Days passed after Brennan learned about her intern's story and identified the child on the table as Cassidy's son. The investigation was officially ruled a murder after Brennan found evidence of blunt force trauma to the baby's skull that she was almost certain was the cause of death since there was evidence of blood pooling around the wound. Since the body was almost eight years old, they had very little to work with other than skeletal remains and the pieces of clothing and a blanket found at the scene where the body was found. Brennan worked every day on the body, keeping Clark and the other interns close by for observation in case they saw something. More than one set of eyes was useful when working a case like this that was both time sensitive and personal to someone they knew. She wanted this case solved as quickly as possible so Cassidy could lay her son to rest and could start moving on with her life.
Between working the case every single day and her pregnancy, Brennan had been wiped out lately. Her stamina was not what it usually was, which proved completely disastrous for her and Booth in the bedroom. Even though she wanted to be intimate with him, she just didn't have the energy. When she would arrive home, she would barely make it through dinner and a shower before crashing on the bed next to Booth. Instead of complaining, he took it very admirably and instead, helped her as much as possible by cooking and keeping her company while she slept. It was nice knowing that someone else was there with her while she was sleeping, even though having this kind of company was not something Brennan was used to in the least. But since they were a couple now, she was getting more used to it and really had come to love being able to wake up knowing someone would be there with her. After living alone for so long, it was a nice thought and sentiment to have in her life.
Her morning sickness had toned itself down some, but not nearly enough to be eliminated. She was still making frequent trips to the bathroom because she couldn't stand a certain smell that drafted her direction. Or if something caught her off guard enough to send her flying to the porcelain fountain. But it was getting better and manageable, which was something she was grateful for. She was in her twelfth week of pregnancy and things were starting to really change. She'd gained about five pounds overall and had a small, but defined bump resting between her pelvis. One that she kept hidden with looser fitting shirts and dresses. She and Booth had yet to formally announce their pregnancy since she wanted to be past the first trimester before they did, but people were picking up on the different emotional context of their work environment when Booth was around. Even she knew that.
As she worked on the skull, she heard someone swipe their card to come onto the platform and looked up to see Booth coming over to her with a file in hand. She knew that had to be more information about the case or a possible suspect. Putting down the small child's skull on the table, she stood up and looked at him with questioning eyes.
"Is that information pertaining to the case?" she asked without hesitation.
Booth nodded. "I need to speak with Cassie. Is she around today?"
"I believe she is currently in Angela's office. They were speaking about arrangements for the funeral for...for Karson," Brennan said, pausing before she could mention the victim's name. In previous cases, she'd never referred to the victim by name, particularly in a child's case because it helped her keep her distance emotionally and be both professional and rational in the situation. But this was was just different.
"I'll go talk with her. Would you like to come?" Brennan nodded and pulled off her gloves, hearing the familiar snap of the rubber as it came off. Tossing them in the trash, she walked down the steps of the platform and walked with Booth to Angela's office.
Cassidy was there, speaking with Angela about the funeral she was planning. Brennan was thankful that Angela and Cam were handling the arrangements since they were better at the emotional things than she was. Booth cleared his throat once, causing Cassie to turn around in surprise. There was nothing cheerful in her demeanor and Brennan knew that she truly was a parent grieving for the loss of her child. In her mind, she silently hoped to never be in the same position as Cassidy. Even though the child in her womb was only a little more than two inches long, she still felt the love for it that a mother felt for a child, which did not make any sense to her, but she did not care.
"Cassie, I have a couple questions that we need to ask you if you don't mind," Booth said, looking at her with respect and consideration. One thing Brennan always noticed was that he had the utmost respect for the parents of the victims that were children. It was something she admired and respected herself.
Cassie nodded and stood up from Angela's couch. "Of course, Agent Booth. I will answer anything you ask."
The trio excused themselves from Angela's office and went into Brennan's where they shut the door to conduct the interview. It was private and the blinds could be drawn so no one would be able to see what was going on. Brennan sat at her desk while Cassie and Booth took their seats on the couch. Booth opened the file in his hands and started his usual interview.
"There are some details that we need to know about your son," he started off, holding up the birth certificate for the boy. "There is no name on the certificate for the father."
"I...I did not want to put the name. H-he raped me and it was traumatizing enough going through pregnancy after that, so I left it blank. The hospital said it was perfectly legal," she said quickly, defending herself.
"Oh we aren't questioning the legality. We just want to know the name of the father so we can go asking him some questions about his whereabouts the day your son went missing," Booth calmly replied, assuaging her fears.
Cassie breathed a sigh of relief that Brennan noticed as her body language relaxed. "Ethan Hartford. His father is a senator for Virginia, so he denied everything and I never heard from him again after the night he raped me because he was eighteen at the time and I was only sixteen. DNA will prove he's the father."
"We'll make sure he gives a DNA sample to prove that Karson was his child," Booth assured her. "And when we bring him in for questioning, he'll cop to the assault and rape of a minor too."
"Booth is very persuasive in getting people to admit what they did," Brennan added, knowing how true that was. She knew how he felt about these cases too, which was one reason he worked so hard to solve them and bring justice to those who were helpless.
