A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter up, but good news! The next one should come a little faster (as it is already done!)…YAY! Special Thanks to Goldy ((hugs)), you're the best! And to Mike who apparently, on occasions, is the 'creepy guy in the red baseball cap'. Just so you know, Kurt, Troy and Eric are the names of my brothers. And I do know someone at SCAD.
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"A shame Bryant didn't want to join us," Booth said, as they pulled up in front of a small blue house sat on the side of a mountain.
"Don't give me that, Booth," Brennan said. "You were almost jumping for joy when she told us that she was flying home today."
"I can't help it," he started, as they climbed out of the SUV. "It's not that I don't like her, it's just, well, I'm use to discussing the case whenever I want." As the pair made their way up the front walk, the screen door to the house opened, and a young man in a dark blue suit stepped out.
"Agent Booth?" he questioned. When Booth nodded, he went on. "I'm Agent Sam Heyward." Booth shook the man's hand.
"Nice to meet you, Agent Heyward. This is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan." Heyward shook her hand as well.
"I've heard a lot about both of you," he said.
"What can you tell us?" Heyward pulled a notebook from his inside jacket pocket, flipped it open and began filling them in.
"The missing girl is Kaitlin Tanner, age 20. She attends SCAD. Home for the summer, getting ready to head back to school the weekend after Labor Day. Parents came home last night and found her gone, her little brother asleep upstairs, and the dog dead in the back yard."
"Excuse me," Brennan said. "But what is SCAD?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, it stands for the Savannah College of Art and Design. She's majoring in animation there."
"Can we see the dog?" Booth asked.
"Of course, follow me." Heyward took the pair around the side of the house, through a gate and to the very back of the fence. "We covered it with a tarp, hope that was okay?"
"That's fine," Booth said. "Can you remove it please." Heyward nodded, and then waved over two more agents. They carefully lifted the blue tarp, and put it aside. Brennan pulled a pair of gloves from her pocket and knelt beside the dead animal.
"I don't really do animals," Brennan said, her hands gently feeling along the dogs neck. "But it's definitely a broken neck."
"Have your forensic team lift trace and send it to the Jeffersonian," Booth told Heyward who nodded. "Are the parents inside?"
"Yes, sir, and they're expecting you." Booth put a hand on the small on Brennan's back as they walked toward the house. A quick knock and Booth opened the door. Two women and three men sat at the kitchen table, hands wrapped around mugs of coffee.
"Mr. and Mrs. Tanner," Booth said as they walked in.
"You must be the agent in charge and the doctor lady," one of the men said. "I'm Franklin Tanner, and this,"- he indicated the woman with short brown hair- "is my wife LeeAnn."
"I'm Agent Booth, and my partner, Dr. Brennan."
"The writer?" the other woman asked. Brennan offered a nervous smile. She hated when people recognized her name.
"Yes, ma'am," she finally said, taking a page out of Booth's book- smile, be nice and move on.
"Um, could you tell us about last night?" Booth said, cutting off any more questions from Brennan's fan.
"We went out," LeeAnn started. "Kaitlin stayed home with her little brother."
"When we got home," Franklin took over, "There were snacks and drinks on the coffee table. The TV was still on, but no Kaitlin. I went upstairs to check on Kurt, and to see if Kaitlin and Maxie, that's the dog, if they were in her bed. But they weren't."
"It's not like Kaitlin to just leave, especially since she was baby sitting," LeeAnn threw in.
"I went outside searching," Franklin began again. "That's when I found Maxie. We called the cops who called you guys."
"Can you tell us if Kaitlin was having any trouble with anyone? Did she ever mention a guy maybe bothering her?" Both parents shook their heads
"No, everybody liked Kaitlin," LeeAnn said. "If she was having problems she never mentioned it to me."
"Thank you both," Booth said, pulling a card from his pocket. "If you think of anything else, please call."
"So now we're dealing with a missing girl," Brennan said, as they made their way back to the SUV.
"Yeah, but who took Kaitlin, that's the question. I feel like we're going around in a circle. Two murder girls, and now one's missing, and we're no closer to finding this bastard than when we started." Booth hit the hood of the SUV. "Why can't I see it?" he demanded. "What am I missing?" Brennan placed a hand on his arm.
"We'll get there, Booth," she said. "Let's go over what we know."
"That Kaitlin is going to die unless we do something," he said in a hushed tone, and then walked to the driver side door and got in.
--
"This guy doesn't leave anything behind," Booth stated, as he paced the length of Brennan's hotel room. Her laptop was set up on the small desk provided, and Angela watched the agent as he passed.
