Chapter Thirteen

By the time the little door leading into their secret room finally, slowly creaked open, Brennan was so on edge she was afraid she wouldn't be able to keep herself from shooting whoever might appear – whether it was Lindley or not.

The door pushed open, and Brennan's finger fell to the trigger.

A plate clattered to the ground with a loud clash, jolting Dosha enough to send her scrambling. Diggs crouched in the tunnel, hands up at sight of the gun, eyes wide.

"Don't shoot."

Dosha trotted to the foot of the tunnel, where the plate had fallen. A dozen neatly quartered sandwiches now lay on the ground; the dog immediately set to gobbling up every one of them. Brennan's heart pounded in her ears as she lowered the gun.

"What are you doing? Everyone is supposed to be in their rooms."

He dropped into the room and gently pushed Dosha aside, picking up the remaining sandwiches before they were all devoured. Brennan put her gun away and came out from behind the table.

"I was in my room – or I was in Erin's room, anyway. But it got a little… crowded." A frown touched his lips at an obviously unpleasant memory. "I went down to the kitchen to give her some space, and Zoe said maybe you guys could use a snack. I think she just wanted me out of her hair, personally."

He looked around the small space. "Where is everyone?"

Brennan went to the false wall and rapped sharply: three fast knocks, three slow. Two or three minutes passed before the wall shifted before her eyes, and Tripp reappeared cautiously. He waited until he'd gotten word from Brennan before confirming for the others that they were clear to return.

Obviously, the intrusion was a welcome one as far as the others were concerned - Sophie and the boys all grinned widely at sight of Diggs and went straight to him, eagerly helping themselves to the food he had brought. Brennan and Tripp righted the table once more, set it with the remaining sandwiches and cookies, and Tripp got out a deck of cards he'd brought with them.

Once they were all seated around the table with cookies and the small portion of sandwiches they'd salvaged from the floor, Tripp dealt eight cards to each of them. Brennan noticed that Sophie went to a great deal of trouble to sit beside Diggs –and that, based on the way Diggs kept moving his chair farther away, the handsome reporter was not pleased with the teenager's attention.

"So, Diggs," Tripp said, sometime midway through their first hand of Crazy Eights. "How'd you hear about this room again?"

"Mosby called," he explained. Brennan already knew this detail, however; she was curious why Tripp had brought it up.

"The caretaker, correct?" Brennan said. "I thought he was supposed to be at dinner last night."

Diggs shrugged. He lay down a card and picked up another one, frowning as he added it to his hand. "Mosby's a conundrum - he comes and goes as he pleases, mostly."

"And Mosby and Zoe – they were the only ones who knew about the skeleton being down here?" Tripp asked.

Diggs started to nod, casually chewing on a cookie, seemingly distracted by the cards in his hand. After a moment, a look of understanding crossed his face. He met Tripp's eye.

"That's what they thought," Diggs said. "You're telling me somebody else knew about it?"

Tripp and Brennan looked meaningfully at the boys, who both squirmed at the attention.

"We just followed him down here that one time," Will said.

"Followed your father, you mean," Diggs said.

Sam nodded.

"So, what exactly did your dad do while he was down here?" Tripp asked.

Brennan looked at the boy, curious about the answer herself.

"He just looked at the skeleton. And there was a book in that secret compartment in the wall – he read that. Then, he measured the bones and wrote some stuff down."

"Then he went out the secret way, " Will added. "That's how we knew about it."

"Do you mean he wrote in the book that was hidden in the wall?" Brennan asked. She noticed that Sophie had become very quiet.

"No," Sam answered, with a shake of his head. "He had a notebook for that stuff. The book in the wall was old – really old. And big. He didn't write in that. Just read it, and copied some stuff down in his notebook."

Brennan exchanged a glance with Tripp and Diggs.

"Do you know what happened to either of these books?" she asked. "The old one, and your father's notebook?"

Brennan's heart sank when they both shook their heads. She noticed that Diggs did not seem discouraged, however. He turned his attention to Sophie.

"But you know, don't you? You know where Paul hid those books."

