Disclaimer: Still don't own Bones…

Thursday 6:30 am

Brennan burrowed even deeper under the covers when the obnoxious sound of the hotel room alarm disrupted her dreams. She was only vaguely aware that the sounds immediately follow that noise had been Booth smacking the alarm and then grouchily padding his way to the bathroom to shower. Deciding she had to face the morning eventually she sat up in the bed and surveyed her surroundings. Her bed was hardly rumpled, a testimony to how tired she had been last night, but Booth's bed seemed to have been torn asunder with sheets and blankets and comforters strewn about. Booth stepped out of the bathroom for a brief moment, his toothbrush hanging out of his foamy mouth to grab his clean clothes from his bag. That brief moment was long enough to treat Brennan to a picture of his hard abs and chiseled arms.

Minutes later Booth emerged from the bathroom again, this time regrettably fully dressed and groomed, "You're up Bones," he motioned for her to take her turn in the shower.

Brennan grabbed her toiletry bag and clean clothes and headed to the bathroom in some haste. Since she had already showered her morning absolutions took considerably less time and by 7:30 both individuals were ready to face the day. Brennan set up her laptop to speak with the squints at the Jeffersonian while Booth went down for coffee and donuts. It didn't escape Brennan's notice that Booth had said not one word beyond his beckoning earlier to her. She decided to bring that up with Booth after she had consulted with her team.

Angela's face was the first to appear on the screen, her face one of worry, "How did last night go Sweetie?"

"We haven't talked yet. For right now let's concentrate on the case."

Angela appeared to be disappointed but quickly switched to all business, "Well it looks to me like there was more than one assailant, the wounds on both victims have multiple directionalities, congruent with a multi-person attack. I am going to run some figures through the angelator to get more definitive data."

Angela rolled out of screen to be replaced with Wendell, "Good morning Dr. Brennan. There appears to be two weapons used, one long and cylindrical and the other more flat. I am going to work on matching the wounds with a specific weapon today."

"I'll take my camera and take pictures of possible matches for comparison."

"Thank you Dr. Brennan." Wendell was then replaced with Dr. Hodgins.

"The particulates embedded in the skulls include flour and streptococcus cremoris and soil congruent with the geology of where they were found."

"What is streptococcus cremoris?"

"It's a bacteria used in the production of buttermilk, cottage cheese, yogurt, and various other milk products. Not necessarily anything probative, everyone in the compound probably comes in contact with that bacteria."

Just then Booth reentered the room so Brennan decided to end the call, "Alright, I will call this afternoon with more information. Thanks guys!"

With that she pulled the laptop closed and turned to Booth, "I think we need to talk."

After setting down the items in his hands he spoke, "Bones, I don't want to talk about it again. I am trying to forgive you and it's just going to make me mad again."

"Well for what it's worth Booth, I'm sorry for what I said."

"Me too Bones, "then with a small grin, "now come and save me from eating all these donuts. Rankin is going to be here any minute," and just like that some of the tension that had been lingering in the room dissipated.

Within ten minutes the pair was in the lobby waiting for Rankin and within twenty after that he had arrived and they were off. Rankin turned off the radio, which had been blaring country music, so they could talk.

"Alright Dr. Brennan, what have we got?"

"My team studied the x-rays and samples I sent and determined that both women were attacked by at least two assailants, two different weapons."

"Is there any chance it was one person using two different weapons?"

"It's unlikely since the strike patterns are so different. Both have traces of soil and other trace components typical for individuals from the area."

"So they were definitely killed at the compound?"

"Or somewhere on the mountain, the murder weapons were almost certainly from the compound. I brought my camera, I'm going to take pictures of possible matches, we'll know more tomorrow."

Rankin then turned to Booth to speak, "I'm thinkin that Mr. Joseph orders the hit on these girls. You know how these things go down, you make the head honcho made and BAM they kill ya. What do you think?"

Booth thought about it a moment and decided that scenario feel right, so he said a phrase he never thought would pass his lips, "I don't want to form a conclusion until we have all the facts." Looking in the back seat he could see Brennan beaming with what could only be described as pride.

Looking back at Brennan as well Rankin asked, "What do you think Dr. Brennan?"

Brennan looked Rankin in the eye in the rearview mirror, "I think we need to gather more evidence. From speaking with Mary I think the best approach would be to talk with the younger wives first, then work our way up."

Rankin looked worried, "That might be hard. Those men up there are real protective of their women."

Brennan seemed confident, "As an anthropologist I have experienced hostility from the individuals I have been studying before, the key is to be understanding of their culture and not seek to interfere."

Booth, who up to that point had been listing questions he wanted to ask the possible victim's parents, had to chuckle at that before saying, "And you think you can study them without interfering?"

Brennan seemed offended by the implication, "and just when do you think I have interfered before?"

"Oh I don't know, the Mara Muerte case, when we found that mummy in the wall, the Chinese bone wedding case, the case at the Catholic Church, the pony play case, the list could go on and on…"

Not able to think of a witty reply Brennan remained silent.

