Supernatural: Bad Day at Black Rock
A/N: Well, here's the next chapter and I really wish you guys would post some reviews since it would really make my day and maybe help my muse get into gear so I can resume working on my stories for season 4 of Supernatural. Please? Pretty please?
Read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural or Criminal Minds. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.
CHAPTER TWO: GOOD LUCK VS BAD LUCK
"He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed."
Leviticus 27:33
Salt Lake City, Utah
Katsu & Katsu Law Firm…
"Mr. Katsu will see you now, gentlemen."
Henriksen nodded at the secretary and, with Reidy at his side, walked through the open door, which was made out of oak and inlaid with gold leaves and ivy, and entered the office beyond.
The office walls were paneled with silver pinewood and were painted a light blue color, the carpet was a light brown, the light fixtures were silver, the curtains on the large bay window were a silvery gray, and both the furniture and bookcases, (which were filled with binders, law books, and other types of books) were all made out of silvery oak wood, and they were all from the late 1930s, but it was clear that they were well cared for from the way that the surface of the desk shined.
"Please, have a seat, gentlemen," Franklin Katsu, a Japanese-American male in his mid-30s, offered, gesturing to the two padded chairs, and sat behind his desk, the sunlight shining on his neat black hair, and his gray eyes were warm and friendly.
As the two agents sat down, they noted the view outside the window, which allowed them to see the Salt Lake Temple in the distance, and they could see the Angel Moroni statue glowing in the bright sunlight.
"That's quite a view you have there, Mr. Katus," Henriksen commented, hoping to get on the lawyer's good side.
"Yes it is," Franklin agreed. "My great-grandparents, my grandparents, my parents, and both my wife and I were sealed in the same temple. But, you're not here to talk about my family, agent. Am I right?"
"You're correct, Mr. Katus," Henriksen confirmed and leaned forward slightly with a serious expression on his face. "Sir, I'm here to track down the Winchesters and interview those who they may've contacted when they were in Utah in October, November, December, and January.However, your clients, the Idris family in Provo, are refusing to answer my questions and told me that I'm suppose to refer to you…almost like they already knew that we were coming."
Franklin chuckled, having guessed that Henriksen was most likely going to act like this once he'd encountered the Idris family and learned just how hard of a nut they would be to crack…if ever. "Lloyd and his family hardly knew that you were coming, sir. But they do watch the news, and they saw the incident at that one bank, including your attempt to catch the Winchesters, and that left Lloyd concerned since he was best friends with their late father, John Winchester."
"I'm aware of that friendship," Henriksen agreed, hardly amused, "and I also know that Lloyd and his family have provided a place to stay for the Winchesters when they were in Utah for the months of October, November, December, and January. I also know that when the Winchesters were in this state in October that Sam Winchester worked security at the Idris Trucking Company and that his siblings, Dean and Elizabeth Winchester worked at the same theater as that of Hannah and Ricky Idris, and that they returned to those jobs for the remainder of November, all of December and January, right through the holidays. Now what I don't understand, is why your client would allow three potentially dangerous people to stay in the same home as his grandchildren, his son, and his daughter-in-law?"
'Wow, I was warned about this guy's determination to find the Winchesters and that it was possible that he would refuse to accept anything as the truth unless it's what he wants to hear,' Franklin thought as he considered his words carefully and rested his hands on his desk. "Agent Henriksen, you should know that I did meet the Winchesters back in October when I attended the birthday party of Hannah and Ricky, and none of them showed any sign of being dangerous in the slightest."
Henriksen chuckled mirthlessly. "Sir, they've been raised and trained by a man who literally went off the grid after that fire in '83 killed his wife, a man who has done a lot of questionable things while he was alive, and now his children are following in his footsteps."
Franklin frowned, having expected this, too, and the humor vanished from his face as he leaned forward slightly, now fully in lawyer mode. "Sir, I suggest you show some respect for the dead, including a man who did everything that he could to raise his children the best way that he could, and was also a soldier who fought in Vietnam. John Winchester was a hero who served his country the best that he could both overseas and during his time off the grid."
Henriksen gritted his teeth, but said nothing, and kept his fury internal.
