Cascading Spirits 3/5
Blair held his pen between thumb and forefinger, tapping it absently against his desktop. Stretching he peered over his computer monitor, taking a casual look around at the detective bullpen. No one was paying attention to him. Easing out of the chair and moving around his desk to the one facing his-Jim’s desk-he nonchalantly pushed the papers on Jim’s desk around with two fingers.
Jim’s parting shot to the brothers of “don’t leave town or else,” wasn’t exactly going to encourage them to offer whatever knowledge they might have, and after what Sam Winchester especially had told them, Blair was convinced the two young men had a lot to offer.
The problem was Dean Winchester and Jim Ellison had spent too much time snarling and circling each other like a couple of rabid-Blair didn’t even know what, dragons maybe? Certainly no actual animal currently inhabiting the planet Blair could think of.
Blair’s gaze dropped to the papers on the desk. What he was looking for wasn’t the top page, or even the second one in the stack of newly printed and delivered warrants, criminal records and coroner reports. He slipped the one with the name Dean Winchester printed along the top from the stack, gave it a cursory read over, folded it and stuck it in his jeans pocket.
He’d beg forgiveness later if needed, which hopefully things wouldn’t come to that.
The city services-wide computer upgrade had been a pain in Blair’s ass. He and a few others adapted quite well to the massive changes, others not so much. Jim was in the not so much category. It was fair to bet that Jim hadn’t turned his own department computer on in a good three weeks. The start button would probably decay and fall off if he tried.
Jim claimed it was Blair’s part of the partnership, coaxing what they needed out of the persnickety systems. Blair had to admit, Simon and Jim were right when they said the city got taken and spent too much on a computer system so many had a difficult time learning.
Today Blair was hopping up and down and cheering on the inside. Jim ordered reports he needed from one of the clerks and the hard copies were delivered to his desk. Stealing Dean’s legal record wasn’t Blair’s first choice, but it would buy him some time.
He needed to talk to the Winchesters and he needed to do it alone, they-Dean-was too threatened by Jim’s presence.
Stage one of his plan accomplished, Blair moved onto stage two…getting out of the police station alone. He’d already laid the ground work, having brought Jim five large cups of coffee in quick succession since they’d arrived. He had number six sitting on his desk, within easy reach, waiting.
Jim was in Simon’s office; Blair needed to go join them since they were likely discussing the body found in the university fountain. Jim turned and glanced out the office window, seeing Blair he waved.
Grabbing the coffee, Blair lifted it in a toast motion and tipped his chin at the snack cart. Jim smiled and shook his head, looking away long enough for Blair to snag yet another cup of coffee and a Danish. Resettling at his desk, he watched Jim amble from the office and cross the room, greeting a few others along the way.
Using his foot to nudge his chair away from the desk, Jim greeted Blair with a warm, “Hey, Chief.”
“Hey.” Blair slid the coffee cup at Jim.
Without really looking at it, Jim reached for the cup, pulling it to his lips he sipped as he rifled through the papers on his desk. “Is this everything?”
“Huh?” Blair looked up and plastered his best innocent look on his face.
“I ordered a hard copy of the Winchesters’ record.”
Blair shrugged. “Maybe there isn’t one.”
“Yeah, right,” Jim snorted. “Did you see it?”
Leaning over his desk, Blair pretended to examine the contents of Jim’s desk. “I don’t see it there.” No lie, no changes in body chemistry, hopefully no one-Jim-would notice anything amiss.
“Huh.” Jim sipped more coffee. Apparently Sentinels didn’t simply have super senses, they had uber super bladders. Blair would be floating at this point. Glancing at him, Jim asked, “Would you…”
“Yeah, sure, man, but you gotta learn to use this system someday.”
“Maybe tomorrow.” Jim set the coffee cup down and shifted from one foot to the other. “I’m going to-” Jim waved at the door and the general direction of the men’s room. “Then I think I’d like to talk to the Winchesters again and take another look around the fountain.”
“It’s a plan.” Blair smiled and play punched Jim’s forearm. Using one foot he pushed his chair away from his desk and leaned back far enough to watch Jim’s progress out the bullpen door and down the hall. He nearly fell over backwards and caught himself with only seconds to spare. Blair groaned when Jim stopped along the way and took a long drink from the water fountain. “How the hell can he do that?” He mumbled to himself .
The minute Jim’s rear disappeared through the men’s room door Blair scribbled a note telling Jim he had an errand to run and he’d meet Jim at the university and tossed it on Jim’s desk. A few seconds later he was up and bolting to the elevator.
