Reading the Bones
Chapter Seven: Putting it Together
By Ann Parker
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"Back off, man, or I'll shoot the chick!" The man Brennan had seen in the house seconds earlier emerged out of the rusty tool shed using her as a shield by wrapping an arm around her neck and holding her close. Gideon immediately noted his appearance – disheveled, dirty, very thin, and jumpy. He also noted something he'd missed when they had gone to the crime scenes earlier in the day. Dr. Brennan was unarmed. Which meant the weapon belonged to this man. Clearly he had planned this move, but why?
"Now why would you want to do that? She hasn't done anything to you," Gideon stated in a calm voice. He didn't notice Booth sending him a sidewards glance.
"Yeah, and besides, do you really want me to put a bullet through your skull? Because I don't, I'm not in the mood to fill out paperwork about why I had to shoot you. Let her go." Booth's voice was far more forceful and agitated. How did she always manage to get herself into trouble like this? He didn't know how many more days like this his heart, not to mention his blood pressure, could handle. Brennan's phone chose that moment to ring.
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"Dr. Brennan isn't answering her phone. Why wouldn't she answer her phone?" asked Zack as he redialed again and paced in front of Hodgins and Angela.
"Whoa, Zack, calm down. She's probably just busy," answered Hodgins. He knew why the young man was frantic. Everyone, except for probably Brennan, could see the small crush he had on her.
"But even when she's busy she answers the phone," he stated. "Something must be wrong."
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"Shut up! Just shut up both of you and back away!" the man yelled, faintly waving the gun at them. When he did so Gideon noticed the track marks down the man's arm and smiled just barely to himself. That explains it. "And make that damn phone stop ringing!"
"It's kind of hard to do that when I'm being held hostage," Brennan argued back, annoyed that this fool had grabbed her. If he would just loosen his grip a little, she'd be fine.
"Shut up!" He pointed the gun back at the side of her head. She could see just enough of it out of the corner of her eye to know it was .38 caliber handgun.
"Hey, buddy, calm down," Booth yelled.
"Listen, we're not here about your drugs. We really could care less. We're here about James," Gideon stated, realizing that he needed to make his move now before things escalated further. The man's eyes darted to him.
"What about James?" he asked, his voice not nearly as angry as it was a second ago. It almost sounded scared.
"He's dead," answered Booth.
"What?" the man asked, fear now clearly present in his voice. His grip around Brennan weakened and he moved the gun away from her head, letting it point to the sky instead. It was all she needed. She elbowed him in the stomach and kicked him in the shin, pulling the gun out of his hand, all in one swift motion. He quickly fell on the ground and Booth and Gideon were on him. Booth moved the man's arms behind his body to cuff him and that's when he began to panic again. "I thought you didn't care about the drugs?"
"I care about you assaulting my partner, you idiot. That just earned you a ride to the Hoover building," Booth stated, pulling him up off the ground. "Bones, give Gideon the gun."
"Why? I disarmed him, I think I can hold on it, Booth," she argued.
"Bones, please," Booth glared at her. Neither noticed the small smirk on Gideon's face at this interaction. They clearly had an interesting relationship.
Brennan looked at Booth for second, somewhat surprised that he was almost begging her. "Fine," she replied, shrugging. She handed Gideon the gun and he made sure to secure it. The group began to walk back to the front of the house as a small chuckle escaped Gideon's lips.
"What?" asked Booth.
"I was going to ask you why she wasn't carrying a firearm out in the field, but I think she answered the question for me. Nice moves back there, Dr. Brennan," Gideon replied with a smile.
Brennan smiled in return, "Thank you. Although I still maintain that should have a gun, but Booth won't let me."
"That's because you shot a suspect with no warning. We've been over this before," Booth replied. "You still want to search the house?" Gideon nodded and they headed up the front stairs again, the handcuffed man in tow.
Brennan's phone rang again before she could respond to Booth's comment. "Brennan."
"Are you okay, Dr. Brennan? Why weren't you answering your phone?" Zack rambled. Booth opened the front door – it had been unlocked the whole time – and the group made their way inside.
