31Reading any fanfiction is a choice. To those readers who have continued to read and follow each chapter in this story, I can't say it enough - Thank You.
Trigger Warnings: Bad things happen in this chapter! Including references to spousal abuse, child abuse, and rape. Physical violence. Suicide. Kidnapping. Use of restraints. Intimidation. Racial slurs. Another character's death. Basically, anything you've watched on TV police dramas, in films, or streaming.
The story ends in this chapter.
Grammar errors are mine alone — notes at the end.
Chapter Title: Find Me
I Really Wanna Know Your Name
Jesse took the stairs down to the county's Latent Investigation Lab, to avoid Heider and his cronies. That group of bumble butts hadn't made a step forward to resolve the Karofsky murder. At this point, Jesse would be willing to bet his annual salary that they file the case as 'cold.' His confidence stemmed from the team's lack of interest in what he'd found at the river. Their obsession with follow up on every call that came through the Crime Tip Hotline. And a murder that involved meth that the Governor made a campaign promise to curtail in his last election. Jesse was sure that the guy killed in the meth lab accidentally blew himself up.
Pulling the door open to room #3, he stepped in, pausing to let a shiver run through his body at the smell of harsh chemicals hit him. "Thad, whatcha got for me, buddy?" he asked the criminalist.
"Jesse. That was quick. I just left you a message."
"Caught me at a good time. So what do you got?"
"Well," grabbing an evidence box off the shelf to set it on the stainless steel table. "We received some results back," Thad answered as he laid out items Jesse had brought over in a month ago. Pointing toward the barrel, "The striations match." Handing Jesse a photograph. He took a pen from his lab coat to use as a pointer, "As you can see, it's a perfect match." Moving the pen across the picture between the two fired bullets. "We were damn lucky we found the bullet from Karofsky in such good shape. That helped."
Jesse pumped a fist in the air "Sweet! How about the serial? Any luck?"
"Not as much as I'd like. The manufacturer shipped it to a wholesaler in Virginia, where it went to a retailer in Lynchburg. Unfortunately, the shop went out of business when the owner died. So all his records went to the National Tracing Center." Thad raised an eyebrow. "That's old school, no computers. Everything is on paper. We put in a tracing request."
"How long?"
"Weeks. Maybe months."
"Fuck!" he said with a deep sigh, "What else?"
Thad pulled a covered petri dish from the box "Your boot, the soil in the bag?" Jesse nodded "I put it under a microscope. I found a corn seed that hadn't germinated. So, I sent the dirt and seed over to the university botany lab for examination."
Jesse laughed, "C'mon, that could come from any field. The county is full of corn in the summer."
"Not a farm boy, are you?" Thad asked. Jesse shook his head "There are thousands of different seed corn varieties. And I don't mean seed for just field corn, but also sweet corn, popcorn, and silage." Thad lifted the lid from the petri dish "This seed was developed by a new start-up called Milinneal Seedlings Inc. It's a hybrid named MS86XW-7C. It's for silage." Thad saw Jesse stare blankly back. "Silage is fed to cattle. Cattle produce milk."
"Ok, cows eat, got it."
"Jesse seed corn companies use fields as labs. They want to know which farmer planted their seeds in which fields. When the corn is harvested, they want to know the results."
"What? Corn seed has serial numbers? Is that what all this GMO business is about?"
"No. Genetics make up the varieties. The companies name the types then track which farmer buys them. Jesse, Claude Carpenter, planted this seed in his field. It's the only time he planted it. In his other fields, he went with more proven seed corn. No other farmer planted this variety of corn in any field in northwest Ohio last summer."
"The boot was in the field?"
Thad nodded, "It was." He smiled back at Jesse.
"That still doesn't give a name to a shooter."
"Well, I think I can help there too." Thad pulled out the glove. "At some point, this glove was worn by someone who'd cut his finger. Maybe with a kitchen knife. I found remnants of blood inside the index finger."
"Doesn't blood wash out with cold water?"
"No. As any good ER nurse will tell you, hydrogen peroxide works best. Jesse, blood contains DNA. Unfortunately, I don't have the results back. It was such a small amount they have to amplify it to test."
"That's terrific, I mean DNA doesn't lie, right?"
"Don't get too excited. The killer could have borrowed the gloves from a friend who cut himself. And we would still have to find a match. If he's on CODIS, easy peasy, if not, keep searching."
"Any fingerprints on the gun pieces?"
"I tested with the scope first. The quality was so poor. It just wasn't suitable to make a match. Now the Governor's meth case takes precedent. But I haven't given up."
"So, all we know is the barrel was involved, and the boots walked through the field. We just don't have an owner yet." Jesse sighed.
"Afraid so."
"Let me know when you get something usable, Thad. And thanks, man. I appreciate it."
See Your Face, Know Who You Are
"Over here, nut," Lauren shouted out with a wave of her hand.
Jogging over to Lauren, "My name is Brittany S. Pierce." She huffed.
"We're undercover. Your code name is 'nut'"
"What's your code name? Fork? Plate?" Brittany asked.
"Beautiful person. Or a whole lotta woman. I haven't decided." Lauren said, setting a box down on the patio table.
"Why are we on Dani's patio? And what's in the box?"
"This" tapping on the smiley box, "is a DJI Mavic 2 Pro with a Hasselblad L1D-20c camera with a 20MP 1" CMOS Sensor. It comes with eight gigs of internal storage. Lucky for us, I have an additional 128 gigs SD card."
"Huh?"
"It's Artie's quadcopter. He let me borrow it. Either that or I would turn him into the cops for recording video of the mayor fucking his wife." Lauren snorted, "Let me tell you that was not a pretty sight."
"A quadcopter?"
"Jeeze, aren't you the genius who's supposed to know everything? It's a camera-equipped drone."
"Genius doesn't imply all-knowing. All I have is an exceptional aptitude for math. Anyway, what are you going to do with it?"
"Uh, I'm not doing anything with it. I don't have two grand to replace it if I crash it. Instead, you're gonna fly it up to Clarington's third-floor apartment, see what we find lying around. Lucky for us, he's got a corner apartment, more windows."
"Yeah, Lauren, I've never flown a drone. Why won't I crash it?"
"You're a dancer, right?" Brittany nodded, "So that means you understand space. Movement. Plus, math genius, you know vectors, and I heard from Puckerman you killed Abrams in Digital Combat Simulator. I would've loved to have seen that, by the way." She snorted, "And Rachel mentioned you're the sponsor for the robotics club at McKinley." Slapping Brittany's upper arm, "You're perfect for the job. Plus, you probably have two grand to replace if it does crash."
"That still doesn't mean I can fly a drone."
"You'll learn," Lauren said, shoving the controller into Brittany's hand. "The left stick controls altitude and heading. The right is forward, backward, left, and right movements. This button here," Lauren pointed to roller nob on the front edge of the controller, "is the gimbal for camera control. The one on the right is aperture. These two leggy things," pulling out two arm clamps from the bottom, "is where your phone is going."
"What are you going to do?"
"Tree spotter."
Brittany looked around, the front of the apartment complex, a few Canadian geese, quacked as they meandered around the man-made pond. The only trees in the open area were small, thin leafless sticks protruding from the earth. "What trees?"
Brittany's first step was to download the quick start manual to connect her phone. Then the app to get a better picture of the drone's camera then what the controller allowed. Lauren looking around her shoulder as she worked, started to mention that it was 'kinda cold out here. Can't you hurry up?' After activating the GPS and Return to Home features, and quick calibration. Brittany pulled both levers toward her, the drone's electric motor came alive as the four propellers started to spin. "It sounds like a swarm of angry bees. How's somebody not going to hear this inside?"
"Let's hope Hunter is away or the furnace is running, or he's watching March Madness on TV."
Brittany rolled her eyes as she attempted her first few test runs of the controls over the open area. Lauren screamed 'GEESE' when she flew the drone toward the pond, avoiding an in-air catastrophe. Next, she maneuvered the drone in front of Dani's window. Adjusting the camera aperture, contrast, and brightness to accommodate the area shaded by the building next to it. "Somebody is in Dani's bed, and I don't think it's Dani," Brittany said.
