Wendell spoke to Saroyan about his findings, Dr Brennan found several injuries on the body that were not perimortem but were inflicted near the time of death.
- "Dr Brennan says all wounds are consistent with fights, the wounds weren't caused by stabbing but probably by blunt objects perhaps even another person's hand"-
- "So there is a chance that whoever caused those wounds might be involved on her murder"-
-"Yeah, Booth has nothing on Watson but Brennan said he's tracking the victim's assistant, she was spending some time with her family in Iowa"-
There was a lot of yelling coming from Angela's office, the shutters were opened and everyone saw she was having a huge fight with Hodgins, Wendell approached quietly without entering inside, the fight between them was personal but at this rate it might turn physical.
-"Of all the women that are available Jack, of the thousands in this city alone and the millions around the world why did you have to choose my best friend?"- She yelled throwing her arms around
-"It's not like I chose her Ange, It just happened"- He said as calmly as possible
-"Oh so one day you woke up and realized you wanted to be with Bren"- Her dark eyes seemed willing to drill through his skull
He remembered that Saturday when he woke up by her side
-"Kinda"- he said ashamed
She remembered when she first kissed Wendell, love swept her fast and suddenly, she should understand after all she did dated his friend.
-"If this is some kind of revenge for me and Wendell then mission accomplished"- She spat
-"What?! Are you out of your mind? I would never use Tempe for something like that. Look I don't know how to explain it just happened!"- He was begining to loose his temper
-"I know Bren, she never gives the first move, as liberated as she is she always waits until the other person tells her his intentions and he even has to be direct about it because she sucks at reading hints. That means it had to be your idea"- She pointed at him
-"It was, I'm the one that asked her. We tried to stay away but we couldn't, and I don't want to anymore, I wanna fall in love again even if that means I'm gonna get in trouble for it"- Now he was raising his voice too
She begun to cry,
-"I know I have no right to preach about it, I did the same to you and you forced that queasy little small of yours and said everything was fine when everyone knows it was not. I should do the same but I can't do it, I can't stay with my arms crossed as you do this. Bren is in love with Booth Jack, can't you see that?"-
-"Of course I do, a blind man would! But if I can be with her even for a short period of time it's still worth it."- he said regaining some control
-"So when Booth takes her away from you you'll just sit there and take it? Wouldn't it break your heart?"- She said holding his hands
-"It would, but I've learnt that no matter how much a broken heart hurts in the end you get over it. You fall on your ass then you stand up, sweep the dust on your clothes and move on so you can love again. You taught me that"- His vibrant blue eyes shone with bliss
Her sorrow was so strong, between guilt and hurt she could not stand any longer.
Brennan saw the fight as well and rushed to her office, the big scene had drawn all the squints by her door. Angela saw the guilt in both Brennan and Hodgins eyes but she also saw determination, she could bitch all she wanted but none of that would keep them apart. Behind Brennan Booth stood looking worried, she asked her best friend
-"Does he know?"- She said looking at Booth
-"No, I was about to tell him"- Bren said sadly
-"Do it, he deserves to hear it from you"- She tried to hide her anger but failed.
Booth drove Brennan to the apartment the victim's assistant was renting, he was afraid to ask what was going on between Angela and Bones, he sensed the artist was mad at Bones and that Hodgins was somehow involved in all of this, but in spite of his fear for whatever drama he was about to get involved into he did.
-"What was going on in there? Why was Angela crying Bones?"- He probed kindly
-"I think she's angry at me, I've done something…"- she searched for the right word –"inappropriate to her"-
-"What did you do?"- He said dreadful, Booth had no idea of what was going on but he didn't like it one bit.
-"I slept with her former fiancée"- she admitted uncomfortably.
-"The tall big birimbau guy? I thought he wasn't even in the country"- he said outraged, first Cam and now Bones, that man had to learn how to keep it in his pants.
-"No, with Hodgins"-
-"What?!!"- His eyes seemed to pop out from his face and his jaw dropped to the floor. Many pieces of the puzzle fell inside his head at once and for a split second he lost control of the car, the tires screeched before the vehicle regained its normal pace.
