Chapter 11
Sam opened the garage door and pulled into his bay and parked. He got out and didn't think anything about Dean's SUV not being there as he trudged to the door and opened it. After cutting off the alarm, he walked wearily toward the stairs, exhausted after a rough four days shift, especially the last forty-eight hours. They had been called out on numerous calls, barely having time to eat between them, much less sleep. All he wanted to do was take a hot shower and sack out for most of the day. He knew Dean wouldn't be back until late afternoon, and he hoped to be up by then. Maybe he'd want to go out and grab dinner as a treat to five days in a row off.
After emptying his bag of the dirty clothes, Sam headed into the bathroom and stripped as the water warmed and he adjusted the temperature, hoping the hot water would wash away some of the tension and weariness. He shampooed his hair and washed his body so he could stand under the hot spray for a few minutes. He toweled his body and hair and wrapped it around his waist. Sam used his hair dryer to finish drying it enough that it wouldn't look a total disaster when he got up. After brushing his teeth, he headed into his bedroom to put on sleep clothes. He turned on is Ipod and lowered the volume before crawling between the covers and collapsing, almost asleep before his head hit the pillow. Soft music filled his bedroom lulling him deeper into the realms of sleep.
Sam slept hard and without dreams until he roused himself late afternoon. The music was still playing in the background as he lay there still feeling tired. He glanced at the clock thinking Dean should be home by now and pushed himself up to go see. He usually tried to come home early on Sam's first day off so they could go out or make other plans. He wiped the sleep from his eyes as he made his way up the stairs and frowned when he was met with silence. Even if Dean was reading or working on papers, it was never this silent, and he didn't like it.
"Dean?" Sam called walking to the hall and listening for a response. When one didn't come, he went back to the kitchen and looked into the garage to see his SUV was not there. Figuring he was late getting off, Sam started a pot of coffee and went to get his cell to call him to see about dinner. When he got voicemail, Sam left a message and hung up to dial his private office number, getting voicemail again. He frowned thinking he would have gotten him at one of the numbers and tried the front desk, hoping someone was still there.
"Ferguson Security Services, how may I help you?" a friendly female voice answered.
"Hi Nattie, its Sam Campbell. I was looking for Dean," Sam replied pleasantly. Nattie had been with the company since they opened the office and Sam liked her. She was competent, professional, and a people person. She didn't take any lip from any of them and kept them in line. Everyone looked to her as a mother figure and she loved it. Dean could not have found a more competent and right person for the position.
"Hi Sam, good to hear from you, but I haven't seen Dean today. He's not been in the office as far as I know, and he missed a debriefing this morning which isn't like him. He always calls me if there's a problem," she told him. "You know I trained him better than that."
"Thanks Nattie, I'm coming down to the office," Sam said. He hung up his cell worry building in his mind that Dean hadn't contacted him about being gone. They always left a message or text when working overtime or getting tied up with work. He tried not to over react, thinking maybe Dean got tied up with something and couldn't get to the office or drop him a text. He glanced at the message board on the fridge to be sure Dean hadn't left a message like they normally did, but it was blank. After the death of Bill and Ellen, in what seemed suspicious circumstances, had Sam on edge. He went down the stairs and grabbed some clothes to change into before snagging his car keys and heading for the garage. Sam got in his car and opened the garage door to quickly back out and closed it as he drove toward Dean's office to see if he could find out anything there.
spn
"Hey Nattie," Sam greeted as he hurried into the front door of the office building.
"Sam, I have looked and can't find anything from Dean. Is something wrong?" she questioned.
"I don't know. Did Dean have any appointments or meetings that you knew of?"
"No, they didn't come through me. But you know Dean will set up his own appointments most of the time."
"I'm going to go check something out with IT, is that okay?" Sam asked.
"Of course dear. Let me know if I need to do anything."
"I will," he said. Sam hurried further into the building and was walking down the hall to IT when two men stepped from an office.
"Hey Sam," one greeted him.
"Hi Caleb," Sam answered, but not stopping.
"Where's the fire?" Caleb asked.
"I can't find Dean," Sam stopped long enough to tell him. "I don't think he came home last night, and he didn't leave me a message either. That's not like him. We always let each other know where we're at."
"We were scheduled for a debriefing this morning and he didn't show. I though that was unusual for him. He always let's us know if a meeting's been canceled."
"I'm going to see if IT can track his SUV. It's not at the house, and not here so he must have taken it."
"I'll come with you. Oh I'm bad, this is Benny, a new employee Dean hired a couple of weeks ago. This is Sam, Dean's brother."
"Hi, sorry to be in such a hurry," Sam said to the tall, dark man standing beside Caleb remaining quiet.
"No problem Sam," Benny replied is a smooth, soft Creole drawl.
"I want to know what's going on to," Caleb insisted as they all headed for the IT room. "You might need some backup."
"Thanks," Sam told him, happy for the company.
A young guy looked up from his computer when the three stepped into the room.
"Hi, can I help you Sam?" he asked recognizing him from several cookouts and softball games the company had.
"Hey Henry. Can you locate Dean's SUV for me?" Sam asked quickly, not wanting to explain everything to him.
"Sure, all the company cars have tracking devices in them. Just give me a minute and I'll give you the location," Henry said as he taped quickly on the keyboard in front of him while glancing at the two large screens on his desk. "Okay here we go. It looks like it's parked at this address," he said scribbling on a note pad.
"Thanks Henry," Sam nodded glancing at the address before turning to leave.
