Ghosts

2) Hidden in Plain Sight

I'm shoved into the back seat of the car, my suitcase roughly tossed behind me. Booth reaches into the rear of the vehicle, before yanking my hands from my lap and tying them tightly together with zip ties. He climbs in beside me before slamming the car door shut and nodding to the man in the front seat. The car begins to move away from the safety of the airport; shortly after, Booth edges closer, picking out a dark coloured blindfold from his pocket and roughly pulling the material over my head. As my eyes adjust to the darkness, I hear the familiar click of a seatbelt, and feel Booth's forearm brush up against my thigh.

"Can't have any accidents, now, can we?", his voice purring in sickening enjoyment, making me jump slightly, before I hear another click of what I presume to be his seatbelt. My body tenses at his proximity, my heart racing and pounding in my ears, blocking out the heated discussion between Booth and the driver.

This can't be happening.

The car continues down the road, making the occasional turn, every bump and pothole making me jump. My thoughts shift to Jay and the rest of Intelligence; How will they even know I'm here? Do they even know Booth, know what he's done? Do they even know just how much danger I'm in?

I'm jolted out of the confines of my mind as the car comes to an abrupt halt. I suddenly become hyperaware of the sounds of children's laughter, the echo of basketballs bouncing nearby, the tweeting of the birds in the air. I'm blinded by light when Booth reaches over and rips the blindfold from my face, not caring that his nail knicks my cheek. I stare at him, trying to determine the motivation behind those sinister eyes. As he begins to speak and turns to face me, I hold my line of sight determined to not allow my internal panic to be displayed on my face, "You are going to ring your sergeant. Tell him you'll be unavailable for the immediate future".

He snickers, raising the gun and gently pulling the fabric back to expose the barrel pointing at my face, before continuing, "Make it believable".

I tense my jaw, and shudder slightly at the metal inches from my face, "Fine"

I pull out my phone, scroll through my contacts, momentarily hovering over Jay's name, before shaking my head firmly and continuing down. The line rings for less than 20 seconds before I hear the familiar gruff, raspy voice coming through the speaker,

"Voight".

I fight the urge to scream for help down the phone line, taking a sharp intake of breath before replying, to try and hide the bubbling fear in my chest,

"Hey Sarge, it's Hailey. I know I'm due back in a couple of days, and I hate to do this with such short notice but, uh... I'm afraid I'll need some more time off."

He sighs, trying to find the right words, "What do you mean, more time off. I've just given you two weeks of furlough, Hailey".

I glance at Booth, his stony face knocking the words out of my mouth; I take a sharp intake of breath before continuing, "I, uh, got a phone call from my brother. My mum showed up, at his place pretty beat up. Says she's finally left my dad. He... needs my help. Would it be a..."

Voight's voice softens down the phone line, recognising the effects of her traumatic childhood on her family.

"It's fine Hailey. Of course, you can. I'll juggle some stuff around on my end. Take all the time you need

"Thanks Sarge. I'll keep in touch. Would you mind letting the unit know for me?"

"Sure, I'll pass it along. Take care Hailey."

The line goes dead. I slowly lower the phone from my ear, before making the decision to call Jay as well, before I start scrolling back through my contacts.

The gun advances over the gap between me and Booth, before he growls,

"What do you think you're doing?"

I lose my cool, snapping back that if I don't talk to my partner my unit will be swarming the car so fast his head will spin.

He stares me down, before grunting, and lowering the weapon pointed between my eyes.

My finger makes contact with the phones surface, and I hold it up to my ear once again. It rings for barely a minute before Jay's voice is transported through the speakers.

"Hey Hailey! What's up? How's the trip going?"

Even through the tension in the car, I can't help but grin slightly at Jay's infectious enthusiasm.

"It's been great, Jay," I reply, my nerves getting the better of me, making my voice quiver slightly as the panic begins to rise.

I take a deep breath, before continuing, "but I'm afraid there's been, uh, a change of plans. My brother called. My, uh, mom showed up at his place. Says he needs my help,"

Jay sighs, before I finish, "I've already cleared it with Voight".

"Is everything alright?", Jay replies, his voice quivering with concern.

"Mostly, yeah. She showed up my brother's pretty beat up, but she's alright. Physically anyway. He, uh, doesn't really know what to do, so... I'm not really sure how long I'll be gone for,".

There is a beat of silence as he takes in my words, before he begins to speak again, failing to hide the disappointment in his voice, "It's alright Hailey, I understand – he pauses, before continuing – Take as much time as she needs,".

I can't help but pick up on his smile as he hesitates, "I'll miss you, Hails".

"I'll miss you too Jay,".

The line goes dead as I lower the phone from my ear. Booth snatches it from my hand, shutting it off, and stuffing it into his pocket, before snickering,

"You won't be needing this where we're going".

Before I have a chance to react, he reaches into his other pocket and brings out the blindfold, roughly yanking it over my eyes as the car pulls away from the sidewalk, away from the safety of the public eye.