Conflict of Interest

Spike read over his case notes again in preparation. He was devoting all of his time now to the O’Reilly case. Mayor Wilkins had been to his office several days prior and let it be known that he wanted Spike’s undivided attention to his step son’s trial. He also gave him a lecture on grooming and punctuality. Like Buffy wasn’t enough, now he had the Mayor concerned with his grooming habits. He had offered a nice bonus sum in compensation. Who was Spike to turn down more money?

Mayor Wilkins was a strange, overly happy man. He had married Angel’s mother, Winifred Burkle O’Reilly when Angel was just a boy. Winifred had been left alone and destitute by Angel’s biological father. Richard Wilkins had come across her in a bus depot and taken her and the boy home with him. They married shortly afterwards. Winifred had always been sickly. It was no surprise when she succumbed to cancer when Angel was a teenager. Richard Wilkins, now the Mayor of Sunnydale remarried a boisterous and blunt woman, Anya Jenkins several years later. She was completely opposite from Winifred.

Mayor Wilkins was not only the Mayor but also the wealthiest man in town. He seemed to have a hand in just about every business. Angel was the CEO of one of his largest corporations, W&H Enterprises. When, Darla O’Reilly, wife of Angel had been found washed up on the banks of the town’s lone river, it had been a shto tto the community. Police Chief Charles Gunn had begun the routine investigation. All his leads and evidence ended up pointing back to Angel O’Reilly. When he brought Angel in for questioning, Mayor Wilkins was aghast and stormed into Chief Gunn’s office demanding an end to this travesty of justice. How dare they accuse his son?

Chief Gunn or as his friends called him, just plain old Gunn was not impressed. The Mayor might have had everybody else in his pocket bunn unn was his own man and nobody owned him. He informed the mayor that he would indeed be charging Angel with the murder of Darla.

Mayor Wilkins had made a beeline for the only attorney in town that he knew could get his step-son off, Spike Giles. Defense attorney, extraordinaire. Spike had never lost a case. Never. He was a legend in his own time and own mind. He also didn’t care much about who he defended as long as he got paid. He was a man of questionable scruples. It was widely reported that Spike cheated on his wife Drusilla at every opportunity. That offended Mayor Wilkins sense of decency but he knew he was just the man for the job. Although he was a loose cannon so to speak. He made his own rules and played by them. The Mayor decided they could work around that though as long as enough money was on the table.

Angel and Spike had immediately disliked each other but accepted a truce for the cases sake. Spike had told him he didn’t have to like him to defend him. They did agree on two things though. One, that Assistant D.A. Xander Harris was a stupid git and two that Judge Summers was the prettiest girl in town. Angel hadn’t expressed his admiration of Buffy to Spike yet but it was only a matter of time. Angel always did have a thing for pretty little blondes. His wife, Darla, had beepretpretty little blonde until she was found with her face smashed all up.

Spike rubbed his eyes and grabbed his pack of cigarettes. Lighting one, he leaned back and inhaled deeply. He closed his eyes and his thoughts went from the pretty little blonde in the picture he had been looking at in the case file to the pretty little blonde that invaded most of his waking thoughts. Why couldn’t she let herself love him? He would’ve given up everything for her, he sighed. Actually, he knew she did love him, she just wouldn’t admit it being the stubborn chit that she was.

Yeah, so he had screwed around on Dru several times before he got with Buffy. But Dru had been cheating on him for years. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Dru and he were married in name only. Hell, he practically lived in his office now. He couldn’t even remember the last time he went home or saw her. They usually only talked on the phone, and briefly at that.

He had fallen head over heels in love with Buffy and she had ripped his heart in two then stomped on it for good measure. He took solace in his whiskey bottle and nameless, faceless women he picked up in bars now. He would get drunk and go home with some strange woman, calling them Buffy as they fucked. He’d been slapped or kicked out quite a few times for that. If they were as drunk as him, they didn’t seem to mind. He was lucky that none of the women he picked up knew who Buffy was or their secret wouldn’t be a secret anymore.

The inevitable remorse, regret and guilt were always with him when he woke in the morning. Funny how he could care less about cheating on Dru but it made him feel extreme guilt for what he perceived as cheating on Buffy, even if they weren’t technically together. It didn’t stop him from repeating that behavior over and over though. When Spike got drunk, he lost all ability to reason and be rationale. He would waken in a strange apartment or motel and curse himself for fucking up again then hurriedly dress and get out of there as fast as he could without waking up last night’s bed companion.