'Smart move.' "Now, I believe that you have some questions to ask my clients, and I'd like to go over the proper procedure of how to do this," Franklin said calmly and began explaining the rules that they were to follow, all of which Reidy wrote down while Henriksen quietly fumed in his chair.
Oh he so hated lawyers.
Black Rock, Buffalo, New York…
The Winchesters and Jo were waiting in the Impala for some word of who the thieves were and where they'd gotten to with the missing curse box.
"Thanks, Bobby," said Sam, clicking off his phone. "Ok, so Bobby built the curse boxes, and he thinks he might have a list somewhere that'll have a description of each cursed item and he'll look for it with Ellen's help."
Jo chuckled. "Mom's insistin' isn't she?" and Sam nodded. "Well, they should find it soon."
Just then, Dean's cell-phone rang and he answered it, putting it on speaker. "Hey, Garcia, you're on speaker."
`"Hello, my pretties,"` Penelope responded. "I got a hit on your thieves."`
"Great, tell us who they are and where they're hidin'," Liz requested.
`"Your wish is my command,"` Penelope said, typing. `"So, I was able to grab the license plate number off the security feed, which was easy since they parked in front of the camera. Anyway, the thieves drive an old brown Mustang with Connecticut plates, and they live together in the Fowler apartment building, located not far from Greenstone Storage. And so you know, these two are low-rate thieves named Wayne Burke and Grossman Hendrickson, They've been in jail a few times, mostly for small stuff, and someone just paid them $600, according to their bank records."`
"Who paid them?" Sam asked.
`"I don't know, but I'll be looking into that next,"` Penelope answered. `"I've sent the address, plus the plate number, to your cell-phone, Sammy."`
"Thanks, beautiful," Dean told her, "and let us know when you figure out who paid these jerks."
`"I will, cutie,"` Penelope promised. `"Call you later."`
Dean closed his phone while Sam accessed his email via his phone. "Got it?"
"Got it."
"Alright, let's go."
An hour later, they pulled up in an alleyway between two yellow brick buildings, where an old brown Mustang was parked. Dean rolled down his window and leaned out to check the plates: Connecticut CTC 880.
"Connecticut," Dean informed them. "Last three digits 880."
Sam nodded. "Yep, that's it."
"They should've blacked out their plates before they parked in front of the security camera," Jo joked as they parked and got out, getting their guns from the trunk.
Just then, Sam's cell-phone rang and he answered it. "Hello? Oh hey, Ruby." And waved them on when Dean scowled, mouthing, "I'll catch up".
"Let's go," Dean grumbled, and they headed inside.
In their living area, Wayne and Grossman were playing cards, and Wayne, who was now bandaged up, was winning each hand.
"Four Kings."
Grossman groaned. "Unbelievable." And took the cards, putting them back into the deck.
"You see that?" Wayne asked, laughing.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Grossman grumbled, shuffling the deck.
"Deal 'em up again," Wayne requested happily.
Unknown to them, Dean quietly picked the lock and they crept into the apartment, armed.
"Royal Flush!" Wayne exclaimed, showing his friend the cards and placed them on the coffee table. "Grossman, that's the second Royal Flush in eight hands."
"Yeah, this is a lot of fun," Grossman grumbled unhappily.
"I can't lose," Wayne remarked, standing up while his friend pouted. "I mean really, I – I can't lose!" he then grabbed the rabbit's foot. "Maybe this thing really works? You know what I'm saying?" he then put it back down and grabbed his glass, taking a drink. "I tell you something there's no way in Hell we are handing it over to that stuck-up bitch now, not after all we've been through. Uh, uh. Let's go, huh? Let's get out of here, let's go have some fun."
"FREEZE, FREEZE! NOBODY MOVE!"
"Stay where you are!"
"Don't move!"
Guns at the ready, the trio entered and spread out, covering the two startled men.
Dean moved around the couch and faced Wayne, pegging him as the guy who got shot based on his bandaged shoulder. "All right, give us the box. And please tell me that you didn't-"
"Bad news, they did open it," Liz announced, spotting the open box.
Scowling, Dean pinned Wayne to the nearest wall. "You opened it?!" he growled over the "are you cops" question. "What was in the box?"
Terrified, Wayne glanced over at the coffee table and Dean followed his gaze, spotting the furry object. "Oh, was that is, Huh? It was wasn't it? What is that thing?"
