Rachel walked back into the cabin with a heavy sigh. Glancing at the clock she realized that she hadn't even looked at the time and that she and Shelby had spent way longer talking in the park than she initially thought. They had moved on from the heavy stuff for the evening and stuck to light conversation about work and their significant others. It was actually nice after the initial shock of mild yelling and tears, Rachel knew they had more to talk about and she was already slowly preparing herself for that.
Looking around the cabin as she took her leather sandals off, Rachel wondered where Santana and the dogs were. The living room was empty, the loft was empty and the kitchen was empty. Where in the world are they, Rachel muttered to herself as she made her way down the hallway off from the kitchen to check Santana's studio. She breathed a sigh of relief when she pushed open Santana's studio door and saw Santana stretched out on the couch with Dax tucked into the back of the couch, his legs laying across Santana's and Dahlia resting on her chest. Rachel chuckled to herself, Dahlia was definitely too big to be laying on Santana. Even though the dog was small for her age, she still stretched the length of Santana's torso. Taking out her phone Rachel began to take pictures, it was such a cute moment that there was no way she was going to pass this up.
Santana's eyes began to flutter open, she could feel someone watching her and then she heard what was inevitably the sound of a camera going off. Shaking the fog off of her sleep clouded brain, Santana smiled when she saw Rachel standing there biting her lip and holding her hands behind her back.
"What are you doing home already?" Santana asked she stretched and then laughed as Dahlia narrowed her eyes at her for disturbing her pillow.
"Already? Baby it's almost midnight. How long have you been in here?" Rachel slowly began to walk around the studio. The original mural that helped Rachel realize where she had been left to die had been painted over. The wall now held...nothing. What? Rachel took a step back and studied the wall carefully, after the mural of Cross Peak had been painted over, Santana had painted an oceanic mural. Well Santana claimed it was oceanic and tranquil. All Rachel seen was the shark shadows that looked to be circling some kind of prey. Now all that was on the wall was a basic primer.
"Santana, when did you paint over the sharks?" Rachel asked as she turned around to look at Santana who was now sitting up with both dogs sitting next to her.
"Uhh, a couple of weeks ago I think?" Santana responded as she scratched her head. She rubbed her face before pushing herself up off the couch.
"Why didn't I know or at the very least notice it myself?" Rachel had a pensive look on her face trying to figure out the last time she had been in Santana's studio.
Santana shrugged her shoulders. "You never come in here unless I am in here and I didn't think to mention it because I am still deciding what I want to put back up there. I was thinking of maybe leaving it blank for a while, I wanted to do some kind of family portrait, but I don't know if I want to see a gigantic version of myself on the wall." Santana crossed her arms over her chest and studied the wall, yeah seeing yourself on your own studio wall just wasn't something that she really wanted.
Rachel laughed as she wrapped her arms around Santana in a hug. "Whatever you decide to put up there will be beautiful as is all of your art work."
"Thank you." Santana tilted her head back so that she could rest her chin on the side of Rachel's head. "So how did things go tonight with Shelby? Did they go well since you are home so late?"
"Ughh, they were okay for the most part. We had a moment in the park where things got a little heated." Rachel snuggled her head in the crook of Santana's neck. A clear sign that she really didn't want to talk about this tonight.
Santana sighed as she ran her hands up and down Rachel's back. "Do you want to go to bed or would you like to have some tea with me? I'm pretty sure I have been asleep for almost three hours or something."
"I'll take some tea. I wouldn't be able to sleep even if I tried." Rachel pulled back out of the hug and pouted before turning around and grabbing Santana's hand to lead her to the kitchen.
Jasper leaned back in his computer chair, resting his hands on the back of his head as he waited for all of the pictures that he took tonight to import. It had been surprisingly more easy than he had thought to continue to follow Rachel, Santana and Leroy. Apparently Santana's men weren't as good as following as he was. He remembered to be careful about his surroundings and he hadn't seen anyone while he was out for a good six or seven hours.
Opening a new browser window, Jasper began to search for tracking technology. Sure he was good at tailing, but he was only able to tail one of them when he knew where they were. Before he had just been lucky in finding Rachel, Santana and Leroy but now that they were on to him, they were more careful in how they spoke about any plans they had. He couldn't run around McKinley looking for them all the time like he had tried to before. It was way too tiring. If he was going to impress his uncle he had to get better with all of this, he needed to know exactly where they were at all times and not just where he last seen them or their cars.
Jasper sighed as clicked around on the computer screen, he had never seen so many tracking devices before. He needed something small, easily hidden and easy to attach. How was he going to attach them though...that was something he was going to have to figure out. He needed a back up plan, he was going to have to get creative soon, especially if his uncle didn't come through and remained in jail.