Lauren pulled on Brittany's arm to get a better look at the screen. "Yeah, probably Mack crashing. Heard her old man threw her out again when he found her in bed with the cop. He gave her a few bruises to remember the moment. "
"The cop or her old man?"
"Are you kidding me? Her old man wouldn't hit a cop." Lauren laughed "I heard the cop ran out in the snow bare ass naked he was so fucking scared."
Pain twisted on Brittany's face at Lauren's comment. She moved the drone away from the window. Piloting it over to the building where Lauren said Hunter lived. Gradually gaining altitude as the drone moved forward. Fine-tuning the gimbal to keep the camera lens ahead while observing for warnings on the screen that she was too close to an object. Lauren too busy sucking on a Hershey bar to provide visual guidance to warn of objects at the lower elevations. "Which window?" she asked as the drone neared the upper floor of the building.
Lauren raised her arm to point at the apartment. "Start at the back." Sticking the last square of chocolate in her mouth, "make sure you're filming this." She mumbled.
Brittany slid her thumb down toward the record icon. Her phone screen flashed confirmation. "We're off to a good start. The blinds are closed."
"So move to the next window around the corner." Lauren waved her hand.
"Are you watching the screen or the drone, Lauren?"
"Sorry," Lauren muttered. "Left! Left! Go left. You're going to hit the building."
"You don't have to yell." Brittany spat. "I'm right next to you."
"Fine, I'll send you a text next time."
"OK, around the corner, move slowly right. Damn, another closed blind." Brittany mumbled to herself.
Lauren, with her hand above her eyes to shield the sun, "Yeah, I think the next window is the bathroom. It looks too small to be a living area. Can you go to the next one?"
Brittany pushed on the control lever to move the drone left, "Yes! The blinds are up." Studying the live feed from the drone, "Somebody is sitting in the recliner."
"Let me see," Lauren turned back toward Brittany and the phone.
"Is that Hunter? Does he have blonde hair?" Brittany asked.
"Hell if I know!" Lauren spat.
"Wait, you don't know what Hunter looks like?" Brittany glanced over at her partner in crime "Are you even sure this is Hunter's apartment?"
"Well, not exactly. It was more a guess. Quinn hasn't come back with the utility records. Dani thinks she saw a guy who looked like Hunter's photo from the academy's yearbook around the building."
"So, I could go to jail for stalking an innocent guy?"
"Let's call it amateur detective work, not stalking." Lauren corrected Brittany, "What's he tossing in the air?" distracting Brittany back to the video.
"I can't tell it's small. And this doesn't have a zoom feature either." Brittany slid her thumb down to try the aperture setting, shaking her head. "Maybe we can get a better look with an editor app?"
"Is that a suitcase next to him?" Lauren pointed at the floor.
"It is. It looks like a pair of camo pants on top. What is that? A wallet on the divider?"
"And a key fob," Lauren mumbled. "Oh shit! Down! Down!" Lauren screamed in a panic as the man turned around in his chair to look toward the window.
Brittany pushed the altitude lever, the drone moved upward instead of down, to hover above the flat roof. "Shit that was close." She let out a loud breath "I think we have enough, let's bring the drone home."
What Are You Looking For
Dani, Quinn, Mercedes, and Lauren huddled around Brittany's chair as she moved the mouse on her desk. Their eyes were scanning between the sizeable external monitor and Brittany's laptop screen.
"You added an audio track, Lauren," Dani asked.
"Yeah, Ozzy's Diary of a Madman." She snorted, "I couldn't help it."
"Can you mute it, Britt?" Quinn asked, "It's annoying."
"Not enough show tune for you, Fabray? Or not vanilla enough?"
"It's distracting, Lauren." Mercedes snapped as Brittany clicked on mute. "Oh Lord, what just happened?" Mercedes grabbed her stomach to ease a queasiness as the video swerved left then right, turning sharply upward, to only fall downward.
Lauren chortled. "Nuts thought she could dance with geese."
"It was a test run. How was I supposed to know that goose would be an admirer?"
The women went silent as they watched the video fly to Dani's window, "Is that Mack in your bed, caramel? How long is she staying?"
"Yeah, it is. Mack took her old man to Best Buy tonight. His kiss and make up gift new kitchen appliances."
"Humph, her old man needs to teach Puck about makeup gifts. A girl can only eat so many chocolate bars." Lauren said, biting into a glazed long john she held. "We're getting to the good part now," she mumbled through a mouthful of dough.
Brittany slowed the speed down the women huddled in closer to see. "Right there, see where the guy is. The suitcase on the floor and he's tossing something." She said.
"Can you pause it, Britt?" Quinn asked, "Or zoom in?"
"Sure." she clicked on the pause icon with her mouse. Cut the frame to make a snapshot. "We thought that thing on the suitcase was a wallet." She used her index finger to point at the objects on the screen. "Then this could be a key fob. Those look like camo pants. But we're not sure what he's tossing," moving her finger to point above the man's head. "We're not sure this is even Hunter's apartment or not."
"Yeah, there isn't a place for our names on our mailboxes, just apartment numbers, so nothing to cross-reference."
"That wouldn't matter, Dani. He could be receiving his mail at the post office since he lives alone and is away for his job." Mercedes suggested.
Quinn moved her pen away from the pad of paper she'd been writing on "Britt, zoom over to the suitcase again. Let's look at those since they're easiest to make out."
"That looks like a phone case, not a billfold," Dani said. "What kind of wallet did Dave carry?"
"It was his phone case. He used a money clip for his cash." Mercedes answered.
"I remember, it was a black hard case with a slider on the back for a couple of cards. April gave it to him as a birthday present." Quinn said. "It replaced that belt phone case he had." Quinn scribbled a note down on her paper. "Can you zoom in on the key fob?"
Brittany adjusted the scale slider with her mouse. The snapshot increased in size. "How's that?"
"That better," Quinn answered as Brittany continued to adjust the snapshot to lighten the background. "
I can't remember if his fob had the Ford logo or not. Do you guys remember?"
"Mom's doesn't, and she drives a Ford." Lauren answered."
"Well, that's of no use." Quinn sighed as she jotted another note on her pad.
"Brittany go back to the pants, do what you did before," Dani said, "That pattern looked weird."
Brittany did as asked, selecting a frame for a snapshot, enlarging the scale, as she started to adjust the opacity of the frame.
Dani stopped her. "Make it black and white, then can you adjust the greyscale?" she said. Brittany changed the frame to black and white then adjust the greyscale. "There stop!" using her index finger, careful not to touch the monitor screen "The pattern on camouflage is distinct, but here it seems to run over the design. Like something was spilled on it. Plus, the pattern doesn't look off the shelf Cabela's."
"Are you thinking military surplus, Dani?" Lauren asked. "Hudson's winter camo jacket Kristie bought from military surplus."
"Yeah, maybe. And if it is surplus, that doesn't imply US military." Dani paused to take a breath. "Something dark has been spilled on it."
Quinn scratched another note on her pad. "You're saving these right, Britt?"
"Uh, yeah, sure." Clicking on the save, typing in a name. "How about the thingy that he's tossing up? Want to look at that next?"
"Might as well, girl," Mercedes sighed, frustrated at the lack of distinct clues to identify Dave.
Brittany followed the same process as before "There it is suspended in mid-air."
"No, go forward on the next few frames, let's see if it flips as it moves through the air. Like a coin toss." Lauren suggested.
Brittany again followed the process she'd repeated three times. Lining up the frozen images. "It's round. I don't think I can adjust the color. It's so small."
"You don't have to. It's a man's wedding band," Quinn replied.
"Wait, since when did Dave start wearing his ring again?" Lauren snickered. "Santana wore hers for the bling. But Dave, he'd rather have his finger cut off."
