Chapter 14
Booth's Hotel Room, Thursday at 6 pm
"So what do we do next?" Brennan wondered as she popped off her high heels and sat down on the bed. Her feet were killing her and she wondered what had possessed her to wear those very unsensible shoes.
"I called Deputy Director Hacker. He said to sit tight and that he'd make a few inquiries. That works out since CSI Mendoza hasn't gotten back to you," her partner explained as he removed his suit coat and hung it up on the clothes bar outside the bathroom.
"Andrew has those kinds of connections?" The forensic anthropologist asked as she flopped onto the bed.
"Apparently. Maybe he'll get the IRS looking into Sheriff Bosch's last tax return. That large cash deposit would certainly look hinky if he didn't file it as income," Booth said as he joined her.
"I'm starving but I don't feel like going anywhere," Brennan effectively changed the subject. As if he were agreeing, Booth's stomach growled.
"I think the last thing I had to eat today was a piece of gum around noon," he said.
"That doesn't count as food unless you swallowed it," she told him.
"I was still chewing it an hour ago so no, I guess not," the G-man replied. Brennan crawled over to the nightstand and grabbed the small room service menu off the top. She was used to spending her time in expensive hotels but since she and Booth had begun a romantic relationship, she had opted to stay near him. She was now finding that a mistake as the rather lousy choices of food listed on the room service menu made her stomach less hungry.
"Anything good Bones?" Booth wondered as he tilted his head backward to look at her.
"Not especially," she replied. He rolled his eyes and turned over onto his stomach before crawling over to meet her.
"Seems everything on here has a taste of the Southwest in it," he looked at the choices.
"I was hoping for a little Italian, if they could manage it," she sighed.
"I'll call the front desk," Booth smiled and got off the bed. He grabbed the phone and punched in the number for downstairs. Brennan's cell rang at that moment and she quickly picked it up.
"Brennan,"
"Dr. Brennan, it's Oliver Mendoza. I have the information you requested,"
"That's great. What do I need to do?" She asked.
"Champ has been checked out and the vet has cleared him for travel. All you need to do is come to the Forensics lab to pick up the paperwork, fill it out, and then I'll return it to the SPCA. Then we'll have to wait for them to get back to us. I told them this was kind of a rush job since I didn't know when you'd be leaving for D.C.," the crime scene investigator told her.
"Can I pick up the paperwork now?" Brennan wanted to know.
"Yes. I don't get off shift until eight so as long we do it before I leave, then I will take the paperwork to the SPCA first thing in the morning," he explained.
"Thank you very much. See you soon," with that the call ended and she shut her phone.
"Good news?" Booth was smiling.
"Yes, we must get down to the Forensics Lab," Brennan told him.
"All right. I talked to the guy at the front desk and he says there is a nice Italian place not far from here. He gave me directions so we can head there after we get done at the Forensics Lab," her partner continued to smile.
"Excellent. Let's go!" The forensic anthropologist was excited and Booth loved seeing her that way. The last time she tried to get a dog, things hadn't gone so well. Quickly the two got their shoes back on and grabbed their coats before heading out to the SUV.
Booth pulled the large vehicle out of the hotel driveway and headed down the red light. The light changed green before they got down there and they continued on down to the next light, which wasn't that far down the road. It turned red and Booth went to depress the brake. The car did not slow and he began pumping the brakes despite having ABS. Then the dash lit up as two indicator lights came on. One meaning, he had no brake fluid, and the second indicating that the ABS system was not responding. The next thing he tried to do was use the emergency brake. A third indicator light came on to tell him it failed. The light was still red as they approached it and the distance between them and the light was closing fast. Unfortunately despite taking his foot off the gas, they weren't going to stop before passing into the intersection.
"Hang on Bones! I'm going to try something!" He yanked the wheel to the right hoping the SUV would make the turn into an empty parking lot. It did but he took the sharp turn at about thirty miles an hour. It was too fast and the SUV flipped over onto the driver's side.
"Booth!" Brennan shouted. When she got no reply, she unbuckled herself and almost fell on top of him. That's when she smelled gasoline.
To Be Continued…