Marked (Supernatural) [Rogue Trilogy] {2}

36. Amelia Novak

36. Amelia Novak

"Hey. I, uh, got a lead on Peter Holloway," Sam says to the four of us once we come back to the motel room.

Claire, Cas, Dean, and myself went to Susie's bar to talk to the officers present. We had to make up a "take your daughter to work day" excuse so that Claire could hang around. She was pretty uncomfortable looking at Ronnie's body. Hey, she asked to come along.

The puncture wounds we found on Ronnie's back weren't like an angel blade, thanks to Cas's weigh-in on the wounds. We weren't sure what it was, either. We didn't get any luck in cell phone records either, the number the officers tried didn't work anymore.

"Oh, good, 'cause he's probably about to split town," says Dean, leaning on the back of a chair at the table. "Ronnie made a few phone calls before he got shish kebabed."

"You think to give Holloway a heads up?"

"If he did, that's probably what got him killed," I say. "So...We gotta track him down before he bails."

"Great. Well, according to county records, Holloway owns a farmhouse about thirty or forty miles from here, so I, uh, cross-referenced it with Amelia's credit card receipts." Sam rises from the chair, moving towards Claire's board of research. He points to a spot on the map. "The house is about right there, and she's been hitting up Biggersons and Gas-N-Sips all around the area."

"Probably staking the place out." I rub under my chin.

"Exactly."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" says Claire. "Let's go."

"Claire, you are not going out there," Cas insists.

"She's my mother."

"That house could be empty and it could be a trap. It's too dangerous. I can't let anything happen to you."

"Anything else you mean."

"Claire, you're not going. You're not either, Dean."

"What?" asks Dean.

"Back at the bar with Ronnie?"

"Oh, come on, Cas. He wasn't gonna talk. I just...helped him talk."

"Dean, Cas is right," Sam agrees. "We need to keep the Mark in check. And we don't know what's out there. You know, maybe you should...Maybe you should stay here."

"So you wanna bench me again?" He looks to all of us. "Come on, I can't be the only one!"

"Don't you start, Dean," I growl. I know where this conversation is going.

"Why shouldn't I? Yeah, I've got the Mark, but what about you, Jo, huh?"

"Unlike you, I've been keeping myself in check." I toss my hair. "Ergo, I can go with them and you get stuck to babysit."

"All right. Fine. I'll stay and babysit. But if anything happens, anything at all..."

"Yeah, we'll call you," Cas says wearily. "No fighting."

"Yeah, tell her that."

"Both of you."

"My truck, boys," I tell Sam and Cas once we leave the motel room, and Claire and Dean.

"You know, I'm starting to wonder if Dean's right," Cas mutters.

"Not you too, Cas. Look, I'm good to go. He's not. He's losing himself because of the Mark. Me? I'm fine." I half turn, still walking, backwards now, towards my truck. "I got myself under control."