He showed up to court often, like he had the other morning with Buffy, disheveled and wearing the same clothes as the day before. Rumors began to circulate along with the fact that he had slept with several people that he knew through his work before he and Buffy were together. He was known as a real player and yet women still threw themselves all over him. He tried to stay away from people he knew through work though that knew both he and Buffy mutually. He couldn’t chance accidentally calling out her name with someone who knew them both.

Bloody bitch, Spike thought as he stubbed out his cigarette. He stood and grabbed his jacket.
“Harm, I’m gone for the rest of the day. Take messages unless it’s Mr. O’Reilly. You can put him through to my cell. Ta!” Spike said as he passed his secretary on his way out.
“Sure thing, boss” Harmony replied.

Spike slipped into “Mac’s Bar and Grille”, the local hot spot for Sunnydale’s courthouse workers, attorney’s judges and police. Tara Maclay’s father, Mac Maclay had been the previous Chief of Police before Charles Gunn had the job. He had been killed in the line of duty several years back. Tara was Sunnydale’s favorite daughter. She was kind and sweet and everybody loved her. She had opened the bar and restaurant shortly after her father had been killed and named it after him. Spike and she were good friends though she often chided him over his womanizing ways.

Tara was like a sister to him. He hated lying to her but he had made a promise to a lady that he wouldn’t tell anyone, even Tara about them. Little did Spike know that Tara knew more than he thought. She was an expert in observation, watching the same bar patron’s day in and day out. She was sharp and picked up on things others didn’t. She had suspected for some time that there was more than casual work acquaintances between Spike and Judge Summers but she held her tongue.

“Hi Big Brother” Tara greeted him with a hug as he walked to the bar where she was standing.
“Hello little sister” Spike replied taking a seat on one of the stools.
Tara walked around to the back of the bar, “What’ll it be?”
“Scotch, straight up.” Spike ordered.
Tara sighed, “It’s 10:30 am, Spike. Don’t you think it’s a little early to start drinking?”
Spike’s jaw tensed, “I’m a big boy, Tara. I don’t need you mothering me. Now, scotch, please”

Tara sighed and got him his drink. She hated to see him like this. She worried so much about his drinking. He was going to get himself hurt or in big trouble one of these days. She figured the cause of today’s drinking was Judge Summers but then almost all his days if drinking were caused by her. She had heard that she was the one now presiding over the O’Reilly trial and not Judge Rosenberg. That had to be affecting Spike badly, she thought. She decided to fish.

“So, I hear your trial had a change of judge’s” Tara commented innocently.
“Yeah, what of it?” Spike took a swallow of his drink.
“Just making conversation. Sheesh. Don’t get all pissy with me, Mister.” Tara told him.
“So…Judge Summers. I hear she’s real strict. Probably not liking the likes of you, eh?” she continued.
“Yeah, she’s a bloody uptight sexually repressed silly bint. Damn Rosenberg for having her brat now” Spike replied.
“Now Spike, don’t hold back. Tell me how you really feel about Judge Summers.” Tara teased him.

“She scolded me for my wrinkled clothes and not brushing my hair at the plea hearing. Who the hell does she think she is? My bloody mother?” Spike swallowed the rest of his drink and motioned for another.

Spike’s thoughts drifted.

“Come to Mama…ohhh Spike!” Buffy moaned.

He shook his head back to the present time and downed his second scotch.
“Wow…we just might have found the one lone woman in Sunnydale that doesn’t fall prey to Spike Gile’s charms.” Tara grinned.
Spike choked on his third drink. If you only knew, he thought.
“She probably reads an instruction manual to her boyfriend while they’re having sex.” Spike said.
“Spike!” Tara said shocked as she noticed who had just entered the bar and was now standing behind Spike.
“What?” he smirked.
“You’re going to get yourself in trouble during this trial, aren’t you?” she grinned back.
“You know me” he replied.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.” Tara smiled.
“Hey, you got any of those spicy wings cooking yet for the lunch crowd?” Spike asked.
“Yeah, I’ll go get you a plate and ummm…you might want to turn around” Tara left the bar to go into the kitchen in the back.
“Huh? Turn around?” Spike swung around to come face to face with Buffy.

“The only reason I had to use an instruction manual is because my boyfriend was so inadequate and didn’t know the first thing about pleasing a woman” she said in a low voice so only he heard then stomped away to one of the various tables.

“Ouch” Spike said to himself then turned back around and yelled to Andrew, one of Tara’s bndernders to bring him another scotch and make it a double this time.
“Yes Sir!” Andrew squeaked out jumping at Spike’s command.

Several days later marked the opening of the trial’s jury selection. Spike, heeding the judge’s advice, showed up on time and wearing non wrinkled clothes, however he was wearing a garish 1700’s style suit and had donned a white powdered wig. Buffy’s jaw dropped to the ground along with everyone else’s when they saw him.

