Chapter Five:
“Angel make the ringing go away.” Cordelia snuggled closer to the vampire.
“Cordelia the ringing is the phone and the only way to make it go away for good is for you to let me up so I can answer it.”
“There is such a thing called an answering machine.”
“I forgot to put it on.”
“No,” she whined draping a long leg across his body. The phone kept ringing.
“I am sorry.” Angel tried to move off the bed.
“No,” Cordelia grumbled. She tightened her grasp on the vampire.
The phone stopped ringing. “Wonderful.” Cordelia started to plant kisses on her captured vampire.
The phone started to ring again. “Aarrgh,” she screamed, hiding her head under the pillow. Angel heard her mumble something into the pillow.
“What was that?”
“Answer the damn phone!”
“Yes, Cordelia.”
Chapter Six:
“Well, who was it?” Cordelia asked.
“Have I ever told you that you look absolutely sexy in my shirts?”
“Really?” She pulled at the garment she was wearing. “Better than the red silk negligee?”
“Yep.”
“Men, I will never understand them. I spent a lot of money on that stupid piece of silk.”
“Sorry.” Angel laughed at Cordelia’s annoyed expression.
“Well, who was the annoying person that kept calling at the crack of dawn?”
“Cordelia, it is noon.”
“Ummph.” The brunette went to go make some coffee.
Angel marveled at how the shirttails of his shirt swished around Cordelia’s bottom. Every once in awhile, they showed a tempting piece of creamy thigh.
“Angel, who was it?” A shout came from the kitchen.
Angel shook his mind clear. “Kate,” he answered going into the kitchen.
“Oh, what did super cop woman want?”.
“She wanted to know what I found out about the case.”
“The nerve of that woman. She couldn’t solve the case in four dead bodies and she expects you to do it just like that,” she exclaimed snapping her fingers.
“Cordelia, you found out about the succubus…”
“Yeah, I did. But that was before my ‘little exercise in keeping my head.” She swung her head around. Cordelia noticed Angel’s expression.
“Angel, I’m okay, really. I know that I will have to do certain yucky things to survive. And I will. I won’t lose you, okay. I promised. I just need to get use to the whole head taking thing, that’s all.” She kissed him slightly on the nose. “And thanks.”
Cordelia told Angel about what she found out about the succubus. She described the spells she found on her search. ” So, it is either a succubus, or some crazy sex starved mortal who wants to be a sex-demon. Either way, both the demon or the sick mortal will soften up their intended. What we need to do is find out where the tenderizing is done.”
“I think the best thing to do is map out where all the bodies were found,” interrupted Angel.
“Sounds like a plan, but after I finish my coffee. Where are you going?” Cordelia called after the retreating vampire.
“To look at Kate’s files. I want to go back through them and see if there are any links between them.”
“Links? Oh, you mean anything other than that they were all horny men, who are now dead and throatless.”
“Yes.” Angel shook his head and reminded himself why he loved her.
Chapter Seven:
Angel was looking through the yellow pages, when a fully dressed Cordelia entered the office. She looked at him, then she looked at the map of LA hanging up on the wall. “And the pins represent….?” Cordelia stared at the red and black pins stuck into the map.
Angel didn’t look up. “Kate said that the toxicology report came back on the victims. You were right. Semen was found at each of the crime scenes. I think that confirms that it was a succubus. Also, each of the victims had a large amount of alcohol in their blood…or what was left of it. The red pins represent where the bodies were found. The black pins represent the closest bar to that location.”
Cordelia stared at the configuration of pins. They didn’t seem to be in any recognizable pattern. Cordelia moved further from the map and looked again. She grabbed a piece of paper and pen. She made a diagram of the black pins and then the red pins surrounding them. Cordelia started to connect the points. She grumbled and threw the paper on the ground.
“What are you doing?” Angel looked up.
“Nothing. How do you know that the dead guys were at those bars?”
“I don’t. But, the police found a matchbook from the ‘Pink Flamingo’ at the scene of the first death. That’s this one.” Angel pointed to the closest black pin. “It is less that a mile from where the body was found, so I just looked for bars within a mile from each body. It’s a start. But I can’t find a pattern.”
Cordelia nodded and resumed scribbling on another piece of paper. She stared at her drawing and let out a yell.
“What is it?”
“Look!” Cordelia showed Angel her drawing.
“What am I looking at?”
“Look,” she said in exasperation. “See, follow the lines. It is like the four parts of a pentagram. It is just missing the final pointy thing-a-ma-jig.” Cordelia smiled triumphantly up at Angel.
“Cordelia?’
“Angel, come on get with it. Demon, pentagram! Jeez, it’s a pattern.” Cordelia ran to the map and measured the distances between the bars and the victims.
“Look, Angel they are all equal distance from each other. If I am right, which I am, the next location of the horny dead guy should be here.” Cordelia stuck a red pin into the map. She leaned closer to read the streets nearby. She ran to her computer.
