Chapter Text
Carry on my Wayward Sisters
There were days where Jody Mills didn't know what was the hardest. Was it being a Sheriff? Being a part-time Hunter? Or being the adoptive mother of four hunting young women?
Right now, it felt like a bit of the first and the last. To be honest, she hadn't hunted herself for a while now.
She looked up from her computer, and sighed heavily. In front of her, sitting in the chair, both legs resting on the left armchair, Claire Novak was chewing bubble-gum. Her hair were still stained with blood, some splashes were still drying on her face. Her clothes were dirty, messy, blood covered as well. But at least, it didn't seem to be her own, for once, and she was smiling.
"How stupid did those vamps have to be" she asked, "to come and settle 10 miles from here? You would think that, you know, words would get around, in the monster circles, that there's a hunter base nearby, before planning a bloody romantic escapade, right?"
"I don't know, Claire" lamented Jody, "but for the love of Jack, could you please at least stop by the house to shower before showing up to the precinct? If anyone sees you covered in blood and brains, they're gonna start asking question I don't want to answer!"
"Relax, Jody! Nobody's there, it's past midnight! There's only you to keep writing reports or whatever paperwork that late... Besides, I would have, but Alex has her date at the house. Would have been weird walking in on them in "blood and brains"."
Jody stopped typing.
"She what?!"
"Well, you know, she knew you were working late, that I was out hunting, and Patience was fine staying in her room pretending she didn't exist, so, well, why not?"
"Because I told you girls hundreds of time! No dates at home! At least not without warning me! Dammit, imagine if he stumbled on the weapon stash? Researches? "
"Chill, Mommy! She ain't gonna have sex in your bed, if it's what worries you!"
Jody buried her face in her hands, both exhausted but also slightly amused.
"You know very well that it's not it. I know you're all old enough, and I insisted enough on protection to know you all understood it! I can't believe you girls went along with it, behind my back! Sometimes I regret the times you could barely tolerate each other..."
"What do you want, old woman, your teachings got through to us!"
"Insolent brat", Jody chuckled. Claire had that way of turning anger into laughs. Or laughs into anger, when she wanted.
She resume her writing. Only a couple of more lines needed, then she was done for the night...
"By the way" cut the blondie, once again, "Did you receive any news from Sam?"
Something twisted inside her guts, like a cold metal fist.
"No, not yet" she whispered, trying to keep her mind away from the thoughts and memories.
Three months had gone by since Dean Winchester had passed. Three months since the day Sam, crying his soul out, called her to share the terrible news. The shock had left her speechless, to her knees on the floor of her kitchen. She had cared for Dean Winchester so much, so damn much, and her heart broke so violently that she thought she heard it. To think that Sam went through the Hunter Burial, and set his brother's corpse ablaze, all on his own, had ripped her apart. Still did. Why hadn't he called? Why did he ignore her right to say goodbye? The girl's right? All three of the owed their lives to Dean, and she had to tell them that he was gone, and that none of them would be able to say some last words.
That evening, they all drank some of his favourite beer, in silence, as a gesture of remembrance. No way that good looking bastard would ever be forgotten.
Jody had insisted, begged even, for Sam Winchester to come and join them, not to stay alone in painful times, but he had refused. Said he needed to be alone for a while. And after that, radio silence. Jody had feared he had done something stupid, maybe even killed himself, but just a week prior, during a friendly call with Donna, her friend had informed her that she had recently sent a case toward Sam, and he took it. Or so it seemed. So maybe that was a step in the good direction.
She owed him, and his late brother, so much. They gave their lives for the world, more than once, went to Hell and back, literally! They gave her a life, a purpose, and four beautiful, annoying, challenging, smart, extraordinary foster daughters. And as proof of her gratitude, she could not even say goodbye to Dean, not even help Sam during one of his most painful time. That pill was hard to swallow, even after weeks of self-convincing.
She looked back into Claire's eyes.
Claire had tried to keep her most natural tone, but she knew her voice had trembled at the mention of Sam. The passing of Dean had hit everyone hard, and the one of Castiel had left her in a state of incertitude. She couldn't make up her mind about what to feel about it. It was a mix of hate, regret, pain, relief and sadness. All she wanted to do was to try at keeping things as normal as they used to be, at least normal for her. Maybe this way, things would be just a bit less hard.
Focus on the Hunt, she kept thinking, focus on the Hunt. As long as she was keeping moving forward, killing things and saving people, she would be okay. That's what Dean would have wanted anyway.
"I have a new lead" she said, dreading the reaction of her foster mother. But Jody didn't even look up.
"Let me finish this, please. I'm almost done, and I wanna go home. I'm tired."
"Did you even hear what I said?"
"Nope! Your tiny squeaky voice was covered by the sound of my rumbling stomach."
Claire sighed and waited. She wanted a shower...
"You'll tell me again in the car" added Jody.
So yeah she would.
The trip home was short anyway, barely ten minutes by car. Sioux Falls wasn't the biggest place of America.
"I have a new lead. A new case, I think" she repeated.
"What? Again? But I thought things quieted down since... You know. Jack did his thing."
"So did I but, maybe that was the the calm after the storm. Monsters crawling out of their nests now that the big boss left the place. But I'm not completely sure, and I wanted Sam's advice. I dunno, I thought that maybe he would like to join me..."
"I thought you didn't want anyone babysitting you? In your own words."
"Come on, you know it's not about me. I just thought that maybe... It would do him some good, ya know? If I lost you or Alex, I know he would do the same for me and..."
She stopped, suddenly horrified by what she had just say, and the memories it might bring back.
