I know! I updated so much quicker this time! lol Okay, this one has some excitement in it! Yay! xP Oh, also, in one part I switch a little into Angela's POV, except in third person, so I hope that doesn't confuse anyone. Enjoy =)
I arrived about thirty minutes later, parking in front of the familiar house of Gormogon. I stared at it for a long while, trying to determine why I was here. But I wasn't called to Gormogon's house; Booth told me to meet at his neighbor's house. So, passing the first house, an uninvited chill passing down my back, I went to the neighbor's house, where Booth stood with several policemen. Their cars were parked in front, lights on and the officers were busying themselves with carrying plastic bags out of the house.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"There was an anonymous phone call reporting a possible burglary. Cops came to investigate and found... this," Booth said, gesturing inside.
I stepped inside, noting the well-furnished living room, decorated with fine pieces of art, but despite the beauty, there was something still strangely grotesque about the place. I also noted that all of the windows were covered with thick curtains. That may have been adding to the bizarre look of the room.
Booth led me past this room and past an equally decorated bedroom to a closet door. I'm very intelligent and caught on quickly to the fact that this was supposed to look like a closet. So, gingerly, I knocked on the wall and heard it was hollow.
"I got it," Booth said and with a little effort opened the wall, revealing a hidden room. I stopped before entering, staring inside with a look of disbelief. Pictures covered the walls; pictures people I didn't know and of Zack and his family, all of which looked like were taken from a distance. There was a desk at the end of the room with a TV sitting on it. Beside the desk were piles of video tapes.
"The door was open when the cops came in," Booth said, looking at me.
"What is this?" I asked.
"I did a background check on the owner of this house... turns out it was bought years ago by Gormogon. He purchased it with a fake name and then bought the house beside it."
"What for?" I asked, observing each photo carefully. Several of them had been taken from within the Jeffersonian. Seeing this made my blood boil.
"This is where he did most of his... cannibalism-related work," Booth said, eyeing photos of skeletons (like you might see in a hospital or doctor's office).
Booth didn't answer my question, but instead pressed a button on the TV, which immediately began playing a tape. I turned and watched, recognizing it as a tape of Zack's family, who were apparently being observed without their knowledge.
"Gormogon was watching his family?" I asked in bewilderment.
Booth nodded.
"But why?" I asked.
"Don't know," he said with a sigh. "But this isn't all I brought you here for. There's something else."
"What is it?"
"They found traces of blood... Zack's," Booth said.
I stared at him for only a moment, my heart suddenly racing. "Where? How much?"
"Barely enough to fill a teaspoon," Booth said, allowing me to relax a little bit, "but it's fresh."
"Fresh?" I asked, suddenly feeling a little lighter inside.
"About 12 hours," Booth said.
"He was here," I said, looking around the room with new purpose. "I'm calling Hodgins," I said at last, grabbing my phone and dialing in his number.
"I'll call in Sweets," Booth said, which made me turn to him and give him a puzzled look.
"Why?" I asked.
"He might find some... psychology stuff we're missing," Booth said.
I rolled my eyes, but allowed him to continue dialing the number. Besides, I wanted all the help we could get. I just wanted all of this to be over and to get Zack back.
I held the phone to my ear as it rang multiple times, but there was no answer. Eventually, I hung up and dialed Angela's number. It rang for a few minutes, but eventually Angela's voice answered over the phone.
"Hello?"
"Angela, it's me. I can't get a hold of Hodgins. Would you call him for me?"
"Sure. Did you guys find something?"
"We found where the kidnappers were holding Zack," I said.
"You did? Where?" she asked urgently.
"Next door to Gormogon's house," I said, gritting my teeth.
There was a pause on the other end, then; "What?"
"I'll explain later, please just call Hodgins. I need him over here as soon as possible."
"Okay, I'm not it," Angela said and then hung up.
