The knock on the door shocked Mara and Serena out of their bantering. Mara grinned and dramatically waved a hand, indicating that Serena should open the door. Serena mouthed behave before grasping the handle and opening the door. When she did so, she was forced to look up at the man immediately in front of her. In an instant, his crooked smile turned to shock and then just as quickly turned into a full grin.
"Dr. MacKeltar I presume?" Dean asked in a deep voice.
Serena's eyes narrowed as she recognized a man who was flirting on the job. "I am Dr. MacKeltar. And you are?" She was then forced to look up even further as a second, even taller man stepped forward.
"I'm Agent Waters and this is my partner Agent Gilmour, we're with the FBI," Sam spoke up as he brought out his badge. "We would just like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind."
"Please come in and have a seat," Serena said, opening the door fully and gesturing towards the couches.
"Thanks," Dean said, with a wink. He almost took a step back when Serena merely glared back at him.
"Oh I'm sorry, are we interrupting something?" Sam asked when he noticed Mara lounging on the couch. Her bright green eyes were scanning the length of him and she apparently liked what she saw because a mischievous glint sparked in them.
"Not at all," Mara said grinning as she took in the two men entering the room.
"This is my cousin, Mara," Serena said as she perched on the edge of her desk.
"Nice to meet you," Sam said with a quick smile.
"Nice jacket," Dean added with a wink as he took in Mara's beat up leather jacket she hadn't bothered discarding.
"Nice suit," Mara quipped. "They must really pay you boys the big bucks."
"It's not the suit that makes the man sweetheart, it's the man who makes the suit," Dean fired back with a smirk.
Mara raised her eyebrows in appreciation. "Apparently," she said grinning widely.
"Ahem," Sam cleared his throat, interrupting. "Dr. MacKeltar, our chief sent us out here because of the recent string of deaths. If our information is correct, some of the children of the deceased men and women are patients of yours?"
Serena was trying unsuccessfully to catch Mara's attention who was too busy ogling both men's backsides and as a result she almost missed Sam's question. "Y-yes, that is correct. I have three patients who lost a parent recently."
"Have they mentioned anything out of the ordinary? Anything that struck you as odd?" Sam asked.
"May I have a look at your badges again? Doctor-patient confidentiality isn't something I take lightly, no offense," Serena said as her demeanor changed and she flashed Sam a coy smile.
"Oh…of course!" he stammered, fumbling slightly as he drug out his badge again.
"Thank you," Serena said sweetly as she quickly examined it and then turned to Dean, expecting to see his. Dean however was too busy flashing grins at Mara to notice that Serena stood there, with her hand out expectantly. It took a not too subtle cough from Sam that sounded a lot like "Dean!" to bring his attention back around.
"Oh yeah, sorry, here ya go," he said as he handed his badge over to Serena, trying yet again to dazzle her with a smile. This time, it seemed to work as she smiled back at him and thanked him in the same manner as she did Sam.
"Well, you're certainly who you say you are!" Serena said laughing. "Sorry about that, I just like to be thorough you know. In everything," she added as she smiled flirtatiously at Dean.
"Well, no one appreciates thoroughness like I do," he said leaning towards her. "Isn't that right Waters?"
"Dr. MacKeltar, if you could just tell us about your patients and anything they might have said to you?" Sam asked, desperately trying to get the conversation back on track. He was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable with the way things were going and the lethal looking red head on the couch had started to stare at him now that Dean's attention had transferred to Serena. He distinctly felt like he knew what a piece of meat felt like when a butcher looked at it.
"I'm so sorry gentlemen, but I'm afraid you've just wasted a few minutes of your precious time," Serena said with a wink to Dean. "The three children under my care have not even hinted at anything out of the ordinary. Tragic situation though as you can imagine, but nothing I wouldn't expect."
"A-are you…are you sure?" Sam was stumbling through his words because Mara had just licked her lips as she stared him down.
"Oh yes sir, I'm quite sure. You want me to show you the files?" Serena offered as she shifted on her desk so that her chest was directly in Dean's line of vision.
"Oh yes," Dean agreed happily.
"No, that won't be necessary," Sam interjected. "We're terribly sorry to have taken up your time Dr. MacKeltar. If anything does come up, please let us know."
"Oh of course, I'd be happy to help. I do hope you find what you're looking for," Serena said, standing up to show them to the door. "It was a pleasure meeting you."
