A/N: Wanted to answer a couple of questions I've been getting via PM. (1) Yes this story is one I wrote for other characters like 3 years ago (noted in the first chapter). I'm surprised some remember it cause I totally forgot about it. ;) I was going to delete it from my hardrive but decided to change it to fit Glee. And it's giving me a chance to add new material (esp in these upcoming chapters) and change the course from the original because I hated how it ended.
(2) I'm not in law enforcement so please do not use this story as a way to learn about the LAPD/police practices & procedures (noted in capter four). I'm using Glee's example of bending rules and logic to fit the story. ;-)
And just to really change things, I'm going to kill off a character. Watch out Lord Tubbington! o_O
As always thanks for reading. You all rock!
Brittany stepped away from the door to talk to Santana.
"Did you tell the station about he code?" Brittany asked in a whisper, "If the door attendant or security isn't at the front they won't be able to get in."
"I did," Santana said, "Fuck! I wish I had my gun."
"Me too," Brittany said.
Brittany slowly went over to the door to hear where the men were. It seemed like they were still in the living room.
Santana felt her adrenaline level rise. She was only thinking about one thing. Keeping Brittany safe.
"They're still in the living room," Brittany said, "The unit won't make it before they either go to the kitchen and see my purse, or come in here."
Brittany's mind was racing. They needed a plan. She was worried and scared of finding out these men wanted to hurt Quinn, but more immediately, she was scared that somehow Santana would get hurt. She needed to keep Santana safe.
"You're right," Santana said, "We need a plan."
"We also have to find out who this accent man is," Brittany said, "We need a look at him."
"My mirror," Santana said suddenly getting an idea.
Brittany's room was down a hallway and offered some protection. Santana thought if she could get out to the entrance of the hallway and use her mirror, she might be able to see these men through the reflection.
"That's a good idea," Brittany said after Santana had explained her plan, "But I'm doing it. Not you."
"Forget it," Santana said, "You stay here and if they spot me..."
"No," Brittany said more forcefully, "Santana, you're too short."
"What does that have to do with it?" Santana asked confused.
"My arms are longer, easier to reach around," Brittany explained.
"That's insane."
"Santana," Brittany said, now feeling like they were wasting time, "Call the front desk, if the attendant answers tell him to keep an eye for the officers coming. We can't let this man get away again. Not without seeing his face."
"B..."
"And if I get caught, it will be easier to explain why I'm here. I'm going to live here." Brittany said, then gave Santana the number to the front desk.
"It's too much of a risk," Santana said, "I can take them."
"You don't have your gun," Brittany said, "And we're both not exactly dressed to tackle some men down. And we need to see who this man is."
"Brittany..."
Before Santana could finish, Brittany grabbed the compact mirror from Santana's hand and quickly, but carefully, went out the door.
"Shit!" Santana whispered.
Santana was furious that Brittany had gone out there. She should be the one out there. She was the more experienced officer. If they spotted Brittany, if anything were to happen to her...
"Fuck!" Santana quietly cursed.
Brittany managed to get to the end of the hallway and she could hear the men walking around.
"So when you want this done?" the non-accent man asked.
"A couple of days after they move in," the accent man said, "Make sure you memorize the layout of this place."
Brittany crouched down and slowly extended her arm and managed to see the feet of one of the men. With her heart beating like it was going to jump out of her chest, Brittany tilted the mirror up to get a look at the man's face.
Holy shit, Brittany thought, he's the guy?
Brittany quietly went back to her soon-to-be bedroom.
Santana found that there was no answer at the front desk and was now getting frustrated. She felt a huge sense of relief when she saw Brittany come back to the room.
"What happened?" Santana asked.
"It's Artie!" Brittany said, "He's the accent guy."
"Who the fuck is Artie?"
"Artie, the mayor's assistant," Brittany explained, "He and Rachel are both the mayor's assistants. I think you met him."
Santana tried to remember and was about to ask for more information when she suddenly remembered Artie.
"Right, that day at the main headquarters," Santana said, "When the mayor came to the station...I was having lunch with Sam. And he was at the dinner. I saw him hanging out with Rachel and Sugar for a while but...he didn't have an accent."
"He must be faking being American I guess,' Brittany said, "Shit, this is more than just a break in. It's some fucking conspiracy against the Fabrays."
"Where are they?"
"They seemed to be heading to the patio," Brittany said, "We could identify ourselves maybe we can arrest them."
"We could," Santana said, "But all we can get them with is breaking and entering. If this is a conspiracy we need more.".
Suddenly, a phone started ringing.