"I know what you mean. You're a good kid, Claire. Annoying, stubborn and without a shred of respect for your elders, but a good kid. But first, have some rest. It's late and I don't want you to get in trouble because you're too tired to watch you back. We'll call him tomorrow, see what he thinks."
Claire didn't respond, just nodded. She was indeed very tired, almost already asleep against the vibrating window of the old sheriff car.
"What is this case by the way?" asked Jody.
"Honestly... I have no idea."
The smell of pancakes and bacon. Could it be anything other than the greatest thing in the Creation, ever? Would there ever be a better way to wake up? Claire doubted so, but the morning pleasure was quickly shut down by two things.
The first was the sound of Jody and Alex arguing in the kitchen. The second was the empty space next to her. She sighed, tried to keep the pain aching her heart in check.
Barely dressed up, she joined the girls in the living room, yawning and stumbling.
"I would expect something like that from Claire, but not from you!" attacked Jody.
"Leave me out of it..." she mumble, hardly awake.
Patience chuckled.
"Morning, Claire. How was your hunt?" she asked, joyfull.
"Bloody... Easy."
In her back, while she seated, Alex apologized.
"Look, I'll say it again, I'm sorry. I wasn't planning to, we just decided it on the spot. I even called Patience ahead just to be sure. I didn't think I was doing anything wrong. And anyway I'm 23, not 14! I'm allowed to have a goddamn boyfriend!"
Jody lowered her head. Why does everything have to be so difficult?
"I know you are, and yes you do. I didn't set those rules just to annoy you! It's for everyone's safety. I'm not even forbidding you to bring him home ! Just to plan ahead to avoid bad surprises! Like Claire coming back covered in blood !"
"Pleeease, leave me out of it..."
Alex sat down without any comeback. The girls knew she was just fighting back on principle anyway, but she knew she screwed up and was sorry. She wouldn't have baked breakfast herself otherwise. At least not so early. Hopeful, Claire glanced at Patience, her mouth full of maple-syruped pancake.
"Any news from Kaia..?" she dared asking.
Patience stopped for a second, then just shook her head, apologetic. The pity in her eyes made Claire sick, but she knew she didn't mean it that way. She was just as sad as her.
Roughly six or seven months ago, while the Winchester brothers were still busy with Chuck-God ending world after world, Jody and them had managed to bring Kaia back, the real Kaia, the one they all thought was dead and gone. Claire had done so much work on herself to try and accept her death, to lock her feelings for the Dreamwalker in a box, and to move one.
And there she was back. Alive. Scared, traumatized, thin as a twig, so weak she could have broken a bone while lying in bed, but alive. Claire's love for her had reignited tenfold, but mixed with a terrible fear that something worse would happen, and a vicious anger against herself for not having try harder to save her sooner, so she wouldn't have spent years in that nightmarish place.
But she tried her best. She really did. Tried hard not to smother her, overprotect her, not to keep her locked in her arms. To keep things as usual, back to normal. But it didn't work. Everyday, Kaia seemed to lock herself a bit more in her own world, putting more and more distance between herself and the girls, and it got twice worse after Sam's terrible call. Until one day, almost three weeks ago, she declared that she needed some time alone. "To breath, and found herself back", she claimed. Then she just took of, with a duffel bag and a cellphone.
She kept texting Jody every two days, with nothing more than an "I'm OK" content, and occasionally, Patience, with a bit more detail of her whereabouts. Last they knew, she was somewhere around Los Angeles. That was a week before, and Claire was so hurt that she was left completely ignored. Not that she would show it, of course, but Patience knew better.
"She'll come back."she said softly.
"Yeah, whatever. So Alex! How was the date?"
The brunette looked up from her plate, slightly surprised, as Claire and her were hardly the closest ones of this patched-up family.
"Hum.. Well I guess. Matt's a sweet guy."
"There was an usual smell in my room. You didn't do it in my bed, did ya?"
Patience almost choked on her pancake, and Jody lowered her head with a desperation facepalm.
"No we did not! I'm not that kind of girl, I'd AT LEAST wait for second date to soil your sheets. Are you sure it's not some leftover of your werewolf senses that are imagining things?"
Well, thought Jody, at least Claire and Alex beckering at each others is as close to normal as we'll ever be...
" So what's that case?" Finally asked Jody, once Alex had left for her shift at the hospital.
" A new case, again?" wondered Patience, raising her head from her book.
"Yes again. So listen, I saw this article, two days ago. A town called Pierre, Hughes County, South Dakota. Barely 3 hours from here. Four people went missing in the area in the last year. They didn't really put two and two together until the body of the third one showed up. Turned out he had hit the jackpot at the local casino a couple of days before going missing."
"And the others?" Jody's voice was intrigued.
"Still MIA, as far as I know."
"And you think this is a case because...?"
"Because the body was completely bloodless and brainless. Drained to the last drop and lightheaded, the article says. I swear, some people's sense of humour is worth jail time..."
Jody chuckled, despite her growing worries. She really didn't like Claire going alone.
"Indeed, that sounds like something worth checking. Vampires again, you think?"
"I'm not sure. Keeping brains ain't really part of their mojo, but maybe it's just a sick psycho who likes to collect. I'll see when I get there."
"You sure you don't want to rest a couple of days first? You just came back..."
" I barely had any case in the past four months. Having a couple in a row can't be that bad. If I spent more time resting than hunting, I'll get rusty before I hit 30. I'm good Jody. I had a nice sleep, and nice breakfast, I'll take a nice lunch, and then I'll get a nice hunt!"
"Alright, alright! Sorry I asked."
