Here we are... the 9th installment in the Saint in the Shadows Series
Quick recap... Stories, in order...
Saint in the Shadows
Spaces in Between
Shades of Grace
Shadows in the Sun
Saints, Sinners, and Saviors
Something is Lost
Space in the Soul
So It Goes
Sense of Danger
The story begins approximately 4 months and a couple of weeks after the previous story... Enjoy... Let me know what you think.
July 2nd- 10:30am
The large black SUV pulled up to the apartment building, the windows reflected the lights on the Metro Police's vehicles, along with one or two FBI issue vehicles that were pulled up to the curb. The occupant pulled her hair up into a ponytail, glancing to her passenger as he gave her an impatient glare. "Agent Harding, if you'd like to wait outside, that would be more than alright by me."
"Can we just get inside, please?" He muttered with an irritated grumble as she climbed from her seat and moved to the back of the SUV.
"You're just irritated because I insisted on driving." She said, rolling her eyes. "I am thoroughly looking forward to Agent Fitzgerald's return. At least he's polite and patient." She said, opening the back hatch.
"That's because he's been in Chicago for a week, and you haven't been getting..." Harding stopped, remembering for a moment who he was talking to. "Sorry." He said sheepishly, knowing that his remark would have been completely inappropriate to say to the young woman that he had known since she was a little girl. Her banter was addictive like her mother's and while his partner had been away for nearly four months, her temporary replacement was a near replica.
"Thought you were talking to my mother there again, didn't you?" Antonia said, a slight smirk on her face as she pulled her bag from the back of the SUV, shouldered it and closed the hatch, all the while throwing him a humored glance.
"Just hush and get inside the damn building." He said, smiling slightly at her as she moved in front of him and climbed the steps of the apartment building. Harding could hear the voices of the police officers on the landing outside of the apartment as they approached the proper floor, and immediately recognized the voice. "Crap." He mumbled.
"What?" Antonia asked, stepping onto the landing, she spied the object of Harding's exclamation, and let out a slight laugh. "Look at that, you're surrounded." She said, glancing back to Harding as he rolled his eyes. "Officer Booth." Antonia said, moving toward the apartment, Grace glanced to her sister and smiled.
"Doctor Booth." She smiled, and turned to Harding. "Agent Harding."
"Officer Harford." Antonia said, shaking her sister's partner's hand. She glanced to Grace and smiled. "What do we have?"
"Husband and wife, late thirties. Bound, gagged, and they look like they were tortured before they were shot. It's a pretty bad scene." Grace said. She watched Antonia slip on a pair of gloves, completely unaffected by her sister's description.
"Who called it in?" Harding asked.
"Neighbor heard some banging around up here, and then there was nothing. Looks like they've been dead for at least a day, maybe two. We put an APB out for their son, 12 years old. We only knew that they had a kid because of the pictures on the walls, and we're in the process of notifying next of kin."
"Okay." Antonia nodded. She glanced to Harding and he nodded. "Are you guys sticking around for a bit?" She asked, glancing in her bag for another set of gloves.
"Nah, they called in you guys, so we're off scene now. I just wanted to say hey. Aiden's coming home this afternoon, right?" She asked, watching the smile on her sister's face appear.
"Yes." She smiled, hearing Harding's huff of frustration. "Just go inside, alright?" She said, pushing the door open with her gloved hand. "Go on, take some notes. I'll be right in... and put some damn gloves on." She grumbled, tossing him the gloves. He caught them and shook his head, then walked into the apartment. "He misses Dad."
"I miss your mother more!" He called from inside the apartment. "She's nicer to me than you are."
"Just take notes, Ace." Antonia said with a sigh. "I'll be glad when everyone is home where they belong. That way I can spend my days in the lab doing real work instead of babysitting FBI agents at crime scenes." She said, loud enough for Harding to hear her. "Or at least babysitting an FBI agent that doesn't treat me like a little kid."
"One more week for Mom and Dad." Grace said with a smile. "I think Mom is ready to be home."
"Only because Dad has been driving her up one wall, and down the other." Antonia said, glancing into the apartment, she caught sight of Harding's glare. "I have to get in there before he throws a fit." Antonia said, hearing Harding mocking her inside the apartment. "What's that, Agent Harding?" She said as she walked into the apartment, hearing her sister's giggle. "Yeah, that's what I thought." She said, as Harding mumbled something under his breath and they began their examination of the crime scene.
Grace was walking down the steps of the apartment when her phone rang in her pocket. She glanced to her partner and flashed a smile of apology. "Booth." She said into the line as she waited for the response.
