fell into a fitful sleep, Faith lay awake, tightly holding onto the tense body. Her thoughts concentrated on finding a way to help Kate without being resented for it. Running through a list of people she might be able to talk to about the situation, she wasn't sure she could break Kate's trust like that. If Kate ever found out she was telling others details about their relationship, it could end it. If their relationship had a weak point, it was their ability to trust. Both had been burned before, extremely burned, and even a minor infraction could hurt them.

Still, she had little experience in helping someone through any kind of stressful situation. The thought of not being able to help Kate tore at her. After all the woman had done for her, she didn't know how to return the favour. She cursed and berated herself for her ignorance. Surely, there was something more she could do than infuriate her lover with her pitiful pleadings and suggestions. Coming up empty, she vowed that she would at least be more understanding about Kate's work.

Now as she watched Kate give her a smile at the mention of the night before, she crossed her fingers and wished for a better day. Touched at the tenderness in the smile, Faith pulled her in for a long kiss, not letting go of Kate's hand once their lips parted.

"I love you, you know," the Slayer grinned, tucking a piece of blonde hair out of the way. She always loved the way Kate looked in the morning light, especially after a night of passion.

The cop smiled warmly. "Thought so."

Faith twirled the ring Kate had given her around on her finger. "With all I have."

Brushing her hands clean of crumbs, the blonde grinned. "Certainly gave me all you had last night."

"Being with you can do that to a person."

Kate pulled the brunette's head down for another long kiss. Without breaking their contact, Faith sat down at the kitchen table and drew Kate into her lap with a pleasurable moan. Searching out her tongue, Faith moved her hands up under the thin top and caressed the warm skin on Kate's back. They occupied themselves in the activity for a few minutes before Kate drew away, breathless. Embracing her lover, she closed her eyes and leaned on the strong shoulder.

"Faith, take me back to bed."

The Slayer's eyes opened wide, and she almost tripped over in trying to untangle herself from the chair. Her body couldn't move into the bedroom fast enough as she followed Kate. Gently, she positioned her already naked lover on the bed and stripped off her robe.

With the morning sun streaming into the room, she worshipped her lover, determined to show her the depth of her feelings. At the moment she felt Kate surrender she looked down at the expression of rapture on her face. With one press against the blonde's smooth flesh she joined her.

CHAPTER TWO

Kate gathered the file together and set off for the interview room. With a look of concentration, she prepared herself for the interrogation of the suspect they had picked up earlier in the day. Leaving the apartment that morning, Kate felt refreshed and ready to tackle the case again. The day before, Faith managed to limit her working time to a couple of hours and she had to admit the time away from the case helped.

Gregan had been waiting for her when she arrived at the station, handing her the crime scene reports. From the autopsy report they already knew that the male died by the knife wound in his neck, the woman by a stab wound to the chest from the same knife. The medical examiner determined that she died from the first of seven wounds. No knife was found at the crime scene. Kate opened the file and skimmed through it. Fibres found in the car didn't give much of a clue until they had a suspect and the killer didn't leave any fingerprints around. They did get lucky with a shoe print by the road and the shoe tracks in the grass. Tests came back pointing to a soil composition not found in LA but out west of the city. Also mixed in the soil were traces of horse manure and horse feed. Finally, the piece of cloth with a horse motif came back clean of any prints or DNA. It appeared to be torn from a newly bought garment. With the cloth and soil samples, the detectives canvassed the likely area, visiting several horse ranches.

The first two they hit yielded nothing that could be suspicious, but the third looked promising. Talking to the owner, Fletcher Knight, they noticed his right wrist bandaged. When questioned about the injury the man hesitated before answering shakily. Gregan and Kate turned to each other, the same thought running through their minds. Kate asked about the nature of the man's business and his employees. He offered very little, except telling them that he didn't have an alibi and had one of his workers escort them off the property.

However, the worker gave them some insight into the owner. Apparently he only hired men who weren't in a long-term relationship and he didn't like women on his property. Kate nodded, having felt Knight's eyes burning into her while they were questioning him. The worker couldn't remember where Knight was the day of the murders, though his boss often disappeared. He also gave them a list of employees, happy to help in the investigation any way he could. Kate thanked the man and they left discussing their belief Fletcher Knight could be their number one suspect.

Arriving back at the precinct, they discussed the case with the Lieutenant. Knight didn't show up on any of the police databases and had a clean record. A couple of the other employees had misdemeanours, none of them for violent behaviour. Still, both Gregan and Kate felt Knight was the one. They were trying to find a way to get a search warrant, when Kate realised their own shoes were full of dirt from the ranch. Since they'd had permission to enter Knight's property they got their own shoes tested. When the result came back the conclusion was the soil from the crime scene and Knight's ranch matched. Having enough for a search warrant, they went back to the ranch, to the displeasure of Knight. They seized newspaper clippings of the murder, samples of his DNA, shoes that may have matched the killer's and more samples of soil and horse feed. But no murder weapon, bloodied clothing or cloth matching that with the horse motif were discovered.

They brought Knight in for questioning, where he was now waiting for his lawyer. Gregan had sent the newly collected evidence down to the labs, while she read the news clippings to make sure she knew everything that had been reported.

She stepped into the room with the file. Knight, a 38-year-old white man with hair starting to grey and a thin frame, sat waiting. They locked eyes, Kate having to stop herself from sneering at him while she set the file down on the table.

"I've asked for my lawyer," he said as she sat down and opened the folder.

"Yeah, I know that," she answered sizing him up. He didn't seem ruffled by the situation. "Think you need one, do you?"

He stared back at her, arms crossed and leaning back in his chair. Kate looked up as the door opened. Her lips curled at the face she saw.

"What a surprise you're his lawyer," she sneered as the impeccably dressed woman sat down next to her client.

"My client has nothing to say," Lilah Morgan said coolly.

Kate picked up the crime scene photos and spread them out across the table. "Nothing to say about this?"

Lilah looked at the passive man and back to Kate. "My client has nothing to say, because he doesn't know anything."

Kate motioned to the photos. "I'm sure your client would like to help us catch the person that did this." She looked down at report in front of her. "Soil samples found at the scene match those at your client's ranch. He wears the same size shoes as the killer. No one can provide an alibi. He also had clippings on his kitchen table."

"That means nothing," Lilah said. "Like many citizens he has an interest in the case. My client employs a number of people, any one of those could have committed the crime. As for the shoes, unless you have proof they are the same ones used in the killing, you are grasping at straws. You have nothing to charge him with and I suggest you let him go."

Changing tacts Kate held up an evidence bag with the piece of cloth in it. "Is this yours, Mr Knight?" Not receiving an answer, she studied the suspect. "Look at it closely."

"It's a horse, so what?" Lilah snorted. "Lots of people have interest in horses, many that don't even work in the industry. Did you find any proof that it belonged to him?"

"An amazing coincidence, is it then?" Kate asked, shifting her gaze between the two. "What about your wrist. Tell me again what happened to it?"

Both lawyer and suspect stayed silent until it was apparent the interview couldn't go any further.

"Are you going to charge him or not," Lilah pressed.

Keeping a neutral expression, Kate said. "He's free to go for the moment, but he is to remain in the area."

"And you will be looking into the other employees, of course," the lawyer said brightly. "Maybe they will even fall into the realm of your speciality, Detective, the supernatural. Still jumping into those type of cases head first?"

Kate responded with a cool glare, not rattled by the words, and dismissed the suspect with a wave.

"Goddamn it," she sighed as she watched the rancher and the lawyer walk out of the interview room. Gregan came in as she gathered the photos. "You were watching, what do you think?"

Gregan snorted, "One cool customer."

"Shit, why did he have to be represented by Wolfram & Hart."

"My gut says this guy knows something at the very least. We'll talk to him again, maybe this time he'll slip."

"We need something more solid on him first or Morgan will claim harassment," Kate remarked.

Out in the main room, Lilah Morgan caught sight of someone she hadn't seen in two years. Urging her client to go on ahead, she turned on her heels and walked over to the waiting woman.

"Need a lawyer?"

Faith jumped, her attention not focussed on her surroundings. Slowly she stood, sizing the former ally up and down. "No, but you should the way you do business."

Lilah laughed softly. "So, what have you done this time? Using those lethal skills of yours again?"

