AUTHOR'S NOTES: So I had a flash of inspiration on this story and next chapter I will be bringing back…. Well, wouldn't you guys like to know?
Hope you guys enjoy the new chapter!
Chapter 3
The Ends of the Earth
It had taken Walter only 10 minutes to discover that Willa was missing and another 15 minutes to squeeze the details of Willa Monday's disappearance from Timo, Isabel, and Leo.
"And you're telling me that none of you have heard anything from Willa in 3 weeks?" Walter repeated, pacing the floor of the bar.
"I called her cell phone but she's not answering," Leo said again.
"Nothing on email, either," Timo added. "And there's been no activity on her social network webpage."
Walter paced the floor, his mind going to work on the case at hand. They needed to get access to security cameras or something…try and trace Willa's movements. Looking at Dr. Sweets who had been hanging back from the conversation, Walter asked, "Any chance you can get in touch with Booth at the FBI and get security footage for the Keys?"
"Security footage from where?" Sweets asked, looking a little lost. "There are dozens of bus terminals, countless cab drivers… uh, airports—And even if you can track Willa, under the terms of your release from jail, you're not allowed to leave Florida."
"No, not airports," Timo interjected, quickly. "Willa's afraid of flying." He tried to think of another way to track Willa and as his mind started going, he remembered the teenage girl that had gone missing during a hurricane some months back. Looking at Walter, he said, "Human search engine."
Walter grinned and nodded, pointing an approving finger at the young man. "I like your thinking, kid." Turning to the others, he just said, "You heard him. Go, human internet. What do we know about Willa?"
Isabel sighed but tried to think about what she knew about Willa Monday and how the teenager might be getting around after leaving Florida. "Taxis and cabs are out—too expensive and they wouldn't take her too far out of state. She can't have taken much money with her unless she picked something up along the way."
"So that leaves trains and buses," Leo said, thoughtfully. He knew what Isabel was inferring—that Willa might have stolen from someone—but he hoped that that wasn't the case. "What about Charlie?" he asked after a while, thinking of how to track Willa down.
"Who's Charlie?" Isabel asked, frowning in confusion. She hadn't heard the name before and couldn't recall Walter working with anyone named Charlie.
"She's computer genius who hired Walter to find out what happened to her missing brother a couple years ago," Leo explained. "One of Walter's first cases."
"So maybe this girl or her brother can help us find Willa," Timo concluded. He hated the idea of Willa being missing so long and wished there was something he could do other than putting his faith in Walter.
Walter was already hauling out the ledger where he kept details of all his clients written down and flipping to one page near the front. "The girl, yes. Her brother…definitely not. Not unless dead people can access computers now. The guy died in some bar fire in Nebraska." Finding the girl's phone number, he was about to dial when the phone rang. After a moment's hesitation, he answered the call. "Who is this?"
"It's me," Willa's voice said, tentatively.
xxxxxxxxxxx
The bar on the lower level of the Gratiot Hotel was near empty except for Shadrach Monday who was finishing cleaning up when the demon arrived.
Dressed impeccably as always in a black tailored suit, Crowley looked around as he approached the counter. "So imagine my surprise when I hear that the little girl you tried so hard to keep in the family ran away." Smiling sinisterly, he added, "I'm sure you think that your niece's absence negates the deal you made."
"And you're here to tell me that's not the case," Shad replied, knowingly. He remembered 10 years ago when he made the crossroads deal to become head of the gypsy family and also remembered that part of that stipulation was getting Will and Timo together. That was one of the reasons he'd put a rush on the wedding since it had taken longer than expected to get the two kids together.
"On the contrary," Crowley countered with a shrug. In truth, he hated dealing with gypsies and witches. They were too good at hiding, conning, and finding loopholes. But there was something about Shadrach Monday that reminded Crowley of his early days as a lower level crossroads demon. "You have one week left until your deal is up. I am willing to throw it out entirely if you manage to locate Willa Monday before then."
Shad stiffened as he considered the offer. He remembered the old saying 'Don't try to con a con man' but at the same time he also knew that demons were bound to the deals that they made. "Alrighty, then," he agreed. "And I suppose you just happen to have a lead on where my lovely niece might be?"
Crowley scoffed at that. "God, no. But Miss Monday's associates might know something. I suggest you see them." And with that, the demon vanished from the room, leaving Shad pensive as he thought of how best to approach Walter Sherman and his friends.
Chicago, Illinois
8 Hours Earlier
"So… how did you get into all this computer stuff?" Willa asked as she watched Charlie Bradbury send a fake email to Dick Roman to give Sam and Dean time to steal the…whatever from the leader of the Leviathans.
Charlie sighed and shrugged. It had been a few years since she'd thought about her family. It had been too long since she'd spoken to her parents and her brother… "I got into it because of my brother," Charlie explained after a while. "He was at MIT for a while until he got expelled for fighting."
"Older brother?" Willa asked, noticing the look on the older woman's face.