"How about powder blue?" The voice came through the line, and Grace rolled her eyes.
"If you wear a powder blue tuxedo at our wedding, Goof. You're going to be up there alone. You own a black tuxedo with a black tie. Why is this even a talking point? You don't even have to rent one."
"But I want some color..."
"Keep offering up these awful ideas, and you're going to have black and blue, but it'll be on your eye." She teased.
"So tiny, but so violent." Jack teased. "Where are you, firecracker?"
"Leaving a crime scene."
"Is the great Doctor Booth on the scene?" He asked, his voice filled with humor.
"Yes. Though she's looking a little under the weather."
Jack chuckled. "A week without Aiden, and she's withering away."
"I don't think she eats when he's not around." She said thoughtfully. "Hey, I have to go back to work. If I come home and find a powder blue tuxedo in our apartment, you better tell your parents to change the sheets in their guest house." Grace said, climbing into her police cruiser, her partner also climbing in on his side.
"I'm not moving back into the guest house." He laughed.
"No, but I might. Your parents have a swimming pool, and it's 95 degrees out here." She said as she started the car. "Alright, hanging up. Love you, Goof."
"Love you, Gracie K." Jack said, his smile in his voice as the phone disconnected.
Antonia walked through the apartment methodically. She had seen the bodies of the victims, their blood staining the floor of the kitchen where they were bound, the violence of the act giving her a knot in her stomach as she stepped away from the scene to assess the life and surroundings of the victims. They appeared to be a family with money. The apartment was located in one of the more elite neighborhoods of the city. From what she could tell from the man's home office, he was a surgeon, as his bookshelves were lined with medical journals and accolades from this hospital or that.
The wife was a bit of a mystery, though Antonia could see from the way the apartment was decorated that she was interested in fine art and interior design. She was considerably younger than the man based on photographs, perhaps a second wife, or even third. The curtains on the windows were new, and the paint appeared to be a fresh coat, so it occurred to her that the family had not lived in the apartment long. She wandered down the hallway, avoiding the flash of the camera as the FBI agents who were milling about in her crime scene took copious photos of the scene as she requested.
She turned into the bedroom of the young boy, a large room by most standards, it struck her as odd that there was a second bed in the room. It wasn't decorated with anything fancy, and almost seemed out of place in the room, and Antonia stood in the boy's bedroom trying to gauge a clue of any kind of where he could be. It was possible that he was with a friend or family member, and she hoped that it was the case. Her eyes scanned the room, cataloguing everything from the way the second drawer in the dresser was slightly open, to the way the bed had been half made. She stepped to the second bed, noting that there was a small lump in the blankets, and with a gloved hand gently pulled back the covers.
Hidden beneath the blanket was a small pink and white stuffed bunny. It was well worn and loved, hiding among the sheets and blankets as if placed there lovingly by a child. She picked up the toy and ran her gloved finger over the patches of fur, the small tear in the seam where the ear met the head, and the tip of the ear, where it appeared a child nibbled upon it when nervous.
"So now you're playing with toys?" Harding's voice made her jump, her eyes moving to him as she noticed that she had a tightness in her throat. He could see the look in her eyes and knew that she was upset. "What's up? I didn't mean to startle you."
"Where's the little girl?" Antonia asked, watching Harding's brow furrow in confusion.
"Little girl? No. It's a little boy, twelve years old. Mitchell Cameron. We just got a phone call from the grandfather, apparently he got a ransom call about a half hour ago. We have agents heading over there now." Harding said, watching Antonia shake her head.
"Did they say anything about the little girl?"
"What little girl? Toni, there is no little girl. We asked if there were any other people in the apartment, and everyone has said the same thing. Mother, Father, son. No little girl." He said, watching as Antonia shook her head.
"No, Ace. There's a little girl." She said, her hand trembling as she held the stuffed bunny. "This toy doesn't belong to a little boy. Look at all of the other things in this room. They're all little boy things. The puzzles, the books. They're all little boy things, they're all dark in color, more masculine colors. This is a pink bunny, Harding. It's out of place. There's a spare bed. Someone else was here." She said, frustrated that he wasn't listening. "Where is the little girl?" She asked. "Don't make me ask again." She growled.
"Antonia." Harding said with an edge of anger.
"We are at a crime scene, you will refer to me as Doctor Booth, Agent Harding. This toy is evidence." She said, holding up the stuffed animal, her body trembling with frustration as she watched him shake his head.
"Did the toy bunny kill those two people in there, and kidnap their son? If not, then put it back where you found it, and get out of here. You deal with the bodies, I deal with the scene." Harding growled back.
