29; Who's That Girl
Mackenzie blew out a breath as she smoothed down the dark-colored blazer she had on before she began to walk up the stairs to go inside the police station. She heard her high heels clicking against the floor as she walked up to the desk, flashing the man behind it a dimpled smile.
"Hey, can I help you?" He gave her a friendly smile.
"Yes, you can." Mackenzie reached into the inside pocket of the blazer and pulled out a fake badge, then flashed it at him. "I'm Detective Diane Harrison. I need to speak to the detective in charge of the Meredith Allen case."
"You're looking at him." He held out a hand for her to shake. "Detective Andrew Smith."
"It's nice to meet you, Detective Smith."
"Same to you, but please, call me Andrew," he said back. "So what do you need to talk to me about the case? It's a little out of your jurisdiction, isn't it?" he questioned, after seeing that according to her badge she was a few towns away.
"Yeah, but, we had a murder similar to the Allen case," Mackenzie explained. "So I was sent here to compare notes. See if it is the same perp or if we are dealing with two different killers."
"Makes sense." Andrew nodded his head, then turned to grab a file from a desk. He turned back to look at Mackenzie, then nodded his head to the side, telling her to follow him.
Mackenzie slipped the fake badge into her pocket and followed him down a small hallway into his office. For the next several minutes he gave her all the details the police knew, which wasn't much. There was no sign of forced entry, the alarm was still set, but a girl was dead.
After talking to Andrew, she made her way outside and unclipped her brown hair, letting it fall past her shoulders as she walked over to the Impala. It was hell getting the keys from Dean, but after a slight pout and a few kisses, he finally handed them over. Plus he knew how much she missed driving since her Jeep broke down a couple of weeks ago.
Sliding behind the wheel, she pulled out onto the road to head for the apartment building Meredith lived in. She had dropped the brothers off there earlier to search the place while she questioned the detective. She parked the car near the building, then made her way inside.
Minutes later, she knocked on the door and smirked when Sam opened it to let her inside. He was dressed up as an employee of the alarm system company the murdered girl used. She knew Dean was in a similar costume. She tried not to laugh earlier when they showed her the costumes, but seeing them in it for the first time she couldn't stop a chuckle from escaping.
Following Sam into the living room, another chuckle escaped when she saw Dean, causing him to look away from the EMF meter in his hand to look at her.
"Seriously? You're still laughing at the uniform, babe?" Dean shot his girlfriend a look with a smirk on his face.
"I'm sorry, I can't help it." Mackenzie held up her hands. "You two just look like such regular Joes. It different."
"I feel like a high school drama dork." Dean scoffed, then gestured over to his brother."Like Sam back in high school."
As Sam shot him a bored look, he looked back at his girlfriend with a grin. "Did you know Sam was in a play?"
"Really?" Mackenzie asked, then turned to look at Sam. "Wow, I can't believe you've never told me that, Sammy. Which one?"
"It was Our Town," Sam quietly said, then cleared his throat- that was an embarrassing moment from his past he had never planned to share. "Shouldn't we get back to this?"
"Yeah, we should," Mackenzie agreed as she removed her blazer, revealing the light-colored silk tank top she had on underneath.
While she glanced around the bloody room, Dean couldn't keep his eyes off of her. It had been a few months since the two talked and decided to give their relationship another chance and he felt himself falling for her more and more every day.
After meeting her for the first time in his young teens, she was all he wanted and he never forgot the tender kiss they shared. Years later, the two ran into each other again and feeling developed, but a misunderstanding kept them apart for two years. The next time their paths crossed, they weren't as happy to see each other, but despite their ups and downs, they worked things out and he finally got the girl- he got his girl back and he couldn't be happier.
Feeling eyes on her, Mackenzie turned her head, seeing the way he was checking her out and the twinkle in his eyes. Anytime he saw her like this in the middle of a case, he couldn't help but be turned on by her even more.
"What is it?" She raised her eyebrows at him and folded her arms across her chest.
"Just watching you." He grinned, then gestured to what she was wearing. "I really like your costume, by the way."
"Oh really?" she teased as she flashed him a smile.
"Mm-hm." He walked over to her, then came to a stop in front of her and placed his hands on her hips. "If you flash that badge at me, I'll answer or do...anything."
