After eating, the three returned to the motel, Sam resuming his research on the bed while Dean busied himself cleaning his gun. Rachel stayed on the armchair, doing her own research on her phone. Dean quietly observed the tension between Sam and Rachel, taking a break from his gun to send Sam a text:

Dude. The air is killing me because it's so thick with bullshit tension between you two. Let me know if you want me to leave so you can get down to business. ;)

Sam received it, holding back from rolling his eyes as he replied:

Shut it, Dean.

Dean put down his phone with an exaggerated sigh. "Anything yet, bookworms?" he asked, glancing between the two.

Rachel looked up. "I may have found something, actually." She stood, coming toward the brothers. "We know that Arioch at least has a type, so I've been scouring social media to see if the women themselves had a type. They don't." She sat on the edge of the bed as Sam and Dean peered down at her phone. "But, I did find a common thread for hobbies—the women are all avid readers."

"So, librarian meat suit?" Dean asked.

Sam was quiet for a moment as he typed away on his laptop. "Take a look at this." He showed them a local news article from about three years prior, a photo of a man holding a novel.

"'Book Signing For The Lincoln Book Society,'" Rachel read.

"Who runs the society?" Dean asked.

"Looks like a guy named Daniel Thurman," Sam replied.

"Thurman." Rachel's eyes widened; she took Sam's arm. "Related to Kyle Thurman?"

Sam did a quick search, pulling up a picture. Kyle looked nearly like his dad. "Yep. They're also members of the Life Water Tabernacle - a Pentecostal community."

"Grigoris are angels," Dean noted, "so they'd need their vessel's permission."

"Perfect for those with charismatic belief," Rachel concluded.

"I say we go track down Daniel Thurman."

"Dean," Sam said, "I'll handle Thurman. You take Rachel to the church to talk to the pastor."

Rachel looked at Sam. "We're splitting up?"

"Not sure that's a good call, Sammy," Dean agreed. "If Thurman remembers contact with the vessel, then he may remember where the women are being kept. Then whatever we find at the church won't matter."

Sam shut his eyes. "Dean, can I talk to you outside?" He didn't really wait, instead standing and walking to the motel room door, Dean following behind. Once outside, Sam turned and faced him. "I'm trying to keep her from getting killed," Sam argued in a hushed tone. "We take her to Thurman, and we have no idea if Arioch is still in there. If it's just me, he won't react."

"If Arioch is still in Thurman's meat suit," Dean corrected. "Going up against a grigori yourself is not smart or safe."

"Dean-"

"Sam, I get it. I understand. But she's safer with both of us with her than just one of us, right?" Dean asked. "There's strength in numbers. We'll keep her from him." Dean patted his brother's shoulder. "Have a little faith." He leaned in, just before going back inside. "And for God's sake, make a damn move soon, or I will."

Sam's eyes narrowed as he watched Dean walk away. He knew Dean purposely spiked his competitive side, but he couldn't help the territorial feeling regardless. "Dammit, Dean," he growled, going back inside and shutting the door.

Rachel stood, watching them approach. "Guys," she said, "don't we need an angel blade or angel sword?"

"I doubt Arioch is in there," Dean replied. "He's likely long gone." He looked Rachel over. "You okay with this?"

"I'm fine with it," she replied, glancing at Sam. "As long as you both are."

Sam was quiet as he looked down at her for a long moment. He gave a soft nod, turning and gathering his gun and knife.

"You armed?" Dean asked Rachel.

"I've got a P-32 in my ankle holster," she replied.

"Great. You can give the grigori a paper cut."

"Well, do you want to give me something bigger and somewhere to put it?"

Dean grinned, looking her over. "I can definitely give you something bigger, sweetheart," he said, seeing how Rachel blushed in response. "I think we can figure out the rest."

"You need a shoulder holster," Sam practically growled, coming to her side as he tucked his gun in his own shoulder holster. He gave Dean an icy look that Rachel didn't notice.

"I've got a backup, but she'll swim in it," Dean offered, not missing his brother's annoyance.

"We'll get you one," Sam assured Rachel, looking down at her with a small smile. "If you're hanging around with us for any period of time, you're going to need it."

"Are you two dangerous or something?" she teased. "I could've sworn I had teamed up with two teddy bears."

