One of the phones in the kitchen rang again and Dean crossed the room and studied the yellowed tape on the phone handle. He and Sam glanced at one another, wondering who on earth had Bobby's actual land line number. Sam shrugged silently and the older man's eyes snapped to the window when he heard the crunch of gravel underneath tires.
He moved to the living room window without a sound and peered out between the dusty curtains with caution and frowned when he saw an eighties model two tone truck pull up. "Sam, we got company." The only reply was the cocking of Sam's gun.
spnspnspnspn
Sighing in frustration, the brunette groaned and tossed her cell phone onto the bench seat next to her as she drove down the last two lane to Bobby's house.
The trip from Decorah, Iowa had taken her about four hours. For some reason, Riley had driven with a heavy foot towards his home. Perhaps it was because she hadn't spoken with him in a month and frankly, that worried her.
Bobby always called, even if it was some damn inconveinent time of the day or night. Not that it would matter to me, she thought with a smile. College had her camping out at the library often until the wee hours and any ring from her phone was a welcome break from her studies.
She turned into Singer's Salvage in a cloud of dust without using her signal and stopped the truck to grab his mail from the rusted box. There were only two items inside and a frown settled on her features when she saw they'd been postmarked from six weeks prior. She shoved them into the side pocket on her backpack and continued towards the house.
The brunette drove alongside the piles of slowly deteriorating vehicles until the two story house came into view. Riley's brown eyes narrowed as she pulled into her old spot, Bobby's car sitting there. She slowed to a stop and shifted into park before getting out and slamming the door, her backpack on her shoulder and her laundry bag in the opposite hand and she headed towards the house.
The sunlight made her squint and she called out. "Bobby? I'm home." There wasn't a reply and her heart started to pound as she climbed the steps. "Bobby?" Riley pressed her key into the worn lock and turned it.
"Bobby? I'm home." Riley let herself in and closed the wooden door behind her. She slipped off the bags and wandered towards the kitchen. She moved to the fridge and pulled it open, the smell of rotting food wafting into her nostrils. "Ugh. I should stopped at the store for you."
She pulled the half gallon of spoiled milk and a rotten bag of apples out, tossing them into the trash before reaching under the sink for some cleaner and paper towels. Riley checked the rest of the contents before leaving the olives, stone ground mustard, three beers and her half bottle of wine inside.
Trying not to gag, she tied off the trashbag and carried it onto the front porch, setting it down outside the door. "Bobby, you here?" She called again, the screen door slamming closed behind her. The brunette wound her longish hair into a messy bun at the nape of her neck and sighed before heading back to the kitchen.
"Hold it right there." A male voice made her freeze and her eyes watered, fear instantly in her chest. A very tall male moved around her, a handgun trained on her in the foyer. Her hands were up, palms towards him at chest level. "Who are you?"
"Riley." Pause. "Where's Bobby?" The man lowered his gun a fraction of an inch, his features softening somewhat. His eyes burned into hers for a moment before they moved over her shoulder.
"Bobby's gone." Another male voice made her jump and she turned to see a second man behind her, another handgun pinted at her chest. "The hell are you?"
"My name is Riley." Damnit, her voice was shaking. "Where's Bobby?"
The two men exchanged looks before she found herself being splashed with water from a metal flask. "What the hell?" Her chocolate gaze locked on the second man's flask. "That's Bobby's... what the hell did you do to him?"
The first man tucked his gun into the back of his jeans, deciding she was safe. He looked at the second man. "Bobby passed away a month ago." Riley felt all the air get sucked out of the foyer and her knees buckled under her. She dropped to the wood floor with a thud, staring blankly in front of her. "I'm sorry."
She felt hot tears sliding down her cheeks and she gripped her hair painfully before she started to sob quietly. The two men didn't say anything, just eyed her and the bags of belongings next to her. Those quiet sobs turned into the brunette scrambling to her feet and shoving a finger into the shorter man's chest accusingly, despite the handgun still pointed at her. "What did you do to him?"
Green eyes put his gun away and caught her hand, somewhat gently. "He was hunting and..." His voice trailed off.
"He's always careful. You're lying." Her molten chocolate glare held his. "I'm calling the police." She stormed past him and his eyes moved to his brother's. He tucked his gun away as well.
Riley had dialed 9 when a hand reached out to press an index finger to the old rotary phone, hanging up. "Hang on."
"You broke into Bobby's house and you're pointing guns at me. Yeah, right old man." She moved her gaze to the taller man hanging in the doorway, hands in his pockets. "You got anything to say, shaggy?"
The older man smirked at her smartass comment to his brother. "How did you know Bobby?"
"Get out of his house. Now." Riley pushed her tears back angrily.
"Now just hold on." The shorter man's gruff voice made her look at him. "I'm Dean and this is my brother, Sam. And you're Riley?" A slight nod. "Are you a hunter?"
Her brow wrinkled. "No. My dad was... used to hunt with Bobby before he took off and left me and my mom.." There was a pregnant pause. "You guys are his hunting buddies?" They glanced at one another. "Stop doing that."
"Yeah, I guess you could say that."
Riley moved to the living room and they followed, stopping when she got to the fireplace. The last card she'd sent him was the father's day card and she reached up on the mantel to read it again. "Why'd you ask if I was a hunter?"
Sam spoke up. "If your dad was, I guess I thought you were too." That made her roll her eyes.
"Dad chose hunting over me and mom." Her tone became bitter. "So hunting was more important than his family."
"Riley, I don't know that we're talking about the same thing here."
The brunette set the card back in its place. "Excuse me?"