Chapter 42.
"He says he's safe and will be home soon." said Jack.
"Did he say where he is or what he's doing?" said Sam. He knew Dean needed details.
"No." said Jack.
"Did he use the word 'home'?" said Dean.
"I don't remember. Home or back. Something like that."
"Does it matter?" said Sam.
"That's what I'm trying to find out." said Dean, "How did you get on with the traffic cams?"
"No dice. The local ones were all out of action."
"Coincidence?" said Dean.
"I doubt it." said Sam, "I'm working on finding out what others are out. It might give us a direction."
"Did you manage to trace Rowena's cellphone?"
"He may not even be with Rowena." said Sam.
"She knows something. Find her anyway. I need to put a gun in someone's face. She's top of my list."
"You have every right to feel that way," said Sarah, "But when he comes back or we find him, one of you needs to be calm and rational and able to discuss this. The way things are looking, it'll need to be you, Dean."
For a moment, Sam feared Dean would get angry with Sarah, but she and Dean understood each other. Dean looked at her and said, "I know. If he gets back here and I yell at him, it solves nothing."
"How did he seem?" said Sam to Jack.
"Hard to tell. The signal was faint."
"Like he was far away?" said Dean.
"Distance makes no difference." said Jack.
"So you think he's hurt?" said Dean.
"He said he's fine."
"Yeah, he lies." said Dean.
"Maybe I'm the problem." said Jack, "Maybe I usually boost the signal, only now, I can't."
Dean's manner immediately changed. Whatever his concerns for Cas, he was not going to make Jack feel bad. "Don't worry about it." he said, "We'll find out when he gets home ... or back ... or whatever."
"This is his home." said Sarah gently.
"I know." said Dean. He looked at Sam, "What do you think Rowena's angle is on this?"
"I thought she was fully focused on trying to stop Michael." said Sam, "It makes no sense for her to suddenly take an interest in Cas."
"Oh, there's nothing sudden about it. She always circles him like a cat around butter. He's an angel, he has power and Rowena, she likes power. Or it could be personal."
"Personal how?" said Sam.
"Sex, Sam, sex. We know she's into celestials and she always flirts with him."
"She flirts with everyone, Dean. She could flirt with an empty room. Besides, her flirting scares him."
"It used to, but now? He's just broken up with Jules. He's lonely. He's affection-starved. He's missing the physical stuff and you know Cas. He has no way of dealing with that. Maybe he called her because he was lonely."
"He had all of us around him." said Jack.
"Different thing." said Dean, "Sometimes, just needing to be held ... " he stopped talking and looked embarrassed. "For Cas, I mean. Maybe he needed someone and maybe he thought he wouldn't get too involved with her."
"A booty call? To Rowena?" said Sam, "He's a little desperate, right now, but he's not stupid."
"I'm struggling to find another reason why he'd call her." said Dean.
"Maybe he needed her help with something." said Sam.
"Like what?"
"Like whatever messed him up enough to make him break up with Jules."
Jack looked unhappy. "I'll make coffee." he said.
When he'd gone, Sam said, "Poor kid. He really doesn't like talking about Cas and Jules. This whole thing is way too upsetting for him."
"The rest of us aren't enjoying it much either." said Dean, "I don't buy the signal boost thing. Cas is either hurt or limited in some way. Could be warding, could be damage. Either way, Rowena is gonna be sorry."
"What if she's trying to help?" said Sarah.
"She'd have said so. She wouldn't have lied to me."
"Lying's kind of her thing." said Sam, "With or without a reason."
Paul came into the room. "Sam, The traffic cams blew up. They're blaming some kind of power surge, but the guy I spoke to sounded rattled. The cameras weren't connected to each other."
"How far does the damage go?"
"All the way from here to a major intersection, after that, nothing."
"Because he knew we'd track the damage and didn't want to tell us what route he took." said Dean.
"Yeah, well, proving I'm cleverer than an angel," said Paul, "I checked the first undamaged cameras in every direction and there was a Toyota Camry with a pentagram window sticker. So, I zoomed in on that and that coat of his is pretty distinctive."
"So you traced the car and found?" Dean prompted.
"Registered to a Zorah Franklin, resident of Burr Oak. Did some checking with hunters in the area and she's a fairly benign root conjuror. Does a little tarot, some hoodoo. Mostly protective stuff."
"Known associates include Rowena McLeod?" said Dean.
"Not so far as anyone knows, but witches don't broadcast their connections." said Paul, "All I know is she drove him away from here in the direction of St Joseph."
"Well, there's no way Rowena found anything to interest her in St Joseph." said Dean, "I'm thinking big hotel. I'm thinking Kansas City. I'll start calling around anything with enough stars for our little diva. Paul, find out where that car is now. Start with Kansas City and fan out in a circle. Sam, go get the witch-killing bullets."
"What can I do?" said Sarah.
"Talk to the kid. Make sure he's okay." said Dean.
"We're not killing Rowena." said Sam.
"No, but let's not tell her that until after we have Cas back safe." Dean turned to Paul, "This Zorah lady... any hints as to power level?"
"She does tarot reading for old ladies. I'm guessing she's not a major player."
"Which will be why Rowena chose her." said Sam, "Nice and anonymous."
"We're more than three hours from Kansas City." said Dean, "By the time we get there, anything could have happened."
Sarah pressed her hands together. "Castiel, my dear, please call one of us. We need to know you're safe. We know where you are and with what company and we need an explanation, please."
Sam's phone was the one that rang. "Where do you think I am?" said Cas.
"With Rowena and in danger." said Sam.
"Wrong on both. I'm fine and I'm on my way back."
"You're coming home?" said Sam, glancing at Dean, "Are you with Zorah?"
"How do you know about Zorah?"
"Because Paul is good." said Sam, "What were you doing with Rowena?"
"Rowena isn't here." said Cas.
"Okay, when will you be home?"
He heard Cas say quietly, "How long before we get to Lebanon?"
Somewhere off to the side, a woman said, "If you get off the phone and back into the car, we'll be back in about three hours thirty."
"I heard that." said Sam, "If you're much later than that, Dean and I will come get you and we'll be bringing witch-killing bullets."
"Those won't work on me." said Cas.
"For Rowena and maybe for Zorah." said Sam.
"I'll be back as soon as I can." said Cas.
"You wanna give us some information, just to set our minds at rest?"
"Like what?"
"Like what you were doing with Rowena in Kansas City."
"No, I'll explain anything that needs to be explained when I get home."
"What does that mean? Anything that needs to be explained?" said Sam, "Cas, everything you say sounds sketchy as Hell."
"Everything is fine." said Cas.
"Everything always is, for all of us." said Sam.
"Trust me." said Cas.
"I'm trying." said Sam. The call ended abruptly. He turned to Dean, "He says he's coming back. Oh, and he definitely said home, this time."
"Well, that's something." said Dean.