Chapter 3

Two and a half hours later at Los Angeles International Airport…

"Sooo, thanks for picking me up, we definitely did something good for the environment." Shawn winked at her trying to build up some kind of conversation since they had spent the two hour car ride from Santa Barbara to L.A. pretty much in silence.

"No problem." She shot him a small smile but turned around afterwards apparently using all her concentration on the queue in front of the check-in desk.

Shawn sighed. Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all but what was he supposed to do? Let her chase a devious serial killer on her own?

Half an hour and exactly ten words ("Jules, do you want a cup of coffee?" "No, thanks.") later they were seated on the plane and waited for take-off. Juliet took out a file that held general information on the cases.

"Could you hand me some of those papers?" Shawn asked trying his best not to be without anything to do next to a silent Jules for the next 3 hours.

She grabbed some sheets and handed them to him without looking up or saying a word.

Confused and slightly annoyed Shaw said. "Jules, could you tell me what the hell I did wrong? I…" But he was interrupted by the captain's announcement that they would take off in a few minutes that was followed by the safety instructions.

Two hours and zero words later Shawn nearly jumped out of his seat when he took a closer look to the list of crime scenes.

"Jules, oh my God, I got it. You won't believe this. Well, actually you will because I got it right here written black on white and you can't tell me that this just a lucky hunch we should maybe follow-" He started rambling excitedly.

"Just cut the crap and get to the point, Shawn!" Juliet urged him.

He mumbled something incoherently but pointed at the list of crime scenes. "Look at this list. The last murder that happened before the killer took his little time out was in Santa Barbara. First stop on his comeback tour?"

"Santa Barbara." Juliet whispered.

"The murder before the Santa Barbara murder took place in… you wanna take a guess?"

"Don't tell me that was in Ellensburg." She said with her eyes wide open.

"Ding ding ding… Jackpot!" Shawn smiled triumphantly.

"You do realize you have the sickest sense of humor ever, right? But still, this is a huge lead, I mean we could probably say where the next murder will take place. What does the list say about the crime scene third from last?"

"Amarillo, Oklahoma." Shawn said after looking at the list.

"Okay, we'll call Chief Vick after we landed. Maybe she could warn the local authorities that something might happen in the next few weeks.

They fell back into silence, but this time it wasn't as uncomfortable as before.

After landing in Seattle and getting their rental car they were finally on Interstate 90 heading east. Neither of them spoke during the whole car ride slowly drifting back to awkwardness Shawn made his last attempt of staring a conversation.

"So Jules how are things with Declan? You never talked about your trip to Italy." He asked in quiet voice trying to sound sincere and not bitter even though that was exactly how he felt.

Looking to her left she looked curiously at him. Where did that question come from?

"Uh, things are good and Italy was fine. Loved the weather."

"Huh, that's good…" He stopped for a lack of words. What was he supposed to say? 'I'm happy for you, go and marry that guy.' He grimaced slightly at that thought.

"I think this is our motel. Seriously, Buzz couldn't find anything better? What is this town? Psycho Ville?" He finally said pulling up in front of the first building with a sign that said 'Reception'. There was a long building following the reception with 13 doors.

"You wanna wait in the car and I'll get the room keys? No need for both of us to get wet." Shawn suggested referring to the rain that had set in about an hour ago.

"No, it's okay I'll come with you. I'm tired of sitting anyways and would like to walk a bit." She shot him a small smile.

They entered the reception building and were greeted by a young man. He guided them to the front desk and asked them what their names were.

"O'Hara and Spencer." Juliet said.

"Oh right, you're with the police right? Well, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten this room. The whole city is jammed this week. It's rodeo time." He smiled widely. "Here is your key. Your room is number 13 that's the last one in the row; you can park directly in front of it. Enjoy your stay. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me." With that he handed Shawn a key.

Shawn quickly read his name badge. "Uh wait, Karl. There must be a mistake. We actually booked two rooms."

"No, Mr. O'Hara?" He looked questionably at Shawn who chuckled at the mix up. "Mr. Spencer then. There was a request for two rooms but as you can see you are unbelievably lucky to get one room. So either take that one or try your luck somewhere else but as I told you this week has been booked out for over a year. I'm telling you, you won't find a single free bed within 40 miles." Karl told them.

"Yeah, well, in that case we'll take the room. Could you give us the directions to the police station?" Juliet asked.

After receiving the directions they ran back to the car and parked as close to their room as possible. Juliet ran to their door opening it while Shawn grabbed their luggage and followed a few seconds later. Despite their running they were both soaking wet.

"Ugh, great… I'm soaked; I'll take a quick shower I think I'd be sick by tomorrow otherwise. Could you do me a favor and check if you can find any food? I'm starving." Juliet looked at Shawn with a small pleading smile tugged on her face.

"Of course, I think I saw a vending machine. Any preferences?"

"No, anything's fine. Thank you." With that she went into the bathroom.