"No, he started wearing it again after she dropped the divorce. And I'd bet depending on the side you'd see the inscription on the inside." Quinn offered as everyone looked at her, surprised at her comment.
"How do you know about an inscription?" Mercedes asked.
"Uh, well, after they moved back from New York, the three of us were sitting around a table talking, and Rachel asked if the ring was heavy to wear. Santana took it off, gave it to Rachel, who noticed the inscription. Santana said it was on both of their rings.
"So, what does it say?" Mercedes asked.
"It's in Spanish. I don't remember," Quinn replied, wishing she hadn't brought it up.
Dani let Quinn off the hook. "Estoy loco por ti, I'm mad about you. What San told me. Something about their marriage was an insane idea. But the translation would appear more like I'm crazy about you from Madonna's song. Uh, anyway, it's centered from the back on hers. His is probably the same."
"Well, she got that right. She was usually mad at him." Mercedes laughed. "Try to see if you can make out an inscription, Brittany."
Brittany enlarged the frames tipping each slow, "If something is there, I can't read it. And if I make it any bigger, it'll just be a blur."
"Print them, I could try with the microscope in the lab at work," Mercedes asked as the hum of Brittany's printer started. "You gonna write that down, Quinn?" she said with a smile.
After the print out completed, Brittany advanced the video to the face of the man in the chair. It wasn't a good shot, Brittany had rolled the gimbal slider causing the camera to tilt downward as she pushed her left thumb to raise the drone. At best, it was a profile of the man. All agreeing, he had a familiarity with him, but none could place him. Quinn asked for a printout to see if Rachel could identify him.
Follow Me Into The Wild With A Twisted Smile
Santana stepped off the jet's stairway, reaching into her bag she pulled her phone out tapping on Brittany's number she nodded to Will who was waiting for Emma. Then to Steve, who was waiting for his wife, Donna. Lifting both her purse and computer bag off her arm back on to her shoulder, she heard the voice she'd missed all day.
"You're back!
"Hey, Babe. We just landed."
"How was Minneapolis?"
"Dog and pony. One corporate office looks like another. How are the kids? Have you eaten?"
"We're all fine. Zee's watching 'Despicable Me 3' and Elle's playing with her doll. And no, we all wanted to wait for you."
"If you want to call Breadstix, I can swing by and pick it up."
"Same old, same old?"
Santana laughed, "What's Breadstix without spaghetti and meatballs."
"And breadsticks."
"Wouldn't be a complete meal."
"I'll do that. And I'll pull a bottle of wine from the cooler so you'll have a glass as soon as you walk in the door."
"I'd rather have you."
"Well, that's a given. See ya in a bit."
"Bye, babe."
"Bye."
"Santana," Steve shouted, "Do you want a ride over to your car?"
"No, I'm good, Steve, thanks." She yelled back with a wave. Sliding her phone back into her bag. Turning back to the plane, she waved to the flight crew then strode across the tarmac toward where her car was parked in the hanger. As the large hangar doors were open, she walked up to her car, tossing her purse and her laptop bag on the passenger side. She walked around the back. Santana started to round the corner of the automobile to the driver's side when a hand crossed her mouth, pulling her head back, taking her off balance. Another arm went across her chest.
"Don't fucking try anything, or you'll be just as dead as your faggot husband." He hissed.
A sudden chill swept through her body. Santana could feel her heart pounding in her chest. The smell of spearmint gum as he talked.
"You're gonna get in the driver's seat. I'll get in the passenger seat. I'll have a 9mm pointed at your head. Do you understand?"
He released his grip enough for her to utter in a shaky whisper, "Yes."
"You're going to drive to Lima Heights Adjacent, park in garage 118. You're not to say a word. If you so much as a wave to anyone, you'll be lying six feet under with Dave. Do you understand?"
Santana gasped, "Yes."
The man released her with a shove, Santana fell against the side of the SUV. A wave of nausea overcame her as she glanced back at her attacker. She recognized him he'd been to her home. Sat with her and Dave, the children. The gun now pointed at her face.
"In the car." He growled.
Santana did as she was told climbing into the driver's side. She closed her eyes to calm her heart. That decreased nausea, now bile creeping into her mouth, to breathe the fear out of her body. The passenger door opened, she could feel hot tears welled in her eyes as she glanced over to him. He tossed the laptop bag into the back. The corner skimmed passed her face. He climbed inside to sit down.
"Go. And remember nothing stupid."
Santana stepped on the brake, pushed down on the start button, the engine coming to life. The radio blared, Mabel "Don't Call Me Up." She reached over to shut the song off. She needed a clear head if she wanted to walk away from this monster. Santana did as he instructed. When she pulled onto KEI Road, he had her pull behind Kohls to dump her laptop in the dumpster. As the turned onto Briar Patch Road, he removed her phone from her purse. The gun waved wildly from the corner of her eye as he pawed through her bag. Then he tossed it out the window. In the garage, he slid his arm around her waist. He hissed, "walk like we're on a romantic date." When she attempted to pull away from him, his arm tightened around her, waving the gun at her face, "you do want to see your rugrats again, right?"
Once in the apartment, he guided her over to a dining room chair. From a sack, he pulled zip ties, telling Santana to put her hands behind her back. She felt him wrap the heavy plastic ties around her wrists. The sound they made as he pulled on the ends to tightened each. Lacing them together with a third, which he wrapped around a vertical rung in the chair. A fourth he used to secure her wrist wraps to a horizontal rung between two chair legs. Next, he pulled a roll of duct tape. Stretching out a piece, he ripped it off in one clean motion to apply it across her mouth. "Don't worry. You'll get a bathroom break when I get back." He said as he flipped on the TV, "Huh, basketball," he paused to watch, "I picked Kentucky, you can cheer them on for me," raising the volume in case she tried to scream. From her purse, he pulled out the key fob, squeezing her bag into the paper sack, he left.
XXXXXXXXXX
Brittany picked up her phone to check her messages. Tapping on Santana's number, she put the phone to her ear. Instead of Santana's voice, she heard the recorded switch voice than the bell-like tones of her call, transferring to voice mail, "Hey hun, where are you? I'm getting worried. The kids are in bed. Like I said, Zee had a PB&J sandwich. Elle a bowl of mushy cereal. Please call."
She looked down at her laptop screen. The spreadsheet blurred as her eyes couldn't focus. It had been three hours since Santana had called her. Brittany ran her thumb over her contact list, tapping on Quinn's name.
"Hey, Quinn. Sorry for calling again, but has San called you?"
"No, she hasn't. Did you call Emma?"
"Yeah, she said Santana was standing by the jet when Will drove away."
"Did Emma call the VP you said went to Minneapolis too?"
"The same story, she was by the jet. Emma got ahold of the pilot, last he saw her was walking toward the hangar."
"I don't know what to tell you, Britt. It's a tiny airport. It shuts down around ten. I'm not sure if it even has a rent-a-cop onsite."
"I gotta do something, Quinn. I just can't sit here. If I can get Dottie to come over, will help me look for her?"
The anxiety in Brittany's voice was palpable. Quinn had to admit she was worried too. It wasn't like San to disappear in the evenings alone. "How about this, let's call around. You call Cedes & Tina, Kitty & Marley. See if they can help too. I'll call the guys. Between six cars, we can cover the entire town a lot faster than one."
Within 45 minutes, the searchers had assembled at the Breadstix parking lot. Quinn had divided up the city into search zones. Rachel would ride with Kitty since Marley's shift at the hospital started at 6 am. Emma had gotten a hold of the pilot who said he'd go out to the airport to see if Santana's car was still parked in the hangar. She'd also called Donna, who was on the phone to legal, to see if they couldn't rattle a few chains within the police department to be on the lookout for her car. Legal said they'd call the mayor's office if necessary. KEI security had verified her badge hadn't been used since Wednesday afternoon when she left. They were still told to keep a lookout for their CEO. If the search posse found anything, they'd call. If after two hours, they'd hadn't seen or heard anything they'd rendezvous back at the restaurant.
