Rebirth \\A Supernatural Spinoff// [2018 Watty Award Winner]

Two - Lumber Mill Crime Scene

Two – Lumber Mill Crime Scene

Jo really felt naked when unarmed. It wasn't that she didn't trust Cas; she wasn't sure she could trust the other three women he'd recruited for this Winchester rescue mission. She especially couldn't trust the black-eyed bitch. That bitch had been the reason Jo had been a chew toy for some rabid Hellhounds.

Cas led the five of them into a storage barn in the lumber mill. The inside was pitch-black, and Jo found herself being stepped on and bumped into.

"Humans," she heard Meg grumble.

"Found a switch," called Charlie. Jo blinked her eyes, adjusting to the high lighting in the storage building. Logs upon logs as long as a football field were stacked neatly, held in a bunch by thick ropes. Imagine if one of those got set loose in here...

"This is where they told you to be, Cas?" asked Jo.

"Yes." The angel moved ahead of the four women. "And all I found was everything except them and what, or who, took them."

"Any theories?"

"None."

"Well, they put up a fight," said Charlie, who was on the ground, seeing scuff marks on the floor. "They must've been ambushed."

"Here's something," Jessica said. Jo looked to see Jessica have a bullet shell between her fingers.

"There's more over here," called Meg, who branched off from the pack a bit.

Jo tried to put herself back into the hunter mindset. If she were Sam and Dean, what were they hunting? What required them to fire a gun? It had to be something threatening, but that didn't narrow down the list much. There was no close-range weapon like a knife to suggest there was a point-blank struggle. But that doesn't mean anything, whoever took them probably took those with them.

"Any tracks?" asked Jo. "Any presence you can use, Cas?"

"None." The angel frowned.

"Some use you are," said Meg.

"Well, can you use any presences for tracking?"

"No."

"I freed you from Purgatory, Meg, I can throw you back in without blinking."

"Aw, but I thought we had something special."

Jo felt the urge to gag.

"Great, so all we've got are marks and shell casings," Meg drawled.

"So far," said Charlie. "We need to cover all of this lumber mill to make sure. Cas, did you see their car anywhere?"

"No," said the angel.

"Wait..." Jessica murmured. Jo looked at her. "I saw tire tracks leaving the mill the way I came in."

"And you think it was theirs?"

"It still doesn't help us narrow the list any," said Charlie. "Magician or not, they know how to drive."

Jo pursed her lips. Meg, she hated to admit it, had a point. All they had to go on were shell casings from a gun and evidence that suggested a struggle. No blood spots on the ground, no ransom note. We've got almost nothing to go by. Where do we even start?