Chapter 9

Brennan was staring blankly at the screen in front of her. She wasn't at all sure what she was supposed to be writing or reading, her mind kept wondering to things she could no longer fully understand, it was like her brain had shut down on her and there was no way she was going to be able to work on anything at the moment. Sighing in frustration she shut down her laptop and got up and left the home office and headed into the kitchen. All she could think about was whether or not her little girl was sleeping, or eating or if she was even clean. Alana was a girly girl and loved to be in dresses and didn't play in the dirt a lot, although she wouldn't mind getting dirty if it meant learning something or doing something really fun and she could clean up right away after she was done. It seemed like her daughter had different traits and personalities. There were times when she was a tomboy and there were times when she was a girly girl. Brennan often wondered if her daughter just wanted to make her happy, and so she changed who she was whenever she thought her mom wanted her to be someone else.

"Hey." Booth said, causing Brennan to jump and press a hand over her racing heart.

"You startled me." Brennan said as she gave her husband a glare before turning to the fridge and getting out a bottle of water and then sitting down.

"Cam wants to know if you are planning on trying to go to the lab and work with them down there?" Booth asked her as he gently pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on the top of her head. As her back rested against his chest he felt her snuggling in close.

"Not today, I just can't focus today." Brennan admitted as she leaned against Booth for support and love.

"I understand, it's why I am also working from home. A lot of my snitches are working hard all over the place. They are not happy to hear that my little girl was kidnapped by a psycho like this, and even though I am a fed and they are criminals, they promised to keep their eyes and ears open for me." Booth informed her with a small smile. He wanted to make sure that she understood that he was never going to give up when it came to Alana, he was never going to stop looking for their little girl.


Alana could smell the food, and she was so hungry that she would eat whatever she put in front of her, while almost whatever. She was shocked when the lock was opened and a man she had never seen before stood there with a dog dish. He was old, probably an old man, and he was missing some of his teeth while the rest of them looked rotten, like he had never owned a toothbrush in his life. He was overweight, but not so much that he would be considered really fat. Alana may be a young child but she could tell that there was something off about this man, and she didn't like the way that he was looking at her. Alana remembered what her mommy told her about the bad people that liked to hurt little girls, and Alana was scared that this was one of those people.

"Here little doggy, we got you some food and water." The man laughed, and it scared her a lot. He set the water and food dishes next to each other and she could already tell that it was dog food in the dish. She was so hungry, but she didn't want to eat dog food, she wasn't a dog.

"I want people food." Alana said softly.

"Shut up and eat and drink what you are given." The mean lady snapped from behind the man.

Alana knew better than to push her at this point, something had made her even angrier than she had ever been and Alana didn't want to get beaten again, it was really painful to get beaten. Even worse she was afraid that the mean lady might let the scary man hurt her in ways that she didn't want. Alana shrunk away from them as they laughed and closed and locked the little closet under the stairs in the new place, and she stared at the two dishes, wondering just what she was going to do when it came to staying alive for her mommy and her friends to find her. Alana knew her daddy was a cop and that he would help her mommy find her, she had to tell her daddy to help her, because she wanted to go home and now she was going to make sure her daddy was around.


Brennan was sitting at the table in the backyard, staring at the playground that Booth had bought for Alana, Parker and any other children they would have together. Brennan knew that Booth wanted more kids, and Brennan wanted more babies as well. Booth had asked her what she wanted to do, whether she wanted to try and conceive another child while they searched for their daughter or whether or not she wanted to just wait until Alana was home and they waited until they were sure she was ready for a little brother or sister. Brennan knew that the choice they had made, was the right choice for them and for their kids. Brennan just hoped that when they brought their daughter home, she agreed with their choices and she was happy where she would now be living.

A part of Brennan was scared that Alana would decide that she didn't care that Booth was her father and just wanted to go home, in which case she would have to explain to her that this was their new home and that the apartment was gone. Brennan was terrified about what could possibly be happening to her daughter at that very moment in time. She could only hope that because she was a little girl that the Gravedigger went easy on her, but she knew deep down that was just a stupid wish because children had been the first victims of this psychopath.

"Soon baby you will be home and you will finally be with the people who will always love and care for you, I promise." Brennan whispered and she closed her eyes and prepared herself to talk with Booth some more about the decisions that needed to be made as it came to their daughter, it was important.


He was hoping to get some time alone with the gorgeous child, and he knew it wouldn't be long before he was allowed to use the child as he wished. He had been released from prison recently and his old friend had just escaped, they made a great team and seeing the daughter of the forensics lady and the federal agent who put him away, only made this so much better. He couldn't wait to make them all suffer, just like they made him suffer.