Dean sat in the booth watching the town outside his window. He watched the people come and go, nothing more important on their minds than whether the sun would stay, and the water would be warm. It must be nice Dean thought to himself.
Dean couldn't remember there ever being a time in his life when such mundane thoughts were all he had to deal with. Oh well, Dean thought such is life. He turned his focus on Sam who was on his cell talking with Paul.
"Paul, hey yeah, listen we have a lead but we're going to have to leave town for a few days. Yeah, we think it's something attached to the Masters' estate. We're leaving first thing today for Massachusetts. Sure, Sure as soon as we know anything." Sam hung up his phone and turned his attention to the cup of coffee the waitress had set before him.
Dean watched Sam fuss with his coffee, "Okay, so we head back to the motel, pack up and get started for Framingham. That'll take about 6 hours, we check out the heirs to the estate and try and find this Masters woman's grave. Sound like a plan Sam?"
Sam nodded, "Sounds about right. We should be able to get back here in about three days. We'll double check the antique store, and be on our way." Sam sat back and smiled up at the waitress that was placing food before him.
Dean gave a nod and shot a smile at the waitress before him. "Well, Alright then."
888
Framingham, Massachusett's
Sam was up to his armpits in a large dirt hole in the middle of Framingham's most prestigious cemetery. For him this was always the best part of grave digging, being 6ft 4 Sam knew that once the hole was this deep they were about to locate the remains. Sam looked over at Dean and knew that for him this was always the worst part of grave digging. Dean at 6ft from here on out had to throw the dirt practically over his head to get it out of the hole. Oh well, Sam thought sucks to be him.
Dean threw yet another shovel full of dirt out of the hole and cursed once again. Shoveling sucked there was no other way to put it. Dean tossed out another shovel full and snorted, he knew, just knew that sasquatch was over there grinning at the fact that Dean was working so much harder. Dean thought to himself how unnatural, it was no one should be that tall, least of all Dean's baby brother. Oh well, Dean thought sucks to be me.
Suddenly as Sam brought his shovel down for another scoop, he felt his shovel slide along something smooth. "Got it" Sam called out. He cleared out another couple scoops of dirt as Dean hoisted himself out and went to get the supplies.
Dean tossed the crowbar, salt and gasoline down to Sam and leaned back against the cold marble of a headstone. He watched as Sammy pried the lid of the coffin and began preparing it to burn. Dean was glad as hell to be putting this one behind him, what a nightmare it had been tracking this one down.
888
Ten hours before
Sam sat in front of the local library's computer quickly scanning the obits for Framingham, Mass from the last four months. Finally, he lit upon the name he was looking for.
"What'd you find," Dean asked handing Sam one of the cups of coffee he had smuggled into the library. Dean sipped his as he watched Sam scan the article.
Sam took a drink from his own cup and sat back slightly. "Well it looks as if, Matilda Masters died about four months ago. She was a recluse that lived here in town. Her estate was one of the largest in the area and had been in her family for four generations. She was the last of the direct line. She died with no husband, and no kids." Sam paused for a moment quickly tucking his coffee under the desk in front of him as the eagle eyed librarian made another sweep of the room.
Dean sat forward slightly "any idea where she's buried it would save us a heck of a lot of time?" Dean quickly shot a smile of innocence towards the librarian that was treating him and Sam to the evil eye.
"No, no such luck, apparently there wasn't even a service. They just stuck the poor woman in the ground. We're going to have to visit, the law firm that handled the arrangements." Sam said standing and stretching.
Dean stood and followed his brother out the door, into the waning sunshine. "Not today we aren't, too late in the day there's no way the lawyer's office is still open. Let's find a place to crash, a bite to eat and we'll start again in the morning."
888
Dean stood at the counter of an old hotel and signed yet another fake name to another fake registry. As he stood waiting for the manager to run his card, his thoughts drifted to another hotel one in a sunnier town, one with a pretty young girl. He wondered idly whether he'd ever see Jill again. When they had checked out of the Owl Motel he had been packing the Impala and Sam had been the one to check out. Dean had seen Jill standing by the office though thru the rearview. She had lifted a hand in goodbye and Dean had returned the gesture.
The prissy looking manager interrupted Dean's thoughts. Dean looked up to see him holding the hotel keys towards him. "Here you go, Mr. Thomas Shaw here's your keys, and you're in room 107."
Dean nodded and took the keys as he moved from the desk. That's when he had an idea and turned back. "Excuse me, uh Richard can I ask you a question?" Dean returned to the desk and leaned casually against it.
Richard looked at the handsome man before him and smiled. "Of course how can I help?"
An uncomfortable look passed across Dean's face for a moment, before he turned the charm back on. "Well, my brother and I are avid antiquers and we have an interest in the Masters collection. We've looked through all the papers though and haven't found much information on Matilda Masters herself. You didn't by any chance know of her?"
Richard was in heaven, Thomas not only looked good but he also shared a passion for antiquities. "Well, now what I could tell you about the Masters family would take hours. They're one of the most famous families in the area. How about we discuss it over dinner, say six o'clock?" Richard leaned towards the green eyed man and rested a hand on his arm.
Dean shook his head slightly and closed his eyes for a moment. "Um, where did you want to meet?" Dean couldn't believe the words had come from his mouth. Talking about taking one for the team, Sammy would ride his ass for months about this.
