Free Supernatural: The Unholy Cause by Joe Schreiber

only building in town the Union Army didn’t burn down when they marched through Mission’s Ridge. Phil Oiler, did you meet him?”
    “I think so.”
    “Insurance salesman from Atlanta. He was the one getting married, and of course he wanted to do it in full uniform. So we all suited up for it, the 32 nd Georgia in full parade dress.” She paused, her expression darkening. “Except sometime between the ceremony and the reception, Dave and Phil disappeared.”
    “Disappeared where?”
    “That’s just it, nobody knew. For almost an hour they were just gone. Of course the bride was furious, because the photographer was out front and everybody was standing around waiting to go to the reception. Then, at the last minute, they showed up again like nothing had happened. People thought they were out getting high.
    “But Dave didn’t do that.” She drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “That night at the reception was the first time I noticed how different he was. He started asking me to call him Jubal. I thought he was drunk, but it just kept happening. His accent got stronger. He started getting rough with me... when we were alone. And the things that came out of his mouth—they were awful. A couple of weeks later, I couldn’t take it anymore. I packed up and moved out. Then when I heard what happened yesterday...” Her eyes shone. “I had to come back here.”
    “In full uniform?” Dean said.
    The woman paused, weighing her words carefully.
    “I wanted to talk to Phil,” she said at last. “I thought maybe he might be able to tell me more about what happened to him and Dave in the church that day. And, of course, I couldn’t come to him as Sarah Rafferty. I had to be Private Will Tanner.”
    “ Did you talk to Phil?” Sam asked. “Did you ask him about what happened at the wedding?”
    She nodded.
    “He said that he and Dave just went down to the basement to smoke a joint.” Her blue eyes flashed brighter now, flinty with anger. “He was lying to me. And now Dave’s dead.”
    “Did you talk to the sheriff?”
    “I tried to. She’s not interested. I don’t understand. I thought... I guess I thought if I came clean and told her the truth about Dave and me, that she might dig a little deeper and help me figure out what went wrong. But it’s like she’s on some whole other mission.”
    “Like what?” Sam asked, his curiosity piqued.
    “I don’t know. It’s like she knows more than she’s letting on... like she’s after something.”
    Sam and Dean traded a look, neither of them speaking for a moment. Then Sam turned back to Sarah.
    “What exactly did the sheriff say to you?”
    “Well, I told her about what happened at the church. She was really interested in that. But when I couldn’t answer any of her questions, she just lost interest.” Sarah frowned. “Why, do you think she’s got something to hide, too?”
    “It’s too soon to say,” Sam said.
    “Look,” Sarah said. “If you know something, you have to tell me. I cared for Dave. I want to know the truth.” She reached up and rubbed her eyes. “That’s why I thought maybe the two of you—I mean, I heard you say that you were Federal Agents, so...”
    Sam touched her arm.
    “We’ll do what we can. In the meantime, if you think of anything else, don’t talk to the sheriff. Come directly to us.” He handed her a card with his cell phone number on it.
    “I will.” She glanced down at the slouch cap, still gripped in one hand. “You know my secret now anyway.”
    “In the morning,” Dean said, “we’ll go back out to the battlefield and talk to Phil Oiler about his wedding day.”
    “Thank you both.” She held out a slip of paper. “Here’s my cell.”
    “We’ll be in touch,” Dean said, grabbing the paper. As they walked back to the car, Dean glanced at the number again and exhaled deeply, puffing out his cheeks with a long, exhausted sigh. “What a day. Right now all I want to do is go back to the motel,