"Likewise," Dean said smoothly, as he raised her hand to lightly kiss it.
"Thank you Doctor," Sam said as he nudged Dean towards the door.
"Bye boys," Mara called from the couch, her hunter's glare still fixated on Sam. Sam nervously waved a farewell and Dean leaned around him to give one more wink.
The door closed with a click and Serena immediately tugged her hair loose from its bun. She shook it out with her hands as she crossed the room again and sat down beside her cousin.
"Complete liars," she muttered with a harsh laugh.
"Pathetic ones too," Mara agreed. "I could even tell those badges were fake from over here, I don't know what they were trying to pull. Cute though. Especially that tall fellow…now there's a man I could actually wear heels around."
"I think if you had stared any harder at him, he wouldn't have bothered to open the door when he left, he would have just busted through it," Serena laughed.
"Well, it unnerved him enough to take off and not dig around anymore right? And good job with the short one. I could literally see the smoke coming out of his ears as Gigantor shoved him out the door," Mara said as she joined her cousin in laughing.
"Now there was a man who needs help."
"Agreed. Now the question is, who are they really, and why are they poking around here asking questions about those deaths?"
"I don't know but I'd be willing to bet that they'll think long and hard before they come knocking on my door again," Serena said as she turned to look at her cousin.
Mara's face broke out in a smirk. "All in a day's work my esteemed accomplice. All in a day's work."
Back outside in the parking lot, Sam and Dean sat in the Impala staring out the windshield in silence.
"Dean, I think we were played," Sam said finally speaking up.
"Tell me about it," Dean said as he shook his head. "My brain's still fuzzy."
"They're definitely hiding something. We'll have to keep an eye on them," Sam added.
"Well, I call dibs on doctor lady. I don't care if that was all an act, she can get me on her couch any day," Dean said with a whistle. "Besides, I think the cousin had a thing for you Sammy."
"She looked like she was going to eat me Dean."
"And that's a bad thing because??"
"And by the way," Sam said ignoring his brother's previous question, "you owe me $10. I didn't see any gray hair."
"Hey! There was a bun though! I was close," Dean insisted.
"$5 then. But you're not getting out of that."
"Fine, I'll buy the first round tonight. Now let's just get out of here so we can figure out our next move and I can go get a few beers," Dean agreed as the Impala roared to life and he began navigating their way out of the parking lot.
Sam laughed, but his smile faded as they pulled out onto the main road and headed back to the motel. Mara's green eyes still seemed to be staring at him and he couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen them somewhere before.
Mara watched as the boys drove off and turned to give Serena a full-on grin, "Well they hauled ass out of here...nice car though."
"Yeah?" Serena replied without looking up as she made her way back to her desk.
"Yep. Okay so you need me to go chill out with Lynne while you're doing your Doctor Spock stuff?" Mara asked as she started walking to the door, seeing her cousin was already absorbed in getting ready for her next patient.
"Yeah, that'd be great, thanks. It shouldn't take more than thirty minutes or so since this is only an initial consultation. But as soon as I'm done with this I'll close up for the day and we can go have that little mini celebration we talked about earlier."
"Hell yeah! Gotta love how you reward me, Laney!" Mara teased her cousin as she walked out of the door and back to Lynne's desk.
Unfortunately, Lynne was busy with the end of the day paperwork and Mara was left to amuse herself as Serena had her last appointment of the day. As she walked around the lobby, her thoughts turned to the two men they had met just a short while earlier. She agreed completely with Laney, they were not really FBI agents. But who were they? Could they be hunters like herself? She'd never met another hunter outside Bristol and his friend Raven, so she wouldn't really know how to pick one out. But it was definitely an idea to consider, assuming they ever ran into them again. Damn shame that they had to hightail it out of there so quickly, she thought with a laugh. It would've been fun to keep flirting with the shorter one and ruffling the tall one's feathers.
Serena walked out of her office to see Mara pacing back and forth, completely lost in her own world. She shook her head with a grin at her cousin, and called out to her, trying to get her attention back to the real world.
"Mara....MARA!"
Mara jumped as if she'd been stung by something and immediately reached for the blade she kept at her back but then remembered where she was and put her hand back down. As she walked over to a giggling Serena, she gave her a look that said "not funny" and then threw her arm around her cousin's shoulders.
"So you all done in there doc? And that was soo not cool by the way..." Mara said with an affable air.