"I've gone straight, haven't you heard?" Faith gave her a smirk.

"We knew you'd been released, of course, but you are but just a drop of rain in the big scheme of things. I've been promoted since I last saw you."

Faith shook her head and gave her a wry smile. "Surprised they haven't killed you yet. But then again, maybe you're just one step closer to the head honchos and I know they don't just wear evil, they are evil."

"What makes you think you are any better than any of our clients?" Lilah said noticing Detective Lockley exit the interview room.

The Slayer stared her down. "The fact that I look good in leather."

"I think it's time you left," Kate said coming up behind the lawyer.

"I was just catching up with an old friend," Lilah smiled, barely hiding her delight.

"Really, Lilah, we hardly knew each other," Faith threw back. "Although it makes you wonder about a person when they pick you up on the pretence of a back alley fuck." Faith smiled smugly. "Oh, I forgot, that was all part of a plan."

"It worked didn't it?"

Faith laughed, "That part of the plan, anyways. Though, having you up against that fence I could see your fear. You knew I could snap your neck with one move and you were about to piss your pants. Bet your bosses don't know about that."

"You think you're the worst I've faced," Lilah scoffed with a laugh. "Even your precious Angel has threatened to kill me."

"Bet you wet your pants that time too," Faith shot back.

"You wouldn't have happened to have seen him lately? He's off playing happy families?for now. We're working on a plan to put a stop to that."

"I'm sure it will be as successful as your last plan to ruin him," the Slayer shrugged. "Angel can take care of himself and his son."

"So, you have spoken to him," Lilah nodded.

"Every once in awhile."

"Thought with what he did for you, you'd be returning the favour. A Slayer is worth more than the rest of his ragbag team put together." Lilah glanced over her shoulder at an infuriated Kate. "Well, I better be going and leave you to whatever you're here for. Oh, and you'll have to find another lawyer this time, Wolfram & Hart don't deal with traitors."

Faith gleefully replied, "Believe me, you're the last law firm I would ever call. Although law firm, not exactly the apt description."

Lilah smiled at her former client. "Be careful who you insult, Faith, people who double cross me generally have short lives."

Faith stood up and leaned into the lawyer, much like she did the night they met. "Is that a threat?"

"Alright, that's enough." Kate stepped between them, much to Lilah's relief. To Faith she said, "You, go sit at my desk. You," she said turning her attention to Lilah, "better hope that girl lives for quite some time yet."

Without waiting for a response, Kate stalked back to her desk watching Faith watch Lilah leave the room.

"What are you doing here?" she asked slapping the file down on her cluttered desk.

"About to convince you to come home for dinner at a reasonable time," Faith said with a smile that she hoped Kate thought was charming. "Was that the guy who did it?"

"A suspect," Kate corrected and wearily sat down in her chair. "And I'm just over the moon about his choice of lawyers."

"Don't let her get to you. She's all talk, gets others to do her dirty work."

"You should watch your back then," Kate said pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Always." Faith looked around the room, before placing her hand on top of her lover's for a brief moment. "So, you coming home soon?"

"I've got some paperwork to finish up, but yeah," the detective gave in.

"Wicked cool." Standing up, Faith leaned over and whispered a quick 'I love you' before leaving the building with a satisfied smirk.

*******************************************

Settled down on the couch after dinner, Kate closed her eyes and enjoyed the music playing on the stereo. Feeling reassured by the breakthrough earlier in the day, she allowed herself to drift away.

"Now there's a sight I could get used to," Faith said as she sat down next to the blonde, allowing Kate to position them in an encompassing embrace. With her back against Kate's chest, she looked up at the relaxed expression. "You five by five with the case now?"

"We're not over the line yet, but things look promising. I'd feel better if Lilah Morgan would go back to tormenting Angel, though. Wonder how the suspect fits into Wolfram & Hart's evil plans."

"Are you saying you think he's a demon?"

"No," Kate shook her head. "I'm no expert on otherworldly things, but he doesn't strike me as one. He might be useful in other ways for them. Big horse ranch out of the city, who knows what Wolfram & Hart could do with that at their disposal."

Faith remarked, "Genetically engineering horses to win every race?"

"Wouldn't surprise me," Kate said laying her head against her lover's. "What did you and Lilah Morgan talk about before I came over?"

"Nothing much," Faith shrugged.

"Didn't sound like nothing much. Is this the first time you've seen her since you were hired to kill Angel?"

Faith hesitated. "No."

"What?" Kate exclaimed.

"After I confessed?" Faith twisted around so Kate couldn't see her face. "She and one of the other men, I think it was the cute one--"

"Lindsey McDonald," Kate supplied.

"Yeah, they came to see me the day I was arraigned."

"Wait a minute, I followed your case up until you were sentenced. There's no record of anyone but your public defender visiting you before you went to jail, other than me of course."

"Doesn't mean to say it didn't happen. They wanted to work out a deal."

"But you'd just double-crossed them," Kate argued.

"They'd spent a great deal of money on achieving nothing. They wanted their money's worth, so to speak."

"But you didn't bite the second time."

Faith scoffed, "I'd seen enough the first go around. Plus, you had explained to me who they really were by that time. Their offer didn't even tempt me. I knew what I had to do, and I never had any regrets about it. It was the first time I was proud of myself. I'd finally done the right thing. Not even the promise of getting out was going to sway me."

"So they offered to make the charges go away."

Faith nodded. "Said they could get the confession thrown out."

"What did they want in return?"

"For me to keep my end of the deal, with supervision this time of course."

Kate smiled proudly. "They still didn't get why you had swapped sides. They underestimated you and got what they deserved. Not to mention the fact that your allegiance would forever be with Angel after what he did for you."

"They thought I was throwing my life away when I was only just getting it back. I'd never been so clear on a decision when I told them to go fuck themselves."

Kate laughed softly. "How did they respond."

"Taunted me about payback, but they never followed through."

"They might have had a use for you later down the track."

Faith shrugged again. "Maybe they thought after a week inside I'd be begging for help. I got the feeling that they didn't know which way to go with me. Messing with me would have given Angel another reason to take 'em down permanently, but they were double-crossed." Faith looked up at her attentive lover. "They obviously thought getting their money's worth wasn't a risk they wanted to take. What they paid me was probably peanuts to them anyways. Angel's dusting is worth more than 15 grand."

"Did Lilah indicate she knew about your situation now?"

The Slayer shook her head. "Said she knew I was out, but that I wasn't worth shit to her. Doesn't worry me, rather not tangle with 'em again."

"What about your job?"

Faith shrugged. "Didn't get that far. She thought I was down there because I'd been on the wrong side of the law again. If she knew about us?well, she's not one to let that information go unmentioned. Suppose it would be easy for her to get the skinny on me, but it doesn't seem like I'm all that important."

"You're always important," Kate said kissing her forehead. "But I'm glad you're not a pawn in the war between Angel and Wolfram & Hart. Anyone who's in their way gets hurt."

"For once in my life I can say that I don't want to be where the action is. If they can toy with Angel so much that he nearly pulls an Angelus, I hate to think what they would cook up for me. I'm not that strong, baby."

Ignoring that comment Kate took hold of Faith's hands. "Do you think now they know you're active in LA they might come after you?"

"It's possible," Faith sighed. "Don't worry, I'm not going to play their games."

"Good."

Faith turned around, melding her body to Kate's. "I should go out to patrol."

"Hmm," Kate grunted with a pout. Their lips met halfway for a short series of kisses. "Come back horny for me, please."

Faith moaned into her neck, lightly nipping at the skin. When she peeled her lips away she remarked, "Maybe I should stay."

"No," Kate said pushing her lover back. "Patrol first."

"Damn," the Slayer said reluctantly withdrawing her body from the tempting one underneath. "Promise you will be waiting for me?"

"I can do better than that." Kate brought her lips down on Faith's, plying her tongue exactly how her lover liked it. A few moans later she pulled back and smirked. "That's a preview. Main feature coming soon."

"I'm already there."

The Slayer picked up her choice of weapons and headed out into the night. The cop sat back down on the couch, resuming her former position. Letting her thoughts wander over a myriad of subjects, she sunk further into the soft cushions, awaiting her lover's return.