XXXXXXXXXX
Dani yawned as finished up the equipment repair request. She often thought if it weren't for the paperwork, this place wouldn't need floor supervisors. Glancing up at the clock, Dani realized she had another hour before she could call her sixteen-hour day complete. No, that wasn't right. It was a seventeen-hour day. She'd forgotten to add her two thirty-minute lunches.
From the hallway, Dani heard the whiney voice of JBI "Ow Lauren. You're hurting me."
"I'll hurt you more if you don't cooperate when we get into the conference room." She snarled.
"I'm not scared of you, Lauren Zizes. I'll call my union rep."
"You're management JBI. You don't have a union." She said as she shoved the small man through the door.
"Oh, I guess I don't," he replied while adjusting the heavy jacket he wore in the freezer. "Good evening Dani. You did see Miss Zizes here brutally abuse me, didn't you?" he squeaked.
"I guess that depends on why you're here, Jewfro." Dani smiled back using Santana's old nickname.
"He's here cos I hacked into his home computer and found some interesting photographs in his Huba Huba folder," Lauren growled.
"You had no right to do that. It's a violation of the Angry Hackers Club oath of privacy and confidentiality between members."
"Then maybe you should change your router's paraphrase to something other than The p0ll cum in my D0cker$. You idiot!"
"To be truthful. Those or that one photo was given to me through a third source who received it from the second source who received it from the first source that was sent by the originator."
"And who was the originator?" Lauren asked as she passed a manilla envelope to Dani.
Dani pulled a sheet of paper from the envelope "Holy shit, where did you get this Jacob?" she spat out as she saw the picture she'd only heard about up until now.
"Well, I haven't quite figured that out. All I know is that at least one burner phone was purchased at a Target store in Kapolei with a gift card."
"Where the hell is Kapolei?" Dani looked up him as she stuffed the paper back into the envelope.
"Uh, Oahu, the big island in Hawaii."
"And do you know who bought the gift card?" Dani asked
"Uh, well, a woman by the name of Debbie Smith. At least that was on the credit card. But that could have been stolen, from oh say a tourist."
"But you have a credit card number? That's how you found the name, right?"
"Uh, well..."
"I swear to God JBI I'll break your nuts if you aren't telling the truth."
"Lauren, back off!" Dani shouted. "Go ahead, Jacob."
"As I started to say. I don't have the credit card information, just the name. I Uh ... um well ... I bought the information from Spyder." Jacob said as he raised his hand over his head in self-defense.
"Wait, you deal with Spyder?" Lauren snorted, "Here I was going to give you credit for something you definitely don't deserve now!'
"Lauren! This isn't a bad cop, good cop." Taking a deep breath, "Who's Spyder?"
"He's, or she is part of the underbelly of the internet, the dark web if you will. Spyder prefers copious amounts of male on male porn as payment for information hacked from American businesses. What makes Spyder unique is you submit a request, attach a location for pictures or videos. Spyder responds with the information or not."
"He is a shady, dubious untrustworthy character who prays on naïve little hackers who should know better, JBI!" Lauren shouted into Jacob's ear.
"You only say that Lauren because you guilelessly sent a naked photo of yourself and Noah to him, and he sent it back with the words 'girl is too fat and too ugly.'"
"And what did you send?"
"I photoshopped a picture of Mike Chang in bikini Speedos with my head."
Dani spewed out her Coke covering her mouth, she half coughed, half laughed, "Not even I would have bought that JBI." She said as she felt Lauren's palm slap her back.
XXXXXXXXXX
Santana heard the door unlock. She closed her eyes, praying that it wasn't the monster. Praying that it would be the police. Beatrice. Hank or Jeremiah. Dani. She'd wracked her memory, trying to recall from her list who lived in the apartment. She knew the garage numbers where assigned from a first in, first out list, therefore, didn't match the apartment numbers. The file wasn't broken down by corner apartments versus interior apartments. She'd never thought to sort it. But why would she? Beatrice had shown more competency than she expected of the woman.
The monster entered, he sat on the table a clear Subway bag. Hung his jacket in the closet, then removed his shoes. Santana could see they were stained with flecks of dirt, she thought. It had rained while she was gone. Had he been walking in the mud? Is so where?
"Hey," he smiled, "Brought you something to eat." Holding the bag so Santana could see it. "Probably not what you're accustomed to. Not fine dining or prepared by a private chef. But it'll work if you're hungry enough." He came toward Santana swerving to avoid her. He sat down at a chair next to her moving it slightly so he could still see her. He pulled the sub from the bag, unwrapping it, dividing his half from hers. He took a bite, staring at her as he chewed. She heard him swallow, the napkin across his mouth."You know you're lovely." He reached his hand over Santana felt the touch of his finger as it stroked her cheek. "I've always preferred Asian women. Never had sex with a Hispanic woman."
Santana's eyes flashed to meet his.
"Ohh, that got your attention. Don't worry," The man snorted, "I don't want to get anything Davey might have passed on to you." Taking a sip from his water bottle. "You and Davey did have sex? I mean ... what were their names Zee and Elle," he paused, waiting for acknowledgment from Santana when he didn't get an expected response "they are Davey's? You didn't fuck someone else, did you?" again, he waited, "You know the thing about a conversation, it takes two. Like street dancing." He kicked her chair.
Santana shook her head.
"That's better." He said, taking another bite from the sub. Again she listened to him chew then swallow. "So, it was Davey."
Santana nodded her head.
"Was it Davey that drove you to girls?" He took another bite from his sandwich.
Santana shook her head.
"You don't look like a dyke. The dykes I know look like they should be garbage collectors, not fashion models." his eyes swept over her.
Santana felt a chill crawl down her spine.
"You did love him? His wedding ring had I'm crazy about you, on the inside. Unless that ring was from a boyfriend."
Santana felt a sudden angry trembling through her body. She'd just assumed the police had Dave's personal effects. Like the truck, his gun, his clothes all evidence. She nodded.
He brushed his hands together, wiping away any crumbs from the bread "Now this is what we're gonna do. I'm going to untie you. Let you eat the sandwich. Then I'll take you to the bathroom like I promised. We'll move the chair back to my bedroom. I'll tie you up again. Then I will go to bed. You will not make so much as a peep." Pulling the 9mm from the back of his jeans, "Do you understand?"
Santana nodded.
"Good girl."
How Did Ya Find Me
Jesse had received a call to check an improperly parked vehicle at the Carpenter farm. What he saw as he neared the auto was a burned-out carcass of an SUV. Standing next to the rear bumper was Claude, his dogs running around, one lifting his leg on a deflated tire. He pulled the patrol car to the side parking it, he got out, adjusting his hat Jesse evaluated what he saw as Claude talked.
"Mornin' Jesse. Before you look to close, I'll tell ya now, no ones inside."
Jesse exhaled a breath of relief. He'd seen and smelled rotting corpses, mummified bodies, skeletal remains, accident victims with blood gushing from their bodies, and dead friends in his career. Nothing brought the vomit into his throat as fast as a charred body. "Thanks, Claude," he said with a nod. Using his shoulder mic, he radio in a request to verify the plate number. The dispatcher came back within a minute, identifying the car belonging to David J Karofsky. The dispatcher asked if the owner was with the vehicle. Jesse responded, "negative." He was told by the dispatcher that the owner's wife was missing. Jesse requested assistance declaring the charred hulk as part of a crime requiring investigation.
XXXXXXXXXX
Kurt and Blaine sat across from Quinn and Mercedes. Each had coffee in classic white diner mugs, to abate the exhaustion they felt from their late-night search. Kurt's plate had crumbs from his toast, the other three variations on the traditional diner breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns, and a protein. All laid out on a plastic red gingham table cloth.
"I think I'll just crash in my office and let my TA run my classes," Kurt said with a yawn.
"I'm just happy Dalton is on spring break," Blaine replied. "Most of the students are home."
"Mom is covering my calls until 1:00," Quinn added. "Rachel is home sleeping."