"Yeah, I'm all done for the day, let's get out of here. And I know better than to try and physically bring you out of your own little world so what did you expect?" Serena replied with a grin.
"Yeah yeah yeah...fair enough...let's go get changed and go get a drink…or eight. I'm dying here."
"Yes...I can see...you and your drinks. I swear, Mara, you're so predictable...I know when we get there you're gonna scope out the place, find an open pool table and then order a Jack & Coke."
"Well....yeah....but you're my cousin, you're supposed to know me," Mara replied with a cheeky grin.
They started laughing as they said goodbye to Lynne and walked out to the parking lot to head home to Serena's house. They were at Serena's house for an hour or so, with Mara teasing Serena the entire time about sleeping her way into a huge house as well and making references to a backwards version of The Graduate. As they finished getting ready, they decided to take Mara's car and Serena would choose the bar. Serena guided them to an out of the way bar about twenty minutes from her home.
"Is this a biker bar, Laney? Do you come here often?" Mara asked with a slight frown.
"Yeah, actually, on both accounts. You'd be surprised how sweet the bikers are, Mara." Serena laughed.
"Oh, I have no doubt that they're sweet....they're all big babies at heart. But I'm not sure I like the thought of you coming here by yourself," Mara held up a hand before Serena could reply, "Even if you can most certainly take care of yourself....if you're outnumbered there's not much you can do, yunno?"
"I know...but just trust me...no one bothers me here. They're all like big brothers and uncles," Serena said as they both got out of the car and walked into the bar. As they walked in, Serena gave a wave to the bartender and someone started playing the song Travis Tritt's song "TROUBLE" on the jukebox in the corner.
Mara laughed until her sides hurt and said, "Hell yeah! I love this place! Woohoo!!"
Serena had known her cousin would love the bar. It looked dirty and rundown even though there wasn't a speck of dust to be found. There were old license plates and posters covering the walls, and all of the tables and bars were solid heavy wood. Serena loved this place herself, even though it would've shocked any of her co-workers that found out. They sauntered up to the bar, looking completely at home amongst the burly men and their women, ordered their drinks and turned to survey the place. Mara shamelessly flirted with the old bartender and Serena knew they'd have a blast tonight, even with the tragic events that brought her cousin here. Serena hoped she would be able to help Mara get past the sadness at least this one night.
"Serena, you were completely right about your cousin...she's a handful," the bartender laughed as he set some more drinks down for them.
"You have no idea Charlie...no idea," they both said at the same time, and then burst into laughter at Charlie's stunned expression.
"You two sure you're not twins that were separated at birth? It's crazy how you two do that...and not to mention you mirror each others' movements...don't think I haven't noticed how one of you is constantly surveying the room," Charlie said with a laugh and a wink.
"Awwww...c'mon Chuck!!! You know you love us!! And you know you wanna give us a shot of something sweet, don't you honey?" Mara replied with a mischievous grin and a wink.
Charlie muttered, "Shameless wench," but got the shots and when the girls tried to pay he brushed them off. "No way, you guys are family now. C'mon...your money's no good here. The fact that you're both smoking hot and flirting shamelessly with me doesn't hurt either," he finished with a wink. They all laughed and did the shots, but when Serena turned around to survey the room again, she noticed two new additions to the bar. She turned back to the bar and slid closer to Mara.
Mara felt her cousin sidle closer and knew someone had walked in that she needed to notice. So she turned to face Serena and scoped the room out casually. Turning back to face the bar, she looked at Serena and said, "Ummm...fuck?"
Serena laughed so hard her sides hurt, and Mara grinned and waited for her cousin's reply, "Yeah, basically. What do you want to do?"
Mara grinned at Charlie when he set a fresh whiskey in front of her, "Thanks, Chuck." Turning to face Serena, she said, "Well....let's have some fun. We'll watch them for a bit and see what's what...then we'll flip their insides again like earlier."
Serena gave a mischievous grin, "I'm game."
Charlie watched the two girls grin at each other. He knew that look all too well. "And just what are you two girls up to now? Who have you picked out to torture?"
Mara leaned over the bar and gave him a big kiss on the cheek, "Oh c'mon, Chuck. You know we're harmless, and we're only gonna shamelessly flirt with some men, that's all."
