Chapter 8

She knew if she had any chance of freeing herself, she was going to have to try to move. Her wrists and arms were almost useless. She had lost feeling in both her arms except for the sharp pain that had intensified in her wrists from being bound. Knowing that, she had to concentrate on the lower half of her body. Slowly, she moved her right leg. She could feel something solid beneath her foot. It was obviously some type of floor. She had her shoes on so it made it difficult to tell, but she guessed it was cement. That meant she was most likely somewhere indoors. She didn't know if that would help her get out, but it was a start.

*****

Wednesday

3:11 PM

Brennan braced herself on the bench in the back of the van as it bounced over the road. She took out her phone and dialed Cam at the lab.

"Dr. Saroyan," Cam answered.

"It's Brennan," Brennan said. "I have the body. We should be at the Jeffersonian in ten minutes."

"We're ready and waiting for you Dr. Brennan."

"I want to make sure that there is no chance of contamination of the evidence. I want Hodgins ready to analyze particulates and…"

"We have in under control, Dr. Brennan. And remember, I am the one in charge."

"I know that. I just want to make sure…"

Brennan heard Cam laugh. "We'll see you in ten minutes, Dr. Brennan."

The phone went dead. Brennan looked at it as if she couldn't believe that Cam had hung up on her. Slightly annoyed, Brennan was about to put her phone away in her pocket when the van made a sharp right turn. She heard the sounds of tires screeching and she felt the impact of something hitting the side of the van. The last thing she remembered was being thrown against the wall before being knocked unconscious.

*****

3:55 PM

With all the traffic Booth hit on the highway, it took him nearly forty-five minutes to get to Parker's school from where he was. He was cursing loudly to himself as he pulled up at the curb in front of the school. He knew it was a no parking zone, but all he could see in his mind was a picture of Parker sitting alone inside the school just waiting to be picked up. He hated to think that he was disappointing Parker like his father had disappointed him so many times.

Booth didn't even bother to turn off the car as he got out, and ran towards the building. He reached for the door handle and pulled, but it was locked.
"Damn it!" He shouted. He cupped his hands against the glass doors and looked inside, trying to see if anyone was inside. Booth banged loudly on the doors. A minute later, a woman appeared at the door. She opened it a crack.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"I'm Seeley Booth," he answered.

"Ah…Mr. Booth. I'm Mrs. Porter, the secretary." She opened the door a little bit more.

"Yes, Mrs. Porter, of course. I'm here to pick up my son Parker."

"I'm sorry, but Parker's already been picked up by his mother," she explained.

"That's not possible. I got a call from the school saying I needed to pick up my son…that Rebecca couldn't make it."

"There are no students left in the building. I saw Rebecca myself, Mr. Booth. She picked up Parker just like she does every day."

"Then why did the school call me?"

"I'm the one who calls parents, Mr. Booth when there's a problem with students needing to be picked up. I assure you that I never called you to pick up Parker."

Booth shook his head, thoroughly confused.

"But I got a call."

"I'm sorry…I don't…"

Booth took out his phone and speed dialed Rebecca.

"Rebecca, it's Seeley," he said when she answered.

"Seeley, what's going on?"

"Do you have Parker?"

"Of course I have Parker. Why wouldn't I?"

"I…I got a call from the school…"

"From the school? What's going on at the school?"

"Nothing…I…I just wanted to make sure you had him."

"Well, I have him. He's playing legos in his room. Do you want to talk to him?"

"No…not right now. I don't want to disturb him. Keep him safe, Rebecca."

"Seeley, is something wrong?"

"I don't know yet."

"Should I be worried?"

"No. Just keep Parker with you." His phone began to beep and he knew he had another call coming in. "Rebecca, I gotta go. I'll call you later." He pressed a button and put the phone back to his ear.

"Booth," he said, answering the call.

"It's Cam."

"Hey Cam. Look, can I call you back in five? I've got…"

"Seeley, something happened."

"What? Have you guys found something already because Bones must have only gotten there twenty minutes ago…"

"Seeley…"

"What?"

"Dr. Brennan never arrived at the Jeffersonian." He was so stunned he opened his mouth, but no words came out. "Seeley, did you hear what I said?"

"What do you mean she never arrived? She was with the coroners and the body. She should have been there twenty minutes ago."

"I know."

"Then where is she? Where's the van? Where's the body?"

"The van was in an accident. They found it just a few blocks from the lab."

"Where's Bones? Is she alright?" Panic began to set in. The uneasy feeling Booth had in his gut traveled to his heart.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? Is she alright or not? Was she injured in the accident?"

"I don't know yet."

"Then what do you know, Cam?" He hadn't meant to be so harsh, but he wanted answers.

"All I know is that there are…there are bodies, Seeley. Both of the coroners appear to have died on impact, but there was a third body found. It was burned."

"Burned? Was there a car fire?"

"No. According to the police, someone burned the victim after the accident. I'm on my way there now to see if I can…identify the remains."

"It can't…it can't be Bones. I mean…she was…she was traveling with a body. It has to be the body, right?"

"I can't answer that. At least not until I get a look at the crime scene. I should be there in less than five."

"Text me the address. I'll be there."

As if on autopilot, Booth hung up and headed for his car.

"Mr. Booth, is everything ok?" The secretary called out. Booth ignored her and got into his car. He immediately turned on the siren and looked down at the address Cam texted him. He sped away, wondering what the hell was going on.

