Hey, it's me, the most unreliable writer on here with posting. So, the story of Secrets and Suburbia was the second sequel I had written for Mole in the Murder. The first was Runts on the Run, a story that is completed (except for this one part at the end because I wasn't sure if I wrote it well and it was why I didn't post it originally). Since Secrets in Suburbia is such a tangled mess that only makes sense to me, I decided that I will delete it. I just wanted anyone who was following it to get the proper sequel. Here is a copy of the first chapter. If you'd rather me post an ending for Secrets in Suburbia, PM or review this story and say you want it finished but you won't get a good ending or one for a while. If you like Runts on the Run, PM or review and I'll delete this story soon and post the new story. Not going to lie, I prefer Runts on the Run as it makes much more sense and connects better to the first story.

Chapter One

Hayley took deep breaths and tried to calm herself. She was going to kill her father. She heard her door open and whirled around, ready to tear him a new one. It wasn't her dad. It was Matt. She let out a deep breath and blinked hard. "Well that was interesting," Matt stated.

"Really genius?" she mocked, feigning surprise.

"I thought Dad was about to kill you, the stuff you said," Matt trailed off.

"Well, don't worry," she blurted out quickly. She didn't like seeing him upset. She continued, "The disappointment of this family is heading off to college in August so Mommy and Daddy can play happy family."

"I don't think you're the disappointment of the family, I am," Matt said timidly.

"What you are Matt, is not wrong. I'm the moron studying a soft science," she offered a kind smile. Matt came out to her last year and has not told their parents yet. He didn't think their mother would care; it was their father he was worried about. He was always trying to earn approval from their dad, even though he already had it. Hayley knew their father wouldn't love him or think less of him. Matt, on the other hand, didn't believe it. He played hockey and baseball to earn their father's approval. He never liked baseball, he preferred hockey, but he wanted the praise he'd get for doing great in sports. He liked, no loved, and craved the affection Booth gave him. Matt did not want to lose it. Matt told her that he would come out to their parents before junior year. He just finished freshman year.

Hayley knew what it felt like to not feel approved of by their parents. In addition to majoring in psychology, she was caught drinking a single beer in the privacy of their basement with friends. It was a couple days after graduation and she and her friends wanted to celebrate. They thought her parents wouldn't show up for at least another hour since they had been called away to a crime scene but no, it was death by exposure, not murder, and identification could wait until her parents' returned to work the next day. Everyone was grilled by their parents, especially her. They thought she was turning into an alcoholic. It was just one beer. She rarely drank, she wasn't a fan of the taste, and it was just her luck to be caught one of the few times she was drinking. It didn't exactly help that she was playing poker with them too. Nothing big, just nickels and dimes, and of course her father freaked out. She was lectured on the evils of drinking and gambling and grounded for six weeks.

Those six weeks were up. Now she and her brother were going to go on a two week trip to their aunt's in San Francisco. Their aunt was Hayley's mother's sister, Hillary Mercier. Hillary was a bit of a free spirit. She was so open and had so many cool stories. And she was very, very tolerant of just about everything. The reason why she and her father had been fighting surrounded her. Booth had thought she was too much of a free spirit and too loose with the rules. He had gotten her rap sheet. She had been busted a few times for possessing less than an ounce of pot, a couple of shoplifting charges, and vandalism. Hillary had sworn she cleaned up but she had been fined for disrupting the peace a few weeks ago.

Hayley was infuriated. She was too noisy in public, so what? It wasn't like she had been charged with a felony. Misdemeanors and summary offences, nothing too serious. But no, her father had tried to convince her to back out of visiting her aunt. She hadn't seen her aunt in two years after she had tried to gain custody of her and Matt. When she wasn't given full custody or even joint custody, she disappeared. Booth had tried to say that she was part of a cult but she refused to believe it. She looked up the group her aunt had stayed with for a few years. It was a hippie commune. Nothing illegal.

