He accepted the envelope and opened it. Although it had been disturbing and painful to see Cam and Zach, he felt desperate when he saw the photo of Hodgins.
It's getting worse. Cam only had a concussion. Yes, Zach had been shot in his shoulder, but the beating that Hodgins had received was without a doubt a hell of a lot worse.
He looked at Cullen and said:
"I suppose I don't have to run out of this office to find out where Hodgins is?"
"No, you don't. Because he's in the hospital just like Cam and Zach."
"How is he?" Booth asked, afraid of the answer.
"Not good. The beating was vicious. He was dumped at the hospital. Apparently, they wanted him to stay alive."
Cullen paused.
"He went into cardiac arrest 3 times during the surgery, to save his life."
Cullen paused again, looked up at Booth and said: "I'm sorry, we haven't been able to talk to him. He's in a coma."
Both men took a deep breath.
"Let me guess. Zach was found a day after his kidnapping and Hodgins was kidnapped that day."
Cullen nodded. He took the envelope with number 4 written on it and said: "Maybe you shouldn't see this."
Booth closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
It must be really bad if he doesn't want me to see it.
Then suddenly he understood why the director didn't want him to see it.
"The photo in this envelope is of the person who died. Right?"
"Wrong. It's worse than that."
"If she isn't death, I want to see it."
"Excuse me, Booth, but did you just say you 'want' to see it?"
Booth sighed once again.
"No sir, I don't 'want' to see it. Neither did I want to see the other pictures. But I did see them. Because I'm supposed to see them."
"If you're sure."
Booth simply nodded.
I'm sure I don't want to see him but I have to know what happened to her. And I have to know who 'she' is.
Angela or ... Bones?