Startled, Santana gripped her phone to make it stop, but it wasn't her phone.
Brittany and Santana went to the door and heard Artie.
"Alright... shit," he said, "We are leaving."
"What's wrong?" the other man asked.
"Karl picked up a call on the scanner," Artie said, "The police are coming."
"Shit," the man said, "The doorman?"
"No idea," Artie said, "Maybe a neighbor. These fucking rich people..."
"Let's get out of here," the other man said, "We'll come back later, maybe as some construction workers."
"Fuck!"
Santana and Brittany heard the men's footsteps on the hardwood floor as they walked to the door. The door opened then closed.
"We need to call the mayor," Santana said.
"And Quinn," Brittany added, "She's in danger."
###
Brittany and Santana sat in a squad room recounting what they had heard to the mayor, Quinn and Detective Jerry Fox. They were still dressed in their date clothes.
The patrol car had shown up only a few minutes after Artie and his partner had left. The two patrol officers did a sweep of the place and found nothing. Santana had only told the officers that they suspected a possible break in and left out any information about Artie or the mayor. She didn't want anyone else to know what they had found out until she had talked to Jerry.
Brittany had immediately called Quinn and told her what happened. Santana had called Jerry and requested an emergency meeting.
A little over an hour later, they were all at the station.
"Are you certain?" Judy asked, a bit in shock, "Artie?"
"Yes," Brittany said, "It was him. Did you know he had an accent?"
"No," Judy said, "He told me he was from Indiana. This is insane, we do background checks on all my employees."
"Maybe Artie isn't even his real name," Santana suggested.
"My God," Quinn said, "I can't believe this. Artie has been working for may mother for almost two years…wait. What about Rachel? Could she be in on this too?"
"No way," Brittany quickly said.
"Look Britt," Quinn began, "I know she's your friend but…"
"I am positive she's not involved in this," Brittany defended, "Rachel may be a lot of things, but she's not a criminal."
Brittany had known Rachel a little over five years. They weren't best friends but they were close enough to be involved in each other's lives. Brittany had invited Rachel out on a few outings with Puck and Quinn but she never really clicked with the group. So Brittany and Rachel would hang out alone and it was Brittany who had recommend Rachel for the job of the mayor's assistant.
"We should call her in," Santana said, gently, "Just to talk."
Brittany nodded, "Fine."
"We should bring in Sam Evans as well," Jerry said.
Now it was Santana's turn to protest.
"Sam is not involved!"
"Maybe you and Brittany are too close to this case," Jerry said.
Santana took a breath. She didn't want to be kicked off this case and she didn't want Brittany to be pulled off either. She knew Sam was not involved in this.
"No, it's fine," Santana assured, "Talk to him, you'll see he's innocent."
"Good. This is big," Jerry said, "It could be Artie only applied for the job to get close to you, Quinn. And to your mother."
"Why didn't you arrest them right then and there?" Judy asked.
"We wanted to but," Santana said, "We could really only get them on breaking and entering."
"Right," Brittany said, backing Santana, "Now that we know Artie is behind the recent break-ins, probably the three murders..."
"We can watch him," Santana finished, "Catch him in the act and get him on more serious charges and see how deep this thing goes."
"One other question," Jerry began, "What were you two doing at the penthouse so late? You said it wasn't even finished?"
Brittany and Santana tensed. They knew that if Jerry or any other supervisor knew of the status of their new relationship, one of them would be pulled off the case.
"I..I was just," Brittany said, "Showing Santana where Quinn and I were going to live."
"So late?" Jerry asked.
"It was the only time we had free," Santana said, "I didn't realize we had a curfew Jerry."
"Just trying to get all the facts," Jerry said, "They obviously weren't expecting anyone to be there and it sounds like they were watching the place. So why didn't they see you go in?"
"They probably just missed us," Brittany said, "We had been in the penthouse about 15 minutes or so before they got there."
"And you were in one of the bedrooms?" Jerry asked.
"That's right," Brittany said getting a little nervous.
Brittany heard Quinn chuckle softly.
"Brittany was just giving me a tour of the place," Santana said, "We were in her bedroom and then we heard Artie and his partner come in."
"But you didn't actually see him right Santana?" Jerry asked.
"No I didn't," Santana admitted, "But Brittany did and she knows him more than I do."
"OK. Now you said the doorman was not at his post, right?" Jerry asked.
"That's right," Brittany confirmed.
"That's odd," Quinn said, "Someone is supposed to man the door at all times. There are always two people scheduled at the front."
"I went back down to the front desk," Brittany said, "And the security guard was there. He said that he had gotten a call about some noisy tenants on the first floor and he went to check it out."