Charlie snorted at that and said, "Yeah and I'll be able to piss rainbows next time I hit the head. You two are anything but harmless when you've set your minds to something...but as long as you don't spill any blood on my floor, I'm fine." The girls laughed at his reply and each gave him a kiss on the cheek before they walked off to find an open pool table.
As Sam and Dean walked into the crowded bar, AC/DC's "Back in Black" started up and Dean gave a low whistle of appreciation. "I love this place. Wow. Hell yeah! Let's get a beer, Sammy."
Sam just nodded as he surveyed the room, found an open table close by, and sat down with his brother. He couldn't shake the feeling that they hadn't seen the last of the two women they had met earlier and it put him slightly on edge.
A waitress came up and took their orders as Dean looked across the full pool tables and said, "I think we can win some big money tonight, you game? Sammy? SAM!" When Sam turned to look at him he said, "You have got to stop doing that space-out thing, it's starting to give me the creeps, dude."
"Sorry, and no I'm just gonna watch for a bit, I might join in later and save you from losing any money you win," Sam replied with a small grin.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Dean replied with a smirk as he chose his target. The biggest biker in the bar was at the table closest to them and he was pretty good, so Dean walked up and asked if he could take on the winner. The biker was game and Dean started playing, while Sam sat there quietly nursing his beer, lost in thought.
Serena kept a loose eye on the two men as she watched Mara trounce another woman at the pool table. Thankfully they were playing for shots instead of money; otherwise the poor woman would be broke by now. Serena also saw the moment the taller of the two men noticed Mara from across the room. She laughed when he gave himself a visible shake and motioned to his brother. So far, they had only noticed Mara, but she decided it was time they noticed both of them, instead of just the tall redhead taking a shot and laughing.
As she stood up next to Mara, she whispered, "Don't look, but we've been spotted."
Mara did another shot with a grin, not turning away from Serena. She knew where the men were in the bar; she had kept a loose tab on them and they hadn't moved from the pool table they were occupying now. She looked over to the woman she had just beaten. "You wanna go again?"
"Hell no," the woman replied with a laugh, "You're too good and I'm too drunk from all the shots. But maybe one of the guys in here will take a crack at you. Maybe they'll have better luck than me."
Dean had been slowly moving closer and caught the last bit of what the woman had said, "I'll take a crack. You playing for money or beer?"
Mara turned to him then, leaning a hip against the pool table and gave a flirtatious smile, "Well hello again handsome. And to answer your question, I'm not playing for either. Liquor's the currency of the night sweetheart. Beer's a waste of my time. Can you handle that?"
A stunned look crossed Dean's face, but he was able to keep himself from actually taking a step back, and said, "Well how about we up the ante? Money and shots? You game?"
Mara looked to Serena and they both grinned. "I'm game," Mara insisted.
"I'm Dean by the way," he said, holding out his hand to Mara. "My partner goes by Sam. The whole agent thing doesn't work for me after hours." He grinned as Mara firmly shook his outstretched hand.
"All right then Dean," Mara said, sauntering over to the pool table. "Let's get this game started."
It was then that Serena noticed the taller of the two men was still sitting across the bar watching, so she walked over to him and said, "Why don't you come sit down with me while my cousin trounces your partner?"
Sam gave her a startled look, but got up and walked back with Serena to her table where he took a seat next to her. He realized he couldn't very well sit there and be silent the entire night so he decided an attempt at small talk might be the best idea. He and Dean still needed to find out more about these two women and what was going on in this town.
"So, do you really think your cousin is going to wipe the floor with Dean?" Sam asked her as he ordered another beer from a passing waitress.
"Well, watch and see for yourself since he's decided to be stupid and let Mara break," Serena replied with an open smile as she gestured towards the table where Mara was lining up her shot.
Mara pocketed two solids right off the break, and stood up in a casual stance to smirk at Dean. "Still wanna play for Benjamins, hot stuff?"
Dean gave her a grin and replied, "Oh yeah...but it's still your shot sugar."
To that, Mara simply shrugged and said, "Alright, your money and liver darlin'." She struck home on each of her shots until there was only one solid and the eight ball left. Dean stood there with his jaw hanging open until Mara finally missed a shot, and he was able to take his first shot. However, he was only able to sink in half of the balls left on the table before he misjudged and missed. Mara ended the game quickly after that and ordered shots for all four of them, reminding Dean that he had to pay for a few rounds. He shook his head, still trying to figure out what had happened as Mara walked by him and clapped him on the back.
