Chapter Fifteen
Amie was sleeping, sprawled across Dean's chest, his arms around her, both of their bodies twisted in the sheets. For some reason, she could hear a Led Zeppelin song coming from the floor. She ignored it and it finally stopped. But a couple of minutes later, she heard it again. It had to be Dean's phone. And it wasn't going to stop until someone answered it. She rolled off Dean and snagged his pants with her finger, pulling them toward her. She took his phone from the pocket and saw that it was Sam.
"Dean," she prodded gently, "Sam's calling you. Wake up." Dean stretched, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. He took the phone from her.
"Yeah, Sam, what is it?" Dean asked, his voice thick with sleep. "Mm, hmm. Okay. Yeah, give me 15 minutes. Yeah, I'll bring her with me." Dean ended the phone call and tossed the phone on the nightstand. He rolled over and pulled Amie close.
"Hi," she breathed, running her hands through his hair. She kissed him gently. "What did Sam want?"
"He said he needs to talk to us. He thinks they found Chase Price. I'm supposed to get you and bring you with me." Dean grinned an evil grin and starting kissing her neck.
"Well, if you keep doing that, we aren't getting anywhere in the next 15 minutes," Amie giggled, trying to push Dean away.
"Oh, I know," Dean answered. "Maybe that's my plan. To just stay here with you. I have a list as long as my arm of things I'd like to do to you. And all of them involve you naked." Dean nipped lightly at her earlobe, laughing.
"Hmmmm, as nice as that sounds, I'm pretty sure Sam would come looking for us and that could get really awkward." Amie reluctantly pulled away from Dean and reached for her clothes.
Dean sat up behind her and starting kissing her shoulders. "You're right, but that doesn't change the fact that I want to do it." He wrapped his arms around her waist, giving her a quick hug before getting up to put his clothes on. Amie felt a little sad; she liked this lighthearted Dean. They didn't get to see much of him.
Amie finished dressing quickly, as did Dean. Just as Amie was opening the door to leave the room, Dean pushed it closed, turned her around and leaned over her. "I'm forgiven, right?" he asked, all the playfulness of earlier gone from his voice.
Amie grabbed his chin with her hand. "Yes, you're forgiven. But don't do it again. The only thing I asked you for was honesty. And you screwed it up. I'm giving you a second chance. Don't blow it." She kissed him, drawing it out, savoring every second of it. She desperately wanted to tell Dean how she really felt, that she was in love with him, but she was too afraid. She was afraid of how it would change everything, afraid of how it might push him away. And because she didn't want to lose him, she kept her mouth shut.
"We need to go," Dean whispered, his lips moving against her mouth. "Sam will come looking for us soon."
Amie nodded and pulled the door open.
Dean kept a hold of Amie's hand as they walked down the hallway, his fingers intertwined with hers. Sam and Kevin were waiting in the library. Amie expected Dean to let go of her hand once they got where the others could see them. She was pleasantly surprised when he didn't.
Sam was sitting at the table, his laptop in front of him and a stack of papers next to it. Kevin was at the other end of the table, his head on his arms. He appeared to be asleep.
Sam stopped typing on the laptop when they walked in, glancing at them. When he noticed their clasped hands, his eyebrows shot up. He made a point of addressing Dean, a grin slowly spreading across his face. "Well, I guess I don't need to ask where you were. I went to your room a couple of hours ago. Now I know why you weren't there." He laughed before turning back to his laptop. "Come here and look at this, you two."
Amie followed Dean to stand behind Sam, where he was pointing to a picture on his laptop. It was Price. He looked to be in his mid-30s, with dark brown hair and brown eyes.
"That's Price. I found him in Rogers, Arkansas. That's about seven hours away," Sam said. "I figure we can head down there, settle in and figure out how to find him once we're there."
Amie saw Dean glance at her out of the corner of his eye. She knew what he was thinking, but there was no way he was leaving her behind.
"Don't even think it, Dean. I'm going, end of story. I'm sure the hell not staying here with Kevin," she said, the exasperation she was feeling coming out in her voice.
"Thanks," Kevin mumbled, his head still on his arms.
Dean shook his head, a pained expression on his face. Amie braced herself for an argument. But instead, Dean blew out a breath and said, "Okay. I know you want to go and arguing with you is pointless. If I don't let you go, you'll just try something stupid. At least if you're with us, I can keep an eye on you."
"Keep an eye on me," Amie scoffed. "Whatever." She was relieved and surprised she wouldn't have to argue with him. Hopefully that meant that he had figured out she was useful and that she didn't need constant protection. She knew that didn't mean he wouldn't try to be annoyingly overprotective, but at least maybe he understood somewhat.
"Alright, let's get moving," Dean said, taking charge. "Thirty minutes and we hit the road." Dean kissed her on the temple, his arm snaking around her waist. "Guns, knives, the whole nine yards. 'K?" Amie could see the worry in his green eyes. She nodded in agreement.
Amie hated long trips in the car, she always had. The only time she liked it was if she was driving. Which she wasn't. And, she was relegated to the backseat of the Impala. Sam had informed her that even if she was sleeping with his brother, the front passenger seat was his and he wasn't giving it up again anytime soon. So she was relieved when they passed the 'Rogers, Next 3 Exits' sign. Dean took the second exit and they were at the motel in a matter of minutes.
Sam was out of the car before Dean put the Impala in park and headed for the motel office. Amie saw Dean glance at her in the rearview mirror. "What?" she asked.
"We're getting one room," he answered.
"Okay," Amie replied, shrugging.