"You want a partner for this one? " rose Patience's voice behind her back.
Claire turned around, surprised. Patience hadn't hunt for almost a year now.
"You sure? I thought this Rugaru case last year scared you off this life for good!"
"Well, that was just temporary. And I'm getting bored to death here, there's no way I'm gonna get another bartending gig anytime soon, with this stupid pandemic. Jack really could have added a little tweak here and here, before going to wherever. I have a feeling that you might need someone to watch your back on this one."
"A vision?" asked Jody, suddenly very worried.
The last time Patience had a vision, it was in the middle of the night. She woke up crying, blabbering about someone getting his heart broken in the middle of a barn, blood on the wood, scared children and an old shield breaking in two. The next morning, they had received the terrible call from Sam Winchester and since then, the future had remain quiet.
"No" she answered with a smile. "Just a manner of speaking. So? Mind if I tag along?"
Claire just smiled back.
"Well you know the drill" gave up the sheriff. "A report every night, and if you miss a single one, I send the cavalry."
"Yes, I know!" complained the blondie.
"I'm gonna pack my bag!"said Patience, cheerfully, as she rushed back into her bedroom.
"She seems unusually happy about this hunt, doesn't she?" wondered Claire.
" Maybe she's just looking forward spending time with you? She's been very alone here since... Well since Kaia's not here."
The girl decided to ignore the sting in her heart.
"Naaah, must be something else. Maybe she got a deal with Alex to leave the house for her and her boyfriend when you're gone!"
She took off quickly before the joke landed on her foster mother.
"Wait... What? Claire! Come back here!"
"So, how do you wanna do this?" asked the psychic.
Claire's old rusty Ford was parked a hundred meters from the coroner's office. The drive had taken indeed three good hours, quiet, peaceful, during which they shared few words, but much more song lyrics as they sang along a couple of old rock classic. Even though it was not really Patience's forte, who was more of a soul and R&B fan, and that Claire would never admit that Dean's influence on her music taste was bigger than he had imagined, those songs and those moments were some of the best they had had for months. Maybe years. Good enough for both of them to wonder why they didn't do it more often.
"Well, I go in there, and I'm not coming out until they let me examine the body. And you, well, I guess you can go find us a motel and wait for me and start some researches while waiting for me. Then we'll inspect the place where the body was found."
"You kidding? i'm going with you!"
"Nah. If I'm alone I got some easier lies to sell. Plus, I thought dead bodies were not you're thing. You sure you wanna inspect a drained and brainless corpse?"
Patience pouted.
"Touche. Alright, give me the keys. I'll find something without too much bedbugs and text you the address. Don't take too long, night will fall soon."
After rumbling through the trunk to change into her "FBI clothes", she slammed it to signal her partner she was free to go. The outfit was simple, really, white shirt, black tie, cheap blazer. It looked weird on her, too big, as if she had stolen that from her father's wardrobe, but it was already hard enough to make people believe she was law enforcement without looking like a punk teen out for a concert.
It did not miss. As soon as she stepped into the precinct, she was welcome by the usual question.
"Aren't you a bit young to be FBI, agent Morgan?"
The lady was 60 something. Probably should have retired already, if she could afford it. Warm smile, though a bit fake. Claire had developed her own strategy to make people uncomfortable.
"I know I look young, but I got out of the academy a year ago. I was supposed to be here with my partner, or should I said mentor, but he died two weeks ago. Gunned down by a drug gang when he was out for dinner with his wife. The Bureau assigned me a new partner, but I have order to start the investigation while waiting for him. Should be there in a day or two."
"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry. To lose a partner so young... And just two weeks ago? I can't begin to imagine what you're going through..."
Claire just raised her shoulders.
"We never really got a chance to get close, so, you know. But I'd like to be prepared for when my new boss arrives, so if you don't mind pointing me to the coroner's office..."
"Sure thing, love. Third door on the right, get down the stairs, then it's first on your left. Can't miss it. He should still be there. I'll let the sheriff know you're here when his back from his patrol."
"Thank you, Ma'am. Much appreciated. Here's my card, if you or he wishes to contact me".
Directions were clear enough, and the office indeed unmissable, as the door was facing the morgue. She knocked.
The coroner was a tall African-American, blessed by Chuck with broad shoulders and a devastating smile. He looked young too, barely even 30 years old.
"Hello", she said without a smile. "Coroner? I'm agent Morgan. FBI. I'm here about the body of the jackpot winner. The one without blood."
The man's smile faded.
"Yeah I know what body you're talking about. Hard to forget, if you ask me. But I didn't know the FBI was getting involved, the sheriff didn't warn me."
"Well, if this guy's is the first of four missing men, then we can fear the three others turning the same way, which would mean that we'd be dealing with a very, very twisted serial killer. So the Bureau tries to get ahead, and here I am."
"A twisted serial killer, and they send the tiniest, youngest recruit they have?"
Claire gave him her meanest look.
"Instead of being disrespectful and risking me making a report about your desobligeant behaviour, why don't you show me the body and your files?"
He looked scared for a second, then found his smile back.
"You're right, Ma'am, my apologies. Follow me."
He led her to the room on the other side of the hallway, where the empty tables of steel where shining under the lights, and opened the first slot of the body fridge.
He unveiled the deceased, and while Claire lean forward to inspect closer the skin, he handed her the file.
"Joe Rogans. 36. He was found buried in the woods, after a jogger with his dog found him. The body wasn't buried deep enough, and the dog started digging. The guy's never gonna run in these woods again, I'm telling you, he got scared out of his life. Anyway, I've never seen anything like this" he claimed. "Really."
