Chapter 12
She felt a sharp pain on her cheek. She had been struck hard. The next blow came to her chest. She felt her ribs crack. The pain was too overwhelming. She was tired of feeling. She was tired of thinking. She was tired of trying to figure out what was going and why she was there. She tried to fight her blinding headache and the heaviness of her eyes, but she let her eyelids close. She fell into unconsciousness.
Thursday
9:48 PM
Booth walked back into Brennan's office, without really knowing what he was doing or why he was doing it. All he knew was he did not want to be anywhere near Casey Temple. He knew he had no reason to dislike her, but he still did. He wanted to be in charge of the investigation. He deserved to be in charge of the investigation. It wasn't because he wanted the credit or wanted to go down in the books as having another arrest. Booth needed to be in charge to feel like he was doing something to find her. He needed her to know that he was doing absolutely everything in his power to get her back. Having Casey around was taking that away from him.
Booth headed straight for Brennan's couch. He was mentally and physically exhausted. He counted how much sleep he had had. In forty-eight hours, he had slept less than three hours. He knew he was running on pure adrenaline. He knew he should lie down and try to sleep, but he didn't want to sleep. Sleeping would make him feel guilty. He couldn't sleep. He had to find some way to find Brennan.
"Agent Booth?" Casey said from the doorway.
"Go away," Booth replied.
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Can't you take a hint?" Booth asked, without turning around. "You're not exactly on my list of people I want to see right now."
"I know you don't like me and I know why. I can't help that they put me in charge of your partner's disappearance, but working against each other like this is not helping. We don't need to be friends, but we do need to work together. Because every moment we waste hating each other, is a moment we could be using to her."
Booth sighed. He knew she was right.
"What do you want?"
"They found the car."
Booth stood up immediately, suddenly much more interested in talking to her. "The Ford Expedition? Are you sure?"
"2004 champagne colored Ford Expedition with matching plates."
"Where was it found?"
"A highway patrolman found it in a ditch right off the highway during his usual patrol. When he ran the plates, he found the APB you put on the car. We've got a team on the way now."
"Did they find Bones?"
"There was no one in the car."
"Let's go," Booth said, walking past her out the door. "Hodgins!"
"Why are you calling for Dr. Hodgins?" Casey asked as she followed him.
"Because he's going with us to look at the car."
"Dr. Hodgins isn't an investigator. We will bring the evidence back to the FBI lab and…"
"Hodgins is the best bug, slime, and particulate finder you can find. If anyone can find evidence from that car, it's him."
"I have a team of highly qualified forensic scientists on their way to the car right now. I guarantee you that they can find anything that Dr. Hodgins can find."
"You called?" Hodgins said, approaching them.
"They found the car," Booth replied.
"I'll get my things," Hodgins responded, starting to walk away.
"Wait," Casey said. "I'm in charge here. We won't be needing your services, Dr. Hodgins. If you so choose, you can take a look at the evidence we find once it is brought back to the FBI crime lab."
"That evidence is coming back to the Jeffersonian," Hodgins stated.
"No, it will be going back to the FBI. This is an FBI case."
"I really don't like her," Hodgins said, walking away.
"Hodgins wait," Booth said. He turned to look at Casey, knowing he was going to pull out all the stops. If he had to beg, he'd beg. "Hodgins and the rest of the squints are the best and nobody wants to find Bones more than they do. Let them do what they do best."
Casey put her hands on her hips. "Fine, but I want to be kept in the loop. I'm still in charge of this investigation."
"Can I get my things now?" Hodgins asked. Booth nodded and Hodgins walked away.
"Thank you," Booth said. "Being a part of this investigation means a lot to them."
"It means a lot to you, too," Casey commented.
"She's my partner."
"Uh-huh."
"We're just partners."
"Are you sure?"
Hodgins appeared next to them with his bag slung over shoulder.
"Ready to go?" Hodgins asked.
11:15 PM
The scene was teaming with agents. Just as the highway patrolman had said, the Ford Explorer had been found right off the side of the road in a ditch. If it was meant to be hidden, the person trying to hide it hadn't done a good job. It was clearly visible from the highway, which made Booth think that it wasn't meant to hidden. It was meant to be found.
The car was bathed in lights from the floodlights that had been erected to help the agents with the scene. The crime scene unit that Casey had mobilized was going over the vehicle with a fine tooth comb. Booth knew it would have been easier for them to take the whole car back to the FBI lab, but that would take time and he didn't want to take any more time. Booth could hear agents shouting back and forth at one another and he could hear the sounds of dogs barking. He knew what the dogs were for. They were cadaver dogs, looking for any dead bodies in the area. He couldn't think about them. All he could concentrate was the car.
Booth stared at the pool of blood that was formed on the floor of the backseat of the Explorer. He knew it would take time for the DNA to be tested, but he didn't need DNA to tell him that the blood belonged to Brennan.