"I think its a rabbit's foot," Jo said, surprised.
Using the distraction, Wayne knocked the gun out of Dean's hand and began wrestling with him. Grossman tried to move toward the gun and Jo shot at the floor-
And to her surprise, the bullet ricocheted off the floor, hit a nearby radiator, and then knocked the gun out of Liz's hand, causing her to drop it with a yelp. The bullet then ricocheted again and broke a lamp.
Wayne, surprisingly, threw Dean into Jo, knocking them both on the coffee table that broke, and the rabbit foot was launched into the air. Liz went after her gun, only to be tackled to the floor by Grossman.
Dean untangled himself from Jo and stood up-
THUMP!
-only to be hit under the chin with his own gun, which Wayne had snatched up, knocking him down again.
Jo sat up and stared, confused by how everything was going so wrong, and saw that Grossman had Liz pinned to the floor and was punching her in the face…hard.
'Huston, we have a problem.'
Outside the apartment building, Sam was arguing with Ruby. "Ruby, I can't just up and leave my siblings and Jo right now, we're busy."
`"I'm sure you are, Sammy,"` Ruby agreed, `"but I've got info for you that can't wait, and I can't join you right now since I'm busy hidin' from some of the demons loyal to the new leader."`
"Do you know who that is yet?" Sam asked.
`"Not really,"` Ruby admitted. `"Seriously though, Sam, I need to talk to you face-to-face."`
Sam sighed and was about to respond, when he heard the gunshot. "I gotta go." And he hung up before Ruby could protest and headed for the building, worried for the safety of his siblings and Jo.
Meanwhile, Liz was now being choked by Grossman, something that normally happen to Sam, and the last thing she wanted was to end up downstairs too soon. Doing her best to fight back, she saw something white lying a short distance away from the corner of her eye and, hoping that it was a gun or at least something that she could use to hit this jerk over the head with.
Gasping and on the verge of blacking out as her version began blurring from the lack of oxygen, she reached and groped around for the object, and, after a few desperate seconds, she managed to close her fingers on the object.
A furry object.
'Crap!' Liz thought, realizing that she'd grabbed the rabbit's foot…and that was when her hand tingled upon contact, just as a sudden surge of energy burst through her. Grunting, she managed to break Grossman's grip on her throat, and she used both feet to kick him away.
"Wow," she muttered, standing up and gripping the rabbit's foot tightly.
"Liz!" both Dean and Jo shouted.
Liz turned and found herself facing her brother's gun, which was being held by Wayne, and she knew that if he pulled that trigger at that range, she would be dead instantly. 'I'm so screwed,' she thought, fully expecting to be sent downstairs way ahead of schedule.
Wayne smirked and she shut her eyes as he pulled the trigger…and nothing happen, saved for a chinking sound. Surprised, she opened her eyes and saw that the guy was struggling with the gun, which seemed to have jammed. 'Since when does Dean's gun jam?'
Seconds later, Sam ran inside, saw what was happening, and immediately reached out with a hand, ripping the gun free so that it returned to Dean's hand, and then turned his head, sending both Wayne and Grossman, who'd just gotten back up, flying into the nearest walls, knocking them both out.
"You guys okay?" he asked, taking into the damage to the room and the bewildered expressions on the faces of his siblings and Jo. "What happen?"
Dean shrugged. "Not real sure, only that they opened the box and that rabbit's foot that Liz's holdin' was in it." He frowned at his gun. "What I want to know is why did my gun jam? 'cause my gun don't jam."
"Well, I'm glad that it did jam," Liz retorted, and she held up the rabbit's foot by way of the chain. "Before I grabbed this, those two were beating the stuffing out of us, and the moment I did touch it, we won."
Sam frowned, confused. "So, dad locked up a rabbit's foot that really works? Why?"
"I guess we better ask Bobby," Jo suggested, retrieving her and Liz's guns from the floor. "And hopefully he can tell us something useful."
The Winchester agreed with that and they headed out of the apartment with the rabbit's foot in hand, unaware that the person that'd hired both Grossman and Wayne had just arrived and that person was now watching them as they left in the Impala.