Duncan laughed as his security team leaders flipped through all the pictures they had taken of Jasper McNeal. This guy really was a piece of work. If he thought he was being inconspicuous then he had another thing coming. It was clear he had no idea what he was doing.
"He's looking right at you in that one." Duncan turned his head and laughed as he pointed at the picture on the camera screen.
"Right?! And he never seen me." James laughed as he took a sip of his beer. No they weren't on the job anymore and Duncan, who wasn't drinking, was settled for the night in his little home away from home at the end of Santana's road.
"Have you sent these to Santana yet?" Duncan asked as he turned around in his chair to face the men.
"No. When Jasper left the Park behind Rachel, I followed her, Sean followed Jasper and Garrett followed Shelby to make sure she made it home alright. I haven't had a chance to send them yet." James leaned forward and took the camera back before grabbing his laptop out of his backpack. "I want to show you something else...but this one stays between all of us." James looked pointedly at Sean and Duncan. He waited before they both nodded. "You know those programs that sometimes customer services use to help you with your computer. The ones where you give them remote access and they can see all your files and stuff?" Duncan and Sean looked at each other skeptically.
"James, we have been friends and worked together for years. You know we are tech goons and know all about those programs." Sean rested him arm on the back of the couch nonchalantly.
"Okay, I know I know. It's just...I have a friend okay who helped me gain access with one of those programs to Jasper's computer." James continued as he began to type on his laptop.
"So you hacked his computer. What's the big deal?" Duncan shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, Santana said she didn't want us to go that far..at least not yet. Besides it's not the hacking that stays between us. It's what I found after I hacked his computer." James took a deep breath before he turned his laptop around to show Duncan and Sean. "He's making plans...big plans. Without guidance he's winging it and he has a whole list of possible scenarios for killing a lot of people. We thought he was just this crappy stalker who was under the complete control of his uncle. He's not, he's a loose cannon and he's just waiting for someone to light his fuse."
"Why are we keeping this to ourselves and not telling anyone? People need to know what he is planning! I mean this guy has done searches on how to make bombs. His online bank statements have pending gun orders and ammunition orders. What's this? That's a map. What is that a map of?" Sean asked as he looked over James' shoulder at the computer screen.
"That is a map of the Los Angeles County Jail where Charles and Ronald are being held. It's not been updated because those red circles are their old cells." James glanced back and forth between Duncan and Sean waiting on them to put together the pieces of where this was all headed.
"Why would he...oh. He's planning on breaking them out. But how in the world..he can't pull that off on his own. He would be killed in an instant. Also, what does breaking them out have to do with hurting people here?" Sean was going around and around in his head trying to figure all of it out. This plan was crazy, Jasper was crazy.
"My thinking is, he's going to get them out somehow, come back here and finish what Marcus started three years ago. It's pretty far fetched, but it's not completely impossible. Crazier shit has happened before." James sighed as he closed his laptop shut and placed it back into his backpack.
"What do we do? If we tell Santana any of this, she is probably going to go after him herself and we can't have her going to jail. Especially since she and Rachel are getting married in a couple of months. They have been through so much already and they definitely don't need this. I know Santana wants to stay in the loop and she has been doing her own investigating, but this is bigger than all of us combined." Duncan rested his face in his hands as he tried to think.
"We keep an extra close eye on him. He moves, we move. There's no doubt about it that we need more guys on this. Call in some old work buddies who owe us some favors. I'm not going to risk my lively hood for this guy. I owe that to Duncan and Santana. I had been out of work for months, I had already lost my apartment and was about to lose my car that I was living out of when Duncan called to put a team together. I wouldn't have anything now if it wasn't for you and Santana." James spoke as he looked Duncan in the eyes. Sean sat back quietly as he listened to James speak. He knew the situation that James had been in, he had been there himself. Coming off active duty puts you in an incredibly tight spot, unless you already have a job waiting for you, if not you are more than likely going to slowly lose everything. It was a sad truth that a lot of people ignore. Sean was also thankful for everything he had now and there was no way he was going to let anyone down.
"Where do we start?" Sean asked as he eagerly scooted forward on the couch, grabbing a pen and note pad out of the couches side table drawer.
I know this is a day late and I apologize. I had some major family stuff going on. I'm not the kind of person who asks for prayers because I am not very religious, so I will ask for some good vibes and well wishes if you guys have a few to spare for my grandfather. They would be greatly appreciated.
As you all know I appreciate all the views, reviews, favorites and follows. Knowing that I have dedicated readers keeps me writing and it gives me something else to focus on instead of worrying constantly.