Mackenzie chuckled at his flirty tone as she leaned forward to kiss him, but before their lips could touch, they heard Sam clear his throat, getting their attention.
"Please save the role play for later," Sam begged, then nodded toward the room. "Besides we're kinda in the middle of something here."
"Hater," Dean mumbled as he began to walk around the room using the EMF meter again- trying to pick up anything that could explain how this strange murder happened.
"So what do we know so far?" Mackenzie questioned the brothers.
"A killer walks in and out of the apartment...no weapons, no prints, nothing," Dean answered.
"The alarm was still set, windows were locked, front door was bolted," Sam added, repeating what the landlord told them earlier. "They had to cut the chain on the door to get in."
As the EMF meter began to beep, Dean nodded toward it. "And there's that."
"What did you find out?" Sam looked over at Mackenzie, wondering if the detective in charge could give them any clues.
"Basically the same thing." Mackenzie wrinkled her nose while looking down at the blood on the floor by her feet. Lifting her head, she saw their shoulders fall in defect, until she added, "Except for one thing they're keeping out of the papers."
"Hm?" Sam questioned as they both turned their heads to look at her.
"Meredith's heart was missing," Mackenzie said with a mournful look on her face.
"Her heart?" Dean questioned, making sure he heard right.
"Her heart," Mackenzie repeated.
"So, what do you think did it to her?" Sam looked at the couple.
"Well, the landlady said it looked like an animal attack," Dean said, then suggested, "Maybe it was a werewolf?
Mackenzie shook her head. "Can't be. Lunar cycle's not right."
"Plus, if it was a creature, it would've left some kind of trace," Sam added, agreeing with her. "It's probably a spirit."
"Could be." Mackenzie slowly nodded her head. "There was a case me and Michael did a couple of years ago; a vengeful spirit was ripping hearts out of chests, but it was only men and she wasn't taking them with her. The hearts were all left beside the bodies, but still, could be something similar."
"Wait a minute." Dean looked down at the floor at the blood splatter- he could almost swear there was a pattern.
"What is it?" Mackenzie walked over to stood beside him and looked down like he was, trying to see what he was looking at.
Ignoring her question for the moment, Dean instead asked for some masking tape. For the next few minutes, he used the tape to connect each pool of blood until a symbol appeared. Afterward, he stood in between Mackenzie and Sam as all three of them looked down at the unusual mark on the floor.
"Ever see that symbol before?" Sam questioned.
"Never," Dean said, while Mackenzie shook her head to answer.
"Me either," Sam added as the trio lifted their heads to exchange a look.
None of them knew what it could mean, but they knew they needed to figure it out. They couldn't shake the feeling that this case just became more complicated than they originally thought.
•••
That night, Mackenzie glanced down at her phone as she sent her sister a text to see how she was feeling. While they were investigating that day, Quinn stayed behind at the motel since she was sick. She claimed she wasn't feeling good a lot lately, but Sam and Dean couldn't help but think she was up to something.
After getting a short answer back, Mackenzie pocketed the cell phone, then made her way inside the bar Meredith used to work at. The brothers were already inside asking questions and researching.
Glancing around the crowded and dimly lit room, she saw them sitting at a tall table toward the back and began to walk toward that area. Reaching into the oversized bag on her shoulder, she pulled out the journal that belonged to her father, then dropped it on the table, grabbing the brothers' attention.
"How's Quinn?" Sam questioned as she sat across from him at the table.
"She still doesn't feel good." Mackenzie opened the book and began to flip through a few pages.
"That's a shame," Dean said with a hint of sarcasm as he rested his arm on the back of her chair.
Looking at his brother, both were thinking the same thing; they were thinking Quinn was just conning her sister, they just didn't know why yet. They had hit a dead end the last few months with their contacts as they tried to find any information about Quinn.
"Yeah, it is," Mackenzie mumbled, not listening to the conversation and missing the tone of his voice. Lifting her head from the book, she went right to the case. "So do we know anything new yet?"
"I asked around," Dean answered. "But there is nothing to find out. I mean, Meredith worked here; she waited tables, everyone here was her friend. Everybody said she was normal. She didn't do or say anything weird before she died."
Turning his attention to his brother and girlfriend, he asked, "What about that symbol, did you two find anything?"