'Hm, so they have the item I'd sent those two fools to acquire for me,' the person thought, following the Impala now. 'Well, I'm glad that I've done my research.' And the person smiled with evil intent.
After parking in the lot for a BIGGERSON'S RESTURANT and still unaware that they were being followed, Dean went to a nearby gas station while Sam searched through their dad's journal for anything about the rabbit's foot without too much luck when his cell-phone rang and he answered it when he saw that it was Bobby. "Hey, Bobby."
`"Hey, Sam, I found that list and I know what was in that curse box that got stolen,"` Bobby told him. `"It's a cursed rabbit's foot."`
"Are you sure that it's cursed?" Sam asked while switching his phone to speaker as he waved Liz, who was clutching the object in question, and Jo over, just as Dean arrived with a paper bag.
`"Yeah, I'm certain since that thing has caused a lot of people to die,"` Bobby confirmed. `"And I strongly insist that none of you guys touch that thing."`
Liz grimaced, dreading the verbal lashing that she was about to get from their friend. "Um, it's a bit too late for that, Bobby."
`"What do you mean?"`
Sam sighed and quickly updated Bobby on what'd been happening since the last time they'd talked to him.
`"You touched it, Liz?!"` Bobby bellowed, making them all wince, almost frying the speaker on the phone. `"Of all the stupid things you could've done, girl, this is the dumbest thing yet!"`
"I know," Liz agreed unhappily. "So what's gonna happen now?"
Bobby sighed. `"Okay, so that rabbit's foot ain't no dime store notion…it was made by a Baton Rouge conjuror woman about a hundred years ago."`
"So, we're talkin' hoodoo?" Jo asked.
`"Yeah,"` Bobby responded. `"And so you all know, it's not a luck charm, she made it to kill people."`
"Does that mean that the guy who touched it earlier is going to die?" Dean asked.
`"Exactly,"` Bobby agreed. `"See, you touch it, you own it. Sure, you get a run of good luck to beat the Devil. But, you lose it, that luck turns. It turns so bad that you're dead inside a week, and trust me when I say that everyone who has ever touched that foot has died."`
Liz's face paled as she gulped and Jo, Dean, and Sam exchanged concerned looks since that didn't sound like a good thing.
"So, how do we break the curse?" Sam asked.
Bobby sighed, frustrated. `"I don't know if you can,"` Bobby admitted. `"But lemme look through my library and make some calls. Just sit tight."`
"Easy for him to say," Liz grumbled as Sam put his phone away, and frowned when Dean pulled out a large stack of scratch cards and handed them to her. "Oh, you've gotta be kiddin' me, Dean."
"Humor me, Liz," Dean said seriously, shoving both a scratch card and a coin into her hand. "Until Bobby figures something out, we might as well take advantage of the rabbit's foot, and since it's in your possession, you get to scratch and win."
Scowling, Liz pocketed the charm, took both items, and began scratching the card. After a few seconds, she handed the card back. "Here."
Dean took back the card and read what was on it. "1200…You just won $1200." And he whooped it up, ignoring the exasperated expressions on Sam, Liz, and Jo's faces. After a few more seconds of this, he calmed down and handed the rest of the cards to Liz. "Here you go, sis, win us more dough."
"I so hate you right now, Dean."
After winning on the rest of the scratch cards, Dean was thrilled to find that they were up to fifteen grand, and led them into the nearby restaurant for some food and voiced his idea.
"You know, until Bobby can find a way to break the curse I say we hit Vegas, pull a little Rain Man," Dean suggested brightly, nudging his sister's arm. "You can be Rain Man, Lizzy."
"Not in this lifetime, Dean," Liz refused. "I've got enough problems as it is."
"Yeah, and Bobby did say to lay low until he calls back with something helpful," Sam added as they went up to the front stand, where the owner was greeting guest. "Hi, table for four please."
"Congratulations!" the owner shouted gleefully as an alarm went off and several employees ran up.
"It's exciting, I know," Dean agreed.
"You are the one millionth guest of the Biggerson's Restaurant family!" the owner declared as balloons, streamers, and confetti began falling and one of the oversized checks that's been shown in commercials, was presented to the Winchesters and Jo, which said that they'd just won a year's worth of free food from the restaurant chain.