"Don't worry, honey, I'll go easy on you this time. Unless of course you'd like to cut your losses before it gets ugly?" Mara asked him with her hand still on his shoulder.
He grinned, grabbed all four shots from the waitress, and started for the table saying, "Sweetheart, I've never been one to back down from a challenge. I won't be so easy to beat this time."
Mara laughed and leaned against the table as Sam looked up with a stunned expression, "It's only been ten minutes...who won?"
Sam and Serena looked at Mara first, and Mara only grinned back at them. Serena burst into laughter and put a hand on Sam's shoulder, "Honey, I do believe Mara whipped his ass! Definitely called that one."
Sam turned his stunned look onto Dean, who flushed deep red and sheepishly admitted, "She caught me off guard...wasn't expecting her to sink two in on the break and then follow it up like that."
Serena clapped her hands to get their attention and handed them all their shots, "Alright kids! Time to drink up! You guys going another round?"
"Hell yeah! I can't stop on a losing streak," Dean replied with a cocky grin, to which Mara only gave a mischievous smile.
"Well losers rack hot stuff...so rack 'em up and I'll wipe the floor with you again," Mara replied after she downed her shot.
Dean sputtered before taking his shot and heading back to the table to rack a new set. Sam, finding it hilarious that his brother had been beaten by a girl, couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud and had a hard time stopping long enough to finish off the shot before him.
As Serena set down her empty shot glass, she draped an arm around Sam's shoulder and gave him a conspiratorial wink. "It's only gonna get funnier, just watch and see."
Sam turned to Serena with a smile and asked, "I suppose the dorsal fin should have been a tip off, but does your cousin make a living as a pool shark or does she just go around making fools of cocky men for fun?"
Serena gave him a startled look. "Did you just make a funny?" Sam only grinned at her and she started laughing. "You just made a funny! No, she's actually a historian, folklore mainly, but she's here visiting me this week."
Sam merely nodded as he took another gulp of his beer and they both turned to watch Mara wax the floor with Dean again.
After the fifth game, Mara came to the table and plopped down to do her shot. "Okay....I'm done. I'm tired of winning," she said with a dramatic sigh and a wink towards Dean.
Dean gave her a mock glare and did his shot. "Well fine then....but I still want a chance to win back the rest of my money. I only won one out of five."
Sam just stared at him in stunned silence as Serena piped up, "I'll take you on that offer! One game. All the marbles. You down?"
Dean looked at Mara and gestured towards Serena. "Is she serious? She's hammered...she'll lose. That wouldn't be very fair."
Mara simply shrugged as Serena got up and took Mara's pool stick from her. Serena staggered a bit but then held out her arms to balance herself and proclaimed, "It's okay, I'm good! Rack 'em up, handsome!"
Dean looked back at Mara for confirmation but she only grinned and moved into the booth next to Sam, ordering another drink for all of them from a waitress.
"So Sam...tell me about yourself. What office are you stationed out of with the agency?" Mara asked as she took a sip of her drink and turned in the booth to fully face him.
"Well...we're out of the D.C. office, but our assistant director sent us here to check this out," Sam said cautiously, as he faced her in return.
"So there must be some heavy stuff going on down here if they sent you guys all the way from D.C. to poor little old Savannah. They must either think you're pretty capable or you're just the unlucky bastards who have to do what they're told huh?" Mara asked with a coy smile.
Sam stuttered a bit before saying, "Well…umm…I'd like to think we're fairly capable at what we do."
"And just what exactly would that be?" Mara asked, inching slightly closer and honing in on him with her bright green eyes.
Sam laughed nervously and visibly slid back in the booth as he stammered out, "W-well now, that's classified information ma'am."
Mara grinned broadly. "I guess you'd have to kill me if I found out. I would love to see you try that one." She then moved back from Sam, seeming to ignore how increasingly uncomfortable and nervous he was becoming and continued on. "To be honest, I'm surprised to see big wigs like you hanging out in a bar like this. And in your street clothes too. You don't see many…uhh…shall we say 'normal' types in these kind of places."
"Well...I guess you could say we're off the clock for a few hours," Sam replied as he avoided Mara's questioning stare, taking a sip of his beer.
"Ah...well that explains it then, doesn't it?" Mara smiled as she threw her arm around his shoulders and pointed back to the table where Serena was lining up for the break. "Watch the fun sweetheart."