Angel O’Reilly was furious. “Are you trying to piss the judge off?”
“Calm down, mate.” Spike said.
“Calm down? This is MY LIFE and you’re playing dress up just to piss off the judge. I should fire you!” Angel told him.
“Right. You got no one else. You and your Daddy know that. Don’t you fret now. I’ve never lost a case, you know?” Spike beamed proudly.
Angel growled and slunk into his seat. He knew Spike was right. There was no one else who could defend him as well.

“MR. Giles! Are you aptinpting to make fun of me and this court?” Buffy asked with barely controlled anger.
“Of course not, Your Honor. This is the original style garb that our forefathers wore after first founding our country in some of the very first American courts. I am honoring our founders.” Spike answered with a serious face as he stood up.
“Mr. Giles? Do you take me for an idiot? YOU are British!” Buffy rolled her eyes.
“Hey! I have duel citizenship in both the mother country and the U.S. of A. That makes me an American just as much as you! Well, save the fact that I’m no bloody stupid Yank” Spike grinned.
“That’s enough! You’re in contempt. I fine you five hundred dollars. You’ll need to pay it at the cashier’s office before you leave today or I’ll have your “American” behind thrown in jail. Is that understood?” Buffy said.
“Completely” Spike bowed and took his seat again.
“And take off that ridiculous wig” Buffy ordered him.
Spike removed the wig and tossed it to Xander. “Chicks love it, you should try it”
Xander looked at him with disgust. “You are so going down, Spike”
“What’s that you say whelp? You want to go down on me?” Spike winked at him.
Xander turned red, “Shut up!”

“Alright children! Can we behave like adults and professionals please? Or would you like to make it a thousand dollar fine, Mr. Giles?” when he nodded his head no she resumed, “Let’s get this show on the road then” Buffy said.

The selection of the jury was par for the course. Xander and Spike questioned potential jurors, selecting their choices. Only those that both agreed on became jurors. In the end, and over a weeks worth of questioning, they ended up with seven men and five women. That worked to Spike’s advantage. The victim was a young woman and the women on the jury were more apt to sympathize with her than the men.

He had behaved himself for the rest of the week in court after Monday’s stunt. Buffy was watching him like a hawk though, just waiting for him to step out of line. The following Tuesday had rolled around and jury selection was finally over. Buffy scheduled the trial date and informed then that opening arguments would begin Monday, May 10. That gave him about 4 more weeks to prepare.

Good for him but bad for Angel, as he had to stay in jail. He had been denied bail previously due to the heinous nature of the crime. Spike had argued that he was a lifetime member of the community and the Mayor’s son for Christ’s sake but Judge Rosenberg had denied bail telling Spike she didn’t care if he was the Queen of England’s son, he was a flight risk and staying in jail. Chit was obviously friends with Buffy, Spike thought.

Spike said his goodbyes to Angel and made his way out of the courtroom. He saw Buffy standing in the corridor a ways down talking to a tall handsome black man. Robin Wood was a newly appointed judge on the juvenile circuit whereas Buffy presided over criminal cases. Spike stared as he took in how casual they seemed with each other. Buffy laughed and laid a hand on Robin’s arm. Spike’s jaw twitched and his nostrils flared.

He walked towards them.
“Wood! Nice to see you old chap! How’ve you been?” Spike slapped him on the back, a little too hard as Buffy glared at him.
“Giles! Uhhh…good…and you?” Robin replied. Spike and he barely knew each other. Only in passing through the system.
“Great. I’m just bloody great! Working the O’Reilly trial as I’m sure you’ve heard...yep...doughs just rolling in and...Whew...you wouldn’t believe ALL THE WOMEN just throwing themselves at me” he looked pointedly at Buffy “I’m famous now, you know. You might wanna forget the juvey judge thing and give defense practicing a try” Spike rambled on.
“Uhh...that’s…great. I think I’ll stay where I’m at though. I like helping children and I only want one woman throwing herself at me.” Robin replied then smiled affectionately at Buffy.
“Helping other people isn’t a concept that Mr. Giles is familiar with, Robin. Nor is being faithful to ONE woman. Come on, let’s go” Buffy pulled him along with her.
“I do so! I help the helpless! That’s what defense attorneys do! I can be bloody faithful!” he called out after them as people stopped to look at him and his outburst.
Spike spun on his heel and marched away. Arghhhhhhhhh. She better not be sleeping with him was all he could think as he left the courthouse and bee lined towards Mac’s for another night of drowning his sorrows in booze.

Continued in Chapter 3- Opening Arguments