"Tina, Mike, and Ryder are working from home. Brittany called in. Kitty's staying with her until noon. Then I'll go out to the house. The ones I feel sorry for are Sam and Jake. They both have early morning starts."
"I've lived in Lima all my life, and I swear I went down streets I never knew existed until last night," Kurt said, resting his chin in his hand.
"All that time searching, and we didn't find anything." Quinn moaned. "All we know is she left the airport in her car."
"Hey guy, why the gloomy faces?" Burt asked, coming up to the table.
"Morning Dad. We were out searching for Santana. She hasn't been seen since last night."
"Well, if it helps, they found her car."
"What?"
"Where?"
"Was she in it?"
"Is she hurt?"
"Yeah, out by Carpenter's farm. The same place where they found Dave's back in December. No. No sign of her. The car was torched. Sent Finn out to haul it to the impound lot. Cops are treating it as a crime scene. But she may have walked away too. She may have driven those back roads, but in the middle of the night, it's not hard to lose your sense of direction."
"I'm going out there, Quinn do you know where that farm is?" Mercedes huffed as she dug money out of her purse for her meal.
"I'll drive," Quinn said.
Blaine had his wallet out, tossing a twenty onto the stack of money Quinn and Mercedes had started. Glancing over to Kurt, seeing a blink of 'we are too' in his eyes, "We're coming with you."
"Hey, they're not going to let you anywhere near that area if it's a crime scene," Burt shouted as he was shoved away from the booth.
"Then we'll just drive around looking for her," Mercedes shouted back.
XXXXXXXXXX
Santana's neck ached from sleeping in the chair. Her shoulders burned with fire from being pulled back in an unnatural position. Her wrist felt raw as she had tried to wiggle out of the plastic restraints. She'd lost count of the times she'd clench and unclench her hands into fists to get them from going numb. Under the tape, her lips felt dry. The monster had tied a tee around her eyes. The scent of the fabric softener gave her waves of nausea. She had drunk sparingly of the water he'd offered her with the meal, yet her bladder needed to be relieved. After he'd gone to bed, she could detect the blue haze of a TV beneath the tee. Distinct sounds of a porn movie. Then him jerking himself off, his final grunts of relief.
"Wakey, Wakey." He said as she felt him loosen the knot of the tee. Momentarily blinded by the sunlight streaming from the window, she opened her eyes. He was dressed in jeans and a rugby shirt. At least she could be thankful for something. "How did you sleep? Sorry about last night, got involved in the movie, forgot you were in the room. But maybe you're used to Davey jerking off." He snorted. "Remember not a word. Do you understand?"
Santana nodded.
He ripped the tape from her mouth. She ran her tongue across her lips to feel the sticky glue. She heard him snipping the plastic ties the gun waved in the corner of her eye. She brought her arms to their natural positions. She rubbed each wrist. The ligature marks a bright red even on her tan skin. He kept the bathroom door ajar while she used it. In the mirror, her face streaked with makeup from the tears she'd let go after he was asleep. Taking a washcloth, she cleaned her face. Removing any remains of her past days.
At the table, he'd asked her left-handed or right, she held up her left. He tied it to the chair with another zip tie. He placed a bowl of oatmeal in front of her with a spoon. He took a paper towel, pouring rubbing alcohol on it. "It should remove the tape residue," he said. The alcohol stung.
Santana cleared her throat, "What do you want?" she croaked from the dryness in her throat. "Money?"
He sneered, "Money? If I'd wanted that, I could have gotten it from Davey. I mean, the man was pissin' his pants with every picture I sent. Wasn't he?"
She ignored his question "Then what?" she asked as she drank water from a paper cup. The coolness of the liquid soothed her dry throat.
"I want what's rightfully mine?"
"Which is?"
"Acknowledgment that I exist."
Santana tilted her head, the answer confused her "Meaning?" she tried a spoonful of oatmeal it was thick, cold and tasteless.
"A little story might help. Once there was this young girl. Who met a boy at a party. The boy raped the girl, he called it consensual sex. But he still gave the girl $500 for an abortion. The girl chose not to do that. Instead, she left." He gave a brief laugh, which he seemed to hold in his throat. "She worked low paying jobs, had boyfriends that were alcoholics, drug dealers, even one who abused her son." His face had a distant look. "But she kept telling her son that his real dad was a good man, and so he needed to be a good man. Make his dad proud." Sadness flickered in his eyes. "But when the boy found his dad, the dad rejected him. Said he had a son, he didn't need another."
The boy now a man happened to meet someone who knew the family. The man came to visit his friend, to try to meet with his dad, his brother. Still, he was rejected." A frown creased his forehead. "And found out his dad preferred to live with a whore instead of his wife."
A sudden note of contempt crept into his voice. "But he did meet his brother, who drove expensive cars, flew in private jets, attended ball games on a whim, lived in a mansion the size of apartment buildings. He'd married, had a family. Deserted his wife when she needed him most. He did that so he could fuck around with other men." He gave a small derisive laugh, he narrowed his eyes, "Didn't sound like a nice man to have as a son."
"So, you want revenge?"
"I prefer punishment. Like when I got the crap beaten of me as a child."
"It didn't occur to you that you've punished my children when you killed their father?"
"I'd like to think they'll see it as an example of what not to do." He sneered at her "Hurry up and eat. I like it better when all you could do was nod."
XXXXXXXXXX
Jesse had gotten Claude to put his dogs back in his old Chevy truck. He'd strung the yellow crime scene tape over a wide area. Large enough for the investigators to work. He'd started to enter information on to his computer report.
"Jesse," Thad called as he walked toward the scene in his white investigator suit.
"Mornin' Thad. Heider not with you?" Jesse asked.
"Uh, no, I saw his car at Dunkin' Donuts on the way out. Probably still working on his first dozen of the day. This is it?"
"Yeah, I doubt if you'll find much. Looks like the fire made ashes of everything." Jesse followed Thad under the tape, around the hulk.
"I don't know. The child seats are both still intact. Without a test, I'd guess it was gasoline as an accelerant. You'd be surprised what we'll find once we go through it with a fine-tooth comb."
"Good Luck! I'll be interested to see what you do."
"Speaking finds. I do have some good news for you on your print and the DNA test."
"Well, don't keep me suspense, Thad."
"Found a couple of beautiful prints off the receiver. I sent them to IAFIS in Washington. Turns out, your guy is a commercial airline pilot. Graduate of the Academy. Served in Afghanistan. Trained in survival skills."
"So, what's his name?"
"There's more." Thad said, "I, uh, well, I've been reading up on the use of DNA tracing technology and free use genealogy websites to track and identify relatives of criminals."
"Thad, if I want a lesson in ancestry trees, I'll go to my grandpa. He's all over that."
"No." Thad looked around to see who might be listening "It goes against the lab procedures. Our management has their heads in the sand. I took your guy's DNA results, made a phony account, then uploaded them to this site." Looking around again. "You remember from biology that men have XY chromosomes?" Jesse nodded, "Well, they don't mutate. You might get a mutation every 100 years. It makes it easy to trace back in time or to living male relatives."
"Isn't that what CODIS does?"
"No, they don't go into detail like these free use websites. Anyway, some men popped up as second or third cousins, meaning they share a common distant paternal grandfather. They all had the same last names. Karofsky."
"So, I'm looking for a member of the Karofsky family?"
"The name IAFIS gave me was Allan McNichols Paul Harris. But he goes by the alias of Nick Harris. And he lives in Honolulu."
"Nick Harris is my guy?"
"I'm saying you need to find Harris." Handing Jesse a manilla envelope, "And based on the fact that Karofsky's wife is missing, you'd better find him fast before he takes off, and you can't find him or her."
Jesse heard a car pull up, still stunned by Thad's work, he turned expecting to see Heider's unmarked squad car. "Ah fuck, what is she doing here?" he shouted at the sight of Quinn's relator signs on the doors of her SUV.
"Jesse! Jesse!" Quinn yelled from her open window. "We have a name."