Both of her parents were wary of this trip but they allowed it. They had begged for the past two years to visit her and since she had a steady job and home with room for the two of them, they allowed it under a few conditions: calls home every day, no going off on their own, and no mingling with bad influences. If they caught wind of anything suspicious, Matt and Hayley would be put on the first plane back to DC. Hayley wanted to scoff at the idea of going home early. Hillary reminded her a lot of her mother and she was not giving up the connection. Besides, she was a mature, young woman and Matt was just as responsible as her. They knew better and would have a great time. They'd show them that Hillary was responsible enough to care for them and maybe let her and Matt contact her more. That would be perfect.

XXX

Booth's stomach tightened as he watched his two children disappear into the crowds of the airport. He really did not want them to go but Bones and Sweets had convinced them that this was beneficial for them. He didn't trust Hillary. She was too out there for him. He hoped that she'd be more responsible now that she had children in her care.

He felt that there was something off about his children. Grounding Hayley was more for the gambling than the beer. He'd be a hypocrite if he said he never drank in high school. But drinking scared him, as did gambling. Addiction ran in his-their family. Bones kept telling him he needed to let go so she could make her own choices but he didn't want to. He'd miss the first fourteen years of her life, he didn't not want to be involved for the last four years of her childhood. Majoring psychology was a shock to him and Bones but he accepted it. He knew she always wanted to help people and this was a way for her to do so.

He felt like Matt was hiding something from him. Against his better judgement and conscience, he had searched Matt's room a few times for drugs or stolen property. Thankfully, he found neither. Matt is a good kid. He wondered if he was being bullied. He tried to talk to him about it a few times but Matt insisted that everything was fine. He didn't believe it for a second. Booth wanted to go online to see if it was cyberbullying but he didn't have social media accounts, except for Facebook and Matt didn't have one. He had Instagram and Twitter. Bones was on Twitter to publicize her books and she said she didn't see any taunts or cruel remarks pointed towards their son.

"Booth," his phone disturbed his reverie. A body was found. He and Bones looked at each other. Work never stopped. At least it waited until the kids were out of the house.

XXX

Matt shifted from side to side. Going out of town for a day was one thing, but after three days he was nervous. They were supposed to be in San Francisco with Hillary but no, she just had to drive them both to Las Vegas so she could visit friends and go to a few casinos. She had the keys to the car, and Hayley was having fun flirting with Hillary's friends' sons and didn't want to leave. He was miserable. Too young to drink, gamble, or even drive. He couldn't by a bus ticket back to San Francisco because he couldn't pass for eighteen, even in the dark. Someone would catch him and call his parents and then he and Hayley could never see Hillary again and Hayley would be so pissed with him.

So far they had been fooling their parents, as far as they knew, they had been to the beach for the past three days. Not stuck in Sin City. When Matt was snooping around the house, he found a Gamblers' Anonymous chip just as his mother caught him. She explained that Booth used to gamble and not to mention since he wanted to explain to them when he was ready. He'd have a heart attack if he knew where they were.

"Here we are," Jimmy, one of the sons of Hillary's friends, said.

"In here?" he asked nervously. Jimmy nodded. He came out to Hillary, he knew she was super tolerant and wouldn't mind but she could not keep a secret for her life. Within minutes, she told all of her friends who told their kids. Whenever Hayley was not within earshot, he'd get mocked by the other kids. He didn't dare tell Hayley, he had had worse, and he didn't want her meddling. It'd make it worse.

Jimmy was nice to him though. He'd be the one to tell the others to knock it off after a few minutes. Matt would prefer he did that immediately since he was one of the leaders of the group and they'd listen to him, but he'd take what he could get. Jimmy told him that he'd take him to a gay bar that didn't ID, so he wouldn't feel like the odd one out and feel acceptance. Matt opened the door and fell to the ground.

