While You Were Dead - Chapter 6
Disclaimer: Still don't own them
Note: I know this is sort of a mini-update, but I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Thank you to EVERYONE who is still sticking with this one.
Chapter 6
Booth stepped out of the cab in front of the address Angela had given him, looking at the house in front of him.
It was the absolute last kind of place he would have expected her to live. Set in the middle of an Arlington suburb on a quiet street, the large two-story house was stone and brick that had been painted white. The shutters were a tasteful navy blue, and the concrete covered porch was painted blue-gray. He would be shocked if the house (or any of the others on the block, for that matter) was built any time after 1930; it had that old-school solid look.
It was set on maybe a quarter of an acre, and there was a gravel driveway that ran up the right side of the house. The back yard showcased an oak tree that had probably been planted when the house was built; it was enormous, and two bird feeders hung from one of the lower branches. There was a sad-looking wooden shed (which also looked like it had been built half a century ago) that stood next to a good-sized gated garden. He saw a swing set, too…probably something that had been there when she moved.
Though there were no cars in the driveway, he used the key Angela had given him to enter through the back door quietly, not wanting to alert her (or her roommate) to his presence if either of them were home.
Stepping into the house, he found himself on a landing. Straight ahead of him were stairs leading down into a basement, and to his left were three stairs that looked like they opened into the kitchen. Figuring it would make the most sense to start exploring from the bottom and work his way up, he descended the stairs.
Her house was…well, 'cluttered' wasn't the right word. But it looked…lived in. A lot of those tribal artifacts she kept out in her condo had been put into locked display cases. She had a television in the living room.
But then things got really confusing for him.
There were two lacrosse sticks by the front closet, and a few pairs of sneakers by the door next to hers.
The large dining room table had six chairs and a high-chair surrounding it, and one of the regular chairs had a booster seat on it.
He walked into the kitchen, and saw a refrigerator covered with plastic magnets and scribbled drawings in crayon. The spot that used to hold beers now was filled with juice boxes, of all things.
He shook his head. This couldn't be where Bones lived. Was he in the wrong house? He'd just spied a shelf that was filled with picture frames when he heard a car pull up in the driveway. Booth had just enough time to slip back into the shadows of a closet before she came through the door.