"A name for what? Mine and Rachel's future child?" Jesse smirked
"No, you idiot, a name for the man who killed Dave Karofsky," Mercedes spat out.
"It's true, Jesse." Kurt approached the officer. "I've identified, well actually, my husband and I have identified the man we believe killed Dave."
"Look, can't you see I'm busy here? I'm working on a crime scene. I've got evidence to collect. Paperwork to fill out. Numerous details to deal with. I really don't need to deal with a bunch of amateur detectives and their conspiracy theories of a murder that my department is handling very well!"
"That's bullshit, Jesse. Everyone knows Heider cut you out of the investigation. And you've spent most of February ice fishing with Jay and Norm." Quinn spat out. "We also know Heider is too busy with kissing the governor's ass to pay attention to new leads on the Karofsky case. Not to forget the old grudge match between Heider and Paul over Karen."
"At least take a minute to hear us out," Blaine asked.
Jesse looked at the four. His work was done, the remaining work would be under Thad's direction. He could assign one of the other officers as an officer in charge without ramifications. Jesse squeezed this shoulder mic, requesting permission to leave to investigate possible evidence found at the mansion. The dispatcher came back with an acknowledgment. "So, where do you want to go?"
As Jesse was pulling out onto the gravel from his parking spot, he saw Detective Heider pull in across the road. He pulled up next to Quinn's car rolling down the window he shouted, "I want to swing by the office. I'll meet you at the mansion in about thirty minutes."
XXXXXXXXXX
"Oh, for the love of Jesus, would you quit pacing and just sit down, Brittany! You're going to wear a path into the ceramic floor if you don't slow down." Kitty said
"I can't, I don't know where she is or who she's with or what they're doing to her. Or even if she's alive." A credible fear in her voice as she paced the distance from the backslider to the back stairway. "And I can't do anything about it." Waving her hands in front of her face, "Doesn't it feel warm in here?"
"Why don't you go to the exercise room or take a run around the estate. Or do what I'm trying to do sleep!" Kitty replied as she fluffed the pillow she'd taken from the bedroom off the family room.
"You're not helping Kitty," Brittany said as she did a 180-degree turn, her hand squeezing her wrist to take her pulse.
"No, but you having a nervous breakdown before you know anything isn't going to help find Santana or help her when they do."
"Still not helping, Kitty." Waving her hands in front of her face again. "My heart feels like it wants to escape my chest. And I'm sweating."
"And your negative vibes are probably going right through the ceiling, being picked up by Elle upstairs who has no clue what's going on."
"Oh, God, I'd forgotten about Elle. How's she going to grow up without Santana? They might send her to live with that horrid woman in Florida. Oh, God, Kitty, you just made it worse. I think I'm going to be sick."
"Ughhhh ... " Kitty sighed as she covered her head with the pillow, "I give up!" Her phone ringing brought out of hiding, "Hey, Quinn!" ... "Um, no just dealing with a little crazy right now. "Yeah, trying to sleep." ... "Nope, we'll be here." ... "See ya in a few." Ending the call, she turned to Brittany, "Don't go hyper-crazy on me when I tell you this, but they found her car. And they think they have the name of a suspect. Cedes, Q, and the Klaines will be here shortly to explain it all."
Kitty was rewarded when Brittany dialed back on her panic. She sat down, put her head between her knees. Her complaints of chest pain and nausea stopped. And thankfully for Kitty, so had the pacing.
When the foursome arrived, Quinn went to the dining room, asking Brittany to bring down the print outs of the video as well as her laptop. From a file, Quinn laid out information she'd obtain from public records and the utility company. While she did that, Kurt and Blaine sorted through pictures on their phones. Mercedes arranged her findings on the table next to Quinn's. When the doorbell rang, they all expected Jesse. Instead, Dani and Lauren walked in.
"How did y'all know we'd be here? And aren't you suppose to be at work, Dani?" Mercedes asked.
"Heard about the rendezvous over Puckerman's police scanner. Called Dani and told her she'd just come down with a bad case of infectious Amazonian Lesbos Twat fever, and she needs to come home."
"Went to the bathroom at first break, made it sound like I was vomiting my guts out. About five girls heard me. Trent had no problem letting me leave."
Say the words twat and fever in the same sentence, and most men want nothing to do with you." Lauren snorted, "Learned that from Carole before she retired."
"My step-mother said that?"
"Yep, that and my rag-time is late. Carole's right. It's worked every time."
"That's disgusting!" Kurt said, covering his face.
"I see your bout with carpal tunnel is cured now too, Lauren."
"Oh, that, Mercedes?" holding her wrist out. "Couple games of racketball with Puckerman down at the Y seemed to take care of it for now." Walking over to the table to take a seat in one of the chairs. "Dani may need a computer. Look up the academy yearbooks online about Hunter."
"Who needs a computer?" Brittany asked as she set down her Apple pc and her file of pictures. The doorbell rang, "Oh, be right back." She went to the front door, checked out the window, then open it to let Jesse in.
"Jesse?" she asked tentatively.
He nodded, "And you are?"
"Brittany S. Pierce." She answered with a grin.
"And you live here?"
Brittany detected a tinge of suspicion in the officer's voice. "House sitting for Santana." She answered.
"We're in here, Jesse. The dining room," Quinn shouted out as she looked around the main staircase.
Jesse walked through the foyer to the living room, seeing it for the first time. The stairway made of oak was a highly polished medium brown, the lines visible through the stain. The open ceiling. The large open windows that looked onto the covered pool. The fireplace. A grand piano. A silent whistle escaped his lips. "I heard this was someplace. I never expected this." He smiled at Brittany, who led him through to the dining room.
"Takes your breath away, doesn't it Jesse?" Kurt said with a shy, nervous giggle as he watched the officer twist and turn his head to try to take in the space. "And this isn't even a quarter of the house."
"It's impressive, I'll say that for it. Wouldn't want to pay for the heating and cooling bills, though."
"Oh, it's geothermal. Plus hydronic radiant heating in the floors. Very efficient." Kurt replied.
"Don"t say." He laid his cap on the dining room table, along with a file he'd taken from Heider's desk. "My condo still uses gas. Keeps me warm." He smiled as he looked over the papers spread neatly across the long dining room table. He counted the chairs, twelve. "So folks, what makes you think you have a name?"
"Uh, well, Jesse, we've been investigating on our own since Dave's death on who might have killed him. And ..." Quinn said.
"Umm, The women have been, Blaine and I weren't available to assist." Kurt interrupted, "Although we did get them started with some ideas."
Quinn looked down at her note pad, "What Kurt says is accurate, we did discuss how to go about it with the guys, but they haven't been actively involved until last night." Quinn paused to get her bearings. "I don't know if you're aware Jesse, but at the end of August, Santana's Jaguar was vandalized."
"Is that what happened? I wondered why it disappeared from the street."
"Ah, she filed a report. But apparently, they didn't have witnesses or enough evidence to pursue an investigation, so it was filed as cold."
"What we didn't know at the time was Dave had started receiving emails with photographs of him in a ... compromising circumstances with his friends." Mercedes added to support Quinn with an explanation.
"What do you mean by compromising?" Jesse asked. As he watched the body language of those in the room.
Mercedes, Quinn, Kurt, and Blaine all shared glances with each other. "uh, well under umm normal circumstance, I wouldn't want to out anyone. But since Dave is deceased and Santana's life is in possible jeopardy. I can, in this instance, forgo my own personal values and beliefs in this situation." Blaine gave a nervous smile "Dave was like Kurt and myself are, a gay man. So the pictures were of him with his boyfriend at the time." Blaine cleared his throat as if symbolically relieving his own guilt.
"Was a report filed?"
"No, Jesse. There were some issues with the filing of a report between Dave and Santana." Mercedes replied, "Dave wasn't out to his family or co-workers at KEI."
"He was on the down-low?"
"Uh, in a manner of speaking, you could say that," Kurt replied.
"Did his wife know?" Jesse turned his head to the right as Dani covered her mouth to hide a laugh.
