CHAPTER 3

It was a dark and stormy night. The rain was beating against the windows and the wind was howling. The weather fit the mood perfectly. If there was ever a bigger cliché, Brennan wouldn't have known it. She lay awake in her bed, the shadows of the blinds falling across her face and the beads of the rain trickling down. She turned over on her left side and stared at Booth. By 3am, she had finally convinced him to take a rather large sleeping pill after much reluctance on his part. He had told her he was too wound up to sleep even with a sleeping pill and that it was useless. But about 15 minutes after he had swallowed that white pill, he was out. He hadn't even had time to take his clothes off before crashing on Brennan's bed. She had managed to take his socks and pants off and get him under the covers before crawling in next to him.

It was now 5:42 and Brennan hadn't slept at all. She was going over scenarios in her head about who could possibly have Parker and why. She had been through every logical kidnapping scenario, but there had been no ransom note left and that was the most common situation. She kept telling herself to give it time, but what if they didn't have time? None of this made sense; none of it was rational…and her mind could not handle that.

She watched him breathing. Every 30 seconds or so, his brow would furrow and his eyes would squeeze tighter, telling Brennan he was most likely not sleeping very well…but at least he was sleeping. He was going to need it. Brennan knew that she wouldn't sleep, but she was used to that. All she wanted was to take his pain away. She couldn't even imagine what he was feeling, although right now, she figured it was mostly anger. He was using rage to cover his anguish, which was a common anthropological defense system. She thought about Parker and how scared he must be at this very moment. Try not to think about that she rationalized with herself.

Brennan sighed and rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. She lay in the same position, unmoving for a while until she heard sounds coming from Booth. She turned to him and placed her hand on his head, trying to calm him down. He was now shifting in bed, his brow completely furrowed, groans emitting from his mouth. A split second later, he shot up in bed.

"Parker!" Booth cried out. He was breathing rapidly and sweat was dripping down his face.

Brennan was right by his side. "Booth, it's okay. Hey, it's okay," she told him calmly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Still nearly hyperventilating, Booth turned to look at her. It took him a few moments to get reoriented and he remembered he was in Brennan's apartment and he had taken a sleeping pill. His mouth was parched and he swallowed hard.

"I've got to do something. I can't just sleep," Booth said as he started to get out of bed.

"Booth, there's nothing to do right now. Just lie back with me, come on," Brennan tried to reason with him as she gently pressed on his upper torso.

"What time is it?" Booth asked.

"Not quite 6. I was going to wake you soon, but I wanted you to sleep as long as possible," Brennan told him.

"I can't sleep while he's got him! We have to find him. He's got Parker," Booth said through tear-filled eyes, pleading to Brennan. "We have to get to him and bring him home."

Brennan's own eyes filled with tears. "I know this is hard, Booth. But…hey, look at me," Brennan said calmly as she placed her hands on either side of his face and turned his head towards hers. "You know I'm right here next to you through all of this, right? I want to be involved in every part of this. We'll bring Parker home, okay?" Brennan told him in the calmest and most soothing tone she could muster to keep him from breaking down.

Booth stared into her eyes, fighting back the tears. He placed his right hand on top of hers and took it and kissed her palm. "I know. I don't know if I could get through this without you," he told her.

A tear fell from Brennan's eyes as she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips. "I'll make some coffee while you take a shower. And then we can go get your car."

"I want to head over to the Hoover building and talk to Cullen. He said he'd let me know the details," Booth said as he got out of bed.

"Can't he get fired for that?" Brennan asked.

"Yeah, he can," Booth said plainly.

Brennan nodded slightly as she put her robe on. "Coffee and shower," she said.

She kissed him on the cheek as she walked out of the bedroom, leaving him standing there for a moment, staring down at his Daffy Duck boxers, wondering where his pants had gone.

Brennan arrived at the Jeffersonian just after 7:00. She had dropped Booth off at his car and he had headed for FBI headquarters. Rebecca and Drew were going to meet him there at 8:00 and Brennan didn't want to be in the way, so she thought it would be best if she went into work early.

