It's almost five am and Rachel condemned herself for not thinking about bringing a jacket. But then again, she was really shocked when the agents told them that someone was found dead in their LA night club, Salt. All Rachel could think about was: what if she knew the person who died? What if it was one of her employees? Rachel was very close to everyone who worked at Salt. And what if it was a regular client she knew? Even if she didn't know the person, it was still someone, and Rachel couldn't allow herself not to be bothered by someone appearing dead in her night club.
When the agents finally pulled over in front of Salt, Rachel could see police officers pushing people away, while someone tried to surround Salt's entrance with yellow tape.
Rachel immediately felt the chilly 5am breeze when she stepped outside the car. Quinn, somehow, noticed that and, eyeing her by the corner of her eyes, she asked "are you cold?".
Rachel looked up, as if surprised by the question. She was cold, but she wasn't expecting that to matter, at that moment. Someone was dead. At their club.
Quinn, though, didn't need to wait for the answer and, naturally, takes off her jacket and handed it to Rachel. Rachel put it on and, besides feeling warmer, she felt comforted by Quinn's scent.
"Ms Berry, Ms Fabray!" Agent Cohen-Chang called, gesturing them to get inside the club. Rachel complied, Quinn following her closely.
The club – normally so crowded that people had to elbow their way to the bar – was empty, expect for a group of people standing by the bar counter and a dozen of cops/agents/photographers that inspected the place. Rachel couldn't help but to feel slightly violated by the fact that people were just going around her club and touching things and doing God-knows-what.
Rachel identified the group of people standing by the bar as their employees, and friends, and she hurried towards them, concernedly.
"Oh my God, is everyone okay?" she asked, worriedly, as she looks around, trying to realize if there was anyone missing.
Jesse, the DJ, was the one who answers, in that morbid, dark humorous tone he has "yes. Everyone we know".
Kurt, Rachel's assistant, was looking very pale and sick, sitting at one of the bar stools, looking at the floor. Jacob, the chef, doing the explanations "Kurt was the one who found it. I heard him screaming all the way from the kitchen".
"I didn't scream, I yelped" Kurt hurriedly corrected, but the amused smile forming on Santana's – the hostess – lips said otherwise.
Suddenly, Rachel remembered something, but Quinn seemed to read her mind, because she appeared from behind her and asked the question first "where's Finn?".
It's Agent Abrams that answers that question "Mr Hudson is on his way over here. Ms Berry, Ms Fabray, we're going to have to ask you to take a look at the body and see if you can't identify it" he announced, gesturing towards the washroom – where apparently it was found.
The colour in Rachel's face disappeared immediately. Looking at the dead body?
"I'll do it" Quinn offered, without taking a moment to think about it, taking a step forward "Rachel can't even look at blood" she explained.
"I'm sorry, but we are going to need you two there to identify the body" the agent explained, patiently.
"Look, I know everyone she knows. So I'll do it, okay?" Quinn insisted, as she walks towards the bathroom door, as if seeing a dead body was something she did everyday "she doesn't need to see it".
"That's not how it works, Ms Fabray" Agent Abrams insisted, coldly, lifting his eyebrows.
"It's okay, Quinn, I'll look at it" Rachel said, sheepishly, as she doesn't want her girlfriend to get into any troubles. She knows Quinn is not intimidated by the agent and that scares her, because sometimes Quinn could be very protective of her.
Quinn stared incredulously at her, with arched eyebrows and gapped lips, before turning around and pushing the door open.
Rachel followed her and the agents inside the washroom, feeling her heart racing as if she was about to have a panic attack.
Quinn is already standing in front of a bathroom stall, her hazel eyes stuck on what's inside of its opened door. Her mouth's corners are slightly curled in disgust, but she doesn't show any sign of nausea. There's a photographer kneeled by her side, taking photos of the dead body.
Quinn looked over her shoulder to Rachel, biting her lip. At that moment, Rachel knows that, whatever she's about to see, it won't be nice. But the agents are behind her, waiting for her to take a look inside, so she takes a deep breath, and steps forward meeting Quinn.
A wave of sickness possessed Rachel, as soon as her eyes focus on the dead body before her. The body – of a man - was leaning against the wall, legs opened. He had been shot directly into his chest– there was so much blood – and the glass look on his eyes were one of the most bone chilling things she had ever seen. She has never seen the guy, though.
She feels Quinn reaching for her hand and squeezing it encouragingly, but she can't stare at it for more than two seconds.
"Well?" Agent Cohen-Chang asked, expectantly.
"Don't know him" Rachel mumbled, her eyes on the floor trying to stop her head from spinning.
The agents waited for Quinn's response. She's looking worriedly at Rachel "neither do I" she finally answered, softly.
At that moment, a man bursted into the bathroom. He looked slightly frenetic, as he glared around the room, dark eyes frantically searching for something "I came as soon as I heard. Is everyone okay?". He's tall and has dark, strong hair. His hair is messy, and by his ruffled button down shirt, everyone can tell that he came straight out of bed.
"Finn" Rachel mumbled, slightly comforted by the fact that he was there. He glared at her, frowning, and then at Quinn. Quinn waved her head towards the bathroom stall. As he carefully steps forwards to look inside, Quinn seized Rachel shoulders and directed her towards the door.
"Are we done here?" she asked coldly at the agents.
"Apparently" Abrams answered "please wait for us outside. We are going to need to talk to everyone of your staff that was here last night" he announces and then turns toward Finn – who was walking toward the body – and started relating "the traumatism in his head probably means someone knocked him unconscious before executing him".
Finn had already seen a dead body before and he doesn't seem too upset by it. His time in the army had made him unaffected by it – it wasn't the first dead body he had seen and it was definitely far from the most shocking one. He lingered his eyes on the body, before snapping out of his thoughts and turning around, walking toward the agents "would that really be necessary? I mean, whomever did this was probably a client and we have hundreds clients a night. It would be stupid for you to suppose it was someone inside".
"We're not saying that we think that it was someone of the staff" Agent Abrams replied, dryly "or saying otherwise, by that matter, but we need to ask some questions about last night to them, try to figure out if someone saw something… unusual".
"I'm going to call Mercedes" Quinn announced, surely.
"Is that really necessary?" Rachel asked, frowning.
"If their going to interrogate our staff we need a lawyer" Quinn explained, wisely.
"You're welcome to do so" Abrams shrugged "meanwhile, is there anywhere private where we can talk to each one of you?".
Rachel glared at Quinn, as if asking her permission "my office is just at the end of this hall, so…"
"Perfect" Agent Abrams was already exiting the bathroom, followed by agent Cohen-Chang.