Charlie nodded. "Ash was…" She stopped, thinking for a moment. Her brother had never been what you'd call normal. But he'd been a good guy with a big heart. "He had a mullet. He loved his beer… And he loved me." It was one of the funny things about her life. When Ash had been born, their parents had sworn their first child would be a girl even when the doctors had indicated otherwise. So Ash had been born Ashley Brooke Bradbury. Charlie's full name—when not at work where she went by Charlene—was Charles Brian Bradbury. And since their parents had refused to change the names, the kids had been forced to take nicknames that were less likely to get their asses kicked in school.
As Charlie spoke about her family, Willa realized that she really, really, missed her own. Not her blood family, though. She missed Walter, Leo… Timo. She even missed Isabel. "Hey, uh… Can I ask a favor?" Willa said after a while. "Can I use your phone?"
Caught off guard by the request, it took Charlie a minute to respond. "Uh, sure. You can just… call from the bedroom if you want."
Willa nodded and went to the bedroom, grabbing the cordless phone before punching in the phone number for the Ends of the Earth.
"Who is this?" Walter's voice said, quickly.
Willa mentally groaned. She'd been hoping to just talk to Leo or maybe Isabel. But if Walter knew about her and that she was missing, he'd track her down whether she liked it or not. "It's me," she said, finally.
"Willa? Where are you?" Walter asked, quickly.
"I can't tell you that," Willa replied, after an extended pause. She'd actually thought about telling her friend where she was but when she got to thinking about the leviathans and how Sam and Dean had said they'd been tracked, she realized it was too big a risk.
When Leo heard Walter say Willa's name, he'd hurried over and grabbed the cell phone from the other man's hand before putting the phone on speaker. "Why can't you tell us where you are?" Leo asked, his protective instincts triggered. "Is someone keeping you from talking to us?"
"No!" Willa replied, sounding insistent. "Sam, Dean, and Bobby are cool. Charlie, too—wait a second." There was a pause and in the background—like Willa was talking to someone across the room—Leo and Walter heard the young girl say, "You just got an email from who?" There was another pause and then, "Walter… Charlie—Charlie Bradbury—says she just got an email from someone claiming to be her brother."
Walter and Leo exchanged looks at that before Leo said, "Willa… Charlie's brother has been dead for almost 6 years."
"I know, she told me," Willa said with a snap in her voice. "Look, it's complicated, but the email sounds genuine. Look, I gotta go."
"Willa, are you in trouble?" Walter asked as he heard the conflict in the teenager's voice. "Just… yes or no."
There was another long pause before Willa's voice said, "I'm fine. I'll try and call you guys later."
When Willa hung up, Walter looked beaten until Dr. Sweets spoke up. "She didn't sound under duress."
Walter and Leo turned in unison to study the young psychologist, the two of them almost looking like they had forgotten he was there.
Realizing that everyone in the room was looking at him, Sweets cleared his throat and went on with the assessment. "Willa sounded confused, overwhelmed… but she didn't sound scared or threatened. I believe wherever she is, currently she's not in any immediate danger."
"Okay, that's great," Isabel replied, looking from Sweets to the others. "But we still don't know where she actually is."
"Yeah, we do," Timo said, suddenly. When the others looked confused, he went on. "Willa said she was with Charlie Bradbury, right? So look her up."
Again Walter wondered why he hadn't had the thought before. "You know, Timo… I think you're starting to grow on me."
Once Sam and Dean had returned from their retrieval mission, Will and Charlie looked alarmed at how frantic the two men looked.
"Alright, pack up whatever you need," Dean ordered Charlie. "We're outta here in 5."
"Wait, 5 minutes?" Charlie said, looking entirely caught off guard.
"No, 5 seconds," Dean snapped back. "Roman's gonna want to get his… whatever back and this is the first place he's gonna look."
Charlie's eyed widened in fear at that. "Wait, why here?"
"Because you were the one working on the hard drive," Sam explained, quickly. "Look, we'll explain once we're well away from here, but both of you are coming with us."
Charlie didn't argue and instead packed up her laptop and cords and some supplies before pulling out her phone and fiddling with it.
"Dude, this isn't the time to check your friggin' text messages!" Dean snapped, angrily.
"Trust me, you'll thank me later," Charlie insisted as she finished what she was doing. Grabbing her duffle bag and backpack, she followed Sam, Dean, and Willa out to the car.
x
Once on the road, Dean glanced in the back seat and frowned as he said, "So what the Hell was so important?"
It took Charlie a second or two to figure out what the hunter was talking about but once she realized what he meant, she replied, "I was emailing a virus to my work computers. It'll fry everything including Frank's hard drive."
"So that was covering our tracks?" Sam said, impressed.
Charlie nodded. "I also set up my phone with a jamming signal so that they can't trace it."
"So what'd you guys end up stealing, anyway?" Willa asked as she looked at the aluminum case that was sitting on the floor.
Sam and Dean shrugged at that. "No idea," Dean admitted. "But whatever it is, I'm hoping it's something to help end Dick."
But something occurred to Charlie and as much as she wanted to be optimistic, the past couple days had taught her that the real world was far different than fantasy. "What if it's not a weapon to use against the leviathans?" She said aloud, the fear growing as she spoke. "What if it's a weapon for them to use against us?"
In truth it was something that hadn't even occurred to Sam and Dean but now the thought was echoing in their minds as well.
"Then we're pretty much screwed," Willa observed, looking at the others. Maybe she should have just stayed in Florida after all.
