Chapter 5

"Are you finding anything?" Bobby asked as Sam looked over the information his search had compiled.

"Not sure, Dean, can you get me a map of the states? If there's one with just the central states only would be even better."

"Sure, I'll check," Dean replied. He went to a dresser and started looking through the drawers where he knew Bobby kept a supply of maps and began searching for what Sam wanted. "Bingo!" Dean announced after ten minutes of searching. He tossed the map to Sam who unfolded it and spread it on the table.

"What are you looking for?" Bobby questioned.

"Well, at first I thought it was nothing and if you looked at it as separate incidents it didn't really mean much, but when I started linking them together, I started seeing a pattern. At least I think I did." Sam read from the report and began to mark the map with X's.

Dean and Bobby watched with interest until Sam was finished, trying to figure out what he was doing. Sam leaned back and studied what he had done.

"Wanna key us in on what you did?" Dean asked. Sometimes Sam forgot that others did not think like him and could not see things as clearly as he did.

"Right, sorry. I started with the last place Jacob was at, Stanberry, Missouri and looked for anything that might be a case to see if I could find anything he might have been checking out," Sam explained as he pointed to the town on the map. "Then I branched out," he continued using his finger to draw a circle around an area that included Iowa, Missouri, Kansas.

"Sammy, can you get to the main topic here, you're putting me to sleep," Dean complained, adding a yawn to get his point across.

Sam gave Dean a bitch face and snort before saying anything.

"If you count the number of missing person cases in, I did like a hundred-mile radius, it is six times the average anywhere else in the country."

Dean looked at Sam and down at the map and back up at Sam with a puzzled look on his face.

"I don't get it," Dean finally shrugged.

"Someone is kidnapping people, but doing what with them?" Bobby asked. "And why has no one else put this together?"

"Because it spans three states and different towns around this circle," Sam stated drawing a circle on the map. Different counties, different police forces, different jurisdictions, so if you really wasn't looking closely, it could be missed."

"And Jacob must have found something or ran across a clue or he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Maybe. I figure Dean and I can head that way tomorrow and look into it. Maybe we can find out what's going on and where all these missing people have gone."

"Do you have any information on the missing people?"

"Not yet, I was going to hack into some of the locals' data bases and see what I can find."

"If they're from an area this big, I doubt there would be any connections between the victims."

"And none of the people have turned up, dead or alive?"

"No, not a trace and that in itself is unusual if you ask me. Unless you're a really good serial killer that hides his tracks and his victims."

"Guess we're heading out in the morning then," Dean huffed. "I'll double check the weapon's bag." He left the room to do that.

"That's the clothes," Sam commented when a buzzer went off in the laundry room. He got up and headed that way to get their clothes out of the dryer and fold them.

Bobby pulled the map around and studied it trying to see what Sam did. He took a different colored pen and began to connect the X's making a circle. Almost in the middle was a town in Iowa called Prescott.

"You find something Bobby?" Sam asked when we came back through with a basket of clean clothes.

"Maybe, go finish what you're doing, and we'll look at it," Bobby told him.

"I'll be back in a minute." Sam headed upstairs with the clean clothes and separated them, leaving Dean's clothes on his bed. He headed back down and took a seat at the table.

Bobby joined him after heating a cup of coffee and showed him what he had found.

"I think we need to start here," Bobby pointed. "Prescott, Iowa. It's almost in the center of the missing persons you marked on this map. I don't know if it's anything but won't hurt to check it out."

"I'll see what reports I can find on the victims starting with the ones closest to there and work my way out," Sam told him pulling his laptop toward him. "So, you gonna come with us?"

"Yes, I think this is bigger than we could ever imagine."

"You don't think it's a serial killer, do you?"

"I think there's something going on we don't know about and the answers are in Iowa."

"Got the weapon's bag ready to go," Dean told them as he strolled back into the room. He looked between Sam and Bobby for a moment sensing something. "What'd I miss?"

spn

The hunters were up early the next morning and prepared to leave for Prescott, Iowa. Sam had worked hard on getting all the missing person reports he could and printed them out the night before. He was not sure if they would help or not, but they did not have much else to go on.

Bobby was going to follow in his truck so they would have two vehicles to use. He stocked his truck with weapons he thought would be useful and they stopped in town for him to gas the truck before heading south. He fell in behind Dean on the interstate and they cruised toward Iowa.

The drive was uneventful, and they made it to the small town in record time. It was lunchtime and Dean pulled into a diner that was located just off the main street of Prescott. The parking lot was already filling which was always a good sign. The brothers waited for Bobby to join them before heading toward the front doors. The stepped into a foyer and saw a sign that said, 'Wait to be seated,' and stood there until the hostess came up and led them into the dining room and to a table on the far side of the room.

