High Roller
Chapter 3: She Saved Me
Only one of the men remained in the County Mental Hospital. The nurse informed the brothers that both Daniel and Jack had checked themselves out within 24 hours after admission. The only man who remained checked-in was Robert. He'd arrived early that morning screaming about a dead woman.
"I'm not sure how much help he'll be officers but he's down this way". The young nurse femininely walked down the hall and stopped in front of room 513. "In there," she smiled at the brothers.
"Mr. Robert Brown?" Dean walked into the room.
An ordinary man sat crossed leg on the bed and was reading a thick self-help book. He glanced up, "What can I do for you?"
"We wanted to ask you a few questions about last night." Sam and Dean flashed FBI badges.
"Why's the FBI involved?" Robert was puzzled. "Why would the care about a hallucination? A helpful hallucination, but a hallucination none-the-else?"
The brothers looked at each other. Dean responded, "Well, we believe this may have connections to other casino crimes."
"How was the hallucination helpful? I mean, usually hallucinating is a bad thing." Sam wasn't sure what to think. It certainly didn't sound like their usual case. But then again, we've not had a normal case in months. Sam missed the straight-forward ghost hunt. Or even an in and out demon case would be a nice change of pace.
Robert put down the book revealing the title How to be a Successful Business Man: Leading a Team. He rubbed his eyes and explained he'd had reached a sense of clarity this morning. The hallucination had been a gift; it provided him with insight as to what he needed to do to make his business successful. He planned on checking-out today and had a plan to fix his company. He was grateful for the event. Scary at the time he admitted, but grateful none the less.
The brothers left the mental hospital with the names and addresses of the other two victims. Dean also had the phone number of the nurse. Overall, Dean felt it was a successful interrogation. The two sat in the Impala both thinking this was probably their most illogical case they have ever researched. They decided to separate and interview the other two victims.
Dean pulled-up to an extended stay hotel where Daniel was staying. Dean's knuckles rapped on the door of room 13. Dean smiled, now that's a bad omen. A man, dressed in Armani suit, confidently answered the door. He's hair was styled relatively poorly since he'd never styled is hair before. His squinty eyes peered into the sunlight at Dean. "Hey there!" Daniel was a bit over zealous with his greeting.
Dean flashed the fake FBI badge and introduced himself as Agent Smith.
"Come in, come in!" The goofy grin combined with the soft jaw line made Daniel appear child-like. He moved aside making room for Dean to squeeze thru the door and into the grimy hotel room.
The hotel's neon sign bragged it was the cheapest stay in the city. This was obvious by the cheap Wal-Mart pictures hanging at an angle on the wall. The Carpet was thread-bare along the walking path from the door to the bathroom. There was a sink along the wall opposite of the bed. There was a black build-up around the facet and its handles. A large crack ran down the wall next to the bed separating the main room from the small bathroom.
Thank-fully, the bathroom was not completely visible from the door. If it were, Dean would have not stayed long enough to interview the man. Several bathroom tiles were missing, the ones remaining were cracked. There was no sink in the bathroom. The toilet had hard water stains in the bowel. The toilet back had a crack in it causing water to leak onto the floor. A moldy towel was under this crack to catch the water. The shower had black mold on the curtain, ceiling and along the tub.
The bathroom also hid several interesting facts for the case. These, Dean did not find as he did not enter the bathroom and couldn't see them from the doorway. The one thing that stuck-out to Dean during this investigation, Daniel was grateful for the event. He claimed the whole thing was a lifesaver. Daniel now claimed to know what he needed to do with his life.
Sam sat in a Herman Miller Chair in Jack's hotel room. The room was nice enough, not one of Vegas's high-end, but comfortable. The green shag carpet could be replaced for something a little more modern. Jack sat across from Sam on a double bed drinking an overpriced Coke from the fridge. Jack had been packing his suitcase to head home. The half-packed bags sat on the head of the bed. Neatly stacked next to the suitcase were two newly purchased self-help books.
Jack saw Sam eyeing his opened, overstuffed wallet on the nightstand next to the bed. "I had a pretty good weekend at the casino," Jack quickly shoved his wallet into his pocket.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Your night at the casino." Sam continued to ask questions about Jack's evening. Jack insisted on the woman saving his life. He was no longer going to live just to live. He was going to be a winner. This experience made him want to be a better person. Jack claimed to now know how to be successful and was certain the mystery woman had contributed to this. He referred to her as his Angel.
The brothers met back at the hotel room. Dean lounged on the sofa. He finished the food Sam had left in the fridge and was now daydreaming about the all-you-can-eat buffet. There were too many choices to go at it willy-nilly. Dean decided he'd need a game plan for getting the most of the buffet. He was going to start with steak and garlic mashed potatoes and then move to the ham with mashed potatoes. On second thought, I can't fill-up on potatoes. I'd better stick to just one serving. That'll leave more room for the meat! His mouth was watering by the time Sam walked into the room.
"Hey, it's about time you got back!" Dean jumped off the couch grabbed his wallet and keys, "Lets go!"
Sam opened the now empty fridge. Frustrated he turned to his brother who stood at the opened door, "Where's my food?"
Dean shrugged. "You ate it didn't you?" Sam accused.
"Yeah, I was starving. What was it? It wasn't very good." Dean rubbed his stomach in protest.
Sam rolled his eyes, "I'm hungry, let's get something to eat."
"I'm all over it,' Dean walked out the door followed by a disappointed by Sam.
The receptionist watched the brothers get off the elevators. They intrigued her; they were not like the usual men who come into the hotel. She particularly liked the taller of the two. She watched them turn and walk into the restaurant. Gina remembered she had a message for James and searched for the note.
The brothers went thru the buffet table. Dean settled into three plates of food. One was filled with steak and a small amount of garlic potatoes. The second had ham and the third was a bacon cheeseburger and three blue cheese slider burgers. Sam stared at his brother. His plate was filled with less cholesterol filled food. His one plate included a tilapia filet with lemon slice, wild rice, and garlic and butter corn.
"I seriously have no idea how we are related," Dean sliced a bite from his steak, placed it in his mouth. "Mmmm…." He groaned, "Now that is a delicious steak."
"Yeah. Are you really going to eat all of that?" Sam skeptically examined Dean's feast.
"I sure am gonna try." Dean grinned, "We did pay good money to eat all we want and I'm gonna get my money's worth."
"Whatever, lets just discuss the case." Sam and Dean compared notes on what they'd found out.
When she found the two sitting at a corner table, they were deep in conversation and didn't notice her hovering and listening into the conversation. They were definitely cops or FBI or something. Not only did she have the message that told them they were but now this conversation. The only problem is they are talking like this is some sort-of ghost doing all this…..What kind-of cops do that? Gina was skeptical of cops ever since her brother was wrongly accused and serving 8-10 in prison.
"Hey there!" Gina interjected into the conversation.
Sam looked up and smiled at the petite brunette. "Hi. What can I do for you?"
She cursed herself for blushing, "I can come up with a few ideas." Why am I flirting with him? He's a freakin' cop. Sam stammered in response. "I'm just messing with you. I have this message for you." She handed Sam the message.
Sam frowned at the three words. "Who gave this to you?" The case keeps getting stranger and stranger.
AU note: Sorry its taken forever to upload this. If you feel the urge, leave feedback. I like it to help me improve.