Russell Fabray used to run the largest criminal organization in North America. Used to.
The bureau was still building their case against him when Santana started as an analyst and her work in bringing him down was what got her a shot at field agent. She was the only probationary agent allowed on the scene when they arrested him. So, when they realized that someone new was pulling the strings in Russell's stead, someone who could potentially destroy their entire case, Santana certainly wasn't about to watch from the sidelines.
The smart money is on Russell's daughter, Quinn. According to their inside sources, after he gave up on getting a "proper" heir, Russell started grooming his youngest daughter to take his place. Straight-A student, Ivy League educated, and, by all accounts, just as cold and calculating as her father. Hell, if Santana had to pick someone to run her multibillion dollar criminal organization, she'd probably pick Quinn Fabray, too.
On top of that, Quinn's the only member of the Fabray family they haven't been able to account for. She hasn't shown her face in court even once to support her father. The family's explanation is that she and Russell had a falling out a few weeks before his arrest, but the timing of that seems far too convenient. Santana has never believed in coincidence, and she's not about to start off the word of a family of criminals. They'd been closing in on Russell for years, so he and Quinn had more than enough time to work out their little scheme. That was Santana's take on the situation, anyway, and the bureau agreed.
Unfortunately, the bureau still didn't have any evidence.
Making the case against Quinn Fabray, putting the final nail in the coffin of Russell's empire; it's the kind of thing that could make a career. Santana's career, if she has anything to say in it. It would be her first major assignment, but she's ready and willing to fight tooth and nail to get it. Surprisingly enough, though, she doesn't have to. After she helps track down Quinn Fabray's location, her mentor puts her on a short list of potential candidates and the SAC on the case picks her. No teeth or nails required.
She's briefed on what needs to be done once more while she's on the plane, but she really doesn't need to be. It might be her first time in the field solo, but the assignment is simple enough: follow the girl, find the evidence, close the case.
They haven't seen any obvious personal security around the target, so the assumption is that they're incognito. Any request for cooperation from the local authorities would mean potentially tipping Quinn off, so Santana's only contact with the bureau will be Arthur Abrams, a coordinator with the Cleveland office. He sets her up with her car, her apartment, and her cover identity. As she finally drives past the sign reading "Welcome to Lima," she crosses her fingers that she isn't in horribly over her head. Her whole career is riding on this, so she needs to get it done.
The apartment they got her is across the hall and four doors over from Quinn's. It's a nice place, a lot nicer than the one she actually lives in, but it's not exactly up to the standards she might have expected. At least not for Quinn. Santana has spent countless hours going over surveillance footage from Russell Fabray's various properties, most of which make this perfectly nice space seem like a crack den by comparison. She has to remind herself that it makes sense for Quinn to be lying low. Her father's still on trial, all his known assets are frozen, and she's supposed to be cut off from the family fortune anyway. It just surprises Santana a bit, how well this girl's selling her story.
Santana spends the first few days getting into a routine. Well, figuring out what Quinn's routine is and then finding relatively inconspicuous ways to observe her.
For the daughter of a mob boss who's possibly a mob boss herself, Quinn Fabray certainly leads a boring life. Apparently, she bought an old book store that the bank foreclosed on, which she's planning to reopen in the next couple months. It's only a few blocks from their apartment building, so she walks there every morning, greeting neighbors as she goes. She spends most of her day there, only leaving to go have lunch by herself at a small café on the corner of the same street.
Lima is kind of an obnoxiously friendly town, which makes sitting at the same table at the same coffee shop every day for a week a bit more conspicuous than she'd like. She always brings the classified section of the newspaper, so that people will figure she's still looking for a job, but that only works for a few days before some of the regulars start asking her what kind of job she's looking for and if she has her résumé with her and has she met their nephew, because he makes good money and is looking for a wife. Okay, so that last one was just one old lady, but it was still super awkward.
By Monday of the second week, Abrams comes through with a résumé for her, complete with references from five years' worth of secretarial work in Cleveland. She ends up taking a receptionist job at a real estate office across the street and three spaces over from Quinn's book store. It has an all-glass storefront and not nearly enough customers to actually necessitate a receptionist, which makes it the perfect job for Santana's purposes. Plus, there's a sign in the break room that reads "coffee is for closers." She might not be selling condos or any of that crap, but she figures the phrase is still applicable, so she chooses to take it as a good omen. She takes a long sip of her black coffee and her eyes don't move from the blond across the street.
By midway through the following week, she's gotten her schedule down pat. She leaves for work about ten minutes before Quinn does and gets her coffee at the same coffee shop she used to camp out in front of, which happens to be the only decent coffee shop in the area. She reads her morning newspaper while she watches Quinn get set up for the day. It looks like she's finally finished covering the furniture and started repainting the store, so the windows are covered in old newspaper, but the door is kept open. Santana walks by that shop a few times a day on coffee runs for the office. Every single time, she's seen Quinn painting, by herself, and listening to something through her headphones. At lunch, she walks down to the café to get their collective take out order and she sees Quinn, sitting alone and reading. For dinner, she picks up more take out, heads back to her apartment, and reviews the security feeds she's tapped into, just making sure she didn't miss anything.
She has a system worked out that covers all her bases. The only flaw, really, is that her system still hasn't produced any actual proof.
It's becoming increasingly clear that she needs to make some kind of personal contact, but she's not sure what her opening will be. From what she's observed, Quinn is easily the only person in town more isolated than Santana. Pretty much the only times she's out in public in a place where Santana could potentially approach her, she either has headphones on or she's engrossed in reading something. That doesn't give Santana many openings.
She spends most of that weekend trying to figure out a plan of attack, all while religiously watching out for any unexpected opportunities. By Monday morning, she's two seconds away from just knocking on the girl's door and asking to borrow a cup of flour. She might end up with a bullet through the head, but that was starting to sound preferable to spending the rest of her life behind a desk in a windowless room, all because she wanted to be the one to bring in the most asocial mafia princess in history. Santana's contemplating that while sitting in her usual spot at the coffee shop when she notices that Quinn still hasn't started work for the day. Before she has much chance to wonder if something worrisome is happening, she hears someone clearing their throat behind her.
"Hi." Santana turns around, doing her best not to look freaked out. "So, this might sound kind of creepy, but I've been seeing you around town a lot. Like, I think you live in my building and work across the street from me, but I know we haven't actually met. Seems a little silly, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I suppose so." Santana's sure she'll kick later for not thinking of that. Right now, she's kind of hung up on the way Quinn's smiling at her. She watches the girl almost constantly, so she's pretty well aware of how infrequently she smiles. It's about as infrequent as Santana causing someone else to smile, which makes this an altogether very strange moment.
After probably too much time for it to be normal, Quinn just rolls her eyes and sticks her hand out for Santana to shake. "Emily Stark."
"Rosario Cruz. It's nice to meet you."