I'm so sorry for the long delay on this chapter… I went out of town for the weekend to get Harry Potter and see my friends back at school. But back to the story (and more importantly, daily updates)! Another continuation on the current plot-line, so watch the time line!
Chapter 26—Bleach
Thursday, 14 June 2007, 9:47am
Booth was pacing in Brennan's office, his exhaustion and worry showing on his face. There were dark circles under his eyes and creases etched deeply along his furrowed brow, making it seem as if he had aged a number of years overnight.
The ringing of his cell phone broke the silence, startling him from his thoughts. "Booth," he answered automatically, his voice tight with worry.
"Booth, it's Cullen," came the voice on the other end of the line. "A crate was delivered here for you. It's on its way to the lab now, but you're not going to like it."
Booth could hear the strain in the director's voice, and knew the contents of the crate were something he'd rather not receive. "Thank you, Sir," he replied, trying to keep his voice steady. "Do you have any other information?"
"No we don't. I'm sorry, Booth. The minute your squints find something, let me know. There is already a team at your disposal."
"Thank you, Sir," he replied again, once again thankful for Cullen's trust in his abilities and understanding about their partnership. Spying the commotion in the lab where the crate was coming in, Booth's voice tightened even more, "The crate has just arrived. I'll be in touch." Hanging up the phone, he shoved it in his pocket and made his way down to the platform where Angela and Hodgins had just arrived.
"What's going on?" Angela asked as Booth showed them where to put the crate.
"Someone sent this to headquarters for me, so Cullen had them send it over here," he explained, dreading what he would find in the box. Taking a crowbar from one of the agents, he pried the lid off the wooden box, steeling himself for what he would find.
The box fell open with a bang, the sound echoing and reverberating off the walls of the lab. Everyone leaned forward to see the contents, pulling back quickly after observing the partially decomposed body.
Booth grabbed the envelope that had been placed on the body's chest and stepped back to take a deep breath of clean air. Praying it wasn't Brennan, he carefully opened the envelope and began to read.
In the same writing that had been at the bottom of Brennan's ransom note, the killer wrote:
Agent Booth,
These are the remains of Emily King. Hopefully we now have your attention. Stop your investigation before we kill your partner. You have until 9am tomorrow.
"Shit," Booth swore, looking up at Hodgins and Angela. "He moved the time up to 9am tomorrow, which means we have 23 hours to find her."
Hodgins looked down at the body, noticing her clothing and the state of decomposition. "There is a lot of trace evidence on the body," he said, "I should be able to narrow down the possible places she could be." He grabbed gloves and set down to work, working furiously to find something he could use.
While Angela continued puzzling over the note Brennan had sent the night before, Booth called Cullen to inform him on the developments that had just happened.
Thursday, 14 June 2007, 2:32pm
Brennan rolled her stiff neck, sending a sharp, stabbing pain shooting down to her shoulder. Her muscles revolted as she shifted her torso, the ropes digging into the wounds on her wrists where the skin had been rubbed raw during the night.
With no windows or clocks in the warehouse, she couldn't tell what time of day it was or how many hours had passed. All she knew was time was running out, and she didn't want to end up like Emily King. Hurry, Booth, she begged, please hurry.
She heard the vent slide open again, and she lowered her head in defeat, knowing it would only be moments before she drifted off again.
Thursday, 14 June 2007, 9:23pm
The team was exhausted. They'd been working to find Brennan for 24 hours, and only had Brennan's note and the tests Hodgins had run on the body of Emily King.
At Angela's insistence, Booth had finally passed out on the couch in Brennan's office, although his sleep was far from restful. Between the nightmares of her being killed, he woke to every tiny sound, restlessly moving to find a more comfortable position.
Meanwhile, Angela was on the platform, looking at Dava King's skeletal remains. Who's pregnant? Angela wondered, subconsciously counting the bones of the body as she stared blankly down at the table. What did she find on the body before she left?
203… 204… 205… 206… 207… 208… 209… Wait, how are their 209 bones? A body only has 206! Looking down at the body, Angela slowly counted again, looking for something out of the ordinary. "There!" she exclaimed, noticing 3 tiny bones that were placed near the body's pelvis.
"Booth! Jack!" Angela cried out, moving toward Brennan's office to wake the sleeping agent.
Hodgins, who had been dozing at his computer, woke up suddenly because his printer was beeping, signaling the completion of another test. Grabbing the printout, he scanned it quickly, and ran out of his office toward the sound of Angela's voice.
The two met just outside of Brennan's office, where Booth had just jumped up and gone to the door. "I've got something!" the two said together, glancing at each other quickly then back to the agent.
Booth looked at the two, his spirits rising slightly now that they had found something. "What do you have, Angela?" he asked, praying she had been able to understand the clues Brennan had left them.
"Dava King was pregnant when she was killed," she said quickly, "Probably not showing too much, but far enough along to notice."
"Wait, wait," Booth said, trying to grasp the fact. "Our 13-year old victim was pregnant?"
"Yes," Angela said, needing to explain further, "And it was important enough that Bren put it in the note to us. Do you think it was the father of the child?"
"That definitely gives someone motive," Booth agreed, thinking about the men related to the case. "And we know Emily King was sexually assaulted repeatedly over the last few years, and specifically within a few hours of her death. It's probably the same man," Booth continued, thinking about the dead twins, their innocence being taken from them at such a young age.
"I've got something that might help us track down wherever Dr. Brennan is being held," Hodgins said, jumping into the conversation. "Emily King's body was bleached and then submerged in lye for a couple of hours to speed the rate of decomp, effectively ruining most trace evidence."
"How does this help us find Bones?" Booth asked, wanting him to just be blunt about what had been found.
"Well," Hodgins continued, "even though it rendered most trace inconclusive, there were still particles to be found on her clothing, specifically wool, cotton, and a number of other fibers, both natural and synthetic."
Booth gave Hodgins a blank stare, needing it explained further.
"The fibers, paired with the bleach and lye, suggests a textile warehouse of some sort," Hodgins explained, watching understanding fill the agent's eyes.
"So she's probably being held at an old clothing factory," Booth said, elated at having an idea of where she could be.
"Not necessarily a clothing factory, but you have the general idea. Also," Hodgins continued, "the 'BLEACH GAS' she mentioned in the note was chloroform. But not a small amount placed on a rag and held over someone's mouth. It was a whole barrelful placed in the bottom of the stairwell, so the fumes filled the enclosed space. The doors on all levels were also barred shut to prevent anyone from getting away," he explained, making sure Booth knew she hadn't been attacked directly.
"That makes sense," Booth replied, "Bones would've tried to fight off someone if they had snuck up on her, but since she was locked in the stairwell she didn't have the chance."
"Exactly," Hodgins agreed, knowing Brennan would've fought tooth and nail if someone had come up behind her. "One other thing, Emily King's remains showed a long-term exposure to chloroform gas, so the killer probably has a tie to the textile business and has been using it to abuse her for a number of years."
Booth nodded, knowing he was now on the lookout for an abandoned textile building. "Can you test Dava King's remains and tell me if she went through the same thing?" he asked Hodgins as he moved back into Brennan's office and toward the computer.
"Sure," Hodgins said, "it shouldn't take too long since I'm looking for one specific chemical." He hurried back to the platform to grab a sample before returning to his office to perform the test.
When Hodgins had left, Booth pulled up the FBI database, searching for abandoned textile mills and warehouses in the area while Angela hovered behind him, pacing nervously.
The search finished, popping up one result. "We've got it!" Booth said, jumping up from the chair and grabbing his cell. "I know where she is!"
