Chapter 9

The next thing she noticed was the smell. Her nostrils were filled with a musty, dank smell mixed with chemicals that she couldn't quite place. Knowing she was indoors, she tried to process what the smells meant. The mustiness made her think that she was most likely somewhere underground. She was suddenly paralyzed with fear, wondering if she was buried alive. The feeling was all too familiar.

*****

Wednesday

7:43 PM

Booth paced back and forth on the platform, unable to stand still. He couldn't understand what was taking so long. She had been missing for more than three hours and no one had found out anything. Cam was holed up in her office trying to officially identify the remains of the exhumed victim while Angela was helping Hodgins identify the type of car that had struck the van. Booth had spent most of the three hours tracking down information about each of the coroners. They appeared to be just regular people with no involvement to Collin Brown or to Brennan's disappearance. They were just two people in the wrong place at the wrong time. Booth had spent the rest of the time trying to track down Collin Brown. The only problem was, nobody knew where he was. It was as if Collin Brown had walked out of prison and disappeared. It only reaffirmed what Booth already knew. He had her.

"I've officially identified the remains as Carol Cooke," Cam said as she walked up the steps to the platform. She held the DNA test in her hands.

Booth breathed a sigh of relief. "What about the car? Has Hodgins identified the car?"

"He's still working on it," Cam replied.

"Actually, he found it," Hodgins answer as he and Angela climbed onto the platform.

"Actually, we found it," Angela reiterated.

"So…?" Booth prompted.

"The car that struck the van was a champagne colored, 2004 Ford Explorer," Hodgins stated.

"Do we know who the car was registered to?" Booth asked, knowing it was a long shot. It was more likely that finding the vehicle's owner would take more time than they had.

"We ran a list of all champagne colored 2004 Ford Explorers sold in the DC metro area since 2004," Angela explained.

"You never would have guessed how many of these were sold. This must have been like the most popular car of 2004," Hodgins said.

"What did you find?" Booth asked, not caring how many were sold. All he wanted was to find the one that had taken Brennan.

"There was a champagne colored 2004 Ford Explorer reported stolen this afternoon," Angela answered.

"What time?" Booth asked.

"Around 1:00 PM," Hodgins said.

"Bastard," Booth said. "He wasn't out of prison less than an hour and he already had a plan to get to her. He must have been the one who called me about Parker."

"Parker?" Angela asked.

"That's why I wasn't with Bones when she was…kidnapped. I got a call from Parker's school that he needed to be picked up. When I got to his school, the secretary told me Rebecca had already picked him up. Creepy thought of everything. He thought about how to get to her when she was alone. He thought about how to destroy the evidence we needed. He thought about everything."

"Then we just have to be smarter than him," Cam said.

"Do we have a plate number for that car?" Booth questioned.

Hodgins handed him a piece of paper. "All the information is right there."

"I'll have the FBI put out an APB on the license plate, but chances are he's already ditched the car and has her somewhere," Booth stated. "Cam, were you able to test the blood from the inside of the van?"

Cam nodded. She walked over to one of the computers on the platform and typed in some specific information.

"The DNA matches Dr. Brennan," Cam announced.

They were all silent, contemplating the fact that her blood had been found at the scene.

"I don't know if this will make a difference," Angela said, "but I've done a recreation of the car accident. It's…not pretty, but…"

"Let's see it," Booth said.

They all walked off the platform and into the next room. Angela programmed her recreation machine while the others gathered around it. For the first time standing around Angela's recreation machine, Booth was afraid of what he'd see.

"From the damage to the van, we've determined that the car that struck it was going approximately 73 miles per hour."

A computer graphic of the van appeared on the simulator. A computer generated replica of a 2004 Ford Expedition came from the side and slammed into it. The van flipped onto its side, spun, and skid several yards until it jumped the sidewalk and crashed head first into the brick building on the opposite side. The damage on the side of the van was clearly visible. Booth couldn't stop thinking about Brennan being inside that van.

"The two coroners were killed instantly when the van hit the building," Angela explained. "Then, from what we can tell, the person driving the other vehicle took the exhumed victim out of the van and lit her on fire."

"Lit her on fire how?" Cam questioned.

"He simply used a match and burned the victim. With the embalming fluids used in embalming remains, she would have lit up like a fourth of July firecracker," Hodgins explained.

Cam glared at him, signaling that he needed to be more respectful.

"What about Bones?" Booth asked.

Angela plugged more data into the simulator. The overturned van disappeared and it was replaced by an image of the van with the back doors open so that they could see inside. Booth saw the coffin lying in the middle and Bones sitting beside it on the bench.

"On impact, Dr. Brennan would have been…thrown across the van while the coffin would have dislodged and opened," Angela said.

The simulation mirrored what Angela was saying. Booth had to look away when he saw Brennan being forced against the side of the van as it flipped. She hit her head hard against the side of the van.

"She would have been knocked unconscious by the blow to the back of the head," Cam said.

"Could the impact have killed her?" Booth questioned.

Cam shook her head. "Not likely. It was a hard blow, but not hard enough to kill someone."

"How did the driver of the Ford Explorer survive the impact?" Hodgins asked.