*******************************************

Fletcher Knight stood, arms crossed and feet slightly apart, an angry expression sullying his face. Kate stood a few feet away, with Gregan next to her. So far in their questioning of him at his ranch, he had maintained silence except to order them to leave his property or arrest him. But the calm manner was slowly disintegrating as the detectives kept up their barrage of inquiries.

Trying to add another chink to the armour Kate asked, "Do you have a girlfriend, Mr Knight?" The man screwed up his face, but stayed silent. "Must be a lonely life out here, especially with no women around."

"If you don't leave now I will have to inform your superiors of this incident. You are lucky I didn't call my lawyer the moment you got here."

"In a minute," Gregan said taking a step forward. "You have a thing about women, huh?"

"Are you married?" he asked relaxing slightly as Gregan took over.

"No," Gregan shook his head looking back at Kate, who was happy to let him continue. "Can't give up my freedom like that. I see the guys around me that are married, boy are they limp and dull now. Me, I like not having to answer to a woman. Don't have to explain where I've been, who I've been with."

Knight nodded and uncrossed his arms. "You stick to that philosophy son and you'll go far."

"Yeah," Gregan smiled, "not like this kid that got himself killed. He'd recently shacked up with this girl, you know."

"He should have realised she would bring him down." Knight stared past Gregan to Kate and gave her a look of scorn. "Thing like her, she could ruin a man."

"Detective Lockley?" Gregan said turning to his partner and shrugged. "Don't worry, it's not like that with us. My career is more important."

"A true mark of a man," Knight agreed.

Gregan smiled again. "I see now why you insist all your employees are single."

"Don't you just hate it when a man goes soft over a woman?" Knight said derisively. "Going around all lovey-dovey, distracting him from his work."

Grinning Gregan nodded. He turned to Kate, still grinning, though Kate interpreted its meaning differently to Knight.

"We've taken up enough time, Mr Knight," she said stepping forward. All camaraderie between the men disappeared as the rancher sneered at her. "We need to question your employees further about the matter and then we'll be going."

"And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death.'" Knight said quietly. "Revelations 6:8."

Kate narrowed her eyes. "Pardon?"

"I thought it was appropriate in the circumstances," Knight smiled.

"What circumstances would those be?"

"Death of people living in sin."

"I see," Kate said coming closer. "You want to explain that?"

"No. I suggest you leave now."

"You think they got what they deserved then?"

"One more word and I'll call my lawyer. If I have do to that, lady, I will make a formal complaint."

Kate tapped her foot, calming herself. Those haunting eyes of Estelle White kept flashing in her mind, and all she wanted to do was lash out at the man in front of her. For a moment Knight had opened up, but with that last comment, his demeanour closed down again. She could push, she wanted to push, but something told her to hold back. They needed this to be a clean arrest and pushing Knight may give him grounds to complain or say they'd kept questioning him without his lawyer present. There were other ways of getting a conviction than his confession. Besides, if they played it right, he still may tell all. She turned around and started heading over to the workers.

Knight watched her go as she walked towards the stables. "Keep an eye on her."

"I will," Gregan said before joining his partner.

"Got him," Kate said as they belted up in the car after interviewing the workers.

None of the employees stood out as possible suspects. The night of the murders all except two had gone into a local bar to see a band play. They would check out all the alibis, but neither Gregan nor her had reason to suspect them. However, each of them had some interesting opinions on their boss and none of them agreed with their boss's disgust about relationships or women. One even admitted he lied to Knight during the job interview. When asked why he didn't find another job, the worker had told them the pay was good and he had friends there.

"Now we need to link him with evidence. We can't go to the DA with what we have now," Gregan said navigating down the long winding drive.

"I want to go back to the crime scene," Kate said an idea popping into her head. "Do you mind following up on the interviews?"

Gregan shook his head and they parted after arriving back at the precinct. Kate drove out to the scrub, all the while thinking about the details of the scene. Still bothered by something just out of her conscious reach, she waded through the images in her head.

It was late afternoon by the time she stepped out of the car. After more than a week, no witnesses or public tips had produced anything fruitful. She walked down the incline then stopped near the crime scene. Turning slowly around in a circle, her eyes were peeled for that elusive clue. The crime scene photos didn't capture the creepiness of the scene, with the sun filtering through the scrub. Her and Gregan thought the killer, probably Knight, found the couple by chance, but that didn't fit with the way he found the perfect place to arrange the bodies. Living in sin, he said. He must have known them, then. Followed them maybe. Too late in the day now to investigate, but she had thought of a way to connect the victims and Knight

*******************************************

That night, Faith found Kate sitting at the computer, a pen in her mouth as she searched through the papers in her lap.

"You look so sexy when you're working," she said wrapping her arms around Kate from behind and turning the blonde's head for a greeting kiss.

"Is it your night to go to Jacinta's?" the cop asked finding the paper she wanted and setting it next to the keyboard. She clicked on the website she had up on the screen and waited until the next page loaded.

"Yep, after I patrol. Just came home to change first." Faith peered at the screen. "Why are you suddenly so interested in horses?"

"It's for work," Kate explained, expecting Faith to complain about her working off-duty.

"The double murder?"

"Yes," she answered calmly.

"You made some more progress then?"

Kate gave her a reassuring smile, "It's a matter of making a good case now for a conviction, but we think we have our man."

Faith grinned and again wrapped her in an embrace. "Told you that you could do it, baby. And this looks like a walk in the park compared to what you've been slaving over." She watched as Kate entered some words into the search engine. "Have you eaten?"

"Not yet."

"Kate," Faith warned. "Do you want me to make you something before I go?"

The blonde looked up, seeing the concern. "It's okay, I'm nearly finished here."

"You sure?"

"I've found as much as I need for the moment," Kate said clicking on another link she thought may be useful. "I promise I'll eat within the next hour."

Believing her, Faith nodded and went into the bedroom. Kate barely noticed as the Slayer left the apartment. Finding a site on horse mythology, she spent the rest of the hour collecting information on relationships between horse and man, horses in mythology and symbols and famous horses. From the Stone Age to the modern age, horses played an important part in history. Not only in agriculture and transport, but warfare as well. Kate concentrated on the symbol of the horse and how it related to violence. As Knight had said, the horse featured in Revelations, the four horses of the Apocalypse each bringing destruction of some kind. Other cultures also thought the horse a symbol of death and the underworld. But in some cultures horses were revered and sacred, white horses especially.

Just before Kate shut down the Web browser she came across a paragraph that intrigued her. Horses, in dreams, could symbolise sexuality. They were a symbol of power, masculinity and wildness. If anything, she might be able to get under Knight's skin with this research.

*******************************************

"So I rammed the stake home and he dropped to the floor like a stone," Faith said thrusting her arm downward to demonstrate. "Saved the girl and gave her enough money for the bus before I motored out of there."

"And he died from this one blow?" Jacinta Milton, Faith's Watcher, asked jotting down Faith's statement. Eventually what she wrote down would be collated in a report and sent to England.

"Yep, straight into his throat. I'm guessing he needed that part intact." The young woman fidgeted while Jacinta wrote this down also. When her Watcher looked up again she continued. "I swept the area again tonight and found a couple of demon squatters moving in. They didn't look dangerous, well 'cept for these wicked looking red teeth about six inches long. They went down easily. See, they were in the middle of an argument when I came across them, so they weren't up to the challenge."

"Were they grey and spoke in hushed tones?"

"Those would be the ones." Faith nodded. "Why?"

Jacinta leaned forward and with a touch of concern in her voice said, "You weren't touched by the teeth, were you?"

"Don't think so."

"This is important. Tunthus demons carry poison in their teeth," Jacinta said moving over to her bookshelf. Scanning the titles and taking a heavy book out, she came back.

Faith examined her clothing and skin then shook her head. "All clear."

Jacinta laid the book on the table and pointed to a diagram of the Tunthus. Reading from the page, "A bite from a Tunthus injects a slow releasing poison into the victim's body that leads to paralysis."

"Damn," Faith said, "hate to be on the end of that. Is there a cure?"

"Yes, but obtaining it is extremely difficult. You did well to kill these demons." Jacinta closed the book and looked up at her charge with a smile. "I suggest you sweep the area again, we don't want any of these demons attacking the population."