I think I'm gonna change into dry clothes first. She does have a point with getting sick. He thought while unbuttoning his shirt. He stripped down to his boxers and was just going through his bag in search for new clothes when the bathroom door opened and Juliet stepped out only covered by a towel.

"Oh my God, Shawn what are you still doing here? And why aren't you dressed?" She asked her eyes wide open. She quickly glanced down herself to see if all the important body parts were covered.

"Uh, I… I was…" Breathe, Shawn. Stop acting like a total moron and say something. His mind shouted at him. "Clothes…uhm…I wanted to change out of the wet clothes." He finally managed to say while trying to keep his eyes locked on hers. "Thought you'd be showering by now."

"I forgot to take my dry clothes to the bathroom and I actually wanted to avoid a scene like this." Both chuckled at that. "Mission not accomplished I guess."

"No, definitely not." Shawn laughed and took out his dry clothes. "I'll be out in a second." He winked at her while slipping his jeans on and grabbing a shirt. "I'll get the food." With that he rushed out of the door still without a shirt on and on his bare feet.

Juliet stepped out of the bathroom half an hour later finding Shawn half laying half sitting on the bed watching TV.

"Ah, there you are. I thought about breaking into the bathroom to see if you were still alive." He chuckled.

"Why shouldn't I be alive?" Asked Juliet obviously confused.

"Haven't you noticed that this whole place looks exactly like Bates Motel from the Hitchcock classic 'Psycho'? There's actually an old mansion behind the motel. And well, I guess you've seen the movie so you'll see the similarities between our dearest Karl and Norman Bates. It's kind of creepy. I already searched the walls for any peepholes." He chuckled again. "Anyways I brought you some delicious treats." He motioned to the other half of the bed where some chocolate bars and a bag of chips were spread out. "But I say we should grab real dinner after going to the crime scene. What do you think?"

"Yes, that would be nice. Thank you. We should probably head off. Can you drive again I could eat on the way then?" She shot him a small smile.

"Of course."

They arrived at the police station after 5 minutes where they were briefed by the sheriff and were given the directions to the crime scene. So they got back in the car and drove through the rain for another 10 minutes.

"I think this is it. Looks kind of creepy." Shawn said coming to a halt in front of an old house in the outskirts of Ellensburg. "This whole town is kind of creepy… or maybe it's just the weather. I haven't seen so much rain in my whole life." He scowled at the dark clouds that were indicating the next rainstorm in the near future.

"Let's get this over with." Juliet told him while stepping out of the car and walking towards the house.

Shawn followed her quickly. His first impression was affirmed when they entered the house. Every time they stepped forward the wooden floor screeched under their feet. Juliet tried to switch on the lights but apparently the energy company had already turned off the current supply. She took out her flashlight and shone the way. They stepped into the living room were the dead body had been found yesterday. Juliet looked at the crime scene photos she had brought along.

"Everything looks the same. Same posture, same rose. The file says the police found this room cleaned up like this but there is a blood stain in the bathroom where they suspect the actual murder. Do you sense anything?" She asked her companion who had remained atypically silent.

"No, it's weird. I'm not getting anything. But still something is bugging me about this place but I just can't put my finger on it. How about we take a look at the bathroom and then head out? We'll probably get more out of the photos anyway." He suggested. "And besides, I'm hungry and I can't think when I'm hungry. So how about we eat some dinner afterwards? We drove by a diner on our way."

"That's actually a good idea. Let's wrap it up. I really want to get out of here, this place is creeping me out." She shuddered.

They didn't find any clues in the bathroom and were now sitting in the small diner. They had already ordered their food and were talking about the case.

"You think Carlton is pissed at me for taking the lead on this case?" Juliet asked taking a sip of her beer (Shawn had convinced her to order one since she wasn't on duty anymore).

"We're talking about Lassie here. Of course he's pissed." Shawn mused. "Just don't take it personally. You can't really hold it against him. He worked this case before and he is of course determined to find his neighbors killer. He seemed to be rather close to them, didn't he?"

"Yeah, it was weird. I've never seen him act so nicely around anyone else and he was sincerely concerned when the old lady fainted." She looked up when the waitress came back with their food. Both had ordered a burger and fries. "Wow, this looks delicious. Enjoy your meal." She said to Shawn who just nodded back with a full mouth.

"Hey I've also seen a bar along the way how about the two of us grab a drink before we get to bed?" Shawn proposed after they finished eating.

"I don't know, Shawn…" Juliet hesitated. She actually really wanted to grab another beer but they had to get up early in the morning to work on their case.

"Come on, Jules. Let loose for once. It's just one drink!" He looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Alright. One drink, that's it!" She warned him.

A/N: Yeeeeeah right 'one drink'... :D usually that means someone is about to get wasted ;) find out what happens in the next chapter...probably tomorrow ;) Reviews are always appreciated :)