Rachel saw the door wide open and figured walking in without announcing herself wasn't much of an issue anymore. She stepped inside and wrapped her arms around herself. The place was even colder without the furniture, and it felt like Hiram erased her and Leroy from the house completely. The walls were bare minus a couple of generic paintings. The couch was covered in plastic. The rug was rolled up and against the bare shelf where her movies used to be. It was surreal. She took a deep breath and was about to make her way upstairs when she heard someone cough in the kitchen. Part of her hesitated, but she would rather get it over with before it becomes a thing.
Rachel leaned against the door frame and watched Hiram stand over the sink. There was a half-empty bottle of gin next to him. Her eyes fell to his hands, his knuckles, and Rachel forced down that part of her that cared.
"You plan on standing there all day or you plan on actually getting your shit out of my house?"
"I haven't decided yet."
Hiram snorted and glanced over his shoulder at her.
"You're a real pain in my ass, kid. You know that?"
"And you're a waste of DNA."
He spun around and Rachel never flinched as he crossed the room in two steps. Mostly because by the time he took the third, he stumbled and crashed into the island. She stared at him for a long time as he recovered. There was blood on his shirt and Rachel pointed at him.
"Looking pretty good there. Get into a fight with your realtor or something?"
"I don't remember."
"You don't remember? What kind of bullshit is that?"
"The truth. I had a few drinks last night and woke up like this."
"Guess that's what happens when you kick your husband and daughter out of the family house, put it on the market, and decide to give up your duties as a father or husband. Kind of pathetic, honestly."
Hiram burped and pointed in her general direction as he tried to stand up straight. Rachel felt a lot of pity at that moment for a man she used to look up to.
"Why are you even here?"
"To get my shit, as you so eloquently put it earlier."
"No, I mean why today, why now? You had to know I would be here."
"Because I needed a distraction. Too much happening at once and being alone with you is something I know how to navigate."
"Oh right, that old boyfriend of yours died. Heard he took a bullet for you."
Rachel flinched slightly and folded her arm against her chest. "Don't speak on what you don't know," she said sharply.
Hiram smelled blood in the water. Rachel pushed off the doorframe and turned on her heels. She had her foot on the first step when Hiram's next words stopped her dead in her tracks.
"Why didn't you pick up the gun?"
Rachel closed her eyes and placed her hand on the railing. She lowered her chin to her chest. "I-," she stopped and cleared her throat. Rachel glanced at Hiram over her shoulder and saw the disappointment and anger on his face. He wanted her to confess to something, to admit she made a mistake, but Rachel had enough sleepless nights about Finn's death and she wasn't going to give Hiram the satisfaction of having something over her. He already had enough. She walked up the stairs and left him grumbling around in the kitchen.
Santana walked down the stairs with Leroy on her heels. Quinn was with Sue and Emma, Puck was passed out in her bedroom upstairs, and Rachel was off doing her own thing. When Quinn asked where she was going, Rachel sighed and said she had some last-minute errands to do before the final move. Santana knew there was more to the story, but no one called her out on it and let her walk out the door.
In hindsight, with as much shit going on, they probably shouldn't have let her go anywhere by herself, but they had no idea where she was, and she wasn't answering her phone.
"She's back at the house."
Santana nearly fell down the last step at Leroy's voice. "What?" she said.
"Rachel, she's back at the house. She left some things behind and wanted to grab them before Hiram donated them or tried to sell them. She warned me last night that she would be going back over there."
"Why didn't she just say that?"
"Because LJ and Tori would've wanted to come with her, and she wanted to make the experience as smooth as possible considering the circumstances."
Santana opened her mouth to respond, but it was a good point. Leroy patted Santana on the shoulder as they walked further into the back of the basement. Santana stepped forward and Leroy turned his head as she typed the code into the back door. The office opened and the two disappeared inside. Leroy settled in the seat from last time and Santana started up her system.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Is it the same question from last time?"
"Yes."
Santana sighed and rubbed her forehead. "My answer hasn't changed. I don't want them knowing about this."
"Why?"
"Because I'm not invincible."
"I don't understand."
Leroy watched as she typed in a code, her eyes roaming across the screen distractedly, and she rolled her neck and said, "I'm not the best in the world, but I'm not an amateur. There are things I've done for a quick buck that can come back and bite me in the ass. I want to protect the ones I love, and plus, I like the anonymity."
"Why do I get the impression you have arrest warrants?"
"I just said I'm not an amateur."
