Thank you shout outs: Vmf447, Phyllis, 554Laura, GalaxieGurl, FaithinBones, regbride12 (don't think there'll be another TV couple quite like these two, ever), aadams00 (it will happen but not quite yet), jsboneslover, ZinaR (think you'll see what you hoped for in this chapter), mendenbar, bookwormlady (you might be right there) and other guests. To the guest who wished that this story would have 1000 chapters lol! Thank you. There're more chapters to go but not quite a thousand. Thank you all for your support. Every review means a lot to me.
"Any luck on finding that blue van?" Aubrey asked as he strode into Angela's office.
"Yes. Unfortunately, the license plates were stolen."
"That's a dead end."
"No, not necessarily."
With her handheld control pad, Angela pulled up a map on the large screen in her office. "I was able to track the blue van on various traffic cameras throughout the city. With this I should be able to extrapolate and find a general direction as to where it's headed."
"Have you?"
"Not yet. It'll take some time to pull the relevant footage, then write an algorithm to piece together a possible trajectory as to where they might be headed. I know we're running out of time. I'm getting it done as soon as possible."
"At least that's something." Aubrey replied, hopeful that they would be able to find their friends soon. "Call me once you have anything."
…
Booth and Brennan woke to what their bodies had become accustomed to telling them that it was morning. Another new day had dawned on them and they were still being held captive. Booth pushed the negative thoughts aside. He felt as if the half slice of bread didn't get eaten at all as his stomach growled. He took a sip out of the jug of water. Brennan sat up and Booth handed her the jug.
"Drink. We'll need all the energy we can get."
"Whatever caloric replacement the bread gave our bodies is probably expended by now."
"It was better than nothing."
Brennan drank more, then handed the jug back to Booth, who finished the water which wasn't much to begin with.
"Today's the day. You do whatever it is you gotta do but hold back some stuff okay? Don't give away everything."
"I know."
"And remember what I told you, any chance we get. If I say go, you go."
"Booth, I – "
"No." His voice was firm as he held out his hand. "Please Bones. Just listen for once."
"I can't leave you. They'll kill you. They already said so." She pleaded.
"They could be bluffing. Look, I've been in worse situations than this. You do remember that I was a Ranger right? I could kill them with my bare hands if I wanted to. I just need to know you'll be safe. This has gone on for too long. We gotta think of Hank and Christine now."
Conceding that her husband was right, Brennan nodded. She pulled him to her for a hug. She chose to focus her thoughts on their young children.
"Hey," Booth hooked a finger under her chin, gently tilting her face, so that her eyes met his. "I'm not allowed to die. I remember."
She offered him a weak smile.
The sound of the opening of the doors to their prison could be heard and both Brennan and Booth tensed. Jake and Logan soon appeared. Jake once again held out the roll of duct tape.
"You know the drill." He said. "And Agent Booth's coming with us this time."
…
"So I've gone through the traffic footage. We caught a break. The blue van appeared in sufficient footage for me to come up with hopefully some useful information. From the estimated time Brennan and Booth were taken, the van was headed north."
"Able to be more specific?"
Angela called up a grainy photo of said blue van, then pulled up a map alongside it. "From this last image of the van, they could have taken a different number of routes. Traffic cameras are sparse the further out we get from the city. Without more information, I can't narrow it down. I tried to draw up possible scenarios, look for an ideal location they could be headed where Brennan and Booth could be held captive. Even with that, we are left with vast areas of forests, farms, hiking trails… the list goes on. You think the FBI can pull of a search of so many areas? "
"We could try but, it's gonna take a long time. Seems like we hit a dead end." Aubrey concluded.
"Hey guys," Hodgins wheeled himself into Angela's office. "I found something." He gestured for the small tablet that controlled Angela's computer. Angela handed it to him. Hodgins pulled up a photograph onto the screen.
"This plant's gonna help us find them?"
"Hopefully. Symplocarpus foetidus, also known as the skunk cabbage. It's leaves give off a scent that's pretty bad, kinda like a skunk."
"How does that help us find them?" Aubrey asked trying to be patient, knowing that Hodgins needed to explain his findings.
"Traces of it's leaves were found near Booth's truck. Since it's not indigenous to where they live and not readily found in urban areas, it's gotta have been brought there by the kidnappers right? At least, that's what I hope. Transferred there under their shoes. Unfortunately the skunk cabbage's not all that rare. They can be found here, here and here."
Hodgins pulled up the wooded areas onto the map, highlighting them with red circles.
Angela grabbed the tablet from Hodgins. Her fingers worked quickly, linking the information her husband had just provided them with what she had already found. "Based on the last traffic footage of the blue van, we're left with one possible area."
"Great Falls Park? That's a popular hiking route." Aubrey pointed out.
"Not if you know how to avoid the popular trails." Hodgins replied.
