Chapter 21:

Rachel can be tricky to deal with. Sometimes, you can be direct and just tell her what's going on, but most of the time you have to kind of draw her in, let her feel like she's doing the driving and then you can get to the point. I know this about her better than anyone, but I had no time to try to be polite with my friend.

"You better fucking explain to me why I had to hear from Finn Hudson that the two of you got back together 2 weeks ago when you led me to believe you barely spoke anymore!" I basically yelled as I launched the front door to her apartment open only to reveal a pretty traumatized Shelby sitting on the sofa. "Oh shit! Sorry."

"Um… I'm Shelby."

"Quinn."

"Hi Quinn." She kind of half-waved.

"I was looking for Rachel. Is she here?"

"No, she got called into work. Someone called in sick. She left about 10 minutes ago."

"Well, I guess I should go find her." I started to back out the front door.

"Wait. You're Quinn? The Quinn?" She asked and stood up.

"Um… well, I'm the only Quinn Rachel knows so yeah, probably."

"She talks about you a lot. I think you and I were actually supposed to meet when you two were in high school, but we couldn't make it happen."

"Yeah, you had to get to L.A. for an audition and I had to pop out an 8 pound baby."

"Right." She paused and took a step toward me. "Well, it's nice to finally meet you. How's your baby or I guess she's not really a baby anymore?"

"She's not really mine anymore either. We put her up for adoption. She's good though. I get updates every now and then."

"I was thinking about adopting myself a while ago. It was right around the time Rachel came back into my life. I couldn't have anymore kids myself. I thought maybe I could give an unwanted kid-" She stopped herself. "Oh, I didn't mean unwanted. I'm sure you wanted-"

"I did, but I understand what you mean. It was better for all three of us that Beth ended up in a good home. I was barely able to take care of myself and her father was a pretty standard screw up back then."

"Well, teenagers sometimes are. I know I was."

I stood and looked at her.

"You and Rachel, I can see the resemblance. It's pretty uncanny."

"I regret missing out on most of her life. In the beginning, it was all by design. Her fathers wanted that time with her and I understood. When I reached back out, I thought I was ready to handle being a parent. You know, helping her with boys or answering questions about sex, drugs or rock n' roll or whatever else moms deal with when they have teenage daughters." She paused and sat back down. "I guess I was wrong. I got the call from my agent that I'd gotten that audition and I hit the road. I didn't even stick around long enough to meet my kid's best friend like I'd promised. I did get a chance to meet that Finn you mentioned earlier. He seemed like a pretty decent guy. Maybe that's why she's back with him now."

"I don't really care who she dates. I want her to be happy, but it can be with Finn or anyone else for that matter. What I don't like is that she lied to me."

"Why did she do that?"
"That's what I came here to find out. I'm in the middle of a massive investigation here and I asked her about Finn. She lied to my face and not just as her friend. She lied to a police officer. I need to talk to her and find out why and get some of my other questions answered."

"You're a police officer?" She looked out the window and then back to me. "Rachel told me you were in law school."

"I am. I've got one year left, but I'm a detective too."

"Wow! You sound busy." She paused and crossed her legs the other direction. "So, you're working on the big murder case?"

"One of many officers and the FBI's here too." I took a step back toward the door. "Sorry to cut this short, but I've got to go. I need to talk to her and then I have to go home to change and grab my stuff for class tonight. It was nice to finally meet you." I explained.

"Yeah, you too and in case I don't get a chance to say goodbye when I head back to my apartment, goodbye Quinn."

"Goodbye Shelby."

I closed the door behind me and quickly got to my car. I needed to find Rachel at work and figure out why the hell she would lie to me about Finn and about having a key to his shop.

As I drove, I got angrier and angrier. I was usually quick to get angry with Rachel because she was well practiced at getting on my nerves. When I pulled the car up to park, I turned it off and paused. I tried to put myself in her shoes for a minute. I tried to figure out why she lied to me about Finn. There had to be an explanation. She knows that women are being killed and we need every detail to help us solve this thing.

I walked into the restaurant and flashed my badge at the guy bussing a table so I could walk through the kitchen door without having to stop and explain who I was and what I wanted. I saw Rachel standing at a computer putting in an order.

"What the actual fuck, Rachel?" I questioned her as I approached.

She turned to look at me. I guess my anger had returned.

"Quinn? What are you doing here?"

I stopped myself from yelling at her in front of her other coworkers and nodded to the side so she would take the hint that we needed to speak privately. We headed into the dry storage room and closed the door.

"Finn Hudson? Ring any bells, Rach?"

"What?"

"You and Finn are back together?"

"Oh." She looked toward the floor.

"Oh? That's all?"

"What? You're with Santana now anyway. What does it matter if I date or who I date?"

"Rachel, it's not about that. It's about the fucking case. I asked you about Finn. That's all I asked you about in fact. If you'd spoken to him, if you knew anything about him these days and you said nothing about the fact that you're with him."

"I'm sorry. It was just weird, Quinn. You were asking me questions about him like you thought he was a murderer, but he's not. I didn't want to say anything that could get him in trouble. Besides, we just started back up a couple of weeks ago. It's not like it's serious yet."