The only other people at the Jeffersonian this early were security guards. She flipped on the lights as she walked into the lab and headed for her office. As she approached the office, she saw a fairly large, padded envelope taped to her door. She squinted at it, her brow furrowed. In large black letters, it read:

ATTN: Dr. Temperance Brennan

Regarding Parker Booth

She tore it off of the door and went to her desk, ripping it open as she walked. As she sat in her chair, she pulled out a packet of paper and a small digital voice recorder. She set the recorder down and began to read the top piece of paper. It was typed and read:

"Dearest Dr. Brennan,

By now you are home from your sunny desert vacation and are aware of the situation regarding Parker Booth. VERY well aware, I am sure. I have him with me as I write this. Not to worry, he is quite alright…for now. He will stay that way as long as you comply with my requests. Now, I know that you will show this letter to Special Agent Seeley Booth immediately, so I am not even going to ask you not to. But seeing how Agent Booth has been taken off of his son's kidnapping case, I must demand that you not share this letter with the FBI. If you do, I will know about it. If you try to trace this letter or find out how it got on your office door, I will know. So, I wouldn't try anything if I were you. Trust me, you do not want to experience the consequences. I also expect that the other members of your team will be in on this as well. As far as the mother and stepfather go, tell them what you will. I cannot stop you from sharing with them, but if ANY one of you goes to the FBI with this…Parker Booth will not make it back home. I hope I have made myself clear.

I have included pictures of Miss Montenegro, Dr. Hodgins, Dr. Saroyan, and Dr. Addy just so you know that I know who they are and what they look like.

Now, as I mentioned above, I have certain requests for you. Yes, that's right, Dr. Brennan, these requests are for you and you alone. You may be asking yourself right now why I would take your boyfriend's son and then demand things of you. It's quite simple, really. I want to see you suffer. That's all. The details of my first request are written below:

6:00 tonight, you will come to the corner of Washington and 72nd with exactly $25,000 in cash. The money must be withdrawn at 12:00 noon from your bank account, Dr. Brennan. NO ONE ELSE can supply the money. I will know exactly when you withdraw the money, so do not try anything. You will leave the money in the trash can on the corner. I will provide proof of life and you will leave. You MUST come alone and you must leave immediately. I will know if someone has come with you or if you do not leave.

You will receive another letter tomorrow with a new request. It may not be on your office door, but you will know when you see it. Once you have complied with all of my requests, I will release Parker Booth. Until then, do EXACTLY as you are told…or bear the consequences.

Kindest Regards,

K

P.S. The voice recorder will provide proof of life."

Brennan's hands were shaking by the time she had finished reading. She slowly set the piece of paper down and focused her eyes on the voice recorder. She pressed the play button: "Daddy and Dr. Breman, I'm okay. The man told me to tell you that. Daddy, I'm scared." That was it. Brennan replayed the message. Parker's voice was shaky and he started to cry in the end. Brennan felt like throwing up…and she did. She leaned over to her side and threw up in the trash can. She slowly sat back up, freezing in her spot, tears streaming down her cheeks. Why did this man want things from her? It didn't matter. If $25,000 was what he wanted, then that's what he was going to get.

Angela's head popped into Brennan's office. "Morning, sweet-" Angela stopped short as she saw the look on Brennan's face. "Oh my God, what's wrong?" she asked, walking towards the desk.

Brennan looked up at Angela and handed her the letter. Angela's expression quickly changed as her eyes flew across the paper. Her jaw dropped and tears formed in her eyes. Brennan watched her and as she finished reading, Brennan handed her the recorder. Angela played it and placed her hand over her mouth.

Hodgins walked in a moment later. "Hi, Dr. Bren-" he stopped as both women were now crying. "What happened? Is it Parker?" he asked, worried.

Angela handed him the letter and the recorder, unable to speak.

"I-I've got to call Booth," Brennan said as she stood up, wiping her eyes. "He has to know. He's meeting with Rebecca and Drew in a little while. They should know, too."

"Why does this 'K' want your money? What do you have to do with this?" Hodgins asked, confused.

"I don't know. But, he wants $25,000 withdrawn at 12:00 today and I have to make sure that happens. Hodgins, can you start analyzing the paper, see if there's anything on it that you can trace? Lint, dirt, dust mites, I don't care, just find something," Brennan said as she walked to her purse and pulled out her cell phone.

Angela was still standing in the same spot with her hand over her mouth.

"Of course," Hodgins replied.

Brennan was about to dial when she realized that Angela had not moved. "Ang?" she asked softly, placing her hand on Angela's shoulder.

Angela slowly removed her hand from her mouth. "He's just a little boy. He said he was scared. It's probably dark and cold," Angela said, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

Brennan looked to Hodgins, who was already handling the situation. "We're going to find him, alright? Come on, you can help me look for dirt and lint, okay?" Hodgins said as he guided Angela out of the office. Brennan looked at him as if to say thanks.

She had Booth on the phone within seconds. "You have to come down here…now."