"Must be a popular spot, it's starting to fill up," Dean noted as he opened the menu to see what the place offered.

Sam glanced around at the other patrons in the place getting an unsettling feeling. He let his eyes fall to the menu for a moment and looked back up noticing that some of the other people were looking their way and quickly looked away when they saw Sam had seen them staring.

"Hello, I'm Mara, your waitress, what can I get you gentlemen to drink?" a young woman not much older than Dean asked as she stopped at their table.

"Coffee and water," Bobby told her.

"Sweet tea with lemon," Dean replied.

"Unsweet tea please," Sam added, looking up at her to see a look of distrust in her eyes that vanished quickly.

"I'll get these out to you along with some hot rolls." Mara scribbled on her pad and hurried away before Sam could see more.

"Does anything feel strange to you guys?" Sam mumbled softly to Bobby and Dean.

"What is it Sam?" Bobby asked as he let his eyes roam around for a moment.

"I don't know, something feels off with the people."

"Maybe it's you," Dean offered, but casually perused the other people sitting around them. He could not help but think Sam was right. He could see some whispering and glancing their way before acting normal and eating their food.

"No, there's something not right; I just don't know…."

"Here we go, coffee, sweet tea and unsweet tea," Mara announced sitting the glasses in front of each of them. "Enjoy the hot rolls." She sat a basket of rolls in the middle of the table. "Are you ready to order or do you need another minute?"

"I'm ready," Dean spoke first. "I'll have the double cheeseburger, steak fries and a piece of your best pie. Oh, and could you have to cook throw some sautéed onions on the burger?"

"Of course," Mara replied as she wrote out the order.

"I'll have the turkey club sandwich with baked potato, butter only and a bowl of fruit," Bobby recited handing her the menu.

"And for you sir?" she asked Sam.

"Ummm….A Cobb salad, ranch dressing on the side, and fruit. Could I get some crackers too?"

"No problem. I'll get these orders in for you." Mara looked sideways at Sam for a moment and opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself, and walked away toward the window for the kitchen.

"That wasn't strange at all," Dean grunted. "She trying to flirt with you or something?"

"I don't think so," Sam replied taking a roll to eat. He cut it open and put a small amount of butter inside before taking a bite. They were good, but his mind was not on the food; it was on the reactions the townspeople where having with them being there.

"I think it'd be a good idea to get a motel room and do some research about this town and see if anything sticks out or seems weird," Bobby suggested when he started getting the same feelings as Sam.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Might be a good idea to have some background before contacting the locals," Dean agreed.

They kept their conversation light as they stole glances to the people coming and going from the dining room. Mara came back with a large tray and stand that she set it on so she could serve them. She sat their orders down and went to get Bobby more coffee and the brother's more tea. Once they were taken care of, she hurried off to deal with other customers, leaving them to eat.

Mara came back around to check on them and to see if they needed a to go box for anything. Dean ordered a tea to go and Sam got a small box for the salad he did not eat. Mara brought their bill. Dean's tea, and the box placing it in front of Sam. She tried to smile at him, but it did not reach her eyes as she pressed a napkin into his hand before walking away.

Sam acted like nothing was wrong as he shoved the napkin in his jacket pocket and then picked up his plate to rake the remaining salad into the box and seal it. Dean and Bobby divided up the bill and put cash in the holder allowing for a tip. They got up to leave and wove their way through the tables toward the front door. Sam looked back once at Mara who would not look at him as she carried drinks to another table.

Once they were outside and, in the car, Sam pulled the napkin from his pocket to look at it. Two words were printed on it in black marker, 'Help me'.

"Dean, Bobby, the waitress gave me this," Sam said holding the napkin over the car seat for them to see. "What do you think it means?"

"I think you're right Sam, there is definitely something going on in this town," Bobby said. "Let's get a motel room and sort this out."

Dean started the car and was about to pull away when Sam called to him.

"Wait Dean, I need to do something," Sam told him. He quickly wrote down his cell number and searched for a dollar bill in his pocket before jumping back out and jogging back to the diner. He went back inside and looked for Mara. When he saw her, Sam went to her and smiled as he held out the money with the note hidden inside it. "I forgot to give you a tip," he told her. "Maybe I'll see you again before we leave." He gave her a nod and headed back out to the Impala. Sam hoped she would call him because he wanted to help her if he could. He could sense Mara's fear and uneasiness and wondered what had scared her.

A/N: The mystery gets stranger as they work the case. Halfway through the story and we will find out what's going and where are all the missing persons going in the next couple of chapters. I do like reviews. NC