A/N: I know it's been a while. Chappie is long, does that help?
Disclaimer: I do not own the show "Bones."
Let's Make a Deal:
"In here," Cam said, leading the group into an empty conference room. Hodgins stayed outside. "I'll meet you guys back here."
"Why are we stopping here, Cam?" Brennan asked. She wanted to find Heather Taffet. If she was being truthful, she wanted to karate chop Heather Taffet until the woman was a bloody heap on the ground. But most of all, she wanted to find Booth.
"We need to plan what to do," Cam said. "If we're going to find Booth we need to work together."
Brennan bit her lip. She knew they had very little to go on. Cam was right, she couldn't do this alone. "You are correct." Turning to Angela, she asked, "Do you want to record the voicemail? Perhaps you could determine a location."
"I'll sure give it a shot, sweetie," Angela said, pulling out her own phone and getting ready to record.
She didn't want to hear it again. The first time had been awful enough. But if it would help Booth, she'd listen to it ten times. Swallowing, Brennan played the voicemail for the group.
She saw Angela's eyes fill as she listened to the message. Cam had her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. On the other hand, Sweets looked relieved. "At least we know Agent Booth is probably still alive."
"What?" Brennan asked, staring at the psychologist. "There's no way to know that!"
"Think about what they said," Sweets insisted. "The caller said Agent Booth 'is dying,' not that he's died."
"But…they could have just been saying that," Brennan said, wanting to believe him but unable to dismiss her worst fears."
Sweets shook his head. "I don't think so. Whoever this is, they want you to undergo the same kind of anxiety they went through in regards to Ms. Taffet. Also, it's unlikely they'd simply kill Agent Booth. They'd want him to suffer as well."
"I never thought I'd say I want Booth to suffer, but if it means he's still alive, I'll take it," Angela said with a shaky voice.
Hodgins stuck his head in the door. "Dr. B.? I got it set it up, we can talk to her."
Brennan nodded. As she turned to leave she said, "Heather Taffet's assistant, Norman Bear was here before things started. It bothered her for some reason. Maybe we should get some information about him."
Sweets frowned. "How are we supposed to do that if we're not involving the FBI?"
"Dude," Hodgins said, pushing the door open wider for Brennan to get through, "Doesn't anyone at the Hoover owe you for something?"
"Um…" Sweets said, looking at his shoes.
"I'll help Sweets with that," Cam said, grabbing Sweets by the arm. "We'll head back to the Jeffersonian and see what information we can find out for you."
"Thank you," Brennan said, hating the quaver in her voice. She swallowed it down. She needed her anger a lot more than she needed her fear.
As Hodgins led her to an elevator, she asked, "How did you pull this off?"
"Well," Hodgins said, punching the down button, "it wasn't very hard. She's still here, they have other prisoners here to transport. And I managed to convince the guards that we needed to question her privately about the possible murder of a law enforcement guy."
"That's all?" Brennan asked, stepping into the elevator.
"Well," Hodgins admitted as the doors closed, leaving only the two of them in the elevator, "That…and a couple fifties."
Brennan nodded. A voice in the back of her head told her she should disapprove of Hodgins bribing the guards, that Booth would have a fit if he knew. But she didn't care at the moment. If it got Booth back safe, she'd bribe every guard and police officer in the building.
Once they got to the first floor, Hodgins led her down a hallway to a door where two prison guards were standing. When they saw Hodgins, they straightened up. The one on the right looked over at Brennan. "That's the author, isn't it? Temperance Brennan?"
"Whoa," The other guard said, a stick of gum halfway to his mouth, "This is a big deal."
"Hey, Dr. Hodgins?" the first guard asked, "I know we made a deal and all, but could she throw in some autographed copies of her books? Is that possible?"
"Look, guys, we're in a hurry –" Hodgins said, glancing from one to the other.
"That's fine," Brennan said. "I'll send you the books, after we're done with this. Please, let us in."
"That's fine, ma'am," the second guard said, popping the gum into his mouth. As he opened the door and she passed him, she caught a whiff of spearmint.
"Just don't come in here, no matter what," she told them.
#
Heather Taffet sat handcuffed to a chair. She looked up as Hodgins and Brennan walked in the room, the door shutting behind them.
Her look full of contempt, she shook her head. "Now what? I gave you guys what you wanted. I'm going to be in jail for a long time. You just need to gloat?"
Brennan felt her anger spark up a notch. She went to the conference table that sat in front of the Gravedigger and slammed both her fists down on it. Taffet jumped a little, but it wasn't enough for Brennan. "Where's Booth!" she shouted.
Taffet's eyes narrowed. "Agent Booth? Why are you asking me?"
"Look," Hodgins said, his body trembling with rage as he came to stand next to his boss and friend. "I'm through with you hurting people I care about! You help us find Booth or I swear –"
"You people are crazy!" Taffet said, shaking her head. "In case you hadn't noticed, I've been in prison! What makes you think I know anything? If Agent Booth is missing, I certainly can't explain it."
Brennan snatched her phone off her purse. She set it to speakerphone and accessed the horrible voicemail, shoving the Blackberry into Taffet's face. "Explain THIS!"
As awful as it was to hear the electronic voice detail Booth's doom, the sight of color draining from Heather Taffet's face made it almost bearable. When the voicemail ended, Brennan dropped her phone on the table and grabbed Taffet's shirt, pulling the woman's face close to hers..
"You know something," she hissed. "I know you do. You'll tell us what it is or I swear I will make sure you are convicted for Booth's murder. I will manufacture evidence and perjure myself to get you the death penalty. And I will get away with it. You know I can."
"She can," Hodgins said, leaning in. "I'll help her. And you know I have money. I can make the rest of your life hell on earth. Just give me a reason."
Taffet looked from one to the other. "I – I can't let you get to her! Do whatever you want to me, I won't help you get her!"
Brennan's cell phone rang. Tears of frustration in her eyes, she pushed Taffet back into her chair and snatched up her phone. "Brennan."
"Dr. Brennan," Cam said. "We've got information on Mr. Bear. Say the word and I'll get him picked up."
"Hold on," Brennan said, her mind racing. She stared at Taffet. "I know your assistant is involved. I can have him picked up right now. Maybe he'll be willing to save his own life."
Taffet gasped. "You can't. You have no reason to –"
"Sure we can," Hodgins said. "We have enough to grab him and hold him for 48 hours. After that, well…we're good at what we do. It might be too late for Booth, but I'll spend every penny I have to get whoever you're protecting."
Taffet stared at the two of them. "Dr. Brennan?" Cam asked.
"Just a minute, Cam," Brennan said. "Last chance, Ms. Taffet."
The Gravedigger took a deep breath. "I have conditions."
"Excuse me?" Hodgins asked. "You don't get –"
"Jack," Brennan said, cutting him off. She spoke into her phone. "Cam, stand by. I'll call you back."
Hodgins stared at Brennan as she put her phone down. "What are you doing? You're going to let her –"
"We don't know how much time we have!" Brennan snapped. "How much time Booth has! We have to hurry!"
With that, she turned to Taffet and crossed her arms. "All right. Let's make a deal."