"Sure," Faith nodded.

"Anything else to report?"

"Just the usual routine slayings. Four vamps and three other demons on my rounds. Nothing exciting. The cemetery that vampire gang was using last month is now empty, unless you count the people resting in there. No new risings for a couple of weeks now."

"That doesn't mean they've stopped turning people. By your own estimates, you only destroyed half the gang."

Faith agreed. "Haven't heard anything on the streets about them, though. Might be laying low for awhile."

"Keep an eye out anyway," Jacinta remarked.

Faith sat back in her chair, looking at a painting on the wall. She opened her mouth to speak, then grimaced. She waited for Jacinta to clear the table before opening her mouth again. "Can I ask you something?"

The Watcher looked up, surprised at the faltering question. "Of course."

"It's just that?Kate is on a case at the moment. I don't think she's handling it well." Faith looked down to her feet. "She's spending all her time working on it. I'm not sure what I should be doing."

"Supporting her," Jacinta said gently.

"But how?" Faith exclaimed. "I'm trying, but she's shutting me out. Even tonight, after she told me they probably have the killer, she wouldn't let me do anything for her. She's said she needs space, but I don't know if I can stand back and see her suffer."

"You've given her space so far?"

"I've been trying and she's left me in no doubt that's what she expects me to do. This is one of those rare times our age difference comes into play."

"Still, maybe you should push a little harder. I'm sure if the situation was reversed, Kate would not give up if she thought you weren't looking after yourself."

"But you don't know Kate. She doesn't like me interfering in her work. Acts like she's some tough-as-steel cop."

"Maybe she's trying to protect you from what she sees."

Faith snorted. "I can take it. Geez, I've seen demons come up from a portal to hell. I think I can handle what she faces."

Jacinta shook her head. "But you don't know what she faces, Faith. Demons, they're supernatural, and we don't have to question their morals or humanity. Kate sees the worst of human nature. She has to find a way to deal with that. For you, you slay the demon and walk away. Kate needs to investigate every aspect of the crime and sometimes that means trying to understand the criminal." The Watcher gazed at the young woman. "I can't imagine what it must be like to get inside someone's head like that and frankly I'm don't envy those who do. By not telling you what's going on, she can at least protect you from going down in the darkness with her."

Faith ran her fingers through her hair. "Then how am I supposed to help if I don't know what she's going through?"

"I don't know, but just loving her may be a good way to help her. Show her that humans are capable of very compassionate, loving acts as well."

"She said I do that for her, but this time it's not enough," Faith growled slapping her fist into her palm. "I don't know what else I can do."

"Just being there for her is probably enough," Jacinta said holding up a hand when the Slayer's mouth opened again. "You can't take away her pain, Faith, but you can ease it. The rest she has to deal with herself and she has to do it in her own way. That might not be the way you want her to, but she has had years of experience." Jacinta reached over and patted the Slayer's leg. "If this continues, then maybe you should mention to her about counselling. The police provide someone themselves, someone who has expertise in helping cops deal with the stress of the job."

"She would never go for that," Faith said shaking her head.

"It's just a suggestion," Jacinta said sitting back in her seat.

"Okay."

*******************************************

The one bedroom apartment looked like the typical student place. A mismatch of furniture, cheap light fittings and a second-hand sofa stood out. Kate moved through the murdered couple's belongings, looking for anything to do with horses. It was a long shot, but one that could provide vital evidence. They had already given it the once-over, but like the crime scene, she wanted to look at it with fresh eyes. Gregan had gone to collect Fletcher Knight and bring him in for further questioning as well as searching his house for any material he could have used for quotations.

That morning they had spent time questioning family and friends of the victims again. Not one of them knew anything about horses or the victim's interest in them. Going into the bedroom, Kate found it as it had been left by the couple. Bed covers thrown back, clothes hanging behind the door and an open paperback face down on the bedside table. Kate moved over and glanced at the title: 'Neuromancer' by William Gibson. She guessed it was Eric Snow's, since he was a computing student. She remembered that he had taken a class on computers and popular culture.

Turning her attention to the other side of the bed, she noticed a wooden horse trinket beside Estelle White's bedside table. Snapping on a latex glove, she picked it up and placed it in an evidence bag. She continued her search in the room, delving into the closet. Finding nothing there she moved to the second bedroom. Boxes, still unpacked, sat in the corner. Over by the window an empty easel stood. Kate searched for paints and brushes, locating them on an old and shabby table along the far wall. Next she looked for any paintings.

Opening a big box, she found several canvasses packed inside. Pulling them out and studying each, they seemed to be of good quality. They were all landscapes, several of coastal areas. Each had Ms White's signature on them. As Kate unpacked the last two, she froze. The first captured a winged horse in flight, the second contained a stallion pulling a chariot across the sky, with a small figure inside. From her research, she guessed the first painting was of Pegasus, the second of a sun god being pulled on his journey across the sky. Both were beautiful, the horses drawn with a precision that stunned her. Maybe they caught the attention of Knight.

Searching the rest of the apartment yielded no more clues, but she did take the paintings with her.

Back at the precinct, she met up with Gregan at his desk.

"He's called in his lawyer," he said as she approached. "Find anything?"

Kate nodded, but was already on her way to the interview room before he could ask. Bursting in on client and lawyer talking, she sneered at Lilah.

"What's all this about, Detective Lockley?" the brunette asked standing up to meet the frosty eyes. "My client has a business to run."

"I would thank him for taking time out, but I'm not in the mood to play games." Kate sat down at the table and waited until her partner joined her. She pulled out evidence bags containing fibres from the car that closely matched Knight's standard work clothes. "Did you know we can do amazing things with technology these days. Even a killer so clever in leaving almost no trace evidence can slip up."

"Is there a point to this?" Lilah asked with a yawn.

"Your business," Kate said leaning on the table that separated the parties, "must be a passion for you."

Knight looked across to Lilah who shrugged. "It is."

"How long have you worked with horses?" Knight didn't respond. "Can I ask what attracted you to the profession." Again no response. "See, I've been doing some research into horses, or rather how humans have portrayed horses throughout history."

"Is that what you do with your time," Lilah cut in smugly.

Kate stared at the man. "Seems in many cultures the horse is celebrated. I can see why, after all the animal possesses so much strength and speed." Knight nodded slightly. "You know what I'm talking about, don't you. Why else would be the Apocalypse be started by horsemen. The pale horse, that's Death isn't it?" Kate opened the bible in front of her. "The pale horse is the last of the Four Horsemen and supposedly the most evil."

"This is irrelevant," Lilah said holding up her hand.

"Is it?" Kate asked pushing the bible towards Knight. "Has your client told you he can recite this verse at will?"

"And think it's appropriate to quote it when being questioned about a murder," Gregan remarked.

Lilah turned to her client, holding his eyes with a glare. Kate continued. "Horses have been linked with many religions. Christianity is just one of them. In fact, most think the horse possessed divine qualities. Especially white horses. Do you own any white horses, Knight?"

"One," he said with a far away smile. "He's a beauty."

"Of course it's a male," Kate said rolling her eyes. "Black horses on the other hand are more likely to represent death, the underworld or evil forces. The Celts, thought horse goddesses brought bad dreams, nightmares. Female, of course."

"Sometimes a horse is just a horse," Lilah said just as her client opened his mouth. "Really, I expected much more from you, Detective."

"Estelle White, the female victim, painted horses. Did you know that?" Kate locked her gaze on the man. "Horses from mythology."

"Is that the best you can do," Lilah said.

"It's a link, nonetheless. We're getting two paintings tested as we speak. You didn't happen to meet Ms White at some stage, did you? Maybe she wanted to use one of your horses as a model? Or maybe you love your white stallion so much you wanted to have him painted." Knight's eyes shifted between the intimidating stare from the blonde and the dangerous look from his lawyer. He chose to stay quiet. "One other thing. The horse also represents sexuality, sometimes subconscious of sexuality. Sound familiar?"

"You're not suggesting that my client is into sex with--"

"No," Kate said. "No, I'm not suggesting that at all. I'm speaking metaphorically."

"I should hope so," Lilah said. "Now can we get back on track here. I don't see what horse paintings have to do with this man."

