As soon as Angela stopped the car, Temperance was out and headed toward Booth. Without a word, his arms automatically wrapped around her as her eyes never left the car. "Where is she?" She whispered, pulling slightly from the hug, but still letting him keep his arms around her. "Where are they?" She corrected.
"We're trying to figure that out." Booth said, keeping his arm around her shoulder, he led her toward the car, when she suddenly veered off, away from his arm toward Aiden. Her hands went immediately to the younger man's face, who seemed surprised by her actions, but found himself looking directly into her eyes. "Bones?" Booth said, watching as she watched Aiden for a moment.
"Are you okay?" She asked Aiden, her voice soft, just above a whisper.
"Yeah." He nodded, though she could sense the hesitation in his voice. "Yeah, I'm okay." He whispered.
"Good." She said, a knowing look in her eyes as she took a step back. "Now tell me what is going on." She said, tugging on Aiden's arm, she turned and led him toward the open door of the car and Booth.
"The car was left here." Aiden began, looking to Booth, who nodded for him to continue. "It appears, based on the evidence, that Antonia and Melody were placed in the trunk of the vehicle after they were run off the road. We have found no indication that they were bound in any way." He said, leading her toward the trunk of the car, where he lit the dark cavity with the flashlight. "There is a crowbar in the back seat of the car, looks like there are traces of blood on it, we believe she was able to pry open the trunk of the car with the crowbar. Based on the injuries to the suspects, it appears that Antonia was able to overpower them. They sustained several injuries, such as blunt force trauma, stabbing, as well as a bullet wound to one of the suspects, all of which she addressed and bandaged before bounding them and putting them in the trunk of the car."
Temperance stared into Aiden's eyes as he spoke, noting there was a bit of pride in his explanation, she couldn't help but feel a little more at ease with his description of the events. "So the suspects are in the hospital." She nodded.
"Yes." Aiden responded, nodding toward the car. "This is kind of where the timeline and logic gets a little fuzzy." He said, glancing back to Temperance, she lifted her eyebrow. "We know that the incident didn't happen here." He said, indicating the overlook. "It is hard to determine how long they were in the car, where they were going when she was able to get control of the car. What we will be able to tell, is what time she passed through the gates onto Skyline Drive based on the cameras they have set up upon entry to the road. They're looking through the tapes, and with that we can start our timeline." He nodded.
"Where is she now, Agent Fitzgerald?" Temperance asked, clearing her throat.
"She left cards." He said, nodding toward the dashboard. "We need your help to figure it out." He said, glancing to Booth as he nodded in agreement. "We didn't want to touch anything until you got here."
Temperance glanced to Booth, back to Aiden, and pulled a pair of gloves out of her pocket. She snapped on her gloves and carefully climbed into the car. She pulled out her phone, poised to photograph each and every detail, the flash flickering in the confines of the car, she photographed and reviewed the scene, keeping her thoughts to herself as she looked at what she was presented with.
Booth and Aiden stood awkwardly outside the car as Angela approached, her eyes flicking between the two of them with a slight smile on her lips. "You guys look like you could use some rest."
"Yeah, right." Booth muttered as he watched his wife work, taking a glance to Angela, he turned his attention back to Temperance. "Thanks for bringing her here."
"No problem." Angela nodded, looking around, she observed the scene as a newcomer, her eyes raking over the scene as she looked around in the sand and gravel on the side of the road. She reached over and grabbed Booth's flashlight, ignoring his light protest as he watched her walk toward the road.
"Ange, where are you going?" Booth asked, watching as she stepped down the road on the shoulder, walking along it toward the north. She ignored Booth's protests, and could hear the sound of him walking behind her. "Ange?"
"Right there." She said, pointing at the sand on the side of the road. "Booth, right there."
"What?"
"Footprints." She said, nodding toward the small child's footprint in the sand, beside a larger footprint. "They headed out on foot." She said, looking toward him. "You need to put out a bulletin for them. Someone had to have picked them up. We don't even know if they're out of danger yet."
"Well yeah, obviously they were picked up." Booth said, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, Booth. But when they were originally grabbed, they were being taken somewhere pretty remote if they made it all the way out here. According to Melody and Mitchell's statements there are three suspects, not just two. The third one might have picked them up. There's still someone out there looking for Melody, and it seems to me like he won't stop until he finds them."
"Maybe that's why Antonia fled, why she didn't go to the hospital too. She knew that the third one would be looking for her, so she needed to get away from the car as soon as possible, and knew that he'd be looking into hospitals in the area, looking for that car." Booth said, glancing back toward the car, he could see Aiden helping Temperance from the car. "Let's go see what Bones found." He said, nodding toward the car as Angela followed him. As he approached her, Temperance handed him her phone. "What did she leave for us, Bones?" He asked.
"Three of a kind." She said, referring to the playing cards in the photo. "She bent two, but one is obviously left untouched."
"So three suspects, two down." He nodded, glancing to Angela.