"Nothing that we have found at least," Brennan corrected.
"What do the parents say?" Angela asked.
"They are all good girls," Booth said, passing the laptop again. Brennan watched from her seat.
"If I know nothing else, Booth," Angela said. "Is that even good girls have secrets."
"Yeah," Hodgins said, sticking his head in front of Angela so that he could talk. "Like the trace I found under Dahlia's nails."
"What about it, Jack?" Brennan asked.
"It was lube."
"Lube?" Booth questioned.
"Yeah, good stuff too. There wasn't a whole lot, but I pulled it from under her index finger on her right hand."
"So she was playing with something…or someone before she was killed," Angela said, shoving Hodgins out her way.
"That doesn't help us much," Brennan said.
"No, but maybe this will," Angela said. "I was able to find five men in the system that have documented whale, or whale like tattoos."
"How did you," Booth began and then shook his head. "Never mind. Good work. Can you email that to us?"
"On its way, sweetie," Angela said. She stood and Zack took the seat.
"Dr. Brennan, the materiel used for gags on both victims were strips of a shirt."
"One shirt, Zack?" Brennan asked.
"Yes, it seems to be a…um Mickey Mouse shirt."
"Mickey Mouse?" Booth asked. "Now that's just sick."
"Were you able to pull any DNA off the strips?" Brennan asked.
"Just the girls," Hodgins said, pulling the web cam to face him. "But from the first girl, some of the samples you sent were honey."
"He poured honey on them?" Booth questioned.
"No, just the first one."
"You should be getting those pictures any minute," Angela said, pushing Hodgins out her way.
"Thanks Ange," Brennan said. "And good work guys. We'll be in touch."
"Okay, bye sweetie." With that, the connection was broke.
"Mickey Mouse shirt, honey, and five known whale tail guys," Booth said. "What do you think our luck is?"
"I don't do luck," Brennan said, pulling up the pictures of the five suspects. Booth looked over her shoulder. They carefully scrolled through each one until they got to the fourth one.
"Him," Booth said, putting a finger on the screen.
"White teeth," Brennan commented. Booth pulled his phone and a moment later another agent picked up.
"Kelby,' he said. "I need you to look someone up for me." He waited and then read the name off the screen. "Avery Sterne and I need it ASAP." He hung up, and turned to Brennan.
"Let's hope that Kelby finds something.
--
Kaitlin adjusted in her seat trying to relieve pressure in her back. The wooden chair she was strapped to was getting hard, and her stomach growled. She pushed her tongue against the rag in her mouth, but was unable to push it out. She hated the taste. The sound of the door opening caused her to swing her head around. Avery walked in and caressed her face. "How are you today, sweet child?" he asked, pulling the gag away.
"I'm hungry," she said, trying to sound nice. "May I please have something to eat, Avery?" Her tone seemed to please the man, and he smiled.
"Of course you may," he said. "I'll be right back." Kaitlin watched him leave, humming-What is that? It's a small world?, thankful to have the gag out. Maybe, if she was nice, he wouldn't put it back in.
--
"It's him, Bones," Booth said once she had opened her hotel door.
"Who's him?" she questioned. She had been half-asleep when Booth had started pounding on her door.
"Avery Sterne, he's our guy." Booth turned to face her, a wide smile on his face.
"How are you so sure?"
"Other than the white teeth? One, he use to work at Disney World, hence the Mickey Mouse T-shirt."
"I'm sure a lot of people do and have," Brennan responded around a yawn.
"Two, we have ATM transactions in South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia."
"He could travel for his job."
"Okay, Bones, then how about this, not only does he have a whale tattoo, but he was treated in an Alabama hospital for a broken nose." Brennan crossed her arms and shook her head.
"I hope you have more than that?"
"I have a speeding ticket in his name given yesterday. The cop was questioned early today and says he remembers a young girl asleep in the back seat."
"Okay, that's good proof."
"Glad you agree, the SWAT team is waiting near his house. Come on." Brennan hurriedly got dressed, and in ten minutes they were on the road. Sterne, it turned out, lived only two hours away from their present location.
When they arrived, they were greeted by an Agent Troy Macklin. "The Sterne house is five doors down," the man explained. "We've checked, and he is home."
"Are your men ready to move?" Booth asked, opening the back of his SUV and pulling his bulletproof vest out.
"Yes, sir, on your go." Booth nodded. Once strapped in he looked back to Brennan.
"I want you to stay here," he instructed.
"But Booth," she began.
"Not buts, Bones," he cut her off. "Stay here."
"Alright." Booth offered her a smile and then waved other agent over.
