Disclaimer: See chapter one
EDITED: 7/2019
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Chapter six
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12:28 P.M. Monday
Location: Unknown
Temperance's heart was racing as she tried to see out of the foliage. She slowly and quietly scooted closer to the entrance, ignoring the pain that the movement caused, to get a better look, but still, she couldn't see anyone or anything. She held her breath and leaned forward straining to listen for any sign that there was someone out there, but all she could hear was her own heartbeat.
After a minute or two of tense silence, she had all but convinced herself that she had just imagined the whole thing, that it was nothing more than a cloud passing in front of the Sun. She started to relax a little and sat up. She silently let out a relieved sigh and gingerly touched the knot on the side of her head, it was pounding so painfully now that she was beginning to think she might be sick.
She was about to crawl back to her little makeshift bed of dirt and leaves to lie down when suddenly the shadow passed once again in front of her little hideout. She instantly leaned forward to see what was out there, her eyes darted back and forth, searching down the side of the hill and the small clearing at the base of it. Then she heard it, a loud high pitched scream. Her head instantly shot up toward the sound, just as the shadow passed, 'an eagle. It was just an eagle,' she thought, with a relieved laugh she watched as the huge bird flew overhead.
Had it been under different circumstances, she would have appreciated what a beautiful sight the eagle made against the clear blue sky. With one last look around the area to assure herself that The man was not there, she crawled over to her bag and grabbed the small bottle of aspirin and shook two tablets. She then picked up her water bottle only to find that it was empty, annoyed she putt the bottle down.
She looked through her bag and seized the fruit cup, she pulled on the tab, just hard enough to open it, a small crack. She then popped the two tablets in her mouth and drank the syrup from the fruit cup, using it to wash down the pills.
After she had finished her little snack, Temperance decided to wait for her headache to subside a bit before she ventured out to the creek to get more water. She knew she would have to be on high alert when she is out there if she was going to avoid getting fond by The man.
It had been close to an hour later when she finally felt well enough to hike over to the creek. Temperance crawled out from her niche and stood up for the first time in eighteen hours. She was stiff, sore, and just a little light-headed. She had her right hand holding her injured left side while she used her left hand to steady herself on a nearby tree until the wooziness passed.
Once Tempe had her bearings, she slowly and carefully made her way down the hill. She was almost at the bottom of the hill when her foot caught on a rock and she tripped, sending rolling the rest of the way down the hill. When she came to a stop, she curled herself into a tight ball and started to cry, her side was on fire, her head was pounding, her right knee was smarting, and she now had stinging little scratches and bruises all over her body.
She stayed there with her knees tucked close to her chest, crying for a few minutes, then she cautiously sat up, sniffed her nose and wiped her eyes. She needed to get that water and she needed to get to some cover. Temperance steeled her resolve, and stood up to hiked her way to the creek, and thankfully for her, she was able to get there and back with no more mishaps and without being seen by him.
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7:28 P.M. Monday
FBI headquarters
Booth and Penning were looking over the information they had gathered so far when the rest of the team joined them in the bullpen each one of them carrying a file. Penning looked at agent Bill Hobbes. He was a short man only about 5' 6" in his early forties and look a lot like Jo Pecce. Booth did not like him at all. Hobbes is a capable agent, it's just that he is such a jerk. There weren't many people who could stand to be around him for more than a few minutes, without wishing they could punch him or that something unfortunate would happen to him.
"Did you find out anything from the security guard? And what about the cameras?" Penning asked.
Hobbes was looking through the file in his hand as he answered, "the guard, Tucker James, was the last person to see Dr. Brennan. He said she left the museum around three A.M. Sunday, he offered to escort her to her car but she declined and that was the last time she was seen. As for the cameras they were taken down on Saturday to be replaced with upgrades, but something happened and the new cameras didn't get there until this morning," Hobbes then handed the file to Penning.
"So did our perp. Know about the security cameras or was he just lucky?" Agent Judy Wilton asked.
" Well according to this," Penning held up the file in his hand, "there were never any cameras in that section of the parking lot in the first place. All he had to do was get her to park in that section and he was home free. I don't get the feeling he knew about the upgrades or lack thereof," Penning looked at the petite blond, blue-eyed woman, "Judy, what have you got?"
"The forensic team found some blood on the victim's car, they think it might be for our kidnaper. The blood from both the car and the curb at the lab now, we should have results sometime tomorrow. They also found some prints, but have found no matches yet. And so far, no one knows why Dr. Brennan didn't just park in her spot."
When Wilton had finished talking the final member of their team agent Isaac Allee spoke up. He was a towering 6'8" and had dark skin and kind brown eyes and a ready smile. He was the kind of guy you wanted to have to your back, he was in many ways the complete opposite of Hobbes. Booth always liked working with him, and he was grateful that Allee was on their team.
Isaac stated the facts he had, "I have looked at all the co-workers and their alibis check out, they're clear."
When Booth heard this, he scowled, he knew as an FBI agent that they had to cover all their bases, but as a person who has worked and hung out with these people, he couldn't help but feel a little offended that they had been looked at as suspects in this case. Hobbes caught the look and rolled his eyes at Booth, making it clear that he thought Booth had no business being on this case.
Penning took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose, "so we can't do much till we get the results back tomorrow so until then...Wilton, I want you to find out why Dr. Brennan didn't park in her spot Saturday, Booth I'd like you to come with me to talk to the co-workers again, are they still here," Booth nodded his head yes, "good, we'll see if we can't find something we missed before. As, for the rest of you, you know what you are supposed to do, so let's get to it," with that said all the agents left to accomplish their goals.
As Booth and Penning made their way to the conference room where the squint-squad was, Booth let his mind wander. He knew that the first twenty-four hours were crucial when someone was abducted, Bones has been gone for nearly forty-one hours. With each hour that passed, especially when there was no ransom demand, meant that the chances of finding Bones alive were becoming less and less. Booth tried to keep his mind off of the negative and focus on how to get her back.
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