"Sorry, Officier, I'm just getting over a bout of A.L.T. fever."
"Oh, for the love of Jesus! They were each other's beards. Both of them were as gay as a rainbow flag whippin' in the wind over a Pride float." Kitty spat out. Her friends stared at her in shock. "Well, he's got to know, you might as well just tell him instead of tap dancin' around like Fred and Ginger!"
"Ok, so both are gay. And married with children. Go on, Quinn."
"We think the vandalism and stalking, the pictures, are related to Dave's death. I heard in a conversation with Sheldon Beiste that Stoner Brett had something to do with the vandalism."
"Which he confessed to me, Dani, and Santana."
"He also gave us the alias of the man who paid him to vandalize the car." Dani said, "He called the man, Amph."
"Unfortunately, he didn't give us enough information to follow up on." Quinn replied, "The one tip was he lived at Lima Heights Adjacent."
"I queried the KEI databases for records of employees who worked at KEI and lived at Adjacent," Brittany spoke.
"From that, we narrowed it down to four men, one of which was Dumpster Del, whom we eliminated," Dani said.
"Of the three remaining, we found out that two had moved out of Lima, and the third still lives at Adjacent," Quinn added. "Umm, eventually, we found out that all three men had file sexual harassment charges at KEI."
"The man they filed those charges against was Dave Karofsky," Mercedes said. "It wasn't long after that that we found out about a fourth man who filed charges but didn't work at the plant or in the offices. He worked for KEI on their private jet. He was the flight attendant. Hunter Clarington."
"Hunter attended the USAF Academy in Boulder. Meaning he has military experience. And we heard through our sources that Dave was shot with an AR-15." Dani said as she went to Brittany's laptop to pull up the Academy yearbooks to show Jesse a picture of Hunter.
"If I made add, Hunter can live anywhere as long as he has access to an airport. So he too still lives at Adjacent." Kurt interrupted.
"And just to add some connection to Hunter beyond the employment. Hunter is also known to frequent Scandals, though to the best of our knowledge, he's never dated a man or has come out as a gay," Blaine added.
"But he has been invited to gatherings which Dave hosted here at the house, and did attend several," Kurt said.
"Yes, he did. And when he did attend, he invited one man in particular to be his date, I guess is what we thought." Blaine explained.
"Brittany and I did some snooping. We found out through utility bills because the residents at Adjacent pay there own which apartment Hunter lived in. We were able to get photographs of items we believe belong to Dave." Lauren spoke.
"Uh, his wedding ring, phone, and key fob," Quinn elaborated. "And a picture of a man who wasn't Hunter, fondling those items."
Jesse's eyebrows shot up, that information hadn't been released to the press. "And how do you know they were Dave's?"
"We enhanced the photos from the video we took using a drone." Brittany answered, "Mercedes took a picture of the ring to work and put it under one of the high powered microscopes KEI has in the QA lab. The inscription on the inside of the ring is Estoy loco por ti, which is also on Santana's. I can go get if you want and show you."
"They were able to get a profile picture of the man. Kurt and I recognized him." Blaine handed the picture to Jesse.
"He also attended the Academy the same time as Hunter" Dani moved the laptop to where Jesse could see it "His name is Nick Harris."
"And we think he's at Adjacent right now." Kurt said, "He stopped by Scandals on Wednesday night. And the drone footage was taken on a Sunday afternoon."
"We think if you find Nick Harris, you'll discover Santana there too."
Jesse heard the sound of paper torn from a notebook, "Or at least we hope you would." Quinn said, handing the paper to the officer, "This is Hunter's address."
XXXXXXXXXX
"You like pizza? I'm hungry for pizza. Hunter had a coupon around here somewhere." The man said, glancing over to Santana while he searched for the weekly Lima Cash Saver flyer. "Found it. Domino's Delivery. Do you have a favorite?"
Santana shook her head.
"Good! My choice, since I'm buying." Santana listened as he ordered a large all meat pizza, giving his address. Her eyes widened. She at least had an apartment number 317B. That put her across from the office in building 'A' and next to Dani's building, 'D.' If she could escape, she at least knew where to run for safety. She needed a plan, when would he be more likely to let his guard down? How could she get the gun away from him? How could she get out of the zip ties? If she couldn't, could the chair be used as a weapon or a shield? He hadn't zip-tied her ankles to the chair. Did that mean he trusted her or merely thought her too weak to take on a man? She had to think this through. She'd only have one chance to getaway.
Dani tapped her foot as she waited beside her car for Jesse to arrive in his squad car. It made Dani sick, to think she'd come home from work last night slept soundly while Santana was only yards away from her in the next building. Now Dani might be able to do something, provided the plan worked. It was simple, she'd call in a request for a domestic dispute at Hunter's apartment. Jesse would respond. The apartment complex sat just beyond the city limits, so in all likelihood, the Lima police would ignore the call. If everything worked as planned, Jesse would be able to scan inside the apartment and get a read on Nick Harris. Should he make visual contact with Santana, then he'd have a choice to make. Go in for the arrest or request assistance. It would require Jesse making the proper assessment in a matter of seconds, and there was no telling how many guns were in the apartment. Dani turned to lean against her car, shoving her hands into her coat pockets.
She saw Jesse's cruiser approaching, he pulled in to park a few spaces away from her car. Dani walked toward Jesse, seeing a Domino's delivery car pulling into the spot next to his. The delivery kid spoke to Jesse, she heard Jesse reply.
"What apartment are you delivering to?" He asked the teenager.
"Uh," checking the tag on the insulated carrier "317B, why?"
"Dani, you ever delivered a pizza?" Jesse asked.
"I have. Why?"
"What's your name?" Jesse directed the question to the boy.
"Logan." He replied
"Logan, you might have something to brag about at school next week. Dani will deliver that pizza."
XXXXXXXXXX
The man stepped away from the window. "Pizza guy is here. I'm going to take the tape off and untie your right hand. You're to sit here like you're waiting for the pizza. If you say anything, even a grunt or a cough, this will be your last meal. Do you understand?" He asked, in a voice devoid of emotion.
Santana nodded.
He grabbed the tape yanking it off, the sting of the tape separating from her skin sent a shiver through Santana's body. She exhaled a deep breath. Her lungs relieved to inhale oxygen through her mouth. She heard the clip of the plastic as the muscle of her right arm relaxed. The numbness echoed through her arm as the blood rushed through it. "Remember not a sound. Do you understand?"
Santana nodded as she watched the man walk to the door opening it. She gasped when she saw Dani standing there. A sudden look of fright passed across Dani's face as their eyes met.
"How much?" the man asked.
Dani looked up at him, "Uh," checking the receipt "Uh $18.17," she replied as she pulled the pizza from the carrier.
"Here's twenty, keep the change." Handing Dani the money in exchange for the pizza box.
"Thanks, your generosity overwhelms me. Enjoy your pizza."
The man slammed the door on Dani, "Fuckin' smart ass kid. I should call and complain.." He dropped the pizza box on the table. Lifting the lid, he slid it within Santana's reach. Then stepped behind her his hands closed on her shoulders he leaned down in a deep voice that seemed to vibrate along her nerves "I thought as a lunch conversation, I'd show you my collection." He walked over to a closet, removing a rolling suitcase, he laid it down next to his chair, unzipping it "These are a few things I've saved over the last year maybe." He said as he reached in to pull a file out. "A father and son golf outing on pride day" he held the picture up for Santana to see laying it down on the table. "You'll remember this one. I think it was your birthday party?" It was a picture of her and Dave in the pool Elle between them in her floater. He laid it atop the other photograph. Another of Dave with Zee sitting on his lap. Then one of Dave with his arm slung over Spencer's shoulder. Her sitting next to Brittany.
XXXXXXXXXX
Dani raced down the stairway, pushing her body weight against the door she felt her wrists jam into her lower arm, running to Jesse's cruiser. "She's in there. Santana's in there." She gasped. Bending over her hands on her thighs, inhaling deeply to regain her breath. "I saw her. She's at the table."
