Chapter 16

She called out, but nothing happened. The footsteps eventually stopped. She felt defeated. She couldn't focus. She could barely breathe. She knew she had to hold on. She knew he would rescue her. He always had. She only wondered if she could stay alive long enough for him to find her. She felt herself slipping away. She couldn't hold on any longer.

Friday

3:36 PM

Booth's foot tapped against the floor of the car uncontrollably. He had tried to talk Casey into letting him drive, even going so far as to yell at her, but she was behind the wheel. The car sped down the crowded street with the siren blaring and the red and blue lights blinking. Booth glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the half dozen SWAT cars that were following them. Booth had insisted on leaving the minute it had been confirmed that Brennan was being held below the mall, but Casey made them way until they could get back-up. He knew she was right in wanting to wait, but he wanted to get there. He needed to see Bones. He needed to hold her in his arms. He needed to know if she was still alive.

Casey glanced over at Booth. She noticed his shaking leg, but chose not to say anything about it. She knew he was nervous. She knew he was about to come face to face with his worst nightmare. Casey turned the wheel hard to the left and the car turned the corner. Booth could see the mall in front of them. As they approached it, he saw that the parking lots were fairly crowded. There were dozens if not hundreds of shoppers inside the mall. None of them knew about the horrors going on below the stores.

Casey pulled the car into the parking lot with the SWAT cars right behind her. She slammed on the breaks in front of the main entrance to the mall. The cars surrounded her, blocking the entrance and the road. Casey and Booth both got out of the car, not bothering to shut their car doors. While the members of the SWAT team disbanded to get into position, Booth headed for the door that led into the mall, but Casey grabbed his arm.

"We have to get her!" He shouted.

"Not without taking some precautions," she replied calmly.

Casey popped the trunk of the car. She reached into the trunk and took out two bullet poof vests. She handed one to Booth.

"We are wasting time," he snarled, not taking the vest. "If he knows we're here, he could be…he could kill her."

"I am not going to risk losing one of my people because we're rushing into this. We will find her."

Booth took the vest and quickly put it on. A man, dressed in a pair of blue work overalls, came out of the mall.

"Agent Temple?" The man asked, looking at Casey. "I'm Steve Wright, the head of maintenance at the mall. We spoke on the phone. I'm still a little confused as to what's going on." He eyed the SWAT vehicles as if he were afraid.

"Mr. Wright, does this mall have a basement?"

"Sure. We keep the boilers and things down there. It runs only under a few stores."

"Are any of those stores shoe stores?" Casey asked.

"No ma'am."

"What?" Booth responded, suddenly panicked.

"We've got two shoe stores in the mall. Ones on the East side and the others on the North. The basement is on the West side."

Booth sighed, tears springing to his eyes. He had never been much of a crier, but he couldn't help it. He felt defeated all over again. They hadn't found her.

"We were wrong. She's not here."

"Which stores does the basement run under?" Casey asked, not ready to give up.

"A book store, a jewelry store, and Macys."

"Macys sell shoes," Casey stated.

Booth's tears suddenly disappeared as a sense of hope overwhelmed him. He knew there was a chance that they were too late, but he still had faith.

"How do we access the basement?" Booth questioned.

"There's access from inside the mall."

"Take us there," Booth said, already walking inside.

Casey stayed put and addressed the remaining SWAT team members that hadn't moved into a hidden position, ready to take out Collin Brown.

"I want every exit of this mall sealed off. Nobody goes in or out until you hear from me. You, you, and you," she said, pointing to three members of the SWAT team. "Come with me."

She didn't wait for a response before pulling on her own bullet proof vest and running into the mall. The two officers she had pointed to followed close behind. They caught up with Booth and Wright just as they stopped in front of a door that Casey wouldn't even have noticed existed. It was painted the same color as the wall.

"Who has access to this door?" Casey asked.

"Any of the maintenance workers," Wright answered.

"Nobody else?" Casey questioned.

"Maybe the director of the mall, I guess."

"How easy would it be for someone to get their hands on one of those keys?"

"Every maintenance worker has to hand in their keys at the end of their shift."

"Casey…" Booth said impatiently.

She held up her index finger, signaling to him that he had to be patient just a minute longer.

"Come to think of it, though one of our guys reported his keys missing a few days ago."

"How many days ago?" Casey asked.

Wright thought about it. "He reported it Wednesday afternoon."

Casey gave Booth a knowing look. Wednesday afternoon was when Collin Brown had been released.

"How often does someone go down into the basement?" Casey wondered.

"Not often. We only go down if there's a problem with the boilers or for scheduled maintenance."

"Has there been any problems or scheduled maintenance recently?" Casey questioned. She noticed Booth shuffling from foot to foot. She could tell he was anxious to break down the door.

"Not for a few weeks at least."

"Is there any security at the mall, Mr. Wright?"

"During the day we have on guard on duty. With all the local teenagers, Friday and Saturday nights, we've got two guards on duty."

"What about after hours?"

Wright shrugged. "We used to have a night guard, but with budget cuts, we only have a cop drive by every few hours or so. We've never had a problem before. Can I ask what this is about?"

He noticed Booth take out his gun.

"Mr. Wright, I'm going to ask you to unlock the door and then step back. Do not go anywhere near the door," Casey instructed as she took out her gun.

"Am I in some kind of danger?"

"No. Just stay back, sir."

With shaking hands, he took a set of keys from his belt loop and began to fumble through the many keys on the ring. Casey put her hand on Booth's arm and pulled him away slightly.

"You don't have to go," she said.

"Excuse me?"

"You don't have to go. I can take the SWAT team down with me."

