"You can be the moon and still be jealous of the stars." – Gary Allan

A few hours later…

After learning that the bartender at Scandals whom worked the previous night was scheduled to work tonight as well, Santana decided to wait until later that evening to visit the bar. As they had discussed earlier, Santana went inside the establishment alone, leaving Puck to wait impatiently inside of the car. In hopes of not attracting too much attention to herself, the Latina opted to wear her ankle holster and hid her credentials in her purse.

Once Santana entered the building, she casually made her way towards the bar.

"Hey there, gorgeous…" an attractive brunette greets from behind the bar. "What can I get ya?"

From the tone of the bartender's voice, Santana could tell that the lady was trying a little too hard to be sexy. Usually, women that came off more desperate than flirty repulsed her. However, since she was trying to gather information without flashing her badge, Santana decided to play along.

"I don't know…" the Latina pauses to read the barkeep's name tag, "Dani… what do you suggest?"

"Well… you look like a fiery Latina, so maybe a shot of Fireball?" Dani suggests.

"I will if you do it with me," Santana says back in a flirty tone. Usually drinking on the job was frown upon, but the profiler could handle her alcohol and knew that one little shot of cinnamon whiskey wouldn't affect her at all.

"Alrighty… you've got yourself a deal," Dani replies as she pulls out 2 shot glasses and fills them up with the appropriate amount of liqueur. She then hands one to Santana and lifts her own to clink against the other woman's. "Cheers!"

After letting the liquid slide down her throat, Santana sets down her glass in favor of taking a few sips from the glass of water in front of her.

"So… I haven't seen you before. You new in town?" The brunette questions, continuing to flirt. "I would've definitely remembered a face like yours."

"Is that right?" Santana counters back.

"Most definitely..." the bartender replies. "I'm here mostly every night so you definitely would've been on my radar if you had been here before."

"Hmm... I bet you say that to all the pretty girls," Santana coyly responds. "Either that or you're just angling for a better tip."

"Maybe a little bit of both..." Dani says with wink. "What's your name gorgeous?"

"Santana..." she answers. "Do you get many people my age in here? I see a lot of younger folks in here, especially for a school night."

"Yeah... it's mostly the younger crowd. In a small town like this, there aren't too many out and proud adults," Dani explains.

"I can understand that," Santana responds. "I've been watching the news lately; it's such a tragedy... those guys were just kids. Did you know any of them?"

"Nope..." Dani says, a little too quickly for Santana's liking.

"Really? I imagine this place would be the local hangout for young gay men."

"Yeah, you would think..." Dani replies back with a hint of condescension.

Sensing that the little flirting game was no longer going to get the answers she was looking for, Santana decides to take a more direct approach.

"Look, Dani... you seem like a really sweet girl," the profiler begins, "but I think we both know that you're lying."

"Yeah, well... that makes two of us," Dani cattily fires back. "Let me guess... cop, right?"

"Federal Agent, actually..." Santana corrects, reaching into her purse and quickly flashing her credentials. "What gave me away?"

"No one as gorgeous as you would willingly move to this small ass hick town," Dani begins, causing the Latina to giggle. "Plus, just the way you carry yourself and how you've been guzzling down that glass of water after you took that one little shot kinda gave you away."

"Fair enough," the agent concedes. "So, do you think you can help me out? I just have a few questions."

"I wanna help, I really do... but I don't wanna risk the privacy of our patrons," the brunette states.

Santana sighs exasperatedly. She was hoping that this would be a quick and easy exchange of information, but the cute bartender is making things more difficult for her.

"Okay... let me come at this from another angle," Santana says more sternly. "Right now, you're hindering a federal investigation. That's something that we like to call Obstruction, which is punishable by up to 5 years in prison. I know that Orange is the New Black is like the new Grey's Anatomy, but trust me... you do not want to spend time in a federal prison."

Dani seems to be in deep thought, contemplating whether she should stop being so damn stubborn already.

"Dani... I know that this bar probably means a lot to you. A few years ago, you were probably just like these other kids... scared and alone, just looking for a place where you belonged; a place where you could just be yourself," Santana says, trying to sympathize with the brunette. "I wish I would've had a place like this when I was that age... that's why I would hate to see a good place like this get shut down because you refused to cooperate."

After a pregnant pause, Dani finally opens her mouth to say something. "I was right about you... you are feisty," she states knowingly. "What do you wanna know?"

"Was Blaine Anderson here last night?" Santana inquires, pulling out her phone and showing the bartender a photo of the latest victim.

"Yeah... he was here, but I knew him as Cooper," Dani says. "At least, that's what his ID said."

"He has an older brother named Cooper, so that makes sense," the Latina replies, causing the brunette to scrunch up her eyebrows. "It's a lot easier to use your sibling's ID to pass as 21 as opposed to making a fake ID." Once a look of recognition appears on Dani's face, she continues. "Did you see him leave with anybody?"