“So, we’re just packing up and leaving, just like that? Even though that cop said not to? What about our case?”
Dean gripped the steering wheel and took a few deep breaths. “What do you want, Sam, us ending up in jail? I didn’t say anything about quitting our case. We need to get the hell off this campus. We can look into things from somewhere else in Cascade, it’s a big city.” He reached down and turned the key, cranking over the engine.
“On that note, I did find some stuff.”
“Already?”
Sam grinned. “Yeah, I remembered some of the titles of books in Sandburg’s office and started there.”
Waving one hand in the air between them, Dean watched his brother expectantly. Sam twisted around and grabbed his computer bag from the backseat and spent a few minutes rifling through it.
“There is something called a sentinel, it’s basically a person who has super senses, nothing supernatural, not in our sense anyway. These sentinels are people, but with these special abilities. The sentinel has an area, a territory I guess you’d call it and they guard that area. One source stated that a protected area wouldn’t have a lot of other, more traditional types of supernatural activity.”
“So, a sentinel guards against hauntings, demons, unnatural creatures?”
“Not specifically. They’re more like general guardians. Originated in Central America, but there are reports from all over the world. They’re pretty scattered, in a jungle they’d safeguard a village and the land around it.”
Dean tapped his thumb against the steering wheel. “So, maybe there is one here?”
“Maybe. That cop, Sandburg, he’s also an anthropology professor at Rainier. His name was on a few of the articles I read, apparently it’s what he did his thesis on. Before he was an official cop he,” Sam lifted his hands and made quote signs in the air. “Consulted for the Cascade police department in general and Jim Ellison in particular.”
“Why?” Dean shifted the car into gear and eased out of the parking space in front of the motel. A light gray Mustang pulled in and parked across the parking lot, catching Dean’s eye. He turned his head to get a better look.
Sam shook his head and smiled, a good smile, the kind that made his eyes sparkle and those silly dents pop out. Not that Dean ever noticed. “You’re worse with old cars than you are with girls.”
“Dude, that car is as old as this one.” Dean winced when the car sputtered and backfired. “Needs some TLC though.” Leaning forward, he squinted when someone climbed from the car and pushed to a run almost immediately, heading in their direction. “Aw, crap.” Gunning the Impala’s engine, he headed for the street.
“Dean! Wait, it’s-”
“I know who it is. He arrested you.”
“No, that’s Sandburg, he didn’t arrest me.”
Sandburg changed direction, stretching to a full run and veered into the path of the oncoming Impala.
Waving him away, Dean growled out, “Damn fool jackass, I’ll run you down if you don’t move.”
“Hey! Guys! Stop!” Sandburg was standing his ground, arms waving above his head.
Sam grabbed Dean’s arm, fist closing down on the material of his jacket. “Dean, man, stop! We’re trying to keep him alive, not kill him ourselves, remember?”
Hitting the brakes right before he ran the detective over, Dean jerked the gear shift up into park and yelled when Sandburg’s hands hit palm down against the hood of the car. “Watch the finish!”
Pulling his hands away as if he were singed, Sandburg straightened and looked the car up and down. “Whoa, man, nice car.”
Sam groaned and shook his head.
Grinning, Dean smacked his brother’s arm then cut the engine. “I’ll give him one extra point for that.” Rolling down the window he stuck his head out. “Got a death wish? This car could squash you. Might want to think about taking better care of yours.”
Blair glanced back at his car. “Yeah, maintenance is a bitch. Not as bad as a Corsair I had years ago, though.”
“Did you come here to reminisce about your rides?” Dean rested one elbow on the window frame and propped his chin in his hand.
“No. I just want to ask you two some questions. That’s it, I promise.”
Glancing over at Sam, Dean shrugged and nodded. He pushed open the car door and got out, taking a good look around.
“I’m alone,” Sandburg said before Dean could ask the question. “Just want to talk, that’s it, really. I’m only asking for five minutes of your time.”
Sam walked to Dean’s side of the car and leaned his hip against the back passenger door. Dean crossed both arms over his chest, glanced back at his brother then turned to Sandburg and nodded. Making a show of extending one arm, turning it so he could see his watch and re-crossing his arms he said, “Five minutes, clock is ticking.”
When Sandburg paced closer and started walking around Dean, giving him a clear shot at Sam, Dean shifted his weight so he was still between the two. Sandburg stopped, ran one hand over his face and gave him a slight smile.