Leroy smiled to himself at Santana's annoyance and went back to watching her work. She bounced her leg and Leroy couldn't keep up with the number of pages flashing in front of his eyes. Paperwork after paperwork, pages after pages, codes after codes. It was so much that he gave himself a headache just watching, but it was obvious Santana was in her element.
Ten minutes later, Leroy jumped as Santana banged her palms against the desk.
"Got it!"
Leroy blinked as Santana did a little happy dance.
"Got what?" he asked tiredly.
"His money."
"Wait, what? What are you-
"I found his money. Where he's been holding it and how much he's been hiding from you. It's amazing what you can find when you ask the right questions. Though I probably wouldn't have put it all in one spot. Arrogance is one hell of a drug."
Leroy shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Santana, this is wrong. You shouldn't be-
"He's hiding around ten million dollars from you in a secret account under his middle name," Santana interrupted blandly.
"He's WHAT?!"
"Mhm. I thought it was odd that you were only getting thirty percent in the divorce due to the time spent and because your husband is worth more money than the world thinks. Anyway, what do you want me to do? You want me to pretend like I haven't seen this and do what you asked? Or you want me to make this money disappear?"
Leroy stood up and paced the room. Money is never an issue for him. He had his own. But what bothered him was the fact Hiram was either planning this for a while or he was just being sneaky. Neither option appealed to him.
"Donate seventy percent to various charities, put ten percent in the account we made for Rachel, and if possible, can you make an account for Sue and Emma along with LJ and Tori?"
"Uh, sure?"
Leroy nodded. "Good. Then split the rest of the twenty percent between you and those three accounts. Leave him with nothing."
Santana grinned widely and bobbed her head. "That I can do. What about the-
"I don't care anymore if Rachel keeps his last name or any connection to that family. When this divorce is final, I'll be mailing paperwork to Mama Berry in Seattle and getting her to sign off on adoption papers. Rachel will officially be my daughter and LJ and Tori will officially and legally be her siblings."
"Good to know there's still decent fathers out there in the world," she muttered.
Leroy glanced down at her and said, "Yours is decent. Just misguided."
Santana ignored him and continued working on the account. Leroy sat back down and listed all the charities he wanted the money to go to. If he was going to do something evil, then at least he wanted to make sure some kids benefitted from it.
Quinn stirred the pasta and threw some pepper in the sauce simmering on the stove. She heard her phone ring, cursed, and stretched out to grab it off the island. She answered it without looking, and nearly dropped her phone when she heard her mother's voice on the other line. She hadn't seen her since the funeral and had no interest in speaking to her again after the blindside at the church.
"C-can you come and get me, p-please?"
Quinn paused. "What's wrong-
"P-please. I c-can't move, p-please."
Quinn saw Sue in the corner of her eye and waved her over. She put her mother on speakerphone.
"Mom? I need you to tell me what's wrong. I can't-
"T-too far," his mother whispered.
Too far how? Who went too far?"
Sue had already put on her jacket and LJ came into the kitchen. He glanced at Sue curiously and she jerked her head towards the phone call.
"Momma? Momma?" Quinn exclaimed.
The sound of whimpering filled the room and Sue jogged out of the room with a hesitant LJ behind her. Quinn turned off the pasta and paced the room as her mother went in and out of consciousness. She had no idea what was happening, but she couldn't hear anything other than her mother being in pain. No matter the hate she felt towards the woman, she would never wish her harm.
Sue and LJ arrived at the house on edge. But when they walked into the house, they found a trail of glass and blood leading to the kitchen where they found a half-conscious Judy lying in a twisted heap on the floor. They found the phone and Sue picked it up. LJ was already on his phone calling for an ambulance.
"We have her Quinn."
"Is she okay?'
"You're going to need to meet us at the hospital okay?"
"The hospital? But-
"Just get to the hospital and we'll meet you there."
Sue hung up the phone and brushed hair out of Judy's face. The woman's eyes didn't open, but it was obvious she was breathing. Thankfully so.
"What is wrong with this fucked town?" LJ muttered.
"Question of the last few weeks. Come on, let's listen out for the ambulance and figure out what the hell happened here. This wasn't Russell. He's malicious and has a temper, but the worst thing he's done to Judy give her a little scratch on the neck after he threw a plate at her. This is something different."
"Are you sure? Maybe he just lost it with everything going on?"
Sue shook her head. "No, I know Russell, LJ. This wasn't him. This was way too personal."