"Not that I can recall," Dani replies. "I did see him talking to Dave though, earlier on."

"Who's Dave?"

"He's one of our regulars."

"Do you happen to know his last name?" Dani shakes her head no. "Okay then... could you maybe describe him?"

"Sure... he's probably like 6'1'' or 6'2'' and between 220-230 lbs," the bartender replies. "Oh! He always wears this ratty old baseball cap too."

"What kind of hat?"

"I think it's supposed to be black, but it's kinda faded now," Dani explains. "And then, it has a red and white logo on the front. It's like a warrior wearing one of those Trojan helmets."

"Is that symbol specific to a company or maybe a school around this area?" Santana questions.

"Yeah... it's the symbol for McKinley High. Their mascot is a Titan… although it looks more like a Spartan to me," Dani replies. "I went to Carmel High; the Titans were our rivals."

"Did Dave ever talk about going to school there or possibly where he worked?"

"Not really... he was more of a private person. He usually just comes here, has a couple of drinks, and then leaves," the brunette states. "I don't know if he knew the other victims personally, but I've seen him talk to the others once or twice before."

"Now see, Dani... was that so hard?" Santana rhetorically states.

"I guess not," Dani replies bashfully.

"If you think of anything else or if you happen to see Dave, please give us a call," Santana says, handing the bartender her business card.

"Does this have your personal cell phone number on here?" Dani asks in a hopeful tone.

"No... it doesn't," the Latina responds flatly. She wanted to make it clear that she was strictly here on business.

"You're no fun," Dani teases.

"Sorry... I'm just here to do my job and catch this sick son of a bitch," Santana replies.

"Well, look..." Dani begins as she scribbles something onto a napkin. "I don't know how long you'll be in town for, but after you catch this maniac… maybe you'd like to relax and have a little fun," she says in a dangerously low, seductive tone while slipping the napkin containing her phone number into Santana's hand. "Just think about it."

Before Santana even has a chance to respond, Dani walks towards the other end of the bar to help out another patron. The Latina stows the napkin away in her pocket before reaching into her purse and grabbing a 20 dollar bill to pay for her drink and tip. She then exits the bar and hops into the SUV where Puck awaits.

"So... did you get anything good?" Noah inquires.

"Yeah... I got a lead on a possible suspect," Santana begins, "and the bartender gave me her number."

"No shit!" Puck says excitedly. "So... you thinkin' bout tappin' that?"

"Do you hear the words you say when they come out of your mouth?" The Latina asks rhetorically. "I mean, seriously... who talks like that?"

"So sue me for being crude," her partner replies. "Seriously though, is that something you might be interested in? You are single, Santana..." he reminds, "and who knows if anything will ever happen with Brittany."

"Look Noah... I really don't want to get into my lack of love life right now," Santana says dejectedly, wanting nothing more than to just change the subject. "Can you please just drive us back to the precinct?"

"Sure thing," the male says as he backs out of the parking space and heads back to where the rest of their team awaits. "You think Britt will be jealous?"

"How should I know?"

"Hmm... this could get interesting," Puck says back mischievously.

"I don't even want to know what's calculating in that little pea brain of yours right now," the Latina says dismissively.

"You're right... you probably don't," the Jewish man chuckles in response.

Once Puck and Santana arrive back at the precinct, they join the rest of their team in the conference room.

"Okay… Lopez and Puckerman just got back," Schue says, addressing the room and the tech analyst who was currently video chatting with them. "Fabray go!"

"Alright, my lovelies… here's what I found," Quinn begins. "Based on the interviews that Brittany and Finn conducted and checking into employee records, there's no staff member or student that drives a van like the one we're looking for."

"What about the staff members at Scandals?" Puck inquires.

"I thought you might ask that so I already looked into that. Sorry sweetness... no dice."

"Dammit!" Noah responds. "If it's not someone from the school or the bar, then who could it be?"

"Just because we didn't find a match on the van doesn't necessarily mean that our UnSub isn't associated with one of those places," Artie chimes in.

"That's true… the van might be stolen or registered under someone else's name," Brittany adds.

"We've already checked stolen vehicle reports in the surrounding areas and none match," Holly speaks up.

"Okay then, what about the surveillance footage?" Schue asks.

"I'm glad you asked, William…" Fabray says cheerfully. "There's a bank near the East entrance of the park that captured a van traveling at a high rate of speed at approximately 0634 hours."

"That's great, Q! Were you able to get a tag?" Hudson asks, impatiently.

"Unfortunately, no… the angle of the camera didn't allow for that," the tech analyst states. "However, I was able to get a partial image on the driver of the vehicle."

As Quinn pulls up the blurry picture of the driver, something catches Santana's eye.