“Okay, I get it. Look, Sam, in my office you said you saw a man floating in the fountain. You nearly passed out when you saw me at first. It was me, wasn’t it, that you saw?”
“Yes,” Sam said in a steady, soft voice.
“But there’s more, isn’t there?”
“What do you know about someone found in the same fountain seven years ago? Some people have told us they’ve seen a tall, blonde woman near the fountain, there one minute, gone the next. Any connection?” Dean knew he’d hit pay dirt when color dropped from Sandburg’s face.
“I thought I was supposed to ask the questions,” Sandburg countered.
“You asked, Sam answered, now it’s our turn.” Dean rocked on his heels and put a placating smile on his face.
“Okay, fair enough. It was me seven years ago in the fountain. Obviously I didn’t die. My turn, why is it you’re supposed to be dead?” He pointed at Dean. Behind him Sam sucked in his breath.
“You probably wouldn’t believe me,” Dean said.
“I believed your brother is psychic, try me.”
Watching him, Dean decided Sandburg was being honest with him and was open to hearing what he had to say. “There was a creature, a thing, it was able to transform itself to look just like me. I killed it, but the cops weren’t going to believe it wasn’t me. So I let them think I was dead.”
Sandburg’s face lit up, which surprised Dean and from the way Sam shifted behind him he could tell it threw Sam for a loop too. “A…ah…” he rubbed at his forehead a few times, looking like he was searching for a memory. “Skinwalker! Shapeshifter.”
“Yeah,” Sam said. “Shapeshifter, actually.”
“You’ve seen one?” Sandburg seemed more interested in what they had to say making Dean feel like he was a specimen being studied.
“We have. It’s sort of what Sammy and I do, find these things.”
“You believe us?” Sam asked, straightening and stepping up to Dean’s side.
“Yea-yes. Literature from all sorts of cultures is full of stories about beings that take on the face of others. I mean there’re legends from Native North American Indians, tribes in Central and South America, Africa, some places in Europe and the Orient.”
Dean held up one hand, stopping him. “We know.”
“My turn,” Sam said. “Are you a sentinel?”
Sandburg stepped back a pace and shook his head. The shock on his face covered up, but not fast enough. “No.”
“So, it’s your large, angry buddy?” Dean ventured.
“How-”
That answered their question and made Dean laugh. “Didn’t we just establish it’s what Sam and I do, to know about...unusual stuff? Besides you left Sam here alone in a room full of your books for three minutes.”
A pickup truck pulled in, not stopping until it was a few feet from Sandburg. The horn honked once before the door was flung open and Sandburg’s partner dropped to the ground.
“How did you find me?” Sandburg blurted out.
Ellison rolled his eyes and tapped his chest with two fingers. “De-tec-tive. Remember? It’s my job, one I taught you.”
Sandburg opened his mouth, but Sam’s voice came out. “You heard what I said at the fountain. I barely heard what I said, so how did you hear me from so far away?”
The way Ellison glared at Sam made Dean shove away from his resting place against the car and step forward a half pace in front of his brother. “That’s a really good question. I find Cascade a very interesting place. No evidence of any supernatural activity.”
“And I care why?” Ellison’s gaze shifted from Sam to Dean, who met it steadily.
Dean shrugged. “Nothing but an interesting little fact. Oh and Sam dug up a crap load of information on something called a sentinel. See, it’s sort of what we do, dig up information on the unusual and obscure.”
Sandburg nudged Ellison’s arm with his elbow. “Apparently leaving them alone in my office full of books was a bad idea.” He glanced up at Ellison then down at the ground.
“What exactly are you getting at?” Ellison looked from one to the other.
Dean shrugged. “Nothing, really. My kid brother here is a psychic and had nothing to do with the girl’s body swimming in that fountain and you’re a…sentinel…better hearing, better eyesight?”
“What would make you think something like that even exists?” Ellison shot back.
“The part where you could hear what I said when I practically couldn’t,” Sam repeated.
“I saw the whole thing. I was sitting in my car and had a clear view of where Sam was standing and where you both were. No way you heard that, unless you’ve got some ability to hear better,” Dean said, making sure to keep his voice calm and even.
“So what, this is supposed to convince me you just saw my partner dead in a fountain in your head?” Ellison ground out.
“Maybe,” Sandburg stepped in front of Ellison, looking from Sam to Dean before turning enough to focus on Ellison. “We can all simply agree there are things we can’t explain and use the information we get, no matter where we get it from? We believe you, you believe us. Isn’t the important part finding out who killed that girl now, oh and keeping me from being victim number two?” He looked around at them all before smacking Ellison’s arm. “Jim, man, come on, trust me. They already figured it out, on their own. I think we should listen to them. I believe them.”
