AN: This is where bad things start happening. Don't say I didn't warn you. AT
"What time is it?" Sam asked Dean as he sat in their motel room watching Saturday morning cartoons.
Dean shot him a withering look. It was exactly ten minutes since the last time Sam had asked him that same question, which made the time eleven o'clock on the hour.
"Just call" Dean said drying his hair after coming out of the shower.
He looked around the room. Even thought he'd only been at Isabel's a week, one night at yet another dingy motel was all he needed to realize he missed her place. He changed into his mandatory jeans and t-shirt and was now lacing up his boots when Sam's voice interrupted him.
"She's not picking up" Sam said.
"That means she either doesn't want to talk to us yet, or she's at Jack's" Dean shrugged and looked at his brother "call his place"
Sam did and again got no answer.
"No answer, and Dean before you say something crude, I don't like this" Sam said, now showing the first signs of worry "We should go to Isabel's"
"Whoa, let's not do anything rash" Dean said standing "She might still be pissed with us. Let's go to Jack's place first"
They put all their stuff back in the car and checked out, optimistic that Isabel would have calmed down overnight and would let them stay at her place again. They reached Jack's place and Dean stopped the engine before looking at Sam.
"Car's not there"
"I'm going to check it out" Sam said getting out of the car and running up the steps to Jack's door.
Sam knocked on the door but got no answer. He looked back at Dean and motioned for him to try the phone. He got the idea and started dialling Isabel's number, trying Jack again when she wasn't picking up.
Sam heard Jack's cell ringing from inside and frowned. It didn't seem normal that Jack would have left without his phone. He pulled out a metal clip from his jacket pocket and broke through the lock, just as Dean was walking up to him. They walked into Jack's place slowly.
"I've got a bad feeling about this" Sam said softly as they walked through the empty house. They opened the door to the bedroom and froze mid step.
His body was on the bed, clean shot to the head. There was a gun resting next to his hand. He was wearing the same clothes they'd seen him in the night before.
"If he shot himself, how come his car's gone?" Sam asked, then looked at his brother in realisation.
"Isabel" Dean said, running out the door with Sam behind him.
They jumped into the car and sped off. Sam was already dialling her number.
"Why is she not answering her phone?" Sam asked with agitation as they pulled up the driveway, parking behind Isabel's car.
"She's home" Dean said, noticing the lights inside were on.
They stepped out of the car and both brothers looked at each other as they heard the faint tune of Isabel's ring tone. Dean's heart skipped a beat as he noticed a shiny object near her car. He ran to it and picked it up. It was Isabel's cell phone and the screen was flashing, signalling an incoming call from Sammy. He held it up for Sam to see.
Sam wasted no time. He flipped his phone shut and ran to the door finding it unlocked. Another bad sign. Dean came barrelling in behind him, running into the house.
"Isabel!" He called out desperately "Isabel!"
Sam rushed into her room, finding it empty. He came out and faced a panicked Dean.
"She's not here" Dean said breathlessly "Isabel!"
"Check her phone" Sam said quickly "Who did she speak to last?"
Dean flipped her phone open and looked through the call register. The last call was from Deputy Stillwell at 8pm the night before. He took a couple of calming breaths and called the sheriff's office. They didn't know where Isabel was. She wasn't at the station, and they had not contacted her that day. They said the deputy was off for the weekend.
"Oh God no" Sam said in despair falling back into the couch. He watched Dean silently as his older brother paced up and down the room. He'd never seen Dean look so lost.
"He took her Sam" Dean said with watery eyes, his face a mask of anguish and barely restrained anger "Son of a bitch took her!"
"We'll find her" Sam said determined "We're going to find her"
"We have to figure this out" Dean said "Now!"
"I think she left the phone as a clue" Sam said.
"She said the other day that Stillwell was on her list" Dean said pacing again "That he moved here recently"
"He's in charge of the investigation. I don't think it's him Dean"
"It's all we've got Sam!" Dean screamed "Besides, he's the last person she spoke to and she obviously wanted us to know that" He held up the phone to Sam to cement his point.
"Why would she go with him though?" Sam said and immediately realised just why she had "I'm going to strangle her when we find her"
Dean looked at his brother in surprise, never having heard a violent word from his mouth. He too was now angry at their cousin. She had picked an incredibly risky and stupid way to help.
"He wouldn't have looked like Stillwell" Dean said now piecing the puzzle together "Jack said he was expecting the deputy last night. He must have gone to Jack's, killed him then came here for Isabel"
"Looking like Jack" Sam finished for him.
"We need to know where he is" Dean said running a hand through his hair in frustration "The station said he's off duty this weekend, so he'll probably be wherever it is he's got Isabel and the other girls. We've got to find him now"
They found Isabel's briefcase and went through it, figuring that when she did her search of men who had recently moved into town, she would have written the deputy's address in there too. They found her planner and the entry for the previous Tuesday. Stillwell's address was there and they wasted no time in driving over.
