When Santana pulled up into the pick up lane in front of the airport, something seemed off. It was as if the whole place was buzzing with tension. She looked over at Rachel who was leaning forward in her seat trying to get a better look out of the front windshield. There was nothing to really see except some extra security guards milling about outside of the entrance doors.
"What's going on?" Rachel wondered out loud.
"I have no idea." Santana turned around in her seat looking for Shane and Brandon, the two men from Duncan's security team that had been trailing them.
Rachel squeaked in surprise when Santana's phone chimed signaling that she had a new message. Goodness, the heavy atmosphere was making her very jumpy. Santana reached out to take Rachel's hand as she unlocked her phone and read the message to Rachel.
"It's from Shane. Don't get out of the jeep, Leroy is with us. Pull back into the traffic slowly and head back to your cabin." Rachel looked at Santana with wide eyes. Why was her father with Shane and Brandon and how did they make it to the airport before they did? She didn't remember seeing them at all during the drive. They really were stealthy.
Where are you guys headed? Santana messaged them back, she assumed they would also be going to her cabin but she really wanted to make sure first.
Your place, Duncan is there waiting on us to talk. Chief Sylvester is on her way too. Santana sighed and handed her phone to Rachel in case she got another message. "We're heading home, they're going to meet us there."
"What's going on Santana?" Rachel asked as she buckled her seat belt back up.
Santana shrugged her shoulders as she checked her surroundings and slowly pulled back into the line of traffic. "They didn't say and I didn't ask. I can only suspect it has something to do with Conner though."
Rachel leaned her head against the window. This whole situation with Conner was really starting to wear her out already, she couldn't deal with this if it went on for days. Santana was at a loss as to what to do, she could feel the anxiety radiating off of Rachel. Maybe all of this would be over soon enough, it's possible that's why they all wanted to meet at the cabin anyway. Santana wasn't going to let go of the hope that they had caught Conner or were on their way to catching him. Sighing, she reached over and grabbed Rachel's hand, holding it tightly all the way back to the cabin.
When Santana and Rachel pulled back up at the cabin, Santana was shocked to see so many people waiting on them. Duncan and his whole crew were now there, Chief Sylvester, Detective Beiste, and Leroy were all standing around their vehicles. Rachel was out of the Jeep running towards Leroy as soon as Santana had the car in park. Santana lingered back a bit letting them have their moment before it was ruined by whatever was going on.
As Santana walked closer to everyone, she was eyeing folders that both Chief Sylvester and Detective Beiste were holding. Those folders probably contained a whole lot of information about Conner and whatever in the hell that man was planning.
"Well this is a sad excuse for a party. I should have prepared appetizers or something." Santana joked as she walked over to Rachel who had her arm wrapped around Leroy's waist.
Rachel just rolled her eyes. When Santana was super uncomfortable she always turned to bad humor or she shut down. In this scenario, Rachel was glad that Santana was using humor, she didn't need her to shut down right now.
"Are we going to stand here all day or are we going to talk about why we are all here?" Sue asked, getting impatient.
"Let's go inside." Santana motioned to the cabin while walking ahead of everyone so that she could unlock the door.
Once inside everyone made their way to the kitchen. It was the largest room in the house with the most seating and as in most cases, the kitchen was the main hang out spot. In order to occupy her mind and not dwell on everything that was going on around her, Santana set out to make coffee and tea for everyone. Hell, she might have to break out the alcohol before long, she would just have to wait and see.
Chief Sylvester was the first to speak. She cleared her throat as she laid out the folder that actually contained a lot of information about this case. Yes, it had turned from an escaped prisoner into a full blown investigation. This was bigger than they had initially anticipated. "I guess, the first thing I will tell you is that Conner Porter was seen getting on a plane this evening. Hence the reason I know you seen security crawling alive when you were at the airport."
Rachel was shocked, this mans picture had to have been posted all over the news all day and he just walks onto an airplane? "How?"
"The Porter men have many more connections than we anticipated when we handled your case Rachel. We think he is going to see his father, who at the moment is in California. The LAPD has been notified and they are going to be running checks on every plane." Sue was very happy with the way the LAPD had responded to her, she just hoped that they were able to catch Conner. "As of right now, we still don't know what they are planning, but we don't think it has much or anything to do with Rachel at this moment. The prison searched his bunk and didn't find anything other than some letters that we believe are coded. They have a coding specialist working on those as we speak."