Sam was slightly confused by her behavior, but was glad for the change in subject so he turned to face the pool table as well. He watched in surprised silence as Serena broke and sunk a solid and a stripe in at once. He traded a stunned look with Dean as Mara climbed up on her knees in the booth and threw her arms up in the air yelling, "You show 'em Laney!! YEAH!" Mara then leaned down over the back of Sam's shoulders to whisper in his ear, "Don't tell your partner...but Laney gets better and better at pool the more drunk she is...he has no idea what he's gotten himself into."
Startled, Sam turned his head toward her voice and realized that they were nose to nose staring right into each other's eyes. Mara winked at him, settled back down into her seat, and took a big gulp of her drink as she pointed back to the table, indicating that he should keep watching.
Serena casually walked around the table, muttering to herself in a singsong voice. "Oh which one do I pick? Which one? Well...the solid was blue...and I like blue...so I'll go with solids. Okay with you?"
Dean just stared open mouthed at her, before he recovered and waved his hand towards the table, "Well alright then, if that's how you pick it. Go for it sweetheart."
Serena gave him a brilliant smile as she sunk in three more solids before deliberately missing to give him a fighting chance. As Dean was lining up his shot, however, he was distracted by the way Serena was sauntering around the table and edging closer to him. He shook his head and tried to concentrate on lining up his shot, not realizing that Serena was now behind him. Right as he went to shoot, she gave him a solid spank on the ass. The ball he had been aiming for ricocheted around the table, missing all the pockets. Dean stood up and leaned back against the table, trying to compose himself even though the spank had rattled his nerves and other parts as well.
"Hey now…it's not nice to tease a man. Especially when he's been drinking," Dean chided as he gave a charming smile.
"Who said anything about teasing, dear? You really do have a very nice ass. Buuut… you missed. My turn now isn't it?" Serena gave him a coy smile and moved off to line up her shot.
Sam turned to give Mara a wide-eyed look as she started laughing and shouted, "THAT'S MY GIRL!!! GET 'EM!!!" She looked over at Sam and winked before giving him a smack of a kiss on the cheek. "Told you she was good, honey!" Mara crowed triumphantly before settling down.
When Serena had only the eight ball left, she let Dean call the pocket. Dean was too stunned by the fact that he had gotten trounced by two women, and gestured randomly at a pocket. Serena gave him a pout and sunk the ball in easily. As they took their shots, Dean admitted defeat and announced that he was done with pool for the night. They realized then that the bar was almost empty and it was getting late.
"Well....unlike Mara...I'm sure you guys have as much work tomorrow as I do. We should probably call it a night, don't you think?" Serena asked with a glance at Mara, who grinned.
"Yeah...I think I've had enough losing for one night. Time to pack it up, tuck tail, and go home to lick my wounds," Dean replied with a grimace.
Mara stood up and walked over to him, throwing her arms around him in a big hug. "Don't worry...no one's been able to beat us at pool in a few years," Mara assured him with a grin and big kiss on the cheek.
Sam stood up next to Mara, and she had the distinct feeling of knowing exactly what a shorter woman feels like around a tall man. He had a good six or seven inches on her in height and she could only look up at him and stare.
"Well...it was definitely a fun evening. One we all needed I think," Sam said as he held out a hand to Mara.
"After tonight, you wanna shake hands?" Mara laughed as she grabbed his outstretched hand and used it to pull him in for a big hug. She turned and gave Dean one as well as Serena followed suit.
"Well...maybe we'll get to see you boys around after you finish off your case," Serena said as she smiled flirtatiously at both of them.
"Oh yeah...I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more of us after our work is done," Dean replied with, what he thought, was his most charming smile.
They said their goodnights and the boys walked out of the bar as Mara and Serena went back up to the bar to say goodnight to Charlie. On their way home all they could do was laugh at how fun the night had been and how Mara had tripped up Sam a bit with questions about his "job". They also decided that Serena should take a few days off so that they could do some research and reconnaissance together that coming Friday and the over weekend. Serena agreed that since the next day was Thursday, it should be easy for her to take a long weekend and maybe even some vacation time the next week, under the guise of visiting with her cousin. She would pull all the information on the children involved the next day while she was at work, and Mara would research what could possibly be behind all the killings. With a base plan in place, the women went to sleep satisfied after a night well spent.