Dean chuckled. "Oh, I can assure you that I'm no teddy bear." He smirked, giving her a wink. "Unless you'd like proof for yourself."

"I'll take a rain check," Rachel replied with a laugh, feeling Sam's eyes on her. A quick look to her left confirmed it—they were nearly piercing right through her.

"Sammy, on the other hand, well …" Dean looked over at him. "He's a giant puppy dog." Sam shot Dean an icy look in response.

"So you attract the bad girls, huh?" Rachel asked Dean, putting on her blazer.

"He seeks out the bad ones," Sam corrected gruffly. "Trouble always likes more trouble."

"Gotta keep it interesting," Dean shrugged. "She knows what I mean."

Rachel immediately got warmer from her flush. "Are you trying to imply that I'm a bad girl?"

"You tell me," Dean said with a raised brow.

She shook her head with a smile, silently grabbing her overcoat and heading out of the room. When she disappeared from sight, Sam grabbed Dean's shoulder. "I'm going to murder you while you sleep. You know that, right?" he whispered.

Dean shook out of Sam's light grasp, shrugging. "Can't handle the competition?"

"I can't believe you're serious right now," Sam mumbled, shaking his head.

"As a heart attack, Sammy. So, make a move … while you still can," he challenged with a wink, slinging on his coat and sauntering out of the room.

Sam's blood boiled; Dean knew exactly which buttons to push, which pissed him off. Though he knew Dean's motivation behind it, it didn't make his blatant flirting any easier. With a growl, Sam shut and locked the motel room door, stalking downstairs to the Impala.

Dean leaned his left elbow on his door as he sat in the driver's seat, covering his chuckle with his mouth as Sam got in the car. He knew his tactic would piss Sam off, and it was kind of amusing to see. But dammit, Sam just needed to go for it, and he was going to make sure he jumped off the ledge, no matter what it took.

The drive to Daniel Thurman's residence was quiet; Rachel kept her focus on the scenery out of the window as Dean drove. They had made steps to finding Hailey, but she couldn't shake the feeling that their efforts were in vain-not after hearing how Sam and Dean talked about the difficulty in killing a grigori. She felt herself quickly losing hope, and knew it must have been evident when they exited the car.

Rachel felt Sam's gentle touch on her back, his fingers seemingly attracted to the low curve. "You okay?" he asked. She nodded. She couldn't afford to be weak, not now. Hailey was depending on her strength. He paused her, turning her to himself. "You sure?" he asked, nothing but concern in his eyes.

"I'll be fine," she assured with a smile that didn't really convince him, slipping away from his embrace to follow Dean to the front door.

Daniel Thurman answered, and all three took out their badges, holding them up. "Daniel Thurman?" Dean asked. "Agents Russell, Elliott, and Markson, FBI."

Daniel's eyes widened. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

"We want to ask you about the local missing women," Sam said, tucking his badge away.

"I'm afraid I don't know much about it," Daniel admitted. "It's just terrible what happened."

"Three of the four women missing were in your book club," Rachel said, her tone cool. "You sure you don't know much about it?"

The accusation clearly made Daniel nervous. "I'm aware, but I can assure you, I don't know anything about their disappearances."

"Then let's just talk about them," Dean said, forcing a smile. Reluctantly, Daniel opened the door, Dean ushering Rachel in first, the two brothers following.

"Please, have a seat," Daniel offered, only Dean taking one.

"So," Dean began, leaning forward as he sat on the edge of the couch, "what can you tell us about the women?"

"They were very nice," Daniel said, sitting. "Kind. Considerate. Very … normal."

"As opposed to what?"

"Well, they weren't promiscuous or involved with anything illicit, at least not that I knew of."

"You're a member of the Life Water Tabernacle, correct?" Sam asked, his hands in his pockets, flicking his eyes to Rachel as she slowly wandered around the room.

"I am. I'm actually the associate pastor."

"Did any of the women attend the church?"

"Three of the four missing, yes. My son had met the youngest one, Hailey, at college."

"Were they long time members of the church?" Dean asked.

Daniel nodded. "Decently. We're a smaller community."

"Does Kyle attend the church?" Rachel asked.

"Yes. He's a training youth pastor."

