When a woman’s burned body is found in a car with signs that her child was kidnapped, Brennan and Booth suspect the father, Carl Decker. But things get complicated when Decker turns out to be in the Witness Protection program.

Booth and Brennan investigate when a dug up corpse is found in the back of a gang member's car. While being questioned, a drive-by shooting allows him to escape. Booth and Brennan follow the clues, which lead them to an empty grave and another body in a grave at a wealthy senator's house, where the gang member used to work.

When Brennan decides to give online dating a try, she ends up the target of a shooting at the local restaurant where she's meeting her date. The resulting investigation reveals that the shooter could be connected to either of the two cases she's currently working on.

The team helps Deputy Director Sam Cullen's daughter, Amy, when she contracts a rare form of lung cancer after receiving a bone graft. Booth and Brennan learn she is not the only victim with this rare form of cancer.

Brennan receives some bones to identify, but is stunned when she discovers that the remains are those of her mother who disappeared when she was 15 years old. The determined date of her mother's death leaves Bones confused and angry.