Chapter 14.
Booth spit out his coffee when he realized what was going on. "Is she insane?"
"Well she fits in with the rest of the team then." Hodgins said following Booth out the door.
"Guys wait." Angela said as she and the other techs began to follow the activity on the screen. They waited to see what she was saying. "There's activity. Mark! Can you locate that. Look it's in that area."
The map on the screen started to blink and zoom in and eliminate other devices as it continued to narrow in.
"We need to go after Emma." Sweets said with growing concern.
"Then the best way to help her is to go after this server." Angela said. "You can shut down whatever Pelant is doing."
They didn't like it as much as going after Emma directly but they put their faith in Angela.
"What's the general area and we'll head that way."
"No as soon as Pelant sees you guys leave he'll be alerted, we need the address first." Angela specified.
The team didn't like that gap and the feeling of standing useless while they watched Emma stay in plain sight on screen, making sure to be caught by Pelant's cameras.
"Got it!" Mark shouted and rattled off the address.
Booth and Hodgins began to leave when Sweets began to follow. Hodgins knew he could disable the server if need be.
"Sweets maybe it's best to wait here." Booth suggested.
"Booth I'm fine." Sweets said rolling his eyes.
"If Pelant sees you leave he will take you out." Booth said as he and Hodgins darted towards the car. Sweets considered an idea.
"Hey, tech guys, bring up footage of the doors with no one there, loop it so Pelant won't see them leaving." Angie shouted and immediately they did as asked.
"Now that is truly providing some cover." Cam said smiling at Angela's work.
"Yeah I…" Angela paused looking around. "Where's Sweets?"
"Oh God." Cam said and Brennan pointed to the screen.
The three of them looked up and saw Sweets on a nearby street corner with fingers in his ears and his tongue sticking out, antagonizing Pelant.
"What the hell is he doing?" Angela asked as they watched Sweets continue down the street.
Cam sighed. "He's drawing attention to himself to take the heat off Emma."
"Alright, I'm tracking them both, maybe if Pelant sends something their way then I can intervene." Angela said frustrated.
"Mrs. Montenegro, I'm picking up activity that is suggesting that Mr. Pelant is tracking Agent Booth and Dr. Hodgins."
"Fantastic." Angela said sarcastically and began barking orders to intervene on their part as well. Cam and Brennan stood by, feeling helpless.
Initially Sweets was keeping to the same route as Emma since it was the most public. The walking was becoming exhausted and his breathing was becoming laborious from his broken ribs. He found himself slowing down and wondered if he were up to this task.
Sweets head shot up as he heard two car horns honk and the boom of an impact of two cars colliding one of which came to a hault at the corner Sweets had just walked away from. The threat of Pelant was obvious. His cell rang.
"If you're going to be stupid and be out there you have to keep moving. I've got your back but move!" Angela said before cutting off the call abruptly, she sounded busy.
Sweets sucked in a painful cold breath of air and kept walking, the thought that Angela had just some how saved him by a few seconds not lost on him.
I promised Emma nothing would happen. He reminded himself thinking of Angela calling his actions stupid.
"We almost there?" Hodgins asked as the fourth light they approached turned green in both directions, Booth avoiding a near collision, again.
"I think so." Booth said, his jaw tight.
"You think so?" Hodgins asked hanging on to the "oh shit" car handle.
"I'm kind of busy watching the road Hodgins." Booth said and swerved to miss a driver watching only his GPS.
"Yeah, that's good." Hodgins said trying to hide his nevousness.
"Angela." A breathless Sweets called into the phone. He felt like he was going to throw up but tried to sound normal.
"Sweets! You sound awful, you should…" Angela began in a concerned voice. "No no, the next light!" She shouted to the tech, pointing to the screen. "Sweets, move, now, ten feet."
Sweets sighed as he felt like he was going to die if he moved anymore. He did as he was told and soon enough an out of control self-motorized street sweep took the corner sharply, crashing into the closed corner upscale bakery.
"Sweets, can you find a cab?" Angela asked.
"Can I trust one?" He asked.
"No I suspect not."