"Nope, nothing. It wasn't in Dad's journal or in any of the usual books." Sam shut the book he had been looking through. "I just have to dig a little deeper, I guess."
"I'm not seeing anything in Michael's journal either." Mackenzie flipped through a few more pages, wanting to make sure she didn't miss anything.
"Well, there was a first victim, right? Before Meredith?" Dean questioned.
"Right. Yeah." Sam pulled out a newspaper clip about the first death. "His name was, uh...his name was Ben Swardstrom." Handing the clipping to Dean, Mackenzie rested her chin on his shoulder as they both began to read the article.
"Last month he was found mutilated in his townhouse. Same deal, the door was locked, the alarm was on," Sam added as they finished reading.
"I wonder if his heart was missing too." Mackenzie took the newspaper clipping from Dean's hand to look at it more closely, hoping some clue would jump out at her the second time.
"Is there any connection between the two of them?" Dean questioned, referring to the two murders.
"Not that I can tell, I mean, not yet, at least," Sam began to say as Mackenzie passed the clipping back to him. "Ben was a banker, Meredith was a waitress. They never met, never knew anyone in common...they were practically from different worlds."
"So, to recap, the only successful intel we've scored so far is the bartender's phone number," Dean said sarcastically, causing his brother to chuckle. He saw the bartender slip his brother her number earlier and had a feeling Mackenzie wouldn't be too happy with that.
"Wait, what?" She snapped her head to the side to look at her boyfriend.
Dean slowly blinked his eyes for a moment, realizing what he just said. He blew out a slight chuckle and figured the best thing to do was play dumb. Raising his eyebrows and flashing her a grin, he said, "I'm sorry, what?"
"That's what I was asking you." Mackenzie folded her arms on the table and leaned against them as she waited to see how he was going to talk himself out of this.
"Well...no, see, she..." Dean pointed over to the bar, where a cute dark haired bartender was working. "I was questioning her earlier and told her to let me know if she remembers something."
"Uh-huh," Mackenzie said with a short nod, then sat back in her chair. "So, she gave you her number in case she remembers something?"
"Right, exactly." Dean smiled. It wasn't until he heard Sam laughing that he realized how wrong that was. "No, wait, I mean, she-"
"You might want to stop trying to explain," Sam interrupted.
"I agree with Sam. You are just making it worse." She reached out to grab his glass, drinking all the liquor in one swallow.
As she sat the glass down on the table, he looked at it with a slight pout, causing her to chuckle. She glanced around the room and saw the cop she spoke to earlier walk in.
When an idea hit her, she leaned toward Dean, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Don't pout, babe. Besides you can always get another drink from your new girlfriend now."
Flashing him a playful smile, she stood up from the table and made her way across the bar where Andrew was standing. With a scoff, Dean sat back in his chair and lowered his eyebrows when he saw her talking to some random man.
"Now who's this guy?" He kept his eyes on them, his jealousy showing. When Sam didn't answer, he cut his eyes over to his brother, seeing him staring at someone across the room.
He opened his mouth to ask him who he was looking at until Sam stood up from the table. Dean snapped his mouth shut, a surprised look on her face as he watched Sam walk toward the opposite side of the room. Looking over at his girlfriend, then brother, then back again, he mumbled to himself how rude they were being for leaving the table.
Reaching out to steal Sam's beer, Dean turned the bottle up to finish it off then stood up from the table. Sitting the empty bottle down, he tossed some money on the table, then walked over to his girlfriend. Coming to a stop beside her, he laid a hand on the small of her back, getting her attention as he stared at the man in front of them, wondering who the hell he was.
She turned her head to the side to look at him with raised eyebrows and a playful grin on her face, then without a word to him, turned back to look at Andrew. "So, yeah, do you think you can get that file for me?" she questioned, getting back to what they were talking about before Dean interrupted.
"I'll see what I can do," Andrew said, flashing her a friendly smile. "Honestly we're at a loss, so any connection you can find will be helpful."
"So what are we talking about?" Dean spoke up, getting their attention. He looked between the two- catching the smirk on Mackenzie's face. She knew it was only a matter of time before he had to butt in and say something.
"I'm sorry...who are you?" Andrew questioned with his head tilted in confusion.