The lack of blood had turned the man into a mummy without bandages, white as Death itself. A hole had been made in the back his skull, round as a tennis ball and twice bigger.
"The body was drained of almost 70% of its blood. I found two needle-sized holes, one on each arm, so my guess is that he was drained using a perfusion, while he was alive. Now, the problem is that I cannot say for sure what the cause of death is."
"What d'you mean?" she asked, raising her nose from the notes.
"Well, if you look at the decoloration here" he said, pointing at the cuts on the skull "You'll notice these red-ish patterns. What it means is that the brain was still irrigated when the skull got cracked open."
"The killer removed his brain while he was still alive?"
She felt sick.
"Maybe. I cannot be sure, that's what I say on the next page. Either that, and then the killer kept draining blood until almost nothing was left, OR, he drained the blood until this poor man died, then removed his brain just a few seconds after the passing. Like it was important that both were done at the same time. But I cannot really say which one was first. Especially since, the only thing I'm sure of, is that poor Joe here was dead long before losing 70% of his blood. Which means the killer kept draining him after his death, which his much, much harder without a heart beating and pumping the blood through the veins, you see?"
"So he starting draining him, killed him, then kept draining with a much more complicated way, until it got too hard, and then got rid of the body?"
"Pretty much yeah. I can't make any sense of it, for the life of me."
"What do we know about this guy, except this?"
"The sheriff could tell you more about it, but from what I picked up, he was not from around. No close family that we know of, he was just going through town for work, stopped at the casino for the night, got lucky, and disappeared shortly after. It's his employer who reported him missing when he never showed up to the client's for the meeting."
"So no enemies in the area."
"Not likely, as far as I know."
"Okay I see. Last question. According to your report, it's said he was declared missing five months ago. But here you say that he's been dead for a week or two, estimation being harder due to the lack of blood. Meaning that he had been kept alive for months?"
"That's possible. At least the maths would tend to agree with this theory, but I have another."
"Do you, now?"
"My guess is that, after hitting the jackpot, he decided that the job was not worth it anymore. Decided to leave without a word with the pactol and live the high life for a while. Then bragged about it to the wrong person, and got himself killed."
"Unlikely", answered the fake agent.
"Why so?"
"Because then why would he turn up in the same town he went missing from, and not in Cancun?"
The coroner didn't answer.
The motel Patience had found was nicer than what Claire was used to. Can't say it was fancy, for sure, but at least it was not the literal cheapest of the whole state. She got worried for a bit that the fake cards would be denied, but her friend quickly reassured her.
"They didn't even look at me when I paid. The dude was too busy watching Netflix and didn't want me to bother. Like he didn't know that he could pause it... Anyway, i got something!"
Claire smiled. She was glad to see the psychic so active and involved after being quite down since she's the bar she was working at closed, but even glader that she didn't have to do all the preliminary researches herself. Spending hours on the PC sitting on shitty bed was not her favourite part of the job. Patience looked so excited she didn't even asked what Claire had found herself.
"So" she started to explain. "The first one missing was Matthew White. Just 30 years old, from North Dakota, two hours away from here. Consultant in human resources. He was in town for a client, for two days. All fresh and good for the first one, never showed up for the second. Client figured it might have been a mistake, until the employer said he actually never came back the next monday, and reported him missing. The second man is Thomas McCallister. Only 25, he was in town with his rock band on tour. He's the bass player. According the the papers, they arrived early in town before the night's show. The boy said he'd go out for an hour, have a walk, and never made it back for the concert. You'll notice that The Ravens still managed to play without him though. They thought he was drunk somewhere in a ditch, but they reported him missing after 48 hours without hearing from him. Now, third one, Joe Rogans. 36, salesman. From what I could find, he was also here for work, although I'm not sure if he was staying here and just stopping on his way to somewhere else. Too late to contact the employer today, but I can do it tomorrow if we need. He's the guy you saw at the morgue, I supposed.. And then the last one. This one is interesting because he, is also a she."
Claire raised an eyebrow while sipping down her beer.
"Elliot Shane. Also known as Clara Thompson. He's what we call a drag-queen, and a quite famous one at that, at least according to his website. He's a "high-end escort girl", for the ones into this kind of kink. Travels the whole country for his clients. Turns out he was in town for a lady who always dreamt of having sex with a shemale... While her husband filmed."
"How the hell did you get that kind of details, for heaven's sake?"
"It's all in the police reports. That's the statement of the ones who reported them missing."
"How did you get those statements?"
Patience shrugged.
"Sam showed me how to hack into police database, last year... After the Rugaru case... So I could keep helping you from time to time. But anyway! He met the couple at the restaurant at lunch, so they'd get to know each other before.. You know. He was supposed to get pretty and meet them at their place in the evening, but he did not. Never made it there. The lady went reporting him right away."
"And the cops took the statement? Just for a missed appointment?"
"They're a big deal around, it seems. Big money, lots of contribution... Not someone they'd dismiss that easily."
Claire sipped once more. The bottle was almost already finished.
"So what's the exact disappearance timeline?"
"Matthew, 13 months ago, roughly. Thomas, nine months ago. Joe, five months, and Elliot last week. So, one every four months or so it seems."
"Hum. The coroner said that Joe died just weeks ago, so many months after going missing. So by the look of it, the monster feed on them for a while, kills them for some reasons after 4 months, then gets out to fetch a new snack."
"You think it only feeds every seasons?"
"I'm not sure. The coroner said that a huge part of the blood was drained post-mortem, which was overly convoluted because it would be much easier to do with a beating heart. So I'd tend to think that it stacks up. Keep some stock, and need to refill every four months when there's nothing left."
