Chapter 6

It was Monday morning, the sun was shining, and it was not too cool, not too warm outside. Seeley Booth was in a good mood, he whistled as he strolled into the Medico Legal Lab in search of his partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan.

He casually tossed the poker chip up in the air a few times and caught it. He hadn't been in this good of a mood since before Cam arrived here, he noted ruefully. It felt like a giant weight off of his shoulders knowing they were no longer together.

While it was true, it was good while it lasted, it was definitely a temporary thing, simply and answer to his "biological urges" as Bones would call it. He'd tell Bones when he had the chance, and it felt right. No rush.

Blue coated squints rushed around the lab area, working on various cases and projects. Dr. Jack Hodgins nodded to him as he passed his position next to Zach who was peering into a microscope, and rambling off a string of his observations, all of which Booth couldn't understand at all. Thankfully, Cam was no where to be seen. He had no desire to butt heads with her again anytime soon. She needed time to cool off.

Frowning, he approached Bones' office door. The lights were off and the door was closed. That's strange. Usually Bones is here by now…he thought to himself. He slid the sleeve of his suit coat up, and peered at his watch. It was nearly 10am. Something was definitely wrong.

Glancing around, to make sure no one was paying too much attention to him, he tried the doorknob to her office. It was unlocked. He quietly slipped into her office, and switched on the lights. As the lights illuminated the room, he quickly scanned the area. Everything seemed to be in place. Looks like she packed up her things and left on Friday night. No sign of a struggle. No notes.

Concern growing, he left Bones' office, and went to Angela's office. She was seated behind her computer, working on a facial recognition program. She looked up at him as he entered, and smiled "Hey Booth, you bring Brennan with you?" the artist asked him, her gaze slipping back to the computer screen.

"I was going to ask you the same question. You know she isn't here yet?" he asked her in a hushed tone

Angela stopped typing and brought her full attention to the FBI agent. "She isn't?" she replied, brows drawn "That isn't like her. Maybe she overslept?" Angela said warily, knowing even as she said it, that wasn't like her friend at all.

"Did you see her car in the lot? I thought I did when I came in" Angela pointed out, a note of hope in her voice.

"I didn't notice. I'll go look now….listen, don't worry about this. I am sure she overslept….or something" he managed, not meeting Angela's eyes, as he slipped his hands into his pockets. "I'll let you know what I find out…okay?" he said as he exited the office, forcing himself not to break out into a run.

He reached the parking structure, and jogged to where Brennan's designated spot was. He turned the corner and his heart nearly stopped. Her car was sitting there, all 4 tires were flat. He let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, and proceeded to her car.

Carefully walking around it, he looked for blood or any other evidence of a struggle. He saw none. He looked inside the car, and on the driver's seat laid her new cell phone, broken into pieces. He slammed his fist onto the roof of her car and swore. He flipped open his cell phone and quickly called in a CSI team to process the car and the scene.

Booth hurried back into the building, and stopped at the security desk to talk to Charlie, the security manager, who may have been onsite on Friday when Bones left.

"Charlie! Hey – were you here Friday night?" Booth asked breathlessly, leaning on the counter in front of where the older man was seated.

Charlie grinned, "Sure was. Nick called out sick for night duty, so I was suck here. Why? Is there a problem?" the older man wondered, arms crossed over his wide chest.

Booth sighed audibly and took a step back and paced around for a moment in a tight circle. "Yeah, do you recall when Bo-I mean Dr. Brennan left for the evening?"

Charlie thought a moment, then after a moment, he answered "Yeah, she was outta here pretty late, probably 2 or 3am. I can check the video feed if you need me to..?" he trailed off, watching the agent expectantly

Booth thought a moment. "Yeah. Do that" he said, trying to remain calm. How was it she always was getting herself into trouble? He wondered silently to himself, as he paced the hall in front of the security station.

After about 10 minutes, Charlie called to him "Agent Booth? I got it"

Booth was at the guard's side in seconds, and viewed the monitor. Sure enough. There she was. Walking out the door, she turned and said goodbye to Charlie.

The security guard stopped the tape, and looked to Booth in question. "That what you needed?"

"Yeah…yeah. Thanks" he muttered to himself as he left and went to the garage. He had no idea even where to start looking for her. His cell phone shrilled from his pocket, hopefully, he glanced at the phone, thinking it could be Bones. It wasn't. It was the CSI Unit, letting him know they were on the way.

End this chapter

More to come soon!