Sophie's jaw hardened. Once again, Brennan had to remind herself that this was an adolescent of only sixteen years. These were not the types of issues sixteen-year-olds were equipped to handle well.

"He'll kill me if I tell," she said. She looked at Sam and Will, her eyes pleading. "You guys know he will. You know him."

Sam's gaze darkened at her words. He turned on the adults in the room. "Leave her alone," he said. A hush fell over the table. "She doesn't have to tell you anything. It'll just get her in more trouble."

"Sophie, we can protect – " Tripp began.

"No, you can't!" Sam interrupted. "Stop saying that! I believed you the first time, and look where we are. We're stuck here, hiding out in some creepy secret room where they used to eat people, just waiting for my dad to show up. I was dumb to believe Agent Booth. You can't make her tell you anything."

Tripp started to object, but Brennan interrupted him with a gesture. With some effort, she shut out everyone else in the room, focusing instead on Sam – on this boy with whom Booth seemed to have so much in common.

"You're right. We can tell you that we'll try to keep you safe, and we can even mean it – and we do, very much. But there are no guarantees, particularly not now that your father has escaped. But I know that my partner cares about you – both you and your brother, and I know that when Booth cares about someone, he'll do everything he can to protect them. But you have to help him. The more you tell us now, the better able we'll be to keep your father away from you for a very long time."

Sam looked at her, his jaw still tilted stubbornly, though Brennan thought she saw him weakening slightly.

"You think whatever was in that notebook will help you keep him in jail?" Sophie asked, her voice small.

Brennan shifted her focus to the girl. Sophie was sitting with her knees up to her chest now, her arms wrapped around them. Sixteen years old. Hooked on methamphetamines, kidnapped by Paul Lindley, playing mother to two boys she was just a few years older than while she played wife to a man far too old to be playing such games with a child.

Brennan felt a surge of anger – at the circumstances but more specifically at Paul Lindley, for the indelible damage he had wrought on the children at this table. She forced herself to keep that feeling at bay a bit longer, however, and attempted a smile at Sophie.

She nodded seriously.

"The notebook could be the evidence we'll need to prove that Paul knew that the skeleton was here, and that he had something to do with its theft – and, possibly, with something more." She thought of the blood traces on the wall in the hallway, the gunshot, the signs of someone being held captive in that room on the second floor.

Sophie took a deep breath. She looked at Sam. It seemed to Brennan that a silent conversation passed between the two, before the girl finally nodded.

"I'll show you when we get out. He didn't have a chance to move it before Agent Booth arrested him. It's right where he left it."

Brennan gave her a warm smile. "Thank you. That could be very helpful."

Sophie merely turned her head away, however, her eyes swimming with tears.

Diggs and Tripp saved the rest of the afternoon by keeping everyone thoroughly entertained with card games, magic tricks, and outlandish stories that Brennan was a little alarmed to think were actually true. By the time Brennan heard their secret knock at the tunnel entrance later in the day, she had nearly forgotten they had been in hiding in the first place.

Booth opened the door and peered in, taking in the scene with a relieved – albeit slightly amused – smile.

"If I'd known you guys were living the high life down here, I would've come back a lot sooner," he said.

She didn't miss the look of concern that flashed between Sophie and the boys.

"Did you find our dad?" Sam asked.

Booth shook his head. He dropped down into the room, cast an inquiring eye at Diggs, and answered the question before asking his own.

"Not yet, guys, but I told you – you don't need to worry. We've got it covered. So, what – Tripp wasn't enough to keep everybody happy? You had to order in?"

"Diggs brought refreshments," Brennan explained. She chose to leave it at that, far more interested in what Booth's afternoon had held. "If you were unable to find Lindley, does that mean we'll need to stay here longer?"

"I've gotta go to the bathroom," Will interrupted. He had been saying this for the past half-hour; Brennan had no doubt that things were getting uncomfortable for the boy.

"We're gonna let you guys out of here," Booth said, "and we'll just keep a close eye on everybody."

