In a fifteen-minute time lap, he had been by her side. He had told her to wait for him at the restaurant where she was having lunch with her best friend, that he was coming as quickly as he could and that they'd talk more on their way to Virginia. She had waited impatiently for him, barely listening to what Angela was telling her, casting glances out of the window every few seconds in hopes of seeing her husband's SUV parked in front of the building. She had been unaware of the sighs of mild annoyance made by her friend, the breakthrough the only thing important to her. Finally, the itch had been scratched. Her vague feeling that she was missing something had turned out true. The answer to her question had been in front of her all along only it had been too obvious to actually see it.
The second she saw the FBI issue vehicle, she was on her feet. Apologizing over and over again to her best friend, she grabbed her purse and dashed out the door, leaving a slightly yet happy Angela alone behind her. In an instant, she was jumping in the car and slamming the door shut. In a flash, they were out of the parking lot.
"Why are we driving so fast?" Temperance asked as Booth get on the highway.
"We're in a rush." Booth replied as he switched lanes.
"No we're not. Lucy assured me she'd be there all day. It's only two o'clock. If you drive fast, we won't even make it to Winchester."
Reluctantly, Booth slowed down.
"Are you sure?" He asked, glancing at her.
"About the bones? Yes, I'm sure. The bones are in perfect condition, not one of them is broken. The only way the bones could still be intact is if they were brought down that hole, not dumped."
"How deep was the hole?"
"The children and Richard were able to see them from where they were. I'm guessing it's not more than probably ten feet deep, maybe fifteen."
"Did you measure it?"
"No. But that's what we'll do today."
"There's just another thing I don't understand. If the bones weren't dumped in the hole like you're thinking, then why was there even a hole in the ground?"
"The house was built in the 1950s. It's possible that the hole once served a purpose and was later condemned when it was no longer needed. There are a lot of explainations for that. The point is, there was a wooden floor hiding it. Whoever ditched the remains down in the ground didn't take off the board every time."
"True."
A light rain began to pour as a thin fog fell upon the highway. The cars ahead began disappearing as they drove further into the fog.
"Really nice day today." Booth said sarcastically.
"Angela seemed to think so. She's engaged. Hodgins proposed before he left for South America."
Booth raised his eyebrows, surprised.
"Again?"
"What do you mean again?"
"Remember the last time?"
"Well that wasn't the same thing. She couldn't..."
"I know." Booth replied, cutting her off. "We've had this discussion before."
Temperance turned to the window.
The sound of doors slamming echoed off the walls of the houses on Maple Street. Such a quiet neighborhood that often left Temperance wondering what was going on inside these homes. An old-fashioned street, reminding Temperance of her younger days where trees were still present in the city and not just in the countryside. Thick and tall trees casted shadows down on the lawns, brick houses lined side-by-side all the way down to Rupert Avenue, bicycles laying lifelessly in the driveways. As she looked at all of that this afternoon, Temperance wondered when she had grown so old-fashioned.
Booth rang the doorbell which chimed inside the house.
"What exactly are we searching for, Bones?" Booth whispered.
"We're looking for anything that might lead down below the basement: a trap, a hidden door, another hole. Anything will do."
"Okay."
Temperance frowned.
"Why are we whispering?"
"I don't know."
The door in front of them opened and a rather tired-looking Lucy Robertson appeared. Smiling politely at the couple, she invited them in before closing the door behind them.
"What can I do for you today?" She asked her friends as they walked further into the house.
"We just need to take a quick look at your basement." Booth replied.
"We have reasons to believe that the bones were not dumped into the hole but, in fact, placed inside what might be a small chamber below your basement."
Lucy frowned.
"A room below our basement? How is that possible?"
"We're still unsure of that." Temperance answered, honestly. "But bones don't lie, Lucy. The bones are in perfect condition. Not a single scratch on them was detected."
Lucy nodded.
"Search away, then. If I can be of any help, just tell me. I'll be in the kitchen if you ever need anything."
"Great, thanks."
Nodding one more time, Lucy turned around and left the partners behind.
"Ready?" Booth asked, turning to his wife.
"Let's find that door!"
The phone rang. Lucy jumped, startled. With shaky hands, she picked up her cordless phone and answered.
"Hello?"
They had been searching for ten minutes when Booth let out a loud sigh. Turning around, Temperance frowned.
"What?"
"Did you find anything?" Booth asked, annoyed.
"No." Temperance replied, as she ran her hand along the wooden wall. "Nothing yet. But there must be something."
"Is it possible that you are wrong?"
Temperance raised her eyebrows quizzically.
"I don't mean that you are wrong about the bones but could you be wrong about the location of the entrance or the way they were put in what we can only assume is only a large hole?"
Temperance shrugged, momentarily defeated.
"It's possible. But the bones were in too much perfect condition. If they were placed in a large hole underground, we would have found dirt residue on them yet the bones were clean which brings me to the conclusion that there isn't any dirt in that "large hole"."
"You've really mastered the art of air quotes, Bones."
Temperance ignored him.
"Let's just keep searching."
"We've already searched the entire basement, Honey. We're not going to find anything else."