"Your client has expressed a loathing towards women and love, soil samples match those found at his property, same shoe size and he spouts off quotes about death and horses at will," Gregan said growing impatient. "The victim had a active interest in horses and we find a piece of cloth with a horse on it at the crime scene. We have enough to make a case. This is an opportunity for your client to help himself."

Lilah turned her gaze on Gregan. "You have no solid link to him. No murder weapon, no clear forensic evidence and what are you saying is the motive? He isn't Casanova?" she scoffed. "Have you even looked at any other suspects?"

"Your client is the only one who fits the profile," Gregan remarked, not fazed by the lawyer.

"You're getting nothing," Lilah said rising. "You obviously aren't ready to charge him."

"Oh yes we are," Kate said watching dismay appear on Knight's face. "Gregan?"

The detective took Knight out to process the charges. Lilah and Kate remained in the room.

"Satisfied?" Kate asked standing and crossing her arms.

"Not yet, but I could be," Lilah said also standing. She had a slight smile on her face as she continued, "I may have a way for you to get your conviction."

Kate snorted, "It's called getting your client to cooperate."

"At a price," Lilah countered.

Kate stared at her, eyes narrowing. Still, curious she asked, "Name it."

"A woman was in here last week. I'm sure you know her well, after all you did arrest her and take her confession. A confession that one wouldn't be likely to forget."

Trying hard to conceal her anger Kate stated, "Faith."

"Yes, a Vampire Slayer, as I'm sure you're aware."

"What do you want with her?" the cop asked keeping her voice neutral.

"That's not your business. But your price is information about her. You're her arresting officer and know why she was here last week."

Kate's eyes widened slightly. "Can't you use your unnatural sources to do that."

Lilah waved dismissively. "That costs money, money that I frankly couldn't be bothered spending, especially when here in front of me I have someone who will give it to me for a good price."

"What about your client?"

Lilah laughed. "Oh him. For god's sake, we both know the truth about this case. Besides his ranch isn't the investment we thought it was. And our arrangement certainly didn't include defending him against murder charges."

Kate shook her head. "You disgust me. You are an officer of the court--"

"Oh, save it for someone who doesn't wear black," Lilah scoffed. "Do we have a deal?"

Crossing her arms, Kate said, "Even if I did know what Faith was up to these days, I wouldn't give you her location."

"Even at the expense of risking the release of a man you believe is guilty?"

"Unlike you, I work within our criminal justice system," Kate said opening the door.

"Yes, we know how well that goes for those I represent." Lilah stepped up to the cop. "Do you know my percentage of cases won? I play to win and winning in this case is one of two things. The Slayer or giving my client his freedom, freedom to do as he pleases. "

Kate almost elbowed the woman as she walked past, but kept her nerve. Closing her eyes for a moment, she steadied herself before returning to her desk. When Gregan rejoined her, they started putting together the information for the DA.

*******************************************

Turning up the volume to the radio while she waited for the green light, Kate once again found her thoughts drifting to Fletcher Knight. Confident they had a strong case, she still worried about Lilah's parting words. He may be in jail now, but the possibility of bail haunted her. The DA would oppose bail, but the judge might not see it that way. Still, two counts of first degree murder should almost guarantee denial of bail. Almost. She didn't trust Lilah not to swing the vote Knight's way using illegal or supernatural means. Shaking her head, she changed the station and found a slow rock song that matched her downcast mood. She hit the accelerator hard as she took off from the traffic lights.

Arriving home after battling the traffic, she desperately hoped to find her lover inside. There was a note on the fridge reminding her that Faith had left pizza in the oven and she wouldn't be home until about nine. After heating up dinner, she channel surfed finally settling on a documentary about Easter Island. Despite the interesting subject, she couldn't block out thoughts about Knight killing again. Frustrated by her inability to do anything more at that moment, she covered the options open to her. Lilah would push even harder for a deal if he appeared in front of a lenient judge at arraignment. The thought that he could be out in the general population again sickened her. Surveillance was a big possibility, but again Lilah might see to interfere in any number of ways. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, going over and over the case in her mind.

When Faith came back, she found her lover staring at the TV.

"Baby?" She dropped her bag and stood in front of the screen. "Kate?"

The cop looked up only now registering she wasn't alone. "You're back."

"Stating the obvious here, but that's not normally your style of greeting," Faith said injecting some levity into her voice. She sat down next to her lover and wrapped her arms around her. "Did you have dinner?"

Kate looked over to the empty plate and back to her lover. "We have the killer in custody."

Faith noticed the lack of satisfaction in the blonde's voice. "So, what's the problem?"

"Lilah Morgan," Kate spat.

"Not playing fair?"

"Do you know what she wants," Kate spluttered.

Faith took a stab. "To bribe you?"

Kate chuckled hollowly. "Something like that. In return for her cooperation, I would have to tell her all I know about your present situation."

"Me?" Faith exclaimed. "You said no, right?"

"Of course I did. She threatened you last week."

"I can handle Lilah Morgan," Faith shrugged. "Why does she think you will play ball?"

"Because I want this guy in prison for the rest of his life. She had already planned this. As soon as we were alone she proposed the deal. I don't think you are the only thing she gets from this deal if it is successful. For all Lilah Morgan is, smart is unfortunately one of them. I deal with her now and she'll have something on me for future cases," Kate voiced in disgust. "I want this killer, but not at the price of your safety and my reputation."

Faith pulled Kate in further, appreciating her lover's willingness to fight for her. "Can you put him away with what you have now?"

"Yes it should be a formality, but going to trial is always risky. We need just one solid piece of irrefutable evidence connecting this man with the crime. We haven't got it, though we do have some strong evidence. Depending on the DA, it might be pleaded out." She couldn't bring herself to tell Faith about Lilah's chilling words.

"But there's always the possibility he might get off," Faith commented. "Maybe I should go to Lilah--"

"No!" Kate twisted so she could see the dark eyes. "No."

"But this guy might walk," Faith continued, "and I could stop that."

Kate took her lover's face in her hands and looked directly into the dark eyes. Faith didn't flinch. "Promise me you won't do anything foolish, honey. You can't play their games again. Look at what's happened to Angel. Promise me."

Faith couldn't drop her eyes, but she couldn't lie with Kate looking at her like that. "Is he locked away?"

"Yes," Kate said not shifting her eyes. "Promise me."

"I won't play their games," Faith said softly. Her eyes immediately fell away. "They won't make me a pawn, Kate."

Though not entirely satisfied, Kate agreed, "Okay. Letting Wolfram & Hart into our lives is something neither of us need. I've seen how they work and once they get their claws into someone, they hang on with everything they have."

Faith relaxed again. "I didn't turn my life around just to get mixed up with them again."

Kate also relaxed and snuggled closer to the warm body. Both looked back to the TV, though neither were paying any attention to the screen. Kate kept hearing Lilah's words in her head. She would stress to the DA that this man could not go free, he couldn't. If the judge believed Knight would re-offend if given bail, together with seriousness of the murder charges, then there should be no chance he would be released.

CHAPTER THREE

By the time the weekend rolled around, Kate had relaxed somewhat. She confined her work to office hours and had taken the time to cook a two-course dinner.

"That was the best," Faith moaned, stretching.

"Thanks," Kate answered with a smirk.

"What prompted this?"

"I wanted to thank you for taking care of me the last couple of weeks."

"I could get used to 'thank you's' like that," Faith said with a smirk of her own. "What about we go shoot some pool. We haven't been down there for a while."

"Sounds good." Kate stood up from the kitchen table and started clearing away the dinner plates. Faith assisted by stacking the dishwasher. Stopping momentarily, Kate straightened and glanced over at her lover. "Aren't you the picture of domestication."

The Slayer looked up and growled, "You need your eyes checked. Domestic and me don't belong in the same sentence."

"Yes they do," Kate chuckled and ducked as a dishcloth sailed toward her.

"Do not," Faith grinned, closing the dishwasher and advancing on her lover. "Say it."

"No." Kate poked out her tongue, taking off into the living room. Faith followed and jumped over the couch to cut off Kate's path. The cop faked a left, and scurried into the bedroom as Faith missed her.

Alexia decided her owner's were playing an exciting game and ran after them. She found them running around the bedroom, darting here and there. She leapt up on the bed and barked a couple of times when they didn't pay any attention to her.

