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Chapter 2

Fort Bragg

Cumberland County, North Carolina

11.23 EST

The black SUV was escorted into the complex by two military policemen in a Jeep. The MP's led them to a small building that was offset from the rest of the barracks in the same area. The MP's led them inside the small office and gestured for them to sit.

"Colonel Sander will be out in a moment." The MP's walked out of the office, leaving Booth and Brennan behind. Brennan sat and played with a stray string from the fringe of her pants while Booth paced around eyeing the decorations of the colonel that lay on display in the office. Within five minutes a gentleman entered the room. Colonel Sander was the same build as Booth, though slightly skinnier. He wore glass with thin wire frames and his hair was slicked back. He extended his hand to each of the occupants of the office.

"Good afternoon, my name is Colonel Larry Sander. No relation to the chicken guy though." Booth attempted to show good spirit and laughed lightly at the joke, while Brennan missed the joke.

"Special Agent Seeley Booth with the FBI, and this is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan of the Jeffersonian Institute." After introductions were made they sat down and Sander laced his fingers and looked at them.

"So Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan, what can I do for you today?"

Booth reached in the pocket of his coat and removed a picture of Bauer generated by the Angelator. "Does this man look familiar to you?"

Sander took the photo and held it up to his face. "Nope, he doesn't look familiar." He handed the picture back to Booth and leaned back in his chair. "May I ask why?"

Booth stared the colonel down before replying. "This is First Lieutenant Paul Bauer stationed here at Fort Bragg."

Sander regarded Booth intently. "I don't know what you are talking about. There has never been a Paul Bauer stationed here." The men held each other's gaze leaving Brennan to roll her eyes at the display of testosterone.

"Well be back. Come on Bones."

Booth turned the car in the direction of town. His expression remained set on anger and his fingers tapped the dashboard as they got stuck in traffic.

"Does he have a place of residence listed?" Brennan reached for the file that sat on the dashboard and flipped through it.

"No it doesn't."

His face returned to the same look of anger and his fingers began drumming. "What about—" he stopped speaking when his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and almost considered returning the phone to his pocket but thought otherwise. "Hello Rebecca…no this is a fine time…yes I know I have him this weekend…yes I know… well I'll be at work…no the last weather report called for all rain…no I don't care about a low off the coast of New Jersey…I don't… yes I can… okay… yes Rebecca…okay, see you Friday." He closed the phone and returned it to his pocket. "What about family?"

"Um, mother and father are listed as deceased. Only living blood relative is a sister that lives in Raleigh."

"Well I think we shall go have a talk with her."

The drive to Raleigh took close to two hours. Bauer's sister, Lisa Thompson, had a small apartment the middle of the city. The wind was starting to pick up again, causing Booth's long coat to whip wildly. Booth rang the button for Bauer's apartment, number 3C.

"Hello?" came a voice out of the speaker. There was a sound of a baby crying in the background.

"Mrs. Thompson, this is Special Agent Seeley Booth from the FBI with my partner. Can we speak to you about your brother?"

"Yes," she replied. The door buzzed and Booth pulled it open, gesturing for Brennan to enter. The apartment building was desolate; the only sounds off life came from the sounds of a loud TV and the clicking of pots and pans together.

Booth knocked on the front door of apartment 3C. He could hear the sounds of a baby cooing softly in the background as the door was unlocked. The young and beautiful Lisa Bauer opened the door, bouncing a young boy at her hip.

Booth flashed his badge. "Hi my name is Special Agent Seeley Booth and my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan. We'd like to talk to you about your brother Paul."

She opened the door to allow them to enter. The apartment was spotless, save for the misplaced toys that littered the floor. "Did Paul do something? I haven't seen him in a few months, he was suppose to be here two weeks ago actually but called and said that he wouldn't get leave."

Booth sighed. "I'm sorry, but Paul's remains were discovered yesterday. He's dead."

Lisa sat down on the couch and placed the boy on the floor. She put her head in her hands. "Oh man." She wiped at her eyes. "H…how?"

Brennan sat beside her and placed a comforting hand on Lisa's back. "We aren't sure. But we believe it was murder. We are doing everything we can to try and figure out who did it." She looked over to Booth for agreement to find him playing with the young boy.

The door opened and a young man walked in. "Lisa, what's wrong?" Lisa stood up quickly and hugged him.

"Steve, this is Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan. Paul's dead. They say he was murdered."

"Oh my god. Honey I'm so sorry." Steve held Lisa close and turned to Booth and Brennan. "Please keep us posted."

Booth nodded. "Of course. Do you know where Paul stayed when he was off-base?"

"Yeah he stayed here," replied Steve. "When I married Lisa she told me about her brother. He has a bedroom here and would stay here with us when he was on leave and on the holidays. I suppose you could take a look if you want."

"Thank you, that will be helpful in the investigation."

"Of course. It's down the hall and to the left." Brennan followed Booth down the hall to Paul's room. Just like the rest of the apartment it was immaculate. Booth took to looking around the bed, while Brennan searched the desk. She found only fresh paper and writing utensils at first, but the bottom drawer held her answers. She removed a strong located in the bottom drawer and placed it on the desk. She looked around for a key but came up empty.

"Booth, do you see a key anywhere?"

"Umm… yeah here." He took it off the nightstand and tossed it to her. She opened the box to find letters and other things, all of which looked foreign to her. Booth appeared at her side and looked inside.

"Letters from a bank, one time decoding pads, and a medal." Booth rooted through the rest of the box. "What's this?" He picked up a piece of paper and unfolded it. "To whomever it may concern, if you are reading this, I am most likely dead. I changed this last time I was home to update the situation. I probably died from something I did. I opened my mouth and protested against a direct order. The military is my life, and I have never disobeyed a direct order, nor would I ever think to. However on a mission I was ordered to lead into the politically unstable country of Iraq, I disagreed with my superiors. I was removed from the mission and it was still completed, with me watching every movement from command as a punishment. I collected evidence against the government and compiled it to a safe location. If you are worthy enough, you'll find it. I hope that you use it to show how the government oversteps its bounds. Thank you, signed Paul Bauer." Booth put the letter down and turned to Brennan. "Looks like we are going to be fighting the government again."