"Did you just call me Honey on the job?"
"Sorry. It's a habit."
"Well if the entrance isn't in the basement then where could it be?"
Footsteps above them told them Lucy was still in the kitchen. The faint sound of a telephone ringing reached their ears, followed by the muffled voice of the woman. The rest of the conversation was lost and silence once again filled the dark room.
"What are you thinking about?" Temperance asked, after a few seconds of silence.
Booth, who was lost in his thoughts, looked up.
"The backyard."
"What about it?"
"If the entrance to the small chamber isn't in here, which it obviously isn't since we've searched the whole room already, then it must be outside. The Robertson have a big shed outside. It might be in there. There could be a trapdoor or something."
Temperance tilted her head, considering the idea before nodding in approval.
"It's possible."
The metal door creaked loudly as Booth pushed it open with all his strength. The air was stuffy with humidity and the shed, which looked more like a barn than a shed, smelled of recently-cut grass as the partners stepped inside the rusty cabin. The only source of light came from the sun, which casted a single ray through the door, illuminating only half of the surface. A few steps and the couple was engulfed in darkness.
"If there's a trap door in here, I don't think we'll be able to find it." Temperance noted.
Tools, old cans of paint, a lawn mower, a hose and bicycles crowded the shed and made it almost impossible to move. Booth cursed loudly as his shoulder hit a metal shelf on the wall. The paint cans rattled at the impact.
"You know what, Booth?" Temperance asked, after tripping over the hose. "I don't think there's a trap door inside this shed. It's much too crowded and the only way in would have been to open the door, which makes so much it would have attracted anybody's attention if someone would have attempted to slide it open."
Booth nodded.
Stepping back out in the fresh air, Booth closed the shed door behind them. The wind had picked up slightly and Temperance shivered. A look at her watch told her they'd been searching for at least thirty minutes.
"We have to pick up the kids soon." Temperance informed her husband.
"I know. But I don't want to leave until we find the entrance."
"Maybe I'm wrong, Booth. Maybe there isn't a room under Lucy's basement."
But Booth shook his head.
"No. I think you're right. I just think we aren't looking in the right place."
A squirrel jumped down from a branch and onto the metallic shed. Booth turned around, startled by the noise. It was then he saw it. From the corner of his eye. A form. Something had moved.
His head snap to the left of the shed. His heart stopped momentarily as his gaze focused on the little girl he had seen while visitng Mickey's room a couple of weeks earlier. His blood froze in his veins as he recognized Melanie Pharatt.
The child stared at him, her eyes devoid of any expression. Then, extending her left arm, she pointed to the back of the shed.
"What? You want me to look there?"
The words had slipped past his lips.
"Who are you talking to?"
Booth spun around to look at his wife before his eyes darted back to the spot where Melanie had stood only to find that the apparition had vanished.
Without answering his wife, he disappeared behind the shed. Temperance watched, confused.
"Bones! Come here!"
Curious, she joined her husband. She stared in surprise as Booth pushed long strings of grass apart to reveal a wooden trap door in the ground.
"I think we've found the entrance." Booth said, beaming proudly at her.
The hairs at the back of his neck rose but Booth chose to ignore the feeling.
The corridor was stuffy and small and both had to duck in order not to hit their heads on the low ceiling. The gravel crunched under their steps and the path seemed to go on forever before they finally a wooden door. The knob turned easily, making Booth wonder why the thing wasn't locked, considering it had once contained corpses.
Booth pushed the door open. Darkness, which had engulfed them the second they had closed the trap door behind them, stretched in front of them, making impossible to see anything. Booth's flashlight barely illuminated half of the room.
"Seems like the room is bigger than we thought it was."
"It's a weird place to hide a body." Temperance added. "Our suspect would have had to carry the body and a flashlight to see where he was going. Let's look and see if we can't find any clues."
Booth nodded.
The room, just as Booth had noticed, was larger than they had first guessed. Wooden boards covered the soil which had immediately explained why no soil residue had been found on the bones. The hole opening to the Robertson's basement had immediately been found but had given no clue to neither of them as why a hole had actually been made in the floor of the basement in the first place.
They had been searching for a few minutes when the sound of footsteps reached their ears. Booth and Temperance stopped in their tracks.
"Someone's coming." Temperance whispered.
Booth nodded.
"Let's hide in a corner."
Choosing the corner to the far left of the door, they huddled closely. They held their breaths as the door to the secret room creaked open. A noise resembling something being dumped on the floor reached their ears, which was immediately followed by a quiet sigh. They waited in silence as the intruder began to walk around. Temperance couldn't help but find it odd and wondered how the stranger could walk around the room so easily in the darkness.
She felt Booth's hand take hers and instinctively knew what he wanted to do. She followed him quietly, step by step, as Booth walked in the direction where he thought the intruder had gone.
They had reached what she thought was half of the room when Booth let go of her hand. She saw, from the corner of her eye, the glow of her husband's flashlight.
"FBI! Freeze!"
The flashlight illuminated the area. Temperance couldn't help the feeling of surprise as her eyes fell on the intruder.
Okay so that didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to be! Hope you liked it anyway.