Chapter 3
The next day, Sam drove the Impala to a 7-Eleven on what was proving to be an unusually hot afternoon for the middle of May. The heat was visible as it rose up off the asphalt and even though all of the Impala's windows were wound down as far as possible, the temperature in the car was still unbearable.
Dean, however, had still managed to fall asleep despite the searing heat and was currently snoring loudly with his forehead pressed against the window frame.
I don't know how he does it, Sam thought, shaking his head and smiling. No matter whether it's demons, ghosts or just hot weather, Dean would sleep through anything. He pulled up at one of the empty gas pumps and turned off the engine, glancing over at his brother. I wish I was like that…
He sighed and reached over to wake up his brother, giving into an urge that he had been resisting for the past few hours. Pinching Dean's nose, he suppressed a grin as he watched Dean jump and splutter as he woke up.
"Wh-what?" Dean stuttered, taking off his sunglasses and rubbing his eyes. "What the hell did you do that for?" He asked, rubbing his nose and shooting an evil look at Sam as he sat up.
"We're here." Sam replied, his remark somehow reminding Dean of a creepy kid from a horror movie.
"Where's here?"
"Route 50."
"Oh, eureka." Dean muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes and glancing out of this window. "Err Sammy? I hate to put a dampener on things, but this Route 50 looks an awful lot like a 7-Eleven. Did you get your buildings and roads mixed up again?" He teased, grinning at him. "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but Eureka's town centre can't be made up off a couple of patrol cars and a 7-Eleven. So, are you going to tell me why we're really here?"
Sam scowled at him and nodded at the patrol cars parked near the store front. "This is where the latest victim, Diana Pearson, was last seen. Apparently the driver of a pickup parked here that night chased after her as she left the store."
"He chased after her?" Dean raised his eyebrows. "Why?"
"Well that's what we're here to find out." Sam opened the glove compartment and grabbed their fake i.d's, throwing Dean his. "Let me do all the talking for a change, okay?"
"Ha, forget it Sammy boy. Oldest and the most handsome gets to call the shots, and well what do you know? That's me." He winked at Sam, putting his sunglasses back on before climbing out of the car.
Reluctantly Sam followed, putting on his own pair of shades as he jogged to catch up with his brother. Before them stood two local cops, deep in conversation and discussing something that seemed to be disturbing them. One of them looked in his mid-twenties and it was evident that he loved his job, simply by watching his over-enthusiastic hand movements and animated expressions. The other cop was an older, more world-weary cop who was looking at the younger one with disapproval reserved only for grumpy old men. The typical old cop, young cop gig, Dean thought grinning. What was it with small towns and clichés?
When they realised Dean and Sam were approaching them, they broke off and attempted to regain some air of professionalism and authority, failing miserably.
The older cop stepped forward, tipping his hat at them. "Good afternoon boys, what can we do for you?"
Suppressing his outrage at being called a boy, Dean stepped forward and flashed his fake badge. "Well good afternoon, I'm Agent Foreman and this is Agent Chase, FBI." He waved his hand in Sam's direction, who also showed his identification. "We'd like to ask you a few questions regarding the latest decapitation."
At the mention of the word 'decapitation', both of the police officers narrowed their eyes and exchanged nervous looks, and the older one nodded hesitantly. "How can we help?"
"We'd like you to tell us exactly what happened here two nights ago." Sam replied, stepping in before Dean could open his mouth and say something idiotic or derogatory towards the cops.
"Well we know that the Miss Pearson stopped here just after midnight, filled her car up and left about five minutes later, according to CCTV footage." The older cop said tonelessly, as though this was a speech he had rehearsed numerous times. "Her car was found less than a mile down the road, empty except for.." He trailed off and cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable.
"That's all?" Sam asked in disbelief. "What about the pickup driver?"
The officers exchanged nervous looks again and while the older one seemed to be getting more uncomfortable, the younger one seemed to be in his element. "You've seen the tape?"
"Well of course we have," Dean replied grinning, before Sam could get a word in edgewise, "We just like to make you small town cops sweat a little first."
Sam shot him a warning look, whilst flashing an apologetic smile at the cops. "Could you tell us about the driver?"
"He-" Started the older cop, before the younger one jumped in, unable to contain himself anymore.
"He just chased after her, man. Jumped right out of his cab and ran after her when she got out of the store." The younger cop said, sounding more like an excited teenager than a person in a position of authority. "According to the guy himself, Andrew Rainey, he saw someone in the back seat of her car. That's why he ran after her, apparently." He shook his head in disbelief. "If you ask me, that guy was the one that killed-"
"That's enough, Peter." The older cop interjected tiredly, sounding like a man who had done this one time too many. "We don't know whether the man killed her or not, but what we do know is that he left here soon after she did, and in the same direction."
"Do you think he did it?" Sam asked, looking searchingly at the older cop.
"Honestly? I don't know. Forensics haven't found anything to prove that he did it. Besides, he isn't local. So even if he killed Miss Pearson, he had nothing to do with the other murders." There was something that sounded like regret in the older cop's voice. No it wasn't regret, it was disappointment, Sam thought. No suspects and eleven murders could really take it's toll on someone after five years.
So no leads then?" Dean asked, shaking his head disapprovingly when both cops nodded. "Don't worry, that's exactly the kind of shoddy police work I'd expect from a small town like this. Keep it u- ouch!" He exclaimed, grimacing and shooting Sam an evil look.
"Thanks for your time, officers." Sam said, nodding appreciatively at them and walking back over to the car, Dean hobbling close behind him.
"Dude, what the hell have I told you about doing that?" Dean growled, rubbing his sore foot. "Sammy, you do realise I'm going to get my own back on you for all this don't you?"
"Sure, and I'm going to get you back for all the times you've called me 'Sammy'. Jerk."
"Btch." Dean replied, grinning at Sam as they got into the car. "So where to now?"
"Maybe we should go and find this Andrew Rainey guy and talk to him?" Sam suggested, "He might be able to help." He shrugged, picking up the newspaper from the floor and scanning over it again. "Or we could always go to the morgue, see if we can go look at the body?"
"The morgue it is." Dean replied, putting the keys in the ignition and starting the engine. "I love seeing dead people." He grinned and started to drive towards the road. "It's like visiting long lost relatives, but without the presents."
Sam rolled his eyes and glanced out of the window. "Hey, wait a second. That cop's coming over."
Dean followed Sam's gaze and sure enough, the young cop Peter was jogging towards them, arms flailing wildly. "Great, that's all we need." He muttered, pulling up next to Peter. "What can we do for you, officer?"
Peter stood there for a moment, holding on to the window frame for support as he struggled to catch his breath. And this guy's a cop? Dean thought incredulously.
"Thanks for stopping." Peter said, smiling gratefully at them. "I think there's something you should know about what happened here that night." He glanced nervously from Dean to Sam, and then carried on. "We checked the CCTV again after hearing Rainey's claims about someone being in the back of Miss Pearson's car, and, well… there's was no-one there."
Sam and Dean exchanged looks. "Seriously? Are you sure?" Sam asked, frowning.
"Yes, positive." Peter replied, nodding. "There was no-one there. There was nothing. Nothing at all."