"He's a-" Jimmy screamed. Matt felt his face grow hot and looked up. He was in a bar full of guys who looked fresh out of jail or a crime scene. They were all sizing him up and a few were making his way towards him. He scrambled off the floor and backed up against the wall.

"We don't appreciate your kind here," snorted one ugly looking bastard with a Mohawk.

"I'm not. My friend's just an asshole," he lied through his teeth. He was seething. He was going to kill Jimmy, if he got out of here alive.

"Get out," growled another one.

"Gladly," he bolted from the bar. Jimmy drove past him and flipped him off. He was alone, in a scary neighborhood, at sunset. Great, just great. He'd just call Hayley to pick him up; he'd say he went exploring the city and got lost. He shoved his hand into his right pocket and realized he must have dropped his phone in Jimmy's car or in the bar full of homophobes. Lovely. He dug around in his pockets and came up empty. No money, no phone, no map. He was screwed. Matt shook his head. He'd find a bus map, or a subway map, or maybe even a tourist map. He'd find his way home. Then he'd kill Jimmy. He set off towards the way he and Jimmy came.

As he was walking down the street, he noticed three kids around his and Hayley's ages beating on a much smaller boy. He shouted and ran up to the trio. The tallest one responded by striking him, hard. Matt was sent reeling. He ran his tongue along his teeth. Nothing broken. He got into stance like his dad had shown him a million times and pounced. He managed to sweep the smallest one's, who was a little taller than him, legs out from under him and he hit the pavement hard. Noticing him, the smaller boy jumped on the middle one's back and pulled back with all of his might so his arms would choke him.

The tallest one was the most experienced fighter and the most ruthless. Matt had to dodge kicks to his groin several times. Then the tallest one pulled out a knife. "You're out of your depth ginger," he mocked. He swiped at Matt several times until he had him backed up against the wall. He was beaming with vicious joy and a malevolent glint in his eyes.

"I'll slit your throat first Ginger Kid. Then the little Nazi Bastard. When I'm through with the two of you, not even your own mothers will recognize you," the tallest one gloated. In a blink of an eye, the tallest one went from gloating to on the ground clutching his face in pain. A bloody rock rolled into the light of the streetlamp.

"Run!" howled the younger boy. He took Matt's hand and led him through the streets. They ran for what felt like hours. The younger boy pulled him into an alley then behind a dumpster. Matt threw up in the patch of dirt. He had never ran that fast, that long in his life. When he finally caught his breath he asked, "Did I almost get stabbed for rescuing an Anti-Semite?"

"No idiot. Blond hair, blue eyes, you get the picture," the younger boy gestured to himself and snorted.

"I need to get home," Matt whined, feeling like the younger kid here.

"We need to clean up first. And rest," the younger boy panted, "I'm exhausted."

"Really? I feel like the Energizer Bunny," he said and rested on his haunches.

"No need for sarcasm. My buddy's house. We can rest up there. He won't mind. He had to leave town with family to see a sick aunt. His dad's only sister, you know," the younger boy shrugged. He looked around and peered down the street. "Coast is clear. For now," he said ominously.

"What's your name?" Matt asked as they skulked down streets.

"Chip. Real name's Charles but that's boring. You?" Chip said.

"Matt," he replied. Chip led him to an apartment complex and opened the door to a first floor apartment. "Your friend's?" Matt asked. He didn't trust the kid. Chip nodded. The inside of the house looked messy, as if someone left in a hurry. There were a ton of girly toys lying around. Matt looked at the ground, trying hard not to step on things. When he looked up, Chip was gone. The brat had tricked him. He spun around to leave but a shape in the dark caught his eyes. Then the smell hit him. Dead body.

He didn't want to but his body unconsciously made him go closer. He wished he had a light. It was so dark. The floor was light so he saw the blood pool on the ground and wanted to throw up again. Where the hell was Chip? He couldn't stop looking. "Chip?" he hissed, "Chip." A light flicked on.

"Hello Connor."