"Say it," Faith said having successfully grabbed her lover's arm. She hung on as the cop tried to wrench it free. Using her Slayer strength against Kate's police training, she managed to lay her down on the bed. "Say it or I'll let Alexia lick you."

"You wouldn't," Kate said as Faith instructed the dog to say hello to her helpless owner. The dog wagged her tail and delighted in seeing the blonde woman right in front of her. She screamed out, "Faith."

"Say it, baby," the brunette giggled then turned to Alexia and egged her on. Alexia responded by trying to get closer to the couple.

"Okay, let me up," Kate said fending off the dog with one hand.

"No. You say it now."

"Alexia," she complained as the Golden Retriever managed to drag her wet nose over her neck. "Get down."

"Alexia stay," Faith commanded and smiled when the dog did as she was told.

"Okay, you aren't and never will be a picture for domestication," Kate said between laughing. She immediately felt herself hauled off the bed and into her lover's arms.

"See," Faith smirked and captured her lips briefly. She smiled as she straightened her lover's hair. "Painless, don't you think?"

"You're not the one who needs to wash their neck," Kate said grimacing as she wiped her skin with her hand. "I don't know who's worse, you or her."

"Me," Faith replied proudly. "Alexia doesn't know any better."

Kate slapped her on the butt. "But you've taught her well."

"Of course," she laughed.

They calmed down enough to get themselves ready to go out. Faith sat on the bed and watched as Kate ran a brush through her hair. Relieved her lover seemed to be back to herself, she hoped that the rest of the case ran smoothly. Leaving a disappointed Alexia behind, they mounted the Marauder and headed down to the local pool hall.

Walking inside, Kate ordered a beer for herself and a soda. Faith caught up with a couple of their friends, another same-sex couple, Sala and Larissa. The cop joined them at a table near the pool tables.

"You waiting for a table?" she asked the couple as she gave Faith her soda.

"Yeah," Larissa, a tall strawberry blonde, said. "I just invited you and Faith to join us?"

Kate looked to her lover and nodded. "Sure, we owe you a thrashing for that lucky run of games you had last month."

Sala, a beautiful woman of Polynesian descent, laughed. "Wasn't luck."

"That's your version," Faith joked. "Who finished with the wooden spoon in the last competition, huh?"

"Now that was bad luck," Sala said with a grin at her lover.

They talked and joked around until a table became available. Played in good spirits, the competition finished at three games to two. At the end of the evening they spilled out into the cool night air still joking around. Saying goodbye to the other couple, Faith and Kate walked hand in hand back to the bike.

"It's good to see you smiling," Faith commented.

Kate shot a grin her way. "Thank you for getting me out of the house."

"You deserve it, baby. Shutting yourself away ain't good for anyone. You spend so little time around those that aren't cops, apart from Marcus and Barbara."

"That's the way it is for a lot of cops," Kate shrugged.

"Yeah, well, it doesn't have to be for you. Now if I could get you to go clubbing with me, that would be something."

"You know that's not my scene," Kate smiled. "Besides, I don't want the rest of LA to see you dance, you know you burn the dance floor with your moves."

Faith chuckled as they reached the bike. Leaning over she placed a tender kiss on Kate's lips. "I'll give you a private show when we get home, if you like."

"Oh, I more than like," the blonde smiled. The night had provided a chance to escape the worries of the case. She hopped on the bike after Faith and wrapped her arms around her. Holding on tight she already felt a tingle in her lower regions as she imagined what would happen when they arrived home.

*******************************************

Sitting dressed only in her robe the next morning, Faith tapped a pen against the desk in the middle of intense thought. Kate settled down on the couch after clearing up the breakfast dishes. She picked up the newspaper, but instead of reading, she glanced across at the Slayer. She guessed Faith was working on a letter to her family in Boston.

"Faith?"

The brown eyes shifted to her. "Yeah?"

"Do you want some help?"

"Sure," Faith said bringing the pen and paper over to the coffee table. Shyly she handed it over to her lover. The blonde looked at the messy handwriting. Faith managed to open the letter with a greeting and a standard 'hope you are well.'

"Don't know what to say, huh?" Kate asked gently as she placed the paper down on the table.

"Not really," Faith shrugged. "My life revolves around things I can't even tell them about. Can't write, 'killed a wicked dangerous demon last week.'"

"You have plenty of things in your life that you can share with them. Your job, Alexia, the Anderson's?"

"I know," Faith sighed. "But I feel like I'm lying to them. The most important thing in my life and I can't tell them how knowing what my father did inspired my slaying."

"Most important?" Kate asked lightly.

"Equal most important," Faith smiled. "Maybe I should tell them about you."

"If you want."

"No, not if I want. This is about you too. I don't want to out you if you don't want to be."

"Faith, honestly, coming out is not a problem for me. If people don't like it, it's their problem not mine. I know in my heart that our love is just as valid as people like Marcus and Barbara's. The only reason that I haven't declared it openly to everyone I know is because I'm a private person. It's no one's business but ours."

Faith smiled warmly. "I love the way you said that."

"I love the way you're including me in this," Kate responded. "Tell them if you want."

"I think I'll work up to it. First I'll tell them that you helped me out through a rough time, that way they'll have no choice but to like you."

"So," Kate said picking up the pen, "how do you want to start."

"Tell them how my best friend is a detective with the LAPD and she's just caught a killer."

They spent a couple of hours on the letter, Faith satisfied with the way they had worded Kate's involvement in her life without giving away the sexual relationship. Kate mentioned that they may seem suspicious especially since Faith had told them she was living with someone, but never mentioned them. For all Faith's bravado in life, she couldn't bring herself to take the risk of telling her family about them.

"Have you spoken to any of your family lately?" Faith asked sealing the letter in an envelope.

"Natalie e-mailed me last week, I haven't replied yet. I can't believe how much I missed out on, not being in touch with them for a couple of years. Nat keeps me up-to-date with the gossip."

"Has she told anyone else about us?" the brunette asked settling by Kate's side.

"Don't think so. She knows I like my privacy."

"You'd think they'd be okay with it, living in San Francisco."

"As I said, I don't really care if they're okay or not. It's great if they are, but if they aren't I don't want to be in their company anyway."

"Was Natalie surprised when you told her?" Faith asked. "In the rush of Christmas you never really told me how you felt about telling her."

"Are you trying to get me to open up?"

"Just about this," Faith said.

"Okay," Kate agreed. "I was nervous telling her, but she's always been comfortable talking about sex."

"Oooh, I can just imagine your slumber parties," Faith teased.

"Faith!" the cop complained. "So I knew if I was ever going to tell anyone in my family, Natalie would be first. She didn't sound surprised, but excited. I think she knew I'd been with Tania. She met her a couple of times."

Faith nodded and wrapped an arm around Kate's waist. Even now, Kate's voice held a hint of bitterness about her ex. "I think I'm going to like Natalie when I finally meet her."

"She'll like you too," Kate said warmly.

"Has she mentioned a good time to visit?"

"Anytime. We have to fit it into our schedules. I'm thinking summer now."

"Whatever, Kate, you know Marcus said I could have the time off."

"We'll see," she responded wistfully. Wrapping her arms around her lover, she brought her in for a tender kiss.

*******************************************

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." Kate banged down the phone and let out a growl. From his desk, Gregan gave her a questioning look. "They let Knight out on bail. Someone's already posted. I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone who works for Wolfram & Hart. "

"The DA opposed, right?" Gregan said a worried look gracing his face.

"Of course. Who the hell is running the courts these days? I thought it was a no-brainer he wouldn't get bail," she yelled. "Fuck."

"He doesn't have any priors, maybe that's what saved him," Gregan said apologetically.

Kate's eyes burned into his. "He killed two young people."

"I know, Kate, I know," he replied softly. "Look, we got him, okay. How much was bail?"

"Half a million."

"That's not chicken feed for him." He gave her a nod. "I can't see him giving that up easily. His whole life is that ranch, I doubt he'll leave unless he knows he's lost."

"It's not just about him?God," Kate ran both hands through her hair.

Gregan leaned over and asked uneasily. "What?"

"Lilah Morgan. Thursday, while you were charging Knight she hinted very subtly about him re-offending.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Gregan threw his hands up.

