Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
The next morning Dean remembered the following weekend was both Amber and Ari’s shared birthday. He sighed, he had Ari’s gift but had not known what to get for a four year old. He pursed his lips as he padded across the room to see who else was up. He opened the door just a peep to look into the kitchenette. Chet leaned against the counter as he held a cup of coffee. Dean could just see Sam’s feet as the hung over the small cot. Dean went back inside the room to get dressed before he went in to get coffee. “Hey,” Sam said with a yawn as he stretched as he stood.
“Sorry Bro, if you had wanted to go straight to bed I would have given you the room,” Dean smiled.
“I won’t make that mistake tonight,” Sam grinned.
They all drank their coffee in silence for a few minutes, before there was a knock on the door.
Jo stood on the others side of the threshold with two sacks in hand.
“Breakfast anyone?” she asked with a grin.
She came in and passed out the sacks, before she sat on the end of Sam’s bed as he thanked her for her foresight.
Between bites Dean asked Jo about what he should get Amber for her birthday.
“Well she told me she wanted a horse, but I think you can get away with a puppy,” she said with a smile despite Dean’s frown.
“Oh, well Ari is going to look at horses, so that is out.”
“Really?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, They will come in handy around town too.”
Jo shrugged as she pulled her breakfast sandwich from the bad. At least Dean had spoken civilly with her. That was an improvement.
Ari got out of the shower and remember she had not seen the ring she wore on her right ring finger for a couple of days. She searched the bathroom vanity, then began on the drawers in the bedroom. She was about to give up when she decided to check the bottom bedside drawer and found it stuck. She pulled until it came free. Inside in the back was a brown paper bag. She tugged it free then opened it to find a navy blue velvet ring box. She opened it before she gasped.
“Oh my,” she whispered.
Inside the box was an antique engagement ring. It was at least one carat and the cut was princess she would have recognized it anywhere. She was stunned. Whose was it? Why was it in her room? Where was her ring? She was afraid to think that Dean had planned to ask her to marry him on her birthday, but the thought came through clear along with the fear that he might not. She tried it on and it fit perfectly.Maybe he took my other ring to size this one.
“No, I won’t get my hopes up, he could be holding it for Sam.”
She put the ring back before she got dressed. She was in a happy mood that day despite her uncertainty. I will be okay if he doesn’t ask, we have not known each other that long.
At breakfast, Ari let Paris know she had plans to go look at a horse afterward. She
invited her to go with her and Amber is she wanted.
“Sure, anything to get out of here for a while,” Paris said with a frown.
“Okay,” Ari replied already she regretted having asked her.
“Paris, you knew Sam’s job. Just because they have a home base now does not mean they will spend much time here. That is something they emphasized with me from the start.”
“And you are okay with that? I mean you and Dean will rarely see one another at the rate they are going.”
“Yes, it’s what I signed on to do. My nurses training will come in handy if they or the other hunters need medical attention. I also have computer experience and am training to assist the hunters in research when they come thru. I know why I am here. The fact that Dean loves me as is an added extra. Though really think I would have come either way. I want to help them.”
“What an extra it is,” Paris said with a grin.
Ari got up to put her and Amber’s plate in the sink.
“Get dressed Munchkin so we can leave.”
“Okay Mommy.”
Paris met Ari at the sink.
“I don’t want to see Sam hurt. He is a good man but if you cannot deal with this life, you need to leave him alone.”
Paris glared at her for a moment then her expression softened.
“You are right. I am going to get dressed, just yell when you are ready.”
Ari nodded.
Once Dean and the group were done with breakfast they went in search of a phone book to find the man in the wallet picture, James Weintraub. The front desk was no help in that area so they were about to head to the diner when Jo had an idea.
“Hold on,” she said as she went back to the counter, while they went to the car.
“Um, James is a friend of my sister, I really need to find him. His name does not sound familiar at all?”
