"Home" was, in fact, what looked like the middle of nowhere.

She had refused the note writer's help getting out of the van and once Parker's legs were untied and he was let out, she laid her cuffed wrists on his shoulder to keep him close.

"Right this way." The man's kind tone was a direct contrast to the bindings and gun. He urged them forward, toward an extremely small, rundown building. It was gray and weathered. Nothing about it stood out with the exception of pot of daisies near front door and black iron bars on the windows.

"Now, Temperance, I know that it's not much," he said, as he opened the door and ushered them inside the ramshackle cottage. "But it's just a place for us to start. Once you understand that we are meant to be together, we'll look for something better. A place of our own."

Brennan stomach twisted at his words, but she tried not to let on. While she didn't put much stock in psychology, she had decided it would be best to let this man think she was willingly going along with his plans.

The note writer turned on a lamp and Brennan blinked at the harsh change from the dim light of dawn. Once her eyes had adjusted she could see the interior of the building was but three small rooms. The main area through the front door consisted of a small kitchen, with only a stove and a miniature refrigerator. Two folding trays, Booth had called them TV trays and she had refused to purchase them, were folded and leaning against a wall. There was no kitchen table. There was also no couch or arm chair in the small living space. Instead, a twin bed took up the wall at the back of the room, and sat across from two doors. The bed was covered in a worn out looking quilt and a dingy pillow, with an extra, crocheted afghan across the foot of the bed.

He pointed at the bed. "This here is where you'll sleep until you're ready to share my bed." He turned and pointed to one of the doors on the opposite wall. "My room is right there. And the other's the bathroom."

Parker shifted in front of her and she instinctively knew what that meant. "Parker, do you need to use the restroom?"

Parker nodded and the man gestured toward the proper door. "Go ahead, son. Can you manage with your hands like that?"

"I…I think so."

"Good. I'll close the door to give you privacy. There's no window or anything, so I'm not real worried about you in there."

Parker looked over his shoulder at Brennan and she encouraged him with a small smile. "Go ahead, Parker. I'll be here when you come out."

Parker went inside and the man shut the door.

Brennan seized the moment. "What are you planning? This was supposed to be a trade. You said you'd keep your word."

"I will. There wouldn't have been enough time at the pick-up point. I had to get us out of there quickly, so the trade will have to wait. I've been up for days, Temperance, getting ready for you. I'm beat. And I know you haven't slept because you were looking for the boy. So we'll rest up a bit and then I'll take him back out and let him go. Don't you worry about that." He stepped close to her, his mouth next to her ear and she could feel and hear him smell her hair. "I know it will take time, Sweetheart, but you will grow to trust me. Someday, you will come to understand, the way I do, that you and I are meant to be together. And once you do, we're going to have a very happy life."

She heard the toilet flush and the sink water run and she hoped Parker would give her the time to ask one more question.

"Why Parker? If you know so much about me, you must know he's not my son. How could you even be sure I'd make the trade? Why involve him at all?" She couldn't help but step away from his hot breath on her neck.

The man smiled and his eyes gleamed in a way that made dread bubble in her stomach. "I couldn't just take you off the street. I know what you're capable of and even if I didn't, there isn't much opportunity. You're not alone very often. I needed..." he seemed to search for the right word, "...an incentive and I knew you'd make a trade. It's who you are. I know about the bridge you paid for and the scholarships you set up. I know you care about those people." He looked proud of his plan. "I took the boy because I knew you'd care enough to let him go home, back to his mom and his dad. I couldn't be sure about the baby. I thought you might want to keep her here with us, and that's just not my plan. Your life, as you knew it, is over. And it will take a while for you to see it, but a better, more wonderful life awaits us, together."

Parker opened the door and she held her bound hands out to him, motioning with her fingers for him to come back to her.

"But you are going to let him go," she didn't ask, but rather stated it like a fact.

"Yes." The man smiled again and spoke to Parker. "Don't worry, Buddy. I'll let you go, right after we all get some rest, okay?"

Parker nodded wordlessly.

"Good, now, why don't you two take that bed, there." He pointed and the twin bed. "Go ahead and lay down." He urged, motioning towards the bed with is gun.

Brennan laid on her side and Parker laid with his back to her front.

"Nice. You should sleep just fine that way." The man grinned cheerfully. "Of course, you'll forgive me for tying you to the bedframe. I can't take any chances!" He produced two sets of restraints, attaching one end to their ankles and the other to the bed. "Eventually, this won't be necessary, but for now, I've got to make sure you stay with me, Temperance."

"I understand." She said, hoping she sounded compliant.

"Good girl." The man crossed the small room to the door of his bedroom. "Rest well y'all and don't worry, kiddo. You'll be back with your parents soon enough." He stepped into the bedroom and then back out again, quickly. "Almost forgot!" He went to the front door, fished a key from his pocket and locked the house up from the inside. "Just in case you decide to be foolish." He crossed back to his room. "Sweet dreams."

"Wait!" Brennan called after him. "If," she swallowed the disgust that was threatening to creep into her voice. "If we are going to be spending all this time together, shouldn't I at least know your name?"

He smiled that same smile again and Brennan felt Parker cringe against her as goose bumps raised on her own skin.

"My name is Todd."

Booth approached the southeast corner of the Jeffersonian as he would any other potentially dangerous situation. His gun was drawn, his actions stealthy and his ears were on high alert.

He peeked carefully from behind the brick wall of the building.

And saw no one.

He rounded the corner, eyes casing his surroundings.

The area was empty.

"It's clear. There's no one here." He said dejectedly into the mic. "Call it, Cam."

Faintly, he heard the ringing of a cell phone begin and walked towards the noise before it stopped. "Again." He said and the phone began to ring again.

It took a moment, in the gray light of dawn, to find it in the bushes.

"I've got it. She tossed it." He felt sick with fear and fury.

"Angela got the call log for Brennan's desk phone." Cam's voice was a mixture of sympathy and business. "Looks like it's been about 90 minutes since she made the call to him."

The phone number from the notes had been burned into his brain from the moment he saw it and rage was getting the better of him. Shoving Brennan's phone into his pocket, he pulled his own phone out and jabbed at the numbers. He wanted to talk to this man, to threaten him, to make him understand that he would find him and there would be no accounting for his actions once he did.

But instead he heard, once again, a faint ringing in the bushes. Digging deeper in, he found the note writer's phone.

"Cam, I need you to come out here with gloves and evidence bags. We've got the bastard's phone."

"You're hoping for a print." Cam's voice came back at him through his earpiece.

"A print, a hair, anything."

"On my way."

Booth took in the dim sky of the early morning and heard the first chirps of the birds in the air.

"I'm coming." He spoke his words to his partner and his son into the empty street. "I promise."