"Are you sure it's her?" Jesse demanded. Brittany, Kitty, Quinn, Mercedes, Blaine, and Kurt stood a safe distance behind the officer.
Dani stood up a look of disbelief in her face "I fucked her for three years. Yeah, it's her." She snapped.
"Is she ok?" Quinn asked as Blaine and Mercedes grabbed Brittany to keep from running.
"You fuck girls?" Logan said, awed he still hadn't gotten to first base with a girl.
Jesse looked over to the boy, back to Dani. "Give the kid his stuff back and the money. Then you," he glanced at the boy, "get back to work."
"Is she ok, Dani?" Quinn demanded again.
"Yeah, but she looks, uh" Dani searched for the words "umm scared. Tired. I guess. She didn't move when she saw me."
Jesse looked back at Dani. "He's restrained her if he's kidnapped her. That's what they do." He reached for his shoulder mic using police code. He notified his dispatcher of urgent trouble, meaning no sirens, at Lima Heights Adjacent, all units respond. Man with a gun. When the dispatcher asked the nature of the problem, Jesse replied, "Hostage." When the dispatcher asked if the SWAT team would be needed. Jesse replied, "on standby." The dispatcher requested the name of hostage, and attacker Jesse answered, "Santana Karofsky and Nick Harris."
The dispatcher acknowledged. Jesse turned to Dani and her friends the crowd now increased to resident onlookers curious about the squad car.
As additional deputies arrived, Jesse had them on crowd control. Or working with Beatrice to knock on doors, asking tenants to leave. The last thing Jesse wanted was innocent people injured. Hank and Jeremiah helped with the interior of the building and the apartment's layout. While Beatrice gave Jesse Hunter's phone number. Jesse looked at the digits. At this point, he didn't want to alert Hunter in case he was involved. Instead, Jesse asked for the airline that employed Hunter. He radioed in to call the airline to get a phone number for Nick Harris and his status. Jesse huddled with his fellow officers.
XXXXXXXXXX
"This is one I especially like." He held up the photo from Elle's christening her, Dave, their children, with Paul and April. "I thought his obit hilarious. Christian man? Seriously who had the gall to write that? I mean I just about pissed my pants I laughed so hard." He laid the obit cut from the paper onto the photographs. "You've seen the ones I took at that fag bar? Right? He did show those to you?"
Santana nodded.
"Then you've seen the one I took of you with your uh girlfriend is it?" he leaned in closer his eyes settled on her lips as he spoke "I watched. It was hot when you sucked your cum off her fingers." He laughed to himself in satisfaction as Santana's dark eyebrows drew together in a scowl. "What? You should be happy? Davey is gone from your life." He studied her face for a long moment, then he slipped his hand into one of the pockets of the suitcase, he had Dave's phone. He flipped it over in his hands "I was disappointed I didn't know who he called last. And then I slid the lid off of this compartment" he dropped the cards on the table surface, "And behold, he'd written a reminder to himself." He picked up a small piece of paper with six numbers "It was you he called. I was touched." He set the phone down. "I thought it ironic the song that Davey set as your ringtone. A guy who loves his home and family. Yet, Davey flaunted his boyfriends in front of his kids in their home."
"I bet you've never seen Davey's last portrait." He smiled with a touch of mockery holding up a picture. Dave in the snow, his face was expressionless, his eye blank, beneath his hand, the blood-covered orange vest.
A pulse hammered in Santana's throat. When she finally spoke, her voice was quavered. "Is that your plan for me?"
He frowned, then shrugged his shoulders, "OK, you've eaten enough." He grabbed a zip tie from the wrapper, wrenching her arm around her back, the tie around her wrist, then tape across her mouth. "Maybe later, we can talk about how to wash blood out of clothing."
XXXXXXXXXX
Jesse looked at the officer across from him in the same bulletproof vest that Jesse wore too. He could feel his hand shaking, Jesse adjusted the gun to secure it his calmy hand. He could feel the perspiration forming on his forehead. He stretched out a hand to beckon the men across from him to move forward. Jesse nodded when the lead man reached the door. He reached his free hand out to the door, he knocked. Jesse waited. He didn't want to arouse suspicion, give this Nick guy a chance to prepare. Jesse's flesh crawled with sparks of electricity, sweat running down his back. His heart pounded in his ears as he tried to steady his breath.
Nick looked around from the recliner at Santana when he heard the knock. "You're not expecting anyone?"
Santana shook her head.
"Probably got the wrong apartment." Pointing his index finger at her, "Not a sound. Do you understand?"
Santana nodded.
Nick stood up, he slipped the 9mm between his jeans and shirt to rest against his back. He looked through the peephole, he didn't see anyone.
Santana watched as he clenched his left hand into a fist. As his right went to the doorknob.
"Police!" someone shouted, "Open up!"
Nick twisted the knob, drew the door toward him. The door flew open, banging the closet behind it. Nick flew back, his hand going to his back. The shout of "Police! Drop your weapon." The thud of the gun on the floor. "Hands behind your head!" Nick's hands went up." Men ran into the room, one coming over to Santana.
"Are you alright, ma'am?"
Santana nodded, her eyes suddenly moist with tears.
Now I Got You By My Side, All My Life, Day After Day
Brittany spotted Santana, EMT's on each side, a blanket hung from her shoulders. Mercedes held her arm. Quinn had taken her hand while they waited together. Blaine held on to Kurt. Dani and Kitty together. Brittany felt Quinn release her hand. Mercedes muttered, "Go ahead, run, girl." She bolted, dipping under the crime scene tape that had been strung between the building and the parking lot. She ran toward Santana, the EMT used his hand across Santana to stop her. A deputy running behind her weighted down by equipment was no match for her long strides and determination. She stopped just short of running into Santana. Her heart beat fast from a combination of fear and excitement. Brittany's blue eyes blazed into Santana's brown. She caught her up in her arms, lifting Santana off the ground.
Santana threw her arms around Brittany's shoulders, buried her face against her warm throat. "I love you," she spoke the words barely audible. Santana breathing quickly as she looked at Brittany, a smile lit up her face, "Kiss me!"
A glimmer of laughter came into her eyes. "I love you, too." Brittany's voice was laden with emotion at hearing the words she'd waited for months to hear from Santana. She took hungry possession of her girlfriend's mouth.
From The Grave
"Hey, you'll be fine. I'm not going far. You can bring the kids to visit."
"What happens if the mountain lion comes back?" her voice trembled.
"It was a coyote. It won't. Promise." He replied with assurance
"How can you be so sure?" she heard vulnerability in her voice.
He took her hands into hers. "I saw it. It's dead. Salazar and Motta's boys found him hanging in his cell." As he spoke, his eyes looked into hers, "Listen to me, Santana, you'll be OK. Believe me. I wouldn't leave if you and the kids didn't have someone I trust."
"When will I see you again?"
"You won't." he released her hands, turning away, "Now I need to go. Dad will be here shortly."
"Paul?" she sighed
"Yeah," he glanced over his shoulder at her "didn't I tell you you'd rock a board room?" he said with a smile.
"When? How?"
"Time doesn't matter." A note of calm in his voice, "Bear, there is something I need to tell you."
"What?" she asked, now frightened by his perceptions of the future.
"You can rest easy now," He said, a tender smile touching his lips "You're with who you love. You're safe." Dave's voice faded as he withdrew from the room.
Santana awoke. She rubbed the moment from her face feeling Brittany's arm lay over her.
"You ok, Honey? Bad dream?" she whispered.
"No." taking Brittany's hand in hers, she moved her girlfriend's arm closer to her chest. The sensation of Brittany's body against her back, stirred a peacefulness within her, "All good, now."
Notes:
Song: Find Me; Artist: Kings of Leon; Album: Walls (2016); Songwriters: Matthew Followill / Nathan Followill.
Santana, after her ordeal, may experience issues similar to PTSD if you find that disturbing, I do apologize for my insensitivity.
Any last reviews on the story would be appreciated. Thanks, Much for reading!