Dean turned around to look at her over the seat. "Okay? You're not mad?"
"No, Dean, I'm not mad. I think I understand what's at stake, now that it's been fully explained to me. I'm fine with it." She leaned forward to kiss him. "I feel bad for you, though, having to sleep on the floor," she joked, winking and ruffling his hair.
"Ha, ha, you're funny," Dean rolled his eyes.
Sam pulled the door to the Impala open, climbed in and said, "Room 15, on the end." He glanced at Amie in the back, then at Dean. "She didn't kill you? Damn."
Dean drove the Impala to the end of the building and backed it into the parking spot in front of their room. Amie and the boys quickly unloaded the trunk. Dean was on edge, his eyes constantly darting around, checking the parking lot and the surrounding buildings. He seemed to relax once they were in the room with the door locked.
While they had been in the car, they had discussed different ways of getting to Price. He lived alone, so taking him at home was an option. Plus, going to his house meant they didn't have to worry about any innocent people getting hurt. But going in someplace they had never seen and couldn't scout ahead of time was extremely dangerous. The other problem was, they had to assume that Price knew who the Winchesters were because he was one of Abbadon's underlings. That meant they couldn't go in under any of their other identities. They had never really decided what they were going to do, though several ideas had been batted around. Amie had an idea, but she knew Dean was going to take some convincing. She was waiting to bring it up once they figured out they were out of options.
"I still think we should just try to talk to him using the FBI identities. Maybe he doesn't know us by sight, just by name," Dean was saying.
Sam was shaking his head. "No. He'll know us the second he sees us. We have to figure out something else."
Amie was growing impatient. This had been going on now for hours, if you included the time in the car. She put her head down on the scuffed table and tried to take a deep breath. The boys bickering back and forth was getting on her nerves. God, they were so frustrating sometimes.
"Alright!" Amie practically shouted. She was rewarded with both boys jumping slightly. "You've been going over and over the same thing for an hour. Plus in the car. Why don't we just stop being ridiculous and realize I am the only option? More than likely, this Price guy doesn't know who I am. Just because a couple of low-level demons knew who I was doesn't mean the higher-ups know me. Crowley didn't know me and he's the freaking King of Hell."
"No, absolutely not." Dean immediately said. Amie just stared at him. Dean continued, "We don't know that he doesn't know who you are. If we send you in there alone, you could get killed."
"I'll be fine. We'll check out where he works first. So, I'll be in a crowded place and you guys can set yourselves up close by. I'll go in, assess the situation and get out. Fifteen minutes." Amie explained.
Dean stood up and starting pacing as she spoke. She could see his anger building with each word she said. When she stopped talking she just watched him. She turned to Sam, her eyes pleading for help.
"Dean." Sam waited for Dean to stop pacing and look at him. "Dean!" Sam yelled. Dean stopped, but he was pissed, if the deadly look he gave Sam was any indication.
"I said no!" Dean growled.
"I know what you said," Sam said, sitting up straight in his chair. "But Amie's right. She's the only one who can go in. Look, the guy the demon's possessing works at a bank as a loan officer. He goes in every day to keep up appearances. Kev and I think it's how he makes deals; he finds the people who are truly desperate for money and uses that to secure their soul. Amie can go in on the pretense of trying to get a loan. Fifteen minutes, probably less.
Dean ran his fingers through his hair, the frustration obvious on his face. He looked between Amie and Sam, the look on his face one of resignation. "Alright, do it. But it has to be quick. And for God's sake you have to be careful," he finally said.
Amie crossed the room to Dean in two quick strides and kissed him. "Of course, I promise."
Amie smoothed her skirt as she walked out of the bank. That had gone so much better than she had expected. She had gotten right in to see Price and she felt like she had played the helpless "I need money for my cookie company more than I need air to breathe" part quite well. In fact, she'd played it so well that Price had invited her out for drinks later that night, supposedly to talk about her loan. Amie suspected that he thought he could make her a deal for her soul. Of course, she'd agreed. Now she just had to tell Dean.
She hurried down the street, trying to spot the Impala. Just then, her cell phone rang. She dug it out of her purse. "Dean," she said, "where are you?"
"I'm right behind you. Don't turn around. Sam's in the car. But, just in case Price has someone following you, we want you to catch a cab. Give the driver the address I just texted to you. We'll pick you up there."
Amie spotted a cab up ahead. She rushed to get in, giving the driver the address from her cell phone. A few minutes later, she saw the Impala out of the corner of her eye, turning down a side street. It only took about ten minutes for the cab to reach her destination. She gave the driver some cash and got out. She waited for him drive off, before hurrying around the side of the building and climbing into the Impala.
Sam was driving, so Dean turned around in his seat to ask her what had happened at the bank. She quickly explained most of what had happened, leaving out the part about Price asking her out.
"Good, now we just need to figure out a way to catch him out alone. Then we can grab him and take him somewhere to get him to talk," Dean concluded.
"I have that figured out, too," Amie volunteered.
"You what?" Dean demanded.
"He wants to meet me for drinks," Amie responded. "He gave me his number and I'm supposed to call him. So, I call him, arrange a meeting place of my choice and you guys grab him. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy." Amie shrugged. She watched Dean's face, surprised not to see any anger.
Dean was quiet for several minutes. Amie could see the struggle he was going through on his face. "Okay," Dean finally agreed. "I think it'll work. But I get to decide the meeting place. Sam, when we get to the motel, you work on finding someplace we can take him." Dean gave Amie a pained smile. "And you, my dear, you get to get ready for your date."