"And the other guard?" Quinn asked.
"Called out sick," Brittany said.
"I wonder if the building security is in on this." Santana wondered.
"That's all we need," Judy said, "You can't trust anyone these days."
"We need to come up with a course of action," Santana said.
"Use me as bait," Quinn suddenly suggested.
"What? No," Judy protested, "No way."
"Mom," Quinn said, "Artie obviously is planning to get me one way or another. At least now we know where and when."
"Quinn is right," Jerry said, "We have the upper hand here."
"I don't like this idea," Judy said.
"If we catch him in the act..." Quinn began.
"How do you know he'll be the one breaking in?" Judy asked.
"We make sure he does," Santana said.
###
Santana woke up not feeling very rested. Her first date with Brittany had turned out to be quite memorable.
She had hoped to end the date with a kiss, instead the date ended with planning a sting operation to get the mayor's assistant.
Santana got up and saw that it was almost seven in the morning. She showered and dressed and headed to the station.
When she got there nothing seemed to have changed. This case was huge and it felt both empowering and odd to know such big news and no one else knowing. Jerry wanted to keep the details of this case on a need to know basis and didn't want the media to get wind of this.
Santana entered the locker room and headed to her aisle.
"Hey," Brittany said.
"Hi," Santana greeted with a smile. Her mood instantly lifting at seeing her.
Brittany walked to meet Santana halfway. She looked and saw that they were the only ones in the aisle. Brittany leaned in and kissed Santana on the lips.
"We didn't get a proper good bye last night," Brittany said.
"No we didn't," Santana said.
Both women stepped back.
"As soon as we catch Artie," Brittany said, "We're going on a second date."
"Oh really?" Santana said playfully, "You think I'd agree to a second date with you?"
"I'm pretty sure," Brittany said confidently, "You'd totally go out with me again."
"You're making assumptions again, Officer Pierce."
"So you don't want to go out with me anymore?" Brittany asked, pouting.
"Argh!" Santana said as she stepped closer and cupped Brittany's face with both hands, "I told you not to do that."
Before Brittany knew it, Santana captured her lips in a kiss.
"So you will go out with me again?" Brittany asked pulling back.
"Yes, you dork," Santana said stepping back and letting go of Brittany.
"Awesome," Brittany said doing a little jump of excitement.
"How about..oh!" Santana said, "Sam's fundraiser is next week."
"Oh right," Brittany said, "Yeah that sounds perfect. Let's do that."
Santana wanted to reach out and take Brittany in her arms but this was not the place. She had already been lucky no one had seen them kissing.
"I'm mad at you though, " Santana said.
"Why?" Brittany asked confused, "What did I do? You hated the jazz concert right? I knew you were just being polite when you said you liked jazz and.."
"No, Britt," Santana interrupted, "I loved our date. I'm mad at you because I should have been the one to go out to that hallway."
"Oh," Brittany said, "But I told you, it'd be easier to explain why I was there and I...I didn't want them to hurt you if you got caught."
Santana couldn't help the warm feeling that washed over her at hearing Brittany say she cared about her safety. She knew Brittany had a point, it would have been easier to come up with a story if they had seen Brittany.
"I'm the lead officer," Santana said, "I go in first, remember?"
"But we're not partners anymore," Brittany said, "And it's not like there was a door to break down. I told you you'd get the next door, but there was no door to break down."
Santana sighed.
She really wasn't mad at Brittany.
"You scared me," Santana admitted, "When you went out into the hallway. "
"I'm sorry," Brittany said taking both of Santana's hands in hers, "But I'm a cop. That's what I do."
Santana couldn't help but chuckle, "I know."
"I'd rather they had caught me than you," Brittany said bringing Santana's hand up to her mouth and kissing them lightly.
Santana's breath hitched.
"Britt..."
The sound of voices interrupted Santana before she could say anything. Brittany let go of Santana's hand and stepped back. A group of women had entered the locker room and there were now three women in their aisle.
"I should go get dressed," Santana said.
"Me too," Brittany said.
"At least we don't have to patrol today," Brittany said.
"Thank God for small favors."
"We're supposed to met Jerry and go over the plan to tail Artie," Brittany said, "And umm, they're bringing Rachel in to talk to her."
"Britt, I get she's your friend, but we have to investigate every angle."
"I know," Brittany said, "The cop in me understands, but the civilian in me is worried about her friend. You must feel the same way. Because of Sam."
"I do. Look, I'm sure she's innocent," Santana said hoping she was right, "And Sam is innocent. But they do need to be officially questioned and when Jerry talks to them the'll be cleared. You'll see."
