-Chapter Ten: Booth-
Several hours later, Seeley Booth got out of the elevator at Temperance Brennan's floor and made his way down the hall. Tonight he was going to have his girlfriend's mac and cheese, and he couldn't wait. When he got to her door and noticed that the door was cracked open, he immediately drew his gun. He pushed the door open and wasn't expecting to see what he saw. The room was trashed and there were blood smears on several parts of the floor. Antonio Mena was lying dead in the kitchen, a knife sticking out of his chest.
"Tempe?" Booth called as he quickly cleared the living area and kitchen. "Parker?" Fear was quickly creeping inside him as he made his way into the bedrooms. What if they were dead too? He took a deep breath and pushed his and Temperance's bedroom door open with his foot. Empty. He made his way down to the spare room and pushed it open. Empty. He let out a sigh of relief and holstered his weapon. He made his way back to the living area and pulled out his phone. "This is Booth, I need a full forensics team at 415 Elmswood Drive. There's been a murder."
--
Booth felt a hand on his arm. "How are you holding up?" Cam asked as she entered the apartment. He gave her a look and she nodded. "I'm sure Doctor Brennan is fine. She can handle herself."
"Obviously." He nodded his head in the direction of Mena.
"Is that the son of a bitch who killed Rebecca?" Cam asked as she snapped on a pair of rubber gloves.
Booth winced slightly at the sound of his ex girlfriend's name. 'Yeah."
Cam knelt down next to the body and examined the wound. "Kitchen knife. It looks like it sliced through the aorta. He would have bled out fast." She picked up his hand. "Looks like he gave someone a beating." She looked up, and was at a loss at how to comfort her friend.
--
The next day, after being questioned and questioned and in the end, being taken off the case, Booth sat in his office staring at a picture of three most important people in his life. There was a knock on his door and Booth looked up quickly. Agent Sanders stood in the doorway holding a manila folder.
"Yeah?" Booth ran a hand over his face.
Sanders cleared his throat and took a step into the room. "We checked Dr. Brennan's bank account and all of her money was cleared out."
"How? I thought there was a limit on how much you could withdraw at a time."
"There is. The account was emptied over a period of hours and at different banks around the state."
Booth was silent for a moment. "Thanks Sanders." The other agent nodded and quickly left the room. Seeley sat there for a few minutes before jumping up, grabbing his coat and running out of the Hoover Building.
--
Max Keenan's head whipped towards his front door when the banging began. He quickly bounded over to the door and opened it with a grin. "Took ya long enough."
Booth pushed him out of the way and quickly searched the apartment. "Where is she Max?"
"Not here. That's for sure." Booth sent him a glare. "Alright, alright. She was here, but she left ast night."
"Where'd she go?" He demanded.
"I don't know."
"You know more than you're telling me."
Max guiltily looked around his apartment.
"I'll have you arrested for obstruction of justice." Booth threatened, his finger pushed against Max's shoulder. Max didn't blink so Booth followed his line of sight. He rushed over to the object and picked it up. It was one of Emma's many baby toys. He stared at it for a while before clearing his throat. "What happened?"
Max sighed and seemed to think about it for a minute, before sighing and motioning for Booth to sit down.
"She came to me last night, all bloody and bruised. Said that some guy broke in and tried to kill her. She said that she killed him, accidentally, and that she grabbed the kids and ran." Booth was silent while he processed this bit of information. "She was scared, in tears, Parker was in shock, Emma was hysterical, she didn't feel safe!" He took a breath. "Tempe asked me for some help." Booth looked up.
"What kind of help?" Max gave him a stern look. "Oh. That kind."
"She said she needed to disappear for a while." He looked at Booth. "For once, she wasn't thinking logically."
"But she's right. Until I get these guys, no one close to me is safe." Booth whispered. Max nodded and patted his back as he stood up, leaving Booth to stare at the pile of bloody tissues on the coffee table.