"Well that's kind of scary."
"What annoys me more is that I have absolutely no idea what kind of creature does that. I mean I supposed it's feeding on both blood and brains, but maybe it's something completely different. Some rituals, maybe?"
Patience got up from her seat and started walking around.
"We know all victims were male, are least biologically, under 40, and just passing by. What about a succubus, or something alike? Maybe it's posing as a prostitute to lure its victims? That would be fitting the storyline, I supposed. It's common practice among nomad profession, especially with single men."
"Could be, yeah, although that fits way less for the last vic. I can't really imagine why a travesti escort would hire a hooker. And I have no idea how to kill a succubus, so I kinda hope you're wrong about this one."
"I guess we'll have to figure it out tomorrow. It's late, and we won't get much more tonight."
"Agreed. How about some pizza?"
"You alright, sheriff?"
Jody took her hands off her face. She didn't really know why she was feeling so tired. Maybe it was the poor night she had, with Patience and Claire out, despite the reassuring text they had sent around midnight.
She had shared breakfast this morning with Alex, who was definitely a nicer kid when Claire was not around to tease her up. She could not say if the two "sisters" loved to hate each other, or hated to love each other so much. Either way, none of it explained why she was feeling so exhausted. She looked at her deputy. The young man hadn't been here for a while, he wasn't quite used to see her like that.
"I'm alright, Jeff. Thanks. Just a bad sleep night. Anything new on the robbery?"
"Nothing so far. My guess is that whoever did this is long gone. None of the usual reseller seems to have seen anything, no matter the threats."
The woman sighed. Things have been quiet, since the whole Chuck/Jack incident. She didn't know if the kid had anything to do with it, but she had much less work since. The problem, however, is that anything that came her way felt harder to solve than before. As if the smart criminals were the only ones left.
Her phone rang. She took a couple of seconds before looking at it, to check the number, but when she did, she regretted having taken those seconds. Kaia. She never called, just texted, usually. Her heart skipped a beat.
"Kaia? Kaia is that you?"
"Jody? Jody, I need help. Please."
Her voice was shaky, as if she was holding back tears. Or panic. Maybe both. Her heart now completely froze in her chest.
"Kaia. What's going on? Tell me!"
"I don't know Jody. He's dead! There's blood everywhere. I got blood on my hands, Jody. What do I do? What do I do?"
Jesus, could it be any worse?
"Kaia, listen to me. Listen to me!" Her deputy looked over at her, worried, but she ignored it. "Take a deep breath. One , Two, breathe. Okay, good, good. Now tell me where you are."
"Sterling, Colorado. In a motel room, but I don't know where exactly. I don't know how I got here, Jody."
"Alright keep breathing, you're doing good. What do you remember?"
"Not much. I arrived in town yesterday morning. Just walked around for the day. Then I was in a bar, last night. Some dude tried to buy me a drink. And then.. and then I don't know. I just woke up in here, and there's this guy on the bed. He's got no more teeth, Jody! His face is covered in blood, I got some on my hands, I don't know how. He's not breathing, I'm sure he's dead."
"Alright listen to me. Here's what you're going to do. As soon as we hang up, you're calling the police. You tell them exactly what you said to me, and then you stay here! Just step outside the door if you wish but don't leave. That would only make things worse. You're a victim here, so let's not give them any reason to think otherwise. You call them, and you tell them. They will ask you to follow them, and you will. Stay at the station. I'm on my way, I'll be here by nightfall."
"Okay... Okay Jody. Please come quick, I don't know what happened..."
"I'm on my way. Hang on, kid".
Jody was already out putting her jacket on by the time she hang up. Her deputy followed her outside, rushing in her steps.
"What's going on? Where are you going?"
"Onf of my daughters need my help. You're in charge here, Jeff. Keep the house 'til I'm back."
Her engine roared, and she was gone.
The road was often a good friend to the sheriff, but not that day. That day it felt like an enemy, a wall to climb over in a race against time. She drove above the speed limit most of the time, not hesitating to turn the siren on when need, but despite it all, the night had fallen by the time she knocked on Sterling's sheriff office. The door opened to a young man from the night shift, looking annoyed out of his life. Jody was sure he was about to give her some "What dya want?" when he noticed her outfit.
"Sheriff Mills?" he asked.
She nodded.
"Kaia is here?"
"She is, Ma'am. She told us you'd be coming. Please, come in, don't stay outside. The girl is waiting for you in cell 3.'
"Kaia is WHERE?!"
"Agent Morgan?" said a male voice that she didn't recognize.
It was early enough to make Claire groan of annoyance, the phone had rung for long enough to dragged her out of bed.
"Sheriff Sheppard here. Rosie gave me your card yesterday, after you came by the office. I'm sorry to call you before breakfast, agent... But the digging crew came through. We got two more bodies. I'm on my way there, and I sure as hell would love to get your help on this one."
"Got it, sheriff. Just text me the location." Then she turned to her sister still in bed and pushed her. "Get up you slime. We got work to do."
"Damit, I forgot about that part of the job... please tell me we'll stop for breakfast."
"I'll get you a donut. If you behave."
Patience drew her first smile of the day.
They had to take the car for barely three minutes to get out of town, but then walked almost twenty to reach the GPS coordinates the sheriff had sent. When he saw them coming, he raised an eyebrow.
Sheppard was a rather small man, with a round-shaped head that would make you think he was overweight without actually being so. He hadn't shaved for a few days, maybe a week, and it looked like he hadn't slept since Michael Jackson was still alive.
"Which one of you is agent Morgan?" he hailed them.