"You're right," Brittany said with a smile.
"Will Jerry let you sit in on the questioning?"
"Yeah, he said I could."
"Good. Sam is coming in later in the afternoon," Santana said, "I hope he'll let me sit on his. Now, let's get dressed and head out. My new partner is going to love this."
"Yeah," Brittany said smiling, "Jim is jumping out of his skin."
"Alright," Santana said with a sly smile, "I'm going over to my locker to change. If you feel the need to take a quick glance, be my guest."
Brittany let out a laugh,"Well thanks, but I think I'll wait for when I can get more than just a glance."
Santana suddenly felt very turned on, "Then I too will wait for more than a glance."
Brittany needed to distance herself from Santana because she was more turned on than she should be in the station's locker room. She turned to go back to her locker.
Santana let out a breath and did the same.
###
A special task force had been put together to investigate the mayor's assistant and how he was connected to all these robberies. A preliminary check had not turned up anything out of the ordinary on Artie. On the surface all this paperwork and history checked out. They needed to dig deeper.
Santana, Brittany and their partners joined Jerry in on a conference room.
"Are the mayor and Officer Fabray meeting us?" Jim asked.
"Yes," Jerry said, "They'll be in later. Also, we might need some more officers for surveillance. Any recommendations?"
"Noah Puckerman," Brittany said, "And Tina Cohen-Chang. They're trustworthy and great cops."
"OK," Jerry said, "I'll contact them."
A uniformed officer came into the room and announced that Rachel Berry had been brought in.
Brittany stood up.
"Let's go," Jerry said told the crowd.
All officers went to interrogation room 4. Santana, Jim and Santana's new partner Quentin were allowed to view the interrogation through the two-way mirror in the observation room.
Santana saw Rachel sitting alone in the room. She looked scared and confused.
This girl couldn't pull off anything, Santana thought.
Jerry entered the room first, followed by Brittany.
"Brittany!" Rachel said sounding relieved to see her friend, "What's going on? Am I under arrest? But for what? I didn't do anything!"
"Rachel, relax," Brittany said, "Detective Fox just wants to ask you some questions."
"About what?" Rachel asked, almost on the verge of tears.
"Ms. Berry," Jerry began as he sat down across from Rachel. "Thank you for coming in to talk to us. You're not under arrest, we just want to ask you about your work with the mayor."
Rachel looked at Brittany, fear in her eyes.
"Just tell the truth, Rachel," Brittany said gently, "It'll be fine."
Rachel nodded.
Jerry went on to ask Rachel many questions about her work with the mayor and her relationship with everyone she worked with.
"And Artie Abrams?" Jerry asked.
"What about him?"
"How's your relationship with him?" Jerry clarified.
"I'm not a fan," Rachel admitted, "I don't really talk to him or interact with him unless I have to."
"Why is that?"
"He's…strange," Rachel said, "I don't know. I just don't like him."
"Strange how?"
Rachel let out a frustrated sigh, "Umm, he's always on his phone talking all hush hush. He's always looking through city files, even when he doesn't have to. I mean at one point I thought he was a drug dealer."
"Did you report that?" Brittany asked.
Brittany had been standing by the door just observing.
"No," Rachel said, "I mean I had no proof, just suspicion. He's always creeping around the office. Wait…is this about Artie? Was I right? Is he drug dealer?"
Jerry stood up, "Thank you for your time Ms. Berry. You're free to go. If you need a ride back to your house, Officer Pierce can arrange that for you."
Jerry walked past Brittany and left the room.
"Britt?"
"You did good Rachel," Brittany said, walking over to Rachel and placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Did Artie do something illegal?" Rachel said getting up.
"Maybe. Now come on, let's get you a ride home."
"OK," Rachel said following Brittany out the door, "We never did make plans to hang out."
"I know," Brittany said, "Let's do dinner and a movie next week."
"Great," Rachel said as they both reached the command desk.
Brittany requested a patrol car to take Rachel home and was told one was immediately available and waiting just outside the doors.
"Look Rach," Brittany said, "Don't mention any of this to Artie or anyone at the office."
"Why? Is something going on with the mayor?" Rachel asked.
"Maybe," Brittany said, not wanting to tell Rachel too much. The less she knew the better.
"Yeah, OK," Rachel said, "I'll keep this to myself. You know, this whole experience was actually really good for me."
"It was?" Brittany asked as they stepped outside to the waiting black and white.
"Sure," Rachel said, "Now I can use write about it in my musical!"
Brittany couldn't help but laugh.