"Rachel, I don't think Finn is a killer. I never did."

"Then, why ask the questions?"

"Because I need all the information to do my damn job, Rachel and I came to you to get some information."

"I didn't have any information about Finn that was about the murders, Quinn."

"What about the shop?"

"The shop? What about it?"

"Do you have a key?"

"Yeah, I've had one since high school. Finn and I used to go there to… you know."

"Gross." That was the friend part of me.

"Not in the cars. There's a little room like a loft above where the cars are. It has a sofa." The look of disgust was still on my face hearing her say that. "It was clean, Quinn. You know me. You know I disinfected that thing and then covered it with plastic before I'd get anywhere near it. Why does it matter that I have a key?"

"It matters because I told you about the car being stolen from Finn's place and you failed to mention you could get into it with your very own key!" I sat down on a giant bucket that was upside down. I felt mentally and emotionally exhausted.

She crossed her arms and looked down at me.

"You think I'm the killer?"

"Rachel, I am so overwhelmed right now. The case and school and Santana and now finding out you lied to me about something pretty damn important." I took a deep breath in. "I don't think you're the killer. I just needed you to tell me anything you knew and you didn't and then Finn's place got broken into and now he's in trouble."

She uncrossed her arms.

"What? Why?"

"Because he's the one that broke in. He faked it for the insurance."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"He needed the money and thought he could get away with it, but he didn't and now he's in lock up."

"What? Why didn't you tell me that when you first got here? My boyfriend is in jail, Quinn!"

"Boyfriend? I thought it wasn't that serious yet."

"You know what I mean."

"I know that with you and Finn, it's always serious Rachel. He's getting a lawyer, but he needs you to lock up the shop for him."

"I can't leave now. I just got here."

"Just give me the key and I'll lock up on my way home."

"What's going to happen to him?" She asked as she reached in her pocket for her keys.

"I don't know. He doesn't have any priors so he'll probably get off with probation or something. Maybe some time, but not much. I'm sure the D.A. will go easy on him."

"What should I do? Can I visit him?"

"Once I know who his lawyer is, I'll get you their contact information. They'll know better than me."

She went to hand me the key. I stood and took it by barely touching it and pinching it between my thumb and forefinger. I was hoping she wouldn't notice and she didn't.

"Hey, I booked my flight back to New York tomorrow. Is that okay?" Santana asked as I sat my bag down by the front door.

"No, because I don't want you to go, but yes because I understand."

"Don't get mad, but I booked a trip for you too. Two weeks from now for the weekend. Friday-Sunday." She handed me the itinerary she'd printed out. "I can always change it, but it just felt better booking my flight knowing that I had one booked for you too."

"I can't promise anything."

"I know. It depends on too many things." She replied and I walked past her toward the bedroom. "Hey, I don't even get a hug?" She asked.

"Sorry, I'm all over the place today." I turned back around and hugged her briefly and let go too quickly so she pulled me back in.

"My how things have changed. A few weeks ago, you were all about me and my hotness and your big celebrity crush and now you don't even want to hug me." She stated sarcastically.

I laughed. She was right. I had Santana Lopez in my apartment right now and I couldn't even find the energy to kiss her. I pulled back and looked at her, trying to take her in and not trying to think about the fact that she was leaving again tomorrow. I met my lips with her cheek and then pressed them gently to her lips. I drew her into me and held her tightly as our kiss continued to grow. I would miss these lips. They enveloped me each time we kissed and I found myself wanting more and more of them each day. Our tongues met and played together briefly before I pulled back. I kissed her one more time.

"I've got to change for class."

"Fine, but tonight I want more of that and more of you naked. If I'm expected to go two weeks without, you better blow my mind tonight, Fabray."

I laughed as I walked back to my room. She followed and sat on the bed while I changed.

"What time is your flight?" I asked her.

"2 in the afternoon. I know you'll be at work so we can say goodbye here. I have to return the rental car anyway." She handed me my shirt I'd tossed on the bed to wear to class. "What happened today? Why were you all over the place?" She changed the subject.

"I arrested my friend."

"Finn?"

"Yeah, he admitted to insurance fraud. He's broke. He's also dating Rachel again."
"What!?" She was as surprised as I was when I found out.

"For the past couple of weeks. She lied to me when we talked about him."

"Bitch."

"I've already talked to her about it."

"What was her excuse?"
I put my belt on and slid on some sandals.

"That she didn't think he had anything to do with the murders and she didn't have any relevant information to share anyway so she just left it out."

"I'm still going with bitch."

"I'm still a little pissed, but I'm trying to let it go. I've got to get to class and focus on that for the next two hours."

I said goodbye to Santana and drove off to my class. It was about an hour-long drive to get to the campus. The whole way there I thought of only two things and neither of those things was the paper I'd written for the class that night and the worry that it was terrible and deserved a D at the most. I was thinking about the fact that Santana was leaving again and while I was hopeful that I'd get to see her in two weeks, the logical part of my brain told me that was doubtful. I was also thinking about the fact that I'd taken Rachel's key straight to evidence to have it tested for fingerprints.