Chapter 2

Puck awoke the next morning with a plan of action in mind. He dressed quickly in a tailored black suit with a dark green tie. He put his shoulder holster on, and tucked away his gun before shrugging into the matching blazer. He then went to find Finn.

"I've been thinking," he said, standing in front of Finn's desk.

Finn looked up from the paper, reaching for the steaming mug of coffee on his desk.

"About?" He asked.

"Her."

Finn's jaw clenched as he set the newspaper aside and brought all his attention to Puck.

"Why?"

"She's dangerous. She can identify too many of us now. And with the cops crawling all over her father, she may be too willing to deal."

Finn ran both hands over his face in frustration.

"And she's missing. Police scanner this morning has the department out looking for her."

"Well what are you thinking, then?" Finn asked, leaning back in his chair. His concern for Rachel was evident.

"Let me find her. I'll make sure she doesn't talk," Puck said coldly.

"Find her, bring her back here untouched. You don't need to scare her anymore than she already is."

Puck rolled his eyes but nodded and left the room.

An hour later, he pulled into the parking lot of the run down New Directions Café on the outskirts of the city. It was little more than a truck stop with heavily tinted windows, which made it look dark even in the brightest sunlight. It was the anonymity of the place, not the food that drew him there.

He sat down in a dimly lit booth and ordered breakfast. The café wasn't crowded. There were two truckers sitting at the counter and an old timer sipping coffee four booths down from Puck.

He fiddled with a cream packet and waited.

Moments later the door clanged open and in walked a tall blonde man wearing a tan sports coat, rumpled dress shirt, and brown slacks; the usual detective clothing. He made his way to Puck's table and slid across the tattered vinyl seat.

"Long time, no see, man," Sam said.

"Yeah," Puck replied as the waitress delivered the plate of greasy sausage and eggs over-easy.

Sam made a face. "That stuff'll kill you. You need a nice woman to cook for you…"

"Fuck off, Evans. I got plenty of nice women."

"Yeah, the nicest, classiest ladies ever," Sam said sarcastically.

"How's Mercedes?" Puck said, shifting the focus off him and his 'love' life.

"She's great. Still as beautiful as the day I married her…Speaking of Mercedes, she wanted me to tell you she has this friend…"

Puck gave Sam a dry look and shoved another sausage link into his mouth.

"Oh come on, she's really nice…"

Puck pointed his fork at Sam, "Stop thinking about my dick. It's doing just fine and has no desire to settle down. Got it?"

Sam laughed, "Yeah, yeah, you'll probably die a bachelor, and that's putting it politely. Maybe man-whore is the better term."

Puck's fork clanked on his empty plate as he shoved it aside, resting his elbows on the table.

"Shut-up dickhead, I need some information."

"About?"

"Governor Berry's daughter."

Sam's eyes widened in surprise. "What about her?"

A memory from 10 years ago suddenly flashed in Sam's mind. He was standing outside a brick building, waiting for Puck to come out when he heard female laughter float out from the doorway. He turned and saw a beautiful brunette girl walking out with Puck right behind her. He gave a lecherous grin and thumbs up to Puck who responded with a middle finger…

"She's missing. What's the department got?" Puck asked, startling Sam back to the present.

"Hummel's group doesn't have her?"

"No."

"Well, her father was convinced he did. We had our suspicions too."

"I took her home myself yesterday. She had to have left sometime after that."

Sam's eyes were wide. "You took her home? Does she…" Does she remember you?

"What was in the report?" Puck asked, quickly cutting off the rest of the sentence.

"They suspected that she took off. A few articles of clothing and her passport were missing from her room; her car was gone too. It was located this morning in a parking garage downtown. Dead-end, there. We checked with hotels in the area, no one matching her description checked in last night, but we have yet to interview their night shifts. We have our people checking the airports now."

Puck nodded as Sam ran through the check-list, sounding like the methodical detective he was.

"That's all I have," Sam said, watching his friend for a reaction.

"That's all I need. Thanks." Puck replied, tossing some bills on the table for the meal as he got up.

Sam rose from the table and followed Puck outside.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, the deal was…" Sam said as he reached for Puck's arm.

Puck turned and shoved Sam into the parked car behind him. "The deal's off. I can't afford another liability right now. You have a wife and I don't need that shit on my conscious…"

Sam stared at his retreating back, "Just be careful asshole," he called out. Don't make the same mistake twice.


AN: Things may seem a bit confusing now but there will be a flashback chapter coming up that establishes what Puck/Rachel's relationship was and how the boys got involved with the Hummel Foundation. I wrote it so that Puck/Finn don't really remember Rachel from when they were younger, well maybe just whispers of memory. It's a bit of a stretch but I think it works in that it would be hard for any seven year old to remember someone they had known for only 3-4 months and then they were gone.