As the staff sang and took photographs, Dean was ecstatic, Liz was embarrassed, and both Sam and Jo were dumbfounded. Another lucky break?
"…and you just have to be in the airport long enough to take out this Parker guy and that's it," Kubrick was telling a fellow hunter, who he was enlisting to eliminate Parker Turner, who was returning to the United States soon. "Why? I'll tell you way, he's connected to the same demons just like Sam Winchester, and Gordon wants him dead." He smiled when he got a positive response. "Good, I'll let Gordon know that you'll do it, and I'll call you with the details soon. Bye." He then clicked off his phone and smiled at Creedy. "Soon, there'll be one less problem to worry about."
Creedy nodded. "And while you're callin' Gordon, I'll be lookin' for a place to get some food at." And he patted the top of his laptop.
Kubrick pouted. "Aw, come on Creedy, you know I've got canned everything," he protested, preferring to eat in his RV instead of out in public.
Creedy shook his head. "Not this time, pal, I've had enough of eatin' in the RV. Besides, I know a good place. Wide menu, good service, homey atmosphere. Garlic knots!" he then opened his laptop. "The menu's on their website."
Kubrick didn't look convinced, but Creedy had relented to eating in the RV for the last few weeks since they'd hit the road, and decided to let it slide this time. Clicking his cell-phone again, he called Gordon. "Hey, Gordon, I've got a guy whose willin' to deal with that returning problem in California…"
At the restaurant, the Winchesters and Jo were finishing up with their lunch, Sam was researching stuff on his laptop, Liz was thoughtfully sipping her coffee, Jo was finishing off her fries, and Dean was finishing off his second bowl of ice cream.
"I've just had a thought," Liz said, setting down her cup. "Maybe we can use this rabbit's foot to get me out of my deal."
"There's a thought," Jo agreed. "With the Colt workin' again, we can find whichever demon holds your deal, Liz, and with a little luck, get you freed before the year's up."
Sam chuckled. "Yeah that's a good idea, Liz," he agreed. "And so you know, Bobby was right. The lore on this thing goes way back." And he shut his laptop. "Pure Hoodoo. You can't just cut one off any rabbit. Has to be in a cemetery, under a full moon, on a Friday the thirteenth."
Liz grimaced. "Yuck, poor bunny."
Dean, however, wasn't listening and finished off his ice cream. "I say from now on, we only go to places with Biggerson's." and then he was struck with a nasty case of brain freeze and the others laughed, having expected it to happen from the way he'd been eating.
At that moment, a dark-haired waitress approached their table with more coffee. "Can I freshen you up?" she asked Liz.
"Sure," Liz responded, pushing her cup forward a bit, not paying much attention to the woman. "Thanks."
The waitress poured some coffee into the cup, and then accidentally spilt some onto the table, startling the group. "Oh!"
"Oops," said Liz, reaching for a napkin, "I'll get that for you."
"No, no, let me do it," the waitress insisted, pulling out a towel and she began mopping up the brown liquid before it could land in anyone's laps. "Sorry about that."
"It's all right," Liz said reassuringly as the waitress finished cleaning up and walked away, looking over her shoulder as she left, smiling. Sam and Dean both leaned in and watch her while both Jo and Liz rolled their eyes in response.
"Be careful, boys," Liz said, reaching for her coffee, "you both are starting to drool." And grinned as her brothers glared at her as she picked up her coffee – knocking the cup over instead, and managed to spill it all over the table and herself. "Oh crap!" she jumped out of her chair, turned and ended running into a waiter with a full tray, sending things flying and causing a scene. "Sorry!"
"How was that supposed to be lucky?" Dean asked when his twin turned back to face them.
"I-" Liz quickly searched her pockets and came up empty. The rabbit's foot was gone. "Oh crap."
"Son of a bitch," Dean cursed, realizing that the waitress had managed to steal the rabbit's foot from right under their noses!
The 'waitress' left the restaurant through the back entrance, removed her wig so that her dark-blonde hair tumbled down past her shoulders, and tossed in the nearby dumpster while clutching the towel that now held her prize in one hand, making sure that it didn't touch her skin.
'Bela, you've done good,' she thought, heading to her car. Yes indeed, it was a great day to be a thief.
A/N: Thief! Thief! R&R everyone!