"Where were you last night?" he asked her before going to Canada "with a friend" she had responded, no wonder Bones had been so secretive about it.
Thousand words wanted to blurt out from his mouth but he kept it shut. He couldn't afford to react the way he wanted, yelling at her of what a stupid decision it was to be with Hodgins would only drive her away from him and further into his friend's arms, he would have to cool himself and think of a better plan to show her how wrong their relationship was.
Before planning his course of action he had to know how stupid Hodgins had been.
-"Was it just sex?"- He squirmed at the mention of the word and cleared his throat –"I mean are you guys serious or something?"-
There was a sweet sadness in her soul when she admitted it –"No, it's not just sex"- she omitted the fact that it had indeed started that way and skipped the crazy hot lovemaking part, she knew Booth had severe repressions towards sex. –"We are together as a couple"- Her smile was honest but so was the hint of sadness in her eyes.
"So he's not such an idiot" Booth thought, Hodgins took her seriously, had he just used her for sex Booth would have solved the issue with an old fashioned beating until the guy had to beg for whatever was left of his life. Instead Hodgins wanted a serious relationship with her and judging by the fight with Angela he seemed willing to face the consequences of his actions. Using the entomologist as a punching bag was tempting but it would only worsen an already complicated situation, not to mention Bones would be angry at him and take Hodgins's side.
He had always worked well under pressure, it was time for him to cool down and get things straight.
-"Right now we have to talk to Caroline Raye, she said Cristina had many enemies and a few of them were dangerous, as for Sam Watson Sweets said he had a psychological breakdown, he should be better by now so will talk to him tomorrow . Later on we'll have a discussion about you and Mr. Bugs and slime"- He sounded hollow and deceitfully calm.
Brennan was never good for reading people except for Booth, she knew he was mad. The tension of his every muscle showed in spite of his suit, his eyes twitched a little and his knuckles turned white as he grabbed the steering wheel almost as if he could break it. Brennan had to be prepared for yet another difficult discussion, yet the best way to deal with crises is to handle the situations one by one. Their personal problems would have to wait; now they had a case to solve.
Caroline was a petite blonde in her early twenties, her face showed fresh marks of recent tears; apparently she really cared for her boss. She told them Christina had sent her away for a few days for her own safety; apparently she was chasing down dangerous criminals.
-"These are the people she was tracking down; the ones on top are the most violent."- The girl gave Booth a large file filled with pictures; he had a lot of work ahead of him.
-"I appreciate it Miss Raye, is there anyone who isn't here and might have a problem with her? Maybe a relative or a boyfriend."-
She laughed bitterly –"Are you telling me you are suspicious of Sam?"-
-"He is so far our first suspect"- Brennan chipped in
-"Sam wouldn't hurt a fly, he got those tattoos in prison and likes to work out but he's actually a very sweet guy who likes to pretend to be tough"- She shook her head.