"Watch her," he said. Brennan gave him a death glare for assigning her a babysitter, but didn't say anything. She just stood there and watched as Booth and Macklin moved away. After talking into radios, everybody had their assignment. Booth gave the word. "I want this bastard alive," he said.
"Got it." They made their way to Sterne's front door. If everything went down correctly, he would simply open the door for them. No gunfire, no body wounded. Things never go simply. Booth knocked on the door and waited. Nothing. That's when he saw the curtain move.
"He's made us," Booth said. "Break the door." He and Macklin stepped back as three guys with a ramrod stepped forward. One hit and the door swung open. Booth and Macklin were in, guns at the ready. Booth motioned for Macklin to go up, and he would take downstairs. Moving slowly through the house, he listened for movement. Each corner was taken with care. As Booth approached a blind corner, he heard a loud pop, and felt a burn in his leg. He didn't waste time. Sterne was on the move and Booth was only a step away. Throwing open the door leading to the basement, Sterne quickly started down the steps. "FBI," Booth yelled, but the man kept moving. Booth took the step two at a time and finally caught him at the bottom. Both agent and suspect fell to the ground and rolled. At the end, Sterne was face down with Booth's knee in his back and his gun to his head.
"Booth, you okay?" Macklin called, coming down the steps.
"I'm okay," he answered. "Be better when you get this SOB out of my sight." Booth turned Sterne over to Mackln.
"Your leg," the other agent said, as the basement began to full with people.
"Flesh wound," Booth answered, his attention on a door at the far end of the room. He picked up a hammer that was on a nearby shelf and walked over. With two good swings, Booth had the doorknob broke and gently opened the door. Sitting in the middle of the room was a young girl with wide, scared eyes. "Kaitlin?" he asked softly, walking toward her. She nodded. "I'm Special Agent Booth with the FBI." He pulled the gag from her mouth as she began to sob.
--
"Tell me, damn it," Booth demanded, slamming his hand down on the table. Avery Sterne looked across at the agent, his eyes cold and dead. "Why Dahlia? Why Pleasant? Why Kaitlin?" Sterne simply blinked at him. Booth stood up straight, casting a glance at the two-way mirror. He was furious and Brennan could see it in everything he did. The way he held his mouth, the way his back was tense, and all she could do was watch, and think. What can we use against this guy? Booth paced back and forth in the interrogation room. "We have you for murder," Booth said. "Two counts, and kidnapping. We've even got you for animal cruelty."
"If you have as much as you say, Agent Booth," Stern began to speak. "Then we wouldn't still be in here, now would we?"
"Booth," Brennan called, opening the door. Her voice stopped him in motion to grab the jerk and pull him across the table. "May I see you?" Booth sucked his teeth, but stood and left the room.
"What is it, Bones?"
"What you're doing isn't getting through to him," she stated matter-of-factly.
"No duh, there, Sherlock," Booth said, running a hand through his hair.
"We need to figure out his trigger, the connection between the girls."
"And how do you suppose we do that?" Brennan pinched her lips together. She hadn't made it that far in her plan.
"We need to talk to Kaitlin. Find out what she can tell us."
"Fine, we'll leave Sterne in there to sweat for a while."
--
Kaitlin sat on the couch, and despite the heat, was wrapped in a blanket. There were dark circles around her eyes, and her face was hollow and drawn. "Kaitlin," Booth began softly. "We just have a few questions." The girl nodded and squeezed her mother's hand tightly. Booth took a breath before going on. "What can you tell us about the man who took you? What did he say to you?"
"He kept," she began, her voice small and scared. "Calling me 'innocent one'. And, and he hummed 'It's a Small World'." Kaitlin shivered. "I'm sorry, but he didn't really say anything else."
"That's okay, Kaitlin, you've helped more than you know." Booth and Brennan said their good-byes, and as they walked to the SUV, Booth pulled out his cell phone.
"You going to tell me what you're thinking?" Brennan asked, but Booth was already talking to someone.
"Eric, yeah, it's me, Booth. Listen, I need you to run a check for me. My three victims, find out if they ever went to Disney World. That's right. ASAP. Thanks." He snapped the phone shut as they climbed into the car. "What I'm thinking is that the connection is Disney World."
"And how did you come to that?"
"Think about it, Bones. Sterne worked there, the gag was a Mickey Mouse shirt and he hums It's a Small World. If nothing else, what kind of person hums It's a Small World?"
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Just one more chapter to go. That's right. One more chapter and then no more ANTS. But never fear! I'm already working on my next 2 fics...which pickes up after this one. So remember personal things that go on between Booth and Brennan. Cause the next few fics are more fluffy.