Cam now took over shouting directions to the techs. She felt like it was a video game she was getting good at.
"Can you still see Emma?" Sweets asked feeling like his lung was going to pop.
"Yes, she's moving faster than you." Angela said but watched Sweets on the screen thru a series of traffic and surveillance cameras. She saw how much he was struggling but was pretending not to since he knew she was watching. "Oh no, what is she doing?" Angela said watching Emma.
"What, what is it?" Sweets asked.
"She's going into an apartment, why isn't she staying out in the open?" Angela asked confused.
"What's the address?" Sweets asked.
"There, over there! The next building!" Hodgins said as Mark the tech directed them over a secure line.
Booth and Hodgins leapt from the SUV heading as fast as their feet would allow towards and old enormous brick warehouse building in a not so fabulous neighborhood.
They entered the building which was dark and generally empty.
"Where do we go?" Booth asked. "This place is huge."
"I don't know, where would a deranged psychopath hide a sizeable server?" Hodgins asked.
"Maybe Sweets has an idea." Booth said calling Sweets. After a few moments he got voicemail and hung up. "Dammit, he didn't answer."
Booth's phone rang and he thought Sweets was calling him back but it was Breannan.
"Bones, what is it?"
"Angela is tracking activity on that building. Pelant knows you are in the building, you need to find the device NOW."
"What, why…" Booth began to ask but knowing Pelant he probably had the place booby trapped.
"Angela is intervening but I don't know how long." Brennan shouted in the phone. Booth could hear Angela shouting in the back ground at the Pelant computer.
"That's fine Bones but this place is twenty stories tall and is huge." Booth said as he and Hodgins continued to walk around searching.
"Do we have anything?" Breannan asked desperately now that the techie team had discovered the series of booby trap bombs Pelant had laid thru the building. They were working to block the signals to but if they missed one, Booth and Hodgins were done.
"All I can tell you is the signal from the server moves." Mark said tapping his mouse wildly as though he were playing a computer game, same as Angela.
"Moving?" Cam asked. "How is it moving, Pelant can't move it."
"An elevator!" Brennan shouted.
Hodgins and Booth ran to the elevator and pressed the button. The loud industrial warehouse elevator fired up, the only thing that seemed to have power in the building. The doors dinged open and the large server lay before them, powered into the electical panel of the elevator.
"Alright, where is something to take it out with?" Booth said looking for a pipe.
"No!" Hodgins shouted. "It could have a trip on it. Let me see." Hodgins went closer to the machine and examined it, flipping switches. He pulled out his own tablet and plugged into it. Soon Angela was connected to the device and within minutes she had shut it down.
Hodgins and Booth sighed a huge breath of relief.
"I really wanted to beat the crap out of something." Booth said from outside the elevator doors. "If it was even just a machine."
"Well we can keep this baby, really get into Pelant's head. Oh, my! Maybe Angela can get files off here for that Ghost Killer!"
Hodgins laughed when a whirring sound and spark let off. Booth reached in the elevator and pulled Hodgins out just in time for the cord above to snap and the elevator car to crash into a basement three floors down. A burst of flame shot thru the shaft as they were thrown back.
The flame dissipated as it went thru the vent above. Hodgins looked at Booth.
"Wow, thanks." He said.
"Yeah, but there went any chance of finding the ghost killer." Booth said looking down the shaft.
Booth's phone rang again.
"Are you guys okay?" Angela asked breathless.
"Yeah, we're fine." Booth said with a heavy breath.
He could hear the sighs of relief from Angela, Cam and Brennan.
"Tell Sweets he was right." Booth said with a smile as he and Hodgins headed for the door.
"Yeah, about that…" Angela began.
Booth was filled with a bad feeling.
"After you left, he went after Emma." Angela began. "I lost sight of him, a few minutes ago, I was trying to keep you guys from blowing up!" She said though she was angry she couldn't do two very difficult things at once. "But he was okay, last time I saw him." She did not feel consoled by her own words.
"Where was he heading?" Booth asked, his jaw clenched.
"I gave him Emma's address. Why?"
"I just tried to call him and he didn't answer." Booth said, that bad feeling blooming.