The Girl From North Carolina
Chapter Four
Angela
The twelve hours after Jack's phone call are a blur for you. Jack finally talks you down and tells you to call Grayson and come home, so when you hang up you immediately start packing. You then call Grayson, who agrees to meet you at the airport, and you check out around one. By the time you get to the airport you're shaking. Grayson arrives and hugs you tightly, whispering that everything will be fine. He hands you signed divorce papers and asks you to keep in touch before walking out of the airport.
You buy a ticket for the next flight to DC, but it's not non-stop. It stops in Charlotte and when the girl behind the counter tells you that you start to cry, your hands shaking as you hand her your credit card. You're still crying when you board the plane an hour later and it only gets worse when you land in Charlotte.
It isn't until you land in DC that you manage to regain your composure. You're pissed at this point. You're mad at Grayson for making you leave in the first place, Jack for not watching Juliette, and Gormongon for taking her; but mostly you're mad at yourself for not listening to Juliette when she said something bad was going to happen.
Booth
It hasn't hit this close to home in nearly a year. You still have nightmares about the last time, still dreading the possibility of losing Bones. But it's different this time, and you know it. This time you have no idea where she is, this time she's a little girl; and this time, you're dealing with a cannibal.
Zach and Hodgins arrive at The Jeffersonian around two in the morning. Angela is on her way home, and the police are still searching Hodgins' place, but he's already been questioned and deemed 'not a suspect'.
It's tough for you to comfort him. Despite the fact that you've gotten closer over the last couple of years, you've never been in his place.
You take Cam with you to the crime scene, while Bones and Zach sit with Hodgins and wait for Angela.
"You think we'll find her?" Cam asks, carefully handling a recent picture of Juliette and Angela on a set of swings.
"We'll find her." You touch Cam's shoulder, looking out the window and watching the police lights that are searching the grounds. "I won't sleep until we find her." Cam nods and starts to search the room. You're still watching the search party when you hear her start to cry. "Cam?"
"I'm fine, Booth." You turn to look at her and she's sitting on the bed, holding her face in her hands. You sit down next to her and she folds herself into your arms.
"Camille," you rub her back softly. "We're going to find her."
"What if we don't, Seeley?" She takes a shaky breath and you hug her tighter. "What if I have to do an autopsy on a 14-year-old and then tell Angela how her daughter was murdered?"
"You won't have to." You kiss the top of her head. "I promise."
Jack
It's your fault. It's all your fault.
Brennan
Booth and Cam arrive back at The Jeffersonian around five in the morning. Angela still hasn't arrived yet, so you leave Cam and Zach with Hodgins and follow Booth to the Gormongon Vault.
"He's on The Scientist," Booth says, pointing to the tapestry that's sitting outside the vault. "We know he killed The Corruptor, we just don't have the body..."
"Booth." You let out a soft sigh. "I know all of this. What are you trying to tell me?"
He hands you the piece of fabric left on Juliette's bed. "It matches the one sent to you with the kneecaps."
You nod. "Yeah..."
He sighs. "I think Hodgins was the target and Juliette got in the way."
Angela
You arrive at The Jeffersonian around seven and immediately head for your office. Zach is the only one there when you walk in, and your heart immediately starts to pound.
"Where is everyone?" You ask, your voice cracking.
Zach looks up, a sympathetic look on his face. "Booth, Dr. Brennan and Dr. Saroyan are out with the search parties looking for Juliette. Hodgins is throwing up."
"Throwing up?" He nods and you sit down, right where you're standing, and put your face in your hands.
"Angela?" You feel Zach's hand on your shoulder but you don't move, you don't look up until you feel another hand on your shoulder and without even looking you throw your arms around his neck. You hear Zach leave the room and Hodgins pulls you closer, and you're both crying and he's whispering that everything is going to be alright, that Booth is going to find her and you're hugging him harder and then you pull away and smack him across the face.
"Oh." Your hand goes to your mouth. "Oh Jack..."
He shakes his head. "It's okay, I deserve it. I should have been watching her. I told her to close the balcony doors, that it was too cold to have them open, and I didn't check until I heard the doors banging around an hour later. She was gone by then."
You hug him and kiss his cheek. "It's not your fault, though. It's not like you handed her to him."
"They think I was the target." He says softly. "Booth thinks that I am The Scientist."
You shake your head. "That doesn't make any sense. Gavin, Doug and Ray went on that trip to Turkey, and you didn't go on that."
"I know, but she was taken from our house. And he's on The Scientist..."
"No." You take his hand, lacing your fingers together. "There's another reason for it, I'm sure of it."
He nods and you rest your head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry," He whispers. "God, Ange, I'm so sorry."
You open your mouth to tell him not to apologize when your phone rings in your purse. You reach for it and answer, even though you don't recognize the number. "Angela Montenegro."
"Angela? It's Nora Carlson. You called me last night."
"Yes," You take a deep breath. "Juliette has gone missing."
"M-missing?"
"Yes. Last night around midnight she disappeared from the home I share with Jack Hodgins. The FBI is out looking for her now." There is silence on the other end and you start to panic. "Nora? Nora, are you there?"
"I knew this was a bad idea. I knew it was...but Juliette wanted to live with you so badly..."
"I thought this was her parents' idea?"
"No. Custody of Juliette was given to me after their death. I gave her permission to track you down and spend some time with you."
"Oh." You let out a breath. "Nora, did Greg or Anna have any enemies or anything?"
"Of course not!"
"Look, we're just trying to find out what happened. What did Anna do?"
"She was a fifth grade teacher."
"And Greg?"
Nora sighed. "He'd just started as the head of the Biological Sciences department at Queens University of Charlotte."
"He was a science professor?" Jacks eyes widen and you let out a breath.
"Yes. He taught Biology at St. Augustine's here in Raleigh until last June."
You take a breath. "Nora, did Greg go to Turkey?"
Nora was silent for a minute and then she cleared her throat. "I think he did. His colleague was supposed to go...yes, that's right. Greg got a spot at the last minute." She laughed. "He met that Gavin something...the violinist."
"Gavin Nichols?"
"Yeah...I think that was his name. Why?"
"It's just part of the case." You look over at Jack, who is sitting against your desk, head practically in his lap. "Nora, I'm sorry, I need to go. I'll call you as soon as I have more information."
"Oh...well, alright." Nora hangs up and you put your phone back in your bag.
"Jack?" He didn't look up so you crawl across the floor and put your hand on his leg.
"We have to find her." He whispers. "Gormongon might be trying to replace her father with her..." When he looks up, his eyes are red and you let out a soft gasp. "Angela, we have to find her."
"I know we do, sweetie." You hug him and start to cry softly. "I know we do."
Gormongon
She's more brave than you thought she would be. Especially for a 14-year-old that was half-asleep when you grabbed her.
Her father was supposed to be your next target, but when you learned he had died, you had a better idea. You'd move in on one of the scientists. Scare them all a little bit. Jack Hodgins was the closest male to the girl, so you decided on him. The house he lives in his huge, so you went through the only open doors you could find on the back side of the house, and it just so happened to be her room. She stopped you, asking you not to take him, so you snagged her instead.
The only problem is that you don't really know what to do with girls. You deal with men, boys...not girls or women. You assume it would be the same, but she looks so peaceful. She fell asleep roughly an hour ago, and you can't bear to do anything to her.
So instead, you decide to torture the scientists. You finish boxing up the package and address it properly: Angela Montenegro and Jack Hodgins, c/o The Jeffersonian Museum.
Boy are they in for a treat.
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