“One wrong move and-”
Sam cut Ellison off before he could finish. “Yeah, we know. We’ll end up in a jail cell never to see the light of day again.”
Ellison’s phone chimed, as he dug it out of his pocket he pointed a finger at them. “Don’t move.” Then into the phone, “Ellison.” He frowned, blinked a few times, his breath skipping. “What? When? He what? They said what?” He closed the phone and replaced it, gaze settling on Sandburg. “They…um…that was Banks, there’s been…”
“Jim?!”
“Another body was reported in the fountain. This time a few witnesses saw someone, a tall, blonde woman.”
“There one minute, gone the next, just like the body wasn’t floating one minute and a dead person there the next?” Sam asked.
Ellison nodded.
“There’s more, isn’t there?” Sandburg gripped his partner’s forearm for a few beats, tugging insistently.
“The victim was a man, about your build, hair color, so on. But…he…they got an ID off him and his birthday is the same as yours, but seven years younger.”
Sandburg swallowed thickly and ran one hand through his hair. “It was seven years ago today, too.”
“Look, guys, believe us or not.” Dean stepped forward and looked from one to the other. “But, you’re dealing with something not normal here. Not normal is something we know a lot about. Now,” he settled his gaze on Ellison, recognizing at once he was as close to his partner and the guy had as much meaning to Ellison as Sam did to Dean. “Before your friend here ends up a dead floater, let us do what we do and help you guys out. Your killer isn’t human and probably not even alive.”
“We can always throw them in jail later,” Sandburg pointed out.
His statement didn’t ease Dean’s concerns about them any, but when Ellison nodded his consent, Dean figured at least they could keep Sandburg alive and get out of town when this was all over.
“We gotta go, c’mon Chief.” Ellison started for his truck, stopping when he had his hand on the door handle and pointed at Dean and Sam. “Stay out of the way and don’t touch anything. I can’t let you onto the crime scene.”
“That’s okay, what we mainly need to do is talk to people there.” Sam was already heading around to the other side of the Impala.
Dean slid into the car and started her up, putting her in gear as soon as Sam’s door was closed. “I hope working with them isn’t a bad idea.”
“Not like we have a choice right now.”
It was the truth and Dean knew it.
Jim’s first instinct was to keep Blair as far from the fountain, the campus and the crime scene as humanly possible. He couldn’t do that, however. There was no way to justify it to Blair and even less of a chance of convincing him to let Jim handle this alone. He didn’t need super senses to see the little information Jim’d gotten over the phone completely and utterly freaked Blair out.
Blair sat quietly in the passenger seat of Jim’s truck as he guided the vehicle through the city to the university. The thought banged around in Jim’s head. Blair was quiet. Quiet. The kid was never quiet. He never shut up. All he ever did was talk. Blair talked while they ate, while they worked, he talked in his sleep, Jim heard him yakking away to himself in the shower and he probably even talked through sex.
The fact that Blair sat staring out the window, not asking questions, posing theories or regaling Jim with some anthropological correlation to the Winchester brothers and this case was making Jim uneasy.
Maybe he simply needed a nudge. “Any ideas, Chief?”
Blair shook his head no.
Jim wanted to grab his arm and shake him until he got something, anything, some words out of Blair. He didn’t, however. Instead he cut around some traffic and onto a side street, taking shortcuts to get to the campus fountain.
When they arrived it wasn’t much different than it’d been seven years ago, or a day ago, other than who the victim was. Just as they pulled up, the man was being loaded into a waiting ambulance. A quick glance over at Blair and Jim climbed from the truck, heading to the ambulance. He heard how Blair’s breathing and footsteps faltered as the distance between them and the body narrowed and closed completely.
He nodded to one of the medics, hoping Blair would hang back while he took a look, but no such luck. Jim gazed down at a face that could have easily been Blair from a distance. The same kinked hair, sideburns and even dead, Jim could see his complexion was extremely similar to Blair’s. The young man even wore clothing Blair would have worn.
The way Blair tried covering his uneven and harsh breathing let Jim know his partner must have felt as if he were looking at a mirror image of himself. It scared Jim, so he could only imagine the impact this was having on Blair.
“I think we’ve seen enough,” Jim said to the medic, nodding. Taking one step back, he turned far enough to press two fingers to Blair’s bicep and guide him away from the ambulance and body.
