Chapter 9

Sam pulled the Impala into the convenience store parking lot, parked near the front door and killed the engine. Bobby and he got out and headed inside to question the cashier about the man they had found on several of the videos. Sam went in first and looked around seeing a few customers wandering around. They waited until the cashier was free before approaching him.

"You again," the older man who was manning the register spoke to them.

"Yes, we wanted to see if you knew this person," Sam replied taking his cell out and pulling up the photo he had taken to show him.

The cashier squinted and rummaged around for a pair of reading glasses that he settled on his face. He took the cell and looked at it again, tilting it side to side for a better view.

"He was in here several days ago around five pm," Sam supplied.

"That's Herbert Sampson. He comes in a couple times a week," the cashier told them handing Sam back his cell.

"Do you know where he lives?" Sam questioned.

"No, sorry. I don't get that friendly with customers. I might get a name, but that's more than I want to know."

"Thanks," Sam told him thinking at least they had a name now. He motioned for Bobby to follow him out knowing they wouldn't get any further information from the cashier. Once they were outside, Sam continued the conversation, "I can look the name up and see if I can find an address for him."

"You do that, and I'll check the phone book," Bobby walked over to a very old and battered pay phone that he was surprised to see and checked to see if the phone book was intact. He thumbed through the book to the S's and ran his finger down the page until he found several people with Sampson as the last name. After looking around, he tore the page out and walked back to the Impala.

"I found Hubert Sampson that has an address on the outskirts of town. It seems isolated and the nearest neighbor is five miles away."

"Does it match any of these?" Bobby asked handing him the page from the phone book.

Sam took the page and compared it to what he had found on his cell. He glanced back and forth comparing the addresses before speaking.

"No, maybe the guy has moved since the book was printed or his number is unlisted," Sam shrugged. "I think this is probably the most recent one," Sam said gesturing to his phone. "There's no phone number listed on this search though. Should I try calling these from the phone book list to see if there's an answer."

"No, don't need to take the chance of possibly alerting him we're checking him out. It might cause him to run, and we'd lose our only chance of helping Dean."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Sam sighed. "I guess the best thing to do is find the house."

"Well, then let's go check it out."

"Give me a minute before we head out," Sam told him. "I want to call Cas again to check on Dean."

"Take your time son," Bobby replied knowing how worried Sam was about Dean. He didn't know what would happen if they couldn't retrieve Dean's memories and return them to him.

Sam dialed the number and listen to it ring and on the fourth ring Castiel answered.

"Hello Sam," Castiel greeted him in an irritated voice.

"Hey Cas, is everything okay with Dean?" Sam questioned wondering about the tone of Castiel's voice.

"I'm afraid I made the mistake of showing Dean how to use the remote for the television," Castiel started. "Dean, leave it on one channel please," he said to Dean.

Sam could hear chuckles in the background and what sounded like different programs from the television. He knew how annoying his brother could be and pitied Castiel his job of babysitting Dean.

"But he's okay otherwise than being an ass?" Sam asked.

"Yes, we are fine. No Dean! No that's not something you should be watching," Castiel chastised Dean as Sam listened. "Sam, I need to go, Dean found the adult channels. Dean you're not watching that, and I mean it."

Sam had to laugh as he heard what definitely were people having sex and could hear his brother's whiny voice yelling, 'Mine, Mine' in the background. A woman was moaning loudly, and a man was urging her on. The call was cut off with Castiel demanding Dean to give him the remote. It did seem some things never changed with his brother.

"Everything okay?" Bobby asked when he saw Sam laughing.

"Castiel is fighting with Dean over the remote for the television," Sam sighed with a laugh. "Seems he likes watching the adult channels."

"That sounds like your brother."

They headed back to the Impala and Sam pulled up directions to the house before cranking the car and pulling from the parking lot. He drove to the bypass and went around the downtown area to the other side and followed the road to a less populated area.

It took nearly thirty minutes before Sam found the mailbox with the address and a long winding driveway that led back into the forest. He went by the driveway and looked for a place to pull off the road where the Impala would be safe. He didn't want to risk using the driveway so this Sampson guy wouldn't be alerted to their presence.

Below the driveway on the opposite side of the road, Sam found a pull off where they could leave the Impala and it would be hidden from the road. He parked and they got out going to the trunk to arm themselves. Sam took a handgun with witch killing bullets and gave it to Bobby. He took his handgun and reloaded it with the same kind of bullets. He stuck the gun in the waistband of his jeans and took out several knives, hiding them on his body.

"We need to be extremely careful Sam. We don't want this bastard to destroy the memories he has taken from his victims."

"Yeah, maybe he's not at home and we can find where he's keeping them and steal them. Then we can come back and take care of him."

"We couldn't be that lucky boy. You don't know if he works or stays at home all the time. Being this far out gives him all the privacy he needs to do whatever weird crap he's into."

"That's true. And we'll need to watch for any booby traps or warning signals. We should probably cut through the trees and not chance the driveway."

"I agree. Might as well get started," Bobby huffed as he started walking toward the other side of the road.

Sam fell in beside him as his senses went on high alert when they entered the forest. The temperature dropped slightly once they were under the heavy branches of the tall, leafy older trees. They moved silently between growths of vine covered bushes and smaller trees trying to stay in as straight a line as possible.

When the two hunters finally saw the driveway through the trees, they began to move parallel with it, staying in the shadows of the forest. They walked about a quarter of a mile when the driveway curved, and a one-story log cabin suddenly appeared in a clearing. There was a circular driveway that ran by the front of the cabin and a detached garage sat beside it. The lawn needed mowing and vines grew up one side of the garage trying to take over.

Sam and Bobby studied the surrounding area looking for any signs of life. They finally continued past the house until they were behind it and saw a deck on the back of the house and a backdoor. Sam looked it over carefully, checking out every inch of the place.

"Does that look like a basement door?" Sam spoke softly as he pointed to the side of the house.

"Looks like it."

"I'm going to try and get inside." Sam moved away from Bobby and judged the distance to the house trying to find a place that was blind so he wouldn't be seen.

"Sam, wait," Bobby hissed but it was too late because Sam had moved away from him and was already making his way across the open area of the backyard to the side of the house. He watched as Sam eased to a window and looked inside for a moment before slipping to the door.

It was dark inside the basement and Sam couldn't see anything through the small window. He moved to the door to find it lock and pulled out his lock pick kit and went to work on the dead bolt and knob lock. It took him a little longer since the dead bolt was harder to pick. When he got both opened, Sam carefully and slowly opened the door making sure it didn't creak or squeal. He only opened it enough to slip inside and closed it behind him.

Sam stood still as he let his eyes adjust to the dimness of the basement and saw several steps leading to the basement floor. Sam remained motionless as he listened hard for any sounds from upstairs to let him know the owner was home. When he didn't hear anything, he moved down the steps to the basement not knowing what to expect.

A/N: Castiel is dealing with a stubborn Dean and Sam is being reckless as they check out a possible suspect. Have they found the right person? Thank you for coming on this journey. Your reviews/comments keep me writing. NC