They screeched to a halt outside the deputy's cottage and ran to the door, knocking once before kicking the door down. As they walked into the house the feeling of dread only intensified when they found the place absolutely bare, as if no one even lived there.
It wasn't until they walked into what appeared to be a spare room that both boys gasped in horror. To anyone it may have seemed that the man had brought the pictures and evidence as homework pertaining to the case he was working on, but now that Sam and Dean were pretty certain it was Stillwell they were after, the scene was infinitely more chilling.
They found what could only be described as a collage of photos on the wall. They had been taken with a digital camera. The faces of Catherine Dupont, Kelly Richardson and all the other girls going about their daily business stared back at them. Sam walked forward and stood in front of the photos of his cousin. Isabel going into work, Isabel coming out of Jack's place, Isabel getting into her car.
"They start from Sunday" Dean said pulling one out and looking at it "First time she walked into the station"
"That's when he chose her" Sam said closing her eyes and shaking his head "He may have never gone for her if we…hadn't involved her in this"
"It wasn't your fault Sam" Dean said "You had the dream, you knew"
"It is my fault Dean!" Sam yelled tears already forming in his eyes, angry tears "If it hadn't been for that stupid dream she wouldn't have been pulled into this. It's only because of this dream that she's…we sent her straight to him!"
"We'll get her back" Dean said determined.
"When Dean? How long has it been now?" He looked at his watch. It was almost 3pm "Sixteen, seventeen hours? We know what he's doing to her!"
"I know Sam! " Dean screamed back at his brother "Don't you think I know? But we need to think clearly to figure this out. We can't help her if we lose it"
Sam looked at his brother, his face twisted in agony "What if we don't find her in time Dean? I don't think I can take this too"
"I know Sam" Dean said gently, trying to comfort his brother "Me too"
Sam moved over to seat on the couch, his hands on his head as he stared at the ground. He took a couple of deep breaths and looked up at his brother.
"He's gotta have them somewhere near those woods" He said finally.
"Police looked through those woods, and so did we. We didn't find anything" Dean said.
"We need more information. What's near those woods?" Sam said "Who would know?"
"We can go to her work" Dean said "Someone there would know of properties around the area"
They wasted no further time and rushed once more to Isabel's work. They changed quickly into more respectable clothes and decided to play the FBI agents this time around. They walked in and were greeted by a friendly receptionist.
"Hi" The young woman said eyeing both men up and down, clearly pleased with what she saw "How may I help you?"
"We're with the FBI, can we please speak to someone about properties near Blackpool woods"
She called one of the real estate agents and a few moments later, a young man in his early thirties came out to greet them.
"How may I help you?" The man asked with a frown, wondering what the hell the FBI was doing there.
Sam wasn't trusting himself to speak all that coherently at the moment, and Dean could tell, which meant that people person or not, he was going to have to do all the talking for now.
"We're investigating the recent disappearances around the county" Dean started "We need to know of any properties there maybe around the woods"
"Properties for sale or rent?" The man asked motioning them to his desk as he sat and started clicking on his computer.
"Just properties in general" Dean prompted "What is there?"
"Well, rural properties are actually handled by another realtor, Isabel Bennett" The agent explained "Let's go check her station"
The man stood up and walked to the desk on the other side of the room. Sam and Dean followed quietly and stood in silence as they took in their cousin's desk. Her coffee mug was still sitting there, a pink lipstick mark on the edge. There was a small picture of her parents near the phone, and the boys recognised their uncle and auntie from one of Isabel's birthday parties when she was little. Dean remembered that day, he'd been there.
Sam looked at the desk calendar in front of them and picked it up. She had circled the last Friday of the month and written Sam with a red marker on the day. He looked at Dean and noticed his brother had seen it too. It was Sam's birthday.
Dean saw his brother was starting to lose his composure again and looked at the realtor impatiently "Anything?"
"I'm looking" the man said "It's not my area, like I told you, but Isabel's got the weekend off. I could call her if you'd like. She won't mind coming in, she's probably at home"
"That's alright" Dean said "Just tell us what properties are on those woods"
"Well, none" He said simply looking at Sam and Dean "There are no properties on those woods. Nearest town is about 25 miles east"
"There's nothing closer? " Sam asked desperately "On the outskirts even"
"Well, there used to be, a small mining town" He said "But it was all torn down when they built the ski lodge. It's the only thing out there"
Sam looked at his brother. Dean had the same question "Mining town?"
"Yeah, used to be a coal mine on the edge of the woods" He said casually "But it's been closed for about twenty years"
"Show us where that mine is" Dean demanded.