A/N: I hope you have time to spare because this will be a LONG chapter. Get ready to hear Christine's version of the events that happened on the night the Booth family disappear. Might want to grab some tissues (for you softies out there - like me!)

"I don't know where to start."

"Start at the beginning. What happened before you had to leave? What were you doing? Who were you with?"

"Dad, Jackson, and I were spending the evening together, just the three of us. Mom was out with her friend, I think, at some restaurant. I was getting ready for bed when she walked in the house. I heard her and Dad talk downstairs. I sat down at the top of the stairs to listen but they stopped when they saw me. I remember they looked worried. Mom was talking very fast. They told me to get my brother and that we were going on a little trip. They tried not to look too worried but I could still feel it. I ran to my brother's room and woke him up. I told him what Mom and Dad had said. We went downstairs after that. Dad took out two bags from the closet and we left."

"Did he lock the door behind him?"

Christine nodded. I made a mental note to check up on that lead later. Didn't Angela say both set of keys had been left behind?

"We walked to the park in our PJs. Jackson found it really funny. I asked if we could play a little but Dad said we didn't have time. He said, though, that we needed to play hide-and-seek for a little while. There was a small wooded area just outside the park with bushes. Dad hid us very well and told us to stay quiet no matter what happened. Then, out of nowhere, this man began calling out for my Dad. Mom told us to keep quiet so the man wouldn't hear us."

"I remember being scared," Jackson said, in a low voice. "Very scared."

Christine nodded.

"He grabbed my hand and held it tightly. The man was screaming at us to stop hiding, that he knew we were there. He yelled for a long time but, eventually, he stopped. Dad whispered to stay hidden until it was safe to leave. I'm not sure how long we stayed there. Eventually, Dad said it was okay to come out now. It was dark outside. We walked through the wooded area for a few minutes. I was tired. Dad carried me part of the way. I think Mom had to carry Jackson. I must have fallen asleep because, the next thing I know, we were on a bus. Mom and Dad were wearing a wig. I fell back asleep. When I woke up, we were in a motel room and it was morning."

She paused for a few seconds.

"We stayed there for two days. We weren't allowed to leave the room, not even after dark. I asked my parents why we were here but they would not tell me anything. Dad tried to cheer us up, saying it was like a little vacation. But Jackson and I were bored. We wanted to play outside. We had no toys and the TV didn't have a lot of channels. Eventually, Dad agreed to let us run around outside. He watched us like a hawk as we ran in the motel's backyard, playing tag and just laughing. It felt like we had only been playing for two minutes when Dad stood up abruptly and told us playtime was over and we needed to go back inside. He almost pushed us back into the room and locked it the second we were inside.

Later that night, just as I was about to fall asleep, I heard someone knocking loudly at the door. Dad told us to hide in the closet. I was scared. Jackson was crying and Dad snapped at him and told him to be quiet. The pounding at the door got louder. A man was yelling on the other side of the door. He kept saying: "Let me in! I know you're in there! You have something that belongs to me!" Even today, I don't know what he meant."

She paused again.

"Then what happened?"

"We stayed in that closet for a very long time. Jackson was still whimpering and I was too scared to fall asleep. I was so tired. My eyes threatened to close but I forced them open. We waited a long time but the man didn't come back. Mom said we had to leave. I think that's when I realized that we were in danger. Dad agreed with her and we packed up our stuff again. We didn't have much though. In the bag Dad had brought with us were only clothes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and soap.

We walked a very long time along a road. There weren't any cars there. It was dark, the road was surrounded by trees and I was scared. Actually, terrified is a better term for what I was feeling. Every shadow felt like a threat to me. I held tightly to my mother's hand. I had no idea where we were. We walked until the sun was up then we hid in the forest. Dad told us to wait there and that he would be back soon with a car. I don't know how long it took him but he did come back with one. I remember Mom asking him how he did that. He said "Thank Tony and Roxie." I have no idea what he meant by that. We didn't know anyone of that name. At least, that I know of."

I made a mental note to check out that lead as well. The more Christine spoke, the more confused I was getting. This story was unfolding in ways I had never imagined it would.

"Anyway, we drove for days after that, only stopping for gas and a bit of food. We lived off whatever we could find at the gas station. I'm not sure how long we drove. Maybe four or five days. Once or twice, we stopped at motels to sleep. Other times, we slept in the car. Dad and Mom took shifts to sleep. Then, one night, we were driving and Mom and Dad didn't want to stop. They kept whispering in the front seat. I couldn't hear much. I tried pretending that I was asleep in hopes they would speak louder but they didn't. All of a sudden, I felt something collide with the back of our car. I was jerked sideways towards my brother. Mom screamed. I felt another crash, then another. Suddenly, Dad just drove off the road and we crashed into a tree. No one was hurt, thankfully, but Mom and Dad hurried us out of the car. There was another car parked on the side of the road farther from us. A man stepped out of the car and he came towards us. At first, I thought he was here to help us. But when Mom pushed both of us behind her, I knew the man was not a friend.