Displeased by the tone of his voice, and by how tired she felt, Claire just slightly raised one finger.
"Then that should make you the S.O we were expecting?" he asked, facing Patience. "Was expecting someone else, to be honest."
Not sure if he was referring to her age or the colour of her skin, she showed him her most glacial face.
"Means I'm just that good. Agent Rebecca Parker." She extended her hand, which he shook politely, and before he could open his mouth again, she pushed forward. "Let me guess. Thomas McCallister and Matthew White?"
Grateful to the masterful way Patience had played along her cover, Claire had ignored the sheriff to go straight to the only face she recognized. The coroner, addressing her a polite nod, answered to her 'supervising officer'.
"Can't say for sure without comparing the dental records at the office, but it does preliminary inspection seems to match their size and age. I'll notify you as soon as I'm sure."
Claire knelt toward the skeletons. Their bones were dusty and muddy, cleared from all flesh but still wrapped in rags that used to be their clothes. The bodies had been taken out of the 6 feet graves that lied two steps behind, between the roots of a large oak. She knelt, looking a closer look at the skulls.
"Same M.O?"
"Well obviously", chuckled the coroner "I can't say for blood draining. But both skulls have been cracked open just like Joe Rogan, so I'd give it a strong probably."
Patience turned back to the sheriff.
"You mentioned a digging crew to agent Morgan. Did something like that happen before? Were you expecting to find other bodies?".
Sheppard shrugged.
"Not really. Just a gut feeling, with all the disappearances, you know. We're quiet people here in Sterling. Worst I had in twenty years as a sheriff were a couple of suicides and one attempted robbery. Serial killers are above my paygrade, so I'm glad for the FBI taking over."
Patience looked around.
"Where's the third grave? Joe Rogan's?"
He pointed at the oak.
"Just on the other side of the three. Roots are thicker on that side, maybe why the body wasn't buried so deep. You can't see it from here, but take five steps to your right and you will. Not far enough to categorize this as a different site."
"Anything else?"
He shook his head, annoyed almost.
"Nah. We let Max, our coroner here, do his job and take the bodies out of the graves. Haven't touched anything else, we were waiting for you guys, sorry, ladies, to arrive."
Something was itching Patience to set this man on fire, but Claire interrupted her thoughts. She raised her voice, pointing something in one of the grave.
"I see something down there. Max, give me some gloves and help me down."
The man obeyed.
Deep in the dirt, trying to avoid the couple of bugs here and there, the blondie bent over to pick up something half buried in the dust.
"A token of hundred dollars. From the Aces High Casino."
"That's the same casino Joe Rogans won the jackpot!"
Patience smiled.
"Then we have a new link between our victims. Alright, Morgan, get out of this hole. Let the guys do their work. We have a casino to hit!"
Walking back to their car, ignoring the mumbles of the sheriff, Patience leaned toward her sister and whispered.
"Supervising officer, uh?"
"Shut up. It's just because you look old."
Aces High was much shaddier than the girls would expect. It's not like they spent much time in casinos, or expected some Las Vegas superstar hotel, but still, this back alley, red-bricked, graffitied building felt like it should have been abandoned years ago. Only the door looked clean, which was probably the purpose. They had waited for the place to open, breakfast time was much too early for a small night-life place. But before lunch the doors would open, and a couple of hours later there would be some players. Hopefully.
Patience looked at Claire, skeptical.
"Well now I'm questioning how big this jackpot was... How do you want to play it?"
The youngest thought about it for a second.
"You go ahead without me" she finally said. "If we both go as FBI agent, we're toasted. So you go in as Agent Palmer, and I will come in 5 minutes later to play a bit. Look around as a customer, you know."
"You got any money?"
Claire stuffed her hands in her pocket, took out a couple of bills.
"Not much, but that should be enough for some low stake poker, I supposed".
Patience nodded and took a step forward, before turning her back.
"Actually, maybe you should go first. Observe reactions around when an FBI agent starts asking questions?"
Claire sighed with a smile.
"You're the boss, Agent Palmer."
"Attagirl!"
Claire stepped inside, surprised by the cold of the AC hitting her in the face when the outside's breeze was already fresh enough. The interior was much better looking that the outside, but smaller than she expected. There was only a dozen of slots machine, bright and flashing lights everywhere with the most appealing and fantasy names they could find. On the left was the only Roulette of the room and by its side, three tables for card playing, with only one very bored-looking croupier. She looked around, counting the number of people. Four employees, she could see, for barely six player, all of them male, none of them under 40 years old. Keeping an eye on the room would be easy enough. She headed toward the croupier, where she'd had the best view on everyone.
"You guys play poker around here?" she asked.
"Sorry, Miss. Only Friday and Saturday evening."
"What's your deal then?"
"Blackjack, Miss, of course. Would you be interested."
"Small stakes alright? I only got a hundred."
"I'd even say, small stakes only here, hundred could last you a while, If Lady Luck's with you. You know the rules?"
"Course I do. Deal me in."
Without a single smile, the young man started beating the cards. He was tall, pale, with broad shoulders and a slightly crooked nose, maybe hinting to a tendency for bar fights. Claire played a few hands, seriously, while waiting for Patience to make her entrance.
When she did, she made sure to talk as loud as she could without sounding like she was a yelling cartoon character.
"Agent Palmer, FBI. I'm investigation a possible murder. Who's the person in charge here?"
An employee pointer her toward the cash-in desk were an older lady was writing something inside a book. She barely raised her chin when Patience walked up to her, like she hadn't heard her, but Claire was 100% sure that the croupier did, considering how much paler he became and how the cards froze in his hands.