"This is my partner," Mackenzie lied. "Detective Jason-
"Harrison," Dean interrupted, using the same last name she did earlier.
"Oh!" Andrew raised his eyebrows. "So partners and spouses?"
"Apparently so," Mackenzie mumbled as she turned her head to look at Dean for a moment- seeing him wink at her in response.
"I bet that gets tense sometimes," Andrew said.
"Not really." Mackenzie wrapped an arm around his waist, then lightly squeezed his side as she turned her head to flash him a grin. Looking back at Andrew, she added, "He knows who's the boss in our partnership."
Dean winced when she pinched him, then turned his attention to Andrew and nodded his head. "That I do." Letting out a slight chuckle, he added, "You know women, can't argue with 'em."
"Right." Andrew laughed. Turning his attention to Mackenzie, he reached out to lightly squeezed her arm. "I'll get you that file as soon as I can."
"Thank you, Detective Smith." She smiled.
"Hey, what did I tell you? Call me Andrew." He flashed her a smile before walking past the couple to head for the bar to order a drink.
"So, we're married now?" With an amused look on her face, she turned to stand in front of Dean.
"It was the only way to get him to stop flirting with you," Dean pointed out.
She laughed. "He was not flirting."
"Trust me, babe, he was flirting," he argued.
"You're cute when you're jealous," she joked as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I'm not jealous." He laid his hands on her hips. "I'm just looking out for you."
When she flashed him a look, he sighed. "Okay, fine, maybe a little jealous, but do you blame me? Even after finding out we're together, he couldn't keep his hands to himself."
"Don't worry about where his hands are, just worry about mine." She leaned closer to him, then ran her fingers through his hair, her lips inches from his as she whispered, "My hands are touching you, Dean, no one else."
Dean grinned at her words before closing the gap and pressing his lips against hers for a heated kiss. He laid his hand on the back of her head, intertwining his fingers in her dark hair as he deepened the kiss. He didn't care that they were in the middle of a bar, he didn't care who was watching them- in fact, he wanted people to watch, he wanted them to know she was his.
Pulling back for a moment, his lips inches from hers, he quietly said, "We should get out of here...so we can touch other places."
Mackenzie playfully gasped at his comment as she pulled away from him. "Nope, not happening. You just ruined it. You ruined the moment, Dean!" She laughed.
Laughing at her antics, he pulled her back toward him, nuzzling his nose against the side of her neck and catching a whiff of the strawberry and mint body wash she used that always sent his heart racing. When she felt his lips against her skin, she tilted her head to the side, giving him better access.
For a moment, it was like the two were in their own world until her eyes landed on Sam across the bar talking to an unfamiliar blonde girl. Lowering her eyebrows in concern, she lightly tapped Dean's shoulder as she asked him who the girl was that Sam was talking to.
"I don't know." Dean shrugged, then pulled back from her to glance across the room at his brother. "Maybe I rubbed off on him and he has finally learned how to pick up a girl."
Letting out a snort, she turned to look at him. "Right, 'cause you are so smooth picking up girls." She paused for a moment in thought. "Unless you call slamming into girls and knocking them to the ground as a move."
"You slammed into me," he argued.
"You slammed into me," she said back, the playful argument was one they have had more than once. "But I don't think Sam's trying to pick her up." She nodded toward them. "He's got serious face going. The face he gets when he's researching or thinking hard about something."
"Hmm..." Dean looked over at his brother. "I thought that was his horny face."
Mackenzie burst out laughing at his comment. "Why would you even know how your brother's horny face looks? I really worry about you two sometimes."
Dean shrugged, as if he saw no problem with it. "I know your horny face too."
"I don't have a horny face." She folded her arms across her chest.
"Yes you do and I do too."
"Actually you don't," she pointed out. "Any face you make is a horny face."
He thought about what she said, then with a slow nod said, "You're probably right."
"I am right." She laughed, then glanced over at Sam again. "We should go over there just in case he needs us."
He gestured for her to go first. "Lead the way."
The couple made their way across the room and came to a stop behind Sam, but neither he or the unfamiliar girl acknowledged them as they continued to chat back and forth like they were old friends.
Wrapping an arm around Mackenzie's waist, Dean cleared his throat, trying to get their attention. When that didn't work, he cleared it again, louder this time.