Dad told him to leave but the man said he wouldn't leave until he got what was his. I remember looking at him from behind Mom. The man seemed like a giant to me. The look in his eyes terrified me. He punched Dad in the face and lunged at Jackson. But Dad was quicker and he jerked Jackson away from him. Then, he turned to us and told us to run as quickly as we could and that they would catch up with us very soon. So, I grabbed Jackson by the hand and ran. We just ran until we were so out of breath I thought I would pass out. I never looked back."

I sat in horror, stunned by what I had heard. Christine held on to her brother's hand and I could see her entire body shaking. Recalling that story must have been a very difficult experience. I found myself thankful that I had never had to face such a horrific ordeal.

"What happened next?"

"To my parents or to us?"

"Both."

"Well, we don't know what happened to our parents after," Jackson replied. "After we ran away, we never saw them again."

Christine nodded.

"We just left them there," she continued.

I could hear the guilt in her voice.

"The forest stretched on for miles so we decided to hide in there. I figured that's where Dad would have wanted us to go and that's where he would start looking for us. There was a big tree in the middle of the woods. I told Jackson to hide in that tree. He was still wearing a cast on his arm so it was difficult but I managed to help him climb up to the middle of the tree. I sat on a lower branch and waited. We waited there until the sun came. It was a cold night and we sat in the tree, shivering. Every noise scared me to the bone. Sometime during the night, I heard footsteps somewhere in the forest. I was sure that it was the man and that we were going to die. But morning came and we were still alive. Jackson wanted to find somewhere to eat but I told him our parents would never find us if we kept moving. I was convinced they would come for us. Dad never let us down. If he said he would get us, then he would come and get us."

"But he never did?"

Christine shook her head. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes. I could almost feel how painful it must have been for her when she had realized she was now on her own.

"We stayed in that tree for a long time. We talked about school, about our friends. Jackson asked me tell him a story. So, for a while, we invented silly stories to pass the time. The next day though, it dawned on me that Mom and Dad would never come. I climbed down and helped Jackson down as well. My legs were aching, my stomach felt like it was being poked by a thousand needles and I thought I was going to vomit. We walked out of the woods the same way we had come in and walked back to where we thought the car would be. But we found nothing. I figured, now, that the car must have been towed away but back then, I found it odd that the car had simply vanished. I looked everywhere for signs of my parents but found none. Not even a drop of blood. So we just kept on walking. Eventually, we reached a town. We passed by a school. One of the kids saw us and went to tell their teacher. Next thing I know, we are being ushered into the school and an old woman is calling the police. And that's when I stopped talking."

I frowned.

"What do you mean you stopped talking?"

"I just stopped. The psychologists I saw afterwards told the social worker we were both in shock. I mean, everything was so chaotic when we got inside the school. Jackson was crying out for my mom. Everybody seemed to panic around us. People were yelling at each other to call the police, to call an ambulance, etc. They pressured me for answers to their questions. The old woman was almost in my face, asking me if I was okay and what had happened to me. The more people asked us questions, the more Jackson cried and the less I knew what to say. I was afraid for my parents. I didn't know where they were and I was terrified that they were both dead. I was afraid that the man was coming for us. I couldn't erase the memory of the man's eyes as he tried to grab Jackson after the accident.

The police came and took us to see a doctor to make sure we were okay. The doctor took some X-rays of Jackson's arm and took off his cast. Then the police woman brought us to a social worker. The social worker, Janice, told us we would need to go live with a family until our parents could be located. They asked us our names. That's when I decided to lie in hopes that it would keep us safe. I told them my name was Angela and that my brother's name was Jonathan."

"You really thought changing your name would keep you safe?"

"I was young," Christine replied, defensively.

Her tone reminded of Michael's when he had defended himself about the first kiss. I supressed a smile.

"I really thought it would keep us safe. The man chasing us was looking for a girl named Christine and a boy named Jackson. I thought that, if we changed our names, we would be safe. I assume they believed us. They did try to ask us more questions but I never said anything."

I turned to Jackson.

"Do you have anything to add?"

"No, I don't. Sorry. I was only 4 years old when everything happened. I don't remember much."

Christine continued her story.

"We were moved from homes to homes for about six months. They were still looking for our parents and I was still mute. I was still afraid the man would come for us. I didn't sleep well at night. I began to have health problems. They took me to see different psychologists but I was too terrified to say anything. I realize today what a mess of things I have made! It would have been much easier to tell the truth but…"

"Did you ever tell the police what happened?"

Christine shook her head.