-"He was the suspect of a few murders when he was arrested, and elderly couple was beaten to death along with two of their security guards who were well trained in martial arts"- Booth told her gravely
-"He was a suspect because he worked on their security company. He was sent by that company to replace their safety box by a new model. That couple was stinking rich and a little senile; they saw the company logo and trusted him. They removed the money from their safety box but forgot they had many other valuables on the house, he stole many of the small antiques cluttered in their manor and hid them with the equipment, I bet they didn't even noticed they were missing. That night robbers entered the manor and killed them, Sam was the last one to see them alive so he was investigated and the cops found the stolen items in his place. He was sent to jail for the robbery, his lawyer managed to lower the charges to fraud. There was never enough evidence to convict him of murder because he didn't do it, he just had bad luck."- Caroline shrugged
-"But he was caught trying to flee the country, if he wasn't involved why did he broke his parole?"- Brennan asked
-"Sam always broke his parole and forgot to go to his hearings that's how he met Cristina!"- Then the assistant saddened –"He was leaving because she broke up with him, he wanted to go away as far as possible"-
-"Why did they broke up?"- Brennan was curious
-"Sam and Chris had a great relationship but she was really independent and had some serious trust issues, they had a few problems with that. I'm pretty sure they would have sorted things out if Brendan hadn't got in the picture"-
-"Who's Brendan?"- Brennan asked
-"Brendan Braunwald, he was in the military with her and they were in a pretty serious relationship, then Christina was sent home over a year ago because her hearing damage while he stayed on Iraq, until six months ago when he was discharged. He wanted to go back to her and was insistent about it, to make things worse she still had a thing for him. he flirted with her all the time and harassed Sam which in turn fought with Brendan all the time"- She begun to cry again –"It was like a huge soap opera in her office, you know how love triangles can be. I'm gonna miss it."- She composed herself a little and continued –"One day Cristina had enough of them fighting and broke up with both, Brendan found a job with the local police and Sam made arrangements to leave"-
-"Could Brendan be able to kill Christina? I mean he was probably angry at her"- Booth asked sympathetically.
-"No! I don't think either of them killed her but they were probably responsible for her death."- Caroline wiped a few tears from her face –"Chris was crushed, she took refuge in her work and when you're a bounty hunter that means a serious risk. she went after the meanest men she could get. Most of the times she subdued them but I think one day she burned the candle on both ends and that got her killed"- She cried even louder and asked gently asked Booth and Brennan to leave, he gave her his card and told her to call him if she remembered anything.
The picture in the top of the file was of a notorious thug named Alexandrei Nikov who was involved with the Russian mob; he was accused of several murders and a runaway from justice. If Galloway went after him and he got to her first he would have easily killed her, before chasing at somebody who was already hiding from the law Booth and Brennan made a visit to officer Braunwald.
Officer Braunwald was a slender man in his mid thirties, his haircut and posture gave away his military training. His impeccable references and talent would soon turn him into a detective, when Booth went to the police station and asked him about Christina he rolled his eyes.
-"What kind of trouble did she get into this time?"-
-"She was found dead in a park nearby, murdered."- Booth told him somber
Brendan's eyes widened, his lips trembled and he begun hyperventilating. He shook his head and told them almost imploring.
-"You are wrong, she can't be dead. Maybe there was a mistake in the identification"-
-"Even when the remains were badly decomposed when found the identification was made through specific measures, accurate facial reconstruction and dental records, not to mention DNA."- Brennan told the officer a little offended that someone would question her lab's abilities; Booth read her mind and whispered to her that the poor man was in denial.
Brendan excused himself and ran to the nearest bathroom, his gags and wretches could be heard a few meters away.
An hour later the chief of the precinct gave Booth another file, he was an overweight elder man who in spite of being jaded for his daily work still had a glimpse of determination in his eyes.
-"Brendan says the last time he saw Christina she asked him information about a Russian mobster named Alexandrei Nikov and a buddy of his, Yuri Korsakoff. All the information about those sleaze bags is here, I don't care about who gets the credit for this just get them. Braunwald loved that woman and he needs some closure on this."-
Booth thanked the chief and led Brennan outside, his hand was at the small of her back but for the first time she didn't feel a shiver on her spine.
…………………………………………………
The heat on the streets was smothering; the asphalt refracted the cruel sunlight of the noon raising steam that distorted the images of the city. Brennan's skin complained painfully at the sunlight's abuse, she wished her dermis could produce more melanin.
Instead of driving her to the lab Booth took her to the royal diner so they could have lunch, he always did that when he wanted to bounce ideas with her.
-"So I'm crossing Braunwald from the suspect's list"- Booth said looking at the window.
-"Why? You don't have enough evidence whether to determine if he is guilty or not"-
-"As far as you told me the only evidence we have is the bullet from the nine millimeter that killed her, which isn't registered so we don't have evidence for basically anything right now. We need lots of detective work to prevent this case from getting cold, as for Braunwald his grief was honest, besides I've seemed guys faking tears but never vomit"- he chugged his steak, his fork stabbed the plate without mercy.