Kate looked at her partner for a moment before making the decision to be honest. "She made it personal. Brought up a past case we both worked on and tried to use it as leverage. When I wouldn't go for it, that's when she said he could be free to do as he pleased. The personal nature of the threat made me believe she only wanted to get me to deal, but now?I guess I should have known better, after all this is Lilah Morgan."

"You have to report her to the Bar Association."

Kate laughed contemptuously. "Don't you get it by now, Gregan. Wolfram & Hart don't play by the rules. They never have and never will. Scum like Lilah Morgan can walk all over the Bar Association."

"They are not above the law."

"Try telling that to everyone who has tried to bring them down." Kate gazed at her partner, sympathising with Gregan's innocent view of Wolfram & Hart. "We do what we can, fight with everything we have and if that's not enough we try harder."

Gregan nodded. "We've done good. Hell, even the media is on our side this time."

"Today we're the heroes, who knows what we'll be tomorrow." Kate cursed the lawyer, having a suspicion that this was all her doing. With Knight free, Lilah could press harder for a deal. "I thought I was doing the noble thing, not playing her game."

"It is, Kate. I never signed up because I wanted to be a hero. What matters is I know I've done the best I can and so has my partner."

"We need surveillance on him."

"I agree," Gregan said. "I'll ask for authorisation and talk to the DA about how he managed to get out."

"Okay," Kate said, hoping that it would be enough.

That night Faith watched her lover go through the motions of dinner and polite conversation. The blonde wouldn't talk about what had changed since that morning when they'd left each other with playful teasing and passionate kisses. By the time they'd cleared away the dishes, Faith decided to take action. Disappearing into the bathroom for a few minutes she came out in a robe and grabbed her lover's attention.

"Come with me, baby," she asked softly, taking a reluctant hand.

"Faith, I'm not in the mood."

"I can see that." Slayer strength overcame the hurdle of getting the cop off the couch and heading for the bathroom. "But you are not going to sleep if you are all tense. Let me care for you."

She opened the bathroom door, the bubble bath having already steamed up the room. Ignoring Kate's half-hearted protests, she tenderly undressed her lover and slipped her into the warm water. Despite her resistance, the cop couldn't hold in the moan of pleasure as she submerged herself. Faith slipped off her robe and entered the bath behind her lover.

Remembering her conversation with Jacinta the week before, Faith journeyed into unknown territory.

"Tell me why you like being a cop." She picked up a sponge and started to gently wash her lover's skin.

Kate twisted her head around. "What?"

Faith didn't back down from the stare. "Why do you continue to be a cop, despite all the doom and gloom you face?"

"Because I can make a difference," Kate answered not having to think about the answer.

"What else?"

As the sponge moved over her back, Kate smiled. "I like seeing the peace on victim's faces when I tell them I put the perp behind bars; I like making the streets safer; I like knowing I have the power to act against criminals; I love helping people." She gave the Slayer a grin. "I like the camaraderie of the force, feeling good about a successful conviction. Continuing the good work my father did and trying to live up to his legacy."

"You don't have to do that."

"I'm Trevor Lockley's daughter, I always will be. You don't think I'm reminded of that constantly." Kate shook her head. "I don't mind trying to live up to him as a cop, but my private life, that's another matter."

"Yes, because I can see you're really trying not to distance yourself from loved ones," Faith remarked flippantly. She felt Kate freeze under her ministrations. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for."

"Doesn't change the fact that you hit the nail on the head," Kate said her voice hoarse.

"Have you ever?do you ever have to talk to the police shrink?" the Slayer muttered awkwardly.

"I have been made to, yes. It's required for psych evaluations. But you don't go willingly to see them."

"Because it's a sign of being weak?" Faith moved the sponge to Kate's stomach and continued her washing.

"Old boys club mentality. I was brought up with that, god, my father was the king of not showing emotion. None of the new age psychological approach can change that attitude." Kate leaned back against her lover, the warm water relaxing her a little. "I don't need to talk to someone, I need this guy locked up."

"What if by some small chance he gets free? This is Wolfram & Hart we're talking about."

Again Kate stiffened. With menace she said, "He won't."

"Kate," Faith said gravely, "I'm wicked worried about you. Can't you see that?"

Moving away from the warm body, Kate nodded. "I can."

"Can you at least tell me why you came home wicked angry tonight? Has Lilah Morgan said something more about me?"

Kate shook her head. Disheartened that the cop still couldn't open up to her, Faith dropped the subject. There had been some progress, but she felt it had been undone by the last part of the conversation. Continuing her attempt at pampering her lover, she finished up in the bath. Planning to give Kate a massage after drying her, she ushered her out of the bathroom and emptied the bath. When she returned to the bedroom the cop had already crawled into bed and was pretending to be asleep. Sighing, Faith chose to climb in next to her and hold her. Kate's wound up body didn't respond to her embrace, leaving Faith to question her ability to comfort her in any influential way.

*******************************************

"Oh yeah, Queen of the road again," Faith laughed putting down the PlayStation controller. Josh wasn't a graceful loser, complaining the brunette cheated by repeatedly elbowing him in the ribs. The Slayer protested her innocence, having elbowed him only once.

Barbara entered from the kitchen. "Are you staying for dinner?"

"If you're cooking, I'm eating," Faith grinned. "What's on the menu?"

"Beef casserole."

Standing and stretching, Faith asked, "Where's Marcus disappeared to?"

"He took a call in his den," Barbara replied as she turned back to the kitchen.

Faith left Josh to the game and knocked on the den door. Hearing Marcus invite her in, she took a seat across from her boss.

"What's on your mind?" the muscular man asked placing his entwined hands on the desk.

"What makes you think I'm weighed down?" Faith asked looking past him out the window at the last vestiges of daylight.

"Faith," Marcus said in a fatherly tone, "apart from the worried look you've had on your face the past few days, you only come in here when you want to talk seriously."

"It's Kate." Faith tried for nonchalance, but her boss saw through her attempt. Patiently he waited for her to continue. "Or rather it's this case she's working on. I'm so over her not talking to me. Isn't that what relationships are all about?"

"Are you mad at her?"

"No," Faith responded quickly, then grimaced. "Actually I am. She won't trust me. I'm so sick of being treated like a kid. Not being allowed to know how she's feeling. It's like I don't belong to the same club as her. B did that to me, and well--" Faith laughed. "Maybe I can't be trusted."

"That's not true," Marcus said with conviction. "Obviously this is Kate's problem."

Faith gave him a dubious look. "Obviously?"

"You have a reasonable expectation that she would share some of her thoughts with you. If she can't even express her feelings, then that's something she has to work out for herself."

"How the hell do I help? I feel like I'm drowning, boss."

Marcus chuckled. "Wouldn't I like to know." He leaned over the desk. "Welcome to the world of working out a woman's silence."

"I don't think it's a woman thing, more a cop thing."

Marcus stroked his chin for a moment. "Faith, Kate knows how much you love her. You can't force her to talk to you."

"You're not really helping here, boss."

Marcus opened his mouth to respond, but Barbara knocked on the door and announced dinner. They stood together and walked to the den door.

Just before he opened it, Marcus put a hand on his employee's shoulder. "Keep trying to help her, don't give up because it's hard. Part of relationships is also standing by in the bad times. Kate's done that for you."

"And I love her for it," Faith defended. "I won't give up, boss, but sometimes it's hard to stand by and see her hurting wicked bad."

They moved to the dinner table, where Barbara and Josh already sat waiting for them.

"Is Kate working tonight?" the mother asked picking up her fork.

Faith shrugged. "I haven't spoken to her since I left for work this morning."

Barbara frowned. "Is everything alright?"

"Why do you always do that," Faith accused angrily. "Why does something have to be wrong for me to have dinner with you these days?"

"I'm sorry," Barbara apologised.

The dark eyes bored into the older woman's. "I'm not your child, Barb, I don't need bottle feeding from you."

"Faith," Marcus warned.

"Let her say her piece," Barbara said looking to Faith.

"You treat me like a kid, and while I'm wicked grateful for all you've done for me, I'm not a kid anymore," Faith huffed. With the floor open to her, she decided to go for it. "You've always got it in your mind that Kate and I are fighting or doing badly. How come, for once, you can't assume we're wicked happy."