"Still that's a lot of ground to cover."
"There's a growth of skunk cabbage right here. Angie can you pull up satellite image?"
"Yeah." A second later the satellite image of the area appeared on her large screen. "Looks secluded enough."
"That's a start." Aubrey said. "I'll get a team out."
…
"Still don't know what killed her?" Jake asked, his foot tapping impatiently on the ground. As promised, their captors had brought the skull along this time and allowed Brennan to position it where it was originally.
"Hey, she needs time. You heard her, she doesn't have her usual equipment." Booth replied angrily. Jake had cut their hands free at Brennan's request to allow them to work together on the remains.
"It's possible she broke her neck. Snapped at the C4 vertebrae. That would have killed her."
"Can you tell how?" Jake asked, moving closer to Brennan as she crouched on the ground, examining the bones.
"Spinal cord injuries can arise from falls, motor vehicle accidents, falling objects, the list is quite extensive."
"I'm pretty sure she didn't get hit by a car here. And if she were in an accident, you'd see it in the bones." Booth said as he stood near her.
"Yes there are no signs of a motor vehicle accident on her remains."
"This is a secluded spot. It's a shallow grave, a body dump." Booth concluded. "Maybe your old man hit her, she fell, broke her neck. Or maybe one of you did it."
"What'd you say?" Jake asked, stepping towards Booth.
"You heard me," Booth replied, taking a step towards Jake. "Your old man, he liked to beat on you right? Or did you like to do that? Someone was treating this poor girl like a punching bag."
Jake stepped towards Booth, not backing down.
"Wait Booth." Brennan rose to her feet, still feeling weak from their lack of food and water. The trek through the woods to where they were took time and while Jake and Logan had water, Booth and Brennan weren't allowed to drink. Brennan felt dizzy and swayed slightly as she stood.
Booth moved to take her hand, steadying her.
"Whoa, what are you guys doing?" Logan asked, pointing his gun at the couple.
"Just helping her up." Booth replied, calmly. He glanced at Brennan, recognising the look on her face. She had figured something out.
"This girl," Brennan stared down at the remains, then back at Jake. "She's your sister."
"What?! How'd you know that?" Jake asked, visibly agitated.
"Seriously guys? You kidnapped the best forensic anthropologist in the world and you didn't know she'd figure all this out?" Booth taunted.
"We just wanna know how she died, is all." Jake growled.
"Well guess you got more than what you bargained for." Booth sneered back, trying to get a rise out of Jake. "What happened huh Jake? Was it you or your old man who liked to beat her up?
"I would never hurt her!"
"She's dead. It's your word against hers."
Jake threw a punch at Booth who staggered back exaggeratedly. He growled as he threw his body forward, tacking Jake to the ground. Behind him he felt Logan try to pull him off Jake.
"Go!" Booth shouted amidst the commotion.
It was her cue to run. Brennan quickly surmised that Booth was creating a diversion. She hesitated for a split second, before turning and running into the woods.
"Get her!" Jake screamed.
Booth felt Logan let go of him and whipped round trying to stop him. Under normal circumstances, Booth might have had a chance, but days of almost no food and water had weakened him significantly. He momentarily lost his balance, falling onto the ground as he missed grabbing Logan's ankles who had run off after Brennan.
Booth felt a sharp kick to his side, and he rolled away, scrambling to his feet. He turned to face Jake who now had a gun pointed at him. Without much thought, Booth threw himself at Jake, grabbing his wrist as they wrestled for control of the gun.
Brennan kept running, aware that there was someone chasing her. She felt light-headed and weak and her lungs burned. Without warning, a loud gunshot pierced the air, coming from the direction of where she had left Booth. Brennan twisted her head to look behind her and tripped on the uneven ground. As she landed, she felt a sharp pain to her right ankle. It was undoubtedly broken or sprained from her fall. She saw Logan, barrelling towards her. Before she could react, Logan was on her, pulling her roughly to her feet. She groaned in pain as she put weight on her injured ankle.
"You shouldn't have done that! Shouldn't have run. Now Jake's mad. He's got a real bad temper. You heard that?! He's probably killed your husband and he's coming here to shoot you!"
A chill ran down Brennan's spine. If Booth was dead it would have been her fault for running. She felt a stab of pain in her heart at the thought of losing Booth.
"You shouldn't have run! Shouldn't have tried to escape. This wasn't supposed to happen, nobody was supposed to die!" Logan ranted on. He pushed Brennan roughly back towards where they had come from.
"Now we gotta go back. You better hope Jake doesn't make us bury your husband's body!"
Despite the burning pain in her ankle, Brennan limped on, wanting to get back to where she had just escaped from quickly. She fought the sinking feeling rising in her, desperately hoping that she wouldn't find Booth dead.
I apologise in advance if I cause any undue anxiety by leaving everyone on the edge of a cliff.