“Jim, we need to check this out and I want to-”
“Yeah, well I don’t. The coroner will get pictures and there isn’t anything on the body we can use.”
“How do you know?”
Jim huffed a sigh, crossed both arms across his chest and cocked his head to one side. “Really?” Taking a step toward the fountain, he made sure to push against Blair, forcing him to step even farther from the ambulance. “Let’s take a closer look at the fountain.” He made sure to leave no room for argument and was doubly worried when he didn’t get one. Blair simply nodded, shoved his fists in his pockets and trailed along with him.
Scouting the area revealed no real clues until Jim stepped along the walkway and in the center of a direct line from the Anthro building and the fountain. He was at once assaulted with a tingling and the odd scent of ozone. “You smell that, Sandburg?”
“Smell what?”
“Ah, like a copy machine.”
“Ozone?” Blair asked. “What else is there? It’s this spot, concentrate on this spot?”
Jim held up one hand for silence and nodded. Turning a slow circle he was able to pinpoint where the odd odor was concentrated. Pointing to the ground, he looked at Blair. “Right here. This is the only spot.” Stepping away a few paces then back he took another look around the area, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. “It’s colder in this spot too. Two steps either way and normal temperature and no weird smell.”
Turning his attention to the ground, Jim saw small threads of blue and black mixed in with the green grass. Kneeling, he carefully plucked them up and turned them over in his palm. “These match the clothes our floater is wearing.” They also matched a shirt Blair often wore.
Blair wasn’t watching him, and likely not paying attention to what he’d said, but was looking at the people milling around on the other side of the fountain. Jim followed his line of sight, but didn’t see anyone unusual, other than the two Winchester brothers. When Blair jerked his chin and waved at them Jim couldn’t stifle his groan. If Blair heard him, he ignored it.
Dean and Sam wandered in their direction, stopping a few times to talk to other people milling about. Jim saw Sam stuff a small notebook in his jacket pocket as they came closer.
“Same story,” Sam said. “A few of those people,” he motioned backward with one hand, “saw a tall, blonde woman near the fountain. They’d blink and she’d be gone. We’ve heard that same story since we got here, people were talking about it in a coffee shop yesterday morning, too. As for the body, it just appeared in the water. No one we talked to saw anything even though it’s bright and sunny. Not even a splash was heard.”
“What does ozone mean?” Blair blurted out.
Dean immediately turned one way and Sam another, visually scanning the area.
“What are you looking for?” Jim asked, at once on alert, but for what he wasn’t sure.
“Someone that shouldn’t be here,” Dean grumbled and turned back to them. “I don’t smell anything.”
“I do,” Jim countered. Dean gave him an odd look, but didn’t argue.
“What else was there? Any temperature change or the water is different, anything?” Sam asked, making Jim smile a bit, he sounded so much like Blair and asked the same questions.
“There is one spot, right here,” Jim extended his arm and waved one finger in a circle.
Dean stepped over the ground he’d indicated and away from it a few times, looked at Sam and shook his head ever so slightly. “Does anyone here look out of place?”
Jim shook his head.
“Spirits leave a trail same as a bank robber. You just have to know how to look for it. Temperature changes, different smells and sometimes a slight glow. Inside a lot of time electric devices are affected, they won’t work properly or at all. Radios play static,” Sam explained.
“But, we’re outside in the open, so the trail will be harder to follow?” Blair asked.
Jim held up one hand, trying to put an end to this conversation. “You honestly want me to believe this is some sort of ghost?”
“You can believe what you want, pal. That isn’t going to change the facts or the fact your friend here might be in danger if you don’t expand your thinking,” Dean snapped.
Jim really didn’t like that guy. This was the second time he’d brought Blair into a conversation about a spirit and implied said spirit might be a danger to him.
“Look,” Sam began, tapping Jim’s arm and drawing his attention from his brother. “You said this victim is exactly seven years younger than Mr. Sandburg, and it’s been seven years to the day he almost died in that fountain. You both get nervous whenever we mention a tall, blonde woman and you can’t deny there is something very odd going on here.”
“He’s right, Jim,” Blair said quietly. “They’ve been right about everything so far.”
“And you believe this?” Jim still wasn’t convinced.
“I believe we should keep an open mind.”
“You need to tell us about this blonde woman,” Dean said.
Jim looked at Blair, meeting his gaze. When Blair nodded, Jim realized he was outnumbered and in truth if it was going to help him get to the bottom of this and keep Blair safe and sane, he could work with almost anyone. As Blair had wisely pointed out, he could always arrest Dean and Sam Winchester later.
Part Four