AN: Thanks again for the reviews and alerts. I think there will probably be one more chapter. I'm glad that you are enjoying this story and I hope you will like this next segment. Let me know what you think.
"What do you mean Jane?" Lisbon urgently asked. If there was another bomb about to go off, she needed to know where it was right away.
"I don't know exactly where it is." he admitted sheepishly, "But I do know how to find out."
"Explain, Jane, what are you waiting for? The next bomb to go off?" Lisbon questioned impatiently, her face scowling.
"It has everything to do with this picture." Jane held up the photo he had found after the bomb exploded.
"Oh, that's right! The Oblivion Bomber left a clue from the next place he was going to hit in each location he bombed." Cho remembered thinking back to the case file.
"Except the clues were extremely hard to decipher and mostly destroyed from the bomb. That's why it never helped us before." Rigsby added.
"Ah, but you forget about Van Pelt." Jane smiled charmingly in Van Pelt's direction.
"Me? What can I do?" she replied rather dazzled.
"These numbers were written on the back before they were burnt off, 5670045. Scan the photo and find where it came from." Jane handed her the photo as she turned to her laptop and portable scanner in the back of the car.
Jane bored, decided to watch as Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth, finished removing the body from the bomb scene. The M.E.'s van drove away and the both of them approached a black SUV as a few snippets of conversation blew with the chilly autumn wind over to his ears.
"Booth, are you going to let me drive? You must be exhausted after driving all around here and this isn't even your car, it's a rental." Brennan cajoled, a half smile gracing her face.
"No, Bones, no matter how many times you ask, it's gonna be no." Booth told her in return, opening the driver's side door.
"We have had this conversation before. I am not challenging your masculinity or your position as the alpha male. I am merely stating that you can offer to let me drive the car. It's not even yours so your male pride over controlling your car is not applicable here."
They continued bantering in a playful manner as they both entered the car, Brennan in the passenger side. Jane regarded them rather amused; they had a very interesting relationship. It was easy to tell from their behavior how close they were. He wondered how much longer they would increase the tension between them before daring to cross the invisible line dividing them. He shook his head clearing his thoughts and went back to focusing on the case at hand.
Jane made up his mind, while Van Pelt was searching for the building, to make himself comfortable. He pulled out a slightly smashed baloney sandwich from his suit pocket, laid down his suit jacket on a neighbor's yard and sat down. The sun came out from behind the clouds and warmed his face. All of a sudden Jane leaped to his feet, stuffing the remnants of his sandwich into his pocket. His face was guarded and all of his previous good humor had vanished.
"I'll be back. Call me if you need me." he said abruptly climbing into his rental car and driving off.
Lisbon looked at the retreating car, puzzled and then put it out of her mind.
"Rigsby!" Cho whispered to him and beckoned him to come over. "Did you see that expression on Jane's face?"
"No, I missed it. Do you think he's up to no good? Though I mean, when has Jane not been up to no good?"
"It's different this time. I think he remembered something about his family that told him where the bomb is." Cho hypothesized. "We have to help him."
"You're right; he's going to face that bomber alone without backup unless we find him."
Van Pelt looked up from her laptop dejectedly. She brushed a strand of red hair out of her face as she told the team, "Nothing, I found nothing. The picture must come from a building in the boondocks because it cannot be found electronically."
Lisbon sighed heavily; Jane's so called clue had just been a dead end.
Cho elbowed Rigsby meaningfully in the side, causing him to speak up. "Uh, boss, we think Jane figured it out. He left to go trap the Oblivion Bomber in one his plans."
Lisbon made a split second decision; Jane had an annoying tendency to be right with his hunches. "Van Pelt, locate his cell. We're going to follow him."
They all piled in the remaining SUV, Van Pelt holding her laptop on her lap and giving directions.
"Oh no, we lost his signal." Van Pelt told Lisbon as they rounded a curve. They had already been driving for an hour north on a small road surrounded by pine trees.
"What do you mean?!" Lisbon yelled fretfully, "How could you lose his signal?"
Van Pelt cringed and answered Lisbon, "He must have taken his cell phone out of cell tower range."
Lisbon slammed the dashboard, frustrated. She was really worried about leaving Jane to own devices and knowing him, he would end up in a life or death situation.
"There has to be another way, right?" she pleaded, begging Van Pelt to have an idea.
"What if you look at the satellite photos of the surrounding area where we lost his signal? He has to be heading to a building and as you can see," Cho gestured at the surrounding landscape, "there are only trees."
Van Pelt nodded and her fingers flew over the keyboard.
"Eureka! There's a small inn right on the coast. The turn-off is approaching."
The SUV pulled into a gravel parking lot, containing just a few cars. A quaint inn stood in front of them, the sound of the waves and the smell of salt bombarded the team.
"I really want to come to Maine again, not on a case. I really love it here, especially the lobster." Rigsby mused, dreaming of food and his future vacation.
"There's Jane's car." Cho pointed out stopping Rigsby's previous train of thought.
The team strapped on their bullet proof vests. If Jane had really cornered the Oblivion Bomber, it was better to be safe than sorry.
"Split up and find him. Van Pelt and I will ask inside. Rigsby, Cho, check the outer buildings." Lisbon instructed and marched off, Van Pelt tailing her.
The lady at the front desk had not seen Jane and neither Cho nor Rigsby had found him either. The group congregated in the lobby, baffled. How could Jane have just disappeared?
"Excuse me." the lady receptionist spoke up. "I just remembered we do have a basement with extra rooms but since it's the off season, it's locked up."
"We'd like to check it anyway, key please." Lisbon told the women, who then led them to the basement door.
Lisbon knew that this was the last place possible to find Jane, so she put the key in the keyhole and turned. Nothing happened.
"The door must be already unlocked, that's weird." the lady commented.
"Tell everyone in the building to evacuate, we are tracking a bomber and this inn very well may be the next target. Just make sure they leave quietly." Lisbon instructed the receptionist who turned very pale and hurried away.
Lisbon drew her gun anxiously and opened the door silently. She walked quietly down the stairs, needing the element of surprise. The rest of her team followed Lisbon, guns in their hands. At the bottom of the stairs, the light was already on, illuminating a hallway filled with at least ten doors. They began opening doors methodically, covering each other with their weapons. After the fifth empty room, they heard a cry from two doors down. Lisbon decided they did not have time to wait for back up, or hostage negotiators, they needed to get Jane now. She motioned the team and they burst into the room guns drawn to find an interesting scene before them.