As for this one, tell us what you think about Brennan's new insight and please review if you want us to update before we go on vacation!!!
Chapter nine: The Wrong Idea?
The headlights of Russ's car revealed the details of a driveway that led to the mansion.
"So this is mansion number one?" Booth asked as he skimmed contours of the building through the front window.
"This is option number one," Russ confirmed.
Both men stepped out of the car and Russ opened the trunk to retrieve two flashlights.
"Hey, Booth!" he drew his attention and threw the flashlight at him. Booth caught it with one hand and turned it on.
"Thanks. I'm going inside," he said as he reached under his belt and got out his gun.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Booth," Russ replied as he got himself a gun from the trunk, too.
"We should look for any signs of activity outside of the house before we waste our time. For instance, are there any tire impressions? Look in places where Temperance might have left us something."
"She didn't have anything on her except her cell phone. That's as far as I know, anyway," Booth said and squatted down to look for the tire marks.
"So, we could be looking for her cell phone," Russ replied as he started to fumble in the dark.
Determined to find any evidence of Brennan's presence- if there was any, the men looked on every pole she could have reached, inspected the path that led to the front door for footprints and even searched between the planting in case she'd had to drop her clue quickly. Booth came up with some rusty empty beer bottles and Russ found a torn-up plastic bag between the bushes, but nothing that suggested anyone had been there recently.
"We could take a look inside but it doesn't seem like anyone's been here for a long period of time," Booth concluded with a sigh.
For a moment the silence hang heavily in the air; neither of them wanted to give up. They had hoped so much that Brennan would be held here and they would get to safe her soon.
Russ threw the ragged bag away as a sign of defeat and walked towards the car.
Booth said nothing and followed him feeling like a failure. He prayed that he wouldn't have missed his chance to kiss the woman he loved.
Inside the car Russ handed Booth his gun and flashlight.
"She'll be at the second mansion. She has to," he tried to reassure him.
"Yeah. I know," Booth said slowly. He hated to be separated from his partner knowing she was in danger. Even the fact that they were most presumably on their way to her couldn't ease his mind. The stuff she'd already been through was much more than he'd hoped be necessary. Booth clenched his jaw and promised himself that he'd find her. Eventually, he'd find her. Eventually he would.
Brennan inhaled sharply as Ortez finally released her arm. They were standing in an empty room with two windows on Brennan's right and a creaky door behind her.
"Can we stay, please, master Ortez?" Carlos begged.
"No," was Ortez's short answer and he pushed his men out and locked the door behind them.
"Guard the house!" he yelled at them through the door.
"Yes, master Ortez!" they yelled back and Brennan could tell from their footsteps that they were retreating.
What is going to happen, Brennan thought as she glanced around nervously. The room was dark and chilly. She couldn't stand it any longer to not know what Ortez intended to do with her.
"What are you going to do to me?" she asked as she turned around and looked him in the eye. Ortez was a few inches smaller than she and she could barely make out neither his rough, ugly features nor his hideous tattoo in the darkness. He stepped closer to her and shot her a piercing look.
"Yeah, you'd want to know now, right?" he whispered maliciously as he kept coming closer until she had to take a step backwards.
"Why did you order for Slectovencto to shoot my partner?" Brennan questioned in as a calm voice as she could muster and took another step closer to the wall.
"You must be hungry. And tired most of all. I can imagine you've had a rough day," Ortez kept forcing her backwards until Brennan felt her back make contact with the wall.
"Well, your guy missed. My brother and Booth are on their way to get me. You're not likely to escape. Booth's a great shot," she retorted bravely as if she hadn't heard him.
Ortez placed his hand against the wall next to her face and stretched his arm as he leaned closer to her.
"My men will get to him. Don't worry."
"Why were you after him in the first place? He didn't do anything to you, I did!"
A hollow laugh escaped Ortez's lips.
"Oh man, he hasn't told you. Hero," he said sarcastically and smirked.
"Told me what?" Brennan frowned.
"That partner of yours, that special agent Seeley Booth," Ortez spat out his name, "Actually made an effort to protect you. Don't pretend you're not surprised. I put a hit out on you, doctor Brennan. He came to me and held a gun to my head. Put it in my mouth, also. Do you have any idea how that feels? He said, "She's my partner and if anything happens to her I will find you and I will kill you.""
Brennan looked at him confusedly.
"Yes, you heard me right, that's what he said. Then he took off, said he had somewhere to be. He turned around and then, just to be sure, he trained his gun at my head again to scare me some more. Your partner threatened me and aimed his gun at me more than one time, doctor Brennan. How does it make you feel to know that he would kill for you, huh?"
"But- that doesn't make sense. Booth was with me when I attacked you and afterwards. After we closed the case he was at the funeral with me-" Brennan suddenly paused as it all dawned upon her. Booth had been late for the funeral. She'd asked him where he'd been and he'd answered that he had something to do. "More important than a funeral?" she'd asked him. "I thought so at the time," he'd replied.
