A/N: It's a mini update but it's something. We're almost to the halfway point too, I think. Anyway, enjoy the update!
Sam had been right about how to find the car, which he didn't let Dean live down as they drove back to the motel. There was a lot of laughing and 'I told you so's coming from Sam as they drove. For his part, Dean sulked the whole time because of it. The only bright spot for Dean was the sound of Motorhead coming from the radio as they drove. He still had his music at least. He'd just been so sure that he knew where they'd parked.
Sam had been the one to point out the restaurant before they passed it. He wasn't hungry but he remembered that Dean said something about eating before they left. He figured after all the crap he gave his big brother the least he could do was suggest that they actually stop to eat. Dean jumped at the chance to stop for food so they pulled into the Denny's parking lot with Dean finally smiling about something.
They headed inside and ordered as soon as possible. They didn't talk too much at the time, mostly they worried about eating. Plus Sam was trying to give Dean some time to mellow out. About halfway through their meal, Sam gave the mother, Jackie, a call. He set up a meeting with her later that night.
Right now though, Sam and Dean were sitting in their motel room, talking 'strategy'.
Or at least Sam was trying to but his older brother wasn't paying any attention. Dean was flipping through that damn guidebook to St. Louis again, smiling and chuckling a little at some of the things to see and do in town. It wasn't until a pillow came flying at him that Dean looked up to realize that his little brother had been speaking to him. He gave Sam a little sheepish grin and shrugged. He had a look on his face like he was wondering what he had missed.
Sam rolled his eyes and again took the guidebook away from Dean, setting it on the nightstand between the two beds. He didn't know what about that guide had his brother's attention but he could tell that he'd have to work to keep Dean's attention with that guidebook around. "Dean, would you focus?" Sam said. "Please?"
Dean sighed a little and nodded, sitting up now with his legs over the side of the bed, his feet on the ground. "All right so we're supposed to be reporters for some little newspaper in St. John, right?" he asked, trying to get all the facts straight. "And this woman, Janet ..."
"It's Jackie," Sam quickly said.
Dean kind of nodded and fought the urge to roll his eyes at his know-it-all kid brother. He didn't like getting corrected but he knew Sam would do it anyway if Dean got the details wrong on this. Actually Sam seemed to do that often when Dean got some detail wrong or mixed up and it was becoming a pet peeve of his but he didn't say anything about it for the most part. "Right," he said with a little smile. "So this woman, Jackie, her little girl was taken how many days ago?"
"It's been almost a week and the police still don't have any leads."
"But there was some woman looking for her little girl, April, that day?"
Sam nodded a little. He was still trying to figure that one out because even with going back 6 or 8 months in his search, Sam hadn't been able to find out anything about this girl, April. It wasn't sitting right with him. "Yeah, but I couldn't find anything out about April," he said, shaking his head a little. "But maybe Jackie knows more about the girl." He shrugged a little at that.
"How long until we go meet with her?"
Sam checked his watch and then shrugged. He was wondering why Dean had even asked that. "Just a couple of hours," he said.
"Good, then I'm going to grab some sleep." Dean grabbed the pillow Sam had tossed at him and kind of snuggled in on the bed. He still had on his clothes and his shoes but he closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep.
Sam sighed and rolled his eyes before grabbing his laptop and stretching his legs out on the other bed. He shifted the pillows a little behind his back and then started to search for this April girl again. Sam had been looking everywhere, or so he thought, but came up empty so he was doing the only thing he could think to do. He was searching again. Sam tried this time to go back as far as a year but was still coming up empty. It was like April had never existed. So why was some woman searching for her in the park the same day that Ellie disappeared?