"I'll call you later Rachel," Britt told her friend as she got in the car.
As the patrol car drove away, Brittany saw Sam approach from her right.
"Hey Brittany," Sam said, "Umm, I'm supposed to talk to Detective Fox. Do you know where I can find him?"
"Hey Sam," Brittany said, "Sure. Come with me."
###
Like Brittany, Jerry had let Santana be in the room while he questioned Sam.
Jerry had asked almost the same questions he had asked Rachel and as expected, nothing out of the ordinary popped up. Until Jerry asked about Artie.
"I don't really interact with the guy," Sam said, "I always go through Rachel if I need to set stuff up with the mayor."
"Why?"
"I find her more trustworthy," Sam said, "Artie, to me, just comes across as shifty. Plus I caught him snooping around my office once."
"You did?" Santana asked.
"He said he was looking for an expense report, but he was acting too fidgety. I mean I keep everything locked at all times, so it's not like he could see anything confidential anyway."
"Was it just that one time?" Jerry asked.
"Yeah," Sam said, "So what, you think Artie has something to do with these robberies?"
"What makes you say that?" Jerry asked.
"The mayor confides in me," Sam said, "She's filled me in on a few things. Just piecing together things."
"So are we," Jerry said.
Jerry asked Sam a few more questions and dismissed him.
Santana lead Sam out to the parking lot after his interview and assured him he had done great.
"Keep me posted," Sam said, "If Artie is involved in this, I want to know."
"I'll let you know what I can," Santana said, "I still have orders to follow."
Santana headed back to the large room Jerry had set up as a make-shift command station, where he told everyone that he was sure Rachel and Sam were not involved.
As Brittany was about to ask a question, the door opened and Judy and Quinn entered.
"Have you got anything yet?" Judy asked.
"We'll ma'am," Jerry began, "We have ruled out your other assistant Rachel and also Sam."
"Good," Judy said, "I knew they couldn't be involved. They're good people. So what's the plan to get Artie then?"
"We're still organizing," Jerry said.
"Well, I want a protective detail on Quinn," Judy demanded.
"Mom, I can take care of myself," Quinn said.
"Quinn," Brittany began, "It's a good idea. This guy sounded like he would do anything to get to you. Hurt you."
Quinn seemed unconvinced but agreed for the protective detail.
"Fine," Quinn said, "But make sure they aren't too obvious."
"No," Jerry said, "They'll be strict undercover. We don't want to tip off the assistant we know something is wrong."
"Little fucker," Judy said, angrily, "I can't believe he's been working for me this whole time..."
"Mom, stop," Quinn said, she turned to Jerry, "So, what's the plan?"
"Well, he obviously is waiting for you to move in to your penthouse to do whatever he's planning."
"Right," Santana said, "My guess is that he's going to wait until you, Brittany and Puck move into the penthouse. Then, go after Quinn in her home and make it look like it was one of the robberies we've been having."
"Exactly," Brittany agreed, "I think we should move in as planned and wait for the break-in."
"That's too dangerous," Judy said, sounding worried, "I will not have my daughter be used as bait."
"Mom," Quinn began, "I am a trained police officer. So are Brittany and Puck. We can handle this."
"Your daughter is right," Jerry said, "We will also set up hidden cameras in the penthouse, have a watchful eye."
"Looks like we can't go wild then," Quinn told Brittany.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Brittany let out a chuckle.
"Fine," Judy said, "But if anything happens to my daughter..."
"It won't," Quinn said.
"Mayor Fabray," Santana began, "We'll take care of everything. You just have to keep on going with your daily routine."
"How am I supposed to work with that man?" Judy asked.
"I know it'll be hard," Jerry said, "But you mustn't treat him any differently than you already have. You can't give him any clue that we're on to him."
"Shit," the mayor said.
"Except you Quinn," Brittany said, "We have to make sure he's one of the men that break-in."
"What should I do?" Quinn asked, "I hardly see him. The only time I really interact with him is when I go visit my mom at city hall."
"Well then," Santana said, "Looks like you'll be visiting your mom a lot this upcoming week. Boss him around, treat him like a servant, make him hate you."
"Yeah," Brittany said, "He has some deep resentment towards you and your family. We think if you anger him, play on that resentment, he'll want to be part of the job."
"I can do that," Quinn said.
"Good," Jerry said, "So when do you move in?"
"Well," Quinn began, "They're still remodeling, but I can call them to speed it up, maybe have it done by this weekend."
"The sooner you move in," Jerry said, "The sooner we can catch this guy."
"Let's do this," Quinn said.
-tbc-