"Dude, cover your mouth," the blonde lectured him, causing Mackenzie to snicker at the comment.
"Yeah, um, I'm sorry, Meg," Sam said, realizing the couple was behind him. "This is, uh, this is my brother, Dean. And his girlfriend, Mackenzie."
"This is Dean?" Meg asked surprised.
As Sam nodded his head, Dean smiled. "So, you've heard of me?"
"Oh, yeah. I've heard of you." Meg scoffed as a look of disgust appeared on her face. "Nice, the way you treat your brother like luggage."
"Wow," Mackenzie mumbled as she raised her eyebrows. One quick glance at Dean she saw he was just as confused as she was by this girl's attitude.
"Sorry?" Dean questioned.
"Why don't you let him do what he wants to do? Stop dragging him over God's green earth," Meg stated.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Mackenzie folded her arms across her chest.
"Meg, it's alright," Sam stated, hoping to defuse the problem before Dean or Mackenzie said something. He didn't know what Meg's deal was, something didn't feel right to him and he wanted to figure things out before they pissed off the wrong person.
Letting out a low whistle, Dean said, "Okay, awkward. I'm gonna get a drink now."
He shot Sam a puzzling look, then went to walk away until he glanced back over his shoulder and saw his girlfriend still standing in the same spot and staring down the blonde.
Mackenzie couldn't explain it, but with the way Meg was looking at her, it was almost like she already knew all about her and was itching to say something- instead she kept her mouth shut and flashed Mackenzie a smirk, causing her to tilt her head to the side in thought as she continued to look at the strange girl closely.
Taking a step toward Meg, Mackenzie felt someone grab her arm and pull her backward until her back collided with a hard chest.
"No bar brawls for you, sweetheart," she heard Dean whisper in her ear before she felt him walking away and pulling her with him.
"Who the hell was that?" Mackenzie questioned as they sat side by side at the bar.
"Apparently some girl Sammy's been talking shit to," Dean answered harshly as he waved for the bartender.
"I dunno." Mackenzie looked over at Sam and Meg, remembering how the latter was looking at her before. "Something doesn't seem right."
"It's not right. Nothing she said was right. I don't drag Sam around or stop him from having his own life," Dean stated, feeling confident about his statement.
After a drink was in front of him, he grabbed the glass and drank it all in one swallow, then sat it back down as he thought about what Meg said before. Lowering his eyebrows in thought, he turned to look at Mackenzie. "Do I? Am I stopping Sam or even you from doing what you want? Am I dragging you two all over the place?"
Mackenzie snapped her head to the side and saw the tense look on his face that broke her heart. For a moment he was unsure if they were there because they wanted to be; for a moment he was scared that they were only with him because they thought they had to be- like he was holding them there against their will.
Shaking her head, she leaned toward him, resting one hand on his thigh for balance and the other on the side of his face, forcing him to look at her. "I am here because I want to be, Dean. I'm here because I want to be with you. I want to help you find your dad and kill as many evil sons of bitches we can."
Flashing him a smile, she softly caressed his cheek. "And as far as Sam goes, he's here because he loves you. You're his brother, his family and he wants to be here. You've known Sam longer than me, but even I know, if he didn't want to be here, he would have left by now."
Nodding his head at her words, he realized she was right- if Sam wanted to go he would. It wouldn't be the first time he left, but he never wanted him to again. He didn't want to lose Sam or her ever again, he didn't want to be alone anymore. All that was left was finding his father, then his family would be complete. He would finally have his father, his brother and his girl all at once- that was his dream.
"What is it?" she questioned when she saw a look come over his face.
"Nothing." He shook his head, not ready to speak his thoughts out loud yet. Now was not the time or place to lay everything out. Plus he didn't know how to say, 'I never want you to leave me', without sounding like a chick.
He saw Sam standing by the door from the corner of his eye as he gestured for them to join him. He nodded his head to let him know he was coming, then turned his attention to Mackenzie. "Come on, it's time to go."
Minutes later, the three walked out of the building and crossed the street in silence as they walked toward the car- each one lost in their own thoughts. Sam was curious about why Meg had suddenly popped back up in his life, while Dean was thinking about the comment she made, and Mackenzie was wondering about the look she had given her earlier.