Antonia watched him for a long, hard minute, clenching the toy in her hand as she battled for control. "This may not be evidence in the case, Agent Harding." She growled. "But it is evidence that I am correct, and you are wrong. There is more to this case, a very important piece of this case, and you are literally shoving it under the rug." She growled as she placed the toy on the bed, and covered it back up with the blanket. Antonia then turned and started to walk from the room.
"Where the hell are you going now?"
"I'm going to deal with the bodies, you deal with the scene." She snapped angrily as she left the room without another word.
Harding shook his head and stepped to the bed, glancing behind him to the now empty doorway, his eyes flicking to the small lump in the blankets where Antonia had placed the toy. He shook his head as he sighed, still hearing the frustration in her voice as he slowly turned and left the room.
Antonia stepped out of the apartment into the hallway, snapping her gloves off as she started to pace, her mind racing as she tried to figure out how she was going to move forward. She had already requested that bodies be removed and brought to the Jeffersonian, and the FBI continued to collect evidence from the scene. Her stomach was twisting in anxiety as she pictured that toy bunny, her hands trembling as she sighed. Suddenly, her phone began to buzz in her pocket, snapping her out of her train of thought, and she brought the phone to her ear. "Booth." She snapped, her teeth clenching as she took a deep breath.
"Are you in the middle of a murder scene?" The voice on the line came through with a concerned laced chuckle.
"Yes." She responded, feeling her shoulders relax at the sound of his voice.
"Is it a murder that you committed?" He asked, listening to the release of air from her lungs as she let out a throaty laugh.
"Aiden." She said, leaning against the wall across the hall from the apartment, she stared in at the movement of the agents around the crime scene.
"You sound stressed, Tex. Are you okay?" He asked, listening to her trying to control her breathing. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." She said, swallowing hard. "Are you at the airport?"
"I'm heading out to the airport in a minute. Flight should only be two hours, then another hour to get to wherever you are." He smiled. "Will you be in a regular jail, or federal prison?" He chuckled.
"Aiden." She whispered. "Is everything set there?"
"Yes, Ma'am. Anna and Fiona are all packed up and ready for their big move. The moving truck leaves today, and they'll be arriving on Thursday." He said happily. "Oh, speaking of which, there is a small child here hopping up and down. I'm not sure what it means. She's trying to..." He laughed off the phone. "It may be some sort of ancient ritual... you should consult your mom on this." he laughed.
"Aiden, may I please speak to Fiona?" Antonia laughed, feeling some of the stress of the crime scene starting to leave her body, she closed her eyes to focus on the conversation.
There was a shuffle on the line as she heard Aiden try to tell Fiona to be patient, but before she knew it, there was the sound of feet running, and Aiden in the background telling her to come back. "Ant! Ant!" Fiona said happily, a smile in her voice as she giggled.
"Where are you running off to?" Antonia laughed, listening to the little girl's heavy breathing and the sound of a door closing.
"I just want some privacy." Fiona replied. "I miss you, Ant."
"Well, I miss you too..." Antonia said with a soft smile. "Are you all packed up and ready to move to Washington?"
"Oh, yes! Uncle Aiden packed up all of our stuff, and all I have left is a little suitcase with my clothes and some of my toys. I don't know how I'm going to last! I am so excited!" Fiona giggled over the line.
"Well, make sure that you come to Washington D.C., and not Washington state, okay? Because that's even further away!" Antonia said, hearing the little girl gasp.
"I'll make sure." She said with a smile. "Are you working?"
"I am. So I should probably go, but I'm glad that I got to talk to you."
"I'm glad I got to talk to you." Fiona giggled. "Do you want to talk to Uncle Aiden now?"
"Yes, please." Antonia said, hearing the door open, and a quick goodbye from Fiona as the phone switched hands.
"I'm heading to the airport." He said, his voice sounded happy in the line, and it made her smile. "I can't wait to see you."
"I can't wait to see you." She smiled, suddenly feeling a bit shy. "I love you."
"I love you. Tell Harding to stop being an ass."
"Rest assured, he has a rude awakening coming." Antonia said with a sly smile. "Please travel safely. I need you." She whispered. Suddenly, her attention was ripped away from the conversation by a blood curdling scream coming from inside the apartment. "Shit, I have to go."
"Tex, what was that?" Aiden said, suddenly alarmed at the sound of the screaming.
"That was the sound of the rude awakening. I'm safe, I'll see you soon. I love you." She said, hanging up the phone, she shoved it into her pocket and grabbed another pair of gloves from her pocket and ran as quickly as she could into the apartment.
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