Santana turned from where she was still working on the coffee and tea. "I just don't get it. Why are they doing this now? It's been three years, Conner has had plenty of time to swallow things just to escape. Also, how was he able to get a ticket to California without anyone noticing?"
Detective Beiste stepped in with his folder. "That's where I come in. I've been following the insurance part of the trial and just recently all the Porter's brothers accounts were officially unfrozen. All of the lawsuits against the insurance company were finally paid out and the company was closed. We also think the doctor who helped him escaped purchased the ticket under his name and then made a fake ID for Conner. He buys the ticket and Conner can now pay him back since his account is unfrozen."
Rachel dropped her head into her hands. Conner could very well still be coming after her again or he could be planning something that had nothing to do with her at all. However, considering her past involvement with the men she was assumed to be on of their top priorities. Duncan and his men were all standing around waiting on their next orders. Now that Conner was headed out of state, Duncan could thin out his group of men a little. He wasn't going to get rid of all them though, he still needed them around just in case something was to happen. It was always better to be safe than sorry.
Santana was confused. Conner had escaped because he had the money to? That just didn't add up right, those decoders at the prison better figure something out soon. "Why didn't their dad just give them money if that was the reason they have waited this long?"
Detective Beiste was the first to answer. "He knew he was being watched. His sons had just been put in prison for attempted murder and insurance fraud. All eyes were on him waiting for his next move."
Scratching the back of her neck Santana poured herself a cup of coffee. "So, do you know yet who the doctor is that helped him escape?"
"Actually we do." Sue began flipped through her folder, that was one of the things that they had came to talk about. "His name is Dr. Ronald Adkins. Apparently he is a long time family friend. He was identified as the last person to enter and leave Conner's room." Leroy who had been quiet the entire time, let out a barely audible gasp. Everyone turned to look at him.
Rachel studied her father, he had this look on his face. She couldn't really read it, but she definitely knew something was up. "What is it dad? Do you know him?"
Rendered speechless, Leroy placed his hand on his chest and began shaking his head yes. He hadn't seen Ronald Adkins in years. He remembers the first time he met Ronald, always so arrogant, thinking he was better than everyone in medical school. He actually was better than everyone, except for one person and that was Hiram. They competed for every top honor that a medical student could receive. They were tied there for a while until the much harder stuff came along and Hiram started to push Ronald down the ladder. But would an old rivalry like that cause this man to help the Porter's with what ever it was they were planning? If it did, well that was just petty. Sure, let's play with peoples minds and lives because I was jealous of someone in medical school.
Rachel looked from Leroy to everyone standing around the kitchen. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she gave him a little shake. "Dad, where did you go right then?"
"Yes, I know Dr. Ronald Adkins. He was Hiram's rival, nemesis, whatever you want to call him, in medical school. They competed for everything and I literally mean everything. I know this is going to sound so pompous but they even tried to compete for me once. There was no competition though, I knew from the moment I met Hiram he was the one, Ronald never stood a chance."
Detective Beiste cleared his throat. "So you think Dr. Adkins helping the Porters is because of this college war with Hiram?"
"I never said that. I was just explaining how I knew him. But it does seem odd doesn't it. The Porter's go after Hiram, he passes away before they can do anything so they go after Rachel. Rachel gets away and they go to prison. People who go after others for revenge usually don't stop until they have it. Dr. Adkins could simply be a pawn in their game to go after the entire family."
"You honestly think that?" Detective Beiste wasn't sure what to make of all this. It really all seemed pointless when you looked it from one perspective. However, Leroy was right about one thing, revenge was a dirty game to play and the game went on until revenge was served.
"I don't know what to think, but what else do we have to go on right now?" Leroy shrugged his shoulders while throwing his hands up in the air.
Santana stood there thinking everything through in her head. "I'm not trying to discredit anything you just said Leroy, but doesn't this all seem so..I don't know...tedious? Their plans for Hiram and Rachel came about as revenge for their mother's death, but coming after you and possibly Rachel again because of a college quarrel over who is the best just seems...well...stupid on their part."
"You have to remember though, some people nowadays are just plain evil. There have been family feuds for centuries and people have killed for many, many stupid reasons." Sue was reading over the notes in her folder, she was listening enough to be able to make comments here and there. However, she was really considering what Leroy had said, was this really going to be what their case was built on? She had to get more information.