Chapter 26
... he knows I am awake ...

Marks looked at Brennan's figure. She seemed to be unconscious, which was not surprising. Rob's stupid friend had hit her hard. Her face was already swollen and blood trickled from a wound on her forehead. He shook his head. All his plans ruined by an amateur. He had wanted to rape the girl right in front of Brennan's eyes. He licked his lips, the mere thought of it made him grin. It would have been a torture for Brennan and the girl.

But Rob's farmer friend had made an idiotic mistake. Leaving the door open... he shook his head.

"Archie... we have to leave... I bet the Feds are going to be here soon... We have to go!" his cousin was yelling.

Marks smiled. Robert did not know he had not only killed the farmer, but also his annoying wife, Norah. She had been nagging all the time, so he had locked her up in the bedroom. The woman had been as stupid as her husband... she tried to attack him, screaming frantically "You cant lock me up, this is my house!"

So he had pushed her and her head had hit a chair. He knew she was dead as soon as he had heard the awful noise of the breaking neck. An accident...he shrugged. He had gone too far to care.

Brennan tried to keep herself calm and her breathing deep and steady. Somebody had entered the room, but was standing in the doorframe, not moving. It was annoying. After some time she heard Spencer's voice from above.

"Archie... we have to leave... I bet the Feds are going to be here soon... We have to go!"

'The other man is dead... so this has to be Marks' Brennan thought and for an instant she forgot to breath. She heard Marks chuckle. 'Sht... he knows I am awake'

"Now, now, Temperance, what a clever girl... you thought you could fool me by playing dead?" his voice was full of sarcasm. She opened her eyes and they met his.

"Arch... what are you doing? We don't have time to play... Come on... we have to go!" Spencer was running down the staircase.

Marks frowned. He knew his cousin was right and that was something he hated.

"We'll meet again, Temperance..." he said, then both men left the room. Marks closed the door and she heard the key turn as he locked it. "You can only hope Rob is right, Temperance... if the Feds are not going to find you, you'll die ... and nobody will know." Then he was gone. She heard the two men running up the staircase and rumbling around in the room above her.

She sighed and got up to her feet. She rattled at the door, but she knew she could never open it... especially not in her recent condition.

Her knees felt wobbly and she knew she had a light concussion. 'They are going to find me soon...' she told herself, she let herself sink to the floor, leaning against the wall. No water, no food. 'Booth... you have to find me...' she thought. Then she heard gun shots.

When Booth, O'Brian and the team reached the farm, everything seemed to be calm.
In fact too calm. They found the two policemen, that had been observing the house, both shot. 'With my gun" Booth thought and swallowed hard. One of the two policemen was still alive, but unconscious.

They called for an ambulance, then O'Brian ordered five agents to investigate the house with Booth. The others explored the area in groups, searching for Spencer and Marks, although they did not believe they would find them.

Booth carefully opened the door and quietly they entered the house. Booth gesticulated towards three agents to go upstairs to make sure nobody was hiding there. The other two agents followed him. After clearing all rooms they finally entered the kitchen, where they found a body in a puddle of blood, a knife still stuck in the chest.
"Alexander Peterson, the owner" one agent said. Another agent entered the kitchen. "The first floor is safe. We found the wife... Norah Peterson ... she is dead, broken neck." Booth nodded.

He remembered what Tammy had said about the staircase to the cellar and opened a small door. Slowly he went down, avoiding every noise. The cellar was dark, but he could see three doors. Through the crack of one door shimmered light. Closing his eyes he prayed 'Let her be inside... let her be alive.' He stepped forward and turned the key.