"I'm fine, Zack. Why did you call?" she asked, purposely avoiding the second question. They began to look around. The place was filthy, except for the one bedroom Gideon was looking at. It appeared to be Righten's bedroom.
"Booth was right, the bullets were from an M9, which is only issued to the Army. The killer has to be in the military," Zack answered.
"Great work, Zack," she replied. "Anything else?"
"No. Why didn't you answer your phone earlier?" he tried again.
"Bye Zack," she stated, hanging up before he could argue.
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"This is…unbelievable," Command Sergeant David Johnson managed to get out. It wasn't often that the seasoned military man was at a loss for words. He was even used to hearing about losing people under his command, but never like this. Not in a matter of just days. Not in such a brutal way. And definitely not on their home base.
"Can you think of anyone that had a problem with either of them?" Hotch asked, trying to get Johnson to regain his focus. The slightly older man blinked a little and looked back at him. Hotch could see him pull his strong willed, determined face back on. The one that commanding officers in the military were supposed to have. Some team leaders in the FBI too.
"No, I can't say that I do. Their unit is one of the more polished, well-organized units in my command. Everyone knows what they need to do and they do it. I never had to discipline any of them," Johnson replied. "However, if there minor internal conflicts going on, I wouldn't know. I oversee 12 other unit in the DC area alone. I don't have time to baby-sit. They knew to take care of that themselves. Involving me would only make it worse for all of them." He smiled softly at that as did Hotch and JJ.
"Do you think we could see copies of the unit's service records? Perhaps talk to the rest of the unit?" JJ asked. She knew Garcia could look up the rest of the records, but it would be better if he knew they were doing that.
"Why? You don't think one of their own did this to them, do you?" Johnson questioned. Hotch and JJ exchanged a quick glance.
"I'll be honest with you, sir," Hotch replied, "It's a possibility that needs to be considered. Giving us that information would allow us to rule it out." Or prove it, but he knew better than to say that.
"Well, I suppose I could do that then. I want you to catch the bastard that did this," Johnson stated. "I'll have one of my men pull it together for you."
JJ smiled, "Thank you." That went over better than she thought. Maybe he was still in too much shock to argue further, something they'd easily take to their advantage. If they didn't, bodies could start to pile up pretty fast.
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"Great, we'll see you soon." Morgan hung up his phone as he followed Emily and Reid back into the Jeffersonian. "JJ and Hotch got the records from their commanding officer. We can check them out once we put the profile together. They should be back soon."
"Should I call Gideon and see when he's getting back?" asked Reid.
"Your killer is in the Army," stated Hodgins from the platform, gaining their attention.
"How do you know?" asked Emily. Cam came down the stairs and slid her badge to let them up. "Thanks."
Cam nodded. "Go ahead and tell them, get your smugness out of the way," she stated, looking at Hodgins.
"Why does he get to tell? I'm the one that figured it out," countered Zack.
"Uh, can someone just tell us how you know he's in the military?" asked Morgan.
"I compared the bullets found in the victims' skulls to bullets fired from an M9 like Booth suggested and they were a match," stated Zack before Hodgins could say anything.
"And only the Army uses M9," added Hodgins, crossing his arms with a smile.
Reid nodded, "Makes sense. This level of torture usually coincides with having a personal relationship with the victims. Serving in the same unit would certainly be a close relationship."
"So, so far we've been able to tell you the victims' identities, how they died, including the model of the weapon, and all you can tell us is that the killer knew the victims?" asked Hodgins with a hint of hostility.
Emily raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Gideon really got under your skin with that profile, didn't he Jack?"
Hodgins scoffed and rolled his eyes, "No." This only causes the rest of the squints to laugh.
"Oh, please, you've been steaming ever since we got back," countered Angela. "Let it go and let them do their job."
"Yes, let's do that." The group turned to see Brennan and Gideon coming up the stairs.
"Where's Booth?" asked Zack. "And are you going to tell me why you weren't answering your phone earlier now?"
Brennan tucked some hair behind her ear. "Booth is booking James Righten's younger brother for assault," she answered calmly. Surprise was present on all of their faces.
"Who'd he assault?" asked Reid.