"Q… can you clean up that image anymore?" The Latina questions.

"I can try… give me a sec," Quinn replies as she begins to work her magic.

"What do you see?" Brittany asks curiously. "The driver's face is covered by his hat."

"Exactly!" Santana exclaims.

"Okay… this is the best I can do," Fabray responds as a more cleaned up version of the photo appears on screen, clearly displaying a Spartan logo.

"That's what I was counting on," Santana says as she points to the photo. "The bartender at Scandals told me that Blaine was there last night, talking to one of the regulars… a guy named Dave that wears a hat that looks just like that!"

"Finally… just the break we needed!" Det. Holliday states excitedly.

"Fabray… go back through the staff records and see if there are any employees or students named Dave," Schue says sternly.

"Already on it sir," Quinn quickly replies. "Santana… did the bartender give you anything else?"

"Besides her phone number…" Puck snickers. In return, his partner gives him a look that says "seriously dude?"

"Really… way to go Lopez!" Finn says as he raises his hand, waiting for a high-five in return from the Latina.

"Please put your hand down, Lurch…" Santana replies, looking totally unimpressed. Finn does as he's told, but not before he reaches up his other hand to give himself a high-five. Santana just shakes her head in response. "I'm pretty sure that we have much more important things at hand."

"Yeah… San's right," the liaison quickly adds in, her voice showing no emotion. This interests Puck while everyone else appears to be a little oblivious to Brittany's current lack-luster tone.

"Anyways… the bartender said that Dave usually keeps to himself, but she does remember seeing him talking to each of the vics at some point in time."

"Sounds like we should bring this bartender in for further questioning," Brittany says in a snide manner. This time, Santana picks up on her change in demeanor.

"Only if necessary," Schue states firmly. "Where are we on that list, Quinn?"

"Okay… there are no employees at the bar with that name," Fabray begins. "However, at the school… there are 21 students and 8 employees with the name of Dave or David."

"Out of those 29 names, do any of them match the physical description we've gotten from our witnesses?" Dr. Abrams inquisitively asks.

"Let's see…" Quinn mumbles out as she rapidly types away on her keyboard. "I have 6 that match."

"Hmm… that's better, but I think we can still narrow that down," Schue states.

"I'm still working on it, sir."

"Hey, Q… can you see if any of those 6 matches have any ties to McKinley High School?" Santana questions.

"Sure… anything in particular I'm looking for?"

"Not sure yet… just call it a hunch," the Latina answers.

"It's funny that you mention McKinley…" Artie starts off. "Mr. Hummel mentioned that Kurt went to McKinley during his Freshman year, but transferred shortly after due to bullying. According to him, Kurt was the only openly gay student."

"Did Kurt ever identify his bully?" Santana ponders, feeling more invested in this case than ever.

"Unfortunately, no… the only thing he ever told his father was that it was an upperclassman; maybe a jock?" Abrams replies.

"And… this is why you guys love me!" Fabray suddenly states, breaking into the discussion. "David Karofsky… 21 year old white male who works as the maintenance man at Dalton Academy. He graduated from McKinley in 2011."

"He would've been a Senior when Kurt was there. Maybe they knew each other?" Puck adds in. "Hell… he might've been Kurt's bully!"

"21 seems kind of young to already be in a job like that," Artie says, talking more to himself. "Quinn… does it say anything about higher education in his file?"

"Why yes, my young genius… there is," the analyst replies. "Apparently, Karofsky got a football scholarship to Ohio State. However, in his Sophomore year, he blew out his knee and had to sit for the rest of the season. Because he was benched, he lost his scholarship."

"Damn… that's rough," Finn states. "So, let me guess… after he lost his scholarship, he couldn't afford to pay for college and dropped out. That probably led to him moving back in with his parents, which forced him to find a job to make ends meet."

"Give that boy a gold star!" Fabray exclaims. "Yes… shortly after Karofsky left school, he got the job at Dalton."

"That would explain how he knew each of the victims," Santana chimes it. "Maybe seeing them at the bar presented a less awkward environment for Karofsky to talk to them."

"It's possible," Schue agrees. "What else do we know about him?"

"Both of Karofsky's parents are deceased. His mother died about 10 years ago due to a brain aneurysm, and his father…" Quinn trails off as she re-reads over the information she just discovered. "His father died a little over 2 months ago… lung cancer."

"2 months ago… that's when the first when the first murder happened," Santana states. "That must've been his trigger."

"Yeah… apparently he and his dad were very close," Fabray adds in. "And if that wasn't convincing enough, there's a 1998 Ford Econoline Van, black in color, registered to his father, Scott Karofsky."

"We got 'em!" Puck exclaims.

"Karofsky's last known address is listed as 1247 Fenway Drive in Lima," Quinn says. "I'm sending the address to your phones now.