Shaking the thoughts from her head, Mackenzie glanced over at Sam. "So who was that girl?"
"I don't really know. I only met her once," Sam answered.
"Once?" Mackenzie repeated. "It looked like you two knew each other really well."
"No, it was only once," Sam stated. "And now meeting up with her again? I don't know, it's weird."
"And what was she saying? I treat you like luggage?" Dean spoke up. "What, were you bitching about me to some chick?"
"Look, I'm sorry, Dean," he apologized. "It was when we had that huge fight when I was in that bus stop in Indiana. But that's not important, just listen-"
"Well, is there any truth to what she's saying? I mean, am I keeping you against your will, Sam?" he cut him off. He knew what Mackenzie said earlier, and he wanted to believe that, but he needed to hear it from his brother's mouth.
"No, of course not. Now, would you listen?" Sam said back as they reached the car and came to a stop.
Seeing Dean open his mouth to argue, Mackenzie laid a hand on his arm to stop him. "We're listening."
"I think there's something strange going on here," Sam began to say. "Like our kind of strange. Like, maybe even a lead."
"'Cause you saw Meg again?" Mackenzie questioned.
"Yeah. I met her months ago, literally on the side of the road. And now, I run into her in some random Chicago bar?" Sam explained. "I mean, the same bar where a waitress was slaughtered by something supernatural? You don't think that's a little weird?"
"Well when you put it like that, it's very strange," Mackenzie said, agreeing with him.
"I don't know, random coincidence. It happens," Dean countered.
"Yeah, it happens, but not to us," Sam pointed out, as Mackenzie nodded in agreement. "Look, I could be wrong, I'm just saying that there's something about this girl that I can't quite put my finger on."
Smirking at his comment, Dean said, "Well, I bet you'd like to."
"Oh, my God." Mackenzie chuckled as she shook her head at her boyfriend- leave it to Dean to turn a serious conversation into a sex talk.
"I mean, maybe she's not a suspect, maybe you've got a thing for her, huh?" Dean teased his brother, causing him to roll his eyes and laugh at the comment. "Maybe you're thinking a little too much with your upstairs brain, huh?" He pointed to the side of his head with a grin.
"Come on, Dean. He's being serious here." Mackenzie laughed as she shot her boyfriend a look to behave.
"Thank you, Kenzie," Sam said to the brunette, before addressing both of them, "Do me a favor. One of you check and see if there's really a Meg Masters from Andover, Massachusetts."
"I can do that," Mackenzie offered. "But I'll need to use your laptop."
"Done." Sam nodded, then turned to his brother. "While she does that, see if you can't dig anything up on that symbol on Meredith's floor."
Dean nodded his head. "What are you gonna do?"
"I'm gonna watch Meg." Sam reached out for the driver side door.
"Yeah, you are." Dean laughed as he wiggled his eyebrows.
"I just wanna see what's what. Better safe than sorry," Sam explained.
"Alright, you little pervert," Dean joked.
"Dude." Sam shot him a bored look.
Mackenzie laughed at the brothers' antics as she grabbed Dean's hand. "Come on. We got work to do."
"I'm going, I'm going." Dean threw up his other hand to wave at his brother before he and Mackenzie began to walk down the street toward their motel.
He didn't think there was anything up with Meg, other than she was a bit rude, but he could let that slide. His brother needed a relaxing night and if Meg could deliver that, then he was all for it. He wasn't picking up any weird vibes the way Sam or Mackenzie was, but he believed them and would check out everything to ease their minds.
He knew how it was to be suspicious of someone, it was the way he felt the first day he met Quinn and that feeling has never gone away. While he was making calls about the symbol, he was going to put out more calls about Quinn. He knew she was up to something, he just had no proof yet.
He knew without a doubt if someone was dishonest, the truth always came out in the end. He just needed to find that truth before it hurt Mackenzie or anyone else he cares about.
•••
A/N; As you can tell I am kinda following along with season one. I'll be changing the order of some things and adding my own spin to it.
Thank you to everyone reading and adding the story. Also big thanks to Guest, adaddario, Deangirl93, deanstheman, BlackBloodRose64, mamasam, Coffee to go, ase4ever, Sage Londyn, Guest and wideawakepastmidnight for reviewing since last update.
Happy reading!
xx
