37

"Seeley!" Temperance called as she came like a tornado through the library. Booth looked up from the library couch. Files were all over the couch and the floor, and pictures of the crime scene were everywhere. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she carefully sat next to him.

Booth sighed. "Looking over these files, trying to find a motive for someone to do this."

Temperance nodded and touched the back of his head with her hand. "How long have you been here?"

Booth shrugged. "Since Advisor."

"Seeley, I know this is…difficult to manage, but I don't want you getting in trouble. That won't help anything."

Booth nodded tiredly. "I know, Bones. But I feel like…like I can't deal with so many things. I mean, I haven't even picked a college yet."

Temperance nodded and leaned closer to him. "Why don't you come visit me in Anatomy during the double? We have a sub. I'll help you." Booth nodded and she kissed him on the head before walking away.

Booth was traversing the halls towards one of the science labs when he heard a voice over all the others in the hallway. "Seeley Booth!" Booth closed his eyes and turned on his heel, making his way towards Mr. Glenn. Was he in trouble for bringing the files? God, how could he have been so stupid? He let out a long breath as he stepped into Mr. Glenn's office. "I imagine you and your friends have had a bit of trouble finding a Senior Project." Booth nodded. He hadn't even thought about the internship that he would do in May. "The FBI has agreed, in this instance, that it would be OK for you to do your project there."

Booth looked up. "Um, uh, thank you," he stammered. Mr. Glenn smiled easily and Booth left. "Hey," he said as he sat next to Temperance in the lab.

"Hey. You wanna go backstage? No one will bother us there." Booth waggled his eyebrows with a silly grin on his face and Temperance pretended to be mad.

"So the FBI found her car by the pond, and her cellphone was on the passenger seat. The car was still running," Booth explained as they sat on two black boxes that were used as staircases in the latest school musical.

"Who found the car?"

"Her boyfriend, a David Harris."

"Oh yeah, he goes here. Maybe you should talk to him."

Booth thought. "I don't want to upset him. Plus the FBI is bringing him in for questioning later today."

Temperance nodded. "They're letting me, Angela, and Jack do our projects at the Jeffersonian."

Booth smiled. "Awesome. They're letting me do mine at the FBI."

Temperance smiled and leaned her head on Booth's shoulder. "Was the ground muddy?"

"Huh?"

"Where her car was found. Was the ground muddy?"

"Uh, yeah," Booth confirmed, flicking through the case notes.

"I wonder if Jack could get anything from the soil and the tires."

She felt Booth nod against her head. "You know, I think she was abducted."

"What makes you say that?" Temperance asked, lifting her head.

"Well, her phone was still in the car and the car was still running," Booth explained easily. "I think she got out for a minute and was kidnapped."

"You know you shouldn't theorize before you have all the facts."

Booth crooked an eyebrow. "Yeah, well I'm still not so sure about this David kid. How did he know exactly where to find her?"

"I don't know, Seeley. Motives aren't really my thing."

Booth opened his mouth to say something else when his phone rang. "Hello? Yes. OK. Thank you." He hung up and looked at Temperance. "David Harris is there for questioning," he explained. "I'll pick you up later, OK?"

Temperance nodded. "I'm going to ask Jack about those samples."

"OK. Just let me know where you are when you're ready." He bent down and they shared an intimate kiss.

"I love you," she told him breathlessly.

"I love you too, Bones."

"And what happened when you heard she hadn't made it to school?" Charlie asked David Harris as Booth and Sweets stood behind the mirror.

"I drove out to the pond to see what was up," a near-crying David explained.

"And how did you know her car was there?"

"We," he started, then hiccupped, "we used to go there after school a lot, just to hang out or whatever. It was kind of like…a peaceful place for us, being all secluded and quiet. We were never interrupted."

Charlie nodded. "OK, so what did you see when you got there?"

David sniffed. "I saw Kathryn's car, still running, parked haphazardly on the bank. It was all muddy, so it took me a while to get to the open door, but when I did, no one was inside, but Kathryn's cellphone was sitting on the passenger seat." He paused and took a few deep breaths. "I called her name over and over…I even waded out into the pond a little bit. But nothing."

Charlie nodded. "And when was the last time you talked to Kathryn?"

David sniffed again. "The night before."

"What did you talk about?"

David sighed. "Kathryn was really stressed. Her parents were pushing her to spend a summer abroad in Germany even though she didn't want to go. Her school work was really piling up…Kathryn was a bit of a procrastinator," he said, then laughed strangely. "She wanted to spend more and more time at the pond, but I wasn't always free to do so. I don't know if she ever went by herself. I guess she did," he finished, crying at the thought.

Charlie sighed. "So the last time you talked to her, it was about…?"

"Right, sorry. We talked about going to the pond over the weekend. I just told her that everything was almost over and soon she'd be free. Then we hung up. And, well…you know the rest."

Charlie nodded and collected his files. "Thank you, David. Agent O'Hearn will show you out."

Booth looked at Sweets and noticed he was deep in thought, his brows furrowed and his tongue running incessantly over his lips. "Are you alright, Sweets?" Booth asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just something David said, that's all."

"What was it?" Booth asked him.

"He said that he told her everything was almost over, and that soon she'd be free."

"Something seems off to you?"

Sweets nodded. "Come with me, kid. I need to think."