Richard beamed and said "Why the only place worth dining in this town is the Tavern. How about you pick me up after my shift?"
Dean had a sudden idea, "Actually, how about I meet you there. I'm here with my" and at this point Dean paused dramatically "partner. I promised him a good meal. And he would just love to meet you and discuss what you know about the Masters estate." Dean again, smiled confidently hoping that the man would still share the information he had with Dean.
Richard's bright smile dimmed a bit "I thought you said you were here with your brother." Richard looked down at the registration log hoping to hide his disappointment that the young man before him was taken.
"Nope" Dean lied through his teeth. "I said partner." Dean started directly at Richard never breaking eye contact. Dean lied more times than he told the truth, and he knew that if you said it and believed it others would also. Dean then turned slightly and nodded towards where Sam could be seen leaning against the hood of the Impala. "So we still on? I really would enjoy it."
Richard looked into the face staring at him intently and then glanced out the window towards another young man leaning against the hood of a big black car. Whew, thought Richard as he checked out the tall, dark handsome man. Richard looked back at Thomas and figured what the hell. Dinner with two handsome men was better than a night alone, so what if they weren't available. It would still be fun, besides you just never know. "You're on, six o'clock at the Tavern." Richard pulled a brochure for the restaurant from the rack against the wall and handed it to Dean. "Directions are on the back, I'll see you there."
Dean smiled again and turned from the room, as he exited the building towards Sam he suddenly grinned, Oh boy Sam was going to hit the fan. Dean flashed Sam his brightest smile and slapped him lightly on the rear as Sam moved away from the car.
"Dean, what the hell" Sam asked staring at Dean in confusion as Dean prepared to get in the car.
"We've got an audience Sam, just smile and get in the car." Dean got behind the drivers seat and waited for Sam.
Sam shook his head, first Dean had been in there nearly a half-hour and now he was acting strangely, really strange, Sam noted as Dean once again sent Sammy one of his broadest grins. Sam saw Dean wave a hand towards a young man standing in the entrance of the office and then start the car. Sam suddenly felt uneasy, and around Dean uneasy feelings were usually accurate feelings. Sam shrugged and waited, he would find out soon enough what Dean had gotten them into.
888
Dean stepped into the shower and allowed the spray to run down his face. He had showered earlier in the evening, but for some reason had felt like another one tonight. He was still unsettled by the evening he had just spent.
888
It had taken two hours to finally convince Sam that it was worth playing the role of a couple in order to get the information they needed. Finally, it was the fact that the only lead they had so far was the name of a law firm, and lawyers didn't just hand off personal information about their clients to just anyone.
As Dean and Sam dressed, Sam tried to back out again and again. Dean had simply refused to listen to anymore of Sammy's arguments. He had picked up his i-pod and turned it to the loudest metal he could find, and simply ignored Sam as he finished dressing. He found himself grateful for the suits they kept in the trunk of the Impala for when they impersonated, Feds, this Tavern looked pretty uptight.
Sam kept on complaining long after Dean tuned him out. There really wasn't any point to it other than to allow Sam to vent his frustration at the situation Dean had gotten him into. He really had no problem with the fact that the manager was gay, however that didn't mean that he wanted to spend his evening pretending that he was. How, Dean thought to pull this off was beyond Sam.
Dean was a bit nervous as he pulled the Impala into the parking lot of the restaurant a few minutes before six. He quickly picked out Richard standing next to some type of Hybrid vehicle. As Dean parked beside it, he laughed in derision, electric power, what a joke driving something that ran on batteries.
As the brothers stepped from the car and approached Richard, Dean noted Sam look closely at the car behind the hotel manager. "Cool, is this one of the new Hybrids?" Sam asked looking at the vehicle in interest.
Richard stood a little straighter as he checked out the two handsome men before him. "Yeah, nice huh, and it's everything they promised. Why my gas bill has been cut in half. I'm in love with this little car." Richard patted the car gently.
Sam noted Dean's eyes roll in his head and he gave him a glare. Sam turned back towards Richard and said "Hi, I'm James Young, it's nice to meet you." Sam held out his hand.
Richard shook Sam's hand and gestured towards the restaurant. "Shall we?" he asked leading the way.
Sam and Dean exchanged a nervous glance and moved forward as one.
888
Dean's attention was quickly called back from the past when the shower he stood under became what could best be described as luke-warm at best. Dean quickly finished his shower and shut off the water. A few minutes later found him, sitting in one of the chairs by the window of the room listening as Sam listed the information they had gathered from Richard.
As Sam sat drinking the beer that Dean had handed him moments earlier he looked at the notes that he had put together. "So, as far as I can tell Matilda Masters was a highly unliked old lady with a priceless collection of teapots."
"How ridiculous is it that we posed as a couple in order to stop some old bitch's teapot set from killing someone. This whole gig has been nine kinds of crazy." Dean said as he took a sip from his own beer. "Alright, well whatever man, tonight we'll do the old salt and burn and be back on the road to Somers Point by morning. And after that neither one of us will ever mention it again."
Sam nodded in agreement and said, "I'll be glad to put this town behind me that's for sure. Come on its late enough and the cemetery is across town."