"Det. Holliday, inform your guys that we have a lead on the suspect," Schue states firmly. "My team will take the house while your guys cover Dalton and McKinley, just in case he decides to go back there."

"Will do," Holly replies as she quickly makes her way out of the room to spread the word.

"Alright guys… get your gear. We leave in 5."

As the team rushes out of the room, Santana runs to catch up with a speeding Brittany.

"Hey… where's the fire?" The Latina playfully jokes. Once she's met with stone-cold silence, she begins to worry. "Britt, what's going on?"

"Nothing… I'm just ready to catch this fucker and go home," the liaison coldly replies.

"Did I do something to piss you off?" The profiler questions. Again, she is met with silence from the blonde. Unsure of where this behavior is coming from, Santana thinks about what happened in the past 15 minutes or so that could've caused this type of response from her usually upbeat best friend. And then, it hits her. "Is this about the bartender?"

"Bartender… sounds more like a slut to me," Brittany scoffs, rolling her eyes in the process.

"Britt… what has gotten into you?" Santana questions, surprised to hear the catty remark.

"It's just…" the blonde pauses, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Were you even gonna tell me about the number?"

"Actually, I was…" the Latina sincerely states, although she can tell that Brittany doesn't believe her. "I was gonna wait for a more appropriate time though… not in the middle of de-briefing."

Brittany then wraps her arms tightly around herself. "Was she cute?"

"Do you really wanna know?" Santana counters, unsure of where the blonde is going with this conversation. Once she sees Brittany shrug her shoulders, she decides to answer. "She was attractive, yes."

"Why'd she give you her number," Brittany cautiously asks, lowering her head.

"I guess she thought that I was interested in her."

"And why would she think that?"

"I don't know… maybe because I tried flirting with her at first to see if she would be more open," Santana replies. "Once she saw passed my ploy though, I basically told her that I would charge her with Obstruction if she didn't cooperate."

"How did she take that news?"

"Not great… but it worked," Santana says with a small smile. "She wants me to call her after we're done with the case so that we can have a little "fun", I guess."

"Oh…" Brittany says deflated, still refusing to look up at the Latina. "So… are you gonna call her?"

"No," Santana simply states. This causes the blonde to finally look at her. "She actually walked away before I had the chance to tell her that I wasn't interested."

"You're not?" Brittany carefully questions.

"Nope…" the Latina responds as she retrieves the folded up napkin from her pocket. Santana then proceeds to tear the napkin into four parts before disposing it in the nearby trash receptacle. "Like I've told you before… the only person I'm interested in is you."

Brittany doesn't know how to take Santana's statement or how to look away from her penetrating stare. No matter how many times the Latina has told her this before or made a similar remark, Brittany still finds it hard to believe that this amazing woman is basically putting herself on hold while the blonde figures out whether or not she wants to pursue a deeper relationship or not.

"I still don't get it; hell… I may never get it," Brittany says, finally loosening up her tense grip. "You could do so much better."

"Britt… have I ever lied to you before?" Santana asks.

"You mean besides keeping your feelings for me a secret for the past few years… no," the blonde jokingly replies. Santana smiles back.

"Then just believe me when I say… you're worth the wait."

Brittany wants to believe Santana so badly, but there's still a part of her insecure nature that prevents her from doing so.

"Hey guys, we're heading out," Finn says as he passes by the girls.

"To be continued…" Santana says. The blonde replies back with a 'yeah' before they both follow a few steps behind the freakishly tall agent.

"I thought we were supposed to be solely focusing on the case until we got back home," Brittany states as they make their way outside.

"We were… but then you had to go and be all cute and jealous over some bartender…" Santana playfully retorts. "No, wait… I believe slut is the word you used."

"Shut up!" Brittany chuckles out as she slaps the Latina's arm. "I was not jealous!"

"If you say so, Pierce…"

Brittany doesn't respond because she knows Santana was right. She was absolutely jealous ever since Puck mentioned the bartender giving her best friend her number. It was an odd feeling that she's never quite experienced before, but for this brief encounter… she definitely did not like it. Although Santana was free to flirt with and/or date whoever she wanted to, Brittany was hoping that once they had their talk when they returned home, things would be a lot clearer for her and she could finally make a decision in regards to the next step in their relationship.

"You suck!" Brittany says, trying her best to deflect as she enters the SUV and puts on her body armor. Santana doesn't say anything in return. Instead, she just smiles, happy to know that the blonde was a little jealous over another woman hitting on her.

Maybe there's hope for us after all, Santana thinks to herself. Maybe…

Author's Note:

Hello to all of you awesome readers. Hope you enjoyed this installment and the playful ending. I'm currently working on the next chapter, which will be a pivotal turning point in the story. Stay tuned. As always… thanks for all of the reads, reviews, follows, and favorites. You guys are amazing!

-Kris