The young man at the desk stared at her for a moment. He had noticed her outside when the tall guy had come in. She wore a tight pink t-shirt with her close fitting jeans. He liked her fragile flower look, it turned him on. Maybe he could get her phone number before she checked out of the hotel, though he knew it wasn’t allowed.
“He isn’t in trouble with the police, right?”
“Oh no,” Jo said with a bat of her eyelashes.
“Well, last I heard he lived down the road a couple of miles
in a trailer park. I think his number is either 213 or 203 right off the main road in to the park.”
“Thanks, Ted,” she said as she read his nametag.
“No problem,” he said with a grin that showed off his braces.
“See you later,” Jo added as she left feeling satisfied with her self.
Dean was just about to honk when he saw Jo walking toward the car with a grin on her face.
“You got something?” Sam asked as she got in the back seat.
“Yep, our boy lives down the road in a trailer park.
“Good going,” Chet said with a grin.
The worse thing that had ever happen to him had been the best. At least he had a chance to learn from the professionals how to kill the things that go bump in the night.
“Okay, we are on it,” Dean said as he backed out of the drive with a slight frown marring his face.
“Can you say good job, Jo?”
Dean didn’t reply as she tapped him on the shoulder.
“I saw you working your assets, not sure if I should encourage that,” Dean teased.
“Oh and when did you become a prude?”
“Dean is right Jo, we know you can take care of yourself but watch it,” Sam added.
“That guy looked at you like he wanted to spread you on a piece of bread,” Dean insisted.
Jo blushed. Maybe they were right, she didn’t want a repeat of her past to come back to haunt her. She shrugged as she sat back in her seat.
At the horse farm not far from the house, Ari, Amber and Paris looked at horses with the owner, Milton Adams. He was a tall muscular blonde man that Paris openly admired. Ari had cleared her throat more than once and poked Paris in the side. The woman was incorrigible, “Chill,” Ari whispered as Milton told Amber about the horse they were viewing. It was a Chestnut colored Sorrel Gelding named Bailey and he seemed perfect for Amber. “he sounds like what we are looking for,” Ari said with a smile at Milton.
Milton insisted the horse was great for beginners, friendly, liked attention, stands quietly to bathe, groom, shoe, tack up and mount he recited.
“Yeah, Mommy I like hIM. Can I have him for my birthday?” Amber asked with a grin as she looked up at her mother.
“Well hold on little one, lets see what else Mr. Adams has to show us.
The looked at a few other horses: a couple of Palominos and a Buckskin, but neither caught their eye like Bailey. Paris noticed the way the man looked at Ari before she frowned. Something about Ari irritated her. Maybe it was the way she spoke with strangers as though she had known them all her life. I am jealous, I can admit that only to myself, Paris thought. Of course, maybe Ari learned her skills in her hooker days which consoled Paris for a few moments. Until she heard Milton ask Ari out.
Once they were at the trailer park, Dean and Sam got out to go to the door. The trailer was well taken care of so they instantly assumed there was a woman around somewhere. They knocked on the door a couple of times before a brunette who held a small boy opened the door.
“Hi, we are looking for James,” Sam said in his non-threatening voice.
“Who are you?”
“We are detectives with the local police,” Dean said as he held up a fake badge.
“What has he done now?” the lady replied as the little boy sniffled against her shoulder.
“We just have a few questions for him, here is the number in case he shows up,” Sam said as he handed her a card with his cell number.
“I have not seen him in the last couple of days, if you see him first, tell him he left us without food again,” she said before she closed the door in their faces.
“Typical,” Dean said as they went back to the car.
“He may be on the run if he knows what is happening to him.” Dean said as the got into the Impala.
“If not he is just a bum,” Sam said with a frown as they headed back to the hotel.
The hunters decided to wait until later in the day to go stake out the trailer park with hope that James would return before night. Their time was short as far as the full moon was concerned they needed to find him fast. So they decided to check out a few more local hang out type places in an attempt to find the man. Sam thought it was possible the man had a job despite his lack of care for what they assumed was his small family.