Brennan looked at Ortez, sighed in confusion and crossed her arms in front of her chest as she wrenched herself from between his body and the wall. She held still in the centre of the room and Ortez switched on the light. Her face looked ghastly in the shimmering light as she tried to comprehend all that Booth had done and obviously would go to for her.
She understood that this was more than what partners were supposed to do for one another. Booth... wanted to protect her. They shared their deepest secrets with each other. He was patient with her despite her low social skills. He had always been nice to her, no matter how annoying she sometimes was. He cared where she was every moment of the day. In brief, Booth seemed to show many symptoms of... being in love. God, she must have given him the completely wrong idea, hugging him, meeting him after hours, at the diner, at her apartment... Or had she?
Was it the wrong idea when she secretly wanted to be protected by him? Hadn't she wanted to share her secrets with him? Didn't she feel ecstatic every time he came to look for her? Had it, perhaps, not been her imagination after all that he'd tried to kiss her? Possibly her thinking that their relationship was one purely based on friendship and trust had prevented her from opening her eyes and see what was really going on.
"Did that come as a shock, doctor Brennan?"
Brennan jumped slightly at the sound of Ortez's voice and closed her eyes for a moment to remind her of the situation she currently found herself in. Ortez was about to take revenge on her. She had to stay focused and not let her emotions distract her.
"Yes," the answer escaped her lips like a reflex.
"Glad I could help you figure things out between you and agent Booth. Too bad for you, you'll never get the chance to enjoy each other again." Ortez was walking around her in slow circles.
"Booth will safe me," her statement was more aimed at herself than at Ortez.
"Yeah? But how, doctor Brennan? How could he possibly get past my now heavily armed guards? How will he get into this room in time? Or how will you get out? There's no where you can run. No telephones or hospitable neighbours. No... rescue..." he whispered in her ear from behind her.
"I assume you know why you've been brought here," he continued on another subject.
"From an anthropological viewpoint, yes. I assume I know why I'm here. You're the alpha-male and I hurt you in your pride. You'll want to re-establish your power," Brennan concluded as she sadly nodded her head.
"Alpha-male? What the hell are you talking about?" Ortez asked agitatedly.
Brennan sighed. That question was rhetorical; she knew that he didn't really mean to ask for an explanation.
"Although from my personal point of view, you are overreacting," she told him truefully.
"Overreacting?" he repeated her words with disbelief.
"Yes! You assaulted me I had the right to defend myself."
"Well, that was stupid," Ortez hissed. "Now you'll have to pay. I'm not afraid of you. You're a woman. You're weak. Exhausted." He paused after each word as to make them sound more impressive.
"I will fight you, doctor Brennan. I don't have a knife on me it will be fair. I challenge you to challenge me. You have two options: either take on this challenge or surrender. No matter what you choose you'll be humiliated by me like I was by you. I will have your respect, doctor Brennan. So choose..."
Brennan took it Ortez was done threatening her and started to turn in his direction. She had to pull herself together and think of a strategy. There would be no point in attacking him for she would surely receive some blows herself and get weakened. No, holding up her defence as long as possible was the only way she could push further away the moment she would have to give up and get killed. Getting killed before Booth or Russ had shown up was something she couldn't let happen.
It won't be long now, they will come to safe me soon, Brennan kept telling herself as she rotated along with Ortez, watching his muscles tense as he prepared himself for his first attempt to attack her. Suddenly a feeling of utter comfort and calmness came over her. It was as if her nervousness and fear fell off of her like dirt in the shower and disappeared into the earth. Booth was in love with her... This was as confusing as it was reassuring but there was no time to get used to the idea or even think about it rationally and consider the consequences. For now it was essential that she quickly braced herself in one of the defending positions she'd learned at her martial arts training and focused on her opponent.
His first blow was predictable and Brennan grabbed his fist before it had come near her face and repositioned herself while they were still slowly rotating.
Ortez's second attack was more explosive and she had to react quickly to ward off both of his fists and kick to her stomach where she knew was her weak spot. He'd only have to hit the bruised tissue once and she'd be in more pain than she could handle, allowing him to beat every bodypart he could hit.
The third time Ortez lunged his fists at Brennan took longer and he moved fast enough for her to sustain blows to her jaw and liver. She backed away as the blood started to aggressively gather under the skin on her jaw and her body doubled up. There wasn't much time for recovery, though, for Ortez was coming up to her and ready to take advantage of her temporary defeat.
Brennan straightened her spine and ignored the protests of her liver as she braced herself against the wall and forcefully jammed her foot into the stomach of the approaching Ortez. She would have no mercy for him. The bastard.
Now it was his turn to double up and back away but Brennan was quick to take advantage of his temporary defeat. She threw him on the floor and prepared to attack when the bang of a bullet being released from the barrel of a gun startled them both.
Brennan's eyes shot up to the door and for a moment she was distracted. A moment in which Ortez realized intruders had found and tried to enter the mansion.