"This is my partner we're talking about."

"I know. But I also know it won't be easy for you to see Dr. Brennan in the condition that she may be in and…"

"I'm going," he said. "I'm bringing her home."

She nodded in understanding.

"Get some guys in here to block off this area," she commanded to the SWAT team. One of the members got on his radio and asked for more backup.

"It's unlocked," Wright said.

"Alright. Here we go," Casey said.

She went to step forward to go through the door, but Booth stepped in front of her. She knew as head of the investigation, she should be going down the steps first to make the hard decisions that might have to be made, but she let Booth take the lead. She knew he needed to be the one to find her.

Casey took her gun out of its holster while Booth took his position at the side of the door. Six SWAT team members arrived, blocking off the area as Casey had instructed. The original three members of the SWAT team stood behind Casey with guns ready. Casey reached for the door handle. She looked at Booth and he nodded. She threw the door open and Booth stepped onto the steps. He slowly made his way down the steps, trying to make as little noise as possible. He allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He would have preferred to use a flashlight, but he knew that wasn't an option. If Collin Brown saw light, he might kill Bones and that definitely wasn't an option.

Booth crept down the stairs, knowing Casey and the SWAT team were right behind him. He got to the bottom of the steps and immediately put his back to the wall. He knew the most important element of staying alive was always making sure you knew what was behind you. Booth looked left and then right. He couldn't see much in either direction. Knowing he was going to have to rely on his gut, he chose to walk to the left. He slinked along the wall, keeping his gun in front of him at all times.

Booth stayed against the wall until he came to one of the boilers Wright had mentioned. Using it as cover, he glanced around it. He motioned with his arms to Casey that he was going to venture away from the wall. He knew moving made him an easy target, but he had no other choice. She nodded and he took a few steps away from the wall.

With his eyes finally adjusted to the dark, Booth could make out several more boilers in the middle of the room as well as storage boxes, some pieces of plywood leaned against the opposite wall, and a few crates of tools. Nothing looked out of place or out of the ordinary. It looked like a normal basement. With every step he took, Booth's heart began to sink more and more. Maybe they had been wrong. Maybe she wasn't there.

Booth was about to move on to the other side of the room when he realized he didn't hear the footsteps of Casey behind him. He slowly turned around. She was standing several feet behind him, holding something in her hands. Booth got closer so he could see what she was holding up. It was a pair of blue overalls, just like the ones Wright was wearing. Both Booth and Casey knew immediately how Collin Brown had gotten into the basement. He had dressed like a maintenance worker, stolen the keys, broken into the mall, and taken Brennan down to the basement in the middle of the night when no one was around.

Casey pointed in the other direction and Booth nodded. The SWAT team members hung back, waiting to jump to action when necessary. Booth started walking to the other side of the stairs when something caught the corner of his eye. It was something shiny. He looked at it straight on, trying to get a better view. It was wire.

"Bones," he whispered.

One end of the wire he saw was hanging from the ceiling. Brennan's wrists were tied to the other end. Just like in the video, she was hanging from her wrists. He hesitated, simply staring at her. Her body was in worse shape than he could ever have imagined. Every inch of her skin was covered in dirt, bruises, and blood. Her head hung in front of her. Her closed eyes were barely visible.

Without thinking, Booth dropped his gun and raced across the room. His breath came out in short gasps as he put his hand on her cheek. Her skin was cold and clammy. He put one arm around her, holding her up, trying to take some of the weight off her wrists. He could hear Casey saying something to him, but he couldn't comprehend a thing. All he could see was Bones.

"I need wire cutters. Scissors. Anything," he commanded.

Casey glanced around. She knew they were breaking protocol. The area still hadn't been secured, but she no longer cared about protocol.

"Cover us," she said to the SWAT team.

Still holding her gun out and ready, Casey went back to the other side of the basement and grabbed one of the crates of tools. She carried it over to Booth. She rummaged through the crate, trying to find something Booth could use to cut the wire. She could hear him talking to her. He was barely audible, but she could hear him telling her to hold on.

"Casey, I need something now," he said with a shaky voice.

Casey threw the crate aside and raced to the stairs. She bolted up the steps. As she came to the doorway, she was met with the guns from the SWAT team. They quickly stood down when they saw who it was.

"I need wire cutters," she commanded.

"I have some in my office," Wright replied.

"Get them. Now. Hurry."

Booth was trying to hold Brennan as carefully as he could. He could see the bruises. He knew she had to have broken bones. He didn't want to cause her any more damage or pain. He looked at her bruised face. He whispered her name, but there was no response. He hadn't checked. He hadn't checked for a pulse because he wasn't sure what he would do if he didn't find one. He didn't know if she was dead or alive.

"I've got some wire cutters," Casey said, racing down the steps.

"Cut her down. I've got her."

Casey approached Brennan's body, but realized quickly that she was too short. She ran over to the crate she had tossed aside, turned it upside-down, and stepped onto it. She lined up the wire between the teeth of the wire cutters and pressed down. Brennan's body fell into Booth's arms. He held onto her, lowering her slowly to the floor. He cradled her head, brushing the hair away from her face.

"Is she…" Casey began.

"Get the medics," Booth replied. He surprised himself with how calm he was being when inside he felt like he wanted to rip something to shreds and lay down on the floor and sob at the same time.

One of the SWAT team radioed in for a medic. Casey knelt down beside Booth as he reached for her neck, searching for a pulse.

Author's Note: Ok, so I know you all have been waiting a while for this. I've been struggling with writing this chapter mainly because I couldn't decide if it was too early for Booth to find Bones, but I'm finally happy with it and I can tell you that there is a lot more to come!