A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews. They really do help to motivate me to continue writing this so I really do appreciate them. I hope you enjoy this chapter full of drama drama drama.
Forty-eight hours had passed since Rachel was last seen, and everyone was beginning to fall apart. Santana and Brittany flew to Dayton as soon as they heard about what was going on. Leroy and Hiram were trying to stay strong for Quinn's sake, but their fear for their daughter was quickly taking over.
Brittany had managed to convince the Berry men to leave the police station to grab a bite to eat and get a few hours of rest while Santana worked on Quinn. She was pretty sure her friend had been too worried to eat or sleep over the past two days.
"Q, why don't you let me take you to the hotel so you can get something to eat and take a little nap."
"I can't," Quinn said; her eyes were glued to the television screen. "A segment about Rachel is about to come on. The more we get her face out there the better."
Right on cue a video of clip of Rachel performing at the Tonys one year ago began to play as an overly cheerful newscaster spoke:
"Rachel Berry-Fabray, who is best known for her portrayal of Maria in the Broadway revival of West Side Story has yet to turn up after being taken against her will from Dayton International Airport just over forty-eight hours ago. CBS News has exclusive information from a source at the Dayton P.D. Our source tells us that Berry-Fabray's case is no longer a missing person's investigation, but is now a suspected homicide. Considering the violent past of-"
"Enough," Santana said as she snatched the remote out of Quinn's hand and turned off the television. They were in the waiting area at the police station, and a few people who had been watching the television as well raised their brows at her. "Quinn?" she asked when Quinn didn't move and just continued to stare at the blank screen.
"Homicide? Rachel's not…" Quinn couldn't even bring herself to say it. "No, this wrong."
When Quinn got up and began making her way towards Dave, who was the detective that had been handling Rachel's case's desk, Santana quickly followed. "Q, wait."
She'd never admit it to Quinn, but Santana had been preparing herself for this. Eddie was psychotic, she had the scars to prove it, and there was no way Rachel would be able to fight him off, being pregnant only put her at an even greater disadvantage.
As she watched Quinn demand to see Dave, Santana's thoughts were on Rachel, the girl she used to hate but somehow learned to care for. She felt an ache in her chest when she thought about the little baby she, and everyone else would never get the chance to know. That ache in her chest only grew when she glanced over at Quinn's determined and hopeful face. How was her friend supposed to recover from this? Santana closed her eyes in an attempt to ward off the tears that were threatening to form when she realized Quinn would probably never recover, none of them would.
Santana immediately tensed up when Dave walked up to them with a sad smile on his face. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for the worst.
"Tell me," Quinn said before anyone else could speak. "Tell me it's not true. Tell me she's not dea- please just tell me this hasn't turned into a homicide investigation.
Dave sat down at his desk and motioned for the two women to take a seat in the chairs that sat in front it. "I'm sorry about what you heard on the news. I am determined to find out who is feeding them information, and they will be punished."
Quinn let out a shaky sigh. "I don't care who told them, and I don't care how sorry you are about it. I just want to know if it's true."
Dave nodded. "It's not one-hundred percent true. Rachel's case is still being investigated as if she were a missing person, our homicide team is not involved whatsoever."
Santana was beginning to grow impatient. "Okay, so what's going on then?"
"We found the car they were travelling in."
"That's good though, right? Now you know where they are." Quinn stared at Dave expectantly. She wasn't sure why he looked so solemn.
"A trucker came upon the car on a two lane highway in Indiana. It had been in an accident and was found wrapped around a tree."
Quinn pulled away when she felt Santana grab her hand in an attempt to offer support. "Are you sure it was their car? It could belong to someone else or maybe Eddie sold it or something. We don't know that they were in it during the accident."
"Quinn, I'm sorry," Dave spoke softly. "We found Rachel's DNA in the car. That's why we didn't tell you right away, we were waiting for the test results to come back."
Santana spoke before Quinn could. "DNA? You mean like a hair or some skin cells or something?"
Dave shook his head. "There was blood found on the passenger side door and window, it was a match to Rachel."
