Pippa Passes …

Ten P.M. …

Susan pulled her dark blue stocking cap down over her ears a little farther before stuffing her gloved hands back into her Carhart jacket pockets.

Good thing I pulled my jeans on over my fleece PJs, she thought. Most girls wore a full pajama set to bed in case of fire drills, not to mention the hit or miss heating in the dorms. Quietly, she snuck up campus to Carrack dorms, directly across from Howard-Berger boys dorms.

"I'm telling you, Sammy, it's two AM on Wednesday morning and eight degrees out, the triple P P.D. ain't gettin' out of the office." The older one, Dean, gestured as they strolled down the sidewalk outside the boy's dorm.

"Yeah, but what if …"

"We tell 'em you forgot a text book in the Impala and you got a test to study for. Lie, Sammy." Dean slapped his brother on the back and grinned.

"Hmm, curiouser and curiouser," Susan whispered.

The brothers walked along the tennis court and briefly out of her line of sight as she crouched behind Nelson's SUV. She scurried quietly to catch up but the brothers' longer strides carried them into the shadows around the Work-study Office.

"Blast it!" Susan grunted, her eyes searching the darkness.

"Uh oh," she managed a moment later as a large, warm hand clapped tightly over her mouth. A second arm held her firmly around the waist.

Oh God. First Daisy, now me, she thought.

"Shh, shh, shh. It's Sam, from Dr. Smyth's class," he spoke low into her ear.

That didn't reassure Susan one bit. She jabbed her elbow solidly into his stomach before pounding her heavy, men's size eleven leather Sketcher down on his foot. Her next aim was to head butt him in the nose but because of the height difference she only caught him in the chin. Still, he didn't let go of her.

"Stop!" came a split second before the barrel of a handgun appeared in her face. Susan threw up her hands and raised up on tip toe in an effort to stop.

"If you like it rough, sweetheart you shoulda tried me on for size," Dean drawled lasciviously, his deep voice both teasing and warning at the same time.

"That's how Daisy was abducted so easily, there were two of you!" It fit neatly in Susan's mind. Dean had flashed that smile and those eyes to lure Daisy into the vehicle until Sam could subdue her somehow.

"Is the maintenance guy in on it too? You sick perverts!" she accused loudly. "I've seen you three, passing messages, watching." She saw Dean's expression shift slightly, his gaze moving to Sam.

"Ah ha!" Susan pointed, proud of herself for pinning the pretty boy's motives.

"We're investigating Daisy's death, undercover. Bobby too," Sam answered with forced patience in his voice.

Musta nailed his foot good, Susan mused, still looking down the barrel of Dean's handgun.

"Yeah, right, who with?" she demanded, eyeballing the brothers, still suspicious.

"KSP. We're cadets. That's why they sent Bobby." Dean lowered the handgun but kept it ready.

"Try again. I've seen those old Mod Squad re-runs too." Crossing her arms, Susan watched the brothers exchange a meaningful look.

"Look, Susan, we are looking into Daisy's death. There may be a copycat killer trying to play out some sick version of Burt Jacobs." Dean's voice and expression grew stone cold sober, no charm or smirk, just determination.

"How do you explain Sam talking to Miss June's ghost in the library? Or Lynn Howard at DQ tonight?" She'd set aside her suspicion that they were murderers but her curiosity demanded satisfaction.

"You saw them?"

Susan frowned at the younger brother. Answering a question with a question seemed impertinent.

"I was a Guest House Janitor my sophomore year; cleaned her house a hundred times. I've seen her, seen Alice Lloyd, the printing press that moved around in Cushing Hall, heard the chairs go up and down in CAC, saw the ghost girl in Lily second floor west. I know all the nooks and crannies here." She watched as Sam tilted his head a bit to the right while Dean scratched his hairline with an index finger.

"Okay, Nancy Drew, but do you know anything that'll help us." Dean gestured with the handgun until Sam reached over and pushed the barrel toward the ground.

"Yes, Hardy Boys, I do. Daisy wasn't dragged into a pick-up truck like Lynn Howard. Daisy was supposed to meet Ezra at the wall to go to the movies in Hazard."

"What wall?" Sam asked, confused. Both Dean and Susan rolled their eyes in disgust.

"THE WALL, Sam. It's outside Carrick Dorm. Guys and girls hang out there until curfew." Susan explained as if to a simpleton.

"Don't mind him, sweetheart. Girls were never Sammy's strong suit. Spent too much time with his nose in the books."

"Better in the books than up some girl's skirt," the taller Winchester muttered, just barely loud enough for Susan to hear.

Susan stifled a giggle at Dean's exaggeration. Little did she know.

"So, it could have been a copycat; one of the students. Maybe Ezra," Susan mused, adjusting her stocking cap as she thought.

"It isn't a student."

Everyone turned to see Lynn Howard as she walked into the glow beneath the security light.

"Jacobs has possessed someone. He met a girl on the road beside Carrick and they took off down campus." She pointed toward the gates and Lot X beyond.

"C'mon, Sammy, time to save the girl." Dean lightly smacked his brother's arm. They took off at a jog toward Lot X and the Impala.

"You aren't going without me!" Susan insisted, running flat out to catch up. She wasn't use to being the short one in a group. Most of the time others called for her to slow down or wait for them.

"Oh no, Nancy Drew, this is too dangerous." Dean turned on his heel, his expression dark. Susan almost slammed into him, not that she would have minded slamming into either Winchester brother.

"You are staying here." He turned and called over his shoulder, "Sam, get me the handcuffs.

"You wouldn't dare." She stood up straighter, trying to hide her fear. From the way Dean stepped closer to how he ran the tip of his tongue slowly along the edge of his perfect teeth Susan knew he totally would handcuff her. What she feared was that she would let him and like it.

"Oh, sweetheart, I do dare. Handcuffs are a kind of kink of mine," Dean purred, swaggering a step closer. She'd never had the sole attention of a hot guy. Susan flew under their radar. Though flattering, she knew he'd used his rampant sex appeal to distract, to slow her thinking. Susan felt her heart rate rise as he drew nearer and boy-o did he smell delightful.

"I, uh." She froze. What leverage did she have?

"Dean, we have company." Sam smacked his brother's arm before pointing to the SUV coming toward them at the edge of faculty housing.

"Get the girl and let's go," Dean ordered. Sam grabbed Susan by the wrist and began running for Lot X.

"What is it with you and manhandling me?" she protested. To keep up with his four foot stride she had to run double time. By the time they cleared the narrow bridge over Caney Creek her lungs burnt and her legs felt like all piled into the Impala and Dean had it roaring a moment later. Somewhere along the way the ghosts of Lynn Howard and Daisy joined them.