"I'm going to hitch a ride back to the lab with one of these FBI guys," Hodgins said, approaching Booth. He held up a bag of various test tubes and small evidence bags. "I'm going to start analyzing some of the evidence. I was able to find at least two distinct sets of hairs as well as particulates from some type of clothing on the front seat. Of course, considering the vehicle was stolen, there's no telling whether this evidence belongs to the actual owners or the person who stole the car. It will take some time to sort it all out, but I'll work as fast as I can."
"I know you will. Thanks Hodgins."
Hodgins slapped Booth on the back. "Hang in there, man. I'll call you as soon as I know anything."
"I'll be expecting a call as well, Dr. Hodgins," Casey said, approaching them both. "Remember, I'm still in charge."
"I'm Booth's squint. Not yours," Hodgins said.
"Play nice, Hodgins," Booth warned.
"I don't see why."
"Because we all have the same goal, Dr. Hodgins," Casey responded. "We're all trying to find Dr. Brennan."
"That doesn't mean I have to be nice." Hodgins turned to Booth. "I'll see you back at the lab."
"He really is loyal to you, isn't he? They all are," Casey observed as soon as Hodgins had walked away.
"We're all loyal to each other. We've all been through a lot together," Booth replied. "Have they found anything else?"
"When we get the DNA test back, we'll know if the blood did actually belong to Dr. Brennan. I made sure to put a rush on it, so we should have it back soon. I've got guys going over every inch of the surrounding area with cadaver dogs, but they haven't found anything yet."
"He won't kill her."
"Who?"
"Collin Brown?"
"Agent Booth, I know you have some…strange obsession with Collin Brown being the perpetrator in this case, but we still don't know…"
"I know. And you do too."
"No, I don't. There is no evidence linking him to the crime. Now, I will tell you that we are concentrating on him as a suspect and we're looking into the evidence to see if we can find anything to connect Collin Brown to the crime, but until then, he is a suspect and that's it."
"You sound like her."
"Like who?"
"Bones. She doesn't do anything without evidence. She doesn't believe in gut."
"Then that's where we differ, Agent Booth, because I do believe in gut."
"Well, my gut is saying that we're looking for Collin Brown." He looked at her, reading her face. "You're not convinced."
"It's not that I don't believe you or your gut," Casey replied. "I just refuse to dismiss the idea that it could be somebody else."
"If you have another suspect in this case, I'd be glad to hear it."
"I don't have another suspect yet, but what if it isn't Collin Brown and we're wasting all of our time looking for him? What if it's someone else and every minute we waste looking for Brown is a minute your partner doesn't have?"
"It's him," Booth said, nearly whispering. He suddenly wasn't so sure. He knew Casey could be right. Someone else could have Bones and he was too blind to see it.
"Alright. For arguments sake, let's say Collin Brown is our perp. How do you know he hasn't killed her yet?"
"Because I know Creepy. And I know Bones."
"He's a serial killer," Casey responded. "And he's changed his MO. I've got psychologists working on his profile right now. According to them, everything we know about Collin Brown mine as well be thrown out. He's not the same man he was back then. His pattern of finding his victim is different so who is to say that how he chooses to kill his victim won't be different?"
"You're right, but my psychologist knows something yours doesn't."
"Your psychologist? So now you don't just have your lab people, but you have a psychologist too?" She sighed. "What does your psychologist know that my team of experts doesn't?"
"Collin Brown is doing this to torture me. He took Bones to get back at me for putting him away. That's how I know she's still alive. Because as long as she's alive, he's still hurting both of us. The minute she dies, the game is over and he doesn't want the game to be over."
"That's an interesting theory, Agent Booth."
"You can thank Dr. Sweets for that," Booth said.
"Agent Temple," a young agent said, walking up to Casey.
"Yes?" She asked.
"We got the DNA results back on the blood."
"And?"
"There were two different blood types."
"Were you able to match them?"
"One belongs to Dr. Brennan. The other belongs to a recently released prisoner named Collin Brown."
"He does have her," Casey stated.
"I knew it," Booth replied. "So how do we find her?"
"I've got people looking at where Brown grew up and where he lived before he went to prison. Maybe we'll get lucky and find where he's keeping her."
"Bones and I already checked into all of that back when we found out he was being released from prison. He's got no connection to his life before prison. His old house was turned into a mall. If you read his file, you would know that."
"I did know that, Agent Booth. But now this is a kidnapping investigation and we have to start thinking outside of the box."
"I'm not wasting time looking into something that won't help me find my partner!"
"I am the lead on this investigation and I will decide what we look at and what we don't. I realize that looking into his old homes is a stretch, but that's all we have right now."
"That's not all we have. We have the car. We have the fibers."
"Then maybe we'll get lucky and your Dr. Hodgins will find something for us with the fibers."
"If anyone can find something, it's Hodgins."
"Fine."
"Fine."
Booth huffed and stormed off. He did not like Casey Temple.
Author's Note: Well, all I have to say is thank you for reading and thank you for the reviews! More to come soon!