"You mean Collin Brown?" Booth replied. Everyone turned to look at him. "It was Collin Brown."

"We don't have any evidence that…" Hodgins began to explain.

"I don't need evidence!" Booth yelled.

"Dr. B would say that without evidence…" Hodgins said.

"Bones isn't here! And she isn't here because he has her! And if you don't believe that…if you're not going to help me find her, than you can…"

"Seeley!" Cam shouted, silencing him. "We're all going to help find Dr. Brennan."

Booth took a deep breath. "How did Creepy survive the crash?" He asked.

Angela changed the simulator again to show the Ford Explorer as it crashed into the van.

"The airbags would have gone off upon impact. If the driver crashed into the van on purpose, he would have been braced for impact and could have walked away with minor cuts and bruises," Angela explained.

"Why cause a car accident and put himself in danger?" Hodgins asked.

"Because it was the only way to destroy the evidence before getting it to the Jeffersonian," Angela said. She turned off the simulator machine.

"And it gave him free access to Bones," Booth added.

"I'm going to see if I can find any remaining particulates from the burned remains," Hodgins said, excusing himself. He left the room.

"And I'm going to take a look at the coroner's bodies. They may have died on impact, but maybe they can tell us something." Cam put her hand on Booth's arm before leaving the room. Booth leaned his hands on the edge of the stimulator and took a deep breath.

"I should never have left her alone," he said.

"You can't blame yourself," Angela remarked.

"I should have been there."

"You can't be with her twenty-four hours a day, Booth. You know Dr. Brennan. She would never allow it."

Angela smiled slightly and Booth couldn't help but chuckle over the thought of following Brennan around constantly. He had to admit that it was a slightly enticing thought.

"I should never have let her in the interrogation room. I should never have let Creepy lay his eyes on her."

"Brennan told me that he had been looking into both of your careers since you started working together. Creepy would have known about Brennan whether he met her or not."

Booth nodded. "I just feel so…useless. Just standing here while she's…I don't know what to do."

"Call your son."

"What?"

"My guess is you freaked out when Parker wasn't at school so you called Rebecca and totally freaked her out without meaning to and now she probably thinks you're in some kind of mortal peril. So, call your son."

"How do you do that, Angela? How do you always know so much about everyone?"

"It's a gift, baby."

He nodded. "Let me know if you find anything."

Booth made his way out of the lab. As soon as he reached his car, he got in and took out his cell phone. He speed dialed Rebecca.

"Seeley?" She answered.

"Hi Rebecca."

"What is going on? You scared me to death this afternoon."

"I'm sorry."

"Is Parker in any danger?"

"No, but I don't think I'm going to be able to take Parker this weekend."

"What? Why? Seeley, what the hell is going on?"

"Bones is…missing," Booth answered.

"Missing? What happened?"

"We're working on a big case and…I can't really discuss, but she's missing and I have to find her."

"Of course," Rebecca replied.

"Can I talk to Parker?"

"He's just getting ready for bed."

"Oh. I can call him tomorrow then."

"No, it's ok. I know you need to talk to your son. I'll get him."

Booth heard Rebecca call for Parker. He could hear the faint patter of his feet across the floor as he heard Rebecca hand the phone over.

"Daddy?" Parker said.

"Hey buddy."

"I've missed you, dad."

"I've missed you, too, Parker."

"Are we going to go to the park this weekend, dad?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm not going to be able to take you to the park this weekend, bud."

"How come?"

Booth could hear the disappointment in his voice. He hated disappointing his son. It reminded him too much of how often his father disappointed him.

"Something happened to Bones, buddy."

"Dr. Bones?"

"Yeah."

"What happened? Is she sick?"

"No, she's not sick, Parker. I need to…find something for her."

"Like a missing toy?"

"Yeah, bud, like a missing toy."

"That toy must be very important."

"It's the most important toy."

"Well, I guess it's ok then that we can't go to the park this weekend. I remember when I lost my Buzz Lightyear toy. I cried for a really long time. Has Dr. Bones cried over her missing toy?"

"Not yet, bud."

"Well, tell her that she can borrow my toys if she wants until she can find hers. Not Buzz Lightyear, though. He's my favorite."

"I'll tell her. I love you, Parker."

"Love you too, daddy."

"Can you give the phone back to mommy?"

"Here mommy," Parker said, handing the phone back to Rebecca.

"He really misses you," Rebecca stated.

"As soon as this is all over, I'll take him to the park and the zoo and the museum and anywhere else he wants to go. Right now, though, I…"

"Have to find Dr. Brennan, I know."

"Rebecca, I know you hate my job and the hours and…"

"I know how important Dr. Brennan is to you. I hope she's okay, Seeley. I really do."

"Thanks. I'll call you later."

Booth hung up the phone and went to the one place where he didn't feel completely useless.

Author's Note: Ok, so I know having Booth call Rebecca might have seemed a little random or unnecessary, but I wanted the conversation to portray more of Booth's emotions about what's going on with Bones. Not to mention that I couldn't resist writing a small scene with Parker. Anyway, more drama to come! Thank you as always for reading and for the fantastic reviews! I am completely humbled by the amazing things you all say!