This story takes place sometime in the future, so it is AU. I hope you enjoy it.

I don't own Bones.

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She was nervous and tapped her front teeth with her index finger as she waited for someone to meet with her. Relieved when Booth entered the room, Carla lowered her hand and sat up straight. Waiting impatiently, she pushed three pictures across the table towards the agent as he sat down across from her. "Thank you for seeing me. I've talked to so many people on the phone and in person these last two days, I was afraid they were just moving me from one office to another just to get rid of me. Agent Park asked me to come in this morning to give a statement and I've been here for about three hours. I guess I was afraid no one would take me seriously."

Slowly shaking his head, Booth assured her, "No ma'am. We don't do that . . . My name is Agent Seeley Booth and this case was handed over to me about an hour ago. The agents you talked to did a little checking into the situation before they brought it to my attention. I want to thank you for your patience, Ms. Richard." Picking up the pictures, Booth looked at each one and then placed them back down on the table. "Could you tell me in your own words why you've contacted the FBI? I know you've spoken to three agents today already, but I want to get a clear picture about what it is you think is going on."

As patiently as possible, Carla tried to be as succinct as she could. Clearing her throat she began. "Well, I'm a barbeque competitor. Me and my husband travel around the country and we enter barbeque competitions. It's fun and there is some prize money to be made if you're good enough. We win once in a while but not very often. You have to just love doing it for the fun of it and to get bragging rights. You sure won't get rich. Me and my husband Joe are retired, so we have the time and it's something we've always wanted to do. At first we thought we'd do a few weekend competitions a year, but it got into our blood and we did more and more."

Carla noticed that Booth was trying to be patient, but he kept glancing at the pictures and she knew she needed to hurry her story along. "Joe and me belong to the KCBS . . . oh that stands for Kansas City Barbeque Society. They have four categories – pork ribs, chicken, brisket and pork butt . . . um, anyway, we've made a lot of friends over the last six years and well, Joe and me think something is wrong and we needed to tell someone about it."

Nodding his head slowly, Booth grimly pointed at the pictures. "You reported that people are disappearing and no one knows where these people are?"

Her arms now crossed against her breasts, Carla stared woefully at the pictures. "Yeah, it was Joe who put it all together. He asked me to talk to you because he's not really a fan of the police. He was in the military police in the Army and when he retired, he became a sheriff's deputy. He didn't really understand that he would be required to pander to politicians and he ended up getting fired for giving a ticket to the Mayor's wife for speeding. He wouldn't tear the ticket up and the Sheriff fired him, so he retired."

"I'm sorry to hear that happened, but it's not unheard of, unfortunately." Leaning back against his chair, Booth smiled at the clearly nervous woman. "Would you like a cup of coffee or a glass of water . . . maybe a Coke?"

Grateful that Booth was being so kind to her, Carla shook her head. "No thank you. I'm fine . . . Joe is very friendly and he makes friends with everyone. I don't think he's ever met a stranger in his life . . . he's one of those guy, you know."

Amused, Booth responded, "Oh yeah, I've known a few people like that in my life."

Her laughter a rich sound in the room, Carla shrugged her shoulders and turned back to her story. "I'm sorry if I'm being wordy, I'll try to hurry up . . . anyway, like I said Joe makes friends easily and we see a lot of the same faces in the competitions. It's a close knit community . . . so, we noticed that Gary Morgan didn't show up last month at one of the competitions and his crew mates didn't know where he was. They said he just disappeared and it was reported to the police in Austin where he lives, but no one could figure out where he went to. Then we noticed that Jason Wu disappeared and no one knew what happened to him and I guess the straw that broke the camel's back is when Price Thompson disappeared. Joe called Price's mother and she said he never came back from the Dallas competition. He just vanished. His truck was found in Dallas near his hotel room, but there wasn't any signs of foul play. The Dallas police tried to track him down, but they didn't find him and he never made it home to Monroe, Louisiana. The Monroe Police tried to do a little digging, but it doesn't look he made it back to Monroe from Dallas at all. Joe kind of freaked out and he said we had to call the FBI. Joe and me think someone is killing competitors and getting rid of their bodies so no one will find them. Maybe they're burying them or whatever but something is wrong. There is no way three men just disappear from the face of the earth like that. Their families don't know where they are and the police haven't been able to find them. We think the FBI needs to find out what's going on."

Pulling the pictures back towards him, Booth rested them on the table in front of him. "Ms. Richard I need you to give me as much information as possible about these men. When was the last time anyone can remember seeing them and where, where they're from and as much personal information as you can give me."

Proud of her husband, Carla pointed towards the pictures. "Joe wrote what information he had on the back of each picture. He knew you'd need to check into it further and he wanted you to have as much information as he could give you."

Pleased at the work Joe Richard had done for them, Booth scooped up the pictures and looked at the back of each one. "Thank you Ms. Richard. I appreciate you coming in and letting us know about this. I want you to thank your husband for me too. This information will help a lot."

Clasping her hands and placing them on the table, Carla sighed. "Thank you for taking us seriously, Agent Booth. Joe said since Gary, Jason and Price are from different cities and disappeared from different places, he was sure no one was going to put it together that there might be a serial killer involved. Joe says that it seems that way to him anyway. He said it's possible that something else happened to them, but he doesn't think so. He's really worried that someone is murdering people and no one is looking into it. Of course, we hope we're wrong. We don't want these men to be dead. They're very nice and really, their mothers want them back home alive and well. Maybe Joe and me are just letting our imaginations get away from us . . . but . . . I really think we're never going to see them again, at least not alive."

Grimly, Booth assured her, "We're going to look into this, Ms. Richard. If there is foul play involved we'll find out soon enough."

Standing, Carla slung her purse across her shoulder. "If you need our help, just call Joe or me. I wrote our cell numbers on the back of Jason's picture. He is the sweetest man and when Joe called his mother to talk to her about Jason, she just cried and cried. We want to know where Gary, Jason and Price are Agent Booth. Their mothers need to know."

"We'll find out what happened, Ms. Richard." Opening the door, Booth waited for her to walk around the table and exit the door. Pointing at the agent standing outside the door, Booth assured her. "Agent Park will take you back down to the lobby. I'll be in touch." Watching her walk over to the elevator, he moved back to his office once Carla and Agent Park disappeared into the elevator.

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Let me know if this sounds interesting. Thank you for reviewing my story.

A/N: To everything there is a season, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8