She shrugged, "Me."
"What?" asked Cam, shocked.
"It wasn't that big of a deal. He held a gun to my head – that's why I didn't answer my phone, Zack – He thought we were after his stash of heroin, which Agent Gideon figured out and then I disarmed him." She turned to Gideon, "How did you know that was why he grabbed me?" She was completely oblivious to the stunned expressions on everyone else's faces.
"His appearance and the fact that he was jumpy, twitchy," Gideon replied and she nodded. "That and he had track marks on his arm."
Brennan smiled, "Ah, I should have caught that."
"Um, sweetie, are you okay?" asked Angela, pulling the pair back to the rest.
"I'm fine. Did you tell them about the bullets?" she replied. Zack nodded. "Good."
"Hotch and JJ are on their way back, Gideon," stated Reid.
Gideon nodded, "Let's start pulling together a profile." The BAU team headed back to Angela's office, fully aware that the rest were following them. Once they reached the office, the team assembled around the table they were stationed at. The Jeffersonian group stood over by Angela's desk. "What do we have so far?"
"The unsub is in the Army or has access to an M9 firearm. Both victims belonged to the same unit. The level of torture suggests a close relationship with the victims, possibly a member of the same unit," stated Emily.
"Thomlinson, the first victim, was a newlywed. Never had any problems with his superiors, fellow soldiers, or family. Worked hard; loved his wife. All in all, an average, good guy," added Morgan.
"Although he had a drug addicted little brother, Righten also seemed to be a straight arrow. His room was clean and organized and he loved the Army. He was trying to help his little brother get clean, even though he was failing," Gideon stated. "That only clear link why they were both chosen is their unit." The squints and Brennan continued to watch quietly as they went through this.
"The torture was organized, methodical. There is a reason, a message behind why he cuts them, breaks bones, lights them on fire, and shoots them. The choice of drug, phenotripticol, causes paralysis, leaving the victims unable to cry for help or fight back. Yet because it's not a commonly known drug except in the medical profession, the drug choice also suggests exposure to either a mental health facility or someone mentally ill. It could possibly be through medical training," Reid stated. As he was talking Hotch, JJ, and Booth all silently walked in, Hotch setting down a file box on the table.
The group expected Hotch to want a recap, but he apparently had heard enough of the profile to allow it to continue. In fact, he picked up where they left off. "He's dumping the bodies at national landmarks because he wants the bodies to be seen; he wants to show off what he's done. He may also be trying to target the government with his message."
Gideon sighed, "We're still missing that part. What is his message? What is he torturing and killing these men? Why dump the bodies at these particular sites?"
"Isn't being a sick freak enough of an answer?" asked Hodgins. Everyone turned and looked at him. "What? I'm just saying." Angela slightly smacked him in the arm and Emily shook her head before turning back to her team.
"How do you find out the 'why'?" asked Zack.
"Hopefully, he'll tell us," answered Hotch. "JJ's press conference denying any foul play or that the bodies are even connected has been airing constantly. He would be looking to see if his message had gotten out. Her conference will anger him and force him to make his reasons clear."
"How exactly?" asked Angela, not liking where this was going.
"Unfortunately, with the next victim," answered Morgan.
"So you're just going to stand here and wait for another body?" asked Brennan, angered by this.
"They don't really have a choice, Bones," stated Booth, trying to be sensitive to both sides. He knew she hated it when they got new victims. She hated victims being trivialized and treated like pieces of a puzzle. Even if that's not what they were trying to do, that's how it was coming across.
"There is always a choice, Booth," she argued back, her voice at an eerily monotone level.
"Dr. Brennan," started Reid, getting her attention. "With this level of torture, would you agree that the unsub would have to spend a great deal of time with the victim before disposing of the body?"
Brennan stared at him. "Yes," she replied, annoyed. She knew exactly where he was going with this, but she didn't like it.
"So more than likely the next victim has already been taken by him. It's unfortunate that we don't know enough be able to save this victim, but hopefully we'll be able to gain enough information to stop him before he reaches victim number four," Reid finished.
Brennan nodded and opened her mouth to reply when JJ's cell phone rang.
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