*****

4:17 PM

With his siren on and lights flashing, Booth made it to the scene of the crash in just twenty minutes. He parked his car behind a dozen police cars and, flashing his badge to anyone who tried to stop him. He ducked under the yellow crime scene tape and ran over to the van. He originally began running scenarios through his head. The van had obviously been hit from the side and had flipped and then skid until it hit a building on the opposite side of the street. The front of the van had been squished like an accordion against the building.

Booth could smell the smoke in the air as he walked around the side of the van and saw Cam kneeling beside the badly burned remains. He glanced around quickly, seeing the usual commotion going on all around them. There were firefighters who had obviously put out the fire and police trying to keep order. A small group of onlookers had formed outside of the yellow tape, curious as to what was going on. Booth, though, had only one focus. He couldn't take his eyes off the remains. He slowly approached Cam from behind.

"Is it her?" Booth asked quietly.

Cam turned around and stood up to face him.

"Bones aren't my specialty," Cam replied. "We should take these remains back to the lab and…"

"Is it her?" Booth repeated through gritted teeth.

Cam looked back down at the remains and then back to Booth. "The body is badly damaged. It will be difficult to…"

"Cam…" She could see in his face that he needed to know. She was just afraid she didn't have the answer he wanted.

"The victim is a female. Same approximate height as…Dr. Brennan."

Booth swallowed a hard lump in his throat. He felt like his air supply was being cut off. He couldn't breathe. Cam leaned closer to the remains and ran her gloved fingers over what was left of the body.

"Please," he whispered.

"Looking at what remains of the pelvis and hips, I feel comfortable saying that this woman has given birth."

"Then it's not her."

Cam shook her head. "It's not her." Booth let out a sigh of relief. "Although we'll have to do a proper identification at the lab, my guess is this is the remains of your exhumed victim."

"If it's not Bones, where is she?"

"That I don't know."

Booth walked around the van and concentrated on the side that was hit. Cam walked beside him. A police officer approached them both.

"I'm Officer Bolton," the officer said.

"Special Agent Booth," Booth said. "What do we have?"

"A car, most likely an SVU or a truck of some kind came down this side street and struck the van from the side, causing the van to flip. Looks like the two men up front were killed almost immediately on impact. The third victim looks to have been removed from the van and set on fire."

"What about the woman in the van?"

"My guess? Whoever struck the van took the woman either to dump her remains somewhere else or to take her. Although how anyone could survive a crash like this is beyond me. But my opinion doesn't matter anymore because according to your guys, we're turning this case over to the feds. Something about that person being an important doctor or something."

"That important doctor is my partner," Booth snarled.

"Tough break, man," the officer said before walking away.

"None of this makes any sense," Cam commented. "Why would someone hit the van and only burn the victim that was already dead? Why leave the coroners intact? And why take Dr. Brennan?"

Booth ignored her and walked to the back of the van and peered inside. The coffin was lying open and was turned onto its side. The smell of death permeated out of the van, but Booth ignored it. He glanced around, looking for a sign of a struggle or anything that would help him figure out what happened to Bones. He pointed to a stain on the side of the van.

"There's blood. It could belong to Bones."

"I'll make sure forensics gets a sample. We'll run a DNA test."

"There's no sign of a struggle," Booth noted.

"Dr. Brennan wouldn't have gone without a fight," Cam stated.

"If she were conscious…or alive."

"This still doesn't make any sense," Cam said, trying to get Booth's mind off that fact that Brennan could have been dead. If she made him concentrate on the facts, they might be able to figure out what happened.

"Whoever did this did it to destroy evidence," Booth stated.

"Evidence of what?"

"Of what Collin Brown did."

"What?"

The realization of what had happened hit Booth. It was like a tidal wave knocking him backwards. He felt the bile rising in his throat as the anger boiled through him.

"Oh my God."

"What?"

"I know what happened to Bones."

"What happened?"

"Collin Brown."

"What? Booth, you're not making any sense." She had seen that look on his face many times. He was deep in thought and he was angry and incredibly scared.

"Collin Brown kidnapped her."

Cam sighed. "Look, Booth, I know you hate this guy, but he was just released from prison hours ago and the odds that he orchestrated this whole thing…"

"I know it's him," Booth said matter of factly. "I had a bad feeling about him from the beginning. He knew we'd find some way to put him back in prison and the only way to stop us is to destroy the evidence so he burned the victim that he already killed so we couldn't use her remains against him."

"That doesn't explain what happened to Dr. Brennan."

"He's a serial killer, Cam. He can't help but kill. He said it himself, he's been following my career and that includes Bones' career, too. He's been keeping tabs on her. It only makes sense that she would be his next victim. He has her."

"Booth…"

"He has her, Cam. I know it. I can feel it."

She sighed. "Ok. I believe you. What do you want to do?"

"I want to get all of this back to the lab. I want Hodgins to figure out what kind of car hit the van. I want to know everything about those coroners. I want to know where Collin Brown was supposed to be staying after he got out of prison. I want to get everything we can get so we can find her before this bastard puts his hands on her. I want everything done fast, but with incredible accuracy."

"I'll personally oversee the forensics team."

"Thank you."

"We'll find her, Booth."

Booth nodded and went back to the charred remains, silently thankful that they weren't Bones. He only hoped he found her before something equally as terrible happened.

Author's Note: Let the drama begin! I know you've been waiting a while for this so thank you for sticking with me for the beginning of this story. I hope you enjoyed it!