"You finished?" Marcus asked, his eyes glinting with anger.

Faith took the warning and backed down. "I do love you guys, but sometimes you grate."

Barbara put down her utensils and looked Faith in the eyes. "The reason why I'm worried about you, is because I love you, Faith. As a daughter, yes, but I don't think that's a crime. And to be fair to Marcus and I, you do spend a lot of time over here when you are having problems with Kate. I accept I may be too quick to judge the situation and I'm sorry for that." Barbara reached over for her hand. "I only want the best for you and Kate. I don't think you fight all the time, far from it, I know you are both extremely happy in your relationship. But there are times you have trouble and now, like those other times, it is easy to see the difference in you. When you came over tonight, I thought something might be bothering you. However I have learnt that if you want to talk, you'll talk in your own time."

Faith bowed her head, swallowing heavily. "Right."

"Faith, look at me," Barbara commanded gently. The dark eyes lifted, showing remorse. "I'm not angry with you. It needed to be said so we could clear the air."

"Wait, go back to the not angry part," Faith said with a frown. "I just insulted you."

"As well as saying you love us," Barbara said with a warm smile. "There's nothing wrong with asking for respect from your friends."

Faith turned to her boss. "What about you?"

Marcus cleared his throat awkwardly. "I agree with Barbara."

Looking at him dubiously for a moment, Faith nodded. She hesitated for a long moment. "Thanks," she managed.

"How are you and Kate, then?" Barbara asked and started eating again.

Faith looked at Josh, who had been silent through the heated exchange. She smiled at him before looking to his mother. "Kate's stressed with her job and I'm at a loss. But when I get her away from it, it's wicked happy."

"Isn't she coping well?"

Faith shook her head. "Not this case. She's run into this lawyer that I have a past with. It's getting to her, but she won't tell me why. This lawyer said some things to her about me, but Kate's holding back, not telling me the whole story."

"It hurts," Barbara remarked.

Faith looked confused. "What?"

"You're hurting because she won't talk to you."

"Well, yeah," Faith replied sardonically.

"You do realise that this isn't about you. You have to get past that to be able to help her. Kate doesn't need you helping just so you can feel better."

"I'm not," Faith cut in, pointing her fork at the woman. She looked down at her hand and shamefully lowered her arm. "Sorry."

"Be there for her sake, not your relationship's." Barbara gave her a compassionate look. "I don't know if you see the similarity between you and her in how you handle pain. You both refuse to talk about it until someone wrings it out of you. Put yourself in Kate's position and think about how you would like to be cared for."

"Okay," Faith said, finally receiving advice she understood and could act on. She looked back to her PlayStation buddy. "Josh said he's been invited to a friend's birthday party?"

The boy's face lit up as he explained what adventures he and his friend, Tawera, had been up to. According to Josh, Tawera had the 'coolest tree-house in the world'. For the rest of the meal, Josh told her how they played their own version of 'Sword in the Stone'. Tawera played Merlin and Josh, Arthur. When Faith mentioned Harry Potter, Josh indignantly informed her that Merlin was way cooler than Harry. Faith wasn't about to question the currently unpopular choice of her friend. Barbara interrupted to tell her that Josh hadn't seen Harry Potter yet, he still preferred cartoons to live-action. Nodding, Faith turned back to the boy as he told another one of his stories.

By the time she left to go slaying, the brunette felt happier with the situation that had been going on for two weeks now. She patrolled the dark streets, bumping into a woman who needed help changing a tyre, but went home with a zero kill count. Kate stirred slightly as she slipped into bed. Sliding an arm around her lover, she whispered a promise of love and kissed her cheek. In the one place in the world where she felt completely loved and safe, Faith fell asleep hoping she offered Kate the same haven.

CHAPTER FOUR

Kate read the quotation, which had been stuck to the victim's windscreen, for the fourth time.

'There is a touch of divinity even in brutes, and a special halo about a horse, that should forever exempt him from indignities.' Herman Melville.

More aggrandising of horses, Kate thought, sick of thinking about the animal. Not that it was their fault a perverted human was using them as a way of justifying his actions.

Concentrating on what the quote meant she didn't have to watch as the coroner examined the three dead bodies only feet away from her. The day had started out good. Faith made her breakfast and coffee, all the while giving her loving looks and compliments. Kate could have easily gone back to bed with her instead of going to work. Now, she almost felt guilty for feeling so happy when there were three people that would never feel anything again. Three people she should have protected. Could have protected, but didn't. Instead, she chose to ignore what was in front of her and do something about it. All that stopped her from losing composure, was the fact that she wasn't alone in the knowledge Knight would re-offend and that she hadn't compromised her morals to do a deal with the lawyer. Once again she cursed Lilah Morgan's name and clenched her fists in anger.

When the call came through, with the description of a quotation about horses, Kate was ready to take her gun and put Knight to death herself. Sensibly, Gregan offered to drive as they travelled to the crime scene, a lookout by the coast. The sight that greeted them shocked Kate to the point she had the urge to vomit. Nothing prepared her for the sight of the young girl hanging from the roof rack of the family's Range Rover. Her parents were slain a few feet away from her next to a picnic blanket and a half-finished lunch. The father, a man in his early thirties, lay peacefully on his back, staring up at the cloudy March sky. He died from a single gunshot to the head. Eyes closed, and clothes in place, he escaped the wrath of the killer. The mother however?Kate's stomach turned as she was confronted by the body. Again, the only feature left untouched on the victim's face were the eyes. Open, in the direction of her daughter, they stared out unseeing. Once what was an idyllic picnic scene now looked like chaos. Food and drink had been spilled, containers overturned and half-filled plates disturbed. She stared down at the scene, her mind elsewhere.

Jumping when a hand landed on her shoulder, she turned around to see her concerned partner. Waving off his worry, she shot him a questioning look.

"Clara and Lionel Hogarth, 32 and 33." Gregan said stepping in front of the blonde, trying to block out the scene for her. "And Jacqueline Hogarth, four." Kate winced and straightened. "She was strangled, but not by the rope. We'll have to wait to see what order they were killed in. Probably the man first, but the other two--"

"I bet he made her watch as he killed the girl," Kate growled.

"Have you seen inside the car?" Gregan asked still looking concern. Kate shook her head. "Come with me."

They made their way over, where the crime scene investigators were hard at work. Gregan pointed to a drawing pad on the backseat.

"Guess what she liked to draw."

"Horses or ponies, just like thousands of other girls across the country," Kate answered with a shrug.

"You think it's a coincidence?"

"No, but I don't think Knight would kill someone he had spent time with, unless they had done a business deal. He killed the couple with only the slimmest of connections. Hunted them, yes, but they probably angered him in some way. Same here. A family, who I'm guessing were happy, enjoying a picnic and he couldn't stand the sight, so he killed them. The place is secluded enough for privacy, but not enough that he couldn't have stumbled across them. He could have heard sounds of the child playing or them laughing." Kate looked around the area. "This wasn't as planned as the other one. More mistakes have been made. Heavy footprints, a shotgun shell and another horse quotation. All things that can be linked back to him. He's either getting bolder or wants to go out in a blaze of glory before he goes to prison."

"I'm betting on the second. He knows he's doomed."

"Thing that gets me, is that he's wannabe serial killer," Kate spat. "I don't even think he loves his horses above human relationships, it's just his way of trying to be like a serial murderer. He's watched too many serial killer films. He uses some common characteristics, but doesn't seem the type to have the motivation to do this. He doesn't seem to be driven by his misogyny."

"Yeah, it smacks of disorder when most cases like these have careful planning, especially a preselected location. This guy's a hunter, takes his prey the first time he has them in his sights."

"Makes you wonder how he found these people so quickly," she remarked. She didn't put past Lilah to have pushed Knight. If she thought she could make a case, she'd arrest Lilah as well.

"I sent two units to go bring him in," Gregan said as they walked away from the lookout "This crime scene is only a couple of hours old, I didn't want to give him the chance to run. Do you believe that he went back to his ranch as if nothing happened." Gregan shook his head. "They found him on the phone in his office. They're bringing him in now."

Kate bristled. "You could have told me."

"Kate, you would have only insisted on going out there too." The