The news was as thrilling as it was worrisome in Angela's mind. They found one of the places he had been kept, yes, but he was still out there and the longer he remained missing the more frightening thoughts entered her mind. She tried to shake them off, to not think about it, but they were persistent, reappearing in her mind more frightening than before.
Angela went through the Jeffersonian in a hurried rush until she came to Hodgin's desk, where he sat looking at some invisible particles through a microscope.
"Why aren't you answering your phone?" she asked angrily.
Hodgins looked up at her in surprise, thought about the question, and then looked around himself. He patted his pockets, looked at her again and then smiled weakly. "I um... I think I left it in my car."
"Well Brennan's been trying to call. They've got a lead and they want you over there ASAP."
"A lead?" Hodgins asked excitedly, standing.
"At the house next to Gormogon's," she said.
"No way."
"Way. They want you down there as soon as possible."
"I'm going," Hodgins said, grabbing his coat and heading for the door.
Angela watched him leave for a second until a beeping caused her to look down at her watch. "Finally," she said, thankful to finally be on break. She hadn't been able to help much with finding Zack and standing around the Jeffersonian doing nothing was the last thing she wanted to be doing.
She went to her office, grabbed her coat and then went down to the parking garage. She walked down the lot, her high heels clanking loudly when someone called her name.
"Ms. Montenegro," someone said.
Angela turned to find a man standing behind her. It took her a moment, but she was finally able to recognize the face.
"Samson Coles?" she asked in disbelief.
The man smiled and walked up to her.
"C-can I help you?" she asked, momentarily stunned at having met him down in the garage only a few hours after having discussed him with Brennan.
"Yes, you can," Samson said, stopping about a foot away from her and smiling friendlily. "I understand Dr. Brennan has come to you about the Coles Case."
"Your parent's death, yes. I'm so sorry, by the way," she said sympathetically.
"That's in the past," Samson said dismissively. "I'm not actually here about that."
Angela stared at him, waiting for him to continue.
"I'm here because Dr. Brennan made a very terrible mistake."
"Mistake? Brennan doesn't make mistakes," Angela said with a little smile.
"She has this time. See, I gave her very specific instructions not to involve anyone concerning me. Seems though she's decided to ignore my warnings, so this puts me in a pickle."
Angela stared at him, suddenly becoming aware of the danger she was now finding herself in. Instinctively, she stepped back, only to have Samson step forward.
"Unfortunately for you, I have to show Dr. Brennan that I mean business and now I'm going to have to show you I mean business. I understand you're intimately familiar with Dr. Hodgins."
"Was," Angela said.
"Was, are, either way the feelings are there, whether you admit them to yourself or not. The point is that now I'm going to have to keep you in line... and I think I've found a way to do it." He paused for a second, and then continued, "I did some reading about the Grave Digger. It must have been so terrifying to have been buried alive. I can't imagine Dr. Hodgins would want to go through that a second time."
Angela froze, fear suddenly gripping her heart more tightly. "If you do anything to Hodgins..."
"That's entirely up to you, Ms. Montenegro. You keep what you've found between you and Dr. Brennan and Hodgins will be fine. He won't have to relive that nightmare. But... do anything that I don't like... I can't guarantee that you'll find Hodgins like you did the last time."
Angela swallowed, remembering the fear he had shown after having been rescued from that buried car. He had cried... she had never seen him cry before and it had broken her heart.
"Alright, now that that's been cleared up there's one more thing I have to do," Samson said, disrupting her thoughts. He pulled a gun out from his coat pocket and pointed it at her. "If you'll come this way."
Angela stared at the gun for a moment in sheer horror and then obediently began walking in the direction Samson Coles was leading her.
He took her to a staircase, where they both stood at the top for a moment.
"To everyone but Brennan, say you slipped and Hodgins will be fine; say you were pushed and... I think you know what will happen," he said and then he pushed her.
I am on a roll!! I'm writing like the wind, so the next update soon be very soon! =D