"Well that's an early jackpot" thought Claire.
"Hello" opened Patience to the manager through the glass. "Agent Palmer. I have some questions about a young man that seems to have come here before disappearing."
Finally she looked up.
"That Joe Rogans guy? I already told the cops all I knew. And the reporters. It wasn't even that much of a jackpot, just the biggest one from the smallest machine. 5 grands Nothing worth killing other."
"Not Joe Rogans. Thomas McCallister."
She took out her phone to show her the report's picture. Suddenly, the woman was interested. Scared.
"Wait" she said. "Another one?"
"Hum Hum."
"Lemme look at him again. Yeah I remember him! Hard not to, he was bragging about being a rockstar. Lost all he had in an hour, which was not much, but still left the place very much healthy. He even had that pretty girl Eliza at his arm!"
Patience's interest spiked, especially when she noticed the woman suddenly looking awkward, like she had said too much.
"Eliza?"
"Yeah She... Listen, I don't want to create any trouble, she's a sweet girl. She euhm... What you'd call a street professional. Some of those girls hang around here. We have kind of a deal. We let them hunt for clients, and in return they incline them to drink a couple of extra whiskeys. Win-Win, you know?"
"Relax, I ain't here for some girls trying to make a living. But I need to talk with that Eliza, if she's the last one to have seen him alive."
"Sadly I can't help you here... She usually pops up once every now and then. I haven't seen her for a week at least."
"Nobody here got her contact?"
"Sadly no.. But try coming back tomorrow. The owner will be there. He's out of town right now but said he'd be back for tomorrow's game. He might know more."
"Alright, will do then. Thanks for your help. Oh by the way, before I leave, another question. Any chance that Joe Rogans also left with Eliza?"
"No he did not, of that I'm sure... But she was here that night. She left earlier than him, with another man, that's why I'm sure. But I can't say if he left with another one or not."
"Another one? You got many of those girls?"
"More than I'd like to admit, for sure, sadly. There's not much job around here, specially these days..."
"Alright. Thanks for your help, Madam. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Have a good day agent. If I can be of any help, feel free to come back."
Patience walked out, without a single look for Claire. Barely a minute after, the croupier hailed the young woman after a pretty good hand.
"I'm sorry miss. Do you mind if I take a minute?"
"Sure man. Take your time."
Following him to the toilets was surprisingly easy for her, but she had become pretty good at that exercice. Hidden around the corner, she heard him clearly.
"The bloody FBI ! Asking questions about you! That's trouble, I'm telling you! What do we do? No, I don't know. No. She said she'd be back tomorrow to talk with the boss. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Alright see you tomorrow then. Be careful."
He hung up, and Claire rushed back to the table, to play a few more extra dollars out.
Looking at Kaia, Jody thought it might not be as bad as she thought. The girl looked fine, not malnourished nor sleep-deprived. She was even peacefully sleeping on the uncomfortable bench the cell considered a bed.
"Kaia"? she gently called.
The brunette jolted up from her bench. Not sleeping so peacefully after all.
"Jody! Thank god you're here!"
Jody winced involuntarily at the mention of Chuck, but she shrugged it off to focus on her daughter.
"How are you holding up? What are you doing in the cell?"
Grabbing the bars, Kaia lowered her head for a second, but when it rose back up it wore no pain nor sadness. Just a tired smile.
"I did as you said. Called 911, stayed at the motel, waited for them to show up. They treated me well, you know. Even brought me a burger. But they said they did not want to let me go just yet and asked me to stay here."
"Asked you? Did they charge you with anything?"
"Nope. The sheriff said I could go if I wanted, as long as I did not leave town in any case, but that it would make things much easier for everybody if I stayed there. Also I didn't really know where to go, and I'm kind of short on cash for another motel, so... I figured you'd have an easier time finding me in here."
"But why are you locked up in the cell then?"
"I'm not."
Kaia just pushed the bars and the gate opened. It wasn't locked. Jody laughed with relieve and hugger her tight.
'You brat! I was so worried about you!"
Kaia returned the embrace with an unexpected strength. It lasted for a good while until the deputy hailed them.
"Sheriff Mills? Sheriff Maxwell is on her way back here, she'll be here in a couple of minutes. Can I offer some coffee in the meantime?"
Jody graciously accepted, and sat with Kaia in her cell. She didn't want to lean on the tragedy of the day, they would do that soon enough when this Maxwell would be there, so she asked her what she's been doing so far. Which was not much but walking, hitchhiking, working some 1-day-gigs to get some spare change, and drinking in bars ( that last part, Jody could understand, but she was still quite worried about it), until the ring of the door pulled them out of the discussion.
Sarah Maxwell was a tall women, looking quite young (barely over 30 maybe?), with long dark hair braided and tied into a ponytail. Her dark skin highlighted a small scar on her forehead, and Jody thought that, for a woman of color that young to already be sheriff, she probably was one hell of a badass. But the best of the first impression was not this, but the warmth of her smile when she saw Jody. She instantly felt like the sheriff was a woman who cared. Who put people before the book. One of the good ones.
They shook hands firmly and went into Maxwell's office, shortly followed by Kaia.
"Any news?" asked she youngest.
"Not yet. It will have to wait for tomorrow."
Jody raised they eyebrows, ready to ask what it was about, but Maxwell stopped her with a raise of the palm of her hand.