"No. But eventually Jackson said that our parents were dead, that we had seen them die. He described the man that tried to take us and said that he had killed our parents. I mean, it was probably true. They looked for a body for weeks around the area we described but they didn't find anything. After searching for relatives failed, they put us permanently in the foster care system. I was adopted out first. I became Angela Jennings and I moved to Florida."

"Then, a year later, it was my turn. I was adopted by a very nice family. My second adoptive parents are Stephen and Izabel Stafford. I live just nearby."

Christine smiled.

"It was a coincidence. I moved here to study at Western Carolina University and I happened to meet his adopted sister, Megan, in one of my classes. I became friends with her and one day, three years ago, I went over to her house for a group project. That's where I met Jackson. I thought he looked familiar. We got to talking and realized who each other were."

I didn't quite know what to say. As unbelievable as this story sounded, I believed them. Sure, the story seemed to have many loopholes but I blamed it on Christine's young age at the time of the events. However, more questions had now popped up. Where were their parents? What had happened to them? Were they still alive somewhere or were they dead, like Christine thought?

Also, with a country looking for them, how had they managed to hide out for such a long time? How had Seeley Booth rented a car under a false name? Had they planned their escape way before they had had to do it?

"Are you okay?" Christine asked.

She was looking at me, a worried expression in her eyes.

"This is all a bit much. When I came here tonight, I definitely didn't expect to hear all of this."

"I'm sorry. But you wanted the truth."

"And I bet it feels good to finally let that all out after so many years?"

Christine nodded.

We talked a bit more about their lives now. Christine told me about her studies in forensic anthropology to follow in her mother's footsteps. She wished to solve mysteries, just like her parents had done. I told her that her parents were special, that not every forensic anthropologist goes out on crime scenes and interrogate people like her mother did.

"Well, I know that," Christine replied, laughing.

Then she told me about her adoptive parents, Richard and Amanda Jennings. Richard was a psychologist and Amanda was an elementary school teacher. She said that they were both nice and had made her feel loved during her childhood and teenage years but that they would never replace her parents.

"I think Amanda knew that from the beginning, but I think it still hurt her that I never really thought of her as my parent. She was more my legal guardian. I still love her, but she's not really my mom, you know?"

I told her I did, even though I couldn't even imagine.

Jackson had lived a similar life. His parents were very nice to him and he felt secure and loved with them. He had been accepted in the same university as his sister in criminology. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do. Being a police officer really interested him, but he would think about it for a while.

Footsteps were heard in the hallway and we soon heard a key turn in the front door. Christine quickly got to her feet and shot me a warning look.

"Remember. You are a distant uncle!"

I nodded.

Seconds later, a young woman entered the apartment. She frowned when she saw the three of us standing in the kitchen.

"What's going on here?" she asked.

"Umm… well, I got a visit from my uncle Jack. Uncle Jack, this is Megan, Jonathan's brother."

I shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you."

"Same."

She turned to her brother.

"What are you doing here?"

Jackson looked from sister to sister.

"Well, I came to see you but Angela said you weren't here. I was just about to leave."

I could tell Megan found the whole situation suspicious but she graciously dropped the subject. She walked directly to her room and we soon heard the door click.

Christine accompanied us to the door. I handed her my card and told her to call me if she thought of anything else. She agreed to do so, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to contribute much more information. Before I left, I asked whether or not she had planned to go back to Washington in the next future.

"Probably not," she replied. "I mean, my life is here. Why?"

"Well, let's just say there are certain people there who would love to see you again. Your brother, for instance."

Christine nodded.

"I'll think about it."

Jackson and I said our goodbyes and headed downstairs. I was about to step on the street when Jackson said my name. I turned around to find him still on the porch.

"There's something we didn't tell you."

I frowned. What now?

"Angela didn't have time to tell you because my sister arrived but she's the one who sent the pictures to Michael after he told her that Parker had hired you to find us. She thought you could help figure out who the man is."

"Where did you get them?"

"That's the problem. And that's why Angela finally decided to talk. You see, we got them in the mail."

"In the mail?" I asked, surprised.

Only packages were delivered by mail now.

"Yes. The problem is we don't know who sent them. There wasn't any note inside the package. Only the pictures. We thought they could be more useful to you than to us."

"Well thank you. That was very thoughtful of you."

Jackson nodded.

"Please find out what happened to them. Even though I don't remember them and that I am very happy with my new family, I still want to know what happened. They adopted me when my first parents died in a fire, you know?"

"Yes, I know."

"They didn't deserve what happened to them."

"I know that too."

I wished him a goodnight and I walked back to my car. Seconds later, I saw him do the same in his own car. As I drove away, I thought about everything I had heard tonight. More questions had definitely erupted and I wondered how I would solve this more than mysterious mystery.