The SUV pulled up onto the same hill as last time where all the main buildings were. It being early morning there were more people than yesterday. The men and women moved about industriously finishing morning chores. Joseph could be seen standing on the front porch of the dining hall watching the goings on of his community. Mary sat beside him on the top step of the porch, staring at the ground.

Again, Joseph motioned for the men to join him in the dining hall and leaned down to speak to Mary before the men joined him. She nodded her assent to whatever was said and quickly hurried down the stairs to greet Brennan.

Joseph opened the door to the building to let Booth and Rankin into the room, "Emma's parents are waiting at the table at the far end of the hall."

He introduced the couple as Matthew and Lauren. Matthew appeared to be in his fifties and Lauren in her late forties. There was definite tension in the room; Joseph stood to the side much like a vulture in a tree. Matthew and Lauren sat stiffly in the chairs they occupied, Matthew's face was one of stony displeasure, while Lauren's carried a far sadder expression, her eyes were puffy and red rimmed indicating that she had been crying already that morning.

Rankin and Booth seated themselves directly across from the two and Booth sat a digital recorder out in front of them, "Would you mind if we recorded our interview?"

Matthew glanced over at Joseph, and after receiving a nod from him agreed to the recorder, "That'd be ok."

Booth pulled out a notepad and pen to take notes on and the up to date case file. After sifting through the papers getting set in his mind the direction he wanted to take the interview, apparently Matthew became impatient, "I'd like to finish this before I die of old age," his displeasure with both agents evident in both his tone and facial expression.

Booth simply smiled, pushed the record button and said the necessary tags, "November 15th Agents Booth and Rankin primary interview with Matthew and Lauren in reference to case TN251-A175B"

Rankin cleared his throat, "First please accept our deepest condolences for the disappearance of your daughter. When was the last time you saw her?"

Matthew cleared his throat, glanced at Joseph and then said, "Around January 30th."

Joseph slightly nodded to Matthew, conveying his approval of the date Matthew had given.

The tone of Matthew's voice sounded like he was questioning the date, this made Booth immediately suspicious, "Are you certain of that?"

Matthew turned his head sharply to face Booth, "Are you sayin' I'm lyin'?
"Not at all sir, just checking. I know it's been a while, but can you remember what Emma was wearing when you last saw her?"

"You want to talk about fashion?"

Instead of answering his question Booth placed an up close picture of the dress found on the victim believed to be Emma, "Does this look like something she might have worn?"

Lauren's eyes glazed over with tears, giving Booth and Rankin all the answer they needed.

Matthew further confirmed it by saying, "Yes, Lauren made that for Emma for her last birthday."

Lauren looked up at Matthew, wearing an expression of veiled confusion, then quickly back at the table, tears spilling down her face, Booth watched the interaction with interest then asked, "Mrs. Lauren, do you know of anyone who would want to hurt your daughter?"

Matthew spoke in her stead, "No, Emma was well liked."

"Were there any significant changes in her life before her death?"

"She started courtin' with Zachariah and because she was older she had recently took on new chores."

"What were her chores?"

As Matthew listed the chores and assignments his daughter had been assigned, Booth wrote Rankin a note on a small notepad, 'E was pregnant. Clueless or cover up?' He pushed the notepad over to Rankin who quickly scanned the note, circled his answer and shoved the note back. Booth saw his choice and quickly hid the tablet under the table to prevent Matthew from reading it, as he was trying to do.

"Mr. Matthew would it be possible to see Emma's room…her things?" Rankin asked.

Matthew turned to look at Joseph, "Joseph, can they really come up here and pry into our lives?"

"Mr. Matthew, don't you want to know who killed your daughter?"

Matthew turned to Rankin with a mixture of pain and hostility written on his face, "It won't bring her back."

"But don't you want answers?"

"We already have all the answers we need."

"What answers are those?"

"It was Emma's time to go home, that's answer enough for us," this was said softly by Lauren, the first she had spoken during the interview.

Booth looked her in the eye and spoke with an equally soft voice, "I understand, but we need to know what happened and the sooner we know everything the faster you can move past this."

Lauren answered again, "One of Matthew's younger daughters moved out of her mother's room and into the girl's dorm. We packed all of Emma's things into a hope chest."

Rankin asked looking at Matthew, "Can we have a look at the hope chest?"

Matthew nodded, "Don't know what you think you're gonna find in there…"

"You'd be surprised what our scientists can glean from evidence. Thank you for your cooperation. And again, you have our sincerest condolences." Booth said, saying the last part looking at Lauren, who was struggling to maintain her composure. Booth quickly put the picture away, when he saw her staring at it, then turned to Joseph, "Would it be possible to speak with Zacharias today?"

Joseph groused, "If I keep pulling these men from their jobs we will never get anything done around here."

"That's not a problem, if you can get us that hope chest, we'll be out of your hair in no time."

Joseph harrumphed, "That'll be a welcome blessing…"

Author's Note: This chapter was a bear to write..I wanted to make sure I got everything just right. How did I do? Are the emotions here believable? Let me know and give me suggestions on how I can improve!!