“Cordelia.”
“Sh.” She started punching in search commands. “Found it.” Cordelia stuck a black pin into a map. “See.” She took a magic maker and connected the pins into a perfect pentagram. “I am telling you, Angel, this is where our evil chick will be waiting to soften up her next soon to be dead partner.” She pointed again to the black pin.
“Well, at least two possibilities. It is either the ‘Voodoo Lounge’ or the ‘Late Nite Gallery’. I got two hits on bars within a mile of future dead guy’s final resting-place. Come on, I know I am right, without visions or anything, I am,” she finished defensively.
“You are getting good at this detective business with or without visions.”
“Oh Angel.” Cordelia jumped in his arms. She started to plant kisses all over the vampire’s face. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For believing in me. For thinking that I have a brain.” Cordelia shot him a big smile. She was extremely happy. She would have to redo her happy/sad list, she thought. Angel really trusted her ability to help him.
“Being with you, having you believe in me and having you love me, is worth all the sad and yucky stuff.” Cordelia captured his lips with hers. Angel held her tighter, willing her to believe in herself.
Finally, after some time, he put her down and placed his hands on her face. “Cordy, you have a marvelous brain and you are marvelous. Never doubt yourself.”
“Okay,” she said softly.
“Now, brainy love of my life, we need to find out when the ‘Voodoo Lounge’ and the ‘Late Nite Gallery’ open this evening.
Cordelia giggled and picked up the phone.
Chapter Eight:
“Cordelia, are you ready, yet?” Angel was in front of the weapons cabinet putting stakes in his arm holsters.
“In a minute. Do you have any idea how hard is to find the right outfit to wear for a night of club hopping, while taking into consideration a sword and possible demon goo?”
“Cordelia we are not going club hopping. We are going to kill a demon.” Angel pulled on his black duster.
“Duh, hence the consideration of my sword and demon guts, but I still have to look good. And who knows maybe we can have some fun before the whole demon-killing thing,” she called from the bedroom.
“Come on, Cordelia. I am sure you look fine.”
“What do you know? You like me in your stupid shirts.” Cordelia came out of the bedroom.
“True, I am a little biased…” Angel stopped and stared at the young immortal. “Cordelia, you can’t wear that outfit.”
“You know it is just not fair,”she said ignoring his comment. She gazed at the black clad vampire. “It is so easy for you to look absolutely sexy in black. All broody and mysterious, I just look drab.”
Angle tried again. “Cordelia, you are not wearing that.” He pointed at her outfit. Cordelia was wearing black tight capri pants and a form fitting midriff top. A hip-length heavy cotton jacket with shear long sleeves covered her sword. The jacket emphasized the swell of her breasts and hips. No, Angel thought, she was not going out wearing that outfit.
“What’s wrong? Does it look that bad?” She turned to run back to the mirror in the bedroom.
“No,” he growled.
Cordelia stopped in amazement, then laughed. “You do like it. Jeez, you had me going there for a minute. Come on, undead guy, let’s go kick some evil sex demon’s butt.”
Cordelia barely reached the elevator, when she stumbled and clutched at her head. “Owww. You know, I hate those golden bobsy twins. Reward or not, they are just being spiteful.”
Angel caught her in his arms before she fell down. “Cordy?”
“We have to go to ‘The Late Nite Gallery’ and from what I saw it will not be any fun and no one there will be able to truly appreciate my outfit. And I worried about it.”
Angel chuckled at her distress.
“The demon bitch is a big hair blonde, dyed I bet. I don’t see the attraction, at all. I guess she is okay if you like the obvious type.”
“Is there anything else I should know about the vision?”
Cordelia glared at the vampire. “I saw the evil demon bitch demon hanging out at the bar. Then there was some guy, a definite horny loser type with his throat ripped out. He should be killed for his fashion sense alone.”
“Cordelia.”
“Oh, all right. Anyway, I am thinking that I can get the horny looser away from the blonde long enough for you to tempt her. Once you get the demon sex fiend alone, we kill her.”
“And how am I suppose to tempt the succubus?”
“Are you serious? Angel, believe me when I tell you any female, demon or otherwise would be tempted by you. All you need to do is to go up to the evil chick and say…hello. You don’t even have to be imaginative, just say ‘let’s go outside and get comfortable’. She will go. Will the succubus be able to sense that you are a ‘grr’ guy?”
“No.”
“Good, then demon sex fiend will think you are just another guy on the prowl. Give her a sexy look and get her outside. As soon as, I ditch the loser guy, I will follow and we kill her.”
“So, you want me to be..”
“Yep. This time you will be the bait.”
“I don’t like the idea of leaving you alone in the bar.”
“Don’t worry, ‘grr’ guy. I will only be in there for a minute and I have my sword.”
Chapter 9