Santana pulled Quinn into a hug when she heard the girl start to sob. "She's hurt, San. We've got to find her." Quinn pulled away. "Oh God, the baby… The impact would have…"
Santana grabbed Quinn by the shoulders in an attempt to get her full attention. "Listen to me. For all we know, Rachel and the baby are just fine. Rachel wouldn't want you panicking like this." Santana didn't believe a word out of her own mouth, but she knew that when the truth was discovered, Quinn would be a mess and she needed to keep her strength up now in preparation for that.
Quinn nodded and let Santana pull her back into the hug. She wished she believed that what Santana was saying was true, she really did.
36 Hours Earlier
"Can you please tell me where we're going?" Rachel asked from the passenger seat.
"We're going somewhere we can lay low until all of this blows over." Eddie took his eyes off the road and smiled at her. "Somewhere we can raise our little girl in peace."
Rachel cringed when she felt his hand lay to a rest on her stomach, but she didn't say anything.
"My father had a beautiful cottage by a lake, that's where we'll be staying. You're going to love it there. Speaking of my parents, I'd really like to name the baby Danielle, after my mother."
Rachel just nodded. The busted lip she'd received an hour before taught her that it was best to just go along with whatever crazy things that came out of his mouth. She thought about Quinn, and wondered if she knew that Eddie was the reason behind her disappearance. Rachel wondered if she'd ever be found. They had been driving since they left the airport, only stopping twice to get gas and go to the bathroom. She was far too stressed to be hungry, but she knew she had to eat for the baby's sake.
"Eddie? I'm not really hungry, but the baby really needs some kind of nourishment."
Eddie smiled and placed a hand on her stomach again. "Of course. We'll stop as soon as possible to get our little Danielle some food. You're going to be a great mom, Rachel. I love you."
Rachel wasn't sure how to respond, so she opted for another nod.
"I tell you I love you and you nod at me?"
"I… Eddie, I'm sorry. I can't."
"Damn it, Rachel." Eddie's voice began to rise. "Why the hell can't you tell the man you are about to start a family with that you love him? I know you love me, Rachel. You've loved me ever since you first sang I Have a Love to me."
"I love Quinn," Rachel sobbed.
Eddie took his hand off Rachel's stomach and roughly squeezed her face. "Look at me!" he commanded.
Rachel complied, but made sure she could still see the road, because Eddie was driving insanely fast and wasn't paying any attention to where he was going.
"You need to forget about Quinn, understand? You're never going to see her again, and I never want to hear about her again."
"I- Eddie!" Rachel screamed when she saw that they were about to veer of the road and into a ditch.
Eddie did his best to swerve, but he overcorrected and before he knew it, the car he'd stolen was now nothing but a heap of tangled metal.
After recovering from the initial shock of her head slamming against the window, Rachel's hand immediately went down to her stomach, and tears of pure joy ran down her face when she felt the baby move. Her hand then went up to touch the warm wet liquid on her face, she groaned a little when she saw her hand covered in blood, and she smeared it on the fabric of the door.
"Rachel?" Eddie asked as he forced her door open. "Are you okay? You need to get out of the car."
Rachel definitely wasn't okay, but she nodded and accepted his help.
"You're bleeding." Other than some minor whiplash and bruising, Eddie came out of the accident unscathed.
Rachel brought her hand up to head once again and noticed that the bleeding had yet to slow down. "I think I need to go a hospital."
Eddie seemed to consider it for a moment, but he quickly shook his head. "No, they'll take you from me. My sister doesn't live too far from here, she can come pick us up tonight, and we can continue on to our destination in the morning."
While he was on the phone, Rachel considered making a run for it, but quickly decided against that option. They were out in the middle of nowhere, she had no place to go, and Eddie would surely be able to catch her. She wasn't really listening to his cell phone conversation, but she did pick up on the words "car accident" and "pregnant girlfriend". She knew his sister could possibly be a way out, and just as she was thinking about how amazing it would be to reunited with Quinn, an intense pain ripped through her lower abdomen.
Eddie hung up the phone when he saw Rachel drop to her knees. "Rachel? Is it the baby?"
Rachel shook her head once the pain subsided. She was lying; she'd read enough pregnancy books to know that she just experienced her first contraction. The baby was coming, and she just hoped that she'd be able to get away from him before it was time for her to deliver.