"But she placed them over this." Temperance said, dropping two pendants, allowing the necklaces to hang from the chain.
"Crap." Booth muttered.
"What does that mean?" Aiden asked, reaching for the pendants, Temperance dropped them into his hand.
"That's not the worst of it. She left this too." Temperance said, sliding to the next picture on her phone, she let Booth see it.
"Son of a…"
"What?" Aiden asked, looking over his shoulder to see what Booth was looking at. "Five and a King, and a three. What does that mean?"
"It means she has five thousand dollars on her. The hidden pendants mean she's gone into hiding. The three card means she'll contact us within the next three days."
"She's giving us three days to solve the case?"
"She is taking three days to find somewhere to hide, then she'll work with us. Until then, we're left to wonder where the hell she is and if she's alright." Booth growled. "She's going to get herself arrested."
"Arrested?" Aiden asked, trying to put the pieces together, he glanced between Temperance and Booth.
"She has essentially kidnapped Melody." Temperance explained.
"She's protecting her." Aiden argued.
"That's not how Child Protective Services will see it. She's not a licensed foster care provider. She's not law enforcement. She took the child over state lines without permission. They're going to put out an Amber alert for her, and if they're identified, she'll be brought in and arrested, and Melody may be sent off to another facility. This isn't good, Aiden. This isn't good at all." Booth growled.
"She's going to call in three days. She confirmed that she'll contact us, that should give us enough time to solve the case. We can stall CPS for that long." Aiden said, his voice sounding desperate as he listened to their explanations.
"They're going to want confirmation that she's safe, that she's well. We can't provide that." Temperance sighed.
"Then tell CPS that I'm with them." Aiden said with a sigh. "They're going to call about a home visit, tell them that I'm with Antonia and Melody, and that I'm authorized protection."
"But you're not with them." Booth said, his voice full of frustration. "You're not with them, and we don't know if they are injured. They will want proof that Melody is taken care of, that she is safe."
Aiden watched Booth and Brennan as they looked at one another with exasperated expressions. He wasn't sure what to say, or how to fix it all, but he was at least happy to know that Antonia had found some way to escape the situation. He was convinced that her heroic actions would count for something in the long run, but didn't want to press the matter any further. "So what is our next step?" Aiden asked, suddenly the center of their attention. "Do we try to find her, or do we sit on our asses and wait for her to contact us?" He asked, snapping the latex gloves off his hands.
"We solve the case. There's nothing we can do tonight about Antonia and Melody." Booth said, looking up at the now star filled sky. "I'm going to have Angela bring you to a hotel in Front Royal." Booth said to Aiden. "You need to get some sleep. Bones and I are going to secure this scene and go to the hospital, and see if the suspects are awake. We will secure their release into FBI custody when their treatment is complete, see if we can get some identification."
"Booth, I…" Aiden stammered.
"No." Booth shook his head. "You're way too involved in this. We don't know if the suspects know where you live, and we don't know if they'll try something knowing that they've lost the person they are looking for. Besides, if we do decide to pursue the perceived protection order, we can't have you be involved in this part. Just go to the hotel, get some rest, and in the morning we'll get a fresh start on looking for the girls. We know that they are alive, and on the move. You're not going to be any help to us if you're exhausted."
"Booth, I can't just stop looking for them." Aiden said, his eyes full of fire and frustration. He watched as Booth stepped in front of Temperance, almost as if he were trying to physically protect her from what Aiden wanted to say out loud. "I can't just stop." He growled.
"You can, and you will." Booth responded, the level of calm in his voice was unnerving. "If you want to call Ace and check on the case, then by all means. But you need to back off, Aiden. You need to back off and get some rest." He said, watching the fire in Aiden's eyes flicker for a moment before he retreated.
The fact that he called him by his first name didn't escape the younger agent, and it was a clear sign that he was serious and speaking to him not from the role of boss. Booth glanced to Angela and she nodded, giving Booth a half smile as she nodded toward her car.
"Thanks, Ange." Booth said, watching as she nodded.
"Let's go, Aiden." Angela said, glancing to Temperance as she took a step back. She could see that her friend seemed a bit alarmed by Booth's orders, but said nothing. She tugged at his arm and walked toward her car, turning to see Aiden reluctantly following after her.
He climbed into Angela's car, watching as Temperance and Booth talked beside the car, getting the scene signed off on and catalogued with the troopers, as Angela began to back the car out. "They'll find them." Angela said, watching as Aiden continued to stare at the scene, his eyes on the car, the last place he knew that Antonia and Melody had been.
Aiden took a deep breath as they drove onto the darkened road, heading to the north toward Front Royal. He opened his hand, holding the two pendants in his fingertips, he looked down at them and gently ran his fingers over the contour of the pendants. He closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath. "Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please come around. Something is lost and must be found." He whispered to himself, keeping his eyes closed tightly, he gripped the pendants tightly in his hand, trying to hold onto his emotions and he opened his eyes just as the scene disappeared in the rearview mirror.