Nate sat at stool at McRory's staring down the glass of scotch that taunted him. It was becoming a Sunday ritual between jobs after giving the crew the weekend off. 'How very Catholic of you' he heard Eliot say in his ear, but when he didn't have anything else to do; anything else to focus on, that sweet nectar kept him going from one minute to the next. Just as Nate was about the take a sip his cell phone rang, he looked down, startled by the number on the other end.

"Ford." He answered wearily.

"Mr. Ford, this is detective Captain Bonanno."

"What can I do for you?" Nate asked the detective who he had a growing respect for at the Boston Police Station.

"Actually, um… this is about a call I took this morning. I'm at the sight of a crime scene and I need you to come down to answer some questions."

"Is someone in my crew in trouble?" Nate leaped to question. "Whatever it is I'll take care of it just…"

"It's not that." Bonanno cut him off. "Meet me at 1526 Weir Ave and I'll fill you in."

Nate's heart dropped as the address was given. "Is he okay?"

"Nathan…"

"Just tell me!" Nate demanded.

"The remains are unidentifiable; I can't answer that question with any certainty."

"I'll be there in ten minutes." Nate responded softly before ending the call.

"Is everything okay?" The bartender asked him.

Nate downed the drink in front of him. "No." He answered before leaving the bar and jumping into his cherry Tesla. He spent the drive trying desperately to think of all the viable possibilities and talking himself out of believing the most likely. He couldn't; he couldn't if he wanting to see straight, if he was going to be any help at all in the investigation. He knew he was getting close when he saw the flashing lights from probably ever squad car in Boston.

"Excuse me, sir. This is a crime scene." An officer stopped Nate as he made his way up the driveway that was tagged off with caution tape.

"I know, I…" Nate struggled to talk.

"He's with me." Bonnano called out to the new recruit working on crowd control in what was supposed to be a secluded part of town.

"Okay, go ahead." He invited the man. Nate stalked up with his eyes fixated on the mangled truck that had blown up inside the attached garage. The door had only gotten half way up before the explosion stopped the progression.

"What happened?" Nate asked holding off tears.

"We've been asking the neighbors but nobody seems to have seen anything. There was a storm early this morning which probably masked the sounds. Based on the evidence we speculate he was hit by the bullet of a sharpshooter, tried to escape through the garage, but…"

"The bomb under his car prevented that from happening." Nate inferred the rest.

"CSI is in the house collecting evidence; there's a decent amount of blood to draw a DNA sample to compare to what we have on file to verify identity."

"You said 'the remains'…" Nate swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Were pretty much eradicated in the explosion; they're no way to compare dental records… Mr. Ford, where are you going?" Bonanno asked Nate as he moved closer to the garage. "Nate, you do not…"

Nate stepped inside the garage to take in the damage; bone fragments were thrown about and there was nothing that even remotely resembled a human skull. "Nathan…"

"I need to know." Nate whispered.

"As soon as we get that DNA sample, I swear…"

"No; I need to know that this is…" Nate struggled to finish the sentence. "I know someone; she's helped me verify artifacts in past and works closely with the FBI in Washington DC."

"Okay, I can… I can work something out." Bonanno assured him after all the help Nate's team had given him. "Make the call."

The mastermind nodded as it appeared he was still in some kind of state of shock. He dialed the number and patiently waited for an answer. "I need to speak to Doctor Temperance Brennan." He responded to the answer. "Do you know when she's going to be back?" He questioned. "No, that's okay, I'll… I'll try her on her cell."

"No luck?" Bonanno questioned as soon as Nate hung up.

"She's giving a lecture at Boston University." Nate responded before placing the next call.