As always many thanks to MoonlightGardenias for her great beta work, encouragement and advise.
These characters belong to Kathy Reichs, Hart Hanson, Fox, Josephson Entertainment and Far Field Productions, et al.
Please read and enjoy. Reviews are eargerly awaited. Please no flames.
And again a BIG THANK YOU to all those who did take the time to review.
CHAPTER 3: THORNLESS ROSE – Love at First Sight
Booth walked in at that moment. "Hey, Bones! Whoa, another bunch of flowers. What's the note say?"
"There is no note," Brennan said in a huffy tone. "Hodgins said that flowers have meaning. Apparently the Agapanthus means 'secret love'."
Feigning innocence, Booth said, "Wow, really? So, so far you've gotten one bunch that means 'temperance' which is also your name and another that signifies a 'secret love'?"
Bones glared at him. "I know what I've gotten, Booth. I want to know who the hell's sending them to me."
Moving to her side, he said in a low voice, "Don't worry about it, Bones. We'll keep an eye on things and, if it goes any further, we'll look into finding out who's behind it. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, though."
He gave her a small hug.
"I know, but this case…who would freeze a child then discard them like so much garbage?" she asked returning the hug.
"We'll get 'em, Temperance. I promise."
He felt her stiffen at the use of her name and was worried he had overstepped the line, but she relaxed again almost immediately.
"Thanks, Booth," came the muffled reply.
~~ BONES ~~
The story Frank Pearse the father of the boy whose skeleton they had found, told them at the time of their interview had made sense but, with Zack's discovery his alibi no longer fit the timeline.
Further investigation upon their return proved that the father was the most likely perpetrator. They would again have to interview the man.
~~ BONES ~~
The F.B.I. interrogation room was quiet. Booth entered and slapped the photos of the skeleton of his son onto the table. "That's all that's left."
Their suspect looked at the pictures with disinterest. "Left of what?"
"Ben. Your son," Booth spat.
"You can't prove that."
"Actually we can. See these marks?" Booth asked pointing at an irregularity in one of the leg bones. "And that?" pointing to similar marks in an arm bone. "These are where the bones have healed after being broken. Medical records show that Ben was bought to the emergency room with breaks in these exact areas. Also the dental records, such as they are, match."
"His mother must have done it," the man replied sullenly.
Booth shook is head. "Nope, we checked. You haven't let her see him since she left. The only person who could have killed Ben is YOU!"
"I'm not saying anything else without a lawyer present."
That ended all conversation and Booth left the interview room to join Brennan in the viewing room.
Brennan's eyes flashed. "He did it."
Booth took a step closer to her. "I know, but we need evidence of it or it's all circumstantial. We can't even arrest him."
Temperance stormed out of the room and burst into the interview room. Facing the suspect she spoke in a low extremely venomous voice, "I don't know how you did it, and I can't even pretend to comprehend why, but I will find out."
Chills went down Booths spine. He'd never heard that tone in her voice and it was startling. He followed her from the room and almost bumped into her storming from the interview room.
"Bones!…Brennan!…" He ran after as she stalked to the elevator.
"Tempe!"
She finally stopped just short of the doors and hung her head. "I can't do this one, Booth. We've gone over the remains dozens of times and catalogued the insect activity. There are no anomalous particulates. We have nothing!" Then she added helplessly, "He's gonna get away with it."
"Come on. It's been a long day. I'll take you home, we'll have some take-out and you can start with a fresh mind tomorrow."
Stepping into the elevator car, Bones shook her head. "I'm going back to the lab. There has to be something I've missed. You can hold him for twenty-four hours right?"
Booth nodded. "Yeah."
"Well then that's what we've got and I'm not going to waste it," she said as they left the building and headed toward the Jeffersonian.
~~ BONES ~~
True to her word, Bones didn't stop working, not even when Booth brought her Thai take-away. At eight-thirty the following morning, there was another interruption in the form of a flower delivery. This time it was a bunch of thornless roses in various pastel colours and a pleasingly sweet scent.
"Where are these from?" she asked as she signed the delivery slip.
"Flowered Up. Not far from here. Enjoy your day, ma'am," he finished before leaving.
Brennan held the bouquet to her nose and inhaled deeply as she made her way to her office, snagging a beaker on the way to fill with water and put the new bouquet in.
Arranging them alongside her previous gifts she booted up her computer and typed in 'flower meanings'. A list of sites came up and she opened the first one. Scrolling down she looked at the meaning for the thornless rose. 'Thornless Rose– love at first sight'.
She sat back. Whoever was sending her these flowers was definitely trying to let her know she meant a lot to them. Before the end of the day she would go to 'Flowered Up' and find out who was sending her the flowers.
Booth stood at the door to her office watching her as she stared at the computer screen. The flowers for the day sat on her desk next to the previous deliveries. She looked so tired and despondant that all he wanted to do was take her into his arms and soothe away her worries.
Knocking lightly he cleared his throat. Bones looked up. "Hey, Booth."
"Morning, Bones. Find anything?" he asked, moving into her office and sitting on the sofa.
With a heavy sigh she replied, "Nope. There's nothing to indicate that the father did it."
"Well, there's news on that count. This morning at around four, our suspect was found dead in his cell. It seems like suicide."
Brennan moved around from her desk. "That's good news, I guess. Although I would've liked to have prosecuted him, but he's better out of this world."
"Yeah, I guess." The law enforcement officer in him cried out for a more tangible form of justice. Death seemed too neat, an easy out for someone who should have been made accountable for his actions.
Shaking off those thoughts he pointed to her desk. "Another bunch of flowers I see."
"Yeah. I've already looked up their meaning. The thornless rose means 'love at first sight'."
"Sounds like someone has it bad for you."
Sitting herself next to him she leaned her head back. "I just hope it's not a stalker. I'm going to the florist later today to see if I can find out who's sending them."
"You should get some sleep Bones, you look beat. Case is over."
With closed eyes she answered, "I am, but I have to arrange burial for that little boy first."
Before anyone writes that Brennan would've/should've figured it out by now, may I remind you all that she's almost clueless when it comes to real life. Yes she's a genius – in her chosen field – not in everyday life. That's my rationale for this story, please just suspend all disbelief and enjoy the story.