"According to Pentecostal belief," Sam said, taking a small step toward Daniel, "you open yourself to the possession of the Holy Spirit, correct?"

"Yes, that's right."

"What about angels?"

"I mean … sure, it could be asked for."

"Did you ever ask to be a vessel for an angel?"

Daniel's brow raised. "I'm sorry, am I under some sort of suspicion?"

"No," Sam said, "but we do want to get an idea of the relationship between your faith and these disappearances."

"So you think these were religiously-motivated kidnappings?"

"We're not sure at the moment," Dean replied. "But we like to be thorough."

"I just never heard of Federal agents being interested in those types of possibilities," Daniel admitted with a soft laugh.

"We're not your typical agents."

Daniel inhaled deeply. "Yes, I have asked to be used as a vessel before, but nothing has ever come of it."

"Do you think you would remember if you did become one?" Sam asked.

"I would suppose I would have some sort of memory."

"Mister Thurman," Rachel said, paused over the end table across from Dean. "Do you have a particular interest in dream analysis?" She held up a small book on the subject, looking to him.

Sam and Dean saw Daniel's subtle panic. "I … I've had some odd dreams lately, but that's all they are," he said quickly.

"Are you sure about that?" Rachel stepped closer, still holding the book.

Daniel drew in a deep breath. "I did have a couple dreams involving the women. After they went missing."

"Describe them," Dean said, watching Daniel closely.

"I'm sure it's just too much news broadcast information filtering in my brainwaves," Daniel replied in a dismissive tone.

"Humor me."

"Well …" The three watched him intently. "I dreamt about I assume where they were kept. It was dark, and wet. It didn't seemed to be somewhere occupied. There were large poles."

Dean barely waited through Daniel's pause. "What else? Did you see anything else? Smell anything? Hear anything?"

Daniel shook his head. "The only other thing I remember is a sweet smell."

"Like what?" Sam asked.

"I'm … I'm not sure." Daniel sighed. "I just assumed this was all a manifestation of news and movies I've seen."

"Did you see any of the victims in your dreams?" Rachel asked.

"No," Daniel admitted.

Rachel returned the book to the table, crossing back over to Sam. "You said Kyle knew Hailey from school?"

"Briefly. He invited her to church once or twice, but I don't believe she ever came."

"Your son was the last person to see Hailey," she noted, slowly approaching.

"I am aware." Daniel's brow furrowed. "Is my son under suspicion?"

"No," Sam replied. "But we do ask that you both make yourselves available for further questioning if needed. Can you give us Kyle's contact information in case we need to speak with him?"

"Of course," Daniel replied, standing; Dean stood with him. Daniel briefly left the room, returning with a piece of paper that had a phone number on it. "That's his cell. He should be at the service tonight, though. If there's nothing else, agents, I need to get ready for tonight's service." He looked at all of them. "You're welcome to attend, if you'd like. It is an intercessory service."

"What's that?" Dean asked.

"A service where those with need come and pray to receive intercession on behalf of God through the Holy Spirit. It's at seven o'clock."

Sam glanced over to Dean. "Sure. We'll be there."

Daniel smiled. "Wonderful. Perhaps then we can ask God to intervene on behalf of those missing."

Dean tried to give a polite smile, but mostly failed. "Perhaps."

"So," Rachel said as they climbed back into the Impala, "I got warehouse from that."

"Same. Which doesn't really narrow it down," Dean concluded.

"I'll run an area search of warehouses and see what I come up with."

Sam nodded. "I'll help."

As Dean started the car, Rachel leaned forward. "Are we really going to the service?"

"I figure it's a good way to see what we're working with," Sam explained. "Maybe something will reveal itself along the way."

Sam saw her expression shift in the rear view mirror, catching her hesitance and a bit of fear. "Oh," she said quietly, leaning back. "Yeah. Sure." She took a deep breath. "So the dreams … they're likely the memories he had when Arioch used him as a vessel?"

"More than likely."

"Then Kyle could have been a vessel unknowingly too, right?"

Dean nodded. "Very possible. So, you nerds have four hours to search until it's church time."

"Anyone hear back about the autopsy?" Sam asked.

"No," Rachel sighed.

"Well, for now, we'll do what we can with what Thurman gave us."