"Let me explain and start from the beginning. Actually, let me start by thanking you for doing the right thing and telling Kaia to call us. I know how easy it would have been to panic and just run away, but you presenting yourself was of a big help. Now here's the situation. Kaia claims that she has no recollection of the previous night, not coming to the hotel with the victim. I tend to believe her, but we have a drug test currently going on to see if she has been drugged, which would explain things. And would also not be a first in town, sadly. We're expecting the results by tomorrow. That's also why I insisted on having Kaia staying here, because I believe that if she's indeed being set-up, she might be in danger. And well, if she's actually a really gifted liar and she did kill the guy, I'd rather prefer not to have to chase after her."
Jody would have protested, but Kaia's nod changed her mind. She was right, she knew it.
"What do you mean, not a first time?" she asked instead.
"We've been having some reports of GHB being used in the region over the pasts months. It's also the third man in less than a year found dead with his head bashed in, and even if I don't have a single proof, my guts tell me it's related."
"How so?" wondered Kaia, interested but also relieved to maybe not be at the center of the story.
"All of the victims had a record. Bad boys bikers kind of guys, running around with a finger in every bad things that happen around here. No big fishes, but no angels as well."
"But why leave Kaia alive, then?"
That was not a question Jody really wanted answered, but as a cop herself, it was stronger than her.
"I don't know" admitted her peer. That's a first, which means it's also my hope to make some progress in this case. Kaia might be a suspect right now, but I believe that she's much more of a witness. Hopefully we'll clear that out tomorrow. Now Kaia, I know we've been over it once, but let's do it again for Sheriff Mills. Maybe something new will pop-up. Can you please walk us through the events of yesterday?"
The young woman took a deep breath, and told her story. She had spent the day walking around, searching for a bar that might have a gig for her, without success. As she was running low on cash, she thought it might be time to go home, and decided to have a drink and some fries in a small rocker bar. She had just finished her first beer when a short bearded guy came to her and hit on her with some cheesy pick-up lines straight out of some 80's bad movies. She rejected him politely, he insisted. She declined again, and when he finally took the hint, he bought her an extra beer as an apology for wasting her time, before leaving. After that, nothing. Just waking up in the motel covered in blood.
"Wait" said the sheriff. "You didn't tell me that he offered you a beer, only that you rejected him."
"Yeah, I didn't think much about it. I mean, it came straight from the bartender, so I don't see how he could have drugged it..."
"Or the bartender is accomplice."
This idea hit Kaia like a punch in the guts.
"Fuck... We need to talk to the bartender."
"I need to talk to him. You're civilian, remember, kiddo? But yes, I agree. In the meantime..."
She took turned the computer screen over to Kaia, displaying a man on a mugshot.
"Is this the guy who hit on you?"
"Yes. 100%. He's the vic?"
The sheriff nodded, and looked at her wristwatch.
"Let's continue this tomorrow. We all need rest. Sheriff Mills, do you have a place to stay?"
"Do you mind if I borrow your cell number 2?"
Sarah Maxwell smiled.
"Had a feeling you'd say that. Sure, go ahead. We'll bring you some blankets. "
Within ten minutes, she had left the precinct, leaving the deputy in charge. Lying on the hard bench, Jody tried to remember the last time she had to sleep in a cell. It had been a while. When she thought that Kaia had finally fell asleep, she heard her voice rise in the silence.
"Jody... How are the others doing?"
"The girls are all doing fine. They worried about you. But we're good. We're good."
And, after an obvious hesitation.
"And Claire...?"
Jody just smiled.
Morning came fast, way to fast for Jody to feel rested. Her back hurt. Maybe she was indeed getting too old to sleep on a bench. At least some coffee was already prepared, judging by the smell of it. Kaia was still asleep in the next cell, so she got up silently.
The young deputy was gone, already replaced by the day-shift deputy. This one was the complete opposite : old enough to be retired, completely bald, with at least 30 extra kilos.
"Oh, good morning, miss!" he exclaimed. "I hope we did not wake you up!"
"No worries, I did not hear you. Is that coffee I smell?"
"Sure is! Still hot. Want a cup?"
"More like a dozen", she mumbled.
He laughed and served her. It felt good through her body. After chatting a bit with the guy, she asked when she sheriff was due to arrive.
"No idea. She was supposed to be there already, but she texted me. Something came up, so she went straight where she was needed. I can call her, if you want?"
Jody declined. She knew what the job was like. Instead she asked where she could go buy a sandwich for breakfast.
It was almost eleven when Sarah Maxwell barged in. Kaia and Jody had already devoured their meal, and were now slowly getting bored.
"You sure she was there all night?" Asked the lady to her phone.
Jody could not hear what was the answer, nor to whom she was speaking. She witnessed her frowning her brows, and hang up with an annoyed sigh.
"What's going on?" she asked. "Some new problems?"
"You betcha. Come with me. Kaia too."
She dragged them back to her office, without the smile she had worn the previous night.
"I got the results from the lab. You were indeed drugged, Kaia."
A mix of relieved and anger flow in Jody's vein. If she got her hands on the bartender, or whoever put that shit in her daughter's system, she would feed it to a bloody Leviathan!
Sarah Maxwell plugged an USB key into her computer, and declared.
"I was called early this morning. The bartender was killed last night."
That, she did not expect. She didn't know what to say, but the woman was not done.
"He was killed in front of the bar after he closed it, around 2am during the night. I was just there, and the owner showed me the CCTV footage."
She turned the screen toward Jody and the girl. They could clearly see a silhouette rushing toward the man leaving the bar, in his back, and smack his head four times with what looked like a crowbar.
Then, the silhouette turned back, showing her front to the camera. Despite the black and white, poor quality of the image, the identity of the murderer was unmistakable.
"So, Kaia, tell me. Would you happen to have a twin sister, by any chance?"