"Is anything wrong?" Henry asked.
"I don't know," Sam paused long enough to tell him.
"Why don't you let me drive Sam? I know all the short cuts around here," Caleb told him as they headed for the front.
"Thanks, that might be better," Sam said his nerves getting the best of him, making his hands shake. He handed the note to Caleb and tried to hide his worry.
"Don't worry, we'll find him," Caleb tried to assure him.
"Oh Sam..." Nettie called to him. "I called the ERs in the area and there's been no Dean Winchester admitted in the past twenty-four hours and I called the police station to see if there have been any wrecks involving Dean's SUV but they said there wasn't. Should I call the police?"
"Thanks Nettie, that's a start," Sam praised her for her quick thinking. "But don't contact them yet, we know where Dean's SUV is and are going to check it out. There may be a good reason he's not come in."
"Alright, but you call me on my cell if I'm not here when you get back," she said sternly.
"I will Nettie," Sam assured her as he hurried after the other two.
Caleb had pulled a similar SUV around to the front and was waiting for Sam when he stepped from the office building. Sam hurried to the vehicle and got in the backseat trying to keep his anxiety and stress from taking over. He worried the hem of his jacket as his leg bounced up and down without him realizing it. He looked out the window at the passing scenery as he tried to stop thinking the worse.
"How much farther?" he asked after ten minutes of driving. He couldn't keep the strain from his voice making Caleb look at him in the mirror.
"Not much longer Sam. Just stay calm, we'll find the Boss," Caleb tried to assure him.
"But what if we don't?" Sam asked in a hoarse whisper.
"Can't think like that Sam. We need to be positive," Benny told him, his voice soothing.
"I wish I could, this is not like Dean at all. I should have been more observant when I came home this morning..." Sam mumbled to himself as he caught his lower lip between his teeth and bit it. There was what felt like a stone sitting in his stomach making it ache and churn. He swallowed hard and willed it to calm as he looked around when they turned off the main road onto secondary one. Caleb slowed the SUV as he drove down the road and turned again before pulling to a stop behind a SUV that they recognized as Dean's.
Sam was out of the vehicle and rushing to it as he looked through the side windows and trying the doors to find them locked.
"He's not in here," Sam called to the two as they moved toward the door to go inside.
"Stay out here Sam," Caleb told him as he slowly tried the door finding it open and pulled his gun out before entering.
Benny did the same and followed closely behind Caleb when he made his way down the hall. They carefully checked the rooms on both sides but didn't find anything or anyone. Caleb bent down to pick up a file folder and another sheet of paper further away to look at. A concerned look crossed his face as he gave Benny a worried look.
Sam rushed in without thinking and looked around before moving to them. He looked between the two sensing something wasn't being said.
"Did you find anything?" Sam asked looking down at Caleb's hands and seeing the items. "What's that?"
"A file folder and the last page of a new client contract," Caleb said. He held them out to Sam who took them and frowned as he studied them.
"I don't understand..."
"Dean was here and I think he intended to meet a new client here."
"But where's Dean?" Sam asked slowly as he paled when it hit him. "He's been taken..."
"We need to call the cops and get them in here. Maybe they can find something," Caleb told him.
"Caleb," Benny said. He was kneeling down near a door looking at something.
"What did you find?"
"Looks like the point from a taser," he said pointing at the metal needle on the floor.
"I need to make a phone call," Sam said turning and walking back outside. He pulled out his cell and pulled up his contact list to find who he needed. He waited as the line rung and finally it was picked up. "Dean's missing," was all he said and listened to what he was told. Sam felt every bit of strength drain from him as he fell back against the SUV, barely able to stand as it felt like someone punched him in the gut when all the breath left him. He felt like his world had just imploded around him and couldn't seem to suck in a breath as his chest constricted.
Caleb and Benny came out looking at a shaken Sam who had slid down the side of the vehicle to the ground and was leaning against their SUV wheezing and trying to breath.
"Hey! Hey! You gotta breath," Caleb told Sam as he knelt down beside him. He recognized a panic attack and tried to talk him through it. "Come on Sam you've got to calm so you can breath. Slow breaths, in and out, in and out..." Caleb snagged his cell from his hand when it started to ring and handed it off to Benny.
"H'llo," Benny answered and listened to the person on the other end. "He's here but can't talk. I believe a panic attack...I work with Dean...I will have him call you when he can...I will tell him." Benny hung up and looked down at Sam and Caleb watching Caleb calm him enough that he could draw in a short shaky breath. "A young lady by the name of Nitro said to tell you she's contacted everyone and they are on their way."
"Here that Sam, the Boss's team is on the way," Caleb told Sam as he helped him up from the ground. Sam could only nod that he was better, but he let Caleb open the back so he could sit down. He found a bottle of water and offered it to Sam.
"Thanks..." Sam said in a hoarse, raspy voice.
"I'll call the police," Caleb said. He could tell Sam was in no condition to do it and wanted to get them out of there as soon as possible. He didn't know who would have taken his boss or why, but they were going to be playing catch up and he didn't like that. Dean had been gone all day and there didn't seem to be anything around that would tell them what had happened. He had met most of Dean's team and knew they were the best and if anyone could find him it would be them. He pitied the person or persons who took him, because there was going to be hell to pay.
A/N: The cavalry has been called in to help. Will they find Dean in time? Thank you for reading and thank you to any guests who have left me reviews. I do like to know your thoughts. NC