He gave Will a boost into the tunnel, followed by Sam and Sophie, before he turned to Brennan and Tripp. Diggs stood off to the side, seeming to sense he was not welcome in the conversation.

"The constable thinks Lindley stole his boat and now he's on the run. Me and Cam just got word from one of the locals who said they spotted the boat off the south shore."

Tripp looked skeptical. "You really think he'd just go?"

"It seems unlikely," Brennan agreed. "Particularly considering his pattern with the boys in the past."

"Yeah, I tend to think you're right, but I can't say for sure," Booth said. He glanced back at the tunnel. "We better get going."

Diggs went out next, followed by Tripp, while Booth and Brennan brought up the rear. Before they made their way once more back into the basement, Brennan touched Booth's arm.

"We can't let Paul Lindley near those children again," she said. She was surprised to hear her voice shake at the intensity of her feelings.

Booth studied her for a moment. "Did something happen while I was gone, Bones?"

She thought of Sophie's tears, Sam's outburst. Will's stubborn silence. It seemed like far too much to fit into a perfunctory explanation – particularly when there were others waiting for them. She just shook her head, kissing him quickly on the lips.

"I'll tell you about it later. Now, I just want to do everything we can to ensure everyone stays safe."

Booth nodded. He ran a hand through her hair, still regarding her thoughtfully. "That's my plan, Bones. I just hope Lindley doesn't do too much damage when he decides he doesn't like it."

Brennan agreed wholeheartedly.

Once they had rejoined the others in the basement, Booth escorted the boys up the stairs and out to the restroom, while the rest of their group returned to the dining room. Brennan glanced at the clock. It was nearly six. Zoe was in the kitchen cooking again, and the dining room was beginning to fill.

Apparently, it took more than the threat of a known, violent criminal on the loose to keep everyone from their appointed mealtimes.

Brennan was surprised to find that, among the others in the dining room – including Angela, Sweets, and Cam – Zack and Hodgins were also in attendance. Cam stood when she saw Tripp, a look of relief crossing her face.

"So you survived," she said. Affection laced her words. Tripp nodded solemnly.

"Did you really have any doubt? And I was a big help, too – just ask Brennan."

"A very big help," Brennan agreed. "He's a very good card player. And I had no idea he trapped tigers in Bangalore."

Cam quirked an eyebrow, and Tripp blushed slightly. "You don't know everything about me, you know."

"Apparently not."

"Anyway, between the cards and the cookies, it was a brutal detail," he said. Brennan watched with some amusement as he leaned in to Cam, his hand at her elbow. "I'll probably need a rubdown later," he said softly.

Brennan decided it was probably best to let the couple pursue the conversation on their own at that point. That decision was reinforced by the sight of Hodgins, quite obviously trying to get her attention.

"What is it?" she asked.

He and Zack bodily dragged her to the corner of the room.

"What is the matter with you two?"

Hodgins pressed his lips together, his brow furrowed. "Where's Booth?" he asked.

"He took the boys to the restroom."

Zack looked physically pained. "We may have a problem."

Hodgins glared at him. "May? We may have a problem?"

"I'm merely trying to remain rational."

"Oh, yeah – that's rich. You're calling me irrational?"

The men squared off. Brennan stepped between them. "Would you please tell me what the problem is?"

Hodgins laughed, though the laugh came out sounding somewhat hysterical. "It's not like we did it on purpose, all right? That's the first thing I think Booth should keep in mind, when we tell him."

"When you tell Booth what?" came a voice from behind them. Both men jumped as Booth inserted himself into the conversation.

"Holy God, you scared me," Hodgins said, his voice shaky.

"When Booth finds out what?" Booth repeated.

Both Zack and Hodgins spoke at once, just far enough apart that Brennan got the gist of both of their concerns. First, Zack – his words rushed, worry etched on his face.

"I can't find Greta."

And then Hodgins, his own anxiety clearly tied more to self-preservation. "The Gormogon skeleton's gone again."

She looked at Booth, who appeared on the verge of braining both of them.

Clearly, the evening would not be a peaceful one.