Ari smiled at the invitation but informed Milton that she was seeing someone.
“No ring,” he teased her with a dimpled grin.
Ari bit her lip without realizing it, Paris rolled her eyes.
“None yet, but I have my hopes,” Ari teased back.
“Well if he doesn’t come through with that you know where I live,” he insisted as they followed him to view a horse for her.
The next horse the looked at was a fifteen year old Roan Mare named Daisy. Ari thought she was beautiful. She was a chestnut color just like Bailey but she had two black feet and two white. Something about the horse drew Ari, immediately. She hadn’t had one since she was a little girl. She felt as giddy as Amber looked. The little girls eyes were bright with excitement.
“I thought I might be browsing horses for a few days…but,” I really like the ones you have shown us.
“Yeah?” he said eagerly as he looked at Ari, obviously still quite smitten with her.
He touched her arm but Ari gently moved it away with a smile.
“Absolutely, let me make a call to see how many I am going to buy first, okay,” she said as she walked toward the car with the cell in her hand.
Amber and Paris stayed behind to look at more horses.
Dean’s cell rang as they were going into the Cici’s pizza place. He put up his hand as he turned around to go back to the car leaving Sam to go inside with Jo. Chet smiled at him as he leaned against the car.
“Hey, Ari, what’s up?”
She let him know her dilemma. Should she get a horse for him and Sam or did they have any interest?
“Um, its up to you, I would love to ride though I doubt if we will have enough time to ride often,” he said hesitantly.
“That’s true, we can always take turns with the two I want to get for Amber and I,” she said as she bit her lip.
There really wasn’t enough room for more than a couple horses out back unless they bought more of the acreage.
“You there?”
“I just thought I would ask.”
“I appreciate that, miss me yet?” Dean asked with a smile in his voice.
He believed she had begun to get used to having them in her life it made his heart soften a bit more.
“Of course I miss you, but I am, sorry to have bothered you,” she said with a heavy sigh.
“Never a bother, Sweetie,” Dean said as he went to the drivers side as he saw Jo and Sam come back outside.
“Talk later,” she said.
“Okay, later,” he said before he hung up.
Jo was all smiles when they got in the car. She winked at Dean who only raised his eyebrow at her. Okay I am trying to be nice here, he thought.
“They said that James works there but has not been in the last couple of days,” she said with a smile as though she had done a great thing.
“So basically we may have been the last ones to see any part of him, and that was his clothes,” Sam added.
Dean told them they needed to go back into the wooded area to see if there was somewhere that James could be hiding. They drove around to the other side of the woods so that no one from the hotel could see them. They all filed out then got their weapons as the scouted the area to make sure no one was around. Jo and Sam went in one direction while Chet and Dean circled around the other side. It was not quite dusk as they moved quickly hoping to avoid any more tragedy. Chet kept up with Dean better than Dean had expected from the older man. More and more the man reminded him of his father, he tried not to think of it. He needed to focus.
They met up with Sam and Jo before James was found. He was asleep in a tent in the furthest point of the woods. Jo gasped. The man was naked and he looked as though he were injured. Dean pulled out his gun. Sam reached to stop his brother.
“Dude, we need to talk to him, we can’t just take him out.”
“We know he did it let’s be done with this,” Dean growled.
“Your brother is right,” Chet said as he frowned at the older brother.
Dean looked at Jo who only shook her head at him.
“We have only minutes until he comes around, what do you wise ones suggest?” Dean asked bitterly.
Suddenly there was a howling from the tent, they moved away from it as they watched, partially hidden behind a tree, the man change in front of their eyes. He howled out in pain as he looked around with yellow eyes, it was obvious he was in anguish. Dean couldn’t take it, as he was about to leap in their direction, Dean shot James in the heart, then stalked away. The last sound he heard before he reached the Impala was the horrible howling of the dying wolf. A solitary tear ran down his cheek.
TBC