-"Since it is an autonomical bodily function it makes sense"- she sighed –"Cam saw several gashes on the body that were made post mortem, consistent with being dragged several miles perhaps by the murderer or an animal, Hodgins is analyzing the particulates found on the wounds to determine were she was murdered, if we find the actual crime scene we might discover more evidence"- she saw his reaction to Jack's name, he gave her and angry stare and his knife fell from his hands. Hoping that eventually there wouldn't be such awkwardness every time she mentioned the entomologist, Brennan wanted to change the subject before things got even worse.
-"I tell you what Bones, right after work I'll take you to your place and we'll have some beers, maybe we can get our creative juices flowing and crack this thing up"- It wasn't a suggestion, he commanded it.
Brennan didn't understand half of what he said but it was probably better if she agreed. She wanted to go with Jack and have sex for the rest of the night, his touch was imprinted on her skin and her mouth went dry at the remembrance of his lips all over her private places. Nonetheless Booth was clearly angry at her yet he took the news of her affair quite well, she had hurted him deep in his soul and pride.
Oblige to his alpha-male attitude was the last thing a strong willed woman like her wanted to do but she owed him at least a night to be his partner. At least one more case acting like nothing had happened, because from now on things would change around the lab and in the relationship with the FBI agent, no more staying late for drinks and no more working on weekends unless it was absolutely necessary.
She wanted to live, to enjoy having a relationship, to wake up by a man's side and not by herself with only heated fantasies of lovemaking to show for it. It was then when Dr Brennan acknowledged the fact she was no longer afraid to share her life with someone else.
……………………………………………….
Camille splashed cold water on her face, her reflection on the mirror showed someone tired and overwhelmed. Angela made no progress in the recreation of Galloway's murder, the artist simply stared at the computer with a blank expression on her face, no one could blame her since her best friend was sleeping with her ex boyfriend not to mention that soon she would have to find another entomologist since Booth would kill the current one. This was the tip of the iceberg the chaos in her lab was growing on intensity and it had no sign of stopping anytime soon.
The rumor spreaded like a flame over gasoline, she could still hear the hushed whispers and giggles that resounded in every hallway.
She wanted to kill Brennan with her bare hands, all those years being a role model for work ethics and now she turned an efficient workplace upside down.
"And who are you to judge?" her own reflection told her, well aware it was a plain visualization she convinced herself she wasn't crazy. The woman in the mirror told her raging
"She isn't the first to sleep around with her co-workers, you jumped in the sack with Booth as soon as you got here and almost fire Brennan knowing the rest of her friends would go with her. Jack and Angela were like monkeys in heat sneaking to the janitor's closet, and that would still be the case but nooo you had to sleep with Grayson and cause a fight that broke them up. Yes Camille you are the reason they're no longer together. Then Angela slept with Wendell, an intern almost ten years younger than her and who is by the way a friend of Hodgins! And now you are outraged because he is with Brennan? Look at yourself before looking down at the people around you"
Cam swallowed the lump in her throat and admitted her own guilt, then she asked that bossy reflection of hers if she had any ideas of what to do.
"By a friend for all of them, listen to their problems and try not to let them kill each other. Remind every one that all human beings screw up and that they should forgive because one day they'll need to be forgiven".
-"Dr Saroyan are you okay? You have been staring at the mirror for a long time"- Dr Brennan asked waking her from the trance, she didn't even see her enter the bathroom.
-"Hum yeah I was… never mind."- Cam listened to her inner conscience and asked the anthropologist –"So you are with Hodgins now, how is that working for you?"-
-"We are very compatible sexually and share many interests, so far it is quite satisfying"- She smiled proudly
The M.D laughed at her blunt honesty -"I think you are making a huge mistake, but it doesn't matter what I think, right?"- Brennan looked hurt at her comment but then giggled when Cam gave her a big hug –"Welcome to the human race Dr Brennan, we fail all the time but at least we have fun doing it"-