Chapter 14
The Florida Everglades 2:30 pm
Booth picked up speed as they entered the Everglades in their rental car. Something in his gut told him that they didn't have much time. He would have given anything for his portable flashing lights out of his SUV along with the radio.
Brennan felt the car pick up speed and knew that Booth's gut was telling him to hurry up. It was all a matter of statistics. She knew the longer it took to find Robert and Andrew Wove, the better the chance both of them would be dead.
"Call the police and have them send some back up. We're not probably equipped to…" he didn't finish the thought as he saw something resembling a car sinking into the marshy land near the highway. Quickly, he pulled over and jumping from the vehicle. Brennan followed suit, confused for only a moment until she saw what Booth had seen.
"That's Robert's car." She said. Booth grimaced hoping that the men weren't inside. The idea of jumping into the murky water that could be hiding a deadly secret was not his idea of getting the bad guys.
"Call the police. I'm going to see if anyone is in there." Booth pulled off his suit coat and shoulder holster, throwing them towards Bones. She caught them and the FBI Special Agent began to carefully wade into the muck.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Robert manned the tiller on the small motorboat. Andrew wanted to try to escape from his son but he knew that if Robbie didn't get him, the alligators would. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, he tried to focus on something else. Unfortunately, the strange rust marks on the boat drew his attention.
There were splotches and they didn't seem to follow a pattern, as if something metal had been left on top of it and left out in the air for too long. He ran his hand along one to find something sharp. It pricked his finger and Andrew picked it up. That's when he realized what it was; a human tooth.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
"The police are on their way. Booth be careful." It was more of a statement than heartfelt concern.
"Aren't I always?" He asked, smirking. Brennan shook her head and kept a close eye on their surroundings. At any sign of anything moving in the water, she had to get Booth out. If he got hurt there was no one there to help them. The police would be there within the next thirty minutes. Too late, if either one of them was losing a lot of blood.
"Bones!" Booth shouted. She turned his attention to him.
"Are they in there?" Brennan asked.
"We've been played." He called over. Confused, she gave him a look.
"They're not in there. Robert must have ditched the car in favor of a boat. Damn!" Booth pounded his fist onto the car's back bumper as he moved up out of the muck. Climbing out, Brennan crossed her arms over her chest.
"You can't get in the rental car that way. Of course we can't reach them in a car anyway." She pointed out. Booth looked down at his wet dirty clothes. There was a brown line around his waist and his shoes were completely covered in mud and clay. His pants and shoes were ruined but possibly he could save the shirt. But there was no time to worry about that now.
"There is a boat rental place around here somewhere." He said.
"Even if we find it, we have no idea where Robert is headed. We need more man power to search the area." Brennan answered. That was the logical response but both knew that they couldn't wait around. Every moment they wasted, Andrew was closer to be killed. As luck would have it, a police car pulled up.
"You Special Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan?" The officer wondered, after rolling down the window in his cruiser.
"Yes." Brennan and Booth answered simultaneously.
"Hop in. We can get a boat about mile down. There are others on the way with some police boats." He said. Booth nodded and hopped into the back seat while Brennan hopped in the front.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Robert quieted the engine of the small motorboat and let it glide until it stopped. He saw the look on his father's face. There was just the matter of how he was going to do it. He hadn't been strong enough to kill his mother, that's why his father had too. It was strange. He felt nothing when he killed those monsters and he would have thought killing his parents and himself wouldn't be so difficult.
"Son, please. Don't do this. We can…" Andrew didn't get to finish. His son had become a horrible monster.
"I can't go back to prison. You don't understand what it was like." Robert said.
"Then why did you do it?" Andrew asked.
"I told you why I did it!" His son shouted. Andrew remained silent.
"Stand up." Robert ordered.
To Be Continued…