Chapter 5

"What are we going to do, Peter?" Neal paced the floor of Peter's office. He had invited himself in and had shut the door a few minutes after Peter had come into work that morning. Peter had not expected his C.I. to come in. He had called June and told her that it was okay if Neal had wanted to take a few days off, given what he had just been through.

Peter knew, exactly, who and what Neal was talking about. And as far as he was concerned the Winchesters were caught. They had to do their time. True, for them that most likely meant life without parole, or maybe even execution. That didn't sit too well with him. But, Burke was a law-enforcement officer. He believed in the system, justice, all that. He knew the Winchesters had killed. No doubt many times. He also knew that the 'cold-blooded, vicious, mindless killer' label didn't fit. But, if he presented the evidence he had in support of the Winchesters, he would most likely end up in a room with rubber walls.

Peter shook his head. He knew what Neal was asking. And Neal knew it was not going to happen. But he had to ask. He had to try and help his friends, even though he knew it was almost impossible.

"I don't know what I can do, Neal." Peter admitted. "It's…the evidence against them is overwhelming. They…there's no way to overcome that."

Neal shook his head. "I know…just. Could you try to, at least, get them put in the same prison?"

Peter nodded. Give what Neal had truly wanted to ask him. That was a very reasonable request.

Peter nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

Neal nodded. He left Peter's office. He knew that even that was not likely to happen. If the brothers were in the same prison, they could get together and plan an escape. It was common for prisoners who were 'in cahoots' as they say, to be separated, separate areas of a prison, or better yet, separate prisons. That way, there was no way for them to communicate.

Neal went through the day, almost on autopilot. He was still formulating plans on how to help the Winchesters. He had Mozzie's and even June's input on the subject. But the one problem they all had with any plan was the amount of accomplices that would be needed to pull this off. The more accomplices meant that many more wagging tongues. One of those tongues wagging too much was always a possibility, if the right type carrot was dangled in front of the person. Plus, it was made more difficult by the fact that Neal and Mozzie could not be anywhere near this. Any and all evidence of their handiwork simply could not exist.

SPN/WC SPN/WC SPN/WC SPN/WC SPN/WC

Dean's and Sam's health had improved steadily after Dean woke up. He and Sam were transferred to their respective prisons within the week. Sam ended up in a prison in Texas. Dean ended up in Missouri. Neal managed to get a message in to Dean. It said: Hey, Sorry you missed my birthday. Hope to be able to come see you when I get to St. Louis. We'll play a game of pool. NC.

Dean grinned when he saw it. St. Lois, Neal's birthdate and the game of pool were clues. Dean just needed to put it all together.

The elder Winchester knew that Neal had spent a lot of time in St. Louis, Missouri as a kid. He knew Neal's birthday was, March 21, 1977. And lastly, Neal had regaled Dean and Sam with stories of his pool-hustling abilities. There was a storage facility near the pool hall Neal had mentioned. Part of Neal's birthdate 03-21-19 had to be the combination to a lock for a locker in the storage facility. The locker number was a little harder though. It could be locker 3, 21, 19, or 77, using all the numbers Neal had given him. Dean had no idea what Neal had waiting for he and Sam in that locker. But he had no doubt it would help them. And that it would be worth going after. It told Dean one other thing. The conman was working on a plan. And once Dean got out, he would be headed to Texas to get Sam.

Dean's phone had been left at the mansion the morning of the robbery at El's store. That meant Neal had access to Dean's world. The contact list held many, many names. But Neal only dared call one. He recognized the name immediately. He put a call through at once.

The call came on Bobby's personal line. And he almost hung up on the young man. He didn't recognize the voice.

"Bobby Singer?" Neal asked, hoping and praying he had the right person.

TBC

END NOTES: I have to modify the combination a little bit. When I first posted this I said the combination was 3-21-77. But I don't think that combination locks go as high as the number 77. So that's why I changed it to 3-21-19. Thanks for reading, reviewing and alerting.

Also, are any of you other writers having trouble getting your reviews to show? It shows that I have reviews for this story, but when I click on the word 'reviews' it say that I have no reviews. Anybody know what's going on?" PM me if you do. JL