"What we need to know first is what happened that night, when he raped you. If you don't want to talk about it now, that is perfectly fine. But we will need to know when you're ready."
Cassie took a deep breath and nodded. "I can talk about it now. It's been over eight years since it happened. I was sixteen at the time. I went to a party with Ethan, just to hang out and dance. There was alcohol there, but I didn't drink any since I didn't like to drink. I had soda, but after one in particular, I started feeling a little inebriated. I asked Ethan to take me home and that is the last thing I remember before waking up in his bed, naked and alone."
"And you know you were sexually assaulted?" Booth asked gently.
Cassie nodded again. "I was a virgin until that night...I felt the pain afterward and knew that he'd taken that from me. There was also blood on the sheets between my legs. I was so ashamed of myself and of what happened that I quickly dressed and asked him to take me home."
"And nine months later, you gave birth to your son?"
"Eight and a half...he came two weeks early. But yes, I found out I was pregnant roughly five weeks after the incident and I knew that Ethan was the father without a doubt."
"Did you inform him of the pregnancy?" Booth asked.
"I did," Cassie nodded. "He told me to get rid of it and gave me money to pay for an abortion. That was the last I heard from him."
"What did you do with the money?" Booth looked up from his notes on the case.
"Invested it in a college fund for my child. I put it in a savings account with interest so it would grow and there would be enough for Karson to go to college when he was old enough," she replied. "After his disappearance, I never touched the money in hopes that someday my son would be returned to me."
Brennan could see that her intern was an intelligent and strong woman from the time she was young, which she admired. She had gone through so much in her teenage years that it reminded Brennan of her own troubled past. Foster home to foster home from the time she was fifteen, never knowing where her parents had gone. Those were things that she would never wish upon her own child. She could see that Cassidy had never wanted anything bad to happen to her son. The facts were right there. Cassidy had cared for the little boy she'd given birth to at just sixteen and wanted to raise him. The body of the child in her lab and the story her intern had been telling them proved to Brennan that there were some sick people in the world. People who would take a child from it's mother and murder it without a second thought.
"And could you tell us about the day Karson disappeared?" Booth continued, pulling Brennan from her thoughts.
"I was at school, taking classes to keep up with my school work and get ahead to graduate early. My mom had taken Karson for the day like she usually did when I was in school. They'd gone to the grocery store to pick up stuff for dinner. She said she turned her back for a moment and when she turned around, he was gone. After...she was frantic. She talked with store employees and they locked the entire store down to find him. He was nowhere to be found and...and then she had to call me. I left school immediately and went to the grocery store that she was at. The police spread out a ten-mile radius of there to see if they could find him anywhere...nothing turned up."
Cassie paused for a moment to compose herself, an action Brennan could certainly understand. While she did not agree with Psychology as a whole, she knew that bringing up a painful past was not always the easiest thing in the world. She knew from experience.
"Did you report him missing officially?" Booth asked gently.
"I did. They would not let me for twenty-four hours, but as soon as I was able to I did. We put up posters everywhere, I interviewed for the local news, and just kept on searching. I never gave up on my little boy."
Booth nodded and took down some notes that Brennan couldn't read from the angle she was sitting, but she knew it was things to consider later in the case. "Would you mind giving me your mother's name and number so we can get in contact with her about any other details?"
"Of course," Cassie replied, taking a pen and paper to write down the number they needed. "She is usually home most of the day since she retired. Both she and my father would be happy to answer any questions you might have. They loved Karson...they were devastated when I told them..."
Taking the paper from Cassie, Booth put it along with the case files before standing up. Brennan stood with him and watched as he thanked Cassie for her help and promised to let her know as soon as they had any details they could tell her. Cassie nodded and left the room. Brennan looked to Booth and took a deep breath.
"We'll have to get in contact with her mom to get the details about the actual kidnapping," he said in a matter of fact tone. One he used when he was serious about something.
She nodded in agreement. "Are you intending to go today?"
"Not today. Probably first thing tomorrow since it is already getting late in the day. Right now I think I'm gonna give the information I have to Sweets to see if he can come up with some profile of who would take a kid," he said, holding up the case file. "Maybe work some of his mumbo jumbo psych stuff on it. Who knows?"
"Mumbo jumbo? I don't know what that means," Brennan replied, shaking her head and walking out of the office.
"Means that Sweets is gonna work his magic and possibly give us a suspect to look for."
"Oh. Well then by all means, let Sweets work. Although I do not believe in Psychology, as I have said many times, I do believe that Sweets is very good at what he does."
Booth laughed and smiled at her as he walked toward the exit to deliver the file to Sweets at the Hoover. Brennan smiled and walked up to the platform again, swiping her card to grant her access. Going over to the bones, she took another look and snapped on fresh gloves as she got back to work.
A/N: Sorry it has taken me so long to get this chapter up! I hope you are all enjoying this story. Please, please leave me a review to let me know what you're thinking so far. I see other stories with so many that it makes me a little jealous since I LOVE hearing all of your lovely opinions!