46. Partners

"Are you going to call the police and have me arrested or are you going to turn around and pretend this never happened?"

There were only two options to Rachel's question and either answer would change Santana's life dramatically.

She could do the right thing and call for back up and have Rachel arrested. There would be one less killer on the street and she would have done her job, but that would mean that she would lose Rachel too.

The other option was to pretend that she hadn't seen anything. She could just turn around and leave and let Rachel do whatever it is she did. But what would happen then? Would Santana stay with Rachel knowing that she was sleeping next to a serial killer every night or would they break up? Every scenario that she came up with ended with her losing Rachel and she wasn't sure if that was what she wanted.

Santana loved Rachel. That was the only thing she was sure of during this fucked up situation.

Santana thought that she only had two options but there was another. It was an option that she never thought she would ever consider especially when her job was to protect the citizens of New York.

She lowers her gun and puts it back into her holster.

"We need to get rid of the body" Santana says.

"Santana no! I meant what I said, you either turn me in or leave me to finish alone."

"It will be quicker if I help and then we can go home and talk about this."

"I don't want you involved."

"I'm already involved. I got involved the minute I walked through that door. I could lose my job over what I've already seen."

"Then have me arrested."

"If I did that then I would lose you too and I don't want that either. We just need to get rid of the body and then we can talk about this at home. How do you usually do this?"

"I think it's better if I don't tell you that. I really think it's better that you leave."

"How are you going to get the body out of here?"

"I usually use my car but he drove me home from the bar so I'll have to use his."

"I put out an ABP on his car, so if an officer spots it they'll be on the lookout. The won't be able to pull it over or anything but it's movements will get logged."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Rachel asks.

"We could try and stage it. Derek Chance was a known drug dealer but recently there had been mutiny within his crew. There would be plenty of people that would want him dead" Santana explains.

"Are you sure you want to do this? There is no going back afterwards."

"I'm sure."

Santana can't sleep. She's lying in her bed with Rachel next to her, but her mind is racing. They hadn't talked about what happened yet, Santana isn't sure that she's ready to.
She's a detective for the New York Police Department who spends their life catching killers, but tonight she just helped one cover up a murder.

Before Santana can overthink anymore her cell phone rings. She reaches over and grabs it off the bedside table and answers it.

"Hello. Okay, I'll meet you there."

Santana ends the call and gets out of the bed. She quickly changes and heads for the door but when she puts her hand on the door knob she hears Rachel call out.

"Where are you going?"

"To work. I got a call about a homicide" Santana replies.

"Is it?" Rachel asks.

"Yeah it's Derek. I'll keep you updated."

When Santana arrives at Chance's house, her mind quickly flashes back to when she walked in on a bloodied Rachel with a knife in her hand.

When she walks into the kitchen she isn't surprised by what she sees. She saw it all last night when she posed Derek's body and left him slumped against the kitchen counter.

There are a couple of people from forensics working the scene. One particularly was working on the back door Santana had entered last night. She was just relieved that she remembered to clear it of her fingerprints before she left.

Santana makes her way over to her Lieutenant who was talking to the forensic working on Derek's body.

"What do we have?" Santana asks.

"Looks like Chance finally got his comeuppance. At the moment we're assuming one of his associates finally had enough. There's evidence that some cocaine has been stolen but if it's a member of his gang we probably won't get a conviction. These bastards have slipped though the net countless of time and I doubt it'll be any different this time. At least we have one less asshole on the streets. Once you get the report put it on my desk. You're doing a good job Lopez. It might not have been in the right circumstances, but you finally got your man."

Lieutenant Barnes pats Santana on the shoulder before leaving her at the crime scene.

Santana was frustrated. No, she was fucking angry. Thomas Clarke was a killer, he had been released from prison a month ago and already he had added another body to his count. Santana had fought endlessly to stop him from getting parole, but her efforts were wasted and he was released.

Santana knew he would kill again. He was even suspected of killing a fellow inmate in prison but it was never proved. She thought someone like him deserved the chair and that's when she had an idea. She started to see things differently, there were still certain states that had the death penalty and she was sure if New York was one of those states then Thomas Clarke would be dead by now and the innocent women that he killed three nights ago would be alive.

So if there was justice in the death penalty, then there was also justice in what Rachel had been doing. They had partnered up before to cover up Derek Chance's murder and they got away with it. That's why when she enters their apartment that night she walks straight over to her girlfriend and hands her a case file.

"Thomas Clarke. I want you to take care of him"

A/N So the challenge is over and I managed to write chapters for thirty one words. I want to thank the GleeChallengers for setting this challenge and I want to thank everyone for reading and especially to those that have taken the time to review.

Last but not least a massive thank you to Beebeeborez. We've spent the past month coming up with these plots together and I'm grateful for the time she spends with me, coming up with ideas